Archive of Our Own

Sako Atsuhiro likes to think of himself as an observant man.

There is truth to that claim, of course: he notices how Dabi's hair changes hue every few days, the way Spinner always stands with his back to the wall, Magne's longing gaze whenever someone, usually Toga, asks her about past lovers...

And how Kurogiri flinched the one time Twice put a hand on his shoulder after too many drinks were had.

Well, he didn't flinch per se, you see? Kurogiri is hard to move and even harder to read, but Sako's slowly learning his tells. 

Like how Kurogiri doesn't flinch, but his mist bristles and whips around for a second. 

Which is what had happened in the aforementioned situation, right after the League had successfully gotten rid of a minor hero, he can't even remember the name of the pesky, arrogant man, but the excuse to drink a sea of alcohol as a celebration had been appreciated.

Sako had drank very little that night, since he didn't know the others back then like he does now, Twice, however had no such qualms.

He remembers watching the villain go on and on about his favorite movies, which cigarette brand is the best, why different kinds of fabric suck... Actually, that topic in specific was what prompted Twice's interaction with the silent bartender.

"You agree with me, right, Giri? You're smart! No you're not, if you were you wouldn't be here! polyester is the worst!" The drunk man says giggly, playfully patting Kurogiri's shoulder with a little more strength than necessary.

The magician, who until that point had been content with watching everyone in the corner of his eye, finds the way the mysterious misty man stiffened for a moment extremely interesting.

A second passes and then Kurogiri is serene as ever again, nobody else even notices how the dark mist around his head had become restless for a moment, nobody but Sako, that is.

"I believe satin is inferior, it wrinkles too easily." Kurogiri says as he apprehensively moves his shoulder away from the man's hand.

That's it. That's the interaction. 

It sticks with him for some reason, but not enough to put his detective abilities to use. Even more, he simply does not care about those people enough to wonder about things like that.

He does, however, keep noticing things. Things that make him uneasy.

Toga— Himiko, that's how she likes to be called, had killed a woman who had a radio in her bag, seeing no use for it she had offered the thing to anyone in earshot before finally just setting it on the bar counter and calling it a day.

Kurogiri eyes the radio very, very intensely for about thirty minutes, standing stiller than he ever had, before cautiously turning it on. On the lowest volume possible.

That week passes slowly, each day the radio becomes a tiny bit louder but still just background noise, and Kurogiri seems a tiny bit happier too.

One day the radio plays a station hosted by some hero, one with an annoying voice, and Kurogiri literally twists his head backwards to stare at the radio as soon as that screeching voice is heard.

Weird.

Not weirder than how the mist on his head starts raising and dancing around. There is no other way to explain what Mr. Compress witness, it looks like a fire in a festival. He had never seen Kurogiri smile before that day, but the way his eyes squint and shine surely must be the equivalent of a toothy grin.

The next day the radio is gone and Kurogiri holds himself as if there are a thousand needles across his body.

Sako wants to think that he should mind his business, but he just has a feeling that there's something there.

So, after the radio incident, he starts to hang around the bar more, not like his apartment is interesting anyways.

And it's... Nice.

And it doesn't hurt that he's noticing more things now too.

"Do you think I should make the design simpler this time?" He asks as he holds the paintbrush above the blank mask in front of him.

Kurogiri doesn't cease cleaning the counter to answer "No."

"What's your suggestion, then? I'm in a terrible creative desert here!" While that's not totally a lie, it's not the truth either, he just thinks that the design in his mind isn't innovative enough.

The bartender looks at him with what Compress has come to understand as a raised eyebrow. "And you think I am more creative than you, the artist?"

He chuckles, compressing the brush and mask and putting them in his pocket. "Mixing drinks is an art in itself, my good man! And you have style too, with the tailored suit and the neck brace, the green really compliments your purplish complexion well too, I'm more than happy talking fashion with you."

The mist whips once, eyes squinting for a moment, a frown. "I'm not the one who picked this attire." And he's looking at the wooden counter again.

Compress bites his tongue. Rule number one of gathering information from secretive people: never ask the questions you actually want to ask.

"Huh, so you'd prefer what? A jacket and t-shirt like Magne?" He questions instead.

Kurogiri doesn't answer, Sako doesn't press, the conversation has stopped for now, it seems.

Except Kurogiri grabs a bottle, pours himself a cup and drinks it in one go.

Now that's new.

He leans on the counter, his forearms on the old wood and his gaze down on his misshapen fingers.

"I would want something red, probably a red coat, bright red, and my pants would be the color of dark wine, they'd be looser too, or elastic, so I could run if I wanted to." Kurogiri tells him. There's a tremble in his voice, imperceptible if you're not looking for it. 

Sako would like to know why a man who can open portals would ever need to use his legs, but the chance is lost when Himiko enters the bar and asks if she can have something to eat.

Kurogiri cooks her a meal, he always does when one of the younger members of the League ask.

He also serves Sako a plate too this time, which is surprising and new.

Sako will look into it later.

Mr. Compress enters the building at the crack of dawn, defying all odds the others are already there before him, all with various levels of tiredness.

"Apologies for summoning all of you so early," All For One's voice echoed through the room, not sounding sorry at all "it's an important matter, you see?"

Sako is only half listening to the voice coming from the TV now, far more interested in how Kurogiri has become stiff as a board as soon as the boss started to speak.

He's glad that a mask is part of his villain outfit, it's so easy to pretend to stare at the screen while he's actually studying how Kurogiri's mist is moving with controlled patterns and his gaze is down cast, the way he tenses when Shigaraki asks if whatever AFO wants them to do couldn't have waited until they had at least had breakfast...

And how his shoulders raise just a smidge when the deep voice in the tv says "Duty comes first, Tomura, you should know that." In what Sako thinks is a mocking excuse of a fatherly tone.

Compress decides, perhaps recklessly, in that exact moment that he'll never put his life in the line for that man. 

Their job, or duty, as AFO had called, is to retrieve the corpse of a fallen hero from the HPSC's mortuary. 

It is easy, so easy that they do it in less than fifteen minutes, but for some inexplicable reason Kurogiri only opens their portal back to their hideout an hour later.

Sako notices that Kurogiri doesn't look them in the eye when they get back, that he doesn't speak for the rest of the day, and that he moves with a minor limp on his steps.

Compress doesn't ask, doesn't let Himiko ask either when the young girl pulls the magician aside and tells him there's something wrong with Kurogiri's smell.

Some time goes by, he's regretfully aware that he does, in fact, care about those weird people he's surrounded himself with now.

God, how Sako hates having a heart...

There's just three people in the bar today: Kurogiri, Magne and himself.

He's sipping some cheap whiskey.

Kurogiri is wiping a glass, as he always is when he's not cleaning the place.

Magne is upset today because she saw her face in the news, the lady had been a big player in the League's latest operation so that's expected, except...

"I'm no fucking man!" She yells and slams the bottle currently in her hand against the counter, almost breaking it "They get my name right, they get my picture, hell, they managed to find a recording of my voice but they don't get that I'm a woman?!"

"Despicable." Mr. Compress agrees, taking a sip of his whiskey.

"There's no way they don't know that, right? Surely they must know now! I know I don't— that my appearance— I know how I look, but..." The villainess continues, her voice growing meeker at every word leaving her lips.

Sako clicks his tongue "don't think about it, everyone who matters sees you as you really are." Placing his glass down, the magician looks at her "why do you care so much about what some heros think?"

Silence fell on the air, not heavy like right after a call from AFO but not comfortable either.

Magne looks down at the bottle, she's gripping it with both hands now, and bites her thick lips. Even though the sunglasses are hiding her eyes, Compress knows they're down cast.

"You don't get it... I've spend my whole life trying to make the world see me as I see myself, but it has never worked. I like so many things I don't let myself enjoy now, because they're too manly and I'm scared that— I know that if I even think about them, people are gonna use that to prove that I'm a man. It feels like I'm in a cage, and they say I put myself in it, and... And sometimes I feel like I did." She mumbles, stroking the label with a thumb.

