chapter seventeen;

TODAY WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT DAY THAT EVEN SHIGARAKI had decided to wear his white hakama along with his blue nagagi and a darker shade of haori.

     "mm...can I use this one?", youko asked, holding up a flower hair tie so shigaraki could see in the reflection of the mirror.

     the blue-haired male sighed as he just grunted, to which youko had just smiled even wider.

     youko had tried her best to gently brush through shigaraki's hair. though it was a bit hard, considering the man's baby blue locks were more tangled than a ball of yarn.

     as youko combed through her father's slightly wavy hair, she took the pieces that usually blocked out majority of his face and pulled it back, tying it up with a blue flower hair tie.

shigaraki frowned upon seeing his reflection in the mirror. the scars, the eye bags, the dry skin that has slightly improved due to youko's lavender lotion, but still looks hideous.

"wowww", youko marveled, making shigaraki hum in curiosity.

     "papa looks so handsome!", youko smiled as she wrapped her short arms around the male's neck, leaning her chin on top of shigaraki's shoulder.

     "and we're matching!!"

     the little girl hopped off the stool that she had been standing on as she twirled around in her traditional black kimono.

     youko's hair was tied into two buns—inspired by toga—with matching flower clips.

     "what do you think papa?"

     "very...nice...", shigaraki mumbled as he unconsciously let his arms fall to his side.

youko gripped onto the last two fingers of shigaraki's right hand, walking out into the hallway of the house, as everyone else was waiting and already prepared.

"good morning everyone!", youko greeted, especially excited today since today was the day that toga and twice were going to return to the league.

"pleasant seeing your highness and your majesty", compress bowed, having his usual mask on already.

"spinner, you'll be driving. dabi and compress will follow me to the back of the truck", shigaraki commanded.

"what about me, papa? and can johnny come along too?", the little girl asked.

     shigaraki had momentarily forgotten about kurogiri's absence, as he had went to go find the special "power" that master had apparently left behind.

     "you'll...stick with me for now", shigaraki said, to which compress had already opened the front door to the house as everyone headed towards the truck that they must've rented.

"wow...the back of the truck is really empty", youko said as her, shigaraki, dabi, and compress entered through the back doors while spinner started up the car.

     "sit here", shigaraki commanded as youko plopped beside the male.

     as soon as spinner started driving, youko gasped at the moving vehicle. the little girl has never rode in a moving car that wasn't driven by manpower or horses.

"by the way papa, where are we going?", youko asked as she retied the red scarf around johnny's nearly nonexistent neck.

"to retrieve toga and twice...", shigaraki replied. "but first, we have someone to meet", the blue-haired male grinned.

     "who?"

     before youko got an answer, shigaraki stood up, opening the back doors of the truck as there was a police car—from the hero's kingdom—following them.

     youko tried not to slide towards the opening, as dabi quickly snatched her arm and bent down.

     "get on".

     youko smiled as she somehow managed to crawl on top of dabi's shoulders. it was a bit hard with her kimono, but the fabric gave the girl a lot of leg room, so all was well.

shigaraki suddenly disappeared, as dabi made sure youko wouldn't fall off.

"ready to see some magic princess?"

"are you going to use your quirk again??", youko excitedly asked, eyes widening as dabi stretched out his right hand.

a blast of swirling blue flames shot towards the police car and black truck that was following behind. though the flames soon dispersed, as youko saw a man block dabi's flames with a shield of sand.

     shigaraki then jumped off the roof of the truck, only to be held midway in air by the sand hero's arm.

     "will papa be okay??", youko whispered to dabi, who just nodded in assurance.

     "you may be able to disintegrate whatever you touch, but that won't work against sand!", the hero commented.

     "yeah..you got that right".

     "watch carefully as the police car flies into the air!", compress announced, decompressing a huge boulder that promptly smashed into the police car.

     youko giggled as she clapped, very much enjoying the magic show as shigaraki broke the window of the black truck, turning the wheel and forcing the truck to tilt to its side.

"ready to see that loser I mentioned?", dabi asked, as him and compress hopped off the back of the truck, leaving johnny to patiently wait there.

"o-overhaul??"

"you...HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE FAMILIES YOU'VE MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD?!", the sand hero asked as he was about to shoot a cluster of sand in the shape of a saber-toothed tiger at him.

"w-WAIT!! STOP! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!", youko screamed as she made quick eye contact with the sand hero, forcing the male to freeze on the spot.

shigaraki turned around in surprise as dabi and compress were baffled. both men had always assumed that the little princess was quirkless.

a few droplets of tears started falling out youko's bright red eyes as she hastily wiped them away.

"I-I'm sorry sir...but I can't let you hurt my family", youko apologized as compress then compressed the man into one of his marbles.

dabi lifted the girl off his shoulder as he just carried her normally. compress and shigaraki neared overhaul, who was strapped and on his back, while dabi wiped youko's tears away.

"why're you crying? if anything, he should be", dabi chuckled as he inched closer to where overhaul and the other two villains were.

"truly...you're too full of yourself", shigaraki said as compress snatched one of overhaul's arms.

"compensation for the arm", the man smiled.

"tell me again, who the next leader is going to be?", shigaraki asked.

"did you come to kill me?"

"no...I thought of something you'd hate even more than that", shigaraki replied, while youko just observed from the sideline.

overhaul's face showed no fear nor remorse, only a facade. he dull yellow eyes seemed like they have given up, making youko feel a bit of pity for the male.

"that's mine", chisaki gasped as he watched shigaraki clutch onto a small box of quirk canceling bullets.

     "you know what I think overhaul? for someone who's obsessed with erasing quirks, shouldn't have one of their own. don't you agree?", shigaraki lowly muttered as he placed all five fingers onto the man's last arm.

     dabi swiftly covered youko's eyes as shigaraki took a pocketknife and sliced off the decaying arm.

     "now you don't even have a thumb to suck on, as you're doomed to just watch on the sidelines", shigaraki mocked, grinning widely as spinner honked the truck, making youko squeal.

     "hey, we gotta get going! the cops are coming soon!"

     shigaraki walked towards dabi as he took youko from his arms. the little girl glanced at her father as she then laid her head on his shoulder, watching overhaul shiver.

     chisaki let out a guttural scream, to which youko had to cover her ears as shigaraki let out a low chuckle.

     "enjoyed the show, youko?"

     "mhm".

     "remember, when someone takes something from us, we take it back and tenfold the price", shigaraki said.

     youko just nodded as shigaraki walked back towards the truck.

     "and good job...on using your quirk earlier", shigaraki softly complimented, making the girl perk up in excitement.

"am I finally useful to papa??", youko smiled, to which shigaraki had momentarily stopped in his footsteps.

the male gently patted the girl's head. "you always have been, my little queen".

✦ . . . . ────────☀️