Work Text:
"Now, what are you doing up so late?" Himiko giggled, as she walked into the kitchen. The little form she had spotted shuffling around was half her size and adorable, and she felt a bit bad when the poor girl startled so hard she fell on her butt.
"I- I- I'm sorry, I didn't- I was just- sorry!" Eri mumbled, words running into each other. Besides her mouth, she was sitting frighteningly still where she fell on the floor.
Himiko squealed at the cute little thing, squatting down in front of her. She sat just far enough away that she couldn't reach the scared little thing, and gave the girl the biggest smile she could. "Hey, it's okay, you aren't in trouble! I'm up too, right? I'm not in trouble, so you aren't either. That wouldn't be fair!" She promised. The girl didn't really seem to hear her, as she started to tremble. "Hey. Hey, Eri. Look at me." She said, flattening her voice a bit to sound serious. It worked, grabbing the girl's attention, and Himiko reached far into her memory to remember how to do a nice-good-normal smile, since her real one had so obviously backfired. "You remember the rules, right? Can you tell me the rules?"
"I- I- I....." Eri closed her eyes tight, but nodded. "Mhm. Good- Good girls d-don't leave their rooms, and always clean up after themselves, and are really quiet, and always listen and don't c-cry, and-" Eri whispered, rocking back and forth as she swallowed a sob.
"No, Eri." Himiko shook her head, trying to keep her voice nice-good-normal, like her smile, instead of absolutely murderous. "Eri, look at me." She insisted, reaching out. The girl flinched at her touch, freezing up so much she stopped breathing. Himiko made sure that her grip on the girl's chin didn't tighten as she felt another wave of wrath, instead tilting her face up and waiting patiently for the girl to open her eyes. "I'm not that bastard Overhaul. You aren't with him anymore. He's gone." She hissed, rage leaking into her words a little. "You're with us now, remember? You're okay. We don't have those rules."
Eri nodded slowly, though her eyes still seemed distant. "Shigaraki-san said.....I'm not allowed to go outside alone. Or lie to any of you. Or touch E-lec-tro-nics. And I have to tell one of you if something happens."
Himiko nodded, smile slipping into something more comfortable. "That's right, Eri! You don't have to a good girl anymore. You're one of us." Himiko crooned. It came out more then a bit possessive, but she didn't care. She kept the people important to her close. "Did something happen?"
Eri shook her head, gaze falling down again. "No. That's why I didn't tell you guys anything. Just hungry."
"Well, that's easy enough to fix!" Himiko chirped, leaning forward. Eri didn't flinch when she got close, so she hefted the girl up, spinning as she stood. The girl didn't laugh or anything- she never did- but she clung a little tighter to Himiko and finally went back to breathing normally, which was counted as a win. "Lets see....what do you wanna eat?" She asked the girl small enough to rest on her hip.
"I- Anything is fine." Eri mumbled into her shoulder, back to not making eye contact. Himiko hummed.
"Did you eat the ramen that Kurogiri made earlier?" Himiko asked, looking through the fridge. Eri tensed up.
"N-no." She shook her head. "I- I wasn't hungry."
Himiko frowned. "Eri, don't lie to me."
"I'm sorry!" The girl squeaked,, hiding her head in Himiko's shoulder and gripping tight enough to almost hurt. She hadn't cut her nails since they'd taken her in, so she had certifiable little claws now- maybe twice would want to paint them? He painted Himiko's sometimes.
"Tell me the truth." Himiko prompted, petting Eri's hair but not reassuring her yet. She needed to know the problem before she could fix it.
"I- I didn't want to make a mess." Eri whispered. "Sorry for lying. Sorry. I'm good."
"You are." Himiko assured, dipping her head down to kiss the girl's tiny little horn. "Good job telling the truth. Okay, lets see.....a clean little meal for clean little Eri....." She kept looking through the fridge. The obvious answer was rice but, honestly, for everything Himiko was good at making, rice somehow wasn't on the list. In theory it was the easiest thing in the world, but in practice....well. Nobody's perfect.
