NeonHorizon: Last chapter of Gray Area! So...Shigaraki fans, I'm going to have to recommend Twisted Little Heart to you because it's OC x Shigaraki exclusively. Twice fans, I recommend Red Strings of Fate (it also has Aizawa). PLEASE BE SURE TO READ MY NOTE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER.

I can't…do this anymore. I just can't. I feel like I'm losing my mind. And I keep coming back here. Yori leaned her head back against the wall, hands tucked into the pockets of her coat as she released a sigh. She closed her eyes, trying to forget. Trying not to think about where she was.

The "dead bird" hallway. The "Chisaki" hallway. The "Overhaul" hallway. Just the sight of those morbid doodles on the walls made her sick to her stomach. She was reminded of him and of what she had done to him.

For the past few nights, she had been plagued with nightmares of violence. Those random people on the street she had stung just because Shigaraki told her to. The horrific murder of her mother's husband, when she had gone with Twice and Dabi to get funds for the League. The time she had straddled Overhaul as he lay bleeding, viciously carving a heart into his right pectoral while he was helpless.

Along with these moments came one that made her feel more remorse than anything else could. She had no regrets about what she did to Overhaul. She had no regrets about her mother's husband. The innocent bystanders made her feel a little bad. However, the worst was the warped dream of what she did to Aizawa.

In reality, she had stung him and injected him with a level two dose of venom. She left him blind and deaf in an alley so she and Twice could escape. Her dream about it was extremely warped. While it had actually taken place during the day, her dream showed it as nighttime. Her dreaming mind was apparently cruel because instead of showing her stinging him in the shoulder, it showed her stingers growing insanely long and stabbing through his chest.

I wanted this. Didn't I? I chose to stay a villain for the rest of my life. So…why don't I feel happy? She slid down the wall, sitting on the floor among discarded pens and dried up markers. Her tails dragged over the floor at her side, leaving dark trails of venom.

Every day, she followed a routine. Yori usually woke beside Toga and would go to see Shigaraki, spend some time with him for a while, then the League members would try to scrounge up some funds. Their hunt was usually unsuccessful so she would then try to cheer Shigaraki up, which was also usually unsuccessful. By evening, she found herself back in the "dead bird" hallway alone. This time was spent in solitude as she reflected on the day's events and the past. Bedtime was signaled by Toga and Twice retrieving her from the hallway to go sleep.

The routine made her feel like she was going insane. The nightmares made her feel like a monster. Most days, she just wanted to scream. There were times when she would go to the window and wonder how far up she was. If a fall from that height would kill her or just shatter her bones.

I have to do something, she thought as she opened her eyes. This…isn't living. Yori's phone pinged with a message and she rummaged in her pocket for it. It was a message from Dabi, asking about his vaccine. Despite having finished it a few days ago, she had yet to give it to him. Everyone else had been vaccinated, though.

The other villain told her to meet him at a bar to give him the syringe and she reluctantly agreed. At least it was something different from the usual. She pushed herself to stand and dusted off the back of her pants and coat. As she walked along the corridor, she ran her fingertips over the wall and grazed the numerous images of dead birds.

The girl set off to meet up with Dabi, frowning to herself as she meandered down an alley. She had the hood pulled up on the coat to keep her face shaded. It was dangerous for any of the League members to be out alone, but she needed to get away for a while. She needed to try to cling to what little sanity she had left.

Yori was about to reach the end of the alley when a figure stepped into her line of sight. She bit the inside of her cheek, eyes instantly narrowing as she pushed up her glasses. "It's…Hawks, right?"

"Hey, Grayscale." He lifted a hand in greeting, the large red wings behind him spreading a bit as he took a few steps forward. "Where are you heading?"

She tensed at the question and frowned. "It doesn't concern you."

"Are you going to see Dabi?" There was something about his tone. Like he knew exactly where she was heading.

It was now that Yori realized something was different about his costume. She had only met him once, but that was still enough to tell her that something was different about how he looked. Bulkier? It's kind of like he's wearing padding under his clothes or something. What kind of villain does he think he's going to run into out here?

"I saw him earlier," Hawks explained. He took another step closer, head tilting one way and then the other like a curious bird. "You're pretty jumpy, aren't you?"

"I told you before-"

"What was it again?" He had kept his hands in his pockets until now and the sight of his hands made Yori's eyes go wide. The winged hero was wearing thick gloves like one would wear to handle a bird with talons. Or a large scorpion. "You said the last time someone really wanted to meet you…?"

Yori swallowed, hard, and took a step back. What is this? Why is he wearing gloves like that? This isn't…he's…A cold sweat broke out all over her as she nearly tripped over her feet to take another step back. He's going to take me to Tartarus!

Hawks held up his right hand, holding up four fingers and lowering them one by one as he listed what she had said before. "Kidnapped, held captive, beaten, mutilated. And other bad stuff, right?"

"What…what are you talking about? Back off! Back off before I put my stingers into your fucking neck!" she snarled, tails shifting side to side in anger.

His free hand ran over his hair, pushing back a few stray golden strands. "I'm only going to do two of those things so you shouldn't be too traumatized."

"What the fuck are you saying?" Yori reached for her phone with a trembling hand. What is he talking about? What is he planning to do?! Preparing to call Dabi since his number was at the top of her address book, she knew she had to get some distance between herself and the hero.

Her boots thudded against the ground as she sprinted in the opposite direction of Hawks. She was willing to scream if she had to. Surely the hero would let her go if she drew a bunch of attention.

"Hey! I'm trying to help you, Grayscale!"

