NeonHorizon: I made this chapter slightly longer than usual so let me know what you think. Should every chapter be this length or do you prefer shorter chapters? Anyway. So this was pretty fun to write! I hope it's as enjoyable for you to read as it was for me to write.

Kugutsu was hyper self-conscious and she hated it. When she was working, she was mindful that she conducted herself in a way that would not embarrass Giran or reflect poorly on him. Professionalism was easy to accomplish with most people; bow, speak quietly, and try for the best impression. This task that he had put before her was making her feel awkward and nervous.

It felt as though Shigaraki was judging her every move, but she knew at the back of her mind that she was being ridiculous. His eyes were on the screen, observing her technique as he chewed at his lower lip. When she subconsciously tried to scoot away from him, he only moved closer.

His knee is touching mine! What do I do? A drop of sweat rolled down the side of her face and Kugutsu wiped at it with the back of her hand. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her sweat. It normally failed to even draw her attention, but now it made her feel disgusting.

In her moment of self-conscious terror, Kugutsu was sitting as still as possible while still playing her game. Her muscles were beginning to hurt from staying in one position for so long, but she was afraid of somehow making herself look stupid in front of him. After all, the villain was sitting so close that his knee was touching hers as he peered down at the screen of her console.

When he said that he had somewhere in mind for them to go, she had no idea what to expect. Her mind had reeled with possibilities, her heart rate steadily climbing towards panic, until she found herself entering a shopping center with Shigaraki. Now they were sitting on the edge of a fountain, the blue-haired man invading her personal space bubble with her reacting as if he was a landmine about to go off.

Despite her familiarity with the game, Kugutsu found herself unable to beat her opponent. She gritted her teeth and tried to maintain her neutral expression, but it was insanely difficult when she was making such a fool of herself in front of the villain she admired. A boot lifted, slamming against the tiled floor, and she allowed herself a small growl of frustration.

"Hand it over." The words were quiet, but clearly demanding. Shigaraki held out a hand, his expression rather intense. Once the console was in his hands, the villain made quick work of her opponent.

She slouched, letting her muscles finally relax now that his focus was completely on the game. I made myself look weak in front of him. I'm so awkward and he's…Her eyes widened as she watched her character behead the opponent. He's so cool.

Kugutsu thought about moving her leg away from his, but soon felt his knee pressing closer against hers. A sensation began in her chest. An odd sensation that was foreign to her. It felt like her heart was filling with tiny little bubbles that were popping. Like pure excitement and bliss were flowing through her veins, pumping through her body with each pop of the bubbles.

She bowed her head and lifted a hand to her mouth, wanting to hide her smile. He probably thinks I'm lame. I'm just a broker's assistant. What Shigaraki does is so much cooler. All for One has so much confidence in him…I can only imagine what he'll do in the future.

With her head still sort of down, she let her gaze wander from the console screen. Kugutsu studied the shape of his fingers and the pale color of his skin. She slowly moved on from his hands and up along his arms. The sweatshirt he was wearing fit him pretty loosely, but she remembered how slender he was from when she saw him before. She could see a hint of his neck within the dark hood, her heart thumping faster as she noticed a muscle twitch.

Finally, her eyes lifted to his face. She drank in his appearance like a parched wanderer that had finally reached the only bar in the wilderness. The mole beneath his mouth, the dry texture of his lips, the scar that marred his lip. Kugutsu frowned and threaded a hand into her hair. Why am I staring at his lips so much?! It's not like…I wouldn't kiss him, right? He wouldn't want to anyway! Not that I want to! So why am I fixating?

"What are you staring at?" he demanded, not even bothering to look away from the screen. "What? You get a kick out of staring at me?"

"You're…cool," she hesitantly answered. To her surprise, the villain tensed upon hearing this. "I like you. A lot. I guess I really am a fan." She rubbed the back of her neck and bowed her head, but watched him from the corner of her eye.

"You're my fan girl. Of course you think I'm cool."

For whatever reason, hearing this made warmth rise to her face. She felt a smile wanting to form on her lips and covered her mouth with a hand, turning her head to the side. "You…don't think I'm weird?"

"You're psychotic. But you're not annoying." He paused and the corners of his scarred mouth drew up into a sinister grin. "If you start to annoy me, I'll just disintegrate your face."

Her stomach did a flip and she lowered her hand to let him see her half-smile. "I…wouldn't mind that."

Shigaraki looked over briefly, amused by her reaction to his death threat, and then resumed staring at the console screen. "What's your problem anyway? Why do you work for Giran? You want to be a shady broker like him?"

"Kind of." She let her professionalism slip now, realizing that he did not want Giran's assistant. What Shigaraki wanted right at this moment was his fan girl. "What I really want is to be a real villain." Kugutsu saw him bite the edge of his lower lip at the corner and decided to continue. If nothing else, it would entertain him. "Heroes…are nothing but trash. People believe in them because they don't believe in themselves. They're just…convenient interlopers."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he challenged.

Now dropping her guard, she decided to be completely candid with him. "When I was starting middle school, I was in an accident and lost my parents. It's a boring story so I won't go into too much detail, but…a hero chose to save me instead of my parents. My mother and father, my unborn brother. They died and I had to live. Heroes make stupid choices and they make people suffer. All while they pretend to be helping."

Shigaraki spared her a glance and saw her actually scowling. She turned her head to the side when she noticed him looking. "That's boring."

"It is, right?" Kugutsu remembered when she explained her background to Giran, back when he first took her on as his assistant. Though he had kept a straight face, she could see it in his eyes. Pity; just like what the counselors had showed, like what her classmates and extended family showed.

