Spinarakiweek2024 - Tumblr Posts

Prompts 4 Spinaraki Week 4

(Art credit and our tremendous thanks go to poodlewool!)

Hello, all! We're here at last with prompts and dates for the fourth Spinaraki Week! It will be held in the very last week of August, from Sunday the 25th to Saturday the 31st!

As with last time, you can find a text version of the prompts and the full rules beneath the cut below, but first, a few general upkeep notes!

Re: event week tags: Following previous patterns, the tags for the week will be #spinarakiweek, #spinarakiweek2024, #spinarakiweek4, and #spinarakiweeknsfw.

Re: spoiler tags: Going by the results of the poll we ran about spoilers we ran, the vast majority of respondents are up on current events/don't care about spoilers. However, there are a small number of people who are avoiding spoilers. In recognition of that breakdown, and the fact that the manga will be over by the time the event is held, we will not be asking participants to spoiler tag their work on their own blogs, but will make our best efforts to tag for manga spoilers (#bnha manga spoilers) as we reblog to the main blog.

We have no current plans to tag for anime spoilers, as none of the mods follow the anime particularly closely, but please do contact us if you would like us to tag for spoilers for the anime episodes that will be airing immediately around the event (barring any breaks in the airing schedule, these should be Episodes 15 and 16 of the current season, Episodes 153 and 154 overall).

Re: AU fills: We got a number of requests on the survey for AU-type prompts: mermaids, supernatural creatures, heroes, pro-gamers, and so on. While we've dabbled with fanfic tropes as prompts in past years, this year we wanted to keep things relatively open. Just as a reminder, though, we heartily welcome AU content, so anyone is welcome to do AUs at any time and for any prompt they can make fit for it! You could do Mermaid AU fills for every day of the week and we'll happily reblog it, so long as they fit some aspect of one of the prompts of the day. Please, go absolutely nuts!

Re: our tumblr subpages: Firstly, our rules are the same as always, and can be found in the Rules section at the top of the page if that's visible to you, or beneath the cut below if not. The (new!) Graphics section, as the name suggests, contains every previous graphic we've used in prior weeks; these or the Tagged Works section can be used to scope out prompts from past weeks if anyone would like some inspiration or ideas for our traditional Free Day or to incorporate with other prompts this week! If the subpages don't work for you, you can also go back through the mod post tag (as at the bottom of this post!) to find previous housekeeping posts, which should get you back to previous prompt lists and the likes relatively quickly.

That's it! Rules and text prompts below the jump! We can't wait to do this thing with you all!

Text Prompts

Sunday 25th: Dedication  ~  History  ~  Game Over

Monday 26th: Monster  ~  Enough  ~  Load

Tuesday 27th: Horror  ~  Horizon  ~  Inventory

Wednesday 28th: Cracks  ~  Dream  ~  Home

Thursday 29th: Last Words  ~  Climb  ~  Cut Scene

Friday 30th: Reputation  ~  Crossover  ~  Save

Saturday 31st: Write  ~  Inheritance  ~  Continue?  +  FREE DAY

Rules & Policies

1)  We will accept and reblog any fan-made work—fanfiction, fanart, meta, playlists, etc.—so long as it focuses primarily on Shigaraki and Spinner’s relationship and fits an appropriate daily prompt.  The work must be newly published for the week, though if you wish to also use it as a fill for some other concurrent event, you’re welcome to do so.           You can work with any of the daily prompts you like, singly or in combination.  We try to keep them fairly broad, so feel free to get as creative as you like!  We welcome any fill that satisfies some aspect of the chosen prompt(s). 

2)  We’re celebrating the relationship between Shigaraki and Spinner as it’s been, as it may be, and even as it could have been.  Shippy-fic or gen-fic, canon-compliant or AU, romantic or platonic or any complicated place in between; we’re good with all of it.  Polyshipping/OT3s are allowed, but the focus must remain on Shigaraki and Spinner.

3)  Regarding content, we’re not placing hard limits on what we’re accepting.  Shigaraki and Spinner are villains in a canon that goes to some shockingly dark places, so we consider exploration of that darkness fair game for fanwork.  Likewise, given that this is a week focused on a relationship, we welcome NSFW content.  We do, however, ask that all content be responsibly and appropriately tagged for any content you have reason to expect could be upsetting to others. 

4)  We’ll be checking the tags for spinarakiweek2024, spinarakiweek4, spinarakiweek, and spinarakiweeknsfw.  As stated above, please tag also for any work that requires content warnings.  We’re only operating on tumblr, so if your work is hosted elsewhere, feel free to post a link to it and use one of our tags, though if you do so, you may also wish to message us about it, given tumblr’s notorious grouchiness about off-platform links.           Feel free to message us if it seems like we’ve missed a fill of yours!  Late entries are allowed and enthusiastically welcome.  