She continued "It doesn't matter if I know I'm a woman, or if the League sees me as one, their opinions are always louder, more powerful and more hurtful. They're the ones who I have to talk to at the market, they are the doctors, the politicians, the heroes, they make the world spin, they can and will dictate my life."

"Do you know what that's like, Mister?" She turns her head to look at him in the eye. "To be a prisoner of your body? Of other people, people who see you as less than human, being able to hurt you as much as they please because you don't matter? Because you'll never be on the same ground as them?"

Glass shatters behind the counter, two heads whip around to see what had happened.

The glass Kurogiri had been scrubbing lays in pieces on the floor, along with the bartender's gaze. He had squeezed it until it broke, Sako realizes just Magne rushes to try and help him.

"Oh gosh, Giri! Did you hurt yourself??" She asks and holds his misty hand in hers, checking for cuts.

"I know what that's like." Kurogiri mumbles suddenly as he take his hand off her's.

Which is, again, surprising, because Kurogiri doesn't mumble.

"Huh?" Mr. Compress and Magne ask in unison.

Kurogiri gets on his knees slowly, sitting on his calves while handpicking each tiny shard of glass and teleporting them to the trashcan. "I know what's like to... Be less than human."

Magne tilts her head and furrows her brows, confused for a minute before exclaiming: "oh, because you have a heteromorphic quirk!" 

That's a good conclusion to what the mist man has said, but if the way Kurogiri's eyes squint and dimmer is any indication, it's only part of the problem. 

"... Yes, my appearance in an issue. I can't go anywhere." He tells them, rising from the floor once more. "And I believe you know how things are for mutants."

She nods, sitting back down on a stool now, a little bit calmer. "Sorry, sugar, sometimes I forget about it."

"That's understandable."

"Society has many such problems, it's why we're going to destroy and create it anew." Says Sako with a cheerful voice that doesn't match the train of thought running around his head.

The woman nods again nonetheless, agreeing with a tiny, little, minuscule hopeful smile of her own.

Kurogiri says nothing, but Compress catches the way his mist bristles.

It's only ten days later that Sako decides to move into their hideout. Don't ask why, he won't have a serious answer.

He had had to ask for permission from the big man himself, through a screen, of course, and he's enormously happy that AFO doesn't ask too many questions nor request to see him face to face.

The less he has to interact with that man, the better.

Kurogiri is the one to give him a house tour... Or as much of a tour as you can get in such a compact place.

They walk side by side calmly as the bartender shows him around. If Kurogiri's steps feel heavy or his shoulders look tense, who's him to point out?

"And this—" he gestures to the corridor they just entered "is where the bedrooms are."

"All side by side? With those paper thin walls? I can see why the residents are so grumpy." The magician jokes, his acquaintance doesn't laugh but he does smile, so he'll count that as a win.

"Yes, there's little privacy here, but you'll get used to it in no time." Kurogiri's voice is quieter today, he's been quieter today, it's the reason Sako had felt the need to try and lighten the mood. "This is Dabi's room, then Toga's, Shigaraki's, Spinner's..."

Each door but Dabi's has its own customization, he notices, Himiko's pink, full of stickers and has her name written in cute letters on it, Magne's and Shigaraki's are painted maroon, also with their names on it —angry, bold letters for their leader and golden cursive for the villainess — and Spinner's covered in amateur wood carving designs.

"And this, is your new room." They stop in front of a plain door, someone had written "welcome! :3" on a stick note with glittery yellow pen and left it there. It makes Compress feel far giddier than a grown ass man his age has any right being.

"Let's see if it looks like the poster, shall we?" Sako opens the door with a smirk and an air of mystery, always the showman.

His new living quarters are bare, small, plain white and the only window sits higher than his head. Neat.

"No mold? Atrocious!" The magician puts a hand over his chest dramatically.

Kurogiri smiles again, saying "Trust me, you'll have to scrape it off the walls soon enough."

"I take someone has cleaned it before my arrival, then?" Compress walks around the place, mentally calculating where he'll fit his furniture.

"Of course."

He grabs a marble from his pocket, throws it at a corner of the room and decompress it, reveling his bed. "My sincerest thanks for the cleaning crew."

"Don't thank me, it's just my job."

New marbles are brought out and decompressed, Sako had packet literally everything from his old apartment, never one for two trips. "I'm not tipping you." He tells him while trying to shove a bookshelf between his dresser and desk.

"I know." 

The tone of that isn't uncommon in Kurogiri's voice, but something in those specific words gets Mr. Compress' attention inexplicably.

He stops organizing the shelf to look at the taller villain, who's still standing by the open door.

"I was jesting." Sako says easily. It's a lie, obviously, a thief is always looking for ways to keep money to himself, but it has changed now 

Kurogiri tilts his head, like a cat. Or an owl. Actually, yeah, a lot more like an owl. It's somehow creepy and endearing at the same time.

When the silence becomes too Awkward in Compress' eyes, he grabs one marble from his back pocket and chucks it to his friend "catch."

The man catches is effortlessly, only lifting one misty hand to do so, and slowly twirls it across his fingers, curious.

"It's just something I got in one my previous heists." He clarifies, snapping his fingers to decompress the relatively big ruby brooch now in Kurogiri's palm. "If you push a little to the left, you can separate the stone from the frame. I thought you might like it."

It's one of the first things he had stolen as Mister Compress. The octagonal cut of the gem and the regal silver frame securing it had called his attention back then, and although he has never worn the piece, he has hold on it until that moment.

Golden eyes widen — he doesn't remember ever seeing them so bright — as mist rises and dances around Kurogiri's face. "I... For me? Are you sure?"

"Certainly!" Compress claps his hands once and points a finger at the man. "You, my darling quiet friend, more than deserve it! Think about it as a payment of everything you've done for me."

The barman's gaze stays on him a long, long moment, searching for something, before he pins the gifted jewel on the right side of his chest.

"Magnificent, don't you agree?" Sako hands him a pocket mirror and leans on the shelf he isn't done putting in place.

"It's beautiful." Kurogiri murmurs to himself, holding the small mirror in one hand and gently adjusting the brooch with the other. 

"It fits you."

If the Kurogiri's eyes shine brighter at that, Sako doesn't mention it.

Their peaceful moment is short-lived, however.

The mist bristles and his shoulders raises again for a fraction of minute, his excited posture — as stiff as it already is — dissolves instantly. "I'm being summoned." 

Sako hums "Duty calls, I presume."

Kurogiri nods.

Startling the magician slightly, Kurogiri takes the red pin off and shoves it on Compress' hand. "Take care of it for me, please." He says before disappearing.

And Sako does, truly, against what anyone would assume he'd do, he compresses the shiny jewel once more and puts it away with other important things he keeps.

He doesn't see a reason to take it for himself again, it's not his anymore.

The room is completely furnished and organized before nightfall. He'll have to paint the walls as soon as possible because he cannot stand how white they are, but he's content with the layout he manages to put together.

When he lays down to rest that day, he wonders why Kurogiri's room isn't in the same corridor as the rest of the League's.

"Is your room bigger than mine? Is that why it's not with ours?" He asks him the very next day.

The bartender frowns, confused, but, as usual, doesn't stop what he's doing to answer him.

Today Kurogiri is stitching some raggedy clothes, Shigaraki's if the awful style and dead colors are any indication of owner.

"I... Don't have a bedroom." He tells him finally.

"Here in the building?"

"I don't have a bedroom at all." The misty man tilts his head and glances at him. "Why should I?"

What a dumb, stupid, idiotic, ridiculous, dull, moronic, irrational, insane question, Sako thinks to himself.

What leaves his lips, however, is: "because you are a person?"

Kurogiri stops the needle midair, frozen in place.

Compress wonders what word used has caused such reaction.

He catches the ways Kurogiri steals a glance towards the TV AFO occasionally uses to talk to them, how the needle shakes just slightly as he goes back to fixing the old fabric his arms, far less effortlessly than a minute ago.

