There was a warm weight against his side when he woke up and when he opened his eyes, he grimaced. Shigaraki rubbed at his eyes with one hand, lifting his console with the other. It was dead. Looking at the source of the warmth at his side, he slowly remembered what had happened the night before.

Kugutsu's head leaned against his shoulder and a quiet purr could be heard from her as she slept. Her ears twitched a little in her sleep and she subconsciously nuzzled at the side of his neck. This, of course, reminded him of what she did before. She kissed him. Right on the neck. While she was asleep.

You're such a loyal fan. His left hand lifted and reached over, fingers rubbing behind her ear. For whatever reason, this brought him a spark of joy. Whether it was due to some underlying desire to pet a cat or if the joy came from being with his fan, he had no idea.

This girl. This fan girl. This psychopath with cat ears. She was devoted to him. She admired him so much that simply being around him brought her pleasure. A call from him made her heart race. Playing a game with him probably gave her butterflies in her stomach. His touch made her ecstatic. It was this last thing that stuck out the most.

Yes, he was being careful not to touch her with all five fingers. However, Kugutsu was aware of his quirk. If he wanted to, he could kill her with minimal effort. Yet she wanted to get close to him. She even purred when he touched her. No one had ever been so happy and eager for him to touch them.

Shigaraki looked down at her hands. She was still loosely holding her own game console, her fingernails shining obsidian in the dim light in the room. His fingers left her head and he reached down, easing one of her hands into his own. Her fingers were slender and delicate-looking. Like they would snap easily. They rested lightly in his palm for a moment as he examined them.

What can you even do with these? You can't hold a weapon. If you didn't have that quirk, you'd be dead. He grumbled quietly and almost wanted to dig his nails into her palm, but stopped himself. She was his fan. As loyal as she was, he did not want to risk losing her. After all, she gave him such a confidence boost when she said how cool he was.

Leaning back against the wall, he let her hand drop so he could scratch his neck. Kugutsu's hand fell onto his knee, resting there with her fingers curled slightly inward. Why're you so weak anyway? Your quirk could make you a good villain and you're just messing around, pretending to be a broker like Giran. What's so great about him anyway? Why would you want to be like him?

"Shigaraki Tomura, our master is asking to speak with you." Kurogiri's voice penetrated the door and made the villain's scowl deepen. "Is Kugutsu in there with you? I haven't seen her since she arrived."

"She's my fan. Why wouldn't she be with me?" he muttered. Chewing at his lower lip, he looked down to her face. She looked almost like a normal girl when she slept. Not at all like the bloodthirsty broker's assistant that killed just for the thrill of it. His fan. His one and only fan.

Shift P.O.V

Kugutsu woke up on the floor, alone, curled up in a ball with two handheld consoles sitting in front of her. She rubbed at her eyes and glanced around, adrenaline rushing through her veins when she realized that this was definitely not her room back at the office. There was no sign of her dark humor posters or her "death before decaf" coffee mug.

Slowly, she remembered the night's events and breathed a sigh of relief. Her initial fear was that she might have gotten drunk and wandered into someone's home again. This is…Shigaraki's room, she reminded herself. Where did he go?

"Good morning, Kugutsu." Kurogiri greeted her from behind the counter when she entered the bar. He reached for something beneath the counter and produced something that looked really weird when held by him. A cold, blended coffee with whipped cream and chocolate sauce drizzled on top. Alongside this was a simple muffin studded with various berries.

"…morning…" she murmured, glancing over her shoulder. "Ah…Shigaraki-san is..?" She approached the counter, hoping to hear that he would be back soon.

"Shigaraki Tomura had to speak with our master and then he went out."

"Ah. Right. He's probably busy." She half-smiled and looked to the weird coffee again. "I didn't think you were the kind of person that would drink something like that."

The cup and muffin were pushed toward her from across the counter. Kurogiri's expression was one hundred percent unreadable within that ever moving darkness that seemed to be his face. "I was unsure of what you would like so I contacted Giran and was told that you like sweet things."

Well that's embarrassing. Now I look even lamer. Kugutsu slid onto a seat and slouched there, reaching for the deliciously unhealthy-looking breakfast. "Thank you, Kurogiri-san."

The black, shifting figure that was the villain seemed to nod, but it was incredibly difficult to be sure. It was like trying to see shapes in a cigarette's smoke. Something she had actually done a few times when she was bored in the office and Giran chain smoked. It usually annoyed him enough to eventually make him stop polluting her air.

Shigaraki-san is meeting with All for One. That's…really cool. It must be awesome to be a real villain. To be able to talk to someone as powerful as him. Remembering the night before, she remembered how it felt when he petted her ears and she half-closed her eyes. A smile was curving her lips as she took a sip of the sugary coffee Kurogiri had given to her.

The villain across from her was now cleaning a glass and seemed to realize almost immediately that she was staring at him. Specifically at his misty, dark appendages that were presumably his hands. "Did you need something?"

"You…have hands, Kurogiri-san?"

His eyes narrowed a little. He might have been looking down at his hands. He might have been frowning or smiling. There was absolutely no way of telling. "Yes. I have hands." Kurogiri apparently found it more amusing than annoying and set a hand down on the countertop.

That's a hand? But…I seriously can't even tell. She reached out with a fingertip to poke the top of his hand and found it was solid, despite looking like it was made of mist. Kugutsu stared intently and let three fingertips prod at his hand, entertained by how the mist billowed around her own hand.

Kurogiri tolerated this for a while; just watching her poke at his hand. When he finally spoke, his words made her frown. "You seem calmer now."

