"This...is a shack...You brought eight of us out here...to the middle of nowhere...to live in a shack?!" Spinner howled, clutching his gaming console to his chest. "Why do I not see a television?!" Shigaraki seemed to ignore his reaction, plonking himself down in one of the tatty looking armchairs, kicking his feet up to rest on the wooden crate that was acting as a coffee table.

"A shack is smaller than this. There are plenty of rooms, if you all double or triple up...Would you rather internet or incarceration?" He questioned with a yawn, resting his cheek on his hand.
"Incarceration!" The reptilian was joined in by Mustard, and I sighed, shifting a little closer to Dabi as I peered around.

It was in pretty bad condition, to say the least. Whatever paint was left on the walls was peeling, the fly screen in the windows had more holes than a golf course, and there was a peculiar smell that made my nose twitch. It wasn't at all pleasant.

"It looks like the kind of place serial killers come to chop up cheerleaders. I love it!" Twice snooped around, lugging what appeared to be a lime green shagpile carpet, rolled into a log.
"I will not tolerate that...monstrosity...in this abode, Bubaigawara..." Kurogiri stated sharply, looking repulsed by the man's one beloning.
"I know, right?! It's hideous! I just can't part with it!"

"Ugh...Anyway...I will be heading off tomorrow, so if any of you have forgotten anything, or are in need of any other items, please make sure to let me know before I depart." Kurogiri announced, eyeing the thick layers of dust on the windowsill. "I have already allocated rooms, so whatever belongings you had packed are placed accordingly."

Oh God...Who am I with?!

It was as though our second in command had fired a starting pistol. All of us, minus Dabi, Kurogiri and Shigaraki, began sprinting towards the stairs, many of us ignoring the threatening creaks and groans of complaint they made as we climbed. There were four rooms up there, and we knew at least a few of us wouldn't be happy with our designated roommates. Of course, it was a given that Shigaraki would have his own room. That was confirmed when the first door we all checked had nothing but a bed and his costume hanging inside.

"Ooooh! I'm with Twicey!" Toga cheered, jumping up and down in the doorway of the second room to the right. Mr. Compress peered into the first room on the left, humming to himself.
"It seems like I shall be becoming more acquainted with my fellow adult males in the next room down...Lucky me..." He sighed, taking a step back and rubbing at his prosthetic.

"Heh, Dabi ain't gonna like this." Spinner snickered, hauling his console and backpack into the room, followed by the lacklustre magician. Feeling a tug at my sleeve, I turned to see my reflection in the familiar red lenses of a gas mask.
"You're okay to stay in the same room as me, right?" Mustard asked, seeming a little concerned. "I'd understand if you felt more comfortable with Toga, seeing as she's kind of a girl and all..."

Nope.

"Of course I am! I've stayed in your room plenty of times, plus I don't think I'd get much sleep if I was sharing with Toga..." I chuckled, though it was kind of forced. I was still very disheartened by the whole situation. The boy leant forward a bit, pulling his helmet off before giving me a cheerful smile.
"This'll be awesome, then! We can collect stuff and make it look really cool!"

I will love and protect this child until the day I die!

Slinging my arm over Mustard's shoulders, we walked into our room, taking in all its glory. Or rather, lack of. Mildew on the walls, dust and goodness knows what else on the floor. Not to mention the huge crack in the ceiling above one of the beds.
"Well this has...character..." I murmured, staring up at the gaping void as I stepped further in. "D..do you wanna flip a coin to choose who gets that side, or..?"

"N..nah...I can't let a girl take the shitty side..." Mustard replied, pulling his gloves off and flexing his fingers. "I can always just sleep with my helmet on. Done it a million times." Giving him a smile in thanks, I eyed the small suitcase that sat against the same wall as the door, deciding that I just didn't have the energy to unpack.
"Get out, you gassy twerp."

I flinched, turning around to see Dabi standing in the doorway, glaring absolute daggers at my close friend. I could see that Mustard was nervous, but he put on a brave face, puffing out his chest to at least attempt to look just a tiny but tougher.
"Get bent..! You're stuck with the other guys! Like hell I'd let a leathery hornball like you stay alone in a room with her!"