The whisper that follows is almost inaudible, if he had been another inch away from the barman he would never have heard it, but it's enough to make him hold his breath; "I'm less than an animal." 

Compress doesn't comment, which he fully believes is the smart choice in a situation like that.

Because it is a situation like that.

Sako spends more time around Kurogiri now, both because he hopes that it'll lessen the amount of times All For One summons the man and because he is genuinely good to talk to.

Kurogiri still gets summoned from time to time and comes back as silent as a wall most of those times, but he's also growing more comfortable around Mr. Compress.

He likes to think that Kurogiri enjoys spending time with him just as much as he does.

Usually there's someone else in the bar with them, they don't mind, at least Sako doesn't, but he wholeheartedly prefers it when he's alone with the man.

Today the place is packed, it feels like everyone had decided to waste time there even though it's a perfectly sunny day outside.

Sako is not annoyed at all.

"You're cheating!" Himiko screeches from the table she's sharing with Spinner, Shigaraki and Twice, slamming her cards on the wooden surface.

"Maybe you just suck at poker, have you thought about that?" Their leader chuckles back, leaning on his chair with unmatchable smugness.

"I'm awesome at poker!" 

"Me when I lie."

"I am!"

"And you're still losing."

"Because you. Are. CHEATING!"

"That sounds like projection, do you have anything to share with the table?"

She opens and closes her mouth like a fish for an embarrassing long time "You— I'm not a— argh!" The teen huffs angrily, letting her face fall to her hands.

"I didn't know you could play poker, boss." Spinner mutters. He too has been in a losing streak since Shigaraki had invited himself to their table.

"Kurogiri taught me." He explains while collecting his bounty, mere cents since nobody there is swimming in money. "When I was a kid and my switch died or we got lonely, we'd play all types of games of cards. He's like the best player I know, nobody can beat him."

Sako sees how Kurogiri's golden eyes glow with pride at the young man's words.

Himiko lays her elbows on the table and he head on one hand. "So I should blame him for your cheating ways?"

Spinner chuckles discreetly, Twice doesn't try to be discreet.

"Fuck you, you're just mad I'm better than any of you losers."

"Oi, I'm amazing at this when I'm sober. I'm terrible! The cards give me headaches!!"

"This is the first time I play, actually." The heteromorph admits shiny.

"You did great for a beginner, Spinner, I can play with you again if you'd like." Shigaraki immediately says cheerily.

"How sweet. You playing favorites, boss?! I'm getting jealous!" 

"I don't have any favorites, I hate all of you." He grumbles.

"You are lyiiiiiiing~"

"I'll kill you."

"Ha! You won't!"

"I'll do it right now."

"You're acting like children." Spinner huffs, picking on a loose splinter on the desk with his claws.

Kurogiri smiles bright, Compress notices easily and feels a grin stretch his lips in answer to Kurogiri's.

The men has a soft spot for the younger members of the L.O.V., even if nobody notices it. They have a way to make this rotten corner of society lively without realizing, Sako thinks.

Their bickering is a halfway pleasant background noise as he decides to strike a conversation with the barman and the other villain sitting at the bar, Giran.

"Well, would you look at that." He laughs and points to the busy table with his thumb "you don't see that everyday."

"They're creating bonds." Giran nods calmly, swirling the drink in his hand, something pinkish and light.

Kurogiri, who is rearranging the bottles behind the counter now, quips up "I haven't seen Shigaraki so happy in years."

"That's his happy face??" The informant snickers.

"Can't you tell?" Both Sako and Kurogiri ask at the same time.

"It looks like he licked a lemon." 

"No it doesn't." The bartender basically huffs out.

It does.

"Hey, hey," Giran's hands raise in a surrendering gesture, his annoying smile always present. "It's just a joke, I'm not insulting your kid."

Compress can argue that he is, in fact, insulting Shigaraki, but it doesn't matter if it's in good fun. He keeps his mouth shut, though, because Kurogiri has a very intriguing reaction to those words.

The mist whips around, bright eyes widen and shine like the morning sun, his shoulders raise and tense, and he stops organizing the alcohol for just a moment.

Then: "I am not his father." And he's back to normal.

"I thought you and All For One had raised him." Compress leaves in the air and grabs a glass to be filled.

"I looked after him." The misty mar answer as he pours Sako's favorite whiskey for him.

"And you don't see him as yours? Not even a little bit?" Giran raises an eyebrow.

"I didn't say that."

"So he is your son?" 

"... I am not a father, I'm not good for nurturing things, even if I was, it'd be shameful to be my offspring." 

If Giran notices how the bottle the barman has in hand is trembling slightly when he puts it down he doesn't mention it.

"Damn, man, who hurt you?" They both wonder, but only Giran asks it out loud.

Kurogiri seems... Lost, the magician thinks.

The barman often looks like he'd rather be anywhere but where he is, but he never looks lost.

He doesn't answer the question, Giran shrugs, not really caring about it.

The hours drag out at a snail's pace until the younger members leave for their quarters and the two smokers in the group leave to have a cigarette outside, leaving Sako and Kurogiri alone.

"I think you did a good job with Shigaraki." Compress said in a cheerful tone, only tipsy enough to loose his perfect posture.

The man across the counter doesn't dignify him with a reply, that's okay, he won't look, too much into it.

"You're a good man, I don't know how you even ended up in a place like this." Sako murmurs, taking the last sip of his glass.

The golden eyes dim, Compress doesn't dwell on it.

"Sit down and have drink for once, will you?" He snaps in a passive aggressive tone once, tired of seeing Kurogiri standing in the sidelines while they all mingle and have fun in the dingy bar he owns.

Sako's words startles everyone, including the tall barman with incredulous eyes, but in no time the others are agreeing with compress and telling Kurogiri to sit down and drink with them.

He tries to politely decline at first, of course, but is all too happy to comply when Shigaraki challenges him for a drinking competition.

The two sit down side by side, being watched intensely as Magne places two identical bottles of vodka in front of them.

"Okay, boys~" she sings songs happily "the prize is... Lemme see... The fifty bucks Jin owes me! On the count of three!"

She raises her hand proudly, pointing to up, they open the bottles. "One!" 

Two fingers are raised, Shigaraki smirks with confidence, Himiko and Jin join the count. "Two!"

Compress smirks, excited to see where this will go. Magne brings her hand down. "Three!"

Kurogiri raises his bottle slower than the younger man does, but everyone sees rather quickly that there's no way Shigaraki's winning this game.

As soon as the transparent glass touches the bartender's mouth, —or where his mouth probably is located since they can't really tell with all the mist —he chugs it down with vigor.

Shigaraki empties a third of his vodka before slamming it down on the table, panting, but Kurogiri doesn't even stop to breath until the bottle is empty.

Then he teleports it to the counter and grabs Shigaraki's bottle, drinking all of it in one go too.

He hunches over the table for minutes, gasps for air and wipes a stray drop on his chin with the back of his hand, then he proudly fixes his posture and exclaims with a happy go lucky tone they had never heard from him before: "I believe I've won."

Needless to say that the display leaves all of the speechless.

For a short while it is, it can never stay too quiet in the bar.

"Dude!" Shrieked Spinner.

"No way! I've always believed in you!" Jin cackles, putting a hand on the winner's shoulder and shaking him animatedly.

"Who knew you were so cool, Giri!"

"Yeah, not even I can drink all that and not pass out!"

Shigaraki sulks, of course, that sore loser. "We don't even know if you really drank it!"

"It's a sin to cheat when there's alcohol involved, Tomura." The mist man says calmly as he uses his quirk to grab another bottle from the bar, this time an aged wine. "You can keep the money if it's that important to you."

He cuts, actually cuts, the neck of the bottle with a portal instead of opening it like a normal person and then throws his head back and starts drinking it too, with just as much gusto as the vodka.

"...wow." someone says and Sako nods his head in agreement. Wow indeed.

He's transfixed into the scene before him, nothing so majestic has ever crossed his eyes before.

