Strings (BNHA x OC) [Rewrite]

6 || Laying Low

Puppet walked backwards into the bar since she had entered Kurogiri's warp gate back-first. The portal closed behind her.

Her attention was quickly caught as first thing she saw was Shigaraki rushing towards her, his arm outstretched.

Strings came from her fingers as she prepared to immobilize Shigaraki. Before she could make a move against the leader, a small warp gate opened in front of him and his hand went right into it.

Shigaraki stopped where he was and looked behind the bar at the one responsible for the warp gate.

"Enough," Kurogiri said forcefully towards Shigaraki.

Shigaraki grumbled and pulled his hand out of the warp gate as it closed. His posture relaxed and so did Puppet's. She let go of her strings, letting them drop idle to the floor.

"What the hell were you doing?" Shigaraki hissed, glaring at her from behind his hand-mask on his face.

"What? Am I not allowed to have fun?" she questioned accusingly.

"Not when that fun is putting you in danger of getting caught," he snapped back.

"Oh please," she scoffed. "I was fine; I knew I could get way. I just wanted to poke fun at the heroes. Besides—"

She looked at the TV that sat on a table in the corner of the bar. It was currently on mute, but showing a news station. It gave an overhead view of the rooftops that she had just been running across to escape Eraser Head. Now, instead of the erasure hero being there, Kamui Woods stood on the rooftops talking to a few police officers.

"—it caused a good ruckus."

She looked back at Shigaraki. "I don't need you looking over my shoulder constantly. We're a team — you're supposed to trust me."

He retreated and sat on a stool at the bar, pulling off and dropping his hand-mask on the counter with a clunk.

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "You're lucky you're a cornerstone of the group."

Puppet hummed. "Liar; you call all of us cornerstones. You just don't want to lose me."

He waved an exasperated hand through the air. "Fine — yes — you're right. You just need to be more careful."

She rolled her eyes, mumbling, "You're one to talk."

"After that you will need a new place to lay low for a while. Heroes will be looking for you." Kurogiri interjected.

"Heroes are always looking for me." She spoke the truth. As a serial killer who had killed over a hundred people, it was only natural that the authorities would be looking for her.

"Even more-so now that you just attacked a minor, let alone a student of UA's hero course," the warp villain pointed out, and he was absolutely correct.

"We're already laying low, so why don't you join us?" Shigaraki offered.

"Here?" Puppet blinked in surprise. The leader wasn't one to offer things to people.

"We have a few extra rooms available, we'll just lend you one." He shrugged. "Kurogiri, show her one of the rooms."

"Yes, Tomura Shigaraki." Kurogiri accepted his task with a nod. "Please follow me, Puppet."

The warp villain came out from behind the bar and led Puppet up some stairs on the opposite side of the counter. At the top of the stairs there was a hallway with several doors.

"Shigaraki's room is here, and mine is beside his." He pointed to the first door on his left.

He stopped in front of a door across the hall from his own.

"Here." He took hold of the door's silver knob and opened it inward. He stepped inside and held the door open so Puppet could follow.

She stepped inside and looked around.

The room was small and had a single window that overlooked the alley where the entrance to the bar was located. There was an extra-large twin bed along the wall, neatly made with a white pillow and a light blue blanket.

Puppet turned to Kurogiri. "Why would Shigaraki offer me a place to stay?" she asked, still baffled by the leader's behavior.

"Think of it as his way of offering an apology for lashing out at you," the warp villain answered.

She shrugged. "Alright then."

"Do you want anything? An extra blanket?" he offered.

"I'll be fine," she replied simply.

He nodded, making his way to the door. "I'll be downstairs should you need anything."

He left her with that, stepping out and closing the door behind him.

Puppet watched the door for a moment after he left. "He really is the kindest one in The League," she whispered as she took a deep breath of the air in her temporary room.

Musty, she thought.