chapter thirty-five;

     SHIGARAKI TOMURA WAS UNSTOPPABLE. the man singlehandedly injured gran torino by punching the elder in the chest, and manages to hit eraserhead with one of the quirk destroying bullets that had somehow survived from x-less's destruction.

aizawa had to cut off one of his legs to stop the spread of the decay, causing shigaraki to be impressed by the man's determination.

in the midst of all this chaos, midoriya ended up unlocking the quirk float, which was the original quirk of shimura nana, before she inherited one for all.

meanwhile midoriya used texas smash for the very first time, endeavor's prominence burn emitted a concentrated beam of heat from his body to vaporize shigaraki.

though it was the most powerful attack in endeavor's arsenal, shigaraki withstood all that flame power by using the rivet stab: black tendrils with red prominent cracked lines that extended from the male's body.

     even though it had swiftly pierced through endeavor, bakugo had hastily pushed midoriya out of the way, who was the intended target, and instead took a hit, majorly receiving the attack.

     "KAACHAN!!"

     shigaraki grinned as midoriya's attention was severed for just a moment.

the white-haired male had briefly graced midoriya's face before a voice inside his head started nagging at shigaraki.

"steal one for all...steal one for all...", it repeated.

shigaraki clenched onto his head as he gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"one for all...", shigaraki shakily repeated, then staring right at midoriya, who felt chills running down his spin.

"you will be mine...little brother".

shigaraki then halted as he was taken aback, along with midoriya, who both clearly knew that they weren't related to each other.

     the white-haired male shut his eyes as he momentarily argued with himself, at least that's what it had looked like to the common eye.

     "I need to look for youko...I promised..."

     "tomura...steal one for all...one for all!! it's right in front of you..."

     "no...I need to look for youko", shigaraki persisted, clicking his tongue.

     "with all due respect master, it's my body! it's my powers now!"

     midoriya confusingly stared at shigaraki as he internally had a battle with himself.

     though the worst has yet to come, as gigantomachia had just arrived, with yayorozu's group failing to keep the rocky villain away from shigaraki.

     "machia!", shigaraki exclaimed, seeing as the majority of the paranormal liberation front members were present on the giant's shoulders.

     "my king, please give me your comma—"

before the giant could even finish his sentence, the original league members jumped down from gigantomachia's shoulders and landed right in front of midoriya.

endeavor was able to regroup as gran torino stayed beside bakugo, who was bleeding more than the ocean surrounding the entirety of japan.

"what the hell are you all doing?", shigaraki scowled, not spotting his daughter with them.

every original league of villains member kneeled before shigaraki, with their hearts heavy, making even the heroes confused.

"STAND UP! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ALL KNEELING FOR?!", shigaraki yelled, to which only dabi had stood up.

"papa...", little youko called out, to which shigaraki immediately stopped his yelling.

"youko? why're you hiding from me, you silly child", shigaraki joked, snatching the thin girl from dabi's arms and cradling her in his strong arms that created more warmth than the little girl's own body and coat.

"papa...your face...and hair..."

indeed, shigaraki tomura's face had nearly lost many parts of its skin, even comparable to that of dabi's.

though shigaraki's hair was not nearly as pale as youko's, and her own complexion.

"endeavor-san...you don't think that the princess is..."

     endeavor shook his head, silencing midoriya.

even though they were opposing kingdoms, the heroes weren't completely heartless. this was a moment that if one didn't treasure, they would regret it for the rest of their lives.

endeavor knew this all too well, with his very own son, todoroki touya.

perhaps that is why he had allowed shigaraki to have a moment with youko, who has yet to tell her father that she was on the brink of death.

"I finally inherited all for one youko", shigaraki proudly claimed, to which youko just gave a small smile, nearly nonexistent.

"papa...my quirks were too much for me", youko whispered, to which something in shigaraki had just instantly clicked.

the male shook his head, letting out a pitiful chuckle.

"what are you talking about?", shigaraki breathed out, suddenly feeling a constriction throughout his entire body.

     "my body...it was never suited for me", youko cried, though not loudly sobbing like she used to do.

     "stop playing youko...this prank isn't funn—"

     "she's not playing, shigaraki", dabi interrupted. "when she fended off hawks...and used both her quirks at the same time, her hair suddenly turned white. and her stomach..."

shigaraki raised a brow as he hesitantly unbuttoned youko's lovely coat, revealing the girl in a fair white gown, but there was blood staining it.

"what—"

"her quirks are eating away at the body...because it was not made to hold such powerful—"

"NO! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT?! MASTER...MASTER WOULD NEVER! THERE MUST'VE BEEN AN ERROR!! the doctor...dr. ujiko...it must've been him..."

shigaraki felt a lump in his throat start to form as he cupped little youko's face, who leaned into her father's warm hand.

shigaraki shook his head in disbelief.

"no...there must be a way...I-I can take her quirks back and—"

"it's too late tomura", toga cried, sniffling as her and twice embraced each other.

"the quirk canceling bullets...they—they're gone...", shigaraki breathed out in realization.

"ERASERHEAD! ERASE HER QUIRK! BUY ME SOME TIME SO I CAN...I can...I can't...", shigaraki whimpered, looming over youko's tiny body.

"it's okay papa...was I at least usefu—"

"that's not it youko!", shigaraki huffed, feeling himself on the verge of reaching full insanity.

     "you were so much more..than just a chess piece. you were so much more...than just a queen who's duty was to heed to the king. you're my daughter, youko. you mean so much more..than just some stupid game", shigaraki shakily mumbled, to which youko was the only one that was able to hear what was being said.

     youko's heart hurt, not from her own bleeding body, but from her father's wretched expression and heartfelt words.

     "please papa...don't cry. papa...I just..I'm just glad I got to spend this year with you", youko smiled, though her emotions had forced it into a frown.

"and..I just wanted to let you know..that it was never your fault. I understand...I know...I will never be afraid of you papa...I will always..always be with you..", youko whimpered as she reached her hand up to touch shigaraki's tattered face.

"and I...love you".

at that very moment, shigaraki tomura's life held no meaning.

the very moment his little girl had used her last breath to tell him that he mattered, that he was loved, he felt nothing, nothing but numbness.

"your majesty..."

shigaraki stumbled upwards as he held tightly onto his deceased daughter. the man emptily headed towards the castle, where he knew youko favored most.

     "your majesty, where are you—"

     compress immediately stopped at the dull look that shigaraki's face showed. it was like a blank piece of paper; no emotion, nothing.

     a shuffle was heard from midoriya, making shigaraki glance at the green-haired male.

     "if you so-called heroes have a heart, then get out of my way. I need to spend time with my daughter. today's her day...and no one is to disturb us", shigaraki darkly yet calmly spoke.

     midoriya froze as he watched the villain king slowly walk off, with a little girl in his arms, and her red coat shielding her from the spring breeze.

     "let's go home now, youko. papa's entire day is cleared...just for you. you always loved sleeping beauty didn't you?", shigaraki lightly chuckled.

     "we'll read under your favorite tree...with some of kurogiri's cookies...and johnny sitting beside us", shigaraki choked, as he felt his entire body shake from his loss.

     "welcome home, my little queen".

✦ . . . . ────────☀️