chapter twenty-one;

     "GOOD MORNING UNCLE DABI'S CAMERA! tis is a wonderful day for some sneaky recording", youko exclaimed, muffling her giggles as she pointed the camera lens at herself.

since dabi instructed not to let anyone—especially toga, twice, and hawks—find out about it, youko was only allowed to use it in the morning, where the entire league was either still asleep or they've already left for work.

"today, we'll be spying on my family. so lemme introduce you to them first", youko whispered, tip-toeing into the room that the league was sleeping in.

     "this is my papa. he's a very grumpy person sometimes, but he means well", youko softly said as she quickly kissed the top of shigaraki's forehead.

     the man didn't even budge, considering how hard he's been working with the rest of the league, trying to figure out the next steps for their plan.

     "and this is himi, well...himiko. people like to call her crazy, but I think she's just very happy", youko explained. "and this twice. he's best friends with himi, and honestly, I wish I got to know him more".

     "this is mr. compress. if you ever want a good joke, he's your guy. and to the left of him is mr. spinner. he may seem mean, but he's actually a real softie. he likes kittens, but don't ask him about it, because he'll deny it", youko grinned.

     "and mr. hawks should be here, but uncle dabi says that birds don't sleep inside with humans, so he's elsewhere. oh, speaking of which!! this is my uncle dabi. he's got a lot going on with his face, but his quirk is cool", youko smiled.

     once she finished introducing all the members that were present, youko quietly walked out of the room full of sleeping villains.

     "and let me show you my best friend johnny! he's not exactly what normal kids have as a friend, but papa says I'm special, so I get a special friend".

the little girl then aimed the lens at johnny, who was just standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring emptily into the air.

     "yeah...he doesn't do much unless I tell him to. but he likes walks!!", youko laughed.

"there's also kuro, but he's currently missing, and I miss him a lot. I hope he's alright. papa says we'll get him back soon, but I don't know how much longer we'll have to wait. anyways, I'll come back again, see you soon camera".

as youko shut the tiny camera off, she placed it back under a wooden floorboard that dabi had apparently broke.

     as youko walked around in her dark blue pajamas and white kitty slippers, the girl went back into the league's sleeping room and brushed her hair.

"hmm...the sunflower clips or the bunny ones..", youko mumbled to herself, crossing her arms as she was super serious now.

     "the bunny ones, they look cuter. no no!! go with the sunflowers!", a voice said, making youko squeal as she hastily turned around.

     "oh it's just you twice. good morning! how'd you sleep??", youko smiled.

     "fine. terrible!"

"did you have a bad dream? and by the way, can you do my hair please?"

"sure...and no I didn't have a nightmare. heck yeah I did! I dreamt about world domination!!"

twice immediately covered his mouth, as he didn't have his mask on yet. it was still bright early morning, hence the man usually did so later in the day.

     youko giggled as she swung her legs, watching twice clear his throat from the mirror's reflection.

     "what style do you want today?", twice asked.

     "mm...how about pigtails??"

"alright". twice then split the girl's black locks in half, as he was really good with measuring—or at least estimating—objects and determining their evenness.

he calmly brushed through the girl's hair as he gathered half of it, building it up into a high pigtail, and securing it with the bunny hair tie.

     "wow, you're good at this twice".

     twice gave a small smile. "I suppose", the man huffed, promptly doing the same to the other side and making sure the ponytails were equally high.

     "should we wake them up?", youko whispered.

"probably not", twice said.

for once, the blonde male didn't contradict himself. there were times that it happened, but it wasn't often.

"should we go make breakfast then?"

     "you know how to do that stuff?"

     "well...kuro taught me a little..."

     "but I heard you and dabi went out for breakfast last time", twice skeptically replied.

     youko sillily stuck her tongue out. "that's because I know for a fact dabi wouldn't help me. plus, I didn't want to eat his sweaty bacon and eggs", the girl frowned, furrowing her brows.

     "then I suppose—"

     "great!", youko softly cheered, pulling twice by the hand as she dragged the tired male out the quiet room.

     "so what are we making?", twice asked as he took a packet of cigarette and a lighter from his pocket.

the little girl quickly jumped up and slapped twice's hand, making the nearly lit cigar fall onto the ground.

"no smoking uncle twice. it's not good for your health", youko reprimanded, crossing her arms.

the male sighed as he scratched the back of his head. twice went to go pick it up before youko had shot him a warning look, much similar to that of shigaraki's.

"relax...I'm just throwing it away", twice smiled, as he indeed did as he said.

     "great! and anyways, I'm thinking curry rice", youko smiled, scooping seven cups of rice and dumping it into a pot.

"for breakfast?"

"yeah!! can you start cutting the meat please?", youko politely asked, to which twice just hummed in response.

all the girl had to do was dump the rice into the rice cooker. luckily, kurogiri taught youko how to read numbers, as she was able to set it to about 30 minutes.

while the rice simmered with some water, youko brought out the carrots. though much to the girl's displeasure, she couldn't reach the sink.

twice lowly chuckled as he lifted youko up, to which the girl had thanked the male while she washed the carrots nice and clean.

"have you ever used a knife before?", twice asked as he got youko a tall stool so that she could sit beside him while he cut up the meat.

     "nope! but himi uses one all the time. can't be too hard can it?"

     twice begrudgingly handed youko a small and more dull knife. the little girl's eyes lit up as she slammed the knife down on the carrot, cutting it right in the middle.

     "damn! someone who didn't know you would've thought you had anger issues", twice teased.

     "can you teach me...?", youko grumbled.

     twice then hovered over the little girl, taking her left hand and holding the carrot in place while he helped her correctly grip the knife using her right.

     "when you're cutting, don't just slam it down on the board. you're not trying to kill someone, you're cutting vegetables", twice instructed as he demonstrated how it should be properly done.

     after a while, twice had let the little princess have at it.

     "do you like my blocks of carrots?", youko proudly smiled.

     "not bad for your first try. it looks horrible!!!"

     twice immediately cringed at his second comment. he didn't mean it at all and hoped that youko didn't take it to heart.

     the girl just smiled as she patted herself on the back.

     "it's all thanks to you uncle twice!"

     twice just nodded as he tried to keep his mouth shut for the duration of the breakfast making.

     "why're you so quiet uncle twice? is it because you don't like talking about blue cheese?"

     twice just shook his head. "it's...nothing really. actually—"

     the man covered his mouth once more, sighing as he released his hand.

     "if you're worried about your speech, I think it's pretty neat. think of it this way, when you argue with people, you have two minds in one! you're like double smart!!", youko seriously said, though twice felt the urge to laugh.

     "that's...alright", the man chuckled as he ruffled youko's hair.

     "and I think your stitch is very cool. papa has a lot on his face too, but that doesn't make him any less nice or anything", the girl shrugged as she sweetly smiled and outstretched her arms.

     twice had picked the princess up, to which she had leaned her head on his shoulder.

     "if anything, you should be proud that you have a battle scar. I wish I were cool like that too".

     though twice did not show it, his heart swelled at that comment. it was so very difficult, telling himself everyday not to split open, that he was the real him.

     and here this little girl was, telling him how amazing it was to have two voices yapping at each other all the time.

     "I think the curry's done. are you hungry?", twice asked.

     "yeah..."

     "do you...do you wanna get off?", twice asked, letting go of his arms as youko still miraculously hung onto the male.

     "no thanks", youko smiled, feeling twice's arm support her once more.

     "alright then", the man softly mumbled as he somehow managed to plate all the food using only one arm.

✦ . . . . ────────☀️