It was a relief that Shigaraki showed such little interest. At least he didn't think it was lame, she thought as her mood lifted again. Talking about heroes always put her in a sour sort of mood. In an effort to not look like a mopey goblin, she leaned over a bit to look at the screen. He was absolutely annihilating every opponent that he encountered. Has he been practicing? It seems like he's gotten better since we played together.

After she watched him play a few rounds, Shigaraki moved a little closer, his shoulder now pressing against hers, and tilted the screen so she could see better. He seemed to rather enjoy the attention. To the casual onlooker, it probably looked like they were on a date.

Kugutsu felt her stomach do a flip when this thought crossed her mind. Like we're on a date? No way. Someone like Shigaraki wouldn't date someone like me, she scolded herself. He's cool and interesting. He's a real villain! I'm just a broker.

An idea popped into her head and she lifted her gaze to his face. "Um…do you want something to eat? I haven't eaten yet today. I could get us some food and something to drink," she offered.

His eyes narrowed for a moment. The game paused and the villain's crimson gaze met her cat-yellow eyes. "Get something good. I want you to impress me."

Heat bloomed in her face and she rubbed the back of her neck. "A-alright. I'll be right back!" With her heart racing, she hurried off to search for a place that sold food she could deem worthy of being presented to Shigaraki. He wants me to impress him so it has to be something really good!

Shift P.O.V

This was turning out to be more enjoyable than he expected. Not that he was going to admit this to anyone. He focused on her game once she was gone, trying to get through as many opponents as possible so she would be impressed when she came back. Shigaraki vaguely wondered if it was normal to work so hard to impress a fan, but that thought was quickly pushed aside.

She liked him. She said as much. So not only was she a fan, but she seemed to like him on another level as well. When Kugutsu called him "cool", it was an insane boost to his ego. He felt his pulse quicken at hearing her say it and it made him want to grin.

After a while, he paused the game and lifted his gaze from the console. The shopping center was pretty crowded and she was pretty short so he was not surprised when he failed to spot her in the mass of shoppers. What did perplex him was that the screen of her console showed that she had been gone for almost twenty minutes.

What's taking her so long?

Shigaraki lifted a hand, scratching at his throat as he surveyed the crowd again. No sign of the cat-eared fan girl. He saved the game and shoved the console into the pocket of his sweatshirt. Standing, he scowled to himself and began walking. If she was hiding from him somewhere, having some kind of fan girl squealing fit, he was going to be irritated.

Most of the shops near the fountain were clothing or accessory stores. He briefly paused to glance at a directory to look for places that had food and then set off to search for his fan. The villain remembered what she was wearing when he last saw her and scanned the crowds of shoppers for someone wearing those clothes.

She's wearing that stupid cat t-shirt. Is that supposed to be funny because of those cat ears? Why does she even have cat ears? She doesn't have a cat-themed quirk; she has that weird shadow control quirk. So what's the point of those ears? They're pointless and she looks like a cosplayer.

He scratched at his neck a little harder, glaring at anyone that glanced his way. None of them mattered. No amount of unsettled stares could overshadow the sheepish, pleased look his fan wore when she looked at him. She tried to hide it, but she was really terrible at being subtle around Shigaraki.

It was as he approached a shop specializing in selling snacks that he heard it. A female voice that was soft, sort of low, and melodic in quality. The voice of his fan girl. She was talking to someone, but there was clear irritation in her tone.

Shigaraki came to the entrance of the shop and saw the cat-eared villain standing near the checkout counter. Her arms were crossed, her ridiculous feline ears flattened against her head in agitation. She was facing a young man that looked to be around their age. The clerk appeared smug as he spoke to her. Disgustingly confident.

On the counter between the two was a shopping bag full of a variety of snacks and there were two bottles of tea sitting beside the bag. The clerk leaned in close to her, a hand reaching out and stroking her right ear. "Come on. You'd seriously turn down free snacks for life? Just one night. That's all I want. You like snacks, right?"

Fury ignited in the villain's eyes when he overhead this. He reacted without thinking and was soon leaping over the counter. His right hand lifted and gripped the clerk's throat; all five fingers touching the stranger's flesh. Screams of agony erupted from the young man as he thrashed to try to free himself. The decay spread rapidly, his neck becoming a mess of blood and crumbling skin before it spread to his skull and chest. The villain released the corpse, letting it drop.

Customers were running out of the shop, cries of terror filling the air. Shigaraki looked over his shoulder, half-expecting to see Kugutsu fleeing as well. At the very least, she was probably disgusted. To his surprise, the young woman was blushing red and swiftly lifted a hand to hide her smile. When her eyes met his, there was something there that made his pulse turn erratic.

Without a word to her, he crossed the counter and grabbed Kugutsu's hand. He was careful to keep his little finger extended and heard the rustle of the shopping bag. She gripped it tightly in her free hand and began to giggle.

It was something that he had only heard once, but the sound of it made his chapped lips draw into a wicked grin. She giggled in that sharp, terrifying way he had heard when she slaughtered those criminals in that bar. As they wove through the crowds of shop patrons, trying to make their escape, she clung to his hand and had to bite her lip to try to stop the laughter.

When they were a good distance from the shopping center, Shigaraki received another surprise. He was unsure if she was in her right mind, but her arms wrapped around his neck in a hug and he felt her smirk brush against his neck.

"That was…so amazing! Shigaraki-san, you looked so cool!"

His eyes widened as she hugged tighter and when she let go, leaning back, he saw that thing in her eyes again. That deep admiration. That intense affection.