5)  No hating on other ships or characters—we’re here to celebrate and enjoy Spinaraki, so if there’s a character you can’t include without bashing them disproportionately to the canon, just don’t include them.  Likewise, please be respectful of other participants and their work, whether or not it’s to your particular taste.

6)  We reserve the right to exercise moderator discretion in the case of borderline rule violations or unforeseen issues.

Spinaraki Week 4 Day 1: Game Over & History

And For a Little While

A select few snippets in which Spinner looks at Shigaraki's eyes during the course of knowing each other and slowly falls in love... or a self-indulgent songfic based on Space Age Love Song.

I saw your eyes

And you made me smile

For a little while

I was falling in love

His eyes were ruby red. Spinner already knew they were red once he first met Tomura Shigaraki, but he didn’t know the best way to describe them before now.

Before Shigaraki had brought out the game console and started playing Super Smash Bros.

Before Spinner asked to play and was handed a controller.

Before Spinner countered Shigaraki’s Instant Delayed Reverse Ariel Rush with his own Perfect Shield, shocking the both of them so severely that they immediately stopped playing and instinctively whipped their heads to look at each other, causing the hand on Shigaraki’s face to fly off from the momentum and land on the other side of the room.

Before Spinner had finally seen Shigaraki unmasked for the first time, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Spinner was sure his face had the same expression.

“Holy shit.”

Spinner couldn’t help it, he burst into laughter at the first words to come out of Shigaraki’s stupefied mouth, the same words he probably would’ve said if he’d gained access to his brain back first. Shigaraki was quick to pout as he pivoted into lightly teasing Spinner.

“Here I was thinking you were all brash attacks and zero defense, but no! Apparently, you can put up a great strategic defense as long as it’s gaming related!”

“It’s not that strategic,” Spinner responded shyly as he tried holding in his giggling, “It’s impressive that you added that delay to mess with your opponent’s attack timing. I just happened to recognize that timing and countered it accordingly.”

“I’ve used that move to catch other players off guard multiple times, and I think you’re the only one who’s thwarted it on the first try!”

If Spinner wasn’t stunned before he was now, and to his even greater shock Shigaraki seemed to identify why. “You look like this is the first time you’ve ever had a compliment,” he guessed, and all Spinner could do was slightly nod once in confirmation.

“Well you deserved it.” Shigaraki stated, “and just so you know, you’ve been officially assigned the role of my ‘Personal Player 2’. I’ve been meaning to try more co-op games and I refuse to play them without someone who already matches my skill level.”

Spinner’s brain needed a minute to buffer, but once his mind was back online he flashed a grin, large enough to slightly ache from how rarely he used those facial muscles for that expression, and un-paused the game.

~

I saw your eyes

And you touched my mind

Although it took a while

I was falling in love

His eyes were that of a young boy chasing his dreams. They had been so since they defeated Overhaul, and shone twice as bright now. Not even the remaining bandages littering his face from Re-Destro’s fight could stop his eyes from gleaming. Though that extra glimmer may have been Spinner’s own doing.

“You really thought the horizon I made was pretty?” Tomura asked, half in disbelief and half in amusement.

“No,” Spinner corrected, “I said the horizon you made was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen, there’s a difference.”

They were chilling in Tomura’s room, the elegant bed covered in crumbs and wrappers and the feather-filled pillows haphazardly strewn around from their efforts to get comfortable for the six-going-on-seven-hour gaming binge of the new releases they hadn’t been able to buy while broke. Spinner didn’t know what exactly possessed him to blurt out his thoughts on the destroyed horizon, but he figured Tomura should know that he made a permanent impression on his mind and heart with that sight.

“So,” Tomura deviously suggested, “what you’re saying is I should make more of that, yeah?”

Spinner snorted at that, but realized Tomura was serious when he continued, “Because I can, you know, if you want me to.”

Spinner hummed as he thought of a good response, and what he finally said was, “Well, I’m certainly not gonna stop you. I want what you want, and as long as I can help you achieve that goal then I’ll be happy.”

“What a roundabout answer,” Tomura chuckled, “but alright, if that’s what you want then I’ll make it happen. And I’m thankful… that you’re sticking by my side I mean.”

Spinner didn’t have the right words to respond to that, to tell Tomura that he was glad that he had stuck around long enough to understand what Tomura’s goal was and what he could do, even if it took some hard times to get there. So, he simply smiled and hoped that would convey what his vocabulary couldn’t. That he was thankful too. The soft affection in Tomura’s eyes, something he’d been seeing more often than not these days, said that he understood.

