Shuichi thrilled as he threw on his hoodie, stretching his body to get rid of any lingering sleepiness.
His powernap helping him to regain a bunch of energy, and he rolled his shoulders.
Checking out how he looked in the mirror, making sure that his dreadlocks still looked okay before he slipped on his shoes.
"Imouto-Chan, it's time to go, you ready for your sleepover?" Shuichi called out in the apartment.
"Yes Igu-Chan!" Kaori shouted back, the sound of something knocked over, most likely the broom from the sound of the object hitting the floor.
Kaori ran out of his room, wearing the small backpack she got recently, and he didn't hesitate to pick her up, holding the girl close in his arms to his chest and giving Kaori a kitten lick on her forehead.
"Igu-Chan!" Kaori squealed, trying to push him away giggling loudly as Shuichi gave her three more licks, then she licked his snout back once he stopped.
Shuichi smiled nuzzling Kaori then moved to leave the apartment, glad that things were so much better between them now.
Having Masao tell him about how Kaori had found the file Deku-Sensei gave him about Toga had made his heart drop out of his chest.
And then being told about Kaori's breakdown over her looking 'weird' and not wanting to look like Toga was a massive punch to the gut.
God Shuichi felt like such a screw up when he heard that.
Masao had tried to assure him that he couldn't help what his triggers were and that he'd be over them one day, but Shuichi couldn't help wishing he could punch himself for it.
If only so he could maybe, just maybe strangle the triggers out of himself.
Kaori was a kid and shouldn't have to deal with his emotional baggage.
But there wasn't much he could do on that end, so he instead worked instead on making Kaori feel better, taking her out with him shopping and bringing her along to a couple of his meetings with his friends.
He'd mainly done the latter to help with Kaori's self-image.
Thankfully it went over well.
Miles was more than happy to let Kaori play with his tail and play with his hair.
Chase and her also got along really well, his bluenette friend showing her the ropes of one of the Pokémon spinoff games, helping her answer the questions correctly so that she could be a Totodile like she wanted to be.
Regardless he was happy that Kaori seemed to feel better about herself with her more human appearance compared to before, a thing that had taken him a long time to wrap his head around it.
To be fair to himself, he'd spent most of his life being hated and rejected for how inhuman he'd looked so yeah it took him a minute to understand why Kaori would want to look more like himself.
And it broke his heart somewhat, knowing that Kaori also felt like an alien amongst her friends and family because of how different she looked and acted compared to everyone she'd ever known.
Most people in the South Side didn't look that human, Kiku was the most human-like person he knew aside from being grayscale, everyone else had something that made them look inhuman in some way that made them scratch the wrong part of the uncanny valley.
Whereas Kaori just had very minor changes of fangs and silt pupils.
It was no wonder she was constantly asking and hoping for scales to show up one day with all that in mind.
Shuichi also couldn't help a small wave of guilt when he dropped Kaori off at Ricki's apartment, his heart traitorously still skipping every time Kaori's eyes met his, that he couldn't even look Kaori in the eye without a tiny spike of anxiety.
"Hey, what's making you pull a long face?" Ricki asked him, bumping his shoulder against Shuichi's, knocking him out of his thoughts.
"Nothing, I just- I just wish life wasn't so difficult sometimes." Shuichi answered, careful not to let exacts slip since the walls were too thin for him to be sure that Kaori and Aki might not overhear him.
Ricki's eyes softened and he put one of his hands on Shuichi's shoulder, understanding silently being conveyed.
"Yeah, life really sucks sometimes... Aki remember where you and Kaori are supposed to go after your claws dry?" Ricki called out to the apartment.
"Downstairs to Maddie's!" Aki answered.
"That's right, and if you two ain't down in ten minutes I've told Mad-dog to not give you any snacks, and she'll take that glitter glue I know you've been hiding!" Ricki warned playfully.
Aki whining a "No!" back as he and Ricki left, the both of them going off to work.