Kurogiri has his head tipped back and an arch on his back, he'd fall from his seat if not for his hand holding the table, the poured red wine falls and disappears into his unseen mouth, some of the liquid slips from the target and drips down to his usually pristine suit, staining the green and white in red, his mist is flailing highly and wildly to all directions, and those endearing golden eyes of his are closed and calm, nothing but two thin lines in all that darkness, like two comets in a starless sky.

Beautiful.

He's very, extremely, unbelievably, immensely glad that he's wearing his balaclava, he'd hate to be teased by how red his cheeks have gotten.

Magne does snicker at him for his dumbstruck look, though.

Which brings Kurogiri's attention to him.

How thrilling his gaze is.

"Drink some too." The barman says and a glass falls into his lap, the whiskey for it following suit soon after.

Compress hands are steady when he pours himself a glass and calmly places the bottle on a table, of course.

No, ladies, he doesn't almost drop the glass when Kurogiri abandons his seat to sit by him, stop giggling!

"I haven't let loose like this in years." The barman tells him, unprompted.

Compress finds it hard to believe, mostly because the man runs an underground bar but also because he doesn't look half as drunk as he should be if that's the case.

"Really?" He asks.

Kurogiri nods and grabs another bottle, white wine this time. "Hm hum." 

"Is it safe for you to have this much alcohol at once?" Sako wonders out loud as he watches his friend chugging down the beverage as if it's water on a hot summer day.

"I can have six whole bottles of anything before getting sick."

"Surely you jest."

"No, it's true."

"I don't believe it." 

"You don't have to believe for it to be true."

Compress squints his eyes. "You're drunk."

"Just a little." The misty man lays the empty wine bottle down and flicks it with his fingers. "You are too."

"Just a little."

His friend chuckles at that, his deep voice sending shivers down Sako's spine.

Oh no.

That's terrible for business.

A hand steals his glass, or tries to, he compresses his drink before Himiko has any chance to take it away.

He sees her huffing and stomping her way back to the laughing crew waiting for her at the other side of the bar, no doubt teasing her about losing a dare or a bet.

Sako had forgotten they aren't alone. 

He must have said it out loud because the next second he falls into a portal alongside his chair.

Purely by luck he doesn't fall to the ground like the old chair does.

"Better?" Kurogiri asks calmly, not bothered at all by the cold wind running through the rooftop they're in.

Still. "Better."

The magician looks around. It's a beautiful night today, truly, with few clouds and lots of stars, but no moon. The wind's freezing, but he's almost used to it after countless nights without a proper heater.

"Where are we?" He asks, approaching the railing to look down at the street.

"An old orphanage. Master shut it down after too many eyes turned on it." Is the answer he gets from his friend.

"How many properties does that man have?" The tone is light, a joke, unlike the assumptions Kurogiri has just planted in his head.

"I'm not sure." He walks to the railing and leans on his elbows on it. "He never told me the exact number... Although I do know it has to be at least a dozen."

"All For One runs a dozen orphanages?"

"...No." The misty man shakes his head in uncertainty. "I don't think so. He has hospitals, orphanages, some residential buildings... He had a fighting ring too, but it went out of business years ago."

How interesting.

"Did Shigaraki come from one of those? Did you?" The alcohol in his system prompts him to ask, perhaps stupidly, and only realizes his mistake when Kurogiri bristles.

"I don't know where the young master came from." He mumbles, looking away.

"And you?" 

Kurogiri's shoulders raise slightly, his gaze turns to Sako. "They made me." He says and scooters closer to the other man. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them."

Compress stares at him.

"What's your debit?" He questions.

Kurogiri looks away again. One dark hand raises to the brace around his neck and then hesitantly falls to the railing. "I just told you: They made me."

"All For One doesn't seen to care all that much about helping his lackeys, and I highly doubt Shigaraki—" 

"No, not Shigaraki, the doctor." 

Compress shuts his mouth, a frown darkens his eyes. "Garaki Kyudai."

His friend nods.

Sako has questions he can't bring himself to ask, so he instead he snarls: "He gives me the creeps."

"I hate him." The taller villain blurts out only to immediately tense up and cover his mouth with his hands.

Mr. Compress decides to throw the bait right at that moment. He won't find better circumstances to ask it in a million years if he doesn't do it now. "So AFO isn't the only one abusing you?"

"... What?" The taller man whispers, his body stiffening.

"I know he..." A gulp "rapes you." A heavy sigh "does the doctor do it too, Kurogiri?" 

Kurogiri's mist's movement gets so intense it actually starts deforming his face. "Irrelevant."

"I find it very relevant, in fact." He crosses his arms.

"It's their right."

"It's their right to— To torment you so much?!" Sako hisses through clenched teeth.

Kurogiri takes a step back. "Yes."

"You're one of us, part of the League of Villains!" He marches closer closer. "Aren't we marching to create a world that won't make us suffer?!"

"You are!—"

"And you? Are they gonna lose their so called right after everything is said and done?"

"Irrelevant."

"No, answer me."

"It does not matter." 

"Yes, it does!" Sako takes his balaclava off in a swift movement and compresses it. "What's the point of building a new world if one of our own people keeps being tortured?!"

"I'm not one of your people, I'm barely an animal." He hisses and teleports himself a few feet away from Compress and the edge of the rooftop.

The magician whips his head around to continue looking into his eyes as he talks. "Do you really believe that load of imbecility?"

"It does not matter."

"Yes it fucking does!"

"Why do you care? You're gonna get your better world at the end, you'll have everything you've ever wanted, why do you care if I won't? What's in it for you, Compress?"

He can't exactly pinpoint what emotion Kurogiri is feeling, he has never seen anything like this before, but there's certainly something mixed there, something he wants to call hope, but can't.

"You're my friend. I'm fighting for you, too!" Sako tells him, shaking his head as if it's obvious.

Kurogiri fully turns his back to him now, his arms held tight against his sides.

"Nobody's asking you to do it."

"I know." Sako says, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But it doesn't matter."

He notices Kurogiri's face moves just little bit to look at the gloved hand on him. "They don't like you." He murmurs.

"I like them even less."

"The way we interact, it makes them mad." The bartender whispers, stepping away from Sako once again.

Any quick reply dies at the top of his tongue when his brain catches the hidden meaning in those words.

"They're watching us." It's a statement, not a question.

Kurogiri nods nonetheless, wrapping his arms around himself. "Master has eyes and ears everywhere."

"Everywhere?"

"Everywhere."

It shouldn't be a surprise given everything Sako has learned about All For One.

But now he can't pretend he's just being paranoid after a life on the run.

Their conversation dies out, what could they possibly talk about after that? So he asks Kurogiri to take him back home.

His friend does so without a word, Compress can't find the energy to speak either, both of them are feeling far too sober considering the amount of alcohol they had consumed less than an hour earlier.

Sako hates that he feels bad for upsetting Kurogiri in the first time the man feels an ounce of mindless relaxation and happiness in god knows how long, but what's done is done and he surely doesn't regret a word he said.

He checks his room for hidden cameras that night, doesn't find any, and goes to sleep restlessly anyway.

If someone leaves a note under Himiko's door telling her to search too: no, it hadn't been him, why are you asking? 

She looks, a day or two later, doesn't find anything, and then pesters the others until they finally surrender and let her check their rooms too.

None has any bugs, she announces happily to an annoyed league later. 

The girl does have fantastic acting skills, Compress will give her that, because he spend that whole day thinking he had just been too paranoid until Himiko pulls him out of the bar with the excuse of needing his help to collect some blood and starts speaking:

"I only found a camera in Shiggy's electric outlet, but there's a voice recorder in each of our rooms."

"Jesus..." He whispers to himself, bringing a hand to his mouth. "How do even know the note was m—"

"I didn't break any." The girl interrupts. "I— I didn't know what to do, so I just pretended I didn't see them. Minus the camera, I moved one of his game consoles to be in front of it, but I don't think anyone would notice it was on purpose."