~

I saw your eyes

And you made me cry

And for a little while

I was falling in love

His eyes were blank. Hell, they weren’t even his eyes anymore. Now those eyes, body, and mind belonged to and were controlled by the century-old megalomaniac who found him on the streets. Tomura was hidden, maybe even gone, and it felt like Spinner’s heart had disappeared along with him.

The aching was intense. Unlike the numbing, hollow ache he experienced in the isolation of his old room, this pain was a continuous swelling. It was as if the ache had tried to take up every unfilled crevice in himself and still could not be contained, leaking out like an endlessly bleeding wound. Where once was utter emptiness, now was overwhelming abundance, and it hurt.

Nothing he did could inhibit it. Attempting to soothe the being that was once Tomura Shigaraki as he writhed in agony did nothing but remind Spinner that he could do nothing to truly help his first friend, but avoiding him doubled the hurt he felt. He had to do something to help, anything to assist him, whatever it took to achieve his friend’s initial goals and hopefully bring him back. He’d do anything to see those eyes look fondly at him again.

‘Oh’, Spinner thought as All for One reached out his hand and covered his vision, bestowing what was sure to be too many quirks for his body to handle, all for Tomura’s sake. ‘It’s no wonder I’ve been aching while he’s gone, no wonder I’ve been yearning for him.’

I was falling in love

‘I was falling in love with Tomura Shigaraki.’

Falling in love

‘We were falling in love as we bonded in those barren hideouts and luxurious manors.’

Falling in love

‘I’ve fallen in love and didn’t… realize it until I…   lost it…’

Falling in love

‘I…     had…              fallen…                       in…                                         love…’

Spinaraki Week 4 Day 2: Enough & Load

Can I Be Enough?

Determination can go a long way, but even then a body needs to rest. So when Shigaraki's body finally forces a shutdown in the middle of fighting the monster that is Gigantomachia, can Spinner pick up the slack?

“Does you have are being stupid?”

Even with Gigantomachia beginning to recover from the boulder dropped on his head, Spinner couldn’t help but pause at Shigaraki’s question. “…What?” he asked as he regained his bearings and disembarked said boulder before Machia could try swatting him.

Shigaraki attempted to repeat his earlier question, “Is you are stupid be?” By now Spinner had reach Shigaraki’s side and judging by how far back his eyes were rolled into his head Shigaraki was not doing great.

“Are you seriously trying to call me stupid when you can’t string a coherent sentence together?”, Spinner exclaimed. “The plan worked didn’t it,” Toga yelled as she joined the two, panting somewhat from the aerobics she had to do to keep Machia distracted, “Now we know that the big guy gets briefly stunned by surprise boulders to the head!”

“Almost pancake danger!” Shigaraki hollered.

“It’s Machia, everything’s dangerous!” Spinner shot back. “Look, save the lecture for after your next three-hour nap, you sleep deprived dingus!”

Shigaraki took far too long to process what Spinner said, but responded with a simple flash of the peace out sign… then immediately face-planted the forest floor.

Rushing over, Spinner flipped his leader over to listen for a pulse as Toga checked his breathing.

“Oh thank fuck he’s not dead!” Spinner sighed in temporary relief.

“I’m surprised he was able to stay awake this long,” Toga fretfully commented, “but at least Dabi owes me money now.”

“Screw money! He can’t fight like this, we need backup! Where’re the others?”

“They should be finishing up their break!”

“Call them! Call them now!”

“There’s no service here!”

“Are you kidding me?! Find a hotspot!”

“I think service is better closer to the towns!”

“Then go!”

“Hold on I can buy you some time!”

Toga grabbed Shigaraki’s face and quickly licked off as much blood as she could, transforming into him as she gave Spinner one last bit of advice, “You’ve got five minutes before I change back, scatter!” With that, she started booking it down the mountain with Machia in pursuit, only slightly thrown off by Himiko’s evasive vanishing technique.

Refusing to waste any more time, Spinner quickly picked up his unconscious leader and maneuvered him onto his back, then yanked his scarf from around his neck to tie it around their waists, securing Shigaraki in a makeshift piggyback ride. As he began to run, Spinner ripped two pieces of fabric from his mask and tied them to Shigaraki’s pinkies to prevent any accidental decaying, knowing that he couldn’t keep his leader from getting killed by Machia if he himself died in the process.

‘He’s lighter than I thought he’d be,’ Spinner observed as he leaped over fallen logs.

