[Woo! 200 chapters!  I feel like I should get some kind of prize for this. I only started writing it again like 5 or 6 months ago.]

* * *

Shigaraki came out a while later.

Mirko couldn't tell any real difference, but Shine looked him up and down and said, "I take it he did some work."

 Shigaraki didn't really know how much Shine knew about that, so he gave her a wary look.

"I already knew about it, but I can sense weariness too. It's easy to tell things like that."

Mirko frowned. "He didn't listen to you, then."

"Why did you threaten him?" Shigaraki asked. Apparently, Ujiko had snitched.

(More like whined about it like a brat, in reality. Probably hoped Shigaraki would just kill her if he put the idea into his head, but he overestimated how loyal Shigaraki was to him over the League members.)

"Did I?" Shine said innocently.

"That's what he said, that you were a bully."

"Do you think I'm a bully?" Shine asked.

Pause.

"No, but--" Shigaraki began.

"Well, then I'm not one," Shine said, "Why should you need Ujiko to tell you if you already know me better? He's met me once. You've met me many times. So he's just mistaken, simple as that."

Mirko wouldn't have bought that, but Shigaraki was rather simple. 

"I suppose," he accepted it, "Perhaps you should clear that up."

"Eh, no, he'll figure it out," Shine dismissed it, "In the meantime, I think we should probably talk about this. Let's go."

"There's nothing to talk about," Shigaraki said.

"There's a lot to talk about and never enough time," Shine said, "but we can try. Shall we take the scenic route?" She gestured down the street.

Mirko followed but wasn't sure Shine wanted her to be part of this conversation.

She hoped she intended to talk Shigaraki out of these stupid "treatments" before it became too late to... Well, she wasn't really sure what the end result would be--something grotesque, she was sure.

How was the rest of the League okay with this? She shuddered.

"I want you to tell me about Ujiko," Shine spoke quite casually, "He must be a very trusted friend to AFO."

Shigaraki didn't see the obvious bait here, so he took it.

He knew almost nothing about Ujiko himself, but he could tell her what he'd seen of him.

"So he was there from the beginning," Shine mused, after a short explanation, "and he's a big part of training and overseeing with AFO gone... I assume he had contact with him, then."

"What?" Shigaraki said.

"Oh, please, I wasn't born yesterday," Shine said "Now, I have a real question: Would you say he and AFO are similar?"

Shigaraki wasn't usually asked real questions like that, and it kind of intrigued him.

"No," he said finally, "Ujiko likes to play games. He never seems very concerned with helping anyone else, unless Master tells him to. He just likes to make things."

"And that's not how AFO is?" Shine said.

"No." Shigaraki was probably the only one who thought that.

Mirko shot Shine a weird look behind his head that he didn't see.

"Would you say you like to play games because of Ujiko's, uh...teaching style?" Shine said, "It sounds to me like AFO is straightforward--sort of. He just picks a target and goes for it, but Ujiko has some kind of game he wants to make happen with it."

Shigaraki had never had it analyzed before.

"That's true," he said, now actually interested, "That's how they are."

"But you lean more towards AFO, direct attack, but Ujiko has been more in charge--or I should say, more the support, and so things have gotten more complicated," Shine surmised.

"That's surprisingly accurate. You were studying that?" Shigaraki said.

"Oh, I've seen the doctor type lots of times. They always like to make things complicated," Shine said, "I prefer the direct approach in a villain, personally, but no such luck around here. And I noticed the LOV's attack patterns changed since AFO's arrest, and I thought that might be the reason."

"That could be the reason. I didn't think about that," Shigaraki said.

"Pay attention to these things," Shine advised, "If your behavior changes around one person, it means they have influence, and you'll start reflecting them. That can be good or bad. For example, I could easily tell if you were around Ujiko based on how you act."

Shigaraki didn't know he acted differently. "Really?"

"Yes." Shine was enjoying his mystified expression a little too much maybe. She always liked stunning people. "And I could tell if you were around AFO too, no doubt. Picture him right now. I'll show you."

Shigaraki was too interested not to do this.

Mirko didn't really see a difference, but to Shine, who watched body language and tone and posture very closely, she saw him lower his head a little and become both more relaxed and more subdued at the same time.

"You look like this." She imitated it pretty well. "With The Doctor, you look like this." 

She went a lot more erect and stiffer, with a distant expression.

"That's interesting." Shigaraki didn't have a clue what it meant.