"Leave me alone!" Her tails whipped around behind her as she ran, stingers swiping to keep him at bay. A loud flapping sound alerted her to him using his wings and he was suddenly in front of her. Yori collided with the man and tried to quickly back up, but found both of his arms wrapping tightly around her to hold her against him. "No! Let go of me!"

Her stingers attempted to stab into him, but the padding protected him. Growling in frustration, she started to thrash in an attempt to free herself, but it was futile. Hawks was holding onto her too tightly and now wearing a small frown. She snarled at him, swearing and calling him every bad name she could think of.

When she finally grew too frustrated to even speak, Yori went silent and simply glared up at him. He cocked his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "Done?"

"Let…go…of…me!" she repeated through gritted teeth.

"Nope. That's not going to happen. Not part of the plan."

"What're you talking about? What plan-?"

"Close your eyes." It was her only warning before he spread his wings and took to the air.

What Hawks did not know, what basically no one knew, was that Yori was absolutely terrified of heights. Her eyes closed, hands clutching his jacket tightly and her tails wrapping around his left leg as extra security. In her head, she swore again and again as cold air whipped at her hair and clothes.

To add to her already quickly mounting fear, she was also afraid of what he had planned. He was supposed to be a hero, as far as she knew. It would make sense if he was taking her to Tartarus, but it sounded like he had different plans for her. What is he planning?! Where's Dabi when I actually need him? Damn it! Her tails tightened around his leg as she turned her head to the side and opened an eye to try to see where he might be flying to.

This was a mistake. The second she saw how high off the ground they were, she felt her heart start to palpitate and then her body started to go limp. Her vision got blurry and the villain fainted in the hero's arms.

Shift P.O.V

He felt her go limp and looked down at the pale-haired villain. Her glasses were slightly askew, eyes closed. The twintails that had wrapped around his leg had gone loose and were now dangling below them as he flew. It was for the best that she fainted. It made the rest of the flight a little easier.

Spotting Grayscale walking alone had been pure luck. He had been planning this for a little while now, but he had so far been unlucky in trying to find her alone. When he saw her on this day, he knew he had to act fast. After reading a little about scorpion stingers and precautions that dangerous animal handlers took, he got the padding and special gloves. He made a few more precautions as well for once he acquired the villain.

Hawks reached his destination and shifted his hold on her so he carried her bridal-style. Her tails hung limply below her with her stingers dragging over the ground as he walked. She was still very much asleep so she would be easier to handle. He was glad. He might even be able to get started on the hardest part of his plan before she woke up.

Shift P.O.V

Yori stirred awake on something soft and jolted when she remembered what had happened. She looked around and found herself in an unfamiliar apartment. What…? Where did he take me? Yori felt something on her tails and looked down. Someone had applied a plaster cast to her tails in an attempt at correcting their healing. She lifted the tails slightly to look at the handiwork and frowned.

A door opened across the apartment and the red-winged hero greeted her with a smile. "You slept a long time. I didn't think I'd have time to get dinner."

She watched him settle on the floor beside the couch she was on, cradling a bucket of fried chicken with one arm as he tore a chunk of meat off of a chicken leg. What…the hell…?

"Want some?" he offered, holding out the half-gnawed piece of poultry.

"No." Yori adjusted her glasses, looking around again. "Where is this?"

"Huh? I brought you to my place. You know, you're a pretty heavy sleeper. You didn't even wake up when I put on those casts. That takes a long time, too."

"Ngh. What is this?" There was a heavy note of suspicion in her voice as she spoke. "You said you had a plan and you said you wouldn't-"

"Right." Hawks swallowed a mouthful of chicken and grinned. "I'm not going to beat you or mutilate you."

"So this is-"

"I couldn't get you here without kidnapping you," he explained, as if it was completely obvious what he was going for. "And you didn't really agree to rehab so it's basically captivity."

Yori's lips twisted in frustration. "Rehab?"

Hawks heard her stomach grumble and offered her a large piece of chicken, which she grudgingly accepted. "I'm going to rehabilitate you."

"Why would you want to do that? I thought you were a hero. You have an awful lot of interest in villains for being so high and mighty."

"If I can rehabilitate you, that'd be a pretty big achievement, right? Plus, it sounds fun." He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and frowned. "Besides, you're not supposed to be a villain."

What does that mean? He doesn't even know me. We've only met twice so how can he pretend to know me and know what I need? Still, this was a change from the routine she had become accustomed to. Maybe this was for the best. However, she still could not forgive the whole kidnapping and imprisoning thing. Not to mention that he had just snatched her away from the life she had chosen for herself. "Self-righteous, hypocritical hero trash," she muttered.

"This can be good or bad; it's up to you." He licked his lips and move up to perch on the couch cushion beside hers, dragging the bucket up with him. "You know, I'm giving you another chance at life. You won't have to be a villain anymore. You can probably see that kid they saved from Overhaul. You know her, right?"

"…yes…" Yori bit the inside of her cheek and looked at the food in her hands. Shigaraki. He'll be okay without me. They all will. Won't they? But can I really change for good? Can I really stop being a villain? I'm evil. I've killed so many people. I've hurt a lot of people, too.

"So what do you think?"

"F-fine. I…want to change," she conceded. To her surprise, the hero's wings stretched out behind him and then the left one settled behind her. It pressed against her shoulders like a warm blanket and she frowned. She knew she had to be wary of him. He was unlike most heroes she had ever known. This was a man with his own agenda and she had no idea what he was really after. Nonetheless, he was her chance at redemption. Her chance at change. She would just have to trust Hawks.

NeonHorizon: Hey, happy readers! I hope you liked Gray Area! Well...I'm going to be working on the sequel: Gray Light. It's going to be a little different and it's about Grayscale trying to rehabilitate and heal. Check my Twitter for updates! Thank you for reading!