chapter eleven;

     YOUKO RUBBED HER PUFFY EYES as she immediately sat up and examined her surroundings, remembering what had previously happened.

the little girl rubbed the back of her neck as it had felt quite sore, as if something had smacked the back of her head.

youko heavily breathed as she felt tears brimming her eyes once more.

not only was shigaraki not beside her, she was in an unknown place. especially now that she took a better look around herself, she was trapped in a cell with only a bed and a toilet.

"you're awake", a hoarse voice stated, making youko smile until she realized that it wasn't shigaraki.

aizawa sighed as he scratched the back of his head. he was never good with kids, so he honestly didn't know why all might left the girl in his care.

     "come on now, we've got a training session to attend", aizawa urged, opening the cell as youko hesitantly followed.

the once talkative girl silently trudged behind aizawa as they arrived at the training grounds, with groups of students along with a few teachers present.

"WOAHHHH!! SHŌTAAA!! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD A CHILD!!", yamada hizashi—with the alias of present mic—screamed.

youko stumbled back in fear as she unconsciously hid behind aizawa's leg.

"quiet down you parrot. you're scaring her", aizawa stoically said as yamada just covered his mouth in surprise.

     "my apologies little one. I tend to have a very...projecting voice because of my quirk", yamada smiled.

     "and your personality too", aizawa mumbled, to which only youko had caught that.

the little girl refused to leave aizawa's side as she noticed all the knights from her birthday celebration, along with many other ones were present.

it wasn't like aizawa could abandon youko either, as all might currently wasn't in the condition to take care of the little girl, and todoroki enji—the current king of the hero's kingdom with the alias of endeavor—was definitely not someone that all might wanted to let take care of youko.

     the students gathered around whispered as most knew exactly who the little girl was.

     "princess?"

     youko immediately looked up as she felt her heart lighten at the sight of someone she knew she could fully trust.

     "toshi...", youko croaked out as she hastily ran over to the purple-haired boy.

shinsō picked youko up as the little girl snuggled her head in the crook of shinsō's neck, feeling the comfort of having someone that used to be by her side.

"how does he know the princess?", one whispered.

"don't you know? he came from the villain's kingdom. no wonder his quirk is like that of a villain's", another replied.

     youko's ears perked up at that. though just as she was about to complain about the soldiers' inaccurate statements, shinsō hastily covered the little girl's mouth.

     the purple-haired boy shook his head as he just gave youko a small pitiful smile.

     youko pouted as she hugged shinsō even closer.

     to the heroes, they were no doubt, outcasts.

     "anyways, today we'll be sparring...", aizawa yawned before continuing with his sentence. "we'll be sparring with the other classes as practice. now pick a partner and..."

     aizawa yawned again. "and start".

     the lazy male proceeded to plop onto the floor and somehow managed to pull out a yellow sleeping bag.

     much less to say, youko was quite surprised by how relaxed aizawa was with the knights. usually dabi and the rest worked their squads to their bones.

     shinsō gently set youko down as he was about to leave, only to be stopped by youko tugging on the boy's pants.

     "it's okay princess. I'll be back soon", shinsō promised as youko begrudgingly let go.

     the little girl sighed as she shuffled her feet towards aizawa, who she deemed was fast asleep.

youko sat down beside the man's sleeping bag as she curled up into a ball, watching the students group together as they started sparring with their quirks.

though out of them all, todoroki's was probably by far the most impressive to her, looks wise at least.

bakugo's was pretty powerful too, as he kept blasting explosions here and there, clouding the area around him by creating large puffs of smoke.

youko then skimmed around the field, noticing everyone's peculiar quirks, especially this one knight who threw purple balls from his head.

all was well until a yell was heard.

"DEKU!! ARE YOU OKAY?!", uraraka—a female knight that youko had barely remembered—questioned.

youko squinted her eyes as she noticed that midoriya had an entire bruised finger. though it was faint, it seemed like the bone was nearly broken.

a sigh was heard, making youko flinch.

aizawa unzipped his yellow sleeping bag as he headed towards midoriya and the small group that had gathered around him.

youko just observed as she started thinking about her own quirk. she wondered what her drawback would be, as some seemed more severe than others.

however, it didn't matter much, as the little girl has yet to master even the basics of queen. though that had only prompted her to try harder.

'but papa said to keep my quirk a secret....so how am I supposed to practice?'

while aizawa scolded midoriya, others took a break and started gossiping once more.

"thank god his majesty captured the former villain king", one whispered.

another clicked his tongue. "all might's a former king too. endeavor's taking over", they corrected.

"same thing, same thing", the previous one scoffed.

youko raised a brow at the mentioning of the former villain king.

'captured?? former...grandpa?! is he trapped here too?? but where would he be?? surely not the normal cells that I was in...I wonder if I could find him and get help'.

_♚_

"your majesty, please—"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!", shigaraki growled.

the blue-haired male intensely scratched his neck in annoyance as not only did his castle get sealed, but his master and daughter got taken away.

"I need my queen back...all might's going to fucking pay!", shigaraki grumbled to himself.

"awww, I miss my little youko so muchhh", toga whined, twirling her knife around her slim fingers

     "how will we bust the princess out of prison?", dabi questioned, to which shigaraki had just become even more irritated.

     "why must we even rescue the princess? we have enough men to just—"

     before kurogiri could stop the unfortunate soldier from speaking, shigaraki had already disintegrated the man.

a few soldiers stumbled backwards as they knew how unreasonable and childish their king could be; throwing tantrums if things did not go his way.

"watch your mouths before you all end up just like him", shigaraki lowly threatened.

     the knights all shakily dipped their heads as kurogiri just tried to calm shigaraki down.

     "your majesty, it's best if you don't anger yourself too much. her highness is still waiting for you to save her", kurogiri stated.

     shigaraki clicked his tongue as he stomped out of the small room that him, the commanders, and a few knights currently resided in, thanks to baron giran.

     shigaraki sighed as he brushed through his tangled hair while heading to the kitchen. just as the male was about to pick up a bottle of sake, he stopped himself, remembering that youko didn't like the smell of it.

     'but she's not here...so it's fine', shigaraki persuaded himself as he swiftly snatched the bottle only to hastily smash it onto the cold ground, ruining the perfect liquid.

     'fuck!'

     shigaraki leaned against the countertop as he covered his eyes.

     for once, he felt lost.

     he should've protected her better. he should've done better.

     "I'm sorry youko".

✦ . . . . ────────☀️