Horizon: Welcome back to Shigaraki getting mad at teenagers!

I didn't do anything wrong. He picked at the dry skin of his lips with a fingernail, peeling away at it like paper. I don't get it. Why is she so angry? It's not like it had anything to do with her. She isn't even friends with that kid. So why is she so pissed off?

Human interaction was not his strong suit and with that came the extra special difficulty in being able to read people, not understanding basic emotions, and having next to zero conversational skills. His closest thing to a friend, for most of his life, was Kurogiri. Good old shadow demon Kurogiri with his judging, glowing stare and lack of interest in games.

Shigaraki felt like he had no choice. He had to follow Kohaku. He had to know where she was going, what she was doing, why she was so angry with him. The way he looked at it, it was like a game. He let some kind of relationship stat dip too low and that must be why she was angry. So he just had to figure out what stat was low so he could make some adjustments.

Stalking was something he heard of, but not something he could recognize. This was just his gremlin self wanting to stay close to Kohaku. The fact that she was obliviously walking ahead of him down the sidewalk with her head bowed, totally unaware of his staring, was unimportant.

Why are you so angry? He itched at his neck and licked his lower lip, wiping away a bead of blood from where his chapped lips tore open. And why is that kid so important to you? Midoriya. That's his name, isn't it? What's so special about him? Even at the USJ attack, there was something about him. Like the protagonist in a RPG.

Kohaku suddenly paused up ahead and looked both ways down the street. There were enough people between them on the sidewalk that Shigaraki could blend in if he kept his head lowered, but now he had to loiter near the front of a store to kill time while she waited for the light to change. He faced the window; looking at the reflection on the glass, but avoiding looking at his own image.

This is stupid. Where does she think she can go anyway? She doesn't have anywhere to go. What's the point in storming off when she's just going to have to come back to the bar?

What irritated him the most was that he had things he wanted to do. He wanted to have her lean against his side while he played a game. He wanted her to run her fingers through his hair and tell him how well he was doing. He wanted Kohaku to show him how much she loved him, but instead she just left him behind.

All his crusty gamer boy heart wanted was to feel like she loved him. It was all he wanted and he expected to get it. Which is why he was outside, among these mouth-breathing "normal" people, waiting for her to go back to the bar. Fully convinced that Kohaku had nowhere else to go and no one else to talk to.

It was when he turned back toward her that he realized his mistake. Shigaraki's irritated, red eyes widened and his jaw clenched when he saw the boy. He looked almost around his age, maybe a little younger, and he had dark, messy hair. The most important thing about this kid was that he was very clearly watching Kohaku. He was bolder than Shigaraki, though, because he was being way less careful about hiding the fact that he was stalking her.

Shift P.O.V

Damn it. I came this way without even realizing. Damn force of habit. Kohaku reached into her hood and ran her fingers along a strand of dark blue-green hair. She looked up at the game store sign and knew she should just walk away, but she was tempted to go inside.

Not that she would talk to her coworkers or anything. Those guys were disgusting trolls and she was glad she would never have to work with them again. It was the merchandise that she missed. The collectibles, the manga, the anime box sets, and the rows upon rows of games.

Midoriya never told anyone her identity so, technically, it was probably okay if she just went in for a few minutes. That was how she rationalized it as she pushed open the door and stepped inside. She had her hood up already, but she tugged it forward a little more and was glad when the clerks behind the counter ignored her.

It was just like her old coworkers to not even bother greeting a customer. They really did give gamers a bad name. Between acting like elitist pieces of trash, hitting on every other girl that set foot in the place, and thinking that bathing was optional, Kohaku's coworkers were definitely not the kind of the people that should be manning a store.

She kept her head down and walked over to the bargain bin of older, used games just to check out the selection. Feeling a wave of nostalgia when she spotted a game she used to play when she was a kid. Not that she had the console for it anymore or that she could even go up to the counter to buy it; she just liked remembering how she used to rush home from school to play this game. All alone in the house because her grandparents were far from attentive. Not having to worry about hearing them call her a burden or badmouth her mother. She could just throw herself completely into the game and forget about her life.

"Okabe Kohaku."

The sound of someone speaking her name made her tense and Kohaku waited for a tap on her shoulder or for someone to move next to her. When she just heard the clerk talking to someone, she chanced a look over her shoulder. What she saw made her naturally narrow amber eyes widen in disbelief.

There was a teenage boy standing at the counter, with his back to her. "I thought I saw her come in here."

"Look, kid. She quit. Nobody can get her to pick up her phone and she hasn't come in for a shift in days." The clerk cracked open a can of citrus energy drink and shook his head at the high school student. "Are you stalking her or something? I've seen you in here before."

"Oh, this kid? Yeah, I've seen him around," another clerk chimed in. "You used to come in during her shifts, right? I thought it was weird how you always came in when she worked, but you avoided her."

