chapter ten;

    "YOUKO, TRY AGAIN", SHIGARAKI COMMANDED. the little girl nodded as she took a deep breath and tried focusing very hard.

youko closed her eyes as she hastily reopened them once again. looking straight into the very red eyes that matched her own, youko stretched out her right arm.

"kneel!"

shigaraki waited for something to happen, though nothing did until he suddenly felt his muscles contract.

an internal force spread throughout his body like wildfire. shigaraki's knee unconsciously bent as he indeed kneeled before youko.

"I DID IT PAPA!! I DID IT!!", youko exclaimed as shigaraki was able to move freely once again.

     the little girl ran over to shigaraki as she jumped into his arms.

     shigaraki patted the little girl's head as he felt a little impressed with the girl's quirk. yet there was still more work to be done.

     "your majesty!! bakugo katsuki's been successfully captured!", a soldier suddenly reported as youko tilted her head to the side.

     "papa...why's...what?"

shigaraki started heading towards the dungeons with youko, as he just widely grinned.

"they're all bad people youko. they call us villains, when they're the ones that made us this way", shigaraki immediately frowned.

youko had a bit of hard time wrapping her head around what shigaraki had just said, but went along with it anyways.

"but shō and the others were so nice", youko meekly stated.

"it's just an act youko. you're too gullible", shigaraki lowly chuckled as he ruffled the girl's hair.

youko just laid her head on shigaraki's shoulder as they arrived in the dark cellar, where piles of bones rotted near the moldy and icky walls.

chains crinkled as shigaraki's heavy steps inched closer to a particular cell.

dabi, toga, and the rest of the commanders along with kurogiri were already present, as youko hesitantly lifted her head up to meet the blonde's dirty glare.

"YOU PIECES OF SHI—"

     kurogiri immediately stuffed bakugo's mouth with a cloth.

"please refrain from cussing in front of her highness".

bakugo jerked the chains around as he just glared even harder at the villains standing before him.

youko started getting a bit worried as bakugo was way more aggressive than she had seen him before. perhaps it was true that those so-called 'heroes', weren't much of a hero after all.

"don't you think you've gone through enough?", shigaraki suddenly started, making the boy cease his struggling.

     "dabi, release him", shigaraki commanded.

     "huh? you sure?"

     "you know your position don't you? you can tell whether you can win or not in this situation can't you?", shigaraki asked, to which bakugo had just stayed silent.

     "twice, you do it", dabi said.

     "what, me?! no way!!", twice immediately shot down.

     "do it", dabi demanded.

     "man..."

     twice walked over to the corner of the cell as youko clenched onto shigaraki's black yukata tightly.

     the little girl had an uncanny feeling about this.

     "I apologize for using such a forceful method. but please do understand that we aren't just villains trying to commit crimes. we didn't kidnap you by accident", compress explained.

     "papa..."

     "not now youko", shigaraki whispered back as he just patted the little girl's back.

     "even though our situations differ, everyone here has been restricted and suffered because of people...rules...and heroes..."

     as shigaraki walked closer to bakugo, who was rubbing his wrists, youko felt chills running down her spine.

     she tugged on shigaraki's clothing, signaling him that she desperately wanted to create some distance between them and bakugo.

     "I'm sure that you—"

     immediately, bakugo fired an explosion at shigaraki, to which he had shielded youko in a haste, afraid that his little queen would be in danger.

     "PAPA!!"

     "I listened quietly to your endless talking...idiots can't get to the point, so they're always talking for a long time. basically, you mean 'we wanna harass people, so please join us', right?

     don't bother", bakugo spat.

     youko teared up as she examined her father's face, making sure that it wasn't more scarred up than usual.

     "I want to win like all might. no matter what anyone says, that will never change!"

     shigaraki gently brushed youko's small hands away as he set her down.

     youko ran over to kurogiri as shigaraki inched closer to bakugo once more.

the blue-haired male lifted his arm up as bakugo stiffened. that is, until footsteps were heard down the hall from the stairs.

everyone stopped moving as no one could really make out the person's face from the dark.

youko could somewhat visualize a soldier's uniform as the man appeared before the light.

it took a moment for dabi to realize that that soldier was definitely not one of their men.

"TWICE, GET THE—"

the impersonating soldier's arms stretched out and captured every villain commander, including shigaraki.

     youko was luckily not caught in the branches of the hero, as many soon appeared, with all might smashing through the dungeon walls.

     debris flew everywhere as bakugo was surprised by the sudden rescue team.

     before dabi could even attempt to burn the wood encasing them all, gran torino hastily kicked the male in the face, successfully knocking him out.

     "DABI!!"

     youko wanted to immediately check on the passed out male, only to be stopped by all might himself.

"KUROGIRI! WARP US OUT OF HERE ALREADY!!", shigaraki spat as he struggled against the twines.

"my apologies your majesty, but..."

shigaraki gritted his teeth as he saw kurogiri also encaged.

"all might, what should we do with the princess?", kamui woods—the hero encasing all the villains currently—questioned.

youko glanced up at the hero's kingdom's ruler, feeling scared as she had absolutely no idea what was going on.

she had thought that peace was maintained until most recently.

"the little one still has hope. she just needs the right guidance", all might deduced.

"youko, come here. I promise we mean no harm", all might coaxed with a genuine smile.

youko sniffled as she clenched onto her usual western dress.

"YOUKO! DON'T...DON'T GO! COME BACK TO ME YOUKO", shigaraki shouted, trying his best to fight against the vines that had just twisted around him even more.

youko looked back at her papa, who was clearly in pain and frustration. the little girl then turned her gaze back to all might, who had kneeled down and extended his hand out towards her.

youko bit her bottom lip as she glanced back at shigaraki, toga, and the rest once more.

the little girl dropped down to her knees as her beautiful lilac dress soaked in the dirt and slight wetness of the nasty ground.

"what are you—"

"please forgive papa! please forgive them all! I-I don't know what's going on, but papa isn't bad. please, your majesty!!", youko cried.

shigaraki scowled even more as he felt even more determined to reach youko.

"YOUKO, STAND UP! DON'T YOU KNEEL BEFORE HIM!!"

"PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY!!", youko cried even more, tugging on all might's robe.

all might felt pity immediately wash over him as the little girl's tears trampled over her once innocent and carefree smile.

he never wanted to do this, but if he didn't save her, she would end up being like her father. and neither he, nor others desired that.

"youko...", all might softly said as he gently picked the little girl up.

"I'm sorry", the man whispered as he knocked youko out, making shigaraki's eyes burn with more rage if even possible.

"NO! STOP! GIVE HER BACK!! GIVE HER BACK!! WHO ARE YOU TO TAKE MY DAUGHTER AWAY?! I WILL KILL YOU! THIS ISN'T FAIR! THE GAME'S NOT OVER YET!", shigaraki lashed out as all might had handed the little girl off to aizawa.

     though before all might could even say anything, the villains were engulfed by a black substance that had teleported them to another platform.

     all might, who was alert by such strangeness, knew it was all for one's doing.

     "yagi, should I bring her back to the kingdom cellar?", aizawa asked.

     "do what you see fit, shōta".

✦ . . . . ────────☀️