Kugutsu's last memory was of Shigaraki turning away from her. She was waking up on the cold, hard floor of a dark room and winced at the stiffness in her joints. Pushing herself up was a struggle, but she was soon sitting upright and became aware of something around her neck. When she lifted her hand, her fingers came into contact with what seemed to be a haphazardly wrapped bandage that was a little crusty with what was probably dried blood.

The girl ruffled her hair anxiously and realized that her hat was gone. It also felt like the UA uniform skirt had been replaced with her villain costume's shorts. Instead of the UA blazer and blouse, she was wearing a sweatshirt that was a little too big for her.

Her face lit up with a blush as she sank a little into the sweatshirt, sniffing at the material. Her weird fan girl heart started racing as she recognized that this was her crush's sweatshirt. This reminded her of the insane display she had made in the neighborhood using her quirk and her ears folded back.

It's really weird. I know I was supposed to get that file for Giran and I remember going to the bar. I remember those jerks making fun of Shigaraki and I got really pissed off. I sort of remember the rest, but it's fuzzy. It feels like I was just watching someone else do it. Why did I do something so dumb? If a hero found the hideout…

She curled up in a ball, arms wrapped around her legs in the darkness and her nails lightly digging into her knees. "So stupid…" she mumbled to herself.

"You had the nerve to sleep for three days and the first thing you do when you wake up is start talking to yourself?"

Kugutsu's ears twitched forward and she tensed. Suddenly, she became very aware of the intense stare being directed at her. Of course, it made sense he could probably see her. He was accustomed to low-light since his room at the bar, and the bar itself, had been kind of dimly lit. Not to mention that Kugutsu had no idea how long he might have been in the dark room with her.

She turned her head slowly, trying to see in the darkness. Her eyes were still adjusting so it was difficult to make out any shapes. When she finally noticed the shape of her crush sitting against the wall just a few feet away, she jolted. "Shigaraki? I was…I was asleep for three days?"

There was a quiet scratching sound, followed by the villain grumbling. "You passed out before Spinner even picked you up. Kurogiri said you overused your quirk. I didn't even know you could do that and you used it doing something that stupid."

The girl lowered her head, her eyes half-closing. "I-I'm sorry." She ruffled her hair again, hating that her heart was beating so fast. Hating that she had let him down. "I didn't know I could do it, either. I've never spread my quirk that far before. When I try to think about it, I don't even feel like it was something I did. It feels like something that I watched happen. I don't know why-"

"You didn't know," he muttered, sounding more like he was talking himself for a moment. "My girl didn't know she could do something that cool. Why didn't you try to do it before?"

He…thought it was cool? Kugutsu's heart skipped a beat and she smiled in the darkness, but kept her head down to hide it. "I don't know."

The two villains sat in silence for a long while after that. Kugutsu was now able to make out the dark rectangle that was the door to the room. Beyond it, she could hear someone snoring in the distance. What time is it? Why's Shigaraki awake while everyone else is asleep?

"Come here." He beckoned with a finger, his head tilting and pale hair falling over his right eye as he stared at her through the darkness.

Excitement rushed through her veins, but Kugutsu managed to keep herself from releasing an embarrassing fan girl squeal. She crawled toward him, hoping he was unable to see how freakishly bright red her face probably was. Her head was still sort of down so when she abruptly bumped into his chest, she jumped a little.

Before she could lean back to apologize, a hand pressed at her back with only three fingers and his palm making contact. His other hand lifted and two fingers moved along the back of her left ear. Purring erupted from Kugutsu and she subconsciously nuzzled her face into the side of his neck.

I don't deserve this. Not after putting everyone in danger. This…feels too good! Her hip bumped something and her eyes widened. Kugutsu's breathing grew unsteady when she realized she was more or less kneeling on the floor between her crush's legs. Calm down! Damn it! Why is my heart beating this fast?!

"What made your quirk spread out like that? You said you'd never done it before so something triggered it. What was it?" Shigaraki's tone was slightly demanding, but he was obviously genuinely curious.

Closing her eyes, she felt his fingers move to stroke her other pointed feline ear. His neck felt warm beneath her cheek and she felt a giddy sort of feeling bubbling up. "Giran…sent me to get a file someone stole," she started. "I went into the bar alone and…the guys there…"

The next part was embarrassing. It made her sound like some sort of rabid fan and she was completely aware of it. However, there was no getting around this if she wanted to truthfully explain herself and she hated the idea of lying to him. "They made fun of you…so I wanted to tear them apart," Kugutsu admitted.

The hand on her back pressed harder, bringing her tighter against him. His knees dug into her hips as he held her. "You were trying to defend me. My loyal fan girl went through so much trouble trying to defend me. I thought you were just playing with someone, but you were doing something for your idol."

"I-I love you! I did it…out of love! I couldn't let them talk about you that way! I wanted to tear them apart into little pieces and smear their blood on the walls of that bar! But…I think I…went a little crazy. I'm sorry. I put everyone in danger-"

"Twice ran into a wall."

Kugutsu bit her lip, a little thrown off by this abrupt and almost comical interruption. Of course, she could easily imagine Twice running face-first into a wall when the darkness spread over the hideout. She could also imagine him shouting at the wall, but she had to try to force that thought away to keep herself from giggling like a lunatic in front of Shigaraki.

"…I'll apologize to him…" It was taking a ridiculous amount of self-control to not laugh. Come on! Be serious! Stay calm! He's going to think you're even crazier than he probably already thinks you are!

