Chapter 50: The Smile Collector
The door cracked open.
No creak.
No scream.
Just… giggling.
Soft. Childlike.
Wrong.
She stepped through.
Dark.
Pitch black.
Then—
Pop.One smile lit up in the air.Then another.And another.
Like floating masks.
Hundreds.
All grinning.None blinking.
In the center—
Toga.
Barefoot. Kneeling.
Painting a smile on a wall with her own blood.
She turned slowly.
Eyes bright.
"You're finally here."
The girl didn't answer.
Didn't need to.
Toga stood. Wiped her hands on her skirt.Tilted her head.
"You know what this place is?"
The girl looked around.
"…A graveyard of faces."
Toga beamed.
"Exactly!"
Every mask…A life she'd touched.
A version of her.
Some died fighting.Some joined Toga.Some just… disappeared.
Toga skipped toward her.
Barefoot steps making no sound.
"I loved them all," she whispered.
"They were so fun."
"And then you—"
Her voice cracked.Smile widened.
"You never let me in."
A mask floated down between them.
This one looked just like her.
Blood-streaked.Eyes hollow.Lips sewn shut.
Toga cradled it like a baby.
"This was the first you who broke my heart."
The girl's voice was low.
"I'm not her."
Toga giggled.
"You will be."
Then vanished.
The room blinked.
Changed.
Now a hallway.
Endless lockers.Classroom doors.Flickering lights.
She was in UA.
But wrong.
The air tasted rotten.
Footsteps behind her.
Fast.
She turned.
Toga again.
This time—In uniform.Cheerful.
But dragging a knife behind her.
Scraping. Singing.
"You kept trying to save everyone," Toga said.
"But not me."
"You looked at me like I was broken."
She pouted.
"I just wanted to belong."
The girl's fists clenched.
"You killed people."
Toga twirled.
"They were sad! I took their pain away!"
The lights dimmed.
Toga lunged.
Fast—too fast.
Knife aimed for her throat.
But the girl ducked—
Spun—
And kicked her back.
Blood sprayed.
Toga laughed.
Fell to the floor.
"…Yes! Yes!"
"You're finally becoming one of us!"
The girl froze.
"What?"
Toga sat up.
Grinning through blood.
"You rewind, right?"
"You fix people?"
"Fix me!"
The masks on the wall began to chant.
Fix herFix herFix her
The girl stepped back.
Heart pounding.
"…I can't."
Toga's smile cracked.
"…Why not?"
"Because you don't want to be fixed."
"You want to be kept. Broken. Beautiful."
"You love the pain."
Silence.
Then—
Toga wept.
Real tears.
"I just didn't want to be alone…"
The girl walked forward.
Held out her hand.
Soft. Steady.
"I don't hate you."
Toga blinked up at her.
"…You don't?"
"No."
"I pity you."
The masks screamed.
The hallway shattered.
Toga screamed too—
But not in pain.
In freedom.
She was gone.
The hallway faded.
A field now.
Sunlight.
Wind.
A single smile floated upward and dissolved.
The older version appeared.
"Three down."
She looked distant.
Tired.
"You're doing better than I did."
The girl didn't smile.
She looked at her hands.
"…Why does helping people feel like breaking myself?"
The older her didn't answer.
Just pointed at the next door.
Wider.
Taller.
Marked with flame.
"Endeavor."
"…Why him?" she asked.
The older her frowned.
"Because sometimes… the monsters we fight are the ones trying to do good."
To be continued.