NeonHorizon: Just going to take a moment to mention that I started a story for Twice. It's called "Say it Twice". You don't have to read it. I'm just saying that, if you're an obsessive Twice fan like I am, it's there. Also. The next chapter should be pretty interesting. I didn't plan for some of the stuff I ended up setting up for, but it happened that way. Enjoy the chapter, everyone!
To the casual onlooker, they might look like they were on a date. Just a weird, moderately creepy, couple out on a date on a nice summer day. This was probably how Kugutsu saw it, too. Shigaraki was unsure though; he was busy contemplating the big event coming up.
The others had all been told their parts in the plan to capture Bakugou. The only one left was Kugutsu and he had saved her for last on purpose. Mostly because he was unsure of what role he wanted to give her.
Chewing on his lower lip, he watched her from the corner of his eye. She was dressed casually in a pair of black shorts and a black shirt with long mesh sleeves so her skin could touch shadows if she needed to use her quirk. He hated it. He really hated it. Shigaraki found himself thinking that she actually looked cool dressed this way.
She's a good stealth fighter; like a rogue. But she can tank, too, if she uses shadow shields. She could fit into whatever role I need her to, just like a good follower. So why is this so difficult? His eyes narrowed as she glanced over, her cheeks tinting pink faintly.
He saw her nearly bump into a young man in her moment of distraction and moved quickly to intervene. Shigaraki's hand darted out, gripping the girl's sleeve with four fingers and yanking her toward him sharply. She stumbled a little, fell against his side, and blinked in surprise. Instead of snapping at her, he glared at the man. "Watch where you're going."
"Sorry, sorry," the guy mumbled, glancing at Kugutsu sheepishly.
Kugutsu, suddenly in professional mode, quickly steadied herself so she could stand on her own. "I'm sorry," she murmured. She rubbed the back of her head, eyes lowered to the ground.
Shigaraki let go of her sleeve and shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pocket. It was hot outside. Unbearably hot. However, neither of the two villains were going to conform to actual summer clothes. It was hard to be intimidating and evil in bright colors.
"I'm sick of this. Take me somewhere air conditioned."
"Oh…okay, sure. Um…?" She turned to look around and spotted a game store. Apparently in too much of a hurry to think about what she was doing, the girl grabbed his sleeve and started leading him to the shop.
He was a little irritated, of course. The thought of being led around by one of his own underlings would probably make his stomach turn if that underling was anyone else. This was Kugutsu, though. Shigaraki had now come to terms with the fact that she was possibly his most important underling.
It was for that very reason that he was so conflicted about where to place her in the upcoming event. Sure, he could send her off with the Vanguard Action Squad. She was a powerful member of his team so she would definitely be useful wherever he placed her. At the same time, he was coming to realize that the reason why he was so hesitant to make a decision was due to an unsettling fear.
Disgust made him scowl as he came to terms with the fact that he was hesitating because he was afraid of losing her. If not in some horrible accident caused by a UA student then by being arrested and thrown in prison. There was no way he could retrieve her if she was put in jail and he already knew that letting her die was not an option.
It had been after that moment in the back part of the bar. When he gave into the impulse to hold his fan, under the guise of it being her reward. That single moment brought him such a boost of ambition and confidence each time he thought about it. His fan gave him power in a way nothing else could.
Kugutsu was walking over to the section for used games and began browsing the selection. She, of course, stole glances at him and covered her mouth when she began to grin. The female villain looked like she might literally burst with happiness. As if his presence alone was enough to force her to lose all control of her emotions. That might have been the definition of how it felt to be in love, but Shigaraki had no idea. He never looked into it.
As he stalked down the aisle of games, gradually making his way to her side, he contemplated a few options for if he did send her with the Vanguard Action Squad. If he sent her, he decided that his best option would be to plant a GPS tracker on her so Kurogiri could have her coordinates if things went sour. That way, Shigaraki could just drag her to safety like when the yakuza were after her.
To be fair, he had been considering doing that for a while now. He was pretty sure Kugutsu would have no problem with it, either. If he told her to put a tracking device somewhere on her, she would probably do it with a smile. Somehow the thought of this really pleased him. A grin stretched his chapped lips, making them sting just a bit as he neared her side.
Shift P.O.V
Kugutsu saw some old games in the used section that made her feel nostalgic, but she had no plans to get herself anything. If she saw Shigaraki admiring something, she would buy it for him, but this was not a causal day out together. She knew it from the moment he told her to meet him at the bar.
Spinner had told her just the previous night about his role in the mission. They had been playing a game co-op, using a voice chat app to communicate back and forth. He told her about how he was going to be working with Magne and what he was supposed to do. The reptilian villain seemed extremely proud of himself already, despite not even doing anything yet.
So what am I going to be doing? I really want to be out like Toga and Mustard. They're going to have pretty cool roles and I could do the most damage if I'm in the woods with them. I could even corral the little brats if things get out of hand. I don't trust that creep Dabi to not burn our target alive.
Shigaraki was standing silently beside her, hands in his sweatshirt pocket as he watched her go through the game selection in the bin. He seemed unimpressed with the games themselves. In fact, he had appeared a little distracted for most of the afternoon so far.
Kugutsu's pointed feline ears flattened as she felt disappointment starting to grow. He's bored, isn't he? Of course! He has any game he wants so why would he care about dumb secondhand games like these? I should've taken him somewhere better. Somewhere he wouldn't be bored. She tensed, ears perking forward as a hand settled on top of her head.
"Take me somewhere else."
