Shigaraki was fighting Re-Destro while the rest of the League was handling the rest of the Meta Liberation Army.
"Don't judge a person by their Quirk," Re-Destro said as he was about to crush Shigaraki's hands. "It's a good lesson."
"You should learn something too," said Shigaraki. "Villains never come alone to fight an opponent."
"What do you mean?" Re-Destro asked.
"Turn around and find out by yourself," said Shigaraki. Just as Re-Destro turned, though, all he saw was a punch landing on his face.
"SMAAAASSSSHHH!" Satoru had arrived just in time to help Shigaraki.
"You're finally here, Mato," said Shigaraki.
"Sorry if you didn't see me all this time," said Mato. "Not only have I been busy, but I also just got rid of my engagements, that's why I arrived this late."
"The important thing is that you're here now," said Shigaraki. "Now, will you help me fight this one?"
"With immense pleasure," Mato smirked. He wrapped his body in darkness. "I discovered all the Quirks AFO gave me but one. Even if I have a brief idea of what it could be."
"What could it be?" Shigaraki asked.
"An explosion-type Quirk," said Mato. "And I think that I'm going to enjoy it when I learn how to use it."
Satoru handed Shigaraki some of his hands. "By the way, you dropped these."
Shigaraki's eyes widened.
"What's wrong?" Satoru asked. "Well, I'll leave them on the floor, pick them up if you want them."
He's probably remembering something about his past... I should be able to remember something too... think, Satoru, think... my head's spinning, dammit... maybe it's due to the fact I'm overusing my Teleport Quirk too much these days...
Shigaraki's eyes went blank, then snapped back into focus. "Let's give Re-Destro a lesson about how to be a villain."
Shigaraki and Mato dashed forward and attacked Re-Destro.
"I'll put an end to this party!" Re-Destro yelled. "Burden!"
A huge amount of energy was released by Re-Destro's hand. The two villains flew in the air with the debris of the houses.
Something more came to Satoru's mind.
"Mato, he's Tomura. Tomura, he's Mato."
Mato's outer garments were destroyed, blood descending from his forehead, and he was lying on the ground next to Shigaraki.
Now... now I'm starting to remember... I was only four... I was only four fucking years old.
Mato and Shigaraki stood up. Shigaraki's leg was damaged, if not broken.
"Tomura... you're starting to remember too, right...?" Mato asked.
"I think so, Mato..." Shigaraki replied. "You know, I feel like we've known each other since we were little, and we don't know it."
Shigaraki grabbed one of the hands attached to his body and looked at it intently.
"A world without creation... can't have a future!" King-Destro exclaimed.
"I don't need a future," Shigaraki said.
"Neither do I," Mato added.
Finally, in that moment, Mato's memories were finally clear.
__________
Eleven years ago...
My hair isn't naturally red. Initially, my hair was green. All For One said stress can bleach hair white. Mine didn't bleach: it burned.
A young, skinnier, and malnourished Mato was walking down the streets.
Unlike he did with Tomura, All For One didn't give me a room to stay. I kept wandering down the streets, with someone to look up to, but without a roof over my head. However, Zen was always there for me. I was a kid, and I didn't know what to do with my life. I was malnourished. I still think Tomura is All For One's favorite. Why did he have a room for himself, and I didn't? Did AFO run out of rooms? I didn't say anything about this, though.
Suddenly, Mato bumped into someone.
"Hey, pay attention to where you walk!" the kid Mato had bumped into yelled. "Even if you are a kid, you can't bump into someone like this..."
"S-sorry..." Mato muttered shyly. "I'll pay more attention next time..."
"Wait, wait, wait..." the kid said. He was flanked by two other kids of the same age.
Those three kids were significantly older than me. Maybe about nine or ten years. Even if I was four years old at the time, I realized they wanted to beat me up.
"We can't let go of a kid who just bumped into us!" the kid clenched his fist, and fire generated from it.
That kid had a fire-type Quirk. His two friends had a poisonous Quirk, and the other one had a wind-type Quirk. Without thinking about it twice, I ran away.
"Come here, you little brat!" the three kids ran after Mato.
I ran as fast as I could. A normal four-year-old would have collapsed, but I had been raised by All For One.
Mato hid in an alley. He thought he was safe and that he had left the kids in the dust. But he was wrong.
"Hey, little brat!" the kid shouted.
Mato was cornered. He didn't know where to go.
In that moment, I realized I was fucked up.
The three kids beat Mato up, one blow at the time.
The fire-user kid burned his chest.
The poison-user almost poisoned him to death.
The wind-user kept him in place with the pressure of the wind.
My Quirk hadn't developed yet, even though I was at the age where kids usually awaken it. One day, something happened. At the time, I didn't know why, but I heard All For One say, 'If he's Quirkless, I'll abandon him.' Now I understand why. He never cared about me. How could someone who killed your parents care about you? He just saw me as a tool, and probably, he still does.
Mato received a jab on his face, causing him to nosebleed.
I think we can define it as abuse. The stress was too much, let alone the pain.
Mato crawled to the floor, and the poison-user kicked him in the stomach.
My body was battered and bruised, and I felt like I was going to die. I clinged at the closest thing I saw - a dirty towel - and held it as it could protect me. In that moment, a scream. Honestly, I still don't get how a four-year-old could scream so loudly. But I did.
From Mato's hands, darkness generated. Without realizing it, he trapped the poison-user in dark ropes and ripped his limbs apart. He then guided the dark ropes with his mind and ripped the fire-user's heart apart. The wind-user tried to run away, but Mato killed him by crushing the bone of his neck with a dark hammer.
I don't know what happened in that moment. I didn't even realize my Quirk had finally come out. Without even realizing it, at the age of just four, I had committed a triple murder. And I had committed it in the most gruesome way possible.
Suddenly, Mato heard a voice. "What the hell happened?"
It was a kid. He approached closer, and Mato could see him. He had short, sky-blue hair, and was wearing hands.
That was the first encounter I ever had with Tomura.
"Hey, I know you," the at the time little Shigaraki said. "You're Mato, the one Sensei told me about."
"All For One... told you about me...?" Mato said shyly. "He really did?"
"Yeah," said Shigaraki. "I'd give you my hand, but if I do, I'd kill you, so please, get up and let's go away from here, before they notice us."
Mato slowly got up.
"Sensei had told me you had green hair, though..."
Mato touched his hair and grabbed one of the strands that had fallen out due to stress.
My hair had turned red. I didn't even notice at the time.
"Let's go, Mato," Shigaraki said. "I don't want to be in trouble because of you."
Surprisingly, Tomura was kind to me that day. Maybe this is the reason why today, eleven years later, I chose him as my leader. And maybe, the abuse from those three kids was the reason I am a villain now.
Chapter 54 - End