"That also tells me one other thing," Shine said, "Ujiko makes you uncomfortable."

Shigaraki didn't think so. "No, he doesn't."

"No? Do you feel sicker around him?" Shine said, "Feelings of dislike towards the world increase, maybe? Frustration with the challenges around the League?"

Was she reading his mind?

"You couldn't know all that just for what you showed me," Shigaraki scoffed.

"I absolutely could." Shine winked at Mirko. "You see, I don't have to read minds, I just have to read the unspoken language. And even more than that, the vibe I get from people." She tilted her head.

"I can analyze people's ways of speaking, acting, and even moving, and guess if they are a trustworthy person pretty quickly. I've been able to do that for a long time. It's saved my life countless times. Everyone thinks I'm scary because I can read them, but they could do it too, if they put energy to understand others. The secret is, I care about people a lot, so I pay attention to them, but when they don't return that, it's very easy for me to tell. What people reflect back to you tells you a whole lot about them."

Mirko wondered why she was talking about this, but she probably had a point.

"I don't think you could really do that just from that." Shigaraki was skeptical.

"If you don't believe me, how do you think AFO picks out people to use?" Shine said, "If you don't do that, you're just naive, sweetie, because I can assure you, he does. I'm sure he handpicks people based on what he observes about them. Ujiko and him work together, I'm guessing, because Ujiko can't do that. Those mad scientist types usually can't read people well. They never care about people enough to be able to do that. They just want to focus on their work. It's so easy to tell."

"How?" Mirko was unable to keep from interjecting there. She was curious. "Like, how would you tell that just from talking to him?"

"Easy clues, listen to what someone talks about," Shine said, "If it's only ever their work, that's their obsession. How do they talk about it? Does it sound like they think of it as an art or a burden? It goes on."

"Ujiko talks about other things," Shigaraki objected, though he'd never bothered to notice until now, "like my family."

"His work," Shine said.

That realization hit Shigaraki like a bullet. He actually stopped walking for a second.

"Is that why?" He was stunned.

"Oh, yes," Shine said, "What, did you think he really cared how they were doing? Unless by how, he means what condition they're in."

Shigaraki might have denied that--but a few recollections of all the times The Doctor asked him that and why, made him think Shine might be right.

"Ew," Mirko summed it up, "Where does someone get an idea like that?"

"I'll tell you," Shine said, "Hell." She looked somber. "Or at least real close to it. I've been places they had people just like Ujiko...and slaves...puppets, really. Smelled like death. I never wanted to go back there." She shuddered. "Rescued one, though."

"I guess miracles happen, then," Mirko said.

"They do," Shine said, "but they aren't for everyone, or they wouldn't really be miracles, just facts. The line blurs for some cases, but for most of us, they're special occasions."

"See, you say things like that, and then you wonder why no one gets you," Mirko said.

"I don't wonder that. I just get sad about it," Shine said, "but there are people who do get it. Some better than me. They'd blow your mind with their stories."

"Now wait," Shigaraki said, "If you put it like that, it sounds like you're accusing The Doctor of using my family as puppets."

Shine gave him a look.

Perhaps earlier on, Shigaraki wouldn't have had listened to her, but he'd seen her right too many times now, and suddenly...it kind of just clicked.

Shine held up her hands like they were moving machinery. "He's not exactly subtle about it. Of course he's using them. To motivate you."

Mirko thought that was obvious. Was it not?

Not to Shigaraki apparently.

"Well, yes, but that doesn't make them puppets--"

"Do they get a say in it?" Shine interrupted.

"No, they're dead--"

"Kind of makes them literal lifeless puppets, then," Shine said, "Dead people are meant to be buried and mourned, like the Bible tells us to do, not used like puppets. It's disrespectful. And sick...and ignores their wishes too. Does it seem fair to you?"

"I--well, they--" Shigaraki sputtered, "AFO said--"

"I asked if it seemed fair to you," Shine said.

"What does that have to do with it? Were they fair?" Shigaraki resorted to bitterness.

Shine tilted her head. "I don't know. You've never told me about them."

"Well, I'll tell you, they weren't fair," Shigaraki said angrily, scratching nervously, "They were always unfair..."

"Is that why you killed them?" Shine asked.

Mirko was slowing down. This conversation was getting a little too intense, wasn't it?

"I just wanted to do that," Shigaraki said.

"For what reason?"

"I hated them..."

