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MANAMI hopped off the chariot and walked towards the red river.

hell was very different from heaven. whilst heaven had many clouds and a pastel like aesthetic, hell was like the hot topic of the mall.

thus, manami stood out quite a bit. although her pale skin was as fair as shigaraki's, her snowy white hair shined against the dead grass.

she bent down to look into the bloody river. it was a thick consistency and you could barely see your own reflection.

shigaraki wondered why this river interested her. after all, it was just the blood of the guilty spilled into a previous dried up creek. but obviously he wasn't going to tell manami that, as it was not necessary.

manami suddenly turned around, making shigaraki look at what she was gazing at.

a three-headed dog had appeared, growling.

there was saliva dripping out from their fangs, as their red eyes glowed in fascination at the new guest. it slowly prowled towards shigaraki and manami, making shigaraki slightly worried for the girl.

"oh my god!! it's a puppy!!", manami squealed, running towards it.

"wait—"

before shigaraki could stop her, manami was already in front of the dog. which was also almost 3x her size.

"who's a good doggie~", manami cooed, trying to pet the fluffy black dog in front of her.

surprisingly the three-headed dog laid down, letting manami pet it's three heads. she giggled as she ruffled their fur, making shigaraki extremely confused.

"he didn't...hurt you??", shigaraki asked, walking over to his pet and manami.

"what?? a puppy like him would never!!", manami smiled, scratching the stomach of the three-headed dog.

shigaraki would've begged to differ, but he kept quiet. he watched as manami played with the so-called "puppy".

"what's his name??", manami asked, looking up.

"cerberus", shigaraki answered.

"they don't have 3 names for each head??", manami pouted. she thought it was a bit sad that the three-headed animal didn't get their own names.

"mm...what about éna, dýo, tría?", manami asked. although it literally meant one, two, and three, it was the first time someone has tried to give the dog a name.

"sure?" shigaraki didn't see the purpose in giving cerberus a name, as he already had one. but then again, he didn't see the purpose in a lot of things.

the dog seemed happy as it laid back on its stomach and started licking manami, basically attacking her with slobbery kisses.

"hey now. stop it", shigaraki commanded, to which cerberus just whined.

"aw, don't be mean shigaraki. they just want to play".

shigaraki just sighed, watching the girl continue hugging the dog. surprisingly, it shape-shifted into a smaller size; one that can easily be held by manami.

"come on, let's go", shigaraki said, offering his hand out for manami to take.

manami held the small puppy with one arm while taking shigaraki's hand and hopped onto the chariot. the horses then took them to the main throne room, making manami's jaw drop.

"oh my olympus! is that the pot of doom, where you boil all the bones of the dead??", manami asked, pointing at the big dip in the center of the room.

shigaraki looked at the girl weirdly. where was she getting all these crazy assumptions from?

"no?"

"oh. then is that the pot where you boil all of their hopes and dreams and crush it into—"

"no", shigaraki bluntly interrupted.

"o-oh sorry", manami mumbled, looking down at cerberus. she booped each of their noses, making them softly bark. shigaraki then sighed again.

"it's fine. it's just a normal pot for cooking food", shigaraki explained.

manami then looked up. "cooking food?? what do you cook in there? do you like hot pot? I like hot pot. I also like spicy food because katsuki got me into it", the girl chattered on.

shigaraki then felt his palms get a bit sweaty. he also liked spicy hot pot. he felt a small smile form on his lips, as he watched the girl talk about what she liked to boil in the pot.

it was like she glowed more as she talked about her favorite things.

"is that a throne made of skulls??", manami asked, looking curiously towards the front of the room.

"y-yes. is something wrong??" shigaraki was worried that she would run away screaming and never want to come back again. but then again, he wouldn't exactly blame her. a pure goddess like her didn't exactly belong in such a dark realm.

"that's so cool!! did you use hot glue to haul it all together??", manami asked, poking at the skull's forehead.

"cool?? you think it's cool??"

"of course!! my father's throne is made of clouds. surprisingly it holds his weight. then poseidon's is made of shells and seaweed. so I say yours is quite superior", manami laughed.

"I suppose...so...".

"welcome back my lord. and who may this be?", a voice asked, making manami squint her eyes.

"kurogiri, this is manami kore, persephone. and vice versa", shigaraki introduced.

"oh! nice to meet you mr. kurogiri! I've beard about you from papa!"

"I hope it's all good things. would you like to stay for dinner tonight? we should celebrate your presence with a hot pot party", kurogiri suggested.

"mm...are you sure it's okay?? I don't want to be a bother", manami said, swaying on her feet back and forth.

"of course! we'd be happy to have you here", kurogiri said, bowing.

manami looked at shigaraki, who just anxiously waited for her response.

"mm I suppose I coul—"

"WE'RE BACKKKK!!", toga yelled, dragging dabi by his arm.

shigaraki scowled and groaned at the loud voice.

toga gasped. "is that who I think it is?! THE persephone?? THE manami kore?!"

"yeah!! you know me??", manami excitedly asked, petting one of cerberus's head.

"of course I do!! you have no idea how many times tomura's had stalked your—mmmphhdhhs". dabi covered the girl's mouth and awkwardly laughed.

"she's a bit crazy in the head. don't mind her", dabi said.

"a-anyways, let's get ready for dinner", shigaraki said, looking over at manami.

"alright!! by the way, do you have pomegranates??", she asked, her eyes sparkling at the mention of the fruit.

"um...", shigaraki looked around at all the dead grass and dead aura.

"of course".

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