"So, do you have any plans after work today? I was thinking about trying out that arcade that opened up just outside here?" Ricki asked him.
"Oh, that sounds like fun, but I already have plans with my friends. We're going to visit an ice cream parlor Miles has been wanting to try out and Chase isn't going to let Miles weasel out of it this time." Shuichi responded, causing Ricki to buzz.
"M'Kay, rain check then?" Ricki replied.
"Sure, do you think that they have any crane machines? I want to get Kaori a new toy soon." Shuichi inquired, their conversation devolving into other mundane things.
Shuichi did not think that when he went to work that day that he learned that one of his friends was actually a villain with a massive body count.
But hey, things were too good for Shuichi for too long, so it was only fair that he got this kind of gut punch, it was probably long since due considering Chase wasn't really trying to hide his shadier side.
But no, Shuichi just had to be dumb and didn't connect the dots that Chase was a villain until he spotted the files his co-worker Cotten-Tail was putting together for the other branches of the Herd about All For One's inner circle.
He'd suspected that Chase might have been connected to one of the various gangs or mobs considering the money he was throwing around and his discontent with pro-heroes.
However, he was wholly unprepared for Chase to actually be Shigaraki Tomura, one of All For One's closest members and believed to maybe be All For One's kids, with a death count in the dozens.
So, Yeah... just a fantastic thing to learn before he had to meet up with said friend.
And if Shuichi had any ideas of bailing with some kind of excuse of falling sick than remembering that poor Miles would have to be alone with a serial killer got him to ignore his itchy scales and jump on the train to meet up with his friends.
Dealing with a rather uncomfortable ride on the train, with what felt like even more people staring at him than usual.
More than likely they were because he couldn't stop bouncing his leg due to his racing thoughts.
Half an hour later Shuichi was racing through the streets as fast as he could without attracting attention as he made for the ice cream parlor.
And he would have accidentally passed it if Shuichi didn't remember the outside section Miles mentioned attached to the parlor.
Less fortunate for Shuichi, was the fact the sidewalk was slick for some reason, and he ended up slipping when he tried to stop. He didn't face plant and wasn't hurt but he needed a minute to comprehend what almost happened.
This was not helped by the fact both of his friends were sitting at one of those outside tables, and they were now staring at him.
Miles's mouth opening and closing as he stared at Shuichi shocked.
Ch- Shigaraki blinked, mid-sip of a smoothy apparently.
"There a reason for your dramatic opening Green? Cause I'll be honest, I won't be up for a quest until I finish this energy potion." Shigaraki questioned, the first to recover from Shuichi's arrival and fall.
Miles sighed facepalming "Chase, just because there's sugar in a milkshake doesn't mean you can call it an energy potion." Miles tried to correct, as had become normal during their real life hang outs.
Something that felt less safe to do now that he knew that Shigaraki was a very dangerous villain.
Shigaraki though snorted good naturedly like always and tossed a balled up napkin playfully at Miles, the boy easily deflecting it with his tail.
"Sugar-highs are an energy boost, which makes this an energy potion Kit." Shigaraki countered with a smirk as Miles groaned, then he turned to Shuichi again.
"So, are you gonna come and join us at the table or idle like the rest of the NPCs Green?" Shigaraki teasingly asked him.
Shuichi gulped, regaining his senses and stood up, then sat down at the table with Shigaraki passing him the menu before sipping his smoothy.
He couldn't help staring at Shigaraki, his hand hesitating to take the menu since he couldn't take his eyes off Shigaraki's hands.
Both of them looking rather innocent aside from a couple of white lines from faded scars and a pair of long black gloves and white gloves underneath, both of them missing some of the fingers and only left the ring finger exposed to keep his quirk from working on them.
Remembering what Shigaraki told Miles the first time they all met up.
The warning of becoming ashy-bloody mush if Shigaraki wasn't wearing his gloves constantly suddenly twisting his guts as he realized that Shigaraki had absolutely done that to more than one person on purpose.