"Ah. Okay, where-?" She looked to her right, past Shigaraki and to the stand across the street. The shaved ice stand, with its adorable bunny wind chime and the little bunny mascot perched on the countertop. Her pupils widened as she began to fixate on the bunnies.
Looking up at Shigaraki, she knew her cheeks were flushed. "You're hot! I-I mean, it's hot outside, right?! Do you want shaved ice?" Her heart thudded so rapidly in her chest that she actually had to press a hand over it and lowered her head to try to hide how painful it felt. I can't believe I said that though! How embarrassing!
He turned his head to look where she had been staring. It seemed like he was completely unfazed by her outburst. "Fine."
Kugutsu went ahead of him to get them some shaved ice. She had to make a guess as to what flavor he might like since he gave her absolutely no indication as to what he wanted. As the vendor prepared their treats, Kugutsu stared intently at the little bunny mascot. Her lips were in a straight line and she could feel her pulse still racing, her posture starting to shift into a hunch sort of.
It was horribly embarrassing, but Giran had not exaggerated when he told Kurogiri that she had a fixation with rabbits. It was a secret she tried to keep hidden; the cat quirk she inherited from her father. Of course, being Kugutsu Kurayami, she got only the most annoying cat traits. Such as fixating on prey and getting distracted by dangling objects.
Shigaraki lingered across the street in the shade of an overhang, watching her and probably wondering what was taking so long. He was a busy villain. Most likely, he was starting to get annoyed with the heat and the crowds of people. If he walked away, she would be disappointed, but she would understand.
To her surprise, he was still waiting for her when she returned. She held up the two treats; one red and one blue. "I…didn't know what flavor you wanted," she confessed. "Which one?"
He reached for the red one, grumbling about it quietly to himself. Before taking a spoonful for himself, he watched her dig into hers and seemed content enough when he saw her lick her lips. "What is that?"
"They called it "tropical blue". Do you…?" She held it out to him and blinked in surprise when he leaned closer toward her. "Um?"
"You're smart, aren't you? How do you not understand? Here." He shoved a spoonful of bright red ice toward her, almost stabbing it into her lower lip. Thankfully, she opened her mouth in time and accepted the offering. "My turn."
"Oh! R-right, just a second." Kugutsu gathered some blue ice on her spoon and offered it. If there was any question about it before, there was no doubt now; this was a date. A weird, awkward, villainous date.
She watched him chew on the shaved ice and knew that if he was anyone else, she probably would have slapped him in the back of the head for doing that. The sound of human teeth repeatedly closing on ice made her cringe worse than seeing an awkward high schooler confess their love to an anime poster in the game store.
"So…where will I be tomorrow night?" Kugutsu tried to casually chip at her frozen treat as she asked this. Her heart was racing now with excitement at the possibility of perhaps being paired with Twice or Mustard or Muscular. She could do a lot of damage with any of those three.
Shigaraki's eyes lowered to his ice as he started chewing on his lower lip. It was stained faintly blue from when she gave him some of her shaved ice so it looked just a little more unsettling to passerby. "The bar," he answered without even looking at the female villain.
The girl felt her heart sink into her stomach upon hearing this. All of her girlish, giddy daydreams of creating chaos and bloodshed alongside her fellow villains were shattered with those two simple words from Shigaraki. She released a nervous, high-pitched giggle and shook her head. "That…can't be right though. I want to help! There's a lot that I can do; just put wherever you want. I won't complain and I'll do whatever you need me to."
"…shut up…" he muttered.
"They have a student with a shadow quirk; I could use my quirk to turn it against him, probably. Or I could use my shadows to blind Eraserhead. He's going to be there so someone needs to distract-"
"That's Dabi's job. Everyone already has a job so just shut up."
Kugutsu bristled, frustration building. "I want to do something for you! Let me show you that I can be useful!"
"I made up my mind so just shut up." His grip on the spoon and cup tightened. Ice crunched loudly between his teeth and it might have been menacing, but the flower-printed cup made it just look ridiculous to everyone around them.
"I don't want to stay behind and do nothing. I'm…a professional, Shigaraki. Please let me prove myself to you."
He violently stabbed the spoon into the cup, glaring at the girl. Her ears flattened and she took a step away from him, almost as if she was afraid. It only further pissed him off. Shigaraki's free hand was soon gripping her upper arm with one of his fingers extended away from her limb. He pulled her close abruptly, his scarred lips twisting into a deep scowl.
"You're supposed to be my loyal fan girl. So why are you arguing with me? I'm not letting you go because you're an uncommon. Got it? You're not a character they just give away as a freebie at the start of the game. You're an Easter egg. You're an unlockable. Do you know how much work gets put into those?"
Kugutsu's stomach felt like it was doing flips. Her pulse was pounding in her ears as his words sank in and her knees trembled. A wide, uncontrollable smile broke out across her face, forcing her to lower her head to hide it. He…really cares that much about me? I didn't realize how much he liked me, but now…
Shigaraki released her, his blood-colored eyes narrowing and shifting away from her almost as if he was just a tiny bit embarrassed about the awkward confession. "Hurry up." He started walking ahead of her, listening carefully to be sure that she was following.
She hurried to match his pace, still thrilled by the bizarre love confession that some might not even consider a love confession. She knew though. Why else would he use such sweet terms to describe how important she was to him? This could only mean that he loved her. That was her twisted fan girl logic, anyway.
Kugutsu was so blinded by her own affection for him that she failed to hear her phone ring. If she had and had checked the number, she might have found an unknown number of a particular villain. A villain who happened to be the master of the man walking beside her. A villain she probably should not ignore. Yet here she was, blissfully enjoying Shigaraki's company and being unaware that All for One was attempting to make contact with his protégé's recent obsession.