"I need you to run an errand for me."
Kugutsu paused her game and frowned at the screen. She could see Giran's reflection in it and saw that he was leaning against her doorframe with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. "This is my day off," she reminded him.
"Look, I know that, but I'm kind of swamped today. Besides, it's not even that big of an errand. I just need you to make a delivery for me. You can go, get it done, and have the rest of the day to do whatever this is." He entered the room and gestured at the handheld console as if he had no idea what it was.
She hunched her shoulders forward a little more, thinking it over. "What do I get out of this? It's my day off."
"How about I give you a nice bonus? Some pocket money for while you're out. Two thousand yen?"
"I won't accept less than ten thousand yen."
He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "You learned a little too well from me," he remarked. "Fine. Ten thousand yen. For that much, you'd better do a good job."
She saved and quit the game, tucking it away into its case with care. Kugutsu started to look around for some clean clothes and located a half-folded button-up shirt and a wrinkled pair of black pants. This will have to do. She began to take off her sweatshirt and paused, realizing that Giran was still in the room. "Get out."
He waited outside of her room, digging a bunch of yen notes from his pocket and carefully counting out the ten thousand yen he had promised her. "I'm surprised you haven't asked to go with me to meet Shigaraki again," he spoke up.
She was buttoning up her shirt and froze, frowning to herself. "I'm not-"
"You know you had a good time. Come on. It was cute. Your eyes lit up when you saw him and you can't tell me you didn't have fun."
Kugutsu bowed her head and ruffled her scruffy black hair, trying to keep it away from her eyes. "I'm not cute."
"Shigaraki fan girl."
Her pulse quickened and she slammed open the door to glare at the man. Twelve thousand yen was held out to her; the ten she had requested and a bonus to keep her from losing her temper on him. As rare as it was for her to get this angry, Giran knew better than to incur her wrath.
She snatched it out of his hand, tucking it away into her pocket. "What am I delivering?"
"Food. Might want take your bag with some entertainment; you might be waiting a while for the order to be finished. I already called it in so you just have to pick it up and take it to this address that I'm sending to your phone."
The young woman saw it pop up on her phone screen and raised an eyebrow. Why can't he just pay for a delivery person? She gave a simple nod and went to retrieve her messenger bag. Kugutsu shoved her gaming console inside, along with the case where she stored all of her cartridges. If nothing else, she could probably make some progress in her new RPG during the train ride to deliver the food.
The game was left untouched in her bag once she got on the train. With the bag of food beside her, she found herself scrolling through her phone. It had been almost a week since she met Shigaraki and Kurogiri. Over that span of time, she had searched "Shigaraki Tomura" online around twelve times a day.
I'm not a fan girl, she reminded herself as she searched yet again. I'm not obsessed. I just want to know more. So why don't they have more information? Is he just that good at hiding himself? I'd expect as much from All for One's protégé though. He's professional level, even if he looks like a NEET.
Disappointment made her lean her head back against the window and she sighed. Kugutsu thought she was good at keeping herself composed. She could normally go days without having an outburst or showing too much emotion. Something about Shigaraki just made her lose control of herself. She was unsure if she hated it or if it came as a relief.
When she reached her stop, she grabbed the bag of food and set off for the address Giran had sent to her. Let's see. It's not really in the best area, but it's not exactly shady. Where…? She felt a lump forming in her throat, her pulse quickening, as she reached her destination. No way.
The mah-jongg sign seemed to almost mock her as she stared up at it. She could practically hear Giran's laughter and the chant of the word "fan girl". Taunting her for her interest in Shigaraki. Belittling her for her show of emotion.
Trying to call Giran to demand an explanation, she found that he seemed to be ignoring her. The call was sent to voicemail, but she chose not to leave a message. She would get her revenge later, when the shadows were at their largest. It was seconds later that a message came from Giran that read: You can thank me later. I ordered two of everything so you can keep him company.
Are you serious? Her stomach felt like it did a flip as she looked up to the mah-jongg sign again. Kugutsu found the front door locked, but the door in the alley was unlocked. Letting herself into the bar, she paused in the dark corridor and frantically ruffled her hair to try to calm herself.
Why? Why's my heart beating this fast? I'm not obsessed! Giran, I'll get you for this! Damn it, damn it! A boot stomped against the floor in her fury and she froze, listening for sounds of movement elsewhere in the bar.
