Chapter Text
His head hurt, Tomura groaned and slowly sat up from where he had been laying on the floor. Everything hurt, every part of his body felt like it stung or was sore in a way he hadn't felt before. Like a really tough workout that had ended in tragedy.
Slowly, he looked down at himself, he could see the bite marks on his thighs, scratches over his hips, up his torso, and more bite marks coming up on his chest, with different degrees of depth, he could see that some were superficial while others had dried blood around them, likewise with the scratches he could see a few that might need him to clean them and cover them up. He was entranced looking at all the marks, slowly running his fingers over the scratch marks, tracing the hickeys and the bites all the way up before flinching as he felt a sharp pang on his neck. Slowly moving his hand up to brush over the raised skin around the scent gland on his neck.
Memories of the past couple of days rushed to him all at once the moment he touched his neck.
They bonded.
He marked Spinner.
Spinner couldn’t leave now.
“Ah, good you’re awake.” He heard a voice coming from the TV in the room, Tomura’s blood running cold as he realized who it was. Sensei's voice was impossible to confuse and only one man would have that kind of access to his room. “No need to look so upset. You finally did what you were supposed to, I must say I didn't really expect you to do so. Didn't you say you were going to think about my proposal?”
“Sensei,” Tomura whispered, grabbing the first piece of clothes he could find to cover himself, curling up on himself. “You…”
“Hush now, child. You’re bonded now, you won’t have to worry about alphas trying to use you or use your nature to get a leg over you. Shame on your choices but at least the job is done.” He sounded too amused, like a plan he had been working on for ages had finally come to fruition. A twinge of disappointment still lingered in his tone, but for some reason, Tomura got the impression that he was trying to hide it. “If you’re lucky then he knocked you up and once you have an heir you can get rid of him without fearing repercussions. Widowed omegas are said to function as well as betas anyways.”
“You planned this.” It wasn’t a question, Tomura had no doubt All for One had planned for this. Widowed omega, so he was planning on killing Spinner too? “What did you give me...”
“I'd be careful what you cause me with, boy. It's hardly my fault you couldn't keep track of your heat if you really did not mean for this to happen. In any case, it was probably for the best, they say the first time is supposed to hurt but it seems you enjoyed yourselves.” Sensei laughed his amusement washing over Tomura like an icy cold shower, making him itch from his toes all the way to the top of his head, like ants crawling over his skin, underneath, and all the way down to his bones. He saw. He planned it, he didn’t care what Tomura wanted, he could lie but he had to be the one that did something. “Now get dressed, and be ready to go to Kyudai. We’ll see what state you’re in.”
Tomura wanted to scream, he wanted to reach over and wrap both hands around Sensei and watch him turn to dust. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen, it wasn’t what he wanted.
He scratched at his face, nails digging into the scars he already had as he tried to get rid of the itch that spread across his body, the burning behind his eyes, and over his chest, he felt like he couldn't get enough air in like the room was closing in on him and darkness took over. Closing his eyes only resulted in memories of last night, and the last couple of nights, springing forth, still able to feel the phantom touch of Spinner’s hands on him.
He felt the alpha move, turning around so he wouldn’t be able to look at him, he could only imagine what his face would look like as he realized what had happened. He could hear the riffling through the sheets, the groan as Spinner woke up, and finally the gasp as he seemed to realize what happened.
“Tomura…” Spinner spoke up, though his voice sounded distant to Tomura, the white-haired boy standing up in one smooth motion, flinching as he felt the pain shoot up his lower back, and the mess dripping down his thigh.
“I have to go to Doctor Ujiko. You can do whatever you want during the day. I won’t be back for a while.” He told him, leaving the room in a rush.
