chapter eight;

DUE TO YOUKO BEING THE ONLY PRINCESS in the villain's kingdom, the little girl's birthday celebration lasted a while longer than the average one.

hence the knights, dukes, and other elites resided at the castle a bit longer.

"princess...did I do something wrong?"

"no, why?"

"why'd you...why'd you ask his excellency to adopt me?", shinsō mumbled.

     "I thought you liked him. isn't he why your hair's up like that?", youko asked as she finally decided on which dress to wear to dinner.

     "h-how'd you know about that?!"

youko immediately kept her mouth shut. she couldn't exactly tell shinsō that she had accidentally come across his journal while they were playing hide-and-go-seek.

     "lucky guess??", the little princess smiled, to which shinsō was still very skeptical but decided not to pry.

     "but why—"

     "I just think you'll...umm....what's it that kuro says??", youko whispered to herself. "FLOURISH! yes, I just think you'll flourish under mr. aizawa's uhhh..."

"mentorship??"

"YES!! that word!", youko exclaimed.

     shinsō furrowed his brows as he really wondered if he deserved such mentorship. his quirk to him was always something he wasn't exactly proud of.

     something others were afraid of too.

     youko noticed shinsō's slight drop in mood, even though his face was usually neutral or stoic.

     "well if you don't like it there, you're always welcome back here", youko suggested, to which shinsō had appreciated the kind gesture.

     "I see...thank you...princess".

"I told you to call me youko!!", the little girl huffed, crossing her arms trying to look mad but looking absolutely adorable.

shinsō chuckled.

"yes yes, my apologies, youko".

_♚_

     "GOOD AFTERNOON SHŌ!!", youko loudly greeted, making the entire table of knights, dukes, and the kings turn towards the little girl.

shigaraki clicked his tongue in annoyance as he continued to eat.

"good evening your highness", todoroki greeted.

in the past few days, youko had found out about majority of the knights' quirks. of course todoroki had quite an amazing one, with one side of him radiating off heat while the other radiated coldness.

youko would never admit it to his face, but todoroki was like a human heater.

     "oh papa! I missed you", youko giggled as she ran over to shigaraki, who had gladly lifted the little girl up onto his lap.

     shigaraki just fed youko as he clearly didn't like expressing how he felt; nor did he feel much emotion other than agitation the majority of the time.

     with the hero's kingdom's guests residing at the villain's kingdom temporarily for youko's birthday, it had coincidentally clashed with the hunting competition that took place every year.

     since majority of the participants from the hero's kingdom were already here, it was decided upon the two kings that the hunting grounds would take place in the forest of unmei.

"I got us matching lucky cat charms papa. look!! do you like it??", youko asked as she pulled two dangling cat keychains from her pocket.

dabi lightly snorted as shigaraki just shot him a glare.

"it's...decent", shigaraki mumbled as youko already tied the little cat charm to the man's yukata.

     "I'm glad you like it!!", youko giggled as she clumped onto shigaraki.

     the little girl had grown to give shigaraki lots of hugs, as she loved her papa very much, even though he didn't express much.

     "ahem. shall we head to the camp site now?", all might asked.

     "kurogiri, prepare the horses", shigaraki commanded.

     as soon as kurogiri had finished prepping the majestic animals, youko waved her arms in the air as she watched shigaraki mount his akhal-teke horse.

the horse's fur had a metallic-like shine and its golden-bronze stature seemed so intimidating yet elegant, it had reminded youko of her proud father.

     "kuro, can I get a horse like papa too?", youko asked.

"perhaps...a pony", kurogiri compromised.

     "when will they be back??", youko asked, already starting to get bored since literally everyone was gone.

     "soon. meanwhile, why don't I show you a new place your highness? there's someone that would like to meet you", kurogiri politely suggested.

"really?! who is it??", youko curiously questioned.

"come on, I'll take you to him right now", kurogiri said as he held onto youko's small hand.

the misty man guided the little princess towards the east side of the castle, near a tower that youko didn't even know existed until this day.

     the heavy locks dropped to the floor with a loud clank as kurogiri held open the door for youko, who was starting to feel a bit hesitant about entering.

     the dark murky room made youko feel a bit claustrophobic, but her trust in kurogiri immediately outweighed all her worries and suspicions.

     "greetings, your imperial majesty. I have brought her highness", kurogiri kneeled, making youko confused.

     a shuffle was heard as the tall chair in front of youko spun around, revealing a man that had instinctually terrified her.

     the atmosphere became instantaneously suffocating, as the man's mere face had made youko quite uncomfortable.

     though obviously, the little girl didn't state that out loud.

     "you're...shigaraki youko?", the man questioned.

     his tone was authoritative; a commanding yet amused tone that sent a million thoughts through the little girl's head.

"y-yes sir", youko squeaked out, feeling herself on the verge of passing out as the man in front of her seemed ten times bigger and stronger.

not only that, but the man had no visible eyes. the top half of his face seemed rotten; perhaps even similar to that of a wrinkly burnt potato.

"no need to be afraid little one. I'm the adoptive father of your father...so I suppose you could address me as...grandpa", the man chuckled.

youko raised a brow as that. her demeanor immediately loosened up as she learned that the man in front of her was her father's relative, so technically hers too.

"grandpa...but then why don't I ever see you?", youko inquired.

"I'm getting quite old now...it's hard moving around with all these constrictions", the man answered, clearly referring to the skinny tubes that connected to a bag of who knows what.

"well I can hold all the tubes so we can take a walk outside. kuro says that the sun is good for you", youko offered.

     all for one chuckled.

"your kindness is much appreciated little one", the manipulative man grinned.

     "come, let's have some tea. kurogiri, bring the cookies", all for one commanded.

     kurogiri immediately left as now all for one was alone with little youko.

     the oblivious girl swung her legs as she excitedly waited for the treats to arrive while she sat on a nearby chair.

     "so tell me youko, how do you feel about your father?", all for one asked, ruining the perfect silence.

     "papa?? I love him! he says I give the best hugs, but you can't tell him I said that because he said not to tell anyone. but you're not just anyone...so it should be fine...", youko mumbled to herself.

     all for one once again laughed, finding the little girl truly amusing.

     "well wouldn't you like to learn more about your father?"

     "mm...I mean...I suppose?"

     youko wasn't sure how much there was to know about shigaraki, but then again, the blue-haired male rarely talked to her about his past, or talked at all for that matter.

     "actually, on another thought, perhaps another time. your fifth birthday was recent wasn't it?", all for one asked, even though he fully knew the answer.

     "oh yeah! it was two days ago actually", youko smiled.

     "and I heard from kurogiri that you haven't developed a quirk yet".

     youko immediately pouted at that statement, to which all for one's brain had glimmered with a sparkling idea.

     "no...b-but kuro and papa says I will soon!! they say I'm just a little late..."

     "what if I said that I could give you a quirk?", all for one casually remarked.

     youko immediately looked up at the man, baffled.

     "R-REALLY?! YOU CAN DO THAT??"

     "why of course! you're my precious granddaughter. in fact, I have the perfect quirk for you", all for one chuckled.

     "i-is it really okay for me to have it??", youko asked, feeling a bubbling excitement at the pit of her stomach.

     "indeed. this quirk is perhaps best suited for you", all for one assured.

     "what is it??", youko curiously asked.

     "the quirk itself is called queen".

✦ . . . . ────────☀️