He nods, slowing his steps now. "That was probably the best decision."

They keep walking through the dark alleyways, the grip on her knife becoming tighter as the silence becomes thicker.

"Mister... What should we do?"

Himiko sounds so insecure now, cursed heart, having it's strings pulled so easily!

He wishes the answer the her question wasn't so difficult to find.

First things first: "You won't do anything, it's not safe." 

"I know. He's too unpredictable." Himiko agrees with a sad voice unlike her.

Sako nods, thinking, and stops walking a minute later, looking at her with surprise. "You know who put them there."

The teen bounces on her feet anxiously, bitting her lip before looking at him in the eye. "I wasn't sure until now."

"But you had an inking?"

"Yeah," a nod. "I had a really bad feeling about AFO everytime Shiggy and Giri spoke about him, but Shiggy seems to think the guy hung the moon so I didn't wanna make him upset, but then I realized that Giri gets really, really scared when he listen to his voice, and when he comes home after spending time with him he smells like blood and... You know what and I've been trying to ignore it because that's not of my concern and he's my boss's boss so I didn't wanna lose points or anything but Giri just keeps coming home smelling bad like— like chemicals and blood and All For One and old hospitals and stuff and so, so sad and I'm feeling really bad about never saying anything about it but I'm scared that if I ask about it then I'll get hurt or he'll get hurt or Shiggy'll get hurt and then it'll all be really, really terrible but it's already terrible and now I know AFO has fucking bugged the place and so I think everyone is on his sight and I mean I hope I'm wrong but if I'm not then— then—"

"Hey, hey, breathe!" Compress puts a hand on her shoulder and shakes her slightly to interrupt her teary rant. "You can't lose your head now, miss Himiko!"

Poor girl, Compress almost feels bad for not letting her cry her worries away in the middle of the cold, dirty alleyway they're in, but alas.

"Did you know?" She asks after a moment to calm herself down.

A nod. "I did. I had my suspicions for a long time, but my last talk with Kurogiri was the final nail in the coffin."

Himiko hugs herself, looking down. "I don't wanna go back to my room now... But if I don't he'll realize something's wrong and try to find me."

"He has eyes and ears everywhere." He parrots what Kurogiri had said. "There's no way to hide."

Maybe that why Kurogiri doesn't leave.

With a tired sigh he rests his back on the brick wall behind him and allows his body to slide down until he's sitting on the grimy ground.

The teen imitates him, uncaring about how dirty her skirt will get. 

"I don't think we should tell the others." Compress says after a long moment of silence. 

Raising a hand to stop her from talking when she opens her mouth, he continues: "I'm afraid that, if we do blow the whistle, someone will get hurt. We both know what's happening to Kurogiri, who's to say that speaking up won't make him get hurt even more? What if another victim is made? No, we need to think realistically here, being reckless is a death sentence when you're against men like them." 

"Them?" she furrows her brows.

"All For One and Dr. Garaki."

"The doctor too...? No, no, that makes sense, he's... Weird." Himiko mumbles quietly, twisting the hem of her cardigan with her trembling hands.

"... Is there something I don't know, miss Himiko?"

"He's just... Weird. I get a bad vibe when I'm near him. Twice told me that Spinner told him that the doctor says some weird stuff about his scales. And he's weird about the nomus. He's touchy. It's creepy. But nothing too weird."

Sako really wishes he had a stronger quirk.

This conversation wouldn't even be happening if Sako could just snap his fingers and make those two sick bastards disappear.

"Mister..." She scooters closer to him, staring straight into his soul with big teary eyes. "Do you think Shiggy knows?"

He hasn't thought about that yet.

He doesn't want to think about it.

Because he likes the young man, as annoying and spoiled as he is, and doesn't want to believe that he'd let one of them, Kurogiri, who raised him nonetheless, suffer like that and not move a finger to stop it.

"I hope not." He gives her his non answer.

She nods and brings her knees to her chest, hugging them. "I hope not too."

They sit together in silence for what feels like hours, only standing up when an unlucky couple enters the alleyway and becomes Himiko's brand new disguises.

Before they head back to their hideout, Compress tells the young girl to act naturally while they think of their next steps and to not, under any circumstances, listen to a word the doctor or All For One says.

She's a smart little lady, he's confident that he can count on her acting abilities.

She smiles when he tells her so.

Himiko is a brilliant actress. It's unnerving.

She's still her bubbly, murderous self, still does her nails with Magne twice a week, still hangs out with Jin all the time, still bothers Shigaraki and Dabi when boredom becomes too unbearable, still asks to see Spinner's cool new blades...

But Sako notices how cold her eyes get when the TV turns on and AFO's voice is heard, even though she still has her crazy smile on her face, the way she avoids looking at certain spots of the bar, and how she has been cleaning after herself.

Himiko seems to be hell-bent on not making any type of mess in their home, she tells him it's because she doesn't want to give Kurogiri more work to do.

It's honestly very sweet.

The others pick up on it, some more than others. Shigaraki mumbles and grumbles whenever Spinner cleans off the trail of dorito crumbles they leave where they play videogames, but helps him with it anyway.

Sako keeps trying to initiate conversations with Kurogiri, but the bartender only gives short answers at every corner. He doesn't want to admit how much it hurts him.

What is worst is that he knows his friend wants to talk to him, but won't do it.

Compress knows why. He loathes that he knows why. He hates that he can't say the truth when the others ask why is Kurogiri giving him the cold shoulder too.

He leaves a note in the storage room he has accidentally found out Kurogiri sleeps in.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you." It says.

"You didn't." The bartender whispers the next time they walk by each other in a corridor.

Sako smiles sadly under his mask.

He hopes the answer to how to get rid of their problems appears to him soon.

He won't be able to perform normalcy every time Kurogiri goes to see All For One for much longer.

They kidnap the Bakugo kid. It goes as well as you'd expect.

By pure, unmatchable luck none of them get gravely injured during that whole fiasco, none of them who mattered to him anyway.

By even more pure, unmatchable luck, All For One loses the fight against All Might and is taken to Tartarus.

Sako feels with lighter with the amount of relief flooding his body at those news, even though his young leader is crying and having a full on breakdown three meters away from him.

They have to hide in one of Garaki's labs for the time being, nobody's happy about it, much less him and Himiko, who hasn't left his side ever since the were taken to that disgusting, sterile place.

Kurogiri follows Shigaraki everywhere he goes, to the dismay of the young man and wonder of Sako's intrigued mind.

Also, the misty man is always staring at Garaki whenever the bastard is less than fifty feet away from them, unblinking pools of gold full of unsaid "do it, I dare you." tracking his every move.

Sako chuckles under his breath every time the doctor squirms in discomfort.

Yeah, serves him right.

Days pass like that.

Himiko doesn't come to him with any new information nor any confirmation that the sick doctor has put his hands on Kurogiri again, but he refuses to relax.

One night, unremarkable until that moment, when he is taking a walk around the lab, a misty hand pulls him into a portal and to a forest.

Kurogiri is there, looking at him with uncharacteristic uncertainty in his gaze. Sako thinks he looks rather alluring under the little beams of moonlight falling on him.

Sako takes his balaclava off and stores it in his pocket. To this day Kurogiri is the only one who has seen his bare face. "Hello there."

"Hello, Compress." His friend hands him a bottle. "For you."

Well, he isn't expecting that.

He brings it to his eyes and grins wide, it's his favorite whiskey.

"What did I do to deserve such a gift?" The bottle is opened in an instant. He takes a sip and hands it back to Kurogiri. "Have some too."

"Consider it a thank you for everything you've done for me." He answers after gulping down a third of the bottle.

Sako chuckles, taking his alcohol back and indulging some more. "Don't thank me, I haven't done much."

"That's what you think." The taller man mumbles as they step towards some smooth rocks and sit down on them.

Compress swallows the rest of his whiskey with all the calm in the world. He feels no need to rush or keep his guard up, Kurogiri wouldn't take him to a dangerous location and he highly doubts that Garaki or All For One had put cameras in a forest that looks like it hasn't seen a human being in decades.

