chapter sixteen;

    "HI MR. COMPRESS, WHATCHA DOING THERE?", youko smiled, peeking over the male's shoulder.

for once, the brown-eyed male wasn't wearing his complexion mask. though majority of his face was still covered up—excluding his eyes and mouth—with a balaclava.

the man chuckled as he rolled up the left sleeve of his dark yellow overcoat, showcasing his prosthetic arm that truly amazed little youko.

     "woahhh...can you feel things with this arm?", youko asked, marveling at all the little screws and pyrotechnics that had went into this single item.

     "indeed! it's very reliable because I know I can always count on it", compress said, to which youko immediately covered her mouth to muffle her laughter.

     "a hand joke!! tell me another!", youko giggled.

     "mm...what do you call it when an axe in your hand falls on your feet?", compress asked.

"I don't know, what is it called??", youko eagerly questioned.

"an axeident!"

youko and compress chuckled together as spinner, another one of shigaraki's commanders, walked in.

     "what's with all the loud noises?", spinner groaned, seeming to have just woken up from his afternoon nap.

youko glanced over at the green reptile man that was in his white and black yukata. for once, the purple-haired male didn't have armor strapped on his back or by his side.

"my apologies for waking you. I was just consulting with the princess about some jokes", compress explained.

"good afternoon mr. spinner!", youko greeted, to which the man had only grunted in response.

spinner and compress weren't particularly close to the princess like toga and kurogiri were, but that was why youko was going to spend her day with them today.

after all, what better way to get closer to your family than asking them to take you to go out and eat?

"by the way mr. compress, would you and mr. spinner like to join me on an adventure?", youko cheerfully asked.

     "why of course!", compress immediately answered.

     "absolutely no—"

     "spinner would also love to accompany us, your highness", compress intervened, making the green male baffled.

     "WHAT?! I JUST SAID I—"

     "KURO!!!", youko called out, interrupting spinner once again.

     the mist man immediately showed up, making spinner flinch at how immediate kurogiri arrived, not even making a sound.

     "you called, your highness?"

     "youko!!", the little girl reprimanded.

     "my sincerest apologies, prince—"

     kurogiri quickly stopped himself as little youko shot him a pout, to which the mist man just sighed.

     "youko...what may I assist you with?"

smiling, youko answered. "could you warp us to...umm...you know the place with lots of trees...and the shops...?", youko nicely asked.

spinner raised a brow as he wondered if kurogiri even understood what the five year-old was referring to.

     "of course, your—I mean youko".

     kurogiri's body then turned into a warp gate as youko grabbed onto compress's robotic hand. the little girl outstretched her other hand to spinner, who had promptly refused it as he trudged through the portal begrudgingly.

as soon as the portal behind the three closed, youko gasped as she watched the glamouring city lights constantly flash.

"are those...cars??", youko asked, to which compress had just replied with a "indeed".

being a little princess who's rarely been out of the castle, youko has never visited the city before. especially now that the league resided at baron giran's house, they were very secluded, much like when they were back at the palace.

"you wanted to come to the city?", spinner sneered in disgust, watching as all the people roamed around freely.

"umm...well...I was thinking more of the free market I went with uncle dabi...but I forgot what it was called for a second", youko bashfully admitted, awkwardly shuffling her feet.

"no worries! I'm sure we'll have a fun day exploring. I suggest we start with the café over there", compress pointed, to which youko had immediately agreed.

     as soon as the three stepped out of the shadows, a few glanced at the trio, only to go back to what they were previously doing.

     much less to say, spinner was a bit startled, having to have always been the center of attention amongst others in public.

     but then again, it was the villain side of the kingdom, so anyone could look like anything they desired.

     "may I have a bowl of ice cream please?", youko sweetly requested as the three were seated beside a window that showcased the wonderful scenery of the autumn trees.

     "of course! and for you two?", the nice lady smiled.

     "I'll take a coffee jelly", compress replied.

     "a cup of coffee's just fine", spinner grunted.

     "alright! I'll be right back with all your items", the woman said as she quickly left.

     before youko could even say anything, something rubbed against the little girl's arm, making youko gasp.

     "a kitty?!"

     the two grown males looked over to see the little princess petting a pearly white cat that was waving her tail from side to side.

in fact, many other cats of all sizes and shapes had appeared, rummaging through the café and appearing before the guests.

"look mr. spinner!! you should pet this one! she's called ai", youko smiled as she read off the kitty's black velvety collar.

"no, I'm—"

youko had swiftly placed the little ball of fur onto spinner's lap, to which the reptile man had stiffened, not exactly sure how to react.

"she's real nice", youko mumbled, waiting for spinner to pet the cat.

compress contained a laugh as he anticipated for his colleague to do as told.

spinner softly groaned as he lifted his arm, carefully combing through the kitty's fur, in which it had purred in response.

youko giggled as the woman suddenly came back with each of their orders.

as the little girl dug in, she listened into compress and spinner's conversation.

"who's stain?", youko asked, chiming in.

spinner nearly gasped at youko's uncultured question. stain was his idol, his ideology, the reason why he chose this path.

     "stain's known as the hero killer. his ideology was to cleanse the world of false heroes", spinner explained, sounding more excited to speak than previously.

     "really? how did he know who were the false heroes?", youko asked, engaging spinner into a conversation with her.

     compress just stayed quiet and enjoyed this scene in front of him; a grown reptile man talking to a child about killing heroes.

     "those who are only in it for fame, money, any benefits rather than just saving people", spinner said, taking a sip of his dark coffee as he continued petting ai, the cat.

     "ohhhhh", youko hummed.

     as spinner continued explaining the greatness of stain, compress joined in occasionally with a joke or pun here and there.

     "shall we head out? the day's still early and I assume your highness would like to visit many more places?", compress suggested.

     "alright!"

     the little girl immediately hopped off her seat as she kissed ai goodbye. as much as she wanted to take the kitty home, she knew her father wouldn't have approved.

     "mr. spinner, is your hair naturally that way?", youko asked.

     "yeah, why?"

     youko just shrugged. "I just think purple is a pretty color, that's all", the girl smiled, gripping onto his and compress's hand as she skipped down the road.

     spinner coughed as he just gave a curt nod. "thanks", he quietly muttered out as they had entered a clothing store.

_♚_

     "and I saw this white kitty that looked just like you papa!", youko exclaimed, trying her best to describe the cat.

     "really?", shigaraki asked, clearly uninterested.

     "mhm!", youko smiled as she crawled into shigaraki's futon.

     "actually, your smile kind of reminds me of ai", youko giggled, to which shigaraki raised a brow.

     "is that—"

     "no! I like papa's smile. I think papa should smile more", youko said as she peppered shigaraki's face with small kisses, much like the kitten she saw today.

     "time to sleep", shigaraki interrupted, forcing the girl to close her eyes.

     "okay...goodnight papa...", the little girl mumbled.

     "night, youko".

     as the little princess lightly snored, shigaraki placed a very gentle—nearly nonexistent—kiss on the girl's forehead.

     he carefully brushed through youko's dark locks as he felt the little girl grab onto his yukata, pulling herself closer to her father.

     shigaraki simply patted her back as he closed his own eyes, falling into a deep slumber of peace and quiet.

✦ . . . . ────────☀️