"Don't." Shigaraki moved a little, settling more comfortably against the wall. He shifted both hands so one was gripping her shoulder, with a finger elevated for safety, and the other was at his side. The girl was pushed away from him a little, letting his blood-red eyes narrow on Kugutsu's face for a moment. Soon his gaze drifted downwards to the bandaging on her neck.

It was pretty obvious that he was wondering about how her neck had been cut. In her crazed moment in the bar when she had killed the guy that started making fun of Shigaraki, she had failed to notice the man behind her slicing into her neck with a knife. It was shallow enough to not cause too much damage, but there was still dried blood on the bandaging.

He chewed on his lower lip as he leaned down a little, bringing his face closer to the bandages. A fingertip slipped beneath the hem and he tugged gently. The strip of gauze that had been sloppily wrapped her neck instantly came loose. "You're a ranged fighter. You don't even have to get close to use your quirk on someone. You're too reckless."

Is he...worried about me? She felt her heart beating faster again and the girl shakily lifted her arms to wrap around his neck. Kugutsu wanted to hug him more than anything, but the villain's grip on her shoulder was firm and he kept her at a distance. Unfortunately, this meant she had a good view of his face.

His eyes were focused on her neck wound, his scarred and dry lips twisted into a deep scowl. Shigaraki usually looked kind of tired, but there was a different level of exhaustion reflected in his eyes. When he caught her staring, he lifted his eyes to meet her cat-yellow ones and those chapped lips lifted at one corner.

"I want you to make it up to me. You did something that reckless. You owe me for putting me through so much trouble. So I want you to think about what you can do to make it up to me. And you'd better make it something good. You're such a loyal fan, you should know what I want."

Kugutsu gave a small nod, knowing exactly what he meant. Games. He wants games since we don't have a computer here. I need to get him some games for his console. She frowned when he released her completely and moved to stand. For an instant, she wondered if he meant something else since they were suddenly in the perfect position for that, but then he moved around her.

"Come here." The call came from behind Kugutsu and it was joined with the soft sound of an impact.

She turned and crawled across the floor, jumping a bit when her fingertips bumped the edge of something soft. Relief washed over her when she realized that it was the futon. Her blush returned, her crazed fan girl heart skipping a beat, when she realized what room this was. "Shigaraki?"

A hand gripped the front of her sweatshirt and the female villain was dragged forward onto the futon. Her crush moved her onto her side so she faced him and he stared at her from where he was lying beside her, sharing the same pillow. One hand lifted and absently messed with one of her cat ears, making sure he kept a finger extended away from her.

He was silent. Just watching her like a cat staring at its favorite toy, pondering if it should play with it, hide it away somewhere, or leave it alone for the time being. Whatever he was thinking, it seemed like it started to bother him. He was chewing at his lower lip, his eyes narrowing.

It was bold. She knew it was bold. Kugutsu just wanted him to feel a fraction of how good she felt when she was with him. Closing her eyes tightly, fearing rejection, the girl gently ran her fingers through his pale blue hair. She heard a quiet grumble, but no demands for her to stop or even a question of why she was doing it.

Her heart was pounding, but she moved a little bit closer to him and continued to trail her fingers through his hair. The hand that had been messing with her ear stopped. Kugutsu opened one eye half-way and saw that both of his eyes were closed. The villain had dozed off while she was playing with his hair. It made her feel a rush of pride as well as confusion. She had always thought he hated being touched unless he gave permission first.

In typical obsessive fan girl fashion, Kugutsu spent a good portion of the night watching Shigaraki sleep. Grinning gleefully, wishing she could take a picture of him for her phone's wallpaper. She had slept for three days, but eventually she started to feel herself dozing off again. Before sleep could take hold, she turned onto her other side to face away from him so she could hide the fact she had been staring.

When Kugutsu woke up, he was still asleep. She quietly and carefully got up, keeping her eyes on him. I'm going to get him some games, she determined. I feel pretty okay. As long as I don't use my quirk again, I won't strain myself.

She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, hoping to slip out of the hideout and be back quickly. Instead, she found herself immediately accosted by three other villains. She closed the door behind her as quietly as she could, her face expressionless as she regarded the others.

Spinner had changed out of the UA uniform he had stolen and was back in his Stain cosplay. "Yami, are you okay?! You were asleep for three days!"

"Shut up, lizard man. What the hell was that giant shadow you put over everything?" the new recruit Bakugou demanded.

"I wanted to make a joke about cats having nine lives, but you didn't die. Too bad." This remark came from Dabi, who seemed way too amused to find that she was alive and well.

"I'm glad I didn't die; it spared everyone from having to hear whatever half-assed shitty joke you might've said." Kugutsu glared down the hallway at him and then turned her attention back to the other two. "What did I miss?"

"Well, after I carried you back here, Shigaraki asked what happened and wanted me to take him back to the bar we started at." Spinner glanced toward the room she had emerged from, a bit anxious.

"Yami-chan, you're awake? Where's Tomura?" Toga appeared in the doorway to the stairs, a plastic bag in hand. "Did he finally go to sleep?"

"Finally?"

The blonde girl frowned and walked over to join the others. "He was guarding you the whole time you were asleep, Yami-chan. He wouldn't even let anyone else in the room to check on you," she pouted.

It should have made her blush, but instead it made the color drain from Kugutsu's face. She bit the inside of her cheek and tried to keep her expression neutral, but guilt was sinking in. I really caused a lot of problems for him, didn't I?