‘I could’ve sworn he built some muscle while fighting Rockjaw McGee the past two months,’ he ruminated as he felt the ground rumbling as Machia pivoted to close in the gap he worked so hard to build.

‘Am I doing enough to help him?’ he questioned as he dodged the stones being chucked at him from afar.

‘Am I not carrying my fair share of the load?’ he pondered as he scaled a cliff face and cleared the edge just before Machia ran straight into it.

‘If I could just get a stab in, or maybe yeet another rock at his eye, would that be enough?’ he deliberated as he launched himself from tree branch to tree branch, with Machia swatting at the parts of the forest canopy where Shigaraki’s scent was but never landing a hit.

‘Fuck if I could just make this fight a little bit easier for Shigaraki once he wakes up, I wouldn’t feel so damn useless!’ he berated himself, Machia’s roaring engulfing all the sounds of the wilderness yet still unable to drown out Spinner’s own self-loathing.

It felt like days had passed, but was likely only a few hours after Shigaraki collapsed that Gigantomachia reached his 48-hour limit and ended his pursuit to bury himself into the ground for his nap. Every muscle in Spinner’s body was sore, but he had just enough strength to climb back down the cedar tree he had perched in, careful to make sure Shigaraki didn’t slip out now that the chase was over. He startled and moved to shield his leader when he heard the nearby rustling of foliage getting trampled, then relaxed as Toga burst through the bushes.

“We’re here,” cried Toga, with Mr. Compress and Twice hot on her tail, “Are you okay? Did you get squished?”

“We survived,” Spinner panted, shuffling over to the rest of his group, “barely, but we did.”

“Thank goodness you’re both okay.” Twice cried with joy, “We ran all the way up for nothing?!”

“Well look on the bright side,” Mr. Compress stated as he took in the mound where Machia had settled in for his nap. “Now that we’re here early we have more time to plan our next 48-hour match.”

“Shouldn’t we wait until Shigaraki wakes back up?” Spinner questioned. “Too late… ‘m up,” slurred a voice from behind him, and Spinner lowered down to let his newly awoken leader off his back. “What’d I miss?”

“You ate shit on the forest floor so Spinner outmaneuvered Machia while carrying your dead weight like a sack of potatoes!” Toga gleefully explained.

“Shit,” Shigaraki panicked, “did you die?!”

“Does he look dead to you?” Toga deadpanned.

“I mean did my quirk injure you?” Shigaraki clarified, checking Spinner over for cracks anyway.

“No I’m fine,” Spinner reassured him, “Just exhausted and frustrated that I couldn’t do any more than run away and try not to get us killed. I didn’t even get a single hit on Machia except that boulder.”

“Who cares if you didn’t land a meaningful blow? I don’t!” Shigaraki exclaimed, taking a second to face Spinner completely before continuing. “In the face of a man the size of a literal mountain, you held him off and kept me alive with only your physical abilities and intuition. In my book that’s more than enough. You’re enough, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise because I will fight them.”

Spinner really hoped Toga stayed silent because he knew he was flushed pink and if she chose now to start getting mushy, he would surely combust and undo all the progress he made in prolonging his friend’s lifespan.

Spinaraki Week 4 Day 3: Horizon

Arise, Fair Sun

The first war is, to put it lightly, not going great. So when the man who raised you suggests taking over and fighting on your behalf, it's hard to say no. But maybe a change in timing could make you reconsider.

“Okay in all seriousness can one of you tell me what day it is?!” Tomura shouted in dismay. All he got as a response was getting grabbed from behind by Endeavor and subsequently being incinerated.

He knew something must’ve gone wrong with the surgery, his body was falling apart when he should’ve been able to regenerate, heroes were surrounding him on all sides when his return to consciousness should’ve been a surprise, and the Doctor had never mentioned his master’s voice being stuck in his head as a potential side effect.

That voice was getting louder now, now that he was trapped in Endeavor’s death-grip and suspended in the sky while his younger nemesis was getting dragged away by the kid he thought he could recruit. Now that all the previously laid plans had fallen apart.

“Lend me your body,” his master’s vestige implored. “Let me fight on your behalf. You don’t have as much experience with these quirks as I do. I can take care of this battle, end your suffering, while you recover in our new vestige realm. All you need to do is switch places with me, allow me to take control.”

As the fire burned, and the targets escaped, and his condemnation of society’s failings fell on deaf ears, it became harder for Tomura to resist All For One’s request. Everything that could go wrong had done so, maybe his master could make them right, as he had always done before.

All For One reached out his hand, Tomura reached back…

Then the ground began to shake.

Then a roar he had become accustomed to several months ago bellowed in the distance, echoing across the battlefield.

