Plum

How dare she?

How dare she, how dare she, how dare she, how dare she?!

Anger issues?

Anger issues?!

She was upset about Katsuki's anger issues?

It was almost funny to Touya. Almost. Ironic, too.

If she wanted anger issues, he could show her anger issues. As she turned to him, her stupid tongue on the corner of her lips, he tried hard not to grasp the cover of the book he was reading in anger. Why was she like that? Why? It made him want to cut her tongue off. Maybe then she'd stop saying stupid shit. Maybe.

"Dabi-Sensei, are you going to do something?"

Oh, I'll do something, alright. I don't think you'll like it, but we'll just have to see, won't we? It'd be fucked up if you were into it, though.

Touya leveled the student with a withering stare, the pages of his book crinkling under his grip. He frowned, trying not to let his judgment seep through, "Like what, Asui-San? He was very clearly minding his own business; so what do you want me to do about that?"

The girl seemed surprised at his unwillingness to step in, stepping back a half step, her low-hanging foxtail swaying at the movement. She furrowed her own brows slightly in a display of indignancy, swiveling on her heel and sitting back in her seat with a huff.

Little bitch.

The rest of the class went as quietly as it could've with Katsuki's presence. Even so, Touya found he didn't quite mind all that much. It was endearing. To him, anyway.

It'd surprised him to find Shouto had chosen to work with Katsuki, but he supposed he didn't care all that much. He'd just have to ask the kid later.

Come lunch time, he made sure to text Himiko that he needed her to "assistant teach" art class again. All she sent back was three heart eye emojis and a thumbs up. He sent back a frog emoji.

When he'd first brought up his plan to her, they both knew a texting stream of their plans would get them both in jail before either of them could say hatchet. So, to combat this, he'd assigned each student an emoji. It was a code he'd written in Pig Latin since nobody in Japan would understand it even if the page was found. One could never be too careful…

Obviously, the code for the murder of Asui Tsuyu was the frog emoji. Just as Kirishima Eijiro had been a red heart plus a shark and Ashido Mina had been a pink heart plus an alien. Anyone else of interest outside of the class he taught would be marked with a target emoji, which was a signal for Himiko to call him, where he'd supposedly complain about the recent behaviors of a few students. The second name he said was the one she needed to gather information on.

For himself, Touya took to stalking the hallways during study hall and lunch. It was always tedious, as he had to keep an eye out for anybody bad-mouthing the blonde or too focused on him in general. He also kept a skeptical focus on that Kaminari Denki kid. The student in question seemed too stupid to really pose a threat but his inherent interest in Katsuki definitely frayed his nerves.

Speaking of the Devil, the blonde was seated at a picnic table just outside the cafeteria with his Hispanic friend, Sero Hanta. Apparently they noticed they had his attention, as Kaminari turned to Sero and they both giggled before he shushed him. The boy looked at him and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Dabi-Sensei, I need your help for a minute!"

With a resigned sigh, Touya sauntered over to their table only slightly annoyed.

"Yes, Sparky?"

The kid frowned at the nickname but otherwise didn't seem offended, side-eyeing his friend with a smile who stifled another giggle which coaxed one in response from the blonde.

He turned back to him, "Could you answer a question about the menu, please?" Kaminari fluttered his eyelashes in false innocence.

…

The kid was trying to see if he'd humor him with a meme.

…

Yeah, this kid wasn't a threat. Alright, okay, sure, whatever. He'd bite.

Touya did the same thing with his eyelashes, modestly stating: "The men I please are none of your business."

Both teenagers burst out laughing and he smiled. Sure, he was breaking, like, at least fifty rules in the student/teacher handbook, but, like, truthfully, what rule had he not broken? He was pretty sure murdering students was frowned upon. Even if not explicitly stated in the handbook.

He rolled his eyes, "Alright, kiddos, that's enough. You only get one dirty joke from me per day. I could be fired just for indulging you, y'know."

"Thank you, Sensei~" They said in unison, which only made Touya himself laugh.

Nah, Kaminari Denki wouldn't be on his kill list.

