chapter thirty;

"HEY BIG BIRD, COME HANG THE LIGHTS", DABI COMMANDED, meanwhile he laid on the couch, scrolling through his phone.

hawks merely huffed as he did as told, while the lieutenants of the paranormal liberation front—which now included re-destro, trumpet, greten, and skeptic—helped set up the gigantic christmas tree that stood proudly in the corner of the living room.

"hmm...which ornament do you like better twice?", toga asked, presenting the male with two options.

     "the gold one with the sparkles. no!! go with the red one with the little elves!!"

     "why not just hang both", re-destro suggested, to which toga had done just that.

     "tch. why are we even doing this?", hawks grumbled, using his wings to support him while he nailed the hooks into the walls so that he could hang the silver lights.

     "for our precious yoko of course!", toga answered, clearly hearing hawks's idiotic question.

     the entire mansion was filled with christmas decorations to the brim! not only were the curtains and rugs in the halls changed to red, all tables had on a black cloth with silver lining brimming the edges.

     multiple trees were set up throughout each of the villains' rooms, with even the bedsheets changed to santa riding a sleigh.

     though this particular room that they were decorating happened to be shigaraki's.

     not only did his fake christmas tree sprout white bristles, the ornaments were either real gold and silver, or made of glass. and with the occasional normal red ones of course.

     golden fluffy streamers were also hung, as the carpet was changed to white, representing snow.

     "where is the princess by the way? I haven't seen her in a while", hawks casually mentioned, proud of his work.

     "twice, I got the measurements", dabi said as he handed the male a small piece of paper, totally ignoring hawks's question.

"oh thanks! can't you be more useful?!"

"do we have the hats?", toga called out, to which hawks was starting to get suspicious as to why no one was answering his question.

"I got them", trumpet replied, laying them on the nightstand next to the bed.

"and what about the outfits?"

"I managed to buy them all before they sold out", greten responded, not exactly pleased with his current task, yet still doing as told only because of his respect for re-destro.

     "hawks, go help set up the table downstairs please", compress said, though it was more of a demanding tone.

the blonde male raised a brow as he just shrugged and left, not sure what they had to be so secretive about.

'surely twice would tell me later...'

as hawks had promptly left the room, the rest all stopped working, as they were basically finished with all decorations.

     "how long does she still have?", spinner asked, more so directing the question at dabi.

     though dr. ujiko had estimated one month's time, there seemed to be a bit of mishap, as youko's body needed another month's time to adjust to her new quirk.

     "she should be back on christmas day", the scarred male answered, then proceeding to look over at twice.

     "and twice, I know you're close with that bird. but do not tell him any of this", dabi warned, to which twice had just nodded.

     "and how's his majesty been?", re-destro asked, not having to have seen shigaraki that often either.

     no one answered, as they had all mutually came to an agreement that the blue-haired make was not exactly taking it well.

despite shigaraki brushing off the others' concerns, everyone knew that the villain king was struggling to sleep at night and eating three meals a day, without the presence of his little girl.

"he's been fine. he wanted me to actually tell you to start forming an army. a war is about the approach in the near future".

_♚_

"is she ready?", shigaraki asked, feeling his exhaustion physically weigh him down.

     "indeed", dr. ujiko replied, quickly typing on the computer as the liquid in the large cylindrical tube drained, causing youko's body to slowly descend to the ground.

     once the fluid was gone, the glass panels opened, allowing shigaraki to rush over to little youko's still unconscious body.

     "why hasn't she woken up?", shigaraki scowled, glaring at dr. ujiko.

     at that comment, a few coughs were heard from the body in front of shigaraki.

immediately, the blue-haired male cradled youko, who surprisingly didn't thin nor gain weight, despite not eating or drinking for two months straight.

"youko?? can you hear me?"

a small nod was given as youko yawned, seeming as if she had just woken up from one of her normal naps.

"papa...I'm hungry", youko choked out, to which shigaraki was delighted to hear the little princess's voice once more.