He’d messed up, he’d let his guard down and in the end, he’d trapped Spinner despite his intentions of setting the alpha free. Now…there was no way that he would be able to tell him to leave, it would be torture for both of them to try and get distance from the new bond, and breaking it was not an option. Sensei had been clear, if he broke it Tomura would suffer the backlash but so would Spinner, it wouldn’t be any help and he would more than likely go back to the market to be sold to another. Unlikely, really, an alpha with a broken bound was unlikely to be used as anything more than a toy for heats.
Tomura didn’t want that fate for Spinner.
So he had to stay, stuck with someone like him, after they messed up, all because Tomura was too stupid to know when to put an end to his games because he let his instincts take over for a moment.
They didn’t speak for days afterward. Tomura avoided Spinner wherever the alpha went and stopped inviting him to the room to play games. Not that he had been playing games lately, most of the time he spent it sleeping or being summoned by All for One. Work was still being done, and there was very little he could do to stop it, regardless of how much he couldn’t stomach the man these days.
The longer the two didn’t see each other, the more Tomura found himself remembering the stories that Spinner had told him during their afternoons together. About his life before he had been sold, and before Tomura had found him. It was strange, how every time he imagined it now it felt like he was looking into some old, forgotten memory, but he could imagine a younger Spinner playing games outside by the swings, or staying up late at night until his parents told him to go to sleep. It ached in a way that he couldn’t quite explain or understand. Like he missed something he never really had.
Maybe it was because he missed Spinner. Missed their talks together, their afternoons with nothing to do except try and beat each other at whatever game they decided to play that day. But it was better like this if the two of them didn’t interact then breaking the bond or letting it fade into something easier to ignore would be a lot easier in the long run. Even if he felt an unfamiliar ache, and knew that he wasn’t the only one that missed their afternoons together.
Spinner had been trying to get to him though, he knew it, Kurogiri had told him as much more than once but he just couldn’t face him. And at the end of the day, Tomura still owned Spinner, if he told the alpha to stay away, he had to obey, and if he told everyone else not to let him leave, or not to let the alpha find him, then everyone that worked for him would ensure that it wouldn’t happen. They were already doing it, helping Tomura by letting him know when Spinner was looking for him. Of course, they didn’t mean it but that didn’t mean that it didn’t work out to Tomura’s advantage.
It was better this way.
Nothing was going according to plan.
Shuichi had known everything had gone wrong the moment he woke up the day after his rut was over, mind clear for the first time in who knew how long, and saw Tomura’s back hunched over before the boy left him behind.
He had seen the scratches, the dried blood, the bite marks that he was sure hadn’t healed even weeks after the two of them slept together. He had seen how much he’d hurt the omega and it felt like a punch to the gut that he wouldn’t look at Shuichi anymore, that he wouldn’t even let Shuichi apologize! They were back to square one somehow, where Spinner felt like he was little more than a decoration around the large mansion, the collar around his neck heavier than ever. He noticed Kurogiri looking at him a lot, every time Spinner asked to be taken to Tomura only for the older alpha to shake his head and tell him that Tomura was not up for visitors.
The problem was that he wasn't a visitor. They were mates now, it would take someone very stupid not to realize and feel the fledgling bond forming after he woke up, but Tomura acted as if nothing happened; as if he had simply gotten tired of Shuichi now that he'd scratched an itch. Except that he knew that wasn’t the case, despite his own self-esteem issues, there was no way to let those thoughts take over when he could feel everything the omega was feeling.
Guilt.
He didn’t feel disgusted but he felt guilt, anger, and despair and there was so much sadness that Shuichi didn’t know how to manage it all.
All he knew was that he wanted to help him.
He wanted to be free too, he wanted to get away from the ever-present eyes, so he could take Tomura away and the two of them could live somewhere that they weren’t both prisoners. The worst part of it all was that he could now see this wretched mansion for what it was.
A gilded cage that was meant to keep Tomura inside no matter what.