Then he saw Gigantomachia hurtling towards him from the east.

But most importantly, on top of Machia’s head, he saw Spinner.

Spinner, who was clutching Machia’s mane for dear life, likely only able to keep his place by using his quirk.

Spinner, who’s bandanas and scarves whipped around his head such that they kept whacking him in the face.

Spinner, who in spite of that had an unremovable expression of relief and joy, and Tomura knew it was because they were reuniting.

Spinner, who (pardon Tomura’s misuse of language reserved for only the “holiest do-gooders” of creatures) looked every bit like an angel arriving to deliver Tomura salvation with the still-rising sun blazing behind him, blinding any hero who turned to look.

Endeavor’s hold on him loosened just slightly as he too flinched from looking directly at the sun, and it was enough to allow Tomura to slip out of his hold and dart downwards, briefly landing the ground below just long enough to properly aim towards his allies and launch himself back into the sky to meet them halfway.

Away from the heroes who couldn’t be bothered to listen, away from the adversary that had been decided by the chance of a quirk, away from the hand of his master whose voice was now drowned out by the overwhelming need to reach his league instead, to reach his allies.

A need overwhelming enough that Tomura forgot to brace for the landing and ended up tumbling into an undignified heap. Oh well, at least he made his friends laugh.

“Do you have any idea how early you are?!” Spinner yelled as he ran to where Tomura was sitting up.

“Nooooope,” Tomura replied, letting Spinner help him up before pulling his closest friend into a hug, “But I missed you anyway so it’s fine, right?!”

He could feel Spinner grin into his neck as he nuzzled it, and feel the tension leave both of their bodies as the stress of separation melted away.

Before the surgery, Spinner had once told Tomura that he was his horizon, although he didn’t use those words exactly. Until now, Tomura hadn’t completely grasped the sentiment. But seeing Spinner for the first time in months, rising against the sky and lighting up the horizon with nothing more than his presence and tooth-filled smile, Tomura believed he understood now.

If Tomura was Spinner’s horizon, then Spinner was his.

Spinaraki Week 4 Day 4: Cracks and Home

Old Hag Look at My Life (I'm a Lot Like You Were)

As Tomura’s world falls apart, his grandmother’s vestige comes to his unlikely rescue. It turns out they’re a bit more similar than he thought.

When Tomura Shigaraki came back to himself, his mind was achy from his mater’s reveal, his voice was hoarse from screaming, his body was scattered to the wind with barely any pieces left, and to his surprise the woman who everyone called his grandmother was holding him in her muscular arms. While he appreciated the sentiment, he couldn’t help but wish a certain someone he actually got along with (and who’s arms held the same strength) was comforting him, instead of this hero lady he’d never met but who dictated his fate in absentia.

“I know you’re not happy to see me,” Nana said, “But I hope you’re willing to put up with me long enough to keep you alive. One For All and All For One did quite the number on you, the quirk and the man I mean.”

“If you call getting smashed into bits and having my entire worldview torn into just as many pieces ‘having a number done on me’,” Tomura sarcastically threw back, “Then I’d hate to see what you’d consider to be worse!”

“No, no, I’m not sure anyone could’ve survived that combination. But you’re not just anyone, are you?” Tomura started at that, but his grandmother gently aimed his face to look at her sincere -and maybe proud?- expression as she continued.

“You’ve been through so much, you’re so very strong. And even with everything All For One has put you through, all the lies he spun and all the strings he pulled to mold you into what he wanted, you still managed to untether yourself enough to find your own goal and make your own connections. You found friends, and you dedicated your aspirations to them. You loved them, you helped them. It’s not what I’d call hero work, but in a vacuum I can’t deny it’s heroic. I only wish someone better could’ve been around to guide you, so you had the opportunity to try your brand of heroism, and for that I am sorry.”

Tomura was speechless at the apology that came two decades too late, but when he thought about it, he was -begrudgingly- at least a little bit glad someone had finally told him that not only could he be a hero after all this time, but that he was a hero for the people who mattered to him the most (and if it also flew in the face of everyone who wanted him to fail then that made it all the better).

“Wait,” Tomura asked, horror taking over as an idea of starting to dawn on him, “how the hell do you know any of that?”

“Well,” Nana squirmed, “we are currently in a vestige world residing in your mind, and you’ve got a lot stored up in here. What you’ve touched, what you feel, what you’ve destroyed, what you create, what you hate, what you love…”

“Oh no, please tell me you didn’t see anything weird.”

“Of course not,” Nana reassured, “Falling in love with a close friend isn’t weird at all.”

“Grandma!”

“I can see why you adore him, such a sweet and earnest boy.”

“Grandma!”