Nothing with too strong of a smell, lest she wake up Dabi's grumpy bum, nothing too sugary because Eri should probably get back to bed once she ate....oh! They had a half empty jug of nearly expired soy milk, all the way in the back of the fridge. No one was likely to miss that.
"Can you find me a pair of chopsticks?" She asked Eri, putting the girl down on the floor. The girl nodded and scampered off, standing on her tip toes to look into the drawers. Confident the search would keep the smaller girl busy for a minute or two, Himiko got out large pan and put it on the stove, giving it a minute to warm up before she poured the milk in. Just as she started to get a bit bored waiting on the dish, she felt a light tug on her skirt. She turned and almost poked herself on the chopsticks Eri was holding up for her.
"Found them." The girl declared, the faintest note of pride in her voice. Himiko cooed approvingly, hefting the girl up onto the counter by the pan.
"Good job! Now, watch carefully...." Himiko took the chopsticks, breaking them apart. She only really needed one to make Yuba, but if she was going to let Eri try then she would show the easier method. "You see how it's all yellow, almost papery?" Eri nodded, leaning forward a little, but not enough to burn herself, thankfully. "Yeah, that means it's done. So what we're gonna do is just take one chopstick and poke it all the way around the sides, so now the yellowy stuff is floating on top of the still white milk, yeah?"
"What- what is it?" Eri asked, tilting her head.
"Yuba. It's....a lot like tofu. Lots of people call it 'tofu skin' even though it technically isn't tofu. You like tofu?" Himiko asked. Eri nodded, not looking away from the still floating Yuba, and Himiko jolted. Right, she had to finish this quick before it started to bubble and burn. "Right. So here's the important part- we're gonna take both chopsticks and stick them under the white from either side, then lift uuuuupp-" She lifted the tone of her voice as she lifted the Yuba out of the pan, laying the long strip of Yuba on the plate she'd put out on the side of the stove opposite Eri. "Ta-da! You wanna try?"
Eri immediately started to nod, eyes focused on the chopsticks with budding excitement, before she wilted back and shook her head. "I- I'll make a mess. I don't wanna make a mess. I'm good."
"I'm right here, I'll help you not make a mess. Even if you do, somehow, I'll clean it all up, and everything will be fine. C'mon, can you at least try?" She prodded lightly, holding the chopsticks out to Eri. The girl remained silent for a long minute, watching the film of the milk darken and congeal together. Himiko subtly reached out and turned the heat even further down, giving the girl time to decide.
"You- I won't get in trouble? You promise?" Eri pressed, meeting her eyes purposefully for the first time....ever, Himiko was pretty sure.
"I promise." Himiko nodded. "You've got this Eri-berry. Remember what to do?"
Eri nodded. slowly, she put the chopstick on the side of the pan and pushed down. She started to move it around the edge without lifting it up again, but Himiko put a gentle hand over hers to stop the motion.
"You gotta poke it up and down, more like this." She clarified, keeping her hold of Eri's hand and repeating the bobbing motion a few times. "If you drag it, the Yuba might get stuck to the chopstick a bit early. we don't want that, got it?"
"Okay." Eri whispered. Himiko took an obliging step back, heart melting when she got a look of Eri's determined pout. Oh, Himiko could eat the cute little girl right up!
Slowly- very, very, slowly, it's a good thing Himiko turned the flame down- Eri was finished with the perimeter. She hesitated to do the next step, grabbing the second bamboo stick and shifting them around uncertainly in her tiny hands. Himiko stepped forward to help again.
"Hold them like this- at a bit of an angle, so it's easier to get under." She suggested, adjusting Eri's grip and helping her get in position. Eri bit her lip in concentration, lowering the bamboo sticks a quarter inch at a time. The Yuba was going to float together and bunch up a bit more then was ideal, if she went this slow, but it didn't really matter. What mattered was nearly a full half minute later, when the two sticks finally emerged upward from the milk, depositing the Yuba eagerly on the plate Himiko had been holding expectantly.