Besides, it gives him more time to appreciate the purplish beauty in his presence.

The silence is comfortable, with crickets and frogs singing happily and the wind making the vegetation dance. The men sit across from each other, one with his gaze fixed to the grass bellow his feet, and the other simply content with keeping his eyes on the mist moving like smoke.

Sako compresses the bottle and stores it away with his a random pocket, taking a different marble from his it as his hand leaves the fabric.

"Catch." He warns and throws it to his friend, who catches is effortlessly.

The bartender tilts his head. "What's it?"

In a snap of fingers, there's a red and silver brooch in his misty hands.

His eyes widen, Sako smirks.

"You... Kept it?" Kurogiri whispers, incredulous.

"Of course I did! I said I would, didn't I?" Compress brings an open hand to his own chest, leaning back slightly with a grin on his lips. "My, Kurogiri, what do you take me for? A liar? You hurt my feeling."

Kurogiri huffs out what Sako chooses to be believe to be a chuckle.

He watches as the man in front of him puts the pin on and puffs out his chest like a proud peacock. How cute.

"Red looks stunning on you." He whispers without meaning to.

Golden eyes brighten and glance away.

"... It's my favorite color." Kurogiri reveals, bringing one of his hands to touch the octagonal ruby on his chest. "It's the color of Shigaraki's eyes."

"Yellow became my favorite for a similar reason." 

The sentence confuses Kurogiri for a moment, so the magician lands him his pocket mirror and a quiet chuckle.

Kurogiri's mist dances wildly when he gets it.

Sako brings a foot to the rock he's on and rests his chin on his knee. "Will you keep it this time?" He asks before the silence stretches too much, gesturing to the gem.

His friend glances down at the pin and taps it with his finger "I don't know if I can."

"All For One is in Tartarus and the doctor is scared of you."

"Now, yes, but not for long. You know that." Kurogiri sighs, his shoulders slouching with miserable acceptance.

Sako bites his tongue, then decides that there's no time like the present. "It doesn't have to be like that."

Mist bristles, golden eyes squint. "What do you mean?"

"Garaki is just a man, his only power comes from his mind, he's not untouchable." Sako slides his foot off the stone and leans forward. "And in Tartarus AFO is vulnerable."

Kurogiri gasps, eyes wide and stupefied. "Compress —"

"There will not be an opportunity better than this one, Kurogiri."

"I can't— I can't just murder my master!" He jumps up with his head shaking. "I can't, I can't, I'm nothing without him, without them." 

"You are more than enough." Sako stands up graciously, taking a step towards his distressed friend.

"What about the League and Shigaraki?! They—"

"Are doing better than they ever have." He points out firmly. "Shigaraki's growing more responsible every day that passes, the others are following suit, they're evolving, Kurogiri, they are bonding, happy and making plans, and they didn't need your master to do it."

Kurogiri shakes his head again, hugging himself tightly. "And who'd dare to do it? Who would kill that man who almost destroyed All Might?"

"Drop me in his cell and I'll do it." Sako says with a certainty he can't believe he has in him. 

Kurogiri freezes. "... What?"

Compress holds himself with a confident posture, a hand on his heart and another one his back. "Give me the order and I'll do it." 

"Compress, do you know what you're saying?! You're commiting treason!"

"My loyalty lays on you, not him, not Garaki, you." his gaze hardened. "Always has."

Kurogiri's arms fall from his sides and he stands there without making a sound.

Sako maintains position. He will not falter.

"I don't understand why you'd obey me." Kurogiri murmurs finally.

"You don't have to understand, you just have to trust me."

His golden eyes shimmer and avoid his intense gaze. Maybe Sako should be scared of retaliation, he did just admit that he'd happily assassinate his boss to his... Whatever that man calls Kurogiri, but, his whole heart and mind screams to him that it'll be okay.

It'll be more than okay, in fact.

So he doesn't feel an ounce of fear.

He hasn't let his resolution wobble when Kurogiri's beautiful eyes fall upon him again.

A heavy sigh comes from the man he's ready to risk his life for. 

"You're a very bold man." 

"So I've been told." Sako answers with a cocky smirk.

"It wasn't a compliment."

"I'm aware."

Kurogiri smiles, it's a small thing, but Sako catches it.

"I'll... Think about it." He tells him in a weak tone. "Don't do anything stupid."

Compress bows, like he always used to do in his time as a street magician when the show was over. "As you wish."

"Stand up." Kurogiri grumbles. His mist starts moving very interestingly when Sako does.

Sako will ponder about it some other night. 

Kurogiri opens a portal by their side. Before any of the two steps through it, Sako can hear him say "I trust you."

And if he smiles like a madman when he puts his balaclava back on and goes back to the lab, it's nobody's business.

And if the fact that the brooch doesn't disappears from Kurogiri's chest after that makes his heart flutter and jump, nobody has to know.

"Wake up." Someone gently shakes Sako's shoulder about three weeks after that, which startles greatly him before he realizes it's just Kurogiri.

"Yes?" He yawns as he sits up on the medical cod he's been calling bed.

"I need you to hide a body."

Well, if that doesn't get rid of all semblance of sleep in his being nothing will.

Mr. Compress puts his villain outfit on in under five minutes, standing on business when Kurogiri takes him to another part of the lab... Or another lab altogether, he isn't entirely sure.

The dozens of nomus in tubes makes him shiver, but he tries to ignore their unthinking gaze to the best of his abilities. He has a job to do, after all.

Sako doesn't recognize the doctor when he sees the state Kurogiri has left him in.

His head alone is divided in seven different pieces. The rest of the dismembered body isn't in much better condition.

"Wow." He whistles as he lowers himself to the floor and start marbling each individual piece. "What tipped you off?"

"He spoke of things he wished to do to Shigaraki." Kurogiri's cold, dark voice tells him.

Sako nods. "He has been staining the world with his existence for far too long."

"Indeed."

Compress works quickly and efficiently, storing each disgusting piece of flesh in a different marble to be either incinerated or thrown into the ocean later, but when he goes to clean the blood, Kurogiri stops him.

"I'll deal with the cleaning, don't worry about it."

"If that's what you want..."

"It is." His friend says firmly.

"Okay."

Kurogiri smiles. He's really very, very happy. Sako realizes that the doctor is just a test.

"Will we deal with All For One tonight, Kurogiri?" He asks.

"Immediately." A portal is opened.

Sako's experiences levels of joy and adrenaline never seen before.

He goes to Tartarus alone, directly into the cell containing the most powerful man he has ever had the displeasure of knowing.

The portal remains open behind him, it makes Sako feel secure. Kurogiri will pull him back home once he's done.

His new boss's master is unrecognizable, Sako thinks, beneath a million layers of containment measurements and medical equipment it's only a shadow of his previous grandiose. He would find all those precautions excessive if he didn't know what that beast was capable of.

All For One raises his head when Sako approaches him. So weak and vulnerable in his restraints and yet he still smiles as if he holds the world in his disgusting, rotten hands. 

"I believe I haven't given the order to be released yet." He chuckles. It's a terrible sound.

Red lights and screeching sirens flood the space around them; the alarm has been sound, soon, heroes will come.

Sako is still grinning. "No, you haven't."

And it's stupidly easy to compress his head. Sako wants to brag, but he knows that even a child would have been able to do it with how debilitated the man was.

He marbles his body too, he has a feeling his misty friend will like to chop him up like he did with the doctor. 

Always one for theatrics, Mr. Compress stares directly at a camera and bows graciously before heading to the portal.

It closes as soon as he's back in the lab. He stills feels the adrenaline making him giddy and energized.

"Bravo!" Kurogiri says and claps his hands. It's cute, Sako muses.

He takes his mask off, showing his pristine smile to the man has had decided to follow. "Would you like to cut the body now?"

"Yes, put it where the doctor was, please, that way there's less blood to clean later." Oh, how great it is to hear that beautiful voice so thrilled, see those precious eyes so bright.