He’s seen the man responsible a few times after that first meeting, the aura around “Sensei” was intimidating and had something so dark surrounding him that Shuichi was surprised he hadn’t felt it before, even without seeing the man face to face. He had told Shuichi that his services wouldn’t be necessary for long, had looked him over from under his nose, judging him, but not even trying to touch him. The man hadn't given anything away while talking to him, but Shuichi knew enough to know that he was disgusted by him, all he needed to look at was the look in his eyes. It had been a short meeting, the older man only claiming that as soon as he got a pup from Tomura, he’d be free to leave before sending him on his way.
Shuichi really had no idea what he was supposed to do with that. He doubted it would be just as easy as leaving out the front door, but even if it was, he really didn’t think he would take it at this point. He didn’t want to leave Tomura behind, he wanted to help him, to show him all the places he’d talk about, take him to his old home, go somewhere where they could just play games and not have to worry about anything else.
He didn’t know what “Sensei” wanted with Tomura, or whatever pup Tomura had, but he knew that it couldn’t be good, and he knew that if he didn’t do something quick…then he would find out in the worst possible way.
So he started planning. He started checking on everyone just like he had at the beginning, and he worked on a plan to get out.
This time, however, he didn’t plan to leave alone, and he wouldn’t let Tomura be left behind. They would both be free.
It wasn’t easy to work though, and as the days passed and he continued gathering supplies and using his quirk to get into increasingly harder places to get into, he knew time was going to run out if he waited much longer.
Because his rut would be coming up at the end of the month, and Tomura’s heat was no doubt going to follow through and he didn’t want a repeat of last time, he wanted the two of them to be free and only when they were outside would he ask Tomura to be his mate properly. On equal footing instead of Shuichi being owned by him. Because there was no real way to deny the truth anymore, he cared about the omega, he liked him, and he did want to be with him and belong to him for the rest of his days but he wanted Tomura to belong to him too. And he would make sure it would happen, he wasn't sure how but he would make sure that they would both get out of the mansion and achieve those particular goals.
It took weeks to plan, and he had to take all he had learned weeks ago when he was still actively trying to escape, but eventually, he had the perfect plan and he knew there was no reason to wait any longer. With all the plans made, he prepared two duffel bags, filling them up completely with clothes for the two of them, all the money he had managed to steal little by little in the span of a month. He had stolen a bunch of canned food as well, bags of chips, anything that he could get that wouldn’t go bad and would be good for the two of them to eat until they found a place to stay.
He didn’t go to see Tomura until he was sure he had everything, waiting until night fell before sneaking into his room, dropping a duffel bag on his bed to wake him up, and staring at him when Tomura sat up on the bed almost immediately, seeing how he was unable to hide his alarm at first before he relaxed when he saw Shuichi was the one standing by the foot of his bed.
“I want to leave. I want us to leave. Together.” Shuichi told him, looking right at Tomura, seeing the confusion on his face slowly clearing out and giving way to the realization.
Leaving…he knew Spinner would want to leave eventually but he didn’t think it would be this soon. And for this to be the first thing they spoke about in weeks made a familiar itch start at his neck as he stared at him from his bed, glancing down to look at the two duffel bags and realizing that he didn't just mean he wanted to go but that he wanted to go quickly, wanted to leave today.
“Leave?” He asked, moving to the side of the bed to sit down instead of the middle of it. “What the hell are you talking about? If you want to leave you can try but what are you saying now with "us"…”
“Because I want you to come with me Tomura.” Spinner interrupted, walking closer to him. “I know we never talked about…that night, and I know I hurt you, I get it if you want to try and break the bond. But we can’t stay here. I’ve heard enough from you to know that it’s not…safe.”
“No place on earth is safe, Spinner.” Tomura points out, pinching his nose and trying to think while staring at the two bags that Spinner had brought into his room. “I can’t leave.”