When art rolled around, Himiko dutifully compiled all the information he'd need to get the job done by nightfall.

Asui Tsuyu had chosen to partner with Uraraka Ochaco for the project. Asui's parents were out of the country as part of their career in Marine Biology, so they'd be doing the project at Uraraka's house. Which meant Asui would be walking home alone that night.

He'd already been formulating the plan in his head. Murder weapon? Her own damn hair. Well, partially, anyway.

Touya had made a habit of doing arson jobs for side cash under a broker who went by the name Giran. So, naturally, he had a shed also under his broker with gallons of his own special lighter fluid perfectly hidden from the world. Then there was Himiko, who'd lent him one of her smaller knives; one that could be easily hidden. A flammable one.

If Asui wasn't going to die tonight, she at least wouldn't dare utter another foul thing about Katsuki ever again.

Too bad she was most definitely dying tonight.

After he'd excused himself from openly admiring Katsuki's beauty and writing it off as just being an annoying older brother to, supposedly, grade papers; he quickly put the three small containers of lighter fluid into his messenger bag and a few assignments for grading. He snuck out the window of his room in inconspicuous clothing (a hoodie and jeans) to make his way to a nearby alley. Oh, and he couldn't forget the thin and translucent gloves he'd decided on for this excursion. They were cheap, so he didn't need to use a credit card, and didn't even have a brand name to them.

Just as promised, Himiko had left him a pair of sleek black jazz shoes, tucked neatly behind a garbage can in the alley between a small mom and pop shop and cat cafe. Touya tugged them on, leaving his boots in their place to retrieve later.

Uraraka's house was surprisingly not far from his own, and so he sat at a bench in the nearby park he knew Asui would have to pass on her own way home. Luckily enough for him, the camera there had been struck by lightning in a storm a few weeks prior and had yet to be repaired.

Not to mention he actually did have papers to grade, so he did that to pass the time.

Touya wasn't sure how long it had been when he heard the soft sound of footsteps, which paused not too far from him.

"Dabi-Sensei-? Is… is that you…? Kero." Asui.

He pretended to be startled, looking up at her with falsely widened eyes, "Asui-San? What are you doing out this late? You know it's not safe," he frowned to show his very real concern.

"I- I was leaving Ochaco's house- why are you out here? Kero." She seemed rather bemused at his presence.

Touya shifted, slowly closing the grade book in his lap, "I like visiting nearby parks to grade papers at night. It's relaxing," which wasn't even technically a lie.

Asui hummed and the both of them sat there awkwardly for a minute or two.

It was him who broke the silence, "Uh, as your teacher, I feel as though I should walk you home? I don't feel right knowing you're out here and then letting you walk back by yourself… what with recent events and all," He averted his gaze to show he was perhaps just as affected by the awkwardness as she was. Build trust. Don't let them know your intentions.

She re-adjusted the strap of her backpack over her shoulder, "If you don't mind… that would make me feel safer, yeah. Kero."

With a nod, Touya gathered up the papers he'd scattered around him while he'd been grading and slid them into his messenger bag right next to the lighter fluid.

He and Asui walked in silence for a bit until he spoke again.

"I'd actually like to have a word with you, if that's alright, Asui-San. I was going to talk to you about it tomorrow, but since you're here now we might as well."

She stopped walking, turning to him with her tongue still obnoxiously stuck out the side of her lips, "Yeah, Sensei? Kero."

"It's about my response to what happened in class earlier today, with Katsuki."

Asui nodded slowly and Touya side-eyed the alley he'd purposefully stopped in front of. Alleyways would always be a blessing for people like him. From the two quick glances he'd gotten, there weren't any cameras. Perfect.

He looked her over, she, who was clearly waiting for him to speak again. Instead he quickly pressed his left hand tightly over her mouth and used his right to pull her by the foxtail into the alley.

She muffled a scream against his gloves but it was no good. Using the force from his left arm, he pushed her to the ground and planted a foot onto her abdomen while kneeling with the other. Touya leaned in close.

"What I wanted to say was I hope you have fun in the afterlife."