He does as he's told, stepping back but staying at a safe distance in case the body starts moving and they find out the man had some type of immortality quirk.

Luckily All For One turns out to be very similar to most people and being beheaded is enough to keep him down.

Sako watches as Kurogiri uses his portals to shred the body that has plagued his nightmares for so long to pieces.

Very tiny pieces. Microscopic, he'd say.

When the furious attack is complete, Compress can't believe that the bloody pile of meat on the cold floor used to be something resembling a human.

His boss gives the same treatment to the decapitated head while Sako compresses and stores that mess. They're mostly silent as they work, Kurogiri because he doesn't know what to say and Sako because he wants to respect his friend's silence, surely there's a swarm of conflicting emotions wandering around his mind.

Compress won't pretend to know what the other is thinking about, he has never been in Kurogiri shoes, but he does know that doing something like what they have done that night to someone you've known for years is never easy, even if said person is the devil himself.

When every minuscule piece of AFO's body in his coat pockets, Sako crosses his arms and keeps two feet of distance between him and the man who has just started washing the floor. "What are we gonna do with them? I say we turn them into ashes." He asks.

"I was thinking on burying the remains in cement." Kurogiri tells calmly. 

"We can do both."

"I presume."

"Maybe throw them to the sea too, for good measure." Sako jokes.

He manages to get an actual, honest to God giggle at that. His heart throws itself against his ribcage so strongly he's scared it's gonna break the bones.

"That's the plan, then." Kurogiri stops cleaning the bloody tiles, sitting back on his knees, and lets his beautiful eyes travel to Sako's face. "Incinerate, cement and then giving to the ocean."

A gulp. " Sounds good to me."

They do exactly that as soon as the red stain disappears.

It's understandably easy to get a furnace and the material needed with both of their powers combined, before the sunrise they already have a block of cement hardening slowly but steadily.

Now they're just waiting for it to be done so they can dump the bastards into the sea and be done with it.

The place they're resting in is an old, dusty, abandoned werehouse that once belonged to All For One.

Compared to other places the man used to own, this one is a bit nice.

Kurogiri and him sit side by side on top of some crates that have seen better days, chatting to pass the time.

"Favorite food?" Sako asks, a simple smile on his face.

"Sushi."

"Animal?" 

"Cats. Love them."

"Did Shigaraki throw tantrums when he was little?"

"Not as much as you'd think."

"Who's your favorite member of the League?"

"Shigaraki."

"After him."

"You, then Toga, Spinner, Magne, Twice, Dabi, and Giran. I liked the others too, before they were arrested."

"I'm flattered." He laughs heartily. "You're my favorite member too, my friend." His hand goes to Kurogiri's shoulder, gently resting on it but giving him enough time to move away if so he desires before doing so.

The man doesn't move away from the touch, but doesn't seek it either.

"Considering that you've murdered the strongest man in existence and pledged your undying loyalty to me, I can't say I'm surprised." The misty man chuckles. It's an almost inaudible sound but that's okay, they can fix it now that he's free.

"Speaking of..." Sako looks at the still somewhat soft cement. "What's your plan now? I mean, I'll follow wherever you go, but I'd prefer to know where that is."

"The League of Villains will keep forward, if that's what you're worried about; I fully believe Shigaraki will guide us towards a new, better tomorrow." Is the answer he's given.

Sako nods, he has been expecting that. "I see... So I'll follow him too, if that's what you wish. Let it be clear, though, that if one day your orders and his become conflicting, I'm picking yours."

Kurogiri's mist raises and dances, the magician smirks.

"I thought you were a mad man, you know?"

"Oh, I'm sure I am." Sako chuckles, letting his hand fall back to his side.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, so I believe your insanity has it's perks, Compress." His friend turns his head fully to put those endearing shiny eyes on him. "You brought me here... And I don't even know your name..."

"Sako Atsuhiro, my dear." The magician returns his gaze. "And I didn't bring you here, you did."

Kurogiri's eyes squint and he tilts his head, content. "Sako... Thank you."

Choosing to ignore how that sweet voice is messing with his heart, he grabs a marble and decompress it, handing Kurogiri something wrapped in crimson wrapping paper. "Ah, for you."

"Huh?" Confused, his friend takes the gift and unveils it, Sako notices that his body stiffens a little when he realizes what it is.

"You said you'd wear something like that if you could pick your clothes, so..." Sako brings a hand to the nape and looks away, feeling strangely awkward for some reason.

He sees Kurogiri caressing the coat's red fabric with the back of his fingers with unbelievable care, just staring at it without making a sound. After a moment, he unfolds every piece of clothing and studies them with his hands and eyes.

"... When did you have the time to do this?" He asks in a cracking whisper.

Sako licks his lips, looking down before admitting: "Whenever I had a break. I started working on it a little before we had that fight in the rooftop."

"So long?" Kurogiri's startled question manages to put a small smile on his face. 

"I had a feeling you'd want a new wardrobe soon and I know how to sew, so I thought..."

"You made this? For... me?"

"Yes of course." Sako can feel his cheeks running hotter, Kurogiri graciously doesn't mention it. "I hope you like it."

The new pieces are what he had imagined when Kurogiri had described his preferred wear all that time ago in the bar, with a touch of Sako's own artistic vision.

Sako has made the coat bright red, like Kurogiri wanted, but the shirt going under it is almost white and the pants are a little darker than the desired wine tone. 

It's an elegant outfit in it's creator's humble opinion, the fabric is top quality, and he even had embroidered the cuffs and hem of the coat with golden thread, and he really hopes Kurogiri likes it because it had been a pain to design and hand sewn it all.

The necklace is a completely self serving addition, though.

Gold, sleek, with an empty pendant that would sit right on the base of Kurogiri's neck. A pendant made specifically for a very particular, octagonal ruby.

"You didn't have to." Kurogiri murmurs, bringing the shiny piece closer to his eyes.

"I wanted to."

Sako wants and will make a million other gifts like that if it means making Kurogiri's mist dances like that, making his eyes glow like the sun.

He looks away when Kurogiri stands up and shakily takes his neck brace off, his clothes following soon after, and gets dressed in his new attire.

Sako hears him fumbling a bit when he tries to separate the ruby from it's previous frame and put it in the necklace, but he manages to do it quickly enough.

"So?" A misty hand taps his shoulder, inviting him to look over. "How do I look?"

All intelligent thinking flees from his mind as the vision settles on his brain.

Oh.

Oh, god.

Powerful, splendid, marvelous, mighty and extraordinary are all adjectives that cross his mind at the beauty before him, but "Divine." Is the closest thing to a description he can offer in his dumbstruck state.

Kurogiri chuckles, adjusting the cuffs around his wrists. "How did you even get my size right?" He asks.

"I asked Himiko to ask Shigaraki."

"I'm surprised he even knows that answer." He's smiling. Full on smiling, Sako is sure. 

Sako gulps down empty air. 

Fearing that letting his heated thoughts run around for more time is a bad idea, the magician jumps up and claps his hand once. "Anyway — let's check on the cement, shall we?"

Kurogiri nods, a happy pep in his steps as they approach the block and poke it to see if it's ready to be dropped into the ocean.

It is and they do just that with the help of a portal.

Conveniently, they have enough time to watch the sunrise before heading back to their hideout.

Kurogiri goes to where Shigaraki has been spending his nights ever since the bar was destroyed, but ask Sako not to follow. He doesn't need to ask why before obeying and walking to another direction.

Compress is the one who makes them breakfast that morning. He's not half as good at it as Kurogiri, but only Jin complains about it to his face.

They don't see Shigaraki nor Kurogiri until past noon, which concerns Spinner a lot more than Sako thought it would, and when they finally call a meeting and show their faces to the League, it's clear as day that their young leader has spent the last hours crying.

Murmured questions and gasps are read in the room, all stopped when he opens his mouth to speak in a rough, wavering voice: "It has come to my attention that All For One never had the best interests of the League of Villains in his heart, for that, he has been eliminated alongside doctor Garaki."