One of said hands that were now being waved in front of his face.
"Oi Green, something causing you to lag or glitch out?" Shigaraki questioned, a slight frown on his lips.
Shuchi mentally slapped himself and he waved his hand dismissively, looking away from Shigaraki scratching the side of his neck.
"Y-Yeah, just a bit winded, guys. Had to run to catch my train here and my agoraphobia is acting up." Shuichi lied brushing it off, knowing he couldn't very well admit to having seen some highly illegal files that declared Shigaraki a villain.
Miles's concerned eyes immediately softened and Shuchi felt bad for making Miles worry due to his little lie.
"Iguchi you don't have to force yourself to be here if you're not feeling well." Miles told him.
"What the Kit said Ranger, if you need to go rest to manage your de-buff we can replay this event another time." Shigaraki commented leaning forward to rest his weight along his crossed arms.
"No! No, I'm fine I swear," Shuichi hurriedly said "What were you guys talking about before I got here?" Shuichi asked trying to redirect the conversation.
Shigaraki narrowed his eyes at Shuichi but allowed the change of topic for now and shrugged.
"Miles and I were talking about the upcoming raid we're all going to do on the Drow kingdoms event." Shigaraki answered, his tone disinterested.
Miles nodded then began describing the game plan the two had come up with, most of it admittedly flowing straight through his ears and him numbly nodding when needed but unable to shift his focus.
Deku-Sensei tutored Shigaraki, he had to know who Shigaraki really was.
Why would Deku-Sensei work with someone so close to All For One? He knew how dangerous the man was after working with the Herd and Deku-Sensei couldn't possibly be unaware of what Shigaraki had done.
"Oh, and just what do you plan to do after you finish middle-school brat? You going to be a Monk like your in-game character?" Shigaraki questioned tossing another balled up napkin at Miles, the action being Shuichi's focus back to the two of them.
He half wondered how they'd gotten to that of all topics as Miles huffed, batting the napkin away with his tail again before he responded with something that made Shuichi's blood run cold.
"Actually, I'm aiming to be a Pro-Hero."
Shuichi's breath became stuck in his throat.
There would be no way that Shigaraki, an SS-class villain would possibly take that statement very well.
And as Shigaraki fell silent with his fists clenched on the table Shuchi had every right to be concerned over Miles's admission.
Miles also seemed to pick up on the sudden tension in the air and his tail sagged, the boy ducking his head and rubbing the back of his neck.
"I know it's kind of stupid-" Miles began to say but Shigaraki cut him off.
"Why?"
Miles blinked surprised, as had Shuichi, Shuichi thinking for half a second that he misheard Shigaraki's tone of voice.
However, Shigaraki's repeated his question just as softly as he had the first time "Why do you want to be a hero?" his face scrunched up with confusion and uncertainty.
"Oh, um, well... " Miles muttered fiddling with the drawstring of the hoodie he was wearing, slightly embarrassed.
"It's not the most noble of reasons admittedly, but I want to do it for my Oiji-San." Miles eventually confessed, and then perhaps because of his nerves began to over-explain his reason.
"I was named after my Oiji-San and he dreamed of being a hero when he was younger, he spent his whole life training in martial arts to make up for our less than flashy quirks so that he could be out there helping people... but on the day he was supposed to go to his first exam there was an accident and he broke his leg, badly." Miles told them, a deep sadness covering his face as he looked down at his lap.
"He... had to use a cane for the rest of his life and couldn't ever become a hero, instead he met my Obaa-San and lived his life the best he could. We were really close, he was the one that introduced me to everything I love now." Miles told them, his shoulders slumping.
"He taught me the moves he could still do and when he got too weak to leave his bed we played his old hand-held games together.
We used to talk for hours, he told me all sorts of stories from when he was my age, about how much he wanted to be a hero, he even told me about the hero name he picked out for himself." Miles explained, his eyes watering slightly.
Miles's pain when thinking about his grandfather clear as he leaned forward on his crossed arms.
