chapter twenty-three;

     DABI SHUFFLED HIS FEET TOWARDS BARON GIRAN'S HOUSE. the man yawned as he took out a kitty bandaid that youko had given him before the league left.

     the male's scarred arms was littered with kitty bandaids, though obviously hidden from dr. ujiko and the outsiders.

while shigaraki and the rest of the league was off fighting gigantomachia in sessions of 44 hours and 44 minutes, they were only allowed 3 hours of resting time.

the blue-haired male didn't even get to say goodbye to youko before him and the league was sent off to brawl with gigantomachia.

     dabi sighed in relief as he was glad he didn't sign up to fight that gigantic rock. he much more preferred dealing with recruiting members, and personal...matters.

as the dark-haired male aggressively slid open the doors, he trudged around the house, more so where the league resided most of their time when they were present.

"I'm back princess! and I brought some mochi!", dabi called out, clearly joking as he didn't have anything on him.

     dabi had expected a little girl to run over to him and greet him with a huge hug, but that was not what had happened.

     "princess?", dabi called out again, this time walking slowly towards the kitchen and around the entire house.

     again, no response was heard.

     "YOUKO??"

     dabi immediately started searching around the house once more, with way more aggression this time. doors were slammed as frantic footsteps trampled across the wooden floorboards.

"YOUKO! STOP PLAYING, THIS ISN'T FUNNY", dabi yelled, brushing his hand through his hair as he felt sweat starting to precipitate.

as the dark-haired male huffed, he came across a small detail that he had seemed to miss.

     a short paper towel was rolled up and placed on the kitchen counter, with a red stain. dabi immediately snatched it and unfolded it, seeming relieved that the cut-off finger wasn't youko's.

     though just as he had trashed the finger, dabi entered the league's room to see if there were any more clues.

     low and behold, there was a tiny red bow tie that dabi clearly remembered youko wearing the day that they had left.

     and funny enough, it was placed narrowly on the wooden floorboard, in which dabi had hid the camera.

     not sure if it had any correlation, yet not wanting to risk it, the male flipped open the floorboard, turning on the camera as he skipped a few clips of youko being silly.

"it's been quite boring with papa and the rest gone...even johnny left. but papa says it's for the best, and grandpa once told me to support papa no matter what.

I just hope that papa and them comes back soon. I really miss them...and mr. giran makes me a bit nervous, but I know papa trusts him, so I will too", youko sadly smiled, making dabi unconsciously frown.

"but I know that once they get back, we'll enjoy some mochi together", youko giggled, to which dabi had given a small one back, even though youko couldn't see.

     "and when papa's back, we'll read together before he tucks me into bed", youko smiled even wider, clearly pleased that she at least could play with dabi's camera.

     "then we can all go for a picnic, and we can all—"

     dabi then watched as youko had paused, glancing back as not only her, but dabi had heard deep voices—that did not belong to giran or his men—rummage through the house.

immediately, youko faced back to the camera in a panicked state, as she heard giran let out a guttural scream.

"uncle dabi, or anyone, if you somehow see this and there's not a clip of me after this, please help", youko frantically whispered as she shut off the camera and the screen went black.

dabi waited a moment for the next video to play. he prayed, that a clip would show up after the previous one, yet it never came.

     the male frustratingly grunted until a video started playing, making dabi perk up in hope.

though what he did not expect to see, was to witness a middle-aged man with a prominently long, pointed nose and obtruding chin.

"well well well, who knew that the mighty king himself would fail to protect his little girl once more?", the male mocked.

"pity pity pity...such a pity and such a shame. remember this and remember this well, duke re-destro has come to reclaim what should've been his. heed to my warning: if you don't meet us at deika city in a week, giran and your sweet little daughter...will be no more".

immediately, the camera was turned off, presumably put back to the floorboard, with youko's bow tie cut off and left there as a mockery.

dabi shut his eyes as he covered them with his hand, debating whether he should show the league this clip or not.

'would they question about the camera?'

the dark-haired male fell onto his back, suddenly remembering the feeling of carrying little youko. dabi raised both his arms, leaving the camera on the floor unattended.

dabi ran his rough fingers over his arms, brushing past the pink kitty bandaids.

'kuro says kissing it will make the pain go away', dabi reminisced, sighing in turn.

"fuck it".

_♚_

     youko shivered as she was switched out of her little tux and forced to wear a plain white dress once more.

     apparently kidnappers all liked the plain and simple look for their prisoners.

     giran was locked up in a separate cell, as youko was kept in chains, forced to reside in a medium-sized dog cage that was hidden under the desk of re-destro's office.

as the man had once explained to youko, since her father portrayed himself as a hoodlum with his ragtag organization, his daughter shouldn't be treated any better.

     though re-destro seemed to have a more balanced and easygoing attitude than the other villains, youko learned very early on that it was just a facade.

     the man treated her like a pet, not even a human being, as he had stuffed her in a dog's cage with a bowl of clean water and the occasional edible food.

re-destro sighed as he dismissed his coworkers, most likely preparing for the oncoming fight with shigaraki and his puny little league.

as the doors closed, re-destro sighed, leaning back against his chair as his green dress shirt and pinstriped blazer creased a little.

the orange-brownish-haired man harshly kicked the cage beneath his desk with his polished dress shoes, nearly making youko squeak, but she knew better.

the little girl knew that if she had made a single noise, the man would've probably starved her for an entire day.

the first time it had happened, youko felt it even harder to keep her stomach quiet, which in turn resulted in more punishment: no food for three days straight.

the times that re-destro wasn't in his office was probably the best moments youko had experienced with her current condition.

while not only did the food taste horrible, youko was forced to curl up into a ball to keep warmth. and with the cage being built so low, she had no choice but to hunch over for majority of the time.

"say, when do you think your sorry cause of a father will show up to save you?", re-destro asked, clearly poking fun at the hunger-starved princess.

youko knew better than to insult the man back for degrading his father like that. biting her tongue and holding back her pity tears, youko weakly replied.

     "s-s-soon....sir", youko choked out.

     "hm~ is that so? I do hope he arrives faster, as I'm afraid his little daughter won't last any longer", re-destro hummed.

     youko didn't respond as she just closed her eyes, silently breathing in and out to calm her erratic heartbeat.

     how humiliating was it for the villain's kingdom's princess to be locked up in a dog's cage, when she should be at the castle enjoying dinner with her lovely family.

     she was the villain king's daughter; the league's little princess.

     though most importantly, she was shigaraki tomura's little queen.

     'please papa...uncle dabi...himi...anyone...please come save me soon'.

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