NeonHorizon: I haven't decided if I want to follow the actual timeline or go a bit rogue. If I go my own way, I won't alter events too much, but it will make things a bit more interesting. What do you think?

He glanced toward the door for the third time since sitting down at the computer, absently chewing at his chapped lower lip. Shigaraki was getting impatient. When he left the bar area, he expected her to follow him. Fifteen minutes had passed and there was no sign of Kugutsu. No footsteps approaching his door, no hint of her voice out in the passage.

Slouching in his seat, the villain released a frustrated sigh. What kind of fan is she anyway? She says she's a loyal fan and then she hangs around with those others even after I leave. She should've followed me. He tipped his head back, nails digging at his neck as he listened closely for her approach.

Still nothing. This was more than just irritating; he was actually a little confused. Kugutsu was his loyal fan girl. His loyal, maniacal, probably rabid fan girl. He was sure she would have followed him. He honestly would not have been surprised to wake up in the middle of the night and find her watching him sleep.

That was a thought that would probably freak out most people, but he was every bit as peculiar as she was so he thought it would be her way of showing her love. Thinking about that made his irritation fade slightly and he closed his eyes. For him, the night was still young. She would probably wander into the room in a few hours, covered in blood, with some sort of gift for him. That was just how she was and he actually liked that.

Slouching forward again, he reached for the computer mouse and started a game. Something to distract himself from thinking about his fan. She's insane, he thought as he selected single-player mode. He could easily imagine her waving a knife around, threatening Toga and Magne in a fit of yandere jealousy. The mental image made his lips twitch at the corners into a wide, evil-looking grin.

Shigaraki definitely should have been concerned after that thought crossed his mind. Any normal person probably would have run out there to make sure that everyone was alright. Villains or not, they were still a group that was supposed to work together toward a common goal. That would be a little difficult if Kugutsu murdered half their members.

As his game progressed, he decided that there was no chance that he would let her sleep in his room. He just wanted her to be there until he was ready for her to go. Letting her sleep there would be hazardous. She seemed like the kind of fan that would cut his hair and pin it onto a doll for her to carry around everywhere with her. He had seen the handmade Shigaraki doll in her bag and he knew she was less than stable.

After half an hour had passed, Shigaraki finally grew impatient and abandoned his game. The fact that he had made himself wait for that long was pretty impressive, even to him. Now, as he stalked down the passage toward the door to the bar, he considered what he would do and say.

If she was hanging around Spinner again, he would have a hard time controlling his anger. Every time she got close to that villain, it felt like he was being taunted almost. He hated it.

Of course, if she was keeping her distance, if she really was picking a fight with one of the others, he would be pleased. He might even reward her somehow. How, he was unsure. Probably by petting her ears. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy it every time he touched her, which he still found insane.

Emerging into the bar, he lifted a hand and picked at the dry, chapped skin of his lip. Scanning the bar for his fan girl, a disgusting blend of disappointment and irritation bubbled up. Kugutsu was nowhere to be seen. Worse yet, Spinner was also missing. On a less interesting note, he did see that Dabi and Twice also appeared to have wandered off.

Toga had settled into a corner, dozing off. Compress and Magne were discussing how the plan had come together. Kurogiri was behind the counter with a subtle aura of defeat around him. Shigaraki made his way over to the counter and glared across at the other villain. "I said no one was allowed to leave."

"Have you heard of the term "herding cats" before, Shigaraki Tomura?"

He settled on a bar seat and scratched at his neck, eyes narrowing further. "I don't care about cats," he grumbled. "You had one job."

"I did my job to the best of my ability. Half of the League is still present. I apologize that Kugutsu slipped out-"

"I don't care about cats," Shigaraki repeated. "You're a failure. You couldn't even keep everyone here when I told you to. What good are you to me if you can't do something as simple as that? I didn't want anyone to leave and now-"

"I believe I heard Yami say she was going to bring Dabi back. She seemed excited," Compress spoke up.

Kurogiri, unfazed by the verbal abuse from Shigaraki, added to this. "Kugutsu mentioned doing this for you, Shigaraki Tomura. I can only assume that she's trying to bring Dabi back in an effort to impress you."

Impress me? His nails dug a bit deeper into his neck as he glared down at the surface of the counter. She wants to impress me. What a good fan.

Shift P.O.V

"I just want to talk to him," she whispered, clutching the knife tighter. Kugutsu crouched a bit lower, her feline ears twitching as she listened to Dabi's footsteps on the sidewalk.

She and Spinner were currently hiding around a corner, following the charred-looking freak at a distance. The girl could feel an excited grin forming on her face and lifted a trembling hand to cover her mouth. Look at you. You have no idea that we're even here. Just where do you think you're going, you half-stitched ragdoll? Are you meeting someone? Are you going for a drink? Are you going home?

Beside her, Spinner had his back pressed flat against the wall as she watched Dabi. As many times as she said she just wanted to "talk" to Dabi, he had doubts about her real intentions. No one carried a knife with them to go "talk" to someone. He came along for two reasons; to spend time with his friend and to hopefully make a good impression on Shigaraki by helping to wrangle Dabi.

The footsteps paused and Kugutsu knew he was probably looking over his shoulder to be sure no one was following him. She felt her heart beat even faster and she looked toward Spinner. His eyes were a bit wide, watching the shadows behind her coil and twist in her excitement.

Her free hand darted out to grab his and she was barely able to hold back a giggle. "This way…" she hissed. Kugutsu kept her footsteps light, sprinting along down the next alley while half-dragging Spinner. She wanted to do something big. Something amazing that would let her quirk shine and let her show how strong she was. Of course, this could go horribly wrong. She might even die.