As expected, the air is taken over by incredulous questions from everyone But him, Kurogiri, Himiko and Sako.

Shigaraki clenches his teeth so hard they might actually break if he doesn't stop, his fists tremble as if he's actively avoiding punching a wall and his head is head low. 

Kurogiri stands by his side in his crimson glory, not speaking a word as he kindly places a hand on the young man's risen shoulder. 

"Shut up." Shigaraki says suddenly. "If you must know why they aren't players anymore, then I'll tell you: they've been—" he sucks in a breath as if continuing his explanation will physically damage him. It's not an unfounded assumption. "— they had a slave. They didn't call it that but that's what it fucking was, and I'm not even sure it was only one, I don't know fucking shit anymore— but believe me when I say that they needed to go to hell for what they did." 

Sako notices all eyes turning to Kurogiri, who maintains his stoic posture in his new attire but can't help the way his mist bristles.

"They also bugged our rooms, dunno if you knew that." Himiko mumbles after a beat of heavy silence. All heads turn on her.

"What??" Magne screams, pulling on her own hair.

Himiko bites her lips and sways on her feet slightly. "I didn't wanna say anything earlier because I was scared of what would happen if I did, so I just..."

"Did you know about that?" Spinner asks Shigaraki.

"No," he shakes his head " until today, that is."

"What did you know then? I always suspected it!" Twice questions as he crosses his arms and scowls.

"Nothing." is the angry hiss he gets in response. With shaking fists he continues to speak "All this time under his wing just to— he just wanted—"

Nobody expects the young leader to fall to his knees with his throat in his hands and start wailing. "A fucking VESSEL! that lying bastard— and the the whole time he was— how could he?! HOW COULD HE?!"

"Shigaraki..." Kurogiri kneels by the young man, his voice soft and tired, he too has been crying. "You couldn't have known."

"Bullshit." he shoves his caretaker away. "You know it's bullshit! I just didn't want to see it!"

"We've talked about this." Kurogiri sighs, unfazed.

"He—"

"Is dead now." He stands up graciously "Put yourself together."

Everyone gasps at that, even the crying young leader.

Stunned silence falls heavy on the air, nobody dares to make a sound.

"Sorry." They hear Shigaraki apologize for what might as well be the first time in forever and violently wipe his tears away with the back of his hands before he shakily stands on his feet again. "With—" his voice breaks, he clears his throat. "Master— All For One and Garaki dead, we're down on power and probably can't count on the nomus nor any ally or weapons they might have. I'll understand if any of you decide to leave the League of Villains, no harm will come to your way if you do."

Sako realizes that Shigaraki has that speech memorized by the way he doesn't stumble on his words. He wonders how hard it had been to not only accept that the man you looked up to your whole life was spent years tormenting the one who raised you but also prepare yourself for the possibility of all your friends leaving you because he's dead.

Himiko looks from Shigaraki to Sako, she's happy, he notices, happy in a sad way, because now she has confirmation that Shigaraki hadn't been aware of his master's unspeakable actions.

Sako takes five determined steps towards Shigaraki and Kurogiri before anyone does anything, one standing with unsure and badly hidden despair and the other with serene certainty.

He stops before Shigaraki, takes a bow and proclaims: "At your orders, Shigaraki Tomura."

He can imagine how his leader's eyes widen at that, probably not expecting anyone to remain by his side now that AFO's out of the game.

Sako stands straight and places himself at Kurogiri's left.

Kurogiri's grinning, not that anybody but him notices.

Himiko opens her mouth but, before she has the chance to speak, Spinner beats her to it. "I'll stay. My loyalty lays with you, Shigaraki."

The heteromorph doesn't move from where he is, but he does nod his head once in a sigh of respect.

Sako steals a glance at Kurogiri, searching to see if he has caught what he has.

"Yeah! I'm not leaving either!" Himiko joyfully hops closer and throws her arms around a startled Shigaraki. "I knew you'd never betray us, Shiggy!!"

The lost expression on the young man's face is moderately funny in the seconds it takes for him to shake the teen off of him.

Similar sentiment of permanece is shared between all the members of the League. Nobody leaves.

The little family Sako has found remains together.

His cheeks hurt by how much he's smiling beneath his mask.

Later that day Kurogiri pulls Sako aside. 

Or rather, a portal opens under his feet and he falls into a familiar rooftop.

Kurogiri chuckles as he offers him a hand, which he takes, and helps him onto his feet. "Hello, Sako."

"Hello, boss." He dusts off his clothes and loses the mask and balaclava.

The misty man looks away "You don't have to call me that."

"What, you don't like it?"

"I never said such a thing."

Compress smirks. "Then I'll keep doing it."

The mist raises and dances, the magician doesn't need to look at those beautiful eyes to know they're brighter.

"I want to say thank you." Kurogiri says after a moment. "For everything. Again. And for extending your loyalty to Shigaraki."

"I said I would, didn't I?" He calmly walks to the railing and sits on it with one leg crossed over the other. "But the appreciation is welcome."

"Feel all the appreciation you need, then." His friend and now boss smiles at him, standing near him now. "I'll be taking charge of All For One's assets as soon as possible, which also means any properties he had."

"Splendid." 

"I'd like your input in which ones would be best to become bases for the League."

Well, he'd be lying if he said he was expecting that.

"Why?"

Kurogiri puts a hand on his shoulder, it's light and makes the spot surprisingly tingly. "I like your way of thinking and I'd like to use it when picking our new home and hideout locations." 

Sako chuckles to himself and nods. "Well, if that's what you want..."

"It is."

"Say..." He stands up and the hand on his shoulder travels to his bicep. "Now that you're free, you can go anywhere you want whenever you want, right?"

"I suppose." A nod.

The magician takes a step closer, tilting his head slightly to look Kurogiri in the eyes. "I know a nice place in Naruhata that serves some great sushi." 

To his absolute delight, Kurogiri's eyes glow with the potency of a supernova. "Hm, sounds tempting."

"How about Sunday at seven? I'll pay." He offers. 

The hand of his bicep slides down to his own, graciously taking it and guiding it to rest on his waist. "I'd prefer at eight."

"Eight it is, then." Sako strokes his hip, but doesn't squeeze. 

They stay like that for a long while, drowning in each other's eyes while the night wind gallops around them. Honestly, Sako's happy to spend the hours until sunrise like that.

But then Kurogiri leans his head down and Sako brings him closer.

And then their eyelids feel oh so heavy and fall shut.

And their lips hoover over each other.

And then, finally, press on each other in a gentle kiss.

Kurogiri's lips are cold and scarred, but yet so, so soft, so pliant against his own.

He can tell that the man is unsure in his movements, that's okay, Sako can be sure for both of them.

His other hand finds Kurogiri's jaw and tenderly tilts his head for a better fit, stroking the rather sharp line with his thumb.

Hesitantly, Kurogiri lets his arms wrap themselves around Sako's shoulder, pulling his body impossibly closer to his own.

They fit perfectly, at least Sako thinks so, and he can't spare too much brain power at the moment so that must be true.

They can't tell how much time has passed when they begrudgingly separate their lips and gasp softly in each other's embrace.

Sako licks his lips and giggles quietly, letting his head fall on Kurogiri's shoulder. "You have no idea how much I wanted that." He murmurs into his neck.

"Likewise." He hears as a hand starts running through his hair.

Kurogiri and Sako do stay like that until the sun decides to shine in the horizon, doing nothing but hold each other, but sleepiness comes to all things alive and they're not an exception to that rule, so they go back to their temporary home.

They kiss again when it's time to part ways, just a quick peck, and Sako will later feel embarrassed by how such a simple thing was enough to put a skip on his step all the way to his bed. He hasn't felt like that since his highschool days.

He lays on the hospital cot and stares at the ceiling until he finally falls into slumber, thinking about shiny eyes and sweet lips.

 If he dreams about half lidded golden eyes and much more than kisses, nobody has to know.