“Yes, you can. Leave with me, we can figure stuff out when we get out. I know some people that can help us hide and we can find some small apartment or something.” Spinner continued, walking over towards him, never once letting his eyes stray from him. “You’re not happy here, you’re not safe if what happened the other night is any indication…”
“What exactly do you think will happen if we leave? Happily ever after? This ain’t that kind of game Spinner.” Tomura growled, trying to keep his voice low as he looked at him, quickly growing more desperate as he kept talking.
Yes, he would love to leave, go out, and see everything Spinner talked about. But leaving Sensei, leaving everything he knew? And for what? A life where he had fewer resources, where he wouldn’t be able to come back and would be leaving behind Sensei of all people.
“Maybe not happily ever after, but we can figure something out,” Spinner spoke softly. Reaching over to take his hand, being mindful not to touch this palm, holding on to his wrist. “I know what you’re thinking. But I also know that deep down…you want to leave too.”
A pause.
Red eyes met maroon as the two of them made eye contact.
What a stupid, and crazy idea, that was sure to end with one of them dead and Tomura trapped in a basement somewhere.
“Let’s go, before he wakes up and tries to stop us.” He whispered, jumping up from his room to get dressed.
He kept his pants on, grabbing a pair of socks and a hoodie to put over the pajama t-shirt he had been wearing, before grabbing the duffel bag that Spinner held out towards him. Blinking in surprise when he was also handed a pair of gloves. It seemed like the alpha had really thought of everything before bringing this to him, he had the plan to leave and he made sure Tomura would fit in with it.
Tomura didn’t hesitate to put them on, knowing it would be safer for the two of them if he could control his quirk, and gasping when Spinner took his hand and pulled him along without any hesitation. He knew what his quirk could do, and he still hadn't hesitated to take his hand.
They had to hurry. If Sensei figured out they were leaving then they would be screwed and they had to be careful not to be seen by Kurogiri as well. It seemed that Spinner had been doing his homework too because he guided Tomura wherever he knew there were no servants, and Tomura showed him the places where the cameras wouldn’t be able to see them.
His heart was beating hard and going all the way up to his throat with every step they took that lead them closer and closer to the gardens, and then closer to the fences until the two of them could throw their bags over the fence and watch them fall on the other side.
“I’ll climb up and then pull you with me okay?” Spinner whispered, grabbing onto the large fence and climbing up. They were so close. He wondered if this was as close as Spinner had gotten all the previous times before he was brought back. He knew he'd tried before, he had wondered many times whether he should have let him go back then or told Kurogiri to let him go.
Droplets of water started to fall on Tomura’s face, wiping them off quickly as he continued watching Spinner climb. But he had taken his eyes off of him for a single second, and at that moment, a portal had appeared. Tomura watched in horror as Spinner fell in, and fell right next to Tomura on the grass.
“Kurogiri.” He whispered, looking around and seeing the misty man standing there. Hand outstretched after opening the portal.
They had been so close.
“You shouldn’t be out here, Shigaraki Tomura, you will catch a cold.” The man spoke up, taking a couple of steps towards him. “I suggest heading back inside.”
“I don’t want to.” Tomura declared, reaching down to help Spinner stand up, both of them standing close together. “I want to leave, Kurogiri.”
“Sensei wouldn’t be pleased if he heard you.” Kurogiri pointed out, watching the two of them, but at least for now, he didn’t seem to be trying to teleport them right back to their bedrooms. “I do not wish for you to get hurt, my job is to protect you, and this…”
“This is how I stay protected,” Tomura told him, glaring at the man. He was tired of everything going Sensei’s way. Of everyone around him being nothing more than slaves. Spinner, Kurogiri..himself. “I want to leave, Kurogiri, I want to go with Spinner…please just let us go. If you give a single damn about me, if you’re anything more than Sensei’s stupid puppet…let me go.”
Silence.
The rain fell harder around them, he didn’t know it was supposed to storm today but he didn’t care. He would stay there, soaking wet under the water, as long as it took. As long as he was able to leave, he’d take whatever weather he had to.
