chapter nineteen;

     "ARE YOU AN ANGEL?!", YOUKO GASPED, nearly passing out at the man's luscious red wings that extended outwards; the epitome of grace and beauty.

the male was shocked. he had heard about the villain king having a daughter, but he didn't fathom how...little...she was.

"u-um..no, but—"

     "he's a chicken", dabi interrupted, to which the blonde male just huffed.

"I'm actually hawks! nice to meet you princess", the man introduced with a smile.

     "oh, nice to meet you sir! I'm shigaraki youko!! you can just call me that or yoko if you'd like. by the way, can you fly? and if you're a bird...why don't you have a beak?", youko questioned, to which hawks just glanced over at dabi.

     "I-uh...I'm not really a bird actually...", hawks tried to explain.

     "never mind that. where's crusty?", dabi asked.

     "oh, papa's out with the rest of the league to go steal some food", youko casually answered.

"they left you all alone?"

"welllllllllll...."

dabi sighed. "how many times do I have to tell you that you can't just run away every time you don't want to go somewhere?"

youko shrugged as she fumbled with the hem of her shirt. for some reason, after kurogiri's absence, she had decided that she would dress like him, without the metal choker of course.

the little girl flattened out her little black suit as she flashed dabi a smile, stretching her arms upward, demanding to be carried.

without even saying anything, dabi groaned as he begrudgingly picked the little princess up.

"I suppose we could wait for the rest of the league to arrive so that you can meet them", dabi said to hawks.

youko hummed in amusement as she observed the new recruit. obviously the bright red wings were what had stood out to her first. but the blonde male somewhat reminded her of twice, as he too, had a beard.

"orrrr we could go out for dessert", youko suggested.

     "we don't have a ride", dabi immediately shot down.

     "who said?! he can fly", youko pointed, to which hawks had just awkwardly chuckled.

     "I can only support a certain amount of weight thoug—"

     "are you calling us fat?!", youko pouted, about to start fake crying, making hawks sweat bullets.

     "NO, NO, NOT AT ALL!! I'm just saying...if you want, I could take you, your highness", hawks suggested.

     "oh well, sucks to be you uncle dabi. maybe you can fly another time", youko teased, immediately changing her mood.

     dabi feigned an offended gasp.

     "I'll bring you back your favorite no worries", youko cheerfully smiled.

     "hell no. if your father finds out I let you fly with some stranger and—"

     "I'll bring you back some ohagi if you promise you won't tell papa", youko bargained, to which dabi had begrudgingly accepted.

     "fine. but be back before dinner time", the scarred male said as he shot a glance at hawks, intensely warning him.

     "yayyy!! thank you uncle dabi!!"

     youko placed a small kiss on dabi's forehead as he let the girl down, who was then picked up by hawks.

     "I'll be back soon! enjoy your nap", youko waved as hawks got ready to take off.

     as soon as dabi gave the girl a half-assed wave, hawks' wings propelled into the bright blue sky. though youko was a bit worried at first, the momentum soon steadied, as youko got a great overview of the city and rural areas.

"can we go over to that domain please?", youko loudly asked, just in case hawks couldn't hear that well with the wind blasting against them.

"of course youko!"

as hawks carefully descended from the sky, youko had to smooth out all the ruffles in her tight fitting suit. she readjusted her little red bow tie, as she cleared her throat.

     originally, she had wanted to keep up the impersonation of what kurogiri usually presented, but as soon as she saw the dessert café, her inner child spilled out.

     "OH MR. HAWKS!! WE'VE GOT TO GO IN THERE!!", youko yelled as she dragged the blonde male into the pink and glittery shop.

     "hello, welcome to—"

     "HELLO! may we be seated next to the window? I like watching the people walk by", youko requested, to which the woman had lightly chuckled as she led the two to a window seat.

     youko sat across from hawks, as she ran her tiny fingers across the polished round pink table, that was just as dainty as the little girl herself.