Dying while trying to impress Shigaraki. I can't think of a better way to go, she thought as she bit her lip. A glance toward Spinner made the other villain suddenly look away and rub behind his neck. "Your quirk lets you stick to things, doesn't it?" she asked, keeping her voice just barely a whisper.

"Huh? Yeah; I can stick to walls and stuff. You need me to do something?" His tone was one of excitement. Clearly, he liked the idea of being able to help. Rather than receive an answer, he found her putting a hand on his shoulder and nodding in a silent instruction for him to crouch.

Before Spinner could question her, Kugutsu climbed onto his back. Her legs wrapped around his waist, ankles hooking in front of him, and her arms went around his neck to steady herself. "Up. He's going to be here soon. Climb up to the edge of the roof and I can take it from there once I know the level of shadows up there."

"R-right! You got it, Yami!" He began to scale the side of the building, moving as fast as he could. When he heard the echo of footsteps below, he paused and looked down. Dabi was below them, looking around. By some miracle, it seemed as if he had yet to notice them. Spinner finished his climb swiftly after this and was soon collapsed on the rooftop, sweating with nervousness and looking to Kugutsu.

"You're pretty fast," she remarked. "Don't think I could've done it that quick. It was pretty close, too."

The villain rubbed his neck again and shrugged. "So what's next?"

"Next…" Kugutsu ruffled her hair and looked around a little, trying to determine their next move. Her first instinct was to just leap down onto Dabi from above and stab him through the throat, but something told her that Shigaraki would be a little annoyed with her if she did that.

This has to be impressive. Cool. She licked her lips and tilted her head, crouching at the edge to peer at Dabi through the darkness. The villain was still in the alley, apparently content with taking his time meandering to his destination. Kugutsu felt a twitching and gritted her teeth, trying to calm herself down.

She was getting too excited by the idea of hunting this other villain down like prey and presenting his barely conscious, hopefully bleeding, body to her idol. The disfigured stump that was her tail was twitching because she was too excited. Kugutsu could feel Spinner staring and her face started to burn red.

If it was someone else, I'd make a net from the shadows and just drop it down on them. But he has those stupid flames. I need to be smart about this or I could get blinded…or burned. Moving back a little, she chewed at her thumbnail. Spinner seemed to have recovered from the brisk climb up the wall and was now crouching beside her on the rooftop.

"You think talking would work?" she asked, half-joking.

Weirdly enough, Spinner's level of fan enthusiasm seemed to echo her own. He wanted to impress her about as much as she wanted to impress Shigaraki. Clenching a fist, he smirked. "No way! A guy like Dabi wouldn't just come because we tell him to! We've got to take him by force!"

Amused by that enthusiasm, she half-grinned. "You have a plan?"

He tilted his head, staring down at Dabi as the crispy-looking villain started moving toward the end of the alley. "When you fought those yakuza guys, you were throwing up shadow walls to block them and you made those crazy shadow blades on your arms. Can you do that now?"

Kugutsu's left ear twitched and she lifted a hand to test it. She pressed her fingertips against her own shadow and let it flow up her forearm, tapering at the end and shifting into a bladelike shape. It was solid, but she knew that it was just dark enough that if she lost control it would be catastrophic.

"Where's your sword?"

He looked sheepish and frowned. "It broke."

"Do you have any weapons?"

Spinner turned his gaze to her again. "I've got some throwing knives, a hatchet, and a dagger. You have a plan?"

"I've got a loose plan. What you said about the shadow walls sparked an idea, but I'll definitely need backup. I need you to corral him for me. If you can get him to that spot over there…"

The end result was an absolute mess. Spinner did manage to throw a few knives to force Dabi to stop walking and that was when Kugutsu lost control. The shadows that had formed blades along her arms morphed and she started to tremble, giggling loudly. The next few seconds would probably haunt Spinner's nightmares for the rest of his life.

Kugutsu grinned evilly as she regarded Dabi from above and before the half-toasted villain could even process what was happening, she had thrown herself off the side of the roof. Spinner ran after her to try to grab her in time, but it was unnecessary. She had landed on Dabi and was plunging her shadowy arm blades into his torso again and again. Her eyes were wide, her grin unwavering. She hardly seemed human in this moment and it would have terrified anyone normal.

He shivered and hesitantly went over the edge of the roof, using his quirk to keep himself up. He wanted to avoid her until she seemed to snap out of this moment of madness. Of course, being the weird, awkward fan that he was, he admired her show of power. He had never witnessed it in person and he was certainly not disappointed.

She, however, was. As Kugutsu straightened, she twitched and stared down at the muddy mess that had been Dabi. Her lips twisted into a snarl and her eye twitched as she lifted a boot out of the mess. "What the fuck? Where is he?! Show yourself, you creepy, charbroiled edge lord!"

The girl turned to look for him and found her throat being grabbed tightly. Kugutsu was lifted off her feet and her back was slammed against the brick wall to her left. On instinct, she lifted a leg and planted the sole of her boot against Dabi's midsection. An arm raised, pressing the edge of her shadowy left blade against his neck.

"Put me down," she snarled. Her eyes had been wide with excitement earlier and now narrowed with hatred.

"I thought you were looking for me."

"Put me down…or I'll make you regret it. I'll kill your family. I'll kill everything you love. And then I'll kill you. Last chance. Put me down." Kugutsu's heart raced with a mix of panic and excitement.

Dabi smirked down at her, lifting his free hand to display the blue flames dancing over his fingers. "Go for it. You think that scares me? I'll show you what fear looks like." His palm pressed harder against her throat as she struggled, watching her expression closely. "Did you seriously call me an edge lord?"