“And beautiful eyes and scales to boot.”

“Grandma!”

“Sorry, sorry, I can’t help it,” she snickered in a way that betrayed she wasn’t sorry at all, “It’s just that I can understand how you fell for him, after all I fell in love with your grandfather in very similar circumstances.”

“… Grandpa tied with you in Smash Bros after joining your criminal organization, then endeared himself to the point you didn’t think twice about wiping Mount Fuji off the map for him?”

“No not like that,” she corrected, “We started as friends too, but our shared love was astronomy instead of video games. One time he blind-folded me and had me use my quirk with him steering, and when the blind fold was off, I realized he floated me into an area of sky with zero light pollution, just in time to watch the nova explosion of T Coronae Borealis. My impulsive ass proposed to him on the spot, skipped the dating phase entirely.”

Tomura went bug-eyed at that, but didn’t interrupt as Nana continued to reminisce, “You know, even when we exchanged our vows and eventually had your father, I knew that marrying him automatically put a target on his back. It was only a matter of time before he would get caught in the crossfire of my line of work, and in the end, even all the safety measures we took didn’t keep him safe, but I entangled us anyway. I figured that a life with him in it, however tragic and brief, was worth living more than one where I never knew just how loved and cherished I could be. Especially if that meant I could give that same amount of love back to him.”

“…Grandma,” Tomura mused, “I feel like you’re trying to tell me something.”

“I think you might’ve inherited that outlook from me,” Nana suggested, “Seeing as you were initially on the fence about undergoing the shadiest surgery known to man for the sake of power, only to decide it was worth it literally moments after your sweetie confessed that he ‘loved those warped horizons you made’, thinking that a power upgrade was just what you needed to make him even happier! You’re just as impulsive and intense when it comes to love as I was!”

“Don’t call Spinner ‘my sweetie!’ We didn’t even get the chance to pick out pet names!” Tomura cringed, then cringed harder and pouted after realizing he outed himself.

“Well, maybe you’ll get that chance,” Nana supposed, surprising Tomura with her switch to a serious tone.

“My hands, my son’s hands, your family’s hands have been holding you back for so long. So please, let me use my hands properly this time,” she whispered, moving her arms to cradle him a bit more firmly now that he wasn’t falling apart at the seams, “Let me be the hands that hold you together, that push you forward, that guide you as you take your next steps, and support you now when you need help the most.”

As she spoke, Tomura felt multiple hands slightly nudging him. Looking down, he watched as the other vestiges of One For All pressed the gathered up pieces of him together. A man wearing goggles on his head held one leg, another with a high-collared jacket handled the other. He watched as arms were positioned by two men in similar-looking combat gear, his torso aligned with his head by someone with cracks running down his face.

Once every particle was in its place, a vestige that appeared remarkably similar to Tomura placed his hands over the cracks on his chest, and suddenly that crack began to heal. The cracks did not disappear, but instead were welded together, leaving golden scars in their place. As the other vestiges repeated the process on the rest of his body, Tomura noticed a golden, foggy vestige carefully fusing each finger of his destructive hands to his palms, thankfully without the telltale holes of All For One’s quirk, but also saw that vestige slowly grow dimmer with every piece he fixed.

“You’re not really making them all give up their souls and fade away just to keep my destructive ass alive…” Tomura joked as he turned to his grandmother, who he realized was also fading away as his peripheral vision took on more of a golden hue, “…are you?”

“It’s a shame you think destroying is all you can do, when you know that you’ve had a fair share of creating things too,” Nana remarked, “and I’m willing to bet that the bonds you created with your friends are something not even your hands can obliterate.”

Tomura knew he couldn’t say a thing to disprove that statement, he wouldn’t even dare to entertain the thought of purposefully getting rid of them. “I can’t promise I won’t start another fight when I wake up, especially not if my friends are the ones in trouble. Sorry grandma.”

“That’s alright,” Nana chuckled, the grin on her face identical to the maniacal one Tomura sometimes saw in the mirror, “What kind of Shimura’s would we be if we didn’t act intensely for the people we love, just as intensely as we love them in the first place? Can you promise me something else then?”

“Depends, what is it?”

Nana bent down to whisper in her grandson’s ear, and though her final request made his face erupt into a blush, he readily agreed as they faded into darkness and whatever lay beyond this realm.

“See if you can make that delightful Player 2 of yours my grandson-in-law.”

Spinaraki Week 4 Day 5: Cutscene

Counting Scales Instead of Stars

Memories flash and recollections crash as Deku and Shigaraki fight, their experiences unwittingly shared as extensions of One for All's vestige world. One memory in particular brings the conflict to a halt.