The guard dog becomes the guarded...

Oh, I knew things were about to go south when I saw the twitch in Dabi's eye. Not to mention the smoke that began to stream from his left arm.
"There isn't gonna be enough of you left to sweep up once I'm done with you, mouthy little brat..." Before he could take a single step forward, I rushed between them, hands up defensively.
"Okay, okay! Cool it! Literally, please!" I pleaded, relaxing once Dabi stopped emitting steam. "Good...okay...Now, let's just talk without getting all, uh, testosterony, yeah?"

"He started it..." Mustard mumbled, puffing out his cheeks. My boyfriend growled something unintelligible under his breath, but he didn't make any move to attack. I was thankful for that.
"Now, we can work this out, can't we? Maybe we could switch rooms with Compress and Spinner, so we can all-"

"I'm not sharing my room and my girl with some spoiled little fuckwad." Dabi snarled, cutting me off. I didn't like his tone, nor his use of words. Narrowing my (E/C) eyes, I strode over to Mustard, pulling him into a hug, all the while staring directly at the angered ravonet.
"Hisoka is staying put, whether you like it or not. He's my friend, and I'll bite you if you're mean to him. Period."

I was well aware that my chummy little display would piss him off, and I wasn't oblivious to Mustard, who was poking his tongue out at our opponent  taunting him with all he had. Grinding his teeth, Dabi looked between us with his ocean eyes, now stormy and livid.
"Fucking...whatever. I'm moving my bed in here..." He was about to turn around and do just that, but I wasn't about to let him get off scott free.
"Nuh-uh. You're not moving a thing until you prove you can play nice. I'm not having you traumatise him with this jealousy stuff."

He's not gonna like this...Maybe I'm being too hard on him?

Dabi's fists clenched by his sides, but he didn't say a single word against me. Instead, he just stalked off, slamming the door behind him with a force that could have likely brought the whole house down.
"Uh...(Y/N)..." Mustard squeaked, squirming a little in my grasp. "Code Chesticles..." Realising that I had him squished rather close to my chest, I released him, rubbing the hair away from the back of my neck.
"Whoops, my bad! Hey, come on, why don't we try to set this place up, huh? Kurogiri's obviously leaving us hints..." I motioned to the broom, mop and filled bucket that rested in the corner of the room, along with another larger bucket which likely contained other cleaning supplies.

"Ew, manual labour..." Mustard pouted, though he was the first to make a move towards the products. "I sweep, you dust?"

So, the pair of us got to work, trying to keep our minds off of our dreary situation. I knew Mustard had already been having a hard time settling back in with the others. Toga and Twice; at least half of him, were decent enough towards him, but only because they knew I'd have something to say if they weren't. Spinner was just...Spinner. He was a bit of a snark sometimes, but the fact they shared a love of gaming helped. Mr. Compress was always polite with everyone, but it seemed forced a lot of the time, even with me. Then, of course, Shigaraki and Kurogiri didn't really have much to do with him. Dabi, though, was not at all thrilled with his existence.

He was alright in the beginning, after the rescue, but as of late he had been getting much more aggressive towards the boy. I knew he was more than capable of acting civil, even friendly, but it wasn't happening. He had been much worse since we had received the news of our move, though.

I could understand, to a degree. A move was always difficult, especially when it was out to the middle of nowhere with a bunch of questionable people. I missed my dogs, my room, even my parents, who were hardly ever there. I missed Kirishima, Mirio, Nejire, Mina, Amijiki, even though he probably hated my guts. I envied the clone Twice had made of me. At least she could feel somewhat comfortable.

The only two comforts in my life now were Dabi and Mustard, and having them at odds with each other was the last thing I wanted. I was still trying to get myself back to normal after pushing my quirk past its boundaries, and I knew it was only a matter of time before Shigaraki made all of that recovery time null and void. I wanted to be able to at least enjoy having them while I was still myself, without them wanting to throw hands. Or fire.