He didn’t know how long time passed, it almost felt like hours, before Kurogiri moved a hand up, and a portal opened in front of him and Spinner, another one opening behind them.
On the other side of the fence.
Tomura turned towards Kurogiri in surprise, he hadn’t expected the man to actually help them. The most he thought they would get is Kurogiri turning a blind eye, but here they were. Spinner didn’t hesitate, walking through the portal as soon as he realized where it lead, letting out a sigh of relief once he made it out of the mansion in one piece. But Tomura couldn’t move, staring at the man that had been his babysitter for years now, letting him go. Going against Sensei’s orders.
“Hurry, or I won’t be able to stop whoever else your Sensei sends behind you, Shigaraki Tomura,” Kurogiri said, voice softer as he looked at the younger man.
He didn’t know what to say, what would be appropriate after everything that had happened. At a moment like this.
“Thank you.” It felt like too little, but it was the best that he could do, as he stepped through the portal and saw Kurogiri on the other side of the fence, both of them still keeping eye contact. “...You could come with, with your portals we could..”
“Leave, Tomura.” Kurogiri interrupted him, his glowing yellow eyes squinting slightly as he looked at him. A smile. “You wouldn't say that if you knew what I'd done...but even so, perhaps we might meet again one day soon.”
“Yeah…yeah, I hope so. Just, not back here.” He replied, smiling back to Kurogiri before he felt Spinner’s hand slipping into his, getting his attention back, the alpha carrying both duffel bags now. "...What have you done? You said I wouldn't want to bring you but..."
"He's a good alpha," Kurogiri told him, bowing his head slightly before taking out a small bottle from his best. "Far better for you than He would have been...I know it was not what you wanted. Or how you wanted. But my duty has always been to take care of you, and now that you're old enough...to know when someone else can take care of you."
It all made sense, looking at that bottle. He hadn't missed the signs of his heat he had been feeling something else. He had assumed it was Sensei that had slipped something into his food but Kurogiri was the one that had access to his food all this time. And it made a lot more sense if Kurogiri made sure he would mate with someone before Sensei could get his claws in. Kurogiri had been there from the start, he had seen Spinner and approved of the selection with Tomura. He'd told him before that Spinner had been a decent choice hadn't he? And the days after the two bonded, Kurogiri had been the one encouraging him to talk to Spinner, to reassure him the alpha wasn't mad with him. Kurogiri had been the one to keep an eye on Spinner when Tomura wasn't around to make sure Sensei wouldn't do anything, and that had helped the young alpha settle into his brand new cage once he had been brought to the mansion.
It was fucked up. But he supposed Kurogiri had been looking out for the two of them.
“We have to hurry,” Spinner whispered, glancing at Kurogiri and nodding at him, suspicion coloring his face along with gratitude as he took Tomura's hand once more. Tomura knew he had to be feeling as conflicted as he did about this new revelation. “Thank you.”
“Go, there’s no time to lose,” Kurogiri told them, shooing them away as he glanced back towards the mansion. “...Good luck, and take care of each other.”
“We will” Spinner nodded, and without waiting any longer, he pulled Tomura along, outside the mansion and deeper into the woods, heading towards the city.
They were out.
They were free.
“Oy, oy Ten-chaaaan.” Toga burst into Tomura’s room. Interrupting the omega currently trying to stop the room from spinning as he lay down on the floor.
It had been a few months since Spinner and he had managed to escape the mansion and made their home away from Sensei's eyes. He’d taken an old name, Shimura Tenko, and Spinner was known by Iguchi Shuichi as well, the name he had before it was also taken by the handlers at the brothel, they lived in an old run-down apartment that they had managed to rent at an affordable place a few weeks after running away. It had seemed like a godsend at first, the place was right within budget and both of them could find a job to maintain the payments without a lot of issues.
They found out after a few days that the price came because it seemed like the building would fall on their heads if they weren’t looking hard enough.
