"Why?" Shigaraki muttered aloud.
"To show you that people can change, that people can have hope. I know the woman shown in the video was also indirectly responsible for you turning toward a path that made you want to destroy the world and the society within it. But look closer — the woman remembered you even after 20 years. She feels regretful about not helping you that day as well.
Trust me when I say this — being unable to help you that day is what spurred this woman to help another child. And according to the records I found before coming back, she also started an orphanage just a few months after meeting you. The same can be said about the woman in this dimension."
Inazuma then took out the details on his phone, which described the woman's name, her affiliation, and her current position as the head of an orphanage that primarily takes in children abandoned by parents due to their physical mutations or quirks that the parents are unable to understand or accept, resulting in their abandonment.
"I'm not saying you're completely wrong. Society, as a concept, is built on a lie to ensure that the majority survives. But that does not mean the minority has no chance to live. My job, as I see it, is to make sure that one day, society doesn't have to depend on the existence of a minority to function as a whole," Inazuma said as he rose from his seat.
"I might not complete it in my lifetime, but I'll try my best to at least make a difference so that the future generation will be able to complete it in one way or another. And one of the ways I see myself doing that is by making sure that you at least get a chance to turn your life around."
Inazuma then began walking away. But suddenly, Shigaraki shouted out the question on his mind.
"Wait… you didn't tell me what happened to me in that dimension."
Inazuma paused for a moment, then answered.
"Shigaraki Tomura and Tenko Shimura — both died in that dimension."
Shigaraki flinched slightly at that information.
"So I hope that I can at least save you in this dimension. I hope you make the right choice."
Inazuma spoke as he walked away. At the end of the hallway, two people were waiting for him, one of them in a wheelchair.
"You should go inside. I think he might be ready to speak with you now," Inazuma told the person sitting in the wheelchair and left the building, activating his speed.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Oboro?" Aizawa asked his friend in the wheelchair.
Oboro Shirakumo — whose body was used by All For One and Garaki to create Kurogiri. All For One saw the potential in Oboro's quirk, Cloud, which allowed him to generate and control clouds. These clouds could solidify to be used as shields, a means of travel, or for storing items.
All For One saw the addition of the Cloud quirk — which allowed control over a formless, easily dispersed medium — as useful.
So, after creating an accident to trap him, All For One faked Oboro's death, added cybernetics to his body, and then implanted a spatial quirk, which was incomplete, as the released spatial energy was uncontrollable. This quirk fused with Cloud and created Kurogiri's quirk: Warp Gate.
"When All For One created the personality known as Kurogiri, I was trapped inside his body and could only watch everything that was happening outside," Shirakumo began, as Aizawa slowly pushed him toward Tomura's cell.
"I tried my best to stop Kurogiri, but he ignored everything I ever said — except once. That one time, I told him not to report to All For One that Shigaraki was showing emotions that were healthy for him."
Aizawa raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.
"So he was protecting the child in some way?"
"Haha, that's right. Even after all the editing done to his psyche by All For One, Kurogiri and I agreed on one thing," Shirakumo continued. "Tomura Shigaraki was a child who needed protection and proper guidance in order to grow up well."
He then looked at his arms, which still had a few wisps of warp energy spreading out of them.
"I'm sure, due to the treatments I'm undergoing, Kurogiri will disappear completely sooner or later. And he knew it too — the day All For One was killed by Inazuma. So, on that day, he made me a request."
Flashback — one day ago.
While Kurogiri was captured, inside his mind:
"Oboro Shirakumo, I want to make a deal with you."
"What's the use, Kurogiri? I won't help your teammates or the members of your organization in any way. Even if I were to die, I won't allow you to use my body to do more harm to innocents.
Even if we both have to die, I'll accept it with open arms," Shirakumo replied, with the tone of someone who had long since accepted the decision to sacrifice his life. But the next words from Kurogiri were not what he expected at all.
"I will surrender this body completely, and if measures are taken to erase me from it, I will accept that fully. But in return, I want you to try to make sure Shigaraki has a second chance at life."
Oboro was shocked for a moment.
"Are you sure about this? And you know I can go back on any promise I give you for this, right?" Shirakumo asked, knowing through their bond that Kurogiri was sincere.
Kurogiri looked straight at him with his glowing yellow eyes.
"I'm sure you'll keep your promise. Because after all these years together, the only thing we both agreed on was Tomura — whose entire growth since childhood we witnessed. I'm sure you'll try your best to help him without needing any incentive. But to make sure you stay true to it, you need a reminder.
And I'm willing to sacrifice myself for that — because I know my death will be the reminder for you to look after him every day. After all, unlike me, who is only kind toward Tomura, you, Shirakumo, are genuinely a kind person. Deep down, you'd never hesitate to help someone who's in pain and my death will give additional guilt to a kind person like you."
Back to the present.
Aizawa took Shirakumo to Tomura's cell, where he spoke with Tomura for a few hours.
After that conversation, the shadowy wisps spreading from Shirakumo disappeared completely — signifying the passing of Kurogiri, who accepted death, knowing that the person he cared for would now have a chance to live a better life.
A/N- sorry for the break people, had a migraine that made me want to smash my skull on the wall. But this entire book will be over by Friday, just two more chapters.