chapter six;

     "GOOD MORNING PAPA!", youko greeted as she curtsied with kimi in her arms once again.

"hm".

youko was about to take a seat where she usually sat until shigaraki stopped her.

     "come here".

     youko glanced at kurogiri who just directed the little girl towards the seat next to shigaraki.

     "your majesty, would you like to show the princess now or later?", kurogiri questioned, to which youko was confused on what shigaraki had wanted to show her.

shigaraki swallowed down some rice as he just nodded his head.

with a clap, the dining hall was suddenly filled with knights, ranging from different ages, different sizes, and different levels of powerful quirks.

     "what's going on?", youko asked, seeming a bit uncomfortable with the amount of people staring at her.

     "his majesty has deemed that your safety is in danger now because people are aware of your relationship with his majesty. hence he's letting you pick a personal knight of your choice", kurogiri explained.

     youko then looked over at shigaraki, who was simply still munching on his rice and grilled fish.

"thank you papa", youko softly said as she smiled at shigaraki, who just hummed in reply.

youko then hopped of her chair as she walked around the block of, mostly, men. many stood up straighter as they watched the little princess waddle and weave in between the many pairs of legs.

"mm...do you get enough sleep sir?", youko suddenly asked, making everyone turn around and look at the boy with violet purple hair.

"e-excuse me?"

"sorry...that was probably really rude wasn't it", youko chuckled to herself.

"o-oh no no. it's...it's fine. I just have insomnia", the boy mumbled.

     "insomnia?"

     "it's when someone can't sleep for long", kurogiri explained.

"is it because your bed's uncomfortable? do you want to use another bed or pillow?", youko offered, to which the purple-haired boy had just kept quiet from not knowing how to properly respond.

     "uhh...no, it's fi—"

     "papa, I want him!", youko loudly proclaimed, to which shigaraki had momentarily stopped eating to glance at who his daughter had chosen.

     "are you sure?"

     "mhm! what's your name by the way?", youko asked, to which kurogiri had dismissed the rest of the knights, making some groan while others sighed in relief for not having to serve a little child.

     "shinsō...shinsō hitoshi", the tired male answered.

"nice to meet you toshi! you can just call me youko", the little girl smiled as the boy glanced over at kurogiri, wondering if it was really okay for him to do so.

kurogiri gave him a curt nod as youko suddenly started pulling shinsō out the dining hall and towards god knows where.

"do you like flowers toshi??"

"umm...I suppose?", the purple-haired boy answered, not exactly sure how to bond with little kids.

the only reason he was here was because he thought his quirk would've been put to good use, just like how everyone had told him back in the hero kingdom.

     "so what's your quirk?", youko asked as she plopped onto the grassy field, picking daffodils and binding the stems together.

"it's...brainwashing", shinsō hesitantly answered.

"huh? can you sit down? I can't hear you from up there", youko commented.

"my quirk...it's brainwashing", shinsō repeated.

     "so how does it work?", youko asked as she continued focusing on intertwining the stems.

     shinsō was a bit baffled by how easygoing the little princess was. but perhaps it was because she hasn't truly grasped the idea of how dangerous his quirk could be.

     yet a part of him didn't mind.

     "as long as someone responds to something I say or ask, they're under my control", shinsō briefly explained.

     youko finally looked up as she stood up, to which shinsō was a bit confused.

"that's really cool!! can you try it right now?", youko asked, to which shinsō debated whether he should comply or not.

     "well..."

     "it's okay! perhaps you could show me some other time then. now close your eyes", youko commanded.

"why—"

"shhhh!! just embrace the process", youko giggled as shinsō did as told.

the purple-haired male felt something being placed on top of his fluffy hair, though he didn't move, as the princess hasn't commanded him to do so yet.

"okay!! now, I hereby declare you my knight in shining armor by giving you this flower crown. do you like it??", youko smiled as she pulled out a small pocket mirror that kurogiri had given her because she desired so.

shinsō felt the tips of his ears burn red as he saw the wonderful ring of daffodils perched on top of his head.

     "you look so pretty", youko complimented, to which shinsō just felt steam burst from his ears.

"t-thanks", shinsō choked out.

"anyways, do you like cookies?? kuro makes some very good ones. there's some that are star-shaped, circles, rectangles, and even ones that are like this big", youko ranted a she showed him how big the cookies were with her short arms.

     "mhm", shinsō hummed.

     "well come on then! we've got to get to them before dabi hogs them all!!", youko exclaimed as she started running off, with shinsō swiftly following right behind.

a few snickered at the boy's daffodils crown as he ran past the maids and butlers, but he's heard worse, so it didn't matter much.

youko arrived in the kitchen where a tray of freshly baked cookies sat, waiting to be stolen.

"here. take the bag and stuff as many as you can in them", youko instructed as she hastily slid all the cookies into hers.

shinsō begrudgingly did the same as he wondered just how many times youko has done this.

as the two sneaked out, youko had started skipping again, arriving in front of a set of doors that were guarded by two knights.

     "excuse us, could you two please move aside....please?", youko nicely asked.

     the two knights looked at each other before staring back at the little girl.

     "my apologies, but the head butler instructed to allow no one in", one of the guards replied.

     "but I wanna see papa", youko pouted.

     "we apologize princess, but—"

     "what is your name?", shinsō interrupted.

     "it's—"

     "now open the door", shinsō commanded, to which the knight that had answered previously, did so.

     youko wowed in amazement as she thanked shinsō while the other knight tried to make the knight that had opened the door snap out of it.

     "papa!! I brought cookies!!", youko announced, to which shigaraki had momentarily glanced up from his stack of paperwork.

     surprisingly, he was diligently attending to matters of the kingdom and not off escaping his responsibilities.

     "I see..."

     youko quickly handed the bag that she had stolen from the kitchen and dropped it onto shigaraki's desk.

     the blue-haired male carefully picked youko up as he placed her on his lap. he then continued with the paperwork, only to look up once more at shinsō's awkward presence.

"is there something you need?"

"n-not at all your majesty. it's just that I thought I would stay with her highness since I am her personal knight..."

"you're dismissed", shigaraki shortly commanded as shinsō just nodded before heading out the door.

youko waved him goodbye as she started opening the bag of stolen cookies.

"want some papa?"

shigaraki just nodded as he dropped his pen once more. opening up his mouth, youko dropped a cookie in there as she didn't want her hand to get eaten too.

youko then somehow stuffed two into her mouth as she laid her head on shigaraki's shoulder, watching him correct certain documents.

     the little princess's eyes fluttered close as pen to paper and shigaraki's steady breathing were the only sounds heard.

     thus, a comfortable silence elicited a wonderful dream.

✦ . . . . ────────☀️