chapter thirty-three;

"AND THEN THE PRINCE HOVERED OVER sleeping beauty, giving her a true love's kiss as the princess's eyes fluttered open", youko read out loud.

dr. ujiko just watched from the sidelines as youko had a little stool that she sat on, right in front of the tube that shigaraki was in.

even johnny listened, sitting beside youko as she had learned all these difficult words with dabi during the night.

"and then, they lived happily ever after!", youko smiled, slamming the book closed as she smiled, glancing up at her father's floating body.

     sometimes, youko liked spending the majority of her day just rereading the fairytale book and humming to herself.

     most days, she would just complain about how boring it was without her father. meanwhile everyone was preparing for the war, youko was automatically ignored at times, due to how busy everyone was.

     the little princess stood up as she placed the brown book on her wooden stool, carefully treading through to make sure she didn't step on any wires or tubing.

     youko placed her tiny hands on the glass, looking into the bubbling liquid as her father remained unconscious.

     "are you lonely in there papa?", youko whispered, to which not even dr. ujiko could hear.

     "I'm lonely without you", the little girl admitted, frowning at her own words.

     "everyone says that after the war we'll spend more time together. I can't wait...because I really miss us all having fun together", youko muttered, trying her best not to cry.

sometimes at night, even when youko's sleeping in dabi's warm embrace, she'd wake up in the morning to find the bed empty.

at breakfast, lunch, and mostly dinners, she would eat by herself as others had to train.

though toga would occasionally bring youko out for snacks, the girl had to prepare for the war too, so time was limited.

     "they said that once the war ends..we can go have a picnic...watch the stars...and read fairytales together. uncle dabi says he's tired of them though", youko pitifully chuckled.

     "and when it's all over, we can play chess until the next morning and take naps until the afternoon. then kuro...", youko choked on kurogiri's name, having to have missed him dearly too.

     "then kuro would come wake us up...and we'd have breakfast together again. I know papa likes blueberry cake...so after the war...we can learn how to make some", youko weakly smiled.

     the girl then completely broke down, silently crying as she held in her sobs, so that dr. ujiko wouldn't be able to hear.

     "I-I just wish the heroes would go away. I-I just want to be with you papa...", youko softly cried, clenching her fists as she backed away from the gigantic tube.

wiping her pathetic tears away, youko deeply breathed in to calm her erratic heartbeat.

"I just...wish I could help..."

_♚_

"ARE YOU STUPID?! WE CAN'T LEAVE THE PRINCESS ALONE!", twice yelled.

"WELL WE CAN'T BRING HER ALONG EITHER! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!", dabi screamed back, slamming his hands on the table.

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!! they chose to attack at the worst time possible! crusty's quirk transplant isn't even done yet", dabi scowled.

     while re-destro led some of his men to go against yaoyorozu momo's team, who's assisting edgeshot's team, dabi had fully taken charge, clearly his mind so that he could think better.

     "toga, get youko and hide her with machia. once you get back, we'll all separate and fend them off to buy crusty some time", dabi commanded.

     the league nodded as toga immediately grabbed little youko's hand, hastily walking towards the underground base of the mansion.

"himi?", youko meekly squeaked out.

toga simply hummed in response, as one could tell she was urgently trying to get back to aid the others.

"...will you...will you and the others be okay?", youko asked, to which toga had momentarily stopped walking.

toga bent down as she picked youko up, squeezing her tightly as she peppered kisses all over little youko's face.

"ahaha, himi stop!! it's ticklish!", youko laughed, to which toga had just smiled.

"we'll all be fine. you believe in us and our abilities right?", toga asked.

"well of course!! it's just...it's just that I'm worried", youko suddenly mumbled.

toga tilted her head to the side.

"you and the others are my family himi...and...and I don't want to lose you guys. I know you all are strong...but I'm scared", youko bashfully admitted, fumbling with her red coat.

     toga for once was speechless. everyone thought she was crazy; a lunatic; someone who wasn't normal.

     even the girl's family had pressured her to just pretend and fit in.

     and here little youko was, knowing full well that her quirk regarded blood and stabbing people. yet no amount of insanity had scared the little girl away.

     "you're my family himi...no matter what", youko whispered, to which toga had just hugged youko even tighter.

     "I always say this yoko, but you're just the cutest", toga smiled, kissing the girl's forehead as she placed her on gigantomachia's shoulder, where she knew the villain wouldn't move, as it only awaits for shigaraki's commands.

"stay safe himi...", youko said.

"I promise", toga smiled as she waved goodbye before briskly walking back to where she came from.

youko just sighed as she laid on gigantomachia's rocky shoulder. it was silent, no noise was heard except for youko's breathing.

the little girl tried her best to distract herself by running her fingers over the rough edges of the giant stone villain.

though even a five year-old's brain can run wild at times.

'I can help....I shouldn't be hiding here and waiting for everyone. what if papa's in danger?!'

the princess frowned at that thought as she quickly shook her head.

"no no, papa will be fine. his process is almost complete", youko said to herself.

'but what if he isn't? what if he needs me? I'm papa's little queen...and queens are the most powerful—second to the king of course—on the chessboard'.

"I don't care what they say...I'm going to go find papa. I'm helping whether they like it or not!", youko determinedly exclaimed to herself as she carefully started climbing down gigantomachia, who still did not move an inch.

as youko had finally reached the bottom of the floor after about a good 15 minutes, the little girl started running upwards, away from the mansion's underground basement.

youko made sure that no paranormal liberation front member saw her, as she pressed her back against the wall and shimmied out into the hallways.

     passing by the many corridors, youko heard loud screaming and quirk usages outside.

     creating a small dome around herself first, youko rushed out from the backside, where she witnessed a gathering of red feathers quickly disappear into another room.

     "mr. hawks....?"

     seeing that no one was near, the little girl quietly followed behind, making sure to keep a great amount of distance, as she didn't want to be discovered.

     though at one point, the little girl had lost herself, until she heard a bunch of shouting, who she had recognized as twice.

     slowly inching towards one of the many rooms, she peeked through the crevice that the double doors allowed.

     not only was twice screaming at hawks, the red-winged hero clenched tightly onto one of his feathers, staring straight at twice.

     "if you stop resisting and let the police detain you, I can help you get back on your feet after you pay your dues. you're a good guy, twice. just unlucky", hawks tried to persuade.

     "liar...you LIED TO ME!! you...I thought we were friends...WHY'S IT ALWAYS ME!?", twice cried out, clutching onto his head as he huffed.

"we don't have to figh—"

"SHUT UP!"

youko flinched at twice's harsh tone. the little girl was about to step in as she watched twice's clones get slashed one by one before dabi came to the rescue.

with a blast of swirling blue flames, dabi nearly lit the entire room on fire, busting the windows and nearly making hawks fried chicken.

though no matter the amount of flames that fumed the room, hawks was able to fly out the window and charge back in, grabbing his feather as he prepared to stab twice in the back.

"UNCLE TWICE!!"

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