Asui stared at him, panicked and wide-eyed, entirely unable to struggle all that much. She wasn't a fighter. She knew she'd die here.

Sliding the small knife Himiko had given him into his hand from his sleeve, he used the extended handle to crush her vocal cords.

The sounds she'd been making only turned to labored breaths and he removed his hand from her mouth with a manic smile.

"Tell me, Asui-San, do you want me to stop?"

She nodded frantically. Touya tutted disapprovingly.

"Use your words, Asui-San."

So she opened her mouth, only for no words to escape. Instead all that came out was a pathetic croak. Tears streamed from her eyes as she didn't dare look away from him.

He laughed softly, "I didn't take you for a masochist, young lady. I'll keep going then."

Asui imagined all the things that happened to teenage girls at the hands of older men. She feared what he'd do, and though he wasn't going to do what she thought he would, one could argue what he had in mind was much worse.

There was a weak attempt at escape, rocking side to side under the firm foothold restraining her. It didn't work in her favor, as Touya used the hand previously covering her mouth to harshly pull her up by the roots of her hair.

"I suggest you don't do that. Unless you want this to hurt more than it already will."

A new wave of tears made their way down her face but she went still. He smiled.

"Good girl," he said, dropping her hair and instead digging his gloved fingers into her jaw to hold her face still.

He grabbed one of the small containers of lighter fluid and unscrewed the cap, dumping the contents over her head and all in her hair.

"Oh, you might want to close your eyes," he warned too late as the fluid rolled into her eyes. Asui thrashed her legs in pain as a weak sob racked her lungs. She blinked rapidly to ease the feeling but it only seemed to make it worse.

There was the urge to laugh at her pain but he was only getting started. Touya pushed her head back into the concrete and forced her mouth open. There was the soft tell-tale pop and dull crunch that signified he'd dislocated her jaw. He released his grip and her mouth hung open completely slack. She couldn't even keep her eyes open at that point as tears continued to pour down her face.

He flipped the small knife in his hand, grabbing her tongue and pulling it free to roughly cut it out. Her sobbing intensified though it was still quiet due to the damage to her vocal cords (and no doubt other important things in her throat). He tucked the removed tongue down her throat and she attempted gagging only to stop at the protesting from her mouth and throat.

He uncapped the second container before dumping a small amount down her mouth and the lower ends of her hair that weren't thoroughly soaked. Once again, Touya yanked Asui up by the hair in her scalp, taking the knife to cut the entire length of her dark green hair off too close to her cranium. Some of the fluid in her mouth leaked out due to her dislocated jaw, but be wasn't worried about it.

Taking the hair that was still held together at the end, he stuffed it and the knife in her mouth, which by this point she was in too much extreme pain to complain. As a last minute addition, he tosses the gloves in there, too.

He opened the third container, dumping it all along her clothing and anywhere that looked dry, really. Taking the single match from his pocket, he lit it on the concrete and unceremoniously tossed the flame into her mouth, it catching like flashpaper.

Oh, how Touya wished he could stay to watch her burn.

How was that for anger issues?

He gathered the empty containers and his bag, texting Himiko.

'Thanks for helping me grade papers.'

It didn't take too long for her to heart the message.

The aftermath that followed was the same as before. His siblings were upset about it, though Shouto didn't even bother asking.

Though he did have to do home meetings again.

Shouto leveled him with an unimpressed stare, "Nii-San, do you have to be so dramatic?"

His only response to that was a cheeky grin. His little brother crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

Touya did the same, "How about you tell me why you chose Katsuki to be your partner?"

Shouto shrugged, "Was curious what you saw in him, decided to find out. Still gotta keep looking."

He scoffed, "Yeah, okay Mr 'I'm dating a walking broccoli'."

His brother scowled but otherwise didn't say anything, decidedly leaving the study.

Then came having to visit Katsuki. He didn't seem as affected as last time, still wordlessly inviting Touya to share a blanket with him. His parents were home this time but they didn't bother them.

He found it hard to be upset about his actions when the reward was so, so sweet.