Shine sighed. "I know... That's not much of an answer though. If you don't remember what happened, there's nothing to say. I'm not sure how we can ever know that way."

"I remember enough..." Shigaraki closed one eye, thinking. "I remember how my father hated heroes."

"I see," Shine said.

"He didn't allow anyone to say the word hero," Shigaraki said, now lost in thought, "or we'd sit out under that tree for hours."

Shine didn't know that part. "Oh, wow..."

"One time Hana lied about who's fault it was... That was before..." Shigaraki seemed to remember he was talking to someone else. "Never mind. How did you get me to...? You tricked me."

"Sorry if you feel tricked," Shine apologized, "There were words I couldn't say, too. You just reminded me of how I grew up..." She rubbed her hair. "I can remember so much to this day. It stings, doesn't it?"

Shigaraki stared at her oddly. 

He rubbed one of his scars almost automatically.

Shine seemed lost in thought too. "One time, I got hit... I don't normally tell people that, though... That was the moment I realized my father didn't love me."

Mirko thought that was horrible, but it was almost worse how Shigaraki brightened up.

"That's true," he said, "They're terrible."

"I'll never forget how clear it all became," Shine said, "I don't like to share it, though. It makes people uncomfortable...not villains, though. Villains all have stories like that. Maybe that's why I feel comfortable around them." She smiled wryly. "My father hated me, Tomura. I never knew why. One day I understood he just chose to. It was nothing I did. It came from stuff in his past that he never faced. Dabi and I understood each other because of that. Maybe you're one of us too, huh?"

Shigaraki was silent at first, then, easily enough, he spoke, "I got hit once too." He pointed to one of his scars.

"I'm sorry," Shine said, "I'm sure it was horrible."

"Then he tried to kill me." Shigaraki said that like it was nothing.

Mirko had been feeling like she shouldn't be here and falling behind for a while, but with her ears she could hear it all, and she almost choked right there.

"Really?" Shine didn't bat an eyelash. "Mine threatened to break me a couple times."

"Did he?"

"No. God protected me," Shine said, "That's what I believe. But it was still scary. I'm sorry you had to experience that."

"I killed him," Shigaraki said, also like it was nothing, "Did you?"

"Oh, no, still alive and well," Shine said, rolling her eyes, "and he still hates me."

"Why don't you?" Shigaraki suggested.

Shine frowned. "Don't suggest things like that lightly, Tomura. Revenge is not our way. My dad will suffer worse on his own being the way he is than I could ever hope to make him suffer. My anger doesn't matter to him, but his own is misery. God can deal with him however he sees fit. I'll leave that in his hands. Maybe he'll change. I've seen weird things around here. In which case, I'm going to put all of this out of my mind. I only remember it so I know not to trust him. I still love him."

"Why would you love someone like that?" Shigaraki said.

"I..." Shine looked upward, thinking. "Part of it? I grew up with it. I'm not sure love ever really dies in that way, it just...mutates into hatred. We hate the most because we loved the most. Always. But abandoning hatred, I had to just love differently. My love is hoping he will change and giving him the chance to do so--but not the chance to do more damage to me. That is how I love. I wish it could be more, but I'm not foolish enough to expect it if things continue as they are. But his hatred doesn't need to bother me now." She ran her hand through her hair. 

"I won't say it never hurts, but there is a kind of pain that's better than the sick satisfaction of revenge. That's not even satisfying. I would just feel guilty. At least this pain is clean, and I have so many better things to think about now--lot of wonderful friend, and even better, a fiancé who has always treated me the best, and, most of all, I have a Heavenly Father who is flawless and can never disappoint me. That's the big secret to our faith. I fully sympathize with you, but I'm not in your position, thank God. I've been lifted above it." She smiled. "And I earnestly pray the same thing would happen to you."

Well, that was the first time anyone had ever said that to him.

Shigaraki, of course, had no clue what she was on about.

"You make no sense. You should understand, of all people, but you don't," he said.

"No, I just moved past it. There was a time when I would probably have felt like you. But things change, that's all," Shine said.  

Wow, Mirko thought, I wish I was that confident. My family drives me crazy.

"But you never forget." Shigaraki was really hung up on that. "So it doesn't matter."