Mustard lifted the mood with some music, sacrificing his dwindling phone battery to play some mutually loved songs. For someone who was barely a teenager he had a pretty great sense of humour, causing me to nearly collapse in a fit of laughter as he slowdanced with the mop to (F/Song).

Finally, by the time the sun began to set, we had gotten our shared space to look somewhat acceptable. Granted, neither of us were tall enough to reach the dreaded crack in the ceiling, nor were either of us game to, but everything from the eye level down was almost sparkling.

"Knock knock, who's there? Tis I!" Mustard and I paused mid mop-vs-broom battle as the door opened, revealing Mr. Compress as he slipped in. "I must say, you two have done a fine job in here. Perhaps I could request your services in assisting me in our neighbouring compartment? The others won't lift a finger...and I am limited to five..."

Swinging my broom over my shoulder, I shot him a smile, giggling as Mustard prodded his soggy mop head towards my face.
"We'd be happy to, Compress." I chuckled, batting the cleaning implement away. "Let me guess...Spinner is whining about no service, and Dabi is nowhere to be seen?" Mr. Compress used his only hand to slide his mask to sit on top of his head, puffing out a breath of air.
"I insist you call me Atsuhiro, and you're spot on the money, my dear. The reptile is sulking, and your Romeo has spirited himself away. Likely downstairs, but who am I to know?"

Sounds about right...

"He did, however, singe my poor nub..." He wiggled the small part that remained of his left arm, and I cringed.
"I'm so sorry...Please tell me he didn't ruin your prosthetic..." Shaking his head, Compress wandered further into our room, stopping by the small window to gaze out at what could only be described as a wasteland. Sure, there were plants and such, but it just seemed so desolate and lacking life.
"No no, he wouldn't dare. He's well aware that I have more than just show magic up my sleeve."

Turning to face us, he flicked his wrist, a small book appearing in his hands. I was extremely impressed, even if I knew it had likely just been his quirk in play.
"What's that?" Mustard queried, leaning  to get a better look as the man placed it in my hands, keeping his on the cover, over mine.
"That, my boy, is a guide to the local wildlife I whipped up myself. Well, I won't lie, it was a shared effort between Kurogiri and myself. We thought it could be of some use, if our dear girl wished to locate some new additions for her charming little quirk."

"Y..you didn't have to go out of your ways to make this for me...Thank you so much, M...Atsuhiro..." I gave him a bright smile, excited to sit down and read through it. Maybe I could track down some animals that weren't going to send me into a vicious freefall. It was a sad fact that the only useful animals I had tucked in my belt were mostly predatory, which made it a lot harder to get things done without having to worry so much about my limitations. It was going to prove even riskier now, seeing as I had been forced to leave the timer from my costume back at home, due to the signal it gave off.

"No need for a thank you, dear girl. You have been nothing but kind to us, so if I'm honest, it is barely a scrape off the top of what you deserve." The man smiled back, the hole in his mask over his mouth slightly curving with the expression. My eyes drifted down to where his left arm used to be, and I frowned.
"But...I bit you..."

I could have really hurt you...

When his finger came down upon the tip of my nose, I looked back up, meeting his sincere cognac eyes.
"You were merely out of sorts. Happens to the best of us, so make that regret disappear, hmm?" He laughed, straightening up as he strolled back towards the door. "Oh, before I forget, I heard that Tomura is requesting an audience with you in half an hour. I do hope he doesn't have any more work planned for the time being. We all deserve a vacation!"

With that, he was gone, and I deflated, my good mood quickly leaving me.
"Hey, don't get all droopy, (Y/N). It's probably just something about the clone stuff or whatever." Mustard tried to cheer me up, patting my shoulder. "I'll come see him with you, if you want?" Nodding in silent agreement, I stared at the closed door, my bottom lip being drawn between my teeth.

I guess...if I can't keep on being a hero...I could help these guys be villains, instead...Even if it feels...wrong...

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***I think my love of Mustard skyrocketed the other day when I finally found a vintage gas mask. Also, Atsuhiro is a fancy baby and I love him.

I plan on doing things a bit differently from the manga from here on in...Specifically everything that happens whilst the league is out in the middle of nowhere...

Next time: Be a Good Dog***