The landlord, Giran, seemed to be in the habit of letting kids down on their luck stay for very cheap, and he had been able to get both of them jobs to help pay rent every month. It was a far cry from the old luxury he was used to but Tomura had found himself a lot more comfortable. There were no more cameras in every room, no more Sensei constantly pushing him to the limits of his power, he hadn’t felt the urge to scratch or the itch ever since they made it out, and he’d found himself befriending more people than he ever thought capable.
Some of the tenants and new neighbors that Shuichi and Tomura had to get used to were:
Toga, the girl that didn’t know any boundaries, was a young omega who escaped before she could be sold by her parents to the market, she had found Giran and the man had been letting her stay for free for a while since she had only turned 18 recently.
Twice, an alpha with as many personalities as he had mental issues, was usually close behind her, the two were inseparable and as long as Toga stuck around Tomura, then so did Twice.
Compress, the beta that lived upstairs, was probably the most normal of the lot, often stopping by with fancy pastries and exciting stories of jobs he took, always accompanied by his partner in crime, an alpha that just introduced herself as Magne.
Last, and Tomura would insist “least”, was Dabi, another alpha that got on his nerves whenever he was around. Unfortunately, it seemed like that was the case often since it was a habit by now to see the fire user appear alongside everyone.
It was almost like a makeshift pack. As annoying as they could be, Tomura didn’t think he’d change them for anything.
And then there was Shuichi.
The two of them lived together, obviously, and while at first, they tended to take turns on who slept on the couch and who slept on the bed, by the time Tomura’s heat got closer, he decided that was just stupid when the two of them were mates already. And it was easy to shed the awkwardness after the euphoria of freedom took over. That had been an awkward conversation, that Tomura didn’t want to think about at the moment, where feelings were brought up and conversations about intimacy and what was okay to do and what wasn't considering their past. Feelings hadn't been easy for Tomura, and for the most part, he had let Shuichi speak everything that was on his mind until he had run out of things to say. They had both been a mess, embarrassed and flustered, and by the end of it all Tomura could think to do was push the alpha down and kiss him until both of them were breathless and clothes only got in their way.
So they were official mates now.
This was great because their couch sucked and Tomura much preferred being able to sleep on the same bed as Spinner, cuddled up against him, it made the uncomfortable mattress almost bearable.
“What do you want, Toga.” Tomura sighed, looking up from where he had been trying to rest on the heater and looking toward the younger Omega. “I told you lot that I wasn't feeling good, I'm pretty sure dinner didn't agree with me and this better be important or I'll throw up on you”
“Yeah, yeah, right, this is important!” Toga said, jumping up and down. “Is it true you two are thinking about attacking the market?”
“Who told you that?” Tomura asked. The idea had come up once or twice, whenever Shuichi told him about his time in the cages and he would ask if he wanted to destroy them. More often than not the alpha would hesitate, but the more it came up, the less he thought about it. Until he finally asked how they would even go about it.
Destruction came naturally to Tomura; he was almost offended Shuichi had asked such a thing.
“A little bird! Well? Are you?” Toga looked excited, and just the way she was jumping up and down told Tomura that she would want to help. So he gave a sigh, put the tools away, and looked over toward him.
“Who else knows?” He asked, rather than giving a straight answer.
“Oh just everyone in the building. The walls are very thin you know?” Toga whistled, giving him a knowing look. “We all know we have to go all the way to the bottom apartment every last weekend of the month. Heats are killer for you and Shu-chan huh? Speaking of, you've been really sick lately! I think Big sis is starting to worry you might be pre--”
“Are you the only one that wants to join?” His voice was probably louder than it had to be, and Toga started laughing at the look on his face.
“Oh no, everyone wants a piece, why?” She finally managed between giggles.
Everyone huh?
Well, that would make this a lot more fun.
“Tell them to come over tonight then. We’ll destroy the market together.”