chapter two;

    "ARE YOU NERVOUS PRINCESS?", kurogiri asked, as he held onto the little girl's hand.

"I just hope his majesty likes my present", youko answered, trying her best not to trip on her frilly pink dress.

as kurogiri and youko arrived in front of the golden doors to the main room, the guards immediately opened the doors as they contained their surprise.

     every squad commander was there, standing on both sides of the aisle that had a red carpet lined towards a golden throne.

     curtains were pulled back so the room was well lit and easy for everyone to see the young princess walking alongside kurogiri.

     "greetings your majesty", kurogiri bowed as youko just curtsied.

     "who's this ugly child?"

"she's your child, you crusty fuck".

     youko flinched at the other man's harsh tone. she wondered if it was really alright for him to say that to the king of the villain's kingdom.

"shut the fuck up you ashtray!"

kurogiri cleared his throat as shigaraki's attention was once again turned back to the two of them.

"disgusting. get rid of her", he commanded.

youko thought she was about to cry on the spot until toga had intervened.

"oh come on tomura! she's so adorable!! especially her eyes. they look exactly like yours!", toga gleefully smiled.

shigaraki glared at toga, who just shrugged it off.

"come here", shigaraki commanded, to which youko had hesitantly shuffled her feet towards the throne.

all the commanders and kurogiri watched with anticipation as shigaraki demanded youko to look up.

youko nearly gasped at the sight of shigaraki. not only was the man's baby blue hair tousled and messy, his scowl and dry skin truly terrified youko to no ends.

     though one thing was for sure, his ruby red eyes indeed matched her very own.

     shigaraki clicked his tongue. the girl reminded him of her.

     'how distasteful'.

     "what's your quirk?", shigaraki coldly asked.

"I-I don't have one yet, your majesty", youko quietly mumbled.

shigaraki clicked his tongue once again.

"useless", the man muttered. "you and that damned woman".

youko trembled as her head drooped, not daring to make eye contact with shigaraki.

the entire room was silent, though it was quickly destroyed, as kurogiri spoke up.

"your majesty, her highness actually prepared a present for you", kurogiri said, making youko's cheeks and ears turn red.

"throw it away".

"awww tomura! don't say that. at least look at it", toga persuaded, to which youko gave the blonde girl a small smile.

since their first meeting, toga would sneak in to meet youko and tell her about what the outside world was like.

though most of the times, toga just babbled on about her killings.

at first, youko was scared, very scared of toga and worried for her sanity. but she soon learned that toga meant no harm, and that all the people she killed were bad, according to toga at least.

"fine. bring it here", shigaraki commanded as kurogiri warped the item into youko's hands.

     dabi raised a brow in amusement as shigaraki made a face of confusion.

     "the fuck is that?"

     "u-umm...". youko worriedly glanced back at kurogiri, who just nodded, encouraging her.

     the little girl gulped as she shakily inched closer to shigaraki, who was still confused on what the ring of flowers was for. 

     "y-your majesty...i-if you may tilt your head d-down a bit", youko breathed out.

     "why the hell would I—"

     dabi, who was standing beside shigaraki, grinned as he immediately shoved shigaraki's head downwards, nearly making youko squeak.

     the little girl quickly placed the flower crown—made of daisies—onto shigaraki's head.

     shigaraki scowled at dabi.

     "who do you think you are?! you fucking piece—"

     "your majesty, please refrain from using such vulgar language in front of her highness", kurogiri interrupted.

shigaraki clicked his tongue as he suddenly realized that something was on top of his head. he swiftly snatched the flower crown and accidentally disintegrated it.

youko watched in amazement as the flowers crumbled into dust.

shigaraki glanced at the girl's expression. he was a bit baffled at the girl's curiosity. no fear was shown on her face, until her ruby red eyes had caught his gaze.

"kurogiri, take her away", shigaraki commanded.

"of course your majesty".

youko quickly returned to kurogiri's side, must to her pleasure. the little girl held onto the misty man's hand as she smiled at him, making shigaraki raise a brow.

     "please excuse us now, your majesty".

     kurogiri bowed as youko hastily did the same as she eagerly headed towards the door with kurogiri.

     "wait", shigaraki said, stopping the two in their tracks.

     "bring her over for dinner later", shigaraki demanded.

     "of course, your majesty".

     as soon as youko and kurogiri walked out, with the doors shut behind them, the girl looked up.

she wondered why shigaraki had invited her to dinner, when he had shown great distaste for her earlier.

"shall we head back to get changed then?", kurogiri nicely asked, to which youko had just nodded.

whatever it was, youko surely didn't feel comfortable dining with shigaraki.

_♚_

     youko sat at the very end of the table, trying to eat silently as she picked up her fork.

     the little girl stabbed her steak, earning a small muffled giggle from toga.

youko tried to focus on her meal as shigaraki just stared at her, making her feel as if he were expecting something.

     shigaraki's gaze only darkened as he watched the young girl eat, not even touching his food once.

     'if you want her to be a sufficient pawn, appease to her and make her trust you. soon enough, she'll abide by your rules'.

     shigaraki pondered his master's wise words as he took a deep breath in and sighed.

     "i-is something wrong your majesty?", youko softly spoke.

     shigaraki raised a brow.

     "tell me. what do you like?", shigaraki bluntly asked, to which dabi just snorted, making the blue-haired male shoot dabi a glare.

     "p-pardon?"

     "I asked you what you like", shigaraki growled, already getting impatient.

     usually he would've just ended the person that annoyed him. but in this case, youko was a supposed useful pawn, according to shigaraki's master.

     "o-oh! well...umm...I-I like flowers...kurogiri's cookies....and...and that's about it I suppose", youko bashfully replied.

since the girl has been restricted only to her room and the garden outside her room, there wasn't much to do except eat, sleep, and learn the basics from kurogiri.

"how boring", shigaraki said as he clicked his tongue in annoyance.

what was he supposed to do now with such unhelpful information?

youko slumped a bit as she glanced around the room, where a few maids, butlers, and commanders were standing against the walls.

kurogiri stood right beside the girl as she noticed the male that was beside shigaraki earlier in the main room.

spiky black hair with staples holding together the raw skin against the purple undertone.

     a smirk was replaced with the male's bored look as his blue-green eyes scanned the tiny princess's embarrassed look.

     "who's he?", youko whispered to kurogiri, who had swiftly bent down a bit to answer.

     "he goes by dabi: commander of the first squad. it'd be best not to get too close to him", kurogiri advised.

     youko just nodded as she hesitantly glanced at dabi again, only to catch him staring right back.

     shigaraki huffed.

"is there something you would like to do?", shigaraki questioned, to which youko had driven her attention back to shigaraki.

     youko looked at kurogiri, who just simply gave her a nod.

     "w-well...I-I was hoping we could..."

     shigaraki furrowed his brows.

     "what?!"

     "I-I was hoping we could eat cookies together!", youko blushed, to which dabi and toga had just busted out in laughter.

     shigaraki leaned back against his chair as he scowled.

     "fine".

✦ . . . . ────────☀️