"You did it!" Himiko cheered, showering the small girl with head-pats (being very careful to avoid her little horn). Eri blinked out of her concentrated daze, staring at the plate Himiko was still holding in her other hand.
"I did it." She said, still not smiling but relaxing. "I did good?"
"You did super good! Did you like it? Do you wanna do it again?"
Eri barely hesitated to nod, turning back to watch the film collect. She reached forward to start- oh-
"Not yet. Give it another minute." Himiko redirected. Eri immediately shrunk back, but relaxed when she realized there was no punishment forthcoming. Himiko hummed, waiting waiting waiting- "okay, go ahead." Himiko nodded, and went back to humming.
Soon, Eri really had a rhythm for it all. Himiko continued to gently nudge her away from mistakes, but mostly she sat back and hummed, watching with a pinch of nostalgia. Once upon a time, watching over kids was the most bearable part of her mind-numbing life. They were quick to please and slow to judge, and just generally so much cuter then adults and the majority of her peers.
"What now? It isn't- it isn't yellow-ing any more." Eri asked, staring despondently at the milk. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Hm?" Himiko blinked, snapping out of memories she was probably better off forgetting. "Oh! Oh, nah, you're fine. It's supposed to do that- it means you're mostly done! Here, try one." Himiko urged, handing Eri one of the sheets.
Eager to taste the fruits of her labor, Eri nibbled her way through the whole thing. "Chewy......" The girl noted, mouth still full. Good thing Himiko had never really cared about that. "And...Melty?"
"Yeah. Fun, right?" Himiko nodded, layering a strip back and forth to lay on her own tongue. "Not much taste, but more then made up for in texture. You did really good on these!" Himiko cheered, handing Eri the plate and turning back to the pan. Technically, you could make a squishy little filling out of the remaining milk bits, but.....that might be a little messy, which was what they were trying to avoid.
Also Himiko just didn't like the filling very much. Once upon a time, she would've poured it down the drain, well aware it would probably clog the pipes, but she actually liked Kurogiri, so in garbage it goes! She didn't even leave the dish for someone else to wash later.
Gosh. She wondered if her parents would be even more upset that it took becoming a villain to adhere to house manners then they were when she became a villain in the first place. Knowing them, it would come real close.
"I'm- I'm full." Eri called, after Himiko had dried the pan and put it back where she got it.
"Oh yeah?" Himiko grinned, looking down at the plate. It was still about half full, but that was fine. "Cool. Let's wrap this up, and you can have it as a snack next time you're hungry before Kuro-chan makes something, yeah?"
"Really? Whenever I want?" Eri asked, as Himiko looked for and found the cling wrap.
"Of course. Little girls are supposed to eat when they're hungry. That's what food is for." Himiko insisted, lips curling with a bit of resentment. "If anyone says otherwise, tell me and I'll stab them. K?"
"Kay." Eri nodded. "I'm thirsty."
Himiko nodded, cutting the cling wrap and tucking it under the plate. She grabbed a cup on her way back from the fridge, leaving it to fill up under the sink faucet as she finished tidying up the kitchen.
"Here you go, cutie pie. You can take it to bed. Try and get some sleep, yeah?" Himiko offered, holding the water cup out. Eri hopped off of the counter, looking at Himiko without taking the cup. "Hey, you okay? N- oof!" Himiko stumbled, almost splashing the water. She was not expecting Eri to turn into a white blur as she crashed into Himiko's waist, grip crushing.
"thankyou." Eri whispered, almost falling over herself to back up as quickly as she'd darted forward. Himiko smiled, pushing through her shock at Eri initiating a hug- Twice was gonna be so jealous!- to offer a final head pat in addition to the glass of water. Eri took both a bit shly, looking down at her feet without the tension of fear she had before, and shuffled down the dark hallway.
"You're welcome." Himiko whispered to the empty kitchen, leaving a note for Kurogiri about how Eri had an aversion to 'messy' meals in case she forgot to tell him herself.
She wondered if this was what it was like to have a little sister.