NeonHorizon: I'm currently juggling three variations of Shigaraki, along with OC's impression of Shigaraki. So this chapter took me a few tries...Hooray for FRIENDSHIP!
Kugutsu's heart was pounding with excitement when she entered the room with Shigaraki. It was a big moment. She desperately wanted to look and professional so she forced herself to maintain a calm expression. After all, she was about to meet their new potential member. She had never tripped and face-planted in front of this kid so she was getting a second chance at making a cool first impression.
She forced her lips into the slightest of evil smirks as she entered the room, standing at her crush's side. The new potential member was restrained to a chair against the far wall so she was pretty sure she looked evil and amazing right in this moment. In all honesty, she did look like a true villain. Of course, no matter how cool she tried to act, she was still Kugutsu Kurayami so things were bound to go wrong.
What shattered her calm façade was Spinner. The reptilian villain seized her in a hug that lifted her off her feet, tears in his eyes as he exclaimed about how happy he was that she was alive. Apparently Twice had forgotten to tell everyone about the double. Kugutsu instantly bristled and flushed red with embarrassment at the other villain's insanely awkward, fan-fueled show of affection.
That was an hour ago and she was still seething about it. What should have been a huge, amazing milestone in her villain career had been ruined by her friend. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she scowled to herself. Friend? We're friends though. I have friends. Villain friends.
"Yami-chan, are you thinking about Tomura~?"
She winced at Toga's question and glared at the blonde girl. "Why would you think that?" She managed to keep her voice at a calm, almost normal volume. On the inside, she was screaming. Who the hell do you think you are?! Who said you could call him "Tomura"? You're not even that special! He picked me! He said I'm an Easter egg! So what gives you the right to-?!
"You're always thinking about Tomura!"
Seeing her fellow villain blush, she felt her stomach turn. The happiness in Toga's eyes when she said "Tomura" ignited a fire in Kugutsu. A bitter, fierce fire like the worst kind of heartburn. She wanted to create a spike of solid shadow and force it through the other girl's skull.
Her grip on her composure was starting to fade rapidly. Toga was talking, saying the blue-haired villain's name again and only feeding the rage that was steadily eating away at Kugutsu like a literal fire. Finally, she snapped. Grabbing Toga by the shoulders, she glared at the other girl and leaned down close. "Shut the fuck up! If I hear you call him that again, I'll rip out your intestines and shove them down your throat! He's mine! Do you fucking get it?! I'm not going to share him with any…"
The dark-haired villain's anger was replaced by total confusion when she saw Toga's blush growing darker, her grin growing wider. She leaned back, ears flattening beneath the baseball cap she was wearing over them as part of her disguise. "What?"
Toga's grabbed her in a hug, giggling. "You love him so much! You're so cute when you're all lovey-dovey about him!"
Kugutsu blinked, still trying to figure out how this girl had been completely unfazed by her threats of disembowelment and asphyxiation. The last person she threatened with that kind of death had made a pretty nasty mess in his pants. When the hug ended, she scowled and stepped back as she tried to regain her sense of calm. "What's your problem?"
Grabbing both of Kugutsu's hands in hers, Toga brought her face close. "I support your love for him! It's so romantic and cute! You died for him over and over again today! It was amazing! I wanna help you, Yami-chan!"
Again, the other villain blinked in confusion. "You don't…have a crush on him or something?"
"Nope! He's not my type and I wouldn't wanna get in your way!" She looked so happy that she might pop like a balloon animal carelessly tossed into a thorn bush.
What do you mean he's not your type? He's amazing! How you not like Shigaraki?! Fighting back that weird spike of anger, she shook her head. "Well. Cool." She bit her lip and looked away, forcefully withdrawing her hands from the blonde's grip. "Come on; we've got a job to do."
Toga walked beside her, still wearing that giddy, giggly little bitch expression on her face. "I made so many friends today, Yami-chan." Her grin grew a bit more. "They were so cute! I can't wait to see them again!"
"What? So are you in love with them?" Kugutsu knew there was no getting away from this topic. Toga wanted to talk about love and she was going to continue bothering her until she was satisfied.
She nodded gleefully, hopping a little and moving closer to Kugutsu. "Isn't it great?! You like it, right? Being in love just feels so amazing! It's the best feeling in the world to be in love with someone!"
In love…Bowing her head, she tugged at her baseball cap. "All that matters is looking cool. I want Shigaraki to see me as cool and powerful. Spinner ruined that for me today. I looked so lame!"
"No way! Tomura totally loves you!"
"I didn't say anything about that. What the hell-?"
"I can tell 'cause he looked so jealous when Spinner hugged you," Toga stated, wearing a sheepish expression now. "It's so romantic…"
Romantic? Remembering everything that had happened between them while they waited for the others to arrive, Kugutsu's heart skipped a beat. Just thinking about how he had basically hugged her made her face heat up until it felt like it was glowing. And he was jealous…
Shift P.O.V
That moron. Who does he think he is? His nails dragged over his neck as he glared at the reptilian villain. Spinner was talking to Kurogiri at the moment, still hyped over the semi-success of the mission. Completely oblivious to how he had singlehandedly killed the mood seconds after Shigaraki and Kugutsu made their appearance.
It was especially irritating because he had almost been in a good mood when he entered the room. Kugutsu's random hug earlier had made him feel pretty good. Important. Strong. Confident. So when he entered that room, he was prepared to come across as such. Seeing his fan girl get swept into a hug not only threw him off, but it completely obliterated his good mood.