“Sometimes when I’m trying to calm down, I’ll count your scales,” Tomura Shigaraki blurted.

“You do?” asked Spinner.

“Yeah,” Tomura Shigaraki replied.

Well, the Tomura Shigaraki in this memory he meant, not the actual one who was watching the scene too. Izuku was still trying to wrap his head around the dual memory-sharing shenanigans that had taken over this battle, but unlike many of the other scenes from Shigaraki’s life, this memory seemed to truly put the fight on hold.

“I’m the kind of guy who tends to get stuck on what makes me upset,” Memory Shigaraki explained to Spinner, “The second something goes wrong or I have to deal with some rage-inducing bullshit, I can’t stop thinking about it even after it’s over and done with. I’d bet good money on it starting with Master’s insistence that I hold all my negative emotions and experiences close to my heart.”

“The fuck kind of advice it that?” Memory Spinner remarked, and Izuku had to agree with him on that point. If that’s how Shigaraki was raised, then it was no wonder he became a walking “ball of hate”, and Izuku feared about what else All For One filled his head with.

“Kept me alive and kicking out of pure spite when I was younger at least,” Memory Shigaraki placated, as if that made it any better, “But yeah, not as useful when trying to manage other people just as messed up as I am.”

“I know the league is weird, but hey!” Memory Spinner reacted, pretending to be more offended than he actually was.

Memory Shigaraki let Spinner have his fun before he got back to the topic at hand, and Izuku couldn’t help but notice the difference between the maniacal smile Shigaraki always wore in battle and the small yet warm one on his face in this memory.

“Kurogiri used to encourage me to count floorboards or snack wrappers when I’d get in a really bad mood, called it ‘grounding’ or something. And I guess at some point after leaving the old bar I found myself counting your scales instead.”

“Well, does it help?” Spinner probed.

“I’d say so,” Memory Shigaraki gladly answered. “The number of floorboards and trash was finite, but I haven’t been able to finish counting your scales. The fact that their iridescence can be easily distracting when they reflect whatever light source is around helps too, makes me lose count ‘cause I get sidetracked while committing the sight to memory.”

Memory Spinner blushed at that but didn’t turn away, leaving Izuku to question if it meant Shigaraki eliciting that kind of response from Spinner was a regular occurrence.

“… Is my body really that nice to look at?”

“I think you’re a nice sight in general. So, I guess what I mean to say is that I could look at you forever.”

Well shoot, now Izuku was blushing in second-hand embarrassment.

“Thanks,” Spinner beamed, “You’re nice to look at too.”

“Objectively wrong but okay.”

Izuku watched the two lean into each other as they burst into laughter, the joyful sounds slowly fading away along with the scene.

“I was still trying to count all of them you know,” Tomura broke the silence. The hero turned to look at him, the real Tomura, taking in the fond expression on his face... only to watch in alarm as it changed into one of remorse. It was all he could do to not breakdown with Tomura as a cascade of all the tears he’d never cried dripped down his face.

“I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t regret much, but fuck… I really wish I found the time to find out the total. I wasn’t finished counting them. I wasn’t finished.”

Spinaraki Week 4 Day 6: Save

A Crack in the Wall

When Kurogiri is woken from his slumber and makes a surprise appearance on the battlefield, everyone rightfully begins to panic. But he isn't the one to change the outcome of this fight, the person he drags along with him is... and he isn't even conscious!

There were many plans that had to be changed, backups to backups that were implemented, but Kurogiri’s portal appearing in the Sky Coffin and dropping a braindead Spinner onto the ground before going haywire around the area was not a “planned for” scenario.

“Yes!” gloated All For One as he watched the heroes expressions turn from determination to horror, many panicking as they got caught and relocated around the death trap by the erratic portals.

“It’s just as I’ve told you pathetic heroes, the deck is stacked in my favor!” He turned and used his ward’s power to throw yet another amorphous mass of fingers and hands at his opponents, Spinner’s unresponsive body now in his sights, “It’s always been stacked in my favor!”

And that was all the villain could say before his body suddenly burst apart.

The visual could only be likened to that of a butterfly ripping its cocoon apart, desperate to break free. And from the ruptured cocoon of All For One rose Tomura Shigaraki, liberated of his master’s possession and using his first unrestricted action to dash towards Spinner.

Still in shock from the rapid changes in fight’s pace, it took Deku a moment to spring back into action and he quickly used blackwhip as an attempt to restrain Tomura. Unfortunately, Deku seemed to have underestimated Tomura’s determination to reach his destination as he didn’t stop running and Deku was swiftly yanked off his feet and dragged along the ground, only given respite when Tomura dropped to the ground himself to pull his ally into his arms.