"Maybe someday you do forget pain," Shine mused, "but even if not, who cares? Because one thing I also will never forget is the kind of Love God showed me even before all that--and still does. That's burned into my memory just as much as the bad stuff, and in time, it even swallows up the bad stuff and makes it seem like part of it. Because God uses all that evil to show me how much more good he is, I've come to see it almost like a gift... If Jesus could suffer and still be perfect, then I can suffer too and not be alone. It won't start that way, but the secret is, overtime, it becomes that way. We all still have to grieve what happened, but grief turns into something else eventually. I'm sure it sounds crazy to you--but here's the thing, your way sounds crazy to me too. My way makes me happy, though, and feels like I have vision and direction in my life and a future. And does yours do that? 'Cause if not, I'd say I'm the one on the right track."

Well, she'd lost Shigaraki for sure.

Mirko didn't really get it either, but she was quiet.

Shigaraki was now too confused to keep questioning Shine though. He went dead silent for the rest of the walk.

Shine left him alone. She knew she'd thrown a lot at him, plus he'd had to relive that painful memory yet again, and she didn't want to overdo it.

She and Mirko talked a bit more as she fell back with her.

"It's risky to start up on all that," Mirko said.

"It's riskier not to," Shine said.

"Yeah, but I don't get it. Why not just stop Ujiko right there? You had the chance," Mirko said.

"Short of killing him, I don't think I could stop him," Shine said, "but even if I did destroy his lab, that's not what matters."

She spoke low. "If my friend there does not leave on his own and learn on his own, it's pointless. Seen that the hard way. Trust me, it's tempting for us to take the crusading approach, but it rarely works. You can't take the place out of the person so easily. They have to want to leave it for that."

Mirko frowned. "Sorry about your...you know, your dad though."

"Why? It wasn't your fault," Shine said, "I told you, I'm doing well." She smiled brightly. "I appreciate sympathy, but I don't need it. That's not who I am, and it does not define me. It's just my door to see into other people's lives. God delivered me from it in His own time, and He's healed me in His own time too. You think I'm crazy for thinking that, but you'd have to have been through it and seen just how real it is."

"I'd more say I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Mirko said, "and I don't like my family that much either, though I wouldn't go as far as you two messed up people, no offense."

"I've read that the surest way to know you're not making progress is because you think it was normal," Shine said, "Maybe it wasn't like ours, but that doesn't mean it doesn't affect you. I know you people here don't like talking about it, but we'll never understand ourselves without it. And that's biblical too. Families pass stuff down... It's also psychology. It's just ignored."

"So people can blame their parents for their s---," Mirko said.

"Nah, I don't hold with that, but we can understand them. We'll be nicer to our families often if we notice why they are the way they are," Shine said, "Our parents treat us how they were treated, usually. But the thing is, you treat everyone how you were treated. I treat people with compassion because I wasn't by my parents, but I was by God and others. And that's where a lot of us are. You either live to surpass your upbringing, or you live to fulfill it."

That was a scary thought.

Mirko didn't want to dwell on it.

"I just don't know about letting that Doctor go," she said.

"Yeah, we'll see," Shine said, "Next time, I wouldn't. But I'd rather it not have to come to that at all. Though I'm sure you, my vigilant friend, would prefer the direct approach."

"Well, duh."

"We'll just have to see." Shine left it at that.

 * * *

Shigaraki kept to himself for the rest of that day. He was always tired after those sessions anyway.

Mirko didn't question him. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Medea asked her what happened, and she told her, "Shine declared war again."

"Dang..." Medea said.

That was the UA kids' reaction too.

"I don't know about this," Momo said, "To keep provoking our enemies like this...don't you think that's dangerous?"

"I did think so, but it seemed the time to take a risk," Shine said. She held her hands up like she was spreading out a map. "Look at all of the things that have happened since we got here. I don't think this world is pleased to see us."

"How can the world as a whole have an opinion?" Shoto asked.

"We're called World Walkers for a reason," Shine said, "You must simply trust me. We don't perceive the world like you do. The differences would be so subtle they're hard to pinpoint, but the overall picture is very different for us. What you think is important is not the same as what we think. We've all had our disagreements over that."

They nodded.

"And you started to come to see our POV," Shine said.

"Yeah," Shoto said, "eventually."

"What we have always known is that your reactions were indicative of the world you live in," Shine said, "Oh, not completely--you're still your own people. But the basic assumptions you make about the way things are, you've no clue how reliant they are on this world until something from a different one interacts with you. For me it began with the Supernatural, but it can work this way too. Just with us."

"Wow," Momo said.