"of course...everyone's been preparing for you. food's already ready", shigaraki slightly smiled as he brushed the stray locks away from youko's face.

"okay!! and thank you dr. ujiko. I'll see you soon!!", youko waved as she embraced shigaraki, meanwhile they had left the laboratory.

     "did you have trouble sleeping papa? your skin looks very pale", youko commented, caressing shigaraki's face as she was glad that at least the male's skin wasn't as crusty.

     "it was alright. how're you feeling? does anything hurt?", shigaraki asked, lightly pinching youko's cheek.

"nope! I'm feeling great!! where is everyone?", youko asked, as she noticed all the wonderful trinkets and ornaments shining as they passed by.

shigaraki simply pushed open the doors to the dining hall, where every single part of the room seemed to sparkle. even the spiderwebs in the corner were gone and replaced with garlands hanging symmetrically.

     "woah...."

     "like it?"

     youko excitedly nodded her head as she widely smiled, holding in all her bubbling excitement as shigaraki visibly lightened up.

     "glad to see you back youko!! ugh, I wish you were gone for longer".

     "UNCLE TWICE!! haha, you're wearing a santa hat!", youko exclaimed, suddenly noticing that twice wasn't the only plf member wearing one.

     in fact, toga wore a mrs. claus dress while the rest of the members had on at least one red item.

     "a present for the nicest little girl in the world!!", toga giggled as she handed a box to youko, who was once again on shigaraki's lap, who was sitting at the head of the table.

     "can I open it now?", youko giddily asked, already slowly untying the big ribbon.

     "obviously", dabi bluntly answered, to which youko had just ripped apart the wrapping paper and with the help of toga, sliced open the box.

"a red coat?"

"doesn't it look familiar??", toga smiled.

"THE ONE LIKE PAPA'S!!! but I thought they said they didn't run my size??", youko happily yet confusingly asked.

     "we made it! well...twice did majority of the work..but dabi ordered the fabric and spinner and compress got the thread and sowing machine", toga explained.

     "and re-destro found the same exact buttons", toga said, glancing over at the male and his subordinates, who sat on the opposite end of the table.

youko perked up at that. "really?? well...thank you every for this wonderful present", youko bashfully smiled, feeling the warmth and effort poured into this coat.

"try it on", shigaraki suggested, holding it out for youko as she slid off her father's lap and threaded her arms through the sleeves first.

"now you two are matching. oh, this is just adorable!!!", toga squealed, taking out her phone and snapping pictures from every which angle.

"do you like it?", compress asked.

"I LOVE IT!! how do I look?? do I look powerful yet?!", youko smiled, twirling around as dabi just snorted.

"VERY!!", toga encouraged, to which many would've begged to differ, but decided against it.

"come on now, it's time for my little queen to feast", shigaraki said as he put youko back onto his lap and had smaller utensils ready for her.

"I'm not little anymore papa! I'm just a queen", youko huffed, making the people around her lowly chuckle.

     "say that when you're as tall as me", dabi teased, cutting his steak.

     "I'm close! I just need to grow a little more, then I'll be taller than you and uncle twice combined!", youko proudly boasted, making twice laugh even louder.

     "okay, whatever you say, pipsqueak", dabi chuckled, making youko click her tongue.

     "stop adding fuel to the fire. youko needs to eat", shigaraki interrupted as he watched youko pick up her utensils, stabbing the beef in front of her.

     "look at tomura", toga whispered, nudging at twice and dabi.

     "what? I admit that he looks less crusty, happy?", dabi sneered.

     "he looks happier. he looks depressed".

     "thank god tomura looks better. if yoko stayed in that tube any longer, I was worried he would've gone insane", toga quietly chuckled, watching as shigaraki wiped youko's mouth.

     dabi just hummed in response.

     "they're both little, no matter how you look at it", dabi commented, clearly insulting shigaraki.

     "well what did you expect? like father like daughter", toga giggled.

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