Chapter 32: Denial

                                    

                                          
"What's got you so happy?"
Shigiraki froze. His father's hand, he was sure, blocked your lipstick spots. Smudges. You used the excuse that it had lots of vitamin E, and that's good for his skin. 
He had to think of a lie fast. Dabi ran down the stairs, with a rare bubble of happiness and a platter of biscuits. Granted they had a burntness to them. 
"Hey, I tried. Alright?" He defended. "Where's Y/N? What? I fucking can't hear you."
"Dropped her off at school."
Shigiraki was not prepared for the screams of his teammates. The platter thrown at the wall. Big Sis wallowed into her hands,
"I thought we would at least get one back. If not my little brother, then at least Dabi's sister."
"She's not my sister, she's my neighbor!"
"Ex-neighbor." Toga helpfully pointed out. 
Blue flames out shone the few sources of light. And melted the source of said light, because they had candles. Kurogiri was the saviour. He restored order with one clap. 
"Sit in your cage, Dabi." 
He grumbled, but thankfully listened. He sat in a broken Nomu container. He coated the last of the serum on to his new burns. Grumbling. Always grumbling. Twice pulled out the new batch of 'everlasting' candles he had been duped to buy. He lit them, and Toga helped by keeping him company. 
"Why did you take her back? The plan was-"
"Plans change if the girl you want to kidnap had already been planning to run away to you."
That shut them up. 
"She'll meet Dabi and I every Saturday. Dabi knows the spot. She gives us an update on UA, students, the course, if a foreign hero comes to teach, we'll know. We don't have to worry about Kid getting information. Y/N mentioned partnering with him for her gear. He's in... don't have to worry about that. Though she doesn't know we hired him, just thinks hes an ally. Let's keep it that way."
"Quite a sweet gig you worked out."
Shigiraki laughed. They didn't know how sweet the deal was. He'll keep it that way. Because he didn't know how sweet the deal was, but he's willing to find out. 
"The maintenance for this plan gets less and less." 
"Did you tell her to do this?" Compress asked. "Or did she tell you she would do this?"
"What difference does that make?" 
"You know perfectly well the difference."
They stared at him to see if he would remember. He hazards a step in. Then another. And another. Until he crash landed in his office, the old breakroom of this chemical facility. The furthest least hospitable point of the place.
He let them gossip. Come up with their theories. He wouldn't add to their distrust, just feed it a little. 
Shigiraki heard no following footsteps. So he turned to a shattered mirror Twice had taken a liking to and hid here. Cautiously, he removed The Hand. 
Your work would be difficult to get out. It felt worth the risk at the time. He never thought or did these 'affectionate' gestures. When he admitted this was a first, and he was glad it was yours; you admitted that it wasn't but you hadn't cared about those other ones, because they weren't him. He wasn't sure how, but his tongue ended up down your throat and you were quite happy with that. Glad even. 
"So she made the plans."
He disintegrated the shard. He kept still. So did Compress. 
"Careful."
"What difference does it make?"
"Did you tell her what you wanted?"
"No."
"So she thought about what you needed." Compress said. "How to get you what you need."
"That's a good thing. An efficient worker."
"And your the efficient groomer."
Shigiraki scoffed. He watched a rat waddle around. He heard the sigh, now there was a fatherly air about Compress. He casually leaned against the door. 
"We're villains." Shigiraki whispered. 
"And she's a hero, that has only had villains for her safety. Don't take advantage of that. Don't train her to be your slut."
"She did this to me! Fucking pinned me against the car-"
"She attacked you?"
"Well, no. But she wasn't getting afraid with no eye contact. Then she looked so. So cute when I did take it off."
Shigiraki shrieked. There was a new air of understanding. An amused 'Ahhh' from his advisor. 
"She's not my slut!"
"But she wants to be." He said coyly. "And I thought you were the predator." 
"I'm not going to do anything like that again. I told her, she's perfect but..."
"Toga would say it's the Tyler, the Creator song."
"I'm a destroyer. And she's too fucking young. How is that a Toga reference?"
There clearly was some knowledge he lacks, the joke went of his head. 
"She said it was fine. Then she did this." 
"She must have looked like a divine beauty."
"She looked like a murderer."
"Your type of divine beauty."
Shigiraki needs to handle his quirk better. He wished he hadn't destroyed the mirror. He knew he'd come up with a way to have some semblance of profession when handling you. He knew you would keep to his boundaries, because he would tell you to. 
If he told you to steal the moon for him you'd find a way. Or take him to the moon. 
"I'll take care of her. Just focus on the Nomus." Shigiraki said, then added. "Tell big sis to stop feeding the rats."
"Give her a child to feed instead. She's missing that Blond brat."