"What she's getting at is that the problems we've had aren't just about heroes at this school," Wally said, "Some of them are about us too. All of it, in a way. The world will push back at anything that threatens its way of life."

"That's becoming freaking obvious," Bakugo said, "So how do you stop it?"

Shine answered now:

"We can't. Someday God will do that. But we find a way to go on. Jesus told us the world would hate us, like it hated him, but to be of good cheer, because He has overcome it. We don't need to fear it, but the main obstacle to success a World Walker tends to feel the most is the world. There's three: our own human nature stops us, the world, and the devil. However you think of the devil, the forces of evil, temptation, or a literal devil, I'm not sure it matters too much in the long run. We still must resist it." She frowned. "Anyway, you all should know this if you intend to follow in our footsteps. You won't ever be popular for it. The world will try to foil you. It will appear like it's sympathetic, but it eats you alive. The temptation to try to succeed by its rules, well, even we've felt it." She and Wally looked at each other.

https://youtu.be/B5s0oB1EzpA

[Eat You Alive--The Oh Hellos]

"What does this have to do with the enemies we've made here?" Momo said.

"Sweetie," Shine said, "the problem you all have is that you think enemies are just something outside this school. Wally and I have enemies here, everywhere. We're not any safer on this campus, minding our own business, than we are directly challenging the baddies...so I thought, why keep acting timid and passive? I'm not that kind of person."

"And you know I'm not." Wally cracked his knuckles. "I bust heads at home all the time. I'm raring to go."

Bakugo grinned. "Now we're talking."

"The evil people here won't rest till they've destroyed us all," Shine said, "There is no rest for the wicked--that's a verse too--but we must be even more relentless, and if they bite, we bite back harder. We repay 10 fold...not maliciously, but because it is not a virtue to be passive about doing good. Not that it's our main mission to go around starting fights, but in this kind of work, you have to fight, a lot. And I'm okay with that. I don't carry a sword to look cool, you know."

"That's what I'm about," Bakugo said, "No more of this passive sh--! We should kill the SOBs!"

"Bakugo..." Momo said, "I don't think that's very...godly..."

"Don't you read the Old Testament? God kills people all the time," Bakugo said.

"That's not exactly right," Shoto said.

"I'm inclined to agree," Shine smiled, "but I like you're fighting spirit, Bakugo, and I have a feeling, if things ramp up, we're going to need that. So you keep doing you."

Bakugo grinned.

"In fact, dial it up," Shine said, "I'd rather scare those jerks into submission than actually have to fight anymore."

"I wouldn't mind throwing a few punches," Wally said tightly, "Why do they think it's okay to treat people like this...any of them?"

"It's your fight, though," Shine told the kids, "You've been handpicked here. I'm trying to tell all of you, don't be afraid. Whenever the fight finally arrives, you need to be fearless. No worrying about whether you're good enough. You don't have to be. It's all on Him. You just need to be willing."

Momo and Shoto nodded somberly.

"I'm ready any time." Bakugo was undaunted.

"Good," Shine said, "Be ready in season and out of season, right? You all train for that. The rest of our team should know this too."

[Thirty Seconds to Mars-This is War]

https://youtu.be/hMAVLXk9QWA

"How many do we have now?" Wally asked, "I mean, I've lost count..."

"I'm not sure... These three, Camie, Aizawa now, Emi..."

"Don't forget Monama, even if he's a weirdo."

"Yeah, and Kaminari and Jiro and, of course, Dabi. That's 10...and Rumi. That's 11."

"Does Hawks count?"

"Nah, he's pending," Shine said, "Fuyumi might count though, but she's not a regular."

"We almost have a whole set," Wally said.

"I didn't realize how big we'd gotten," Momo mused.

"I want Shigaraki to join," Shine said.

"But he's evil," Shoto said.

 "Yeah, okay," Shine said, in an "are you serious?" tone.

"I...don't think he's the type..." Momo said.

"Maybe not," Shine said, "but I still feel like we're missing someone. Some role isn't filled here. I can't put my finger on it."

[Hmm...foreshadowing?]

"Do you think Ujiko will make a move soon?" Shoto changed the subject.

"I don't know," Shine said, "That's not really our concern. I don't think he can hurt us... It's the others I'm worried about."

"Eh, I think they'll pull through." Wally was optimistic. "They made it this far."

Shine laughed wryly...and nervously.

[This arc is mostly set up, but this is all sounding pretty ominous even so...dang...

Wonder what's coming...]