Just thinking about it made his stomach turn. He hated this feeling and he wanted to say something scathing, something venomous, to get back at Spinner. Something that would make him never touch Shigaraki's fan again. Honestly, the hug was pretty bad. Coupling that with the fact that he was crying his little villain eyes out like someone had just stolen his last piece of candy just made the whole thing kind of cringey.
"So what'd you do?"
Blood-colored eyes shifted to Dabi, who had apparently seated himself next to Shigaraki at the bar. "What're you talking about?" he grumbled.
"You had that psycho alone for a few hours, right? What did you even do?"
"That doesn't concern you."
Dabi smirked and decided to change the subject only marginally. "I saw her die nine times today. You ever see a cat go through all nine lives in one night?"
Shigaraki knew that the double must have perished at some point, but he had no idea she had gotten herself killed so many times. Not that it really fazed him in any way; he was just slightly amazed by the number. Of course, now he was forced to think about the fact that he could have easily killed the real Kugutsu just a few hours ago in his room, when she put his hand on her neck.
"She got ripped in half a few times, smashed into a tree, smashed into the ground, impaled by ice at one point, and the last double I took care of myself."
The realization that Dabi had, in fact, murdered a version of his fan girl sparked something in him. The first reaction was a bitter taste rising to his mouth. Swallowing bile, he felt sick to his stomach. In addition to this, there was a heaviness in his chest. Like his heart was being pressed by something. Any normal person would probably realize that this was worry and a hint of heartbreak. This being Shigaraki, he glared and wondered if Kurogiri had any antacid tablets.
"You seriously think that kid's gonna join?" Dabi asked, nodding toward Bakugou. "He looks pretty pissed off."
Shigaraki was just a little too distracted by the jealousy and anger currently clouding his judgement. He looked in the opposite direction of where Dabi had nodded, glaring at Spinner. The hatred in his eyes was so fierce, so strong, that it rivaled the glower of a gamer when the final copy of a new release was sold to the customer ahead of them.
"I wish I could've seen Yami fight! It was so dark, she was probably super powerful!" Spinner looked just way too excited. It made everyone around him look at the villain with a bit of disgust. He was acting like an excitable fan boy. Like how Kugutsu acted when she saw Shigaraki use his quirk to take out that store clerk that had been hitting on her. Spinner's eyes were practically sparkling.
"That psycho got ripped in half at least four times," Dabi spoke up. He said this with the obvious hope to shatter any cool image Spinner had of Kugutsu; just really wanting to amuse himself.
"No way!" The other villain's shoulders drooped and his look of excitement fell to disappointment for a second. Then it was swiftly replaced by terrifying enthusiasm. "Next time we'll team up and I'll-!"
"You're not teaming up with her. You're not even the same level." Shigaraki said this quietly and turned his head so his eyes would stop hurting from staring just from the corner. "Yami's a stealth fighter and you're just a warrior class. You're common. So why would an Easter egg unlockable want to pair up with a freebie character?"
Spinner, being into games himself, found the words scathing. Venomous. He winced at that last sentence and rubbed the back of his neck. "You're right."
"Of course I'm right. I'm your leader." Shigaraki glanced toward the door, now wondering what was taking Kugutsu and Toga so long. He had sent them off to run an important errand; getting food for everyone. Of course, he half-expected Kugutsu to return alone, covered in blood, holding up Toga's severed head with a triumphant look on her face.
He released a sigh of irritation and slouched in his seat. She's my loyal fan girl, he thought as he remembered Spinner hugging her. The look on her face easily told him how incredibly uncomfortable she was. Kugutsu's arms had hung loosely at her sides, not even trying to hug back. She clearly had no desire to hug the weird, reptilian fan boy. Still, he felt angry about it. The second that she was hugged, he felt an unbearable surge of rage and he had the urge to tear her away from Spinner by force.
Shift P.O.V
Kugutsu felt an unbearable surge of rage and she had the urge to tear off Magne's sunglasses and stab out the other villain's eyes. Cat-yellow eyes narrowed as she entered the bar with Toga, focused on how Magne was staring dreamily in the direction of where Shigaraki was currently sitting.
Her lips tightened into a straight line and Kugutsu shifted all of the bags of food to her left hand. Reaching up to remove the baseball cap, she could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Her blood was pumping fast with adrenaline as she kept her eyes focused on Magne.
She's looking at Shigaraki. That bitch. If she thinks she can have him, I'll gut her. She's not even good enough for him! I'm not even good enough so why would she-?! Kugutsu felt Toga's elbow in her ribs and glared at the blonde.
"Look at Tomura~" the other girl whispered excitedly.
What? She obeyed and felt her stomach do a flip. Blood-colored eyes met hers and she saw that he was chewing at his lower lip. The sight made her knees weak in the weirdest way. She felt like her face had ignited and she quickly lowered her head so she was looking at the floor.
When they had finished getting food for everyone, Kugutsu had made up her mind that she was going to be cool and impressive when she walked into the bar again. She was determined to make a good impression this time. She had no idea how weak she would feel when she saw Shigaraki.
He looks so cool, even just sitting there! That's how a villain should look! Kugutsu's hips wiggled a bit in her excitement and she lifted her hat to hide the smile spreading across her face. I need to be like him! I…have to be as cool as Shigaraki!
"Quit geeking out and bring the food." Dabi's voice snapped her out of her moment. He saw her eyes narrow again and smirked. "You act more like a dog. So eager to please your master," he taunted.
She stared at him coldly for a moment and reached into the bag for the food he had specifically asked for. Maintaining direct eye contact, she unwrapped it and began viciously devouring his food in front of him in quite possibly the oddest and cruelest revenge she had ever managed. "You have bland taste in food," she started. Grinning, she licked her lips. "And an even blander sense of humor."