A Lost Creation

Bonding

You stand in the doorway to the bar, Toga gently nudging you more and more so that you're slowly edging in.
You're clutching the pages close to your chest, as though they'd fly away, or at least act like a barrier to keep you safe from what you were about to do.

"Come on!" She encourages. "He's not that scary!"

You'd beg to differ.
Even hunched over at the bar with some kind of handheld console being held by careful and thin fingers, he radiated an air that demanded to be feared and respected.
And sure, he wasn't cruel to you, he didn't bully you or lay his hands on you. At the most, he was indifferent towards you.

You're unsure if your wariness of him came from Dabi's anger when you'd first met him, or from Shigaraki himself, but all you knew was that you had to be on your best behaviour around him, lest you piss him off again, and by extension, Dabi.
Toga gives you another shove, a little firmer this time, finally pushing you over the safety threshold of the hallway to the bar.
Kurogiri picks up on you straight away, turning to face you.

"Miss Star, have you finished your worksheets?" He asks.

You shake your head, your head twisting to look at Toga as she darts back up the stairs, giggling.
Kurogiri gives a slightly judgemental 'hm', which you don't particularly care for.

"Do you need my assistance?" He asks, tilting his head slightly.

You shake your head again, slowly backing away from him and towards Shigaraki, who was still completely enthralled in his game.
When you get close enough to Shigaraki to speak to him, you clutch your papers even tighter to your chest.

"Um, Shigaraki?" You ask quietly.

"What?" He replies bluntly, not looking away from the screen in front of him.

"Can you help me with my math work please?" You practically squeak.

"Ask Kurogiri." He grunts, waving at you lazily.

You look over at Kurogiri briefly before looking back at Shigaraki.

"Please?" You try again. "Dabi said you're smart at math..."

Shigaraki fell quiet, his fingers stopped mid-clicking.
He glances at you curiously after hitting pause on his game.

"He did?" He asks, almost suspiciously.

"Mhm." You nod a little, loosening your grip on the papers to your chest, feeling slightly more comfortable now you'd spoken to him a little and hadn't been outright snapped at.

Shigaraki seems thoughtful as his eyes slide back to the screen, resting on the pause menu for a little while before he huffs.

"Fine." He agrees gruffly, placing the handheld console to the side and giving you his undivided attention. "What math is it?"

You clamber onto the stool next to him, shyly placing the papers down onto the counter.
He looks down at them for a half second before looking straight back up at you with what would probably be a raised eyebrow if he didn't have all the scarring around his eyes.

"I got mad." You mumble, half-explaining the angrily scribbled over worksheets.

Shigaraki hums harshly, calling over Kurogiri and thrusting the papers towards him.

"Print off more of whatever these were." He orders.

While Kurogiri goes to follow Shigaraki's orders, Shigaraki frowns at you once more, leaning his face onto his fist.

"What was it? Sums?"

You nod, feeling your face burn up as he stares you down.
Your mind keeps half going back to what Dabi had said about them kissing, and you can't help but take occassional glances at Shigaraki's dry, cracked mouth, fighting the urge to scrunch your nose up in disgust. Kissing was so gross.