"And I just really wanted to honor him, so I want to be a hero for him. One who helped out with the small stuff like getting cats out of trees or, or, I don't know. I know it's a stupid reason to be a hero, but I just- " Miles's words becoming harder for him as he got choked up.
Shuichi couldn't help feeling overwhelmed by the two conflicting emotions, a massive desire to firstly comfort Miles over his want to be a hero for his grandfather and that his reason to be a hero was not stupid.
But at the same time Shuichi was desperately fighting the urge to scoop Miles up and just run with him to get him away from Shigaraki.
Before he could find his voice though Shigaraki stood up and then started to move towards Miles, making Shuichi's heart dropped and he rushed to his feet as well, a half-baked plan of grabbing Miles and run through the back alleys in his mind.
Then Shigaraki pulled Miles close in a side-hug, something that surprised both him and Miles.
Shigaraki had ruffled Miles's hair and threw an arm around Shuichi's shoulders before sure, but that was about it, something that neither of them questioned because it was obviously connected to his quirk and some sort of anxiety around touch.
So, to have Shigaraki hug Miles instead of the other way around just made the two of them kind of stop.
Shigaraki's lips were pursed, and he certainly looked conflicted about what he was about to say but still spoke after a weary sigh.
"I won't lie to you Kit; I don't like heroes." Shigaraki confessed, one that didn't surprise Shuichi all things considered but he was a touch worried where Shigaraki was going to be going with this.
"I think the hero class of characters was made for the annoying and greedy NCPs, and that they get in the way more than they help." Shigaraki elaborated, Miles's face falling as he guiltily looked away and at the ground.
Noticing this Shigaraki pulled Miles closer again, to a point it was probably slightly uncomfortable.
"But, if you want to go into that class... then I'll think that you'll be one of the few tolerable ones out there, Kit." Shigaraki told the boy.
Miles eyes widening and his mouth fell open shocked.
Shuichi was also shocked, Shigaraki was famously stubborn in the face of things he disliked on principal.
"Do... do you really think I'll be a good hero?" Miles asked, staring up at Shigaraki hopefully.
Then Shigaraki's eyes softened and nodded gently.
"With an alignment like yours, you'll be one of the best ones out there." Shigaraki promised, ruffling Miles's hair.
Miles beamed back up at Shigaraki "I promise I will Chase." Miles proclaimed, his tail wagging behind him.
Shuichi watched the scene between the two with a lump in his throat, his fears melting away replaced by a wave of bafflement.
Why would Shigaraki encourage Miles to be a hero? Especially in such a tender way?
Shouldn't a villain try and talk Miles out of being a hero? Likely in a manipulative way if he didn't care about them?
And if Shigaraki actually really cared about the two of them, why wouldn't he try to steer Miles away from heroics so they wouldn't be forced to hurt each other later in life?
Such concern and care for Miles's happiness just... didn't fit the image of the file of Shigaraki painted.
Was there something else going on behind the scenes?
Maybe that was why Deku-Sensei hadn't cut ties with Shigaraki?
But what could cause such a conflict of behaviors in someone? How could Shigaraki be so ruthless with his victims but so kind and supportive of Miles?
Shuichi just didn't understand what he was supposed to do or feel.
He needed more information.
Shuichi would confront Deku-Sensei about this later, and maybe it would sound very naive of him but he really, really hoped that Deku-Sensei could actually explain everything in a way that Shuichi could forgive Shigaraki.
Because as selfish or stupid as it might sound, he didn't want to lose his friendship with Chase.
Chase might not be real, just another mask for Shigaraki to hide his intentions behind.
However, after losing nearly every person in his life before he came to the South Side, he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle losing what he thought was one of his closest friends.
His chest felt squeezed tightly at the thought.
Shuichi truly hoped that Deku-Sensei had the answers he wanted to hear.
A friend group made of a brainwashed SS-Class villain, a morally grey hacker, and the Pure hearted baby hero student.
What could go wrong? :D