     "say mr. hawks, why'd you join my papa?", youko asked, looking through the menu as she already knew what she was going to order.

     "oh-um...I-I've just always felt like a social outcast. so I joined your father's group...because I heard he's very inclusive", hawks explained.

     "oh..well, you're not wrong. papa is very nice", youko agreed, as the waitress soon came back with a pen and a notepad.

     "and what may I get you two today?"

     hawks frowned at the lack of fried chicken, or any chicken meal at all.

     "I'll just have a mocha please", hawks smiled, making the waitress feel her heart beat just a little faster.

     "o-oh...um—"

     "and I'll have a mango parfait, a few slices of honey toast, some ohagi and higashi, a coffee jelly, some red bean pasted mochi, and a slice of japanese cheesecake please", youko widely smiled, to which the lady had to write speedy quick to catch everything the little girl had said.

"is that everything?", the woman asked after she had confirmed everything that was ordered.

"yep! thank you!!"

the lady hastily left to go prepare the desserts, as hawks just observed the little princess's movements. she didn't seem very dangerous, but looks could always be deceiving.

"so what's your quirk?", hawks asked, making it seem as if it's a casual conversation.

"I don't have one", youko answered, looking hawks straight in the eyes.

youko knew it was bad to lie, but her papa said to keep it a secret from others that he hasn't approved of yet. and currently, there were many on that list of his.

"I see...my apologies for asking then".

"no need", the girl cheerfully answered. "I don't need one, since I know my family's going to protect me in case of danger".

"family?"

"mhm! like papa, uncle dabi, himi, mr. compress, mr. spinner, twice, kuro, and big sis magne if she weren't on vacation", youko said.

hawks hummed in response as he wondered if the villains had somehow brainwashed the little girl.

"do you...really love your family?", hawks asked.

youko laughed. "of course! what kind of silly question is that? they're the nicest people to me", youko smiled as she dug into her mango parfait.

"you don't...think they're dangerous at all?", hawks carefully asked.

"no. I trust papa, after all, you're here for the same reason right? because you feel alone?", youko asked, her big round eyes staring into hawk's soul.

in a way, it had made hawks uncomfortable.

"but not to worry mr. hawks! you'll fit right in. once you join, you'll be part of the family too!", youko encouraged.

     hawks just nodded and gave the girl a thankful smile.

     "I assure you I will".

_♚_

     "I'M BACK EVERYONE!!", youko announced as everyone had worryingly glanced at the girl and hawks, meanwhile shigaraki had his arms crossed, clearly not in a good mood.

     "and I brought snacks....?", the little girl softly mumbled.

     "where were you?", shigaraki darkly asked, making hawk's fight or flight immediately kick in.

     "oh, I was buying you all dessert! look what I got you papa!! your favorite cheesecake~", youko giggled as she skipped over to the table that everyone was seated at.

     as she unraveled the packaging, she swiftly took out a small plastic spoon and scooped out a piece of spongy cheesecake.

     "do you like it?", youko asked, as she stuffed it in shigaraki's mouth before he could question her outing even more.

     "it's fine", the blue-haired male grumbled, much to hawk's surprise. he had feared that he might've needed to take the little princess and escape from the villain king's wrath.

     "oh, by the way, he's hawks! uncle dabi found him", youko introduced, to which hawks had just awkwardly waved.

     shigaraki only briefly glanced up before he took the spoon from youko's hand and started feeding her the sweet treat.

     "you let a stranger take her somewhere? are you even worthy of being called an uncle?", shigaraki sneered.

     "you left her alone by herself, are you even worthy of being called a—"

     "papa, how was work today?", youko asked, cutting in before dabi was about to be on a lifeline.

     shigaraki huffed as he patted the little girl's head. "it was alright".

     "well alright's better than fine right?", youko smiled, enjoying the cheesecake with shigaraki, meanwhile the rest enjoyed their own dessert.

     "sure".

     youko wrapped her arms around shigaraki as she had a long day of flying and eating.

     "it was decent".

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