A door opened further down the corridor and she tensed as a figure stepped out of the room. Eyes the color of fresh blood narrowed upon her and she saw the villain bite at his lower lip. "Sorry, Shigaraki-san." She bowed lowly, hoping that it was enough. Just the sight of him made her heart skip a beat.
He was wearing the same sort of outfit as before; black t-shirt and black sweatpants. His bandages looked a little dirty, his pale blue hair was in tangles. Honestly, he looked like he had just woken up. So now she was not only facing this man that she had been obsessing over, but she had woken him up by stomping like a child throwing a tantrum.
"What are you doing here?" A hand lifted to absently scratch along his throat, leaving lines so deep that it almost made her wince.
"Giran-san sent me to deliver food." She held up the bag, heart thumping faster and faster as he stared at her. When he gave her a beckoning nod, Kugutsu was hesitant to follow. "Is…Kurogiri-san here?"
His upper lip seemed to twitch, as if he might scowl. "He went somewhere."
So this is why Giran sent me. Now both angry and excited, she bowed her head and weighed her options. This was her chance to spend time with Shigaraki again. She could try to talk him more and learn about him. However, the thought of giving in to what Giran had planned made her irritated.
Kugutsu saw him disappear back into his room and was given no choice. Leaving the food out in the hall would be rude. What bad could come from going with him? I like him. No. Wait. No, no, no. I admire him? I hardly know him!
"If you brought me food, then give it to me."
"…right…" She entered his room, carrying the bag with her, and found him sitting at a desk with a computer on it. Without even thinking about it, she began opening some takeout boxes and put them near enough for him to reach.
He waited for her to separate the disposable chopsticks for him and grimaced when he saw her just sitting there on the floor. "What're you doing? Are you one of those freaks that watches people eat?"
Realizing that he wanted her to eat with him, she decided to concede. She popped open a box of fried rice and began to eat, but Kugutsu was too nervous to really taste the food. I'm eating with Shigaraki. How did I end up in this situation? I'm really excited, but I'm nervous. I can't really focus on what I'm eating.
He chewed, watching her devour an entire box of fried rice in a matter of about three minutes. As groggy as he still seemed, there was still a hint of puzzlement in his expression when he saw her overturn the box for the last bits of rice. "What's wrong with you anyway?"
"I'm…just weird," she answered. There was no way that she would tell him how she really felt. That her heart was racing and she found herself continuously stealing glances at him. The t-shirt was a little too loose so she had a good view of his neck and collar bones. There were scratches fading on the young man's neck, but the skin was otherwise fair and smooth-looking.
"What're you staring at?"
"…nothing…" Kugutsu set down her box and began eating some stir fry from another box, this time chewing delicately and trying to not look like an uncultured gremlin. Just calm down. Deep breaths. She kept her eyes lowered and scraped her chopsticks along the side of the box as she tried to get a piece of meat.
He finished eating before she did, though he only ate a little. A game was brought up on the computer screen and he began to play without saying anything to her. Shigaraki narrowed his eyes when he felt her looking at him again and scratched at his neck absently. "Kugutsu Kurayami is a stupid name."
When he broke through the silence with this remark, she frowned. "I didn't name myself."
"Well it's still a stupid name."
"When I was a kid, I had the nickname "Yami" because I hated "Kurayami"," she explained, licking a bit of sauce from her lips. "Did you have a nickname?"
There was a long moment of silence in which he simply clicked around in his game. Finally, Shigaraki paused it and glared at her. "No."
Was that the wrong thing to ask? I didn't want to offend him. I have to think of something else to say now. She chewed at the skin around her thumb and nodded to herself. "Giran-san…told me about your attack at UA. You were shot, but you put Eraser Head in critical condition. That's…really impressive. I admire that kind of ambition, Shigaraki-san."
His glare faded and he chewed at his lower lip. The young man's gaze fell upon her messenger bag, spotting the game console's outline. Settling on the floor in front of Kugutsu, he tapped a finger against her bag. "Show me what games you have."
"Oh. Sure thing." She drew forth her game case and watched him skim through her selection of games. When he lifted one, she told him that he could have it without even hesitating. He seemed a little puzzled by her eagerness to give it to him, but added it to his collection.
Kugutsu played co-op with him in a fighting game after her meal, biting her lip to hold back a smile. I feel…happy. I'm so happy I can hardly stand it!