The other clerk chortled at this like it was the funniest joke he had ever heard in his pathetic life. "Listen, Okabe was a cold bitch. You're better off not getting involved with someone like her. She's pretty cute, but she's-"

"Hang on! Over there! Isn't that Okabe?"

Shit, shit, shit! Kohaku met his eyes and put on a smile. "You caught me." She put up her hands in mock surrender and turned her body to face them. Avoiding looking at the high school boy, focusing on her old coworkers. "Sorry for the disappearing act. I got a better offer from somewhere else and just didn't have time to turn in my resignation."

Both of the clerks looked kind of flustered, being caught badmouthing her behind her back. Before either of them could ask where she had been or what was going on, the high school boy turned around to look at her. Brown eyes widened, an extremely faint flush of pink rose to his face, and he looked sheepish; like he had been caught stealing candy.

"Haku-neechan?" It was almost like he had never expected to actually come face to face with her in the store she worked in. He pushed down the embarrassment at her catching him and put on a smile identical to hers. Shallow, practiced, smooth.

"Okabe's your sister?" one of the clerks questioned.

Shindou ignored the question in favor of crossing the space between himself and Kohaku. He grabbed both of her hands in his, still keeping up the "cheerful little brother" act. "I thought I saw you on the street, but we got separated. You're not busy right now, right? Let's go somewhere together. I haven't seen you in a while, Neechan!"

Apparently, you've seen me a lot, you little brat. Kohaku grinned and smoothly pulled her hands free, slinging her arm around his shoulders. "Awww! You know I can't turn down a request like that from my sweet little brother!" Meanwhile, she started to wonder how quickly she could vibrate his kneecaps apart without giving him time to retaliate.

They stepped outside and she took her arm off his shoulders, rolling her eyes. "What do you want, brat? And were you seriously stalking me?"

"I didn't think I'd actually talk to you," he argued. His smile was gone and he actually looked kind of bothered by something.

Kohaku hated it. She hated Shindou and she hated their scummy mother. However, she had a soft spot for kids. Even almost full-grown ones like him. Even two-faced, lying, stalker kids like him. Not to mention the fact that her deceptive half-sibling was basically giving her the teenage boy equivalent of puppy eyes.

"Why were you looking for me anyway?" she asked, sighing. "It's not like we're close or something. How long's it been since we last talked? You were a snot-nosed little ten year old, right? So what-?"

"Mom left." Shindou looked down at her with complete seriousness and tucked his hands into his pockets.

The girl ran her fingers through her dark blue-green hair; not wanting to believe it, but knowing he was telling the truth. It was exactly the kind of shit her mother would pull. Just disappearing suddenly and probably not even explaining to Shindou or his father.

"Yeah and…? You know how she is." Kohaku tried to keep acting aloof. After all the stress caused by seeing that Nomu almost carry Midoriya away like a hawk catching a rabbit and then Shigaraki absolutely refusing to admit that it was wrong to send three feral Nomu out into the city, she was kind of feeling drained.

She sighed again and shook her head, but grabbed his hand. "Fine, fine. Let's go somewhere and get some food. I haven't eaten dinner yet."

"What?"

Her face was burning pink and she lowered her head to try to hide it. "Tch. Look, I'm just going to listen to you talk, okay? Just…urgh! It pisses me off! She thinks she can just have a kid and then move on to make another one over and over or something? How's that fair to us?" Her grip tightened on his hand and she gritted her teeth, fighting the tears that were rising to her eyes. "Just fucking pisses me off."

Shift P.O.V

Shigaraki was seething. Standing across the street from the game store, in an alley, glaring at the building as he scraped his nails over his neck. He saw Kohaku disappear into the store and he wanted to go with her, but now was not the time. No, now was the time for brooding as he saw that boy go into the store just a few minutes after Kohaku.

He's stalking her. What kind of freak stalks a girl? The villain thought this to himself with zero self-awareness. When he comes outside, I'll just have to follow him and see how he likes it. I'll wait until just the right moment and I'll disintegrate his face.

Imagining it made him grin and he managed to stop scratching like he had mange. Shigaraki looked down at his hand, picturing how it would look when he grabbed her stalker by the face and made him crumble away into dust. What kind of screams her little teenage admirer would make as he died.

It was when Kohaku came out of the store with the boy that his rage returned tenfold. She had her arm around his shoulders and they both looked so damn cheerful. He gritted his teeth and watched her loiter there in front of the store for a minute while she talked to the teenager. Then she grabbed his hand and started leading him down the sidewalk.

Shigaraki's eyes narrowed on how she was holding the boy's hand. Able to have all five fingers touching each other's hands. The jealousy was making his blood boil and he was on the verge of stomping like an enraged toddler.

She doesn't even know him, but she's holding his hand. What's so great about him? He left the alley and moved down the sidewalk, glaring at them both. He fidgeted with Father in the pocket of his hoodie and chewed at his lower lip until it bled. Everyone around him was giving him a lot of space on the sidewalk because now he looked like an absolute maniac.