Her ears drew back and she shrugged. "I'm…usually good at controlling my emotions," she started. "My quirk gets dangerous if I get too excited or angry. I've had a lot of practice with keeping calm when I need to."

"Around Shigaraki Tomura, you get excited."

She slouched a bit, eyes shifting away from him to the wall as she continued to halfheartedly solve the bizarre mystery of how Kurogiri's misty appendage was actually a solid hand. "Shigaraki-san…makes me lose control," she admitted. "When I'm around him, I get excited and I get…really happy."

"Why do you want to be a broker?" Kurogiri's eyes narrowed again as he noticed her poking a fingertip between his fingers and staring down in wonder.

"Actually…I'd rather be a villain." Upon saying this, a hint of pink rose to her face. "Villains are cool. They don't have to live by anyone else's rules. They don't have to conform to society's ideals or follow the norm. I've wanted to become a villain since I was around twelve years old."

"So why don't you become a villain?"

"I couldn't! I mean…I don't have what it takes. My quirk is okay for Giran-san's little jobs or protecting myself on the street, but it isn't good enough for me to be a real villain. Your quirk is cool. It's really useful and it's great for a villain. Shigaraki-san's quirk is amazing! Mine is just…"shadow play". It's lame."

Kurogiri turned slightly for a moment before turning back to her. It was so slight that she assumed he was just changing his position. "Why are yakuza pursuing you? Giran never explained that."

Shift P.O.V

What is she doing? He watched Kugutsu's fingers run along the back of Kurogiri's hand and felt his irritation beginning to turn to anger. His fan girl was touching someone else. Staring at someone else. She's supposed to be my fan.

Shigaraki's nails dug into his neck, tearing at his skin and leaving red lines in their wake. There was a faint moistness on one fingertip so he was probably bleeding a little, but he was too angry to stop himself from scratching. He could barely hear them talking. Not that it mattered. He saw how pink her face was turning and that made it clear enough.

She's some kind of villain groupie, he thought bitterly. She just likes villains. I bet it doesn't even matter who she's with as long as they're a villain. I should've known. Just a pathetic groupie.

"Why are yakuza pursuing you? Giran never explained that."

Kurogiri's voice was louder now and Shigaraki scowled. He picked at the dry skin of his lower lip with a fingernail, feeling as though Kurogiri was trying to set him up. What's he trying to do?

"They…wanted me to join."

"A yakuza is somewhat similar to a villain. I'm sure the pay would be good."

"I guess, but I turned them down. And they really didn't like it." Kugutsu drew her hands to grip the coffee cup in front of her. "I turned them down because…if I joined them, I couldn't see Shigaraki-san anymore. And when I think about not being able to see him…it makes me feel panicky. Like I can't breathe. Like I'm being crushed by something."

Panicky…? He glared at her from where he remained hidden. She was no longer touching Kurogiri. Her face was no longer pink. In fact, she looked almost pale. Like she was afraid. Like the thought of not seeing him filled her with dread.

"That's pretty dumb, right? I probably sound like such a loser, talking like that." She lifted a hand, chewing at the skin around her thumbnail as she looked down at the coffee in front of her. "I mean, you asked me before why I don't try to become a villain. This is part of it. I'm so lame compared to real villains. What kind of villain would get this upset about not seeing someone? It's ridiculous."

"It's love." Kurogiri began wiping a glass, apparently abruptly remembering that this was a bar and he had bar-like tasks to take care of. Despite their complete lack of customers. "Plenty of villains have loved ones, Kugutsu Kurayami."

That word had some effect on him. Shigaraki had considered it before; his fan girl might actually love him. However, hearing Kurogiri say it made it seem more realistic. And the possibility that this girl, that this psychopath with cat ears, was in love with him, brought on some absurd effects.

His chest hurt a little as palpitations began and he grimaced, biting at his lip. Scratching his neck brought him no reassurance now. His eyes locked on Kugutsu as he felt a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach. An absurd tingle. A flutter. It pissed him off to feel this, but it was really his first time ever feeling it.

With these physical symptoms came a rush of euphoria that left him feeling how he assumed it probably felt to feel high. Satisfaction. Pleasure. Pride. Confidence. My fan girl's in love with me. What do I do now? Suddenly, he was quite glad that he had made a particular request to his master that morning.

Shift P.O.V

Kugutsu was sipping her sweet coffee when she heard the door open. Kurogiri greeted the blue-haired villain and asked how his talk went, but Shigaraki seemed to be ignoring his question. The seat beside hers was suddenly occupied and she felt her face burning as she saw him face her, leaning over with an arm resting on the counter.

"…g-good morning…" She winced at how weak her voice sounded and silently cursed herself. Now that Kurogiri had suggested she might be in love, it was all she could think about it and it made her hate herself. I'm lame. I'm so lame. What kind of loser falls in love?

A hand reached for her coffee and slid it away from her, keeping a finger extended from the cup. As Kugutsu watched, the villain sipped from her straw and then eyed the muffin that had been left untouched in front of her. Kurogiri broke it in half without a word and set half of it on a napkin for the villain.

He…drank from the same straw as me? Kugutsu's stomach did a flip at the realization that they had just shared an indirect kiss. He's so cool though. He's acting like it's no big deal.

"You should quit working for Giran," Shigaraki finally spoke up. He broke off a little bit of his half of the muffin and chewed on it as he considered his next words. "You're my fan girl. You should work for me. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"I-I'd love that!" she blurted out without thinking. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she looked away from him in embarrassment.

"Quit your job. Join the League of Villains."