chapter thirty-two;

     "DABI, ARE YOU SURE THIS IS SAFE?", TWICE WORRIED, watching as youko prepared to activate her protective quirk.

"she insisted", dabi replied, watching carefully as toga twirled her knife around her nimble fingers, grinning widely as she got ready to stab little youko.

     youko breathed in as she stuck her arm out in front of herself, creating a small dome that was surprisingly sturdy and helped deflect toga's knife.

"impressive!!! that was measly", twice contradicted.

"let's see if she can withstand my flames", dabi grinned as he walked over towards youko, who just smiled as she twirled around with her arms behind her back.

"DABI, DON'T—"

     with a wave of a hand, blue flames encircled little youko, encasing the girl as it grew taller, jumping onto the dome like a prey with its predator.

     though without fail, youko stayed unharmed, smiling proudly as the blue flames dispersed into thin air.

the little girl jumped as she skipped over to dabi, with her arms in a v shape.

"I DID IT!! I DID IT!!", youko loudly chanted, to which dabi had caught the girl and lifted her up in celebration.

"you sure did princess", dabi grinned, carrying the little girl as she kissed dabi on the nose.

"if I can withstand your flames, I can withstand anything!"

"and why's that?", dabi asked.

"because uncle dabi's flames are hotter than hell!"

"damn rig—"

twice gasped. "YOUKO!! YOU CAN'T CUSS, YOU'RE FIVE!! oh well, it was bound to happen".

"aww my little yoko is growing up!!", toga fake cried, pinching youko's cheeks as dabi slapped the blonde girl's hands away.

"I'm not little anymore!! I told you, I'm almost as tall as uncle dabi!!", youko pouted, crossing her arms.

     "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!", toga giggled, clearly not sorry at all.

     "how about I treat you to some dessert for compensation then?", toga suggested.

     youko immediately perked up at that.

     "then can uncle dabi and uncle twice come along too? we can have a mini family fun time!!"

     toga glanced over at the two men.

     "I'll come! NO I WILL NOT!"

     dabi just sighed. "sure..."

     "perfect!!", toga smiled, clapping her hands together as the villains started heading out.

     once the three adults and one child arrived in front of a little coffee shop, a bell chimed as they entered.

     "hello miss!! a table for four please", youko requested, to which the nice waitress had immediately led the group to a table booth.

     "and what may I get for you four today?"

     "a black coffee".

     "a gigantic red velvet cupcake with red frosting and red sprinkles please", toga gushed, making the waitress a bit weirded out.

     "a sundae with lots and lots of sprinkles!! NO! I want some honey toasts", twice argued, making the waitress confused.

"just get him both", youko advised, to which the girl had just nodded.

"and I'll have some mochi please. thanks!"

as the waitress left to go prepare the orders, it took less than 10 minutes, as the shop itself was pretty empty.

"enjoying your sundae?", youko asked twice.

"it's delightful! it's too sweet, I hate myself".

toga giggled meanwhile dabi just sipped his coffee, caring less and less about the idiots he was surrounded by.

"by the way, I've been meaning to ask you all..."

"yeah?", twice asked as he took another bite of the sundae, and another bite of the honey toast. toga and dabi just listened in as the little princess continued.

"how did you all meet papa?"

the three villains glanced at each other, debating and internally brooding over this question.

"is it because you three are social outcasts like mr. hawks?", youko innocently asked.

     dabi nearly choked on his coffee as toga started uncontrollably laughing, clenching onto her stomach as twice's face had remained neutral.

     youko was confused. she didn't know what was so funny.

     "I just want the world to be an easier place to live", toga sang, swinging her head from side to side. "and tomura...he understands", toga seriously mumbled.

     "your father's very accepting, youko....because even when I didn't know who's the real me was, he choose to put his faith in me", twice confessed.

     "stain's ideology", dabi simply answered.

     "is...is it all because of the heroes?", youko hesitantly asked.

     dabi, toga, and twice's demeanor immediately dropped. it was like the room's temperature decreased immensely.

"yes", toga softly answered. "we just want to live too yoko...but the heroes don't like us. we're the rejects of society".

youko's brows furrowed. the little girl looked at the three villains as she hiccuped, feeling droplets of tears running down her face.

     "why're you—"

     "I-I'm sorry...I didn't know", youko cried, to which dabi had taken a napkin and quickly wiped the girl's snot and tears away.

     "oh yoko, it's not your fault. it's the heroes", toga comforted.

     "is that why we are going to war with them?", youko sniffled, to which twice had just nodded, but then proceeding to shake his head in denial.

     "so after the war, what happens then?", youko asked.

     all three villains froze.

     it was true that their combined goals were to crush all might and the entirety of the hero's kingdom.

     and to go into a war that they weren't even sure if they would win...it was tough predicting the results and what would come next.

     "we win...and we get to live freely", dabi answered.

     "then we can buy as many dresses and dessert as you'd like!!", toga smiled.

     "and have as much family time as you'd like", twice added on.

     "so will I be able to help too??", youko asked, eager to be of use.

dabi looked over at the two blondes that sat across from him and youko.

"that depends on crusty".

"awww come on!! I want to protect you guys", youko whined, to which twice and toga let out a laugh.

"if anything, we'd be protecting you", dabi snorted, ruffling the little girl's hair.

"hmph! whatever", youko grumbled, to which dabi had stuffed a mochi in youko's mouth, making the girl reluctantly chew.

_♚_

     shigaraki's maniacal laughter rang throughout the laboratory, to which even the insane would've said that the male has lost his damn mind.

     "your majesty is taking this extremely well!!", dr. ujiko cheered as he watched shigaraki madly laugh through the pain.

     numerous wires and tubes were connected to shigaraki, more so they threaded through his body, including his head.

     a bigger mechanical tube operated on his midsection, which had been completely torn open, making blood splatter everywhere.

     "I must say, I'm throughly impressed", dr. ujiko commented as he hastily typed something in the computer, putting the surgery to an end, as it was finally time for the last step.

the wires and tubes removed themselves from shigaraki's body as the male coughed out some more blood, nevertheless grinning widely.

"now that your body's ready, it's time for the quirk transplant", dr. ujiko explained, gesturing to the large tube.

shigaraki, without any aid or assistance, managed to get into the giant tube, which soon filled with blueish-greenish liquid as soon as the glass enclosed upon itself.

     as the eccentric scientist madly typed onto his keyboard, shigaraki's body started floating, with him finally being unconscious.

     "I suppose it's fine for your daughter to visit now...now that all the torture's over".

     dr. ujiko simply sighed as he proudly looked at his creation.

     shigaraki tomura, was his greatest accomplishment.

✦ . . . . ────────☀️