“Spinner what the fuck happened to you?! Say something!”

Deku unburied his face from the dirt just in time to see Tomura place his hands on his ally and… stay still and wait for something to happen?

“What are you trying to do?” Deku demanded incredulously.

“Apparently your job,” the villain snarked back as he scanned the battlefield, pausing long enough in Eraserhead’s direction for Deku to realize that his teacher had regained control and was preventing Tomura from using his quirk. Tomura snarled in frustration before whipping his head towards his former caretaker and screaming, “Kurogiri help! Block Eraserhead’s view, get him out of here! I can’t cast healing on Spinner while he’s using his quirk!”

“Healing? What healing?” Deku asked, genuinely baffled at the concept of the most destructive villain he knew having new healing abilities, “Since when could you heal?”

“Since I decided to take the overload of quirk mods out of my player 2 and switch it out with my master’s regeneration quirk until he’s freaking stable!” Tomura shrieked, his red eyes flashing with an intensity that made Deku realize this really wasn’t some weird All For One clone anymore, this was the real Tomura Shigaraki, the one he wanted to save but still had legitimate apprehensions for.

“My team doesn’t have healers, and I’ll be damned if I don’t get some kind of use out of my master’s garbage ‘quirk and vestige’ package deal. I don’t care how badly you wanna drag me backwards into the fray, you’ll either help me save my friend quickly so we can continue our fight or you’ll sit down and patiently wait for your turn to die!”

“Okay fine,” Deku agreed, “Mr. Aizawa, let Shigaraki do his thing!”

“WHAT?!” cried the dual voices of his enemy and ally.

“You want help with saving an ally, fine! But try anything else and I’ll enact every vengeful thought I’ve had about you since I saw my best friend’s body lying on the ground!”

“… Fair enough,” Tomura growled, deciding to keep a retort about how said “best friend” was literally undergoing surgery anyway to himself. He waited, and within a few moments that felt like hours, he heard the telltale sound of a warpgate whisking Eraserhead off somewhere else in tandem with the rush of his master’s quirk working to clean up the mess that was made of his closest friend.

The visual below him could only be likened to that of a reptile shedding their skin, ridding itself of dead weight and ready to start anew. And from the pile of hardened scales that had fallen off awoke Spinner, his blank eyes returning to their original rosy color as he blinked back into awareness… and then overflowing with tears as he began to sob uncontrollably.

“Sorry, ‘m sorry,” Spinner blubbered.

“Hey don’t do that, you’re fine,” Tomura soothed, carefully wiping Spinner’s tears with his usually deadly hands, “What’re you even apologizing for?”

“I tried to follow All For One’s guidance, fill in the role he gave me so I could make your dream a reality. But I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t lead the team I was given. All I could do was throw myself at Kurogiri and beg him to keep you safe before it all went to black. Even with all the extra mods, I still couldn’t follow through on my end. Should’ve known that potato head was lying when he said ‘everyone can be somebody’s hero’, because I sure can’t!”

While Deku recoiled in shock at the subject of heroes being brought up now of all times, Tomura merely sighed, then leaned back just enough to take off the red cloth wrapped around his neck before closing the distance once more to bundle Spinner within it. Noticing someone shift from behind, Deku chanced a glance and saw Mirio looking shaky yet restrained. He hoped he’d be able to ask what shook him up later.

“Well, you’re right about All For One being full of shit. Still, haven’t I told you before? You don’t need to have every skill maxed out, and you don’t need to apply half a dozen strength mods. You don’t need to do anything grandiose or push yourself into a role that you can’t handle. Your loyalty and friendship are enough. It’s helped me through every fight we’ve been in, and didn’t you just admit that you powered through a quirk overload to free Kurogiri for my sake by sheer willpower? You’ve already saved me, you’re already my hero.”

Spinner let a few more tears drip down his face as he listened to the praise, then he let his body relax fully into Tomura’s embrace, using his snout to nuzzle his friend’s face with Tomura gladly returning the gesture.

In the background, Deku watched as Kurogiri settled down with the help of his old friends, pro heroes began to band together to treat each other’s wounds, and his fellow students milled around providing aid where needed. As the silence stretched on and the full weight of what everyone had witnessed was processed, that the villains who were labeled as most monstrous were capable of extraordinary compassion and tenderness, all who had considered themselves heroes turned inward to reflect, unsure of where they could or should go from here.

For Deku however, he saw what he needed to see, the missing piece that took his wavering resolve and solidified it. With his nerves steeled, he crawled over to the pair, and with a hand reached out towards them, opened his mouth to speak.