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I know you said you only might accept pregnancy requests depending on what it is so I wanted to try š how about shigaraki and reader break up while sheās unknowingly pregnant with his child and he bumps into said child years later and connects the dots that itās his? If you donāt like it feel free to ignore this request š
I liked this nonnie.
I am terrified that by saying that Iām going to be inundated with pregnancy HCās, lol. But, this request I really leaned into. Plus, itās more about a kid than a pregnancy.Ā
So, thank you for asking and letting me slip out of my comfort zone. Itās always good to do that every once in awhile and this ask was a great reminder of that.
Itās a bit melancholic, but I think it fits with Tomura, at least, in my mind.
Now, this is not in canon. This is not like, pre-war arc, or post-war arc. If anything, itās more of an AU. Iād put Tomura in his late 20s to early 30s.Ā Ā
warnings: none really, just some sweet, sweet interactions and mild angstĀ
The shouting noise of children set his teeth on edge.
Toga had insisted that the bus stop by the school was the best place for the information exchange.
They wonāt look for you there, sheād assured him. Itās like hiding in plain sight. Yeah, itās patrolled, but itās only an old security guard who does the rounds. Besides, heās retired from the police force, she qualified, and was more like a lazy cat than an attentive scent hound. Ā
Itās the best place,Ā really.
So, Shigaraki had made the long trek across Tokyo.
He kept to the shadows as he weaved his way through back alleys and streets. Although the dominance of the League had waned some over the years, he was still a wanted criminal, responsible for countless death and threats on hero society.
He was still the King of his slice of the underworld.
Besides, he reassured himself as he loitered by the bench under the bus stop, he could trust Toga.
She had improved in leaps and bounds as she came of age; deadlier, sleeker, more attuned to the ebbs and flows of the world around her. She wasnāt that girl who chattered about blood anymore.
Oh, she still held a strange fascination with the fluid. But she had more control over those impulses that drove her. If she said it was the best place, well, who was he to argue? Toga had been with him from the beginning, a vital ally. Hell, at this point she was close to being a friend.
Shigaraki is still musing when the ball taps its way to his feet.
It clatters against the pavement; the rubber shuttling it along the loose rocks and leaves. Unthinkingly, Shigaraki lifts his shoe to balance against its unbound movement, stilling its lulling bounces.
Must be from that schoolyard, he thinks, his red eyes flashing up at the low chain-link fence that separates the school grounds from the busy street.
Thereās no child dashing their way to retrieve it, so he lets his gaze slip from the teeming masses of giggling youngsters. Itās a pretty blue. The ball looks new. Hardly a scuffed and battered thing.
He keeps it under his sole, toying with it, rolling it meditatively as he slips back into his thoughts.
āHey! ThatāsĀ mine!ā
Itās a small voice that calls to him and he turns his head back to the fence, looking for the source.
Itās a girl.
Sheās leaning against the metal, her hands clutching into the links, cocking her head inquisitively at him.
Her nose wrinkles at his silence, and she shouts another demand.
āMister, thatāsĀ myĀ ball. Toss it back.ā
āArenāt you supposed to sayĀ please?ā Shigaraki taunts, his lips lifting in a quick grin. Heās not sure why heās bothering to engage with this kid, but something about her plucky attitude resonates with him.
She leans away from the fence, that scowl deepening on her soft features.
āArenāt grown upsĀ notĀ supposed to steal things?ā
He laughs at her snark. He canāt help it. Oh, this kidāsĀ fun.
Carefully slipping the ball into his hands, he moves closer to the fence. He can see her a little better now.
Sheās still got that deep frown on her face and her dark hair is gleaming in the afternoon sun, some strands catching the light, reflecting a deep, auburn, hue. Heās just about to chuck the ball to her when he catches sight of her eyes.
Theyāre red.
Not that red eyes are unusual. There are plenty of people milling around Tokyo with them. But hers are different.
No, these eyes are like looking into a mirror for Shigaraki. They flint and glare with the same sheen as his own. Itās a prefect reflection.
His feet suddenly feel heavy, leaden, and he canāt lift his arms. Who is this child? Why does she-
āOk,Ā ok, mister. Can IĀ pleaseĀ have my ball back? Youāre still stealing it if you donāt, so Iām not apologizing for that. I might...Ā ifĀ you give it back to me, cuzā itās my ball, not yours. And, stealing makes you aĀ thief.ā
Sheās rolling those uncanny irises at his stiff form, and a huffing sigh escapes her small mouth.
āWhatās your name?ā Shigaraki asks, hands trembling over the rubber of the ball.
āNotĀ supposed to tell that to strangers, mister.ā
He smiles again, bemused.Ā Well, he thinks begrudgingly, sheās a clever little thing. Whoever she is.
A sharp bell echoes across the yard and she turns her head at the sound, her dark hair tumbling around her shoulders.
āHere,ā Shigaraki relents, gently flipping the ball over the fence, bouncing it to her feet.
āThanks,ā she murmurs, quickly snatching up her prize. Those red eyes of hers meet his own, and he can feel a low shiver echo up his spine. Whatās up with this reaction? It almost feels visceral, like some sort of otherworldly pull on him.
āSorry I called you a thief,ā she apologizes, quickly bowing her head, ducking those eerie eyes from view.
Heās not sure what to say, so he continues to watch her. She doesnāt seem perturbed by this, opting to giggle at him as her little head lifts.
āYouāre weird,ā she assess, a smile finally spreading over her lips, her cheeks rounding and softening.Ā
Tch, sheās rude, but sheās also cute, Shigaraki thinks, snorting at her frankness.
She turns, dashing away from him, her dark hair flowing around her back as she goes.
Shigaraki shakes his head, trying to dislodge those lingering questions that keep floating to the back of his mind.
Heāll never see her again, he reasons, wandering back to the bus stop. Trying to tamp down the urge to look for her again, to pinpoint her from the other giggling and shouting children on the playground.
But he did see her again.
He comes back to the stop a few weeks later.
Thereās no information pickup this time. Thereās no real reason for him to even be on this side of town.
He just canāt get her out of his mind.
This little kid had shaken something within his psyche. He kept dreaming about her. Well, not her, really. No, there was someone else haunting his dreams.
He hasnāt thought about you in years.
But now? Now, he canāt get you out of his head. He even feels like he can feel you some nights, warm against his side. He sulks in the memories of the familiar touches that the two of you shared, the love that youād pressed into him, so, so long ago.
He saw the girl in those moments.Ā Resting in your arms as you looked up, your eyes bright against her dark head. The girl would laugh and run to him, those reflective red eyes shining with mirth.Ā
It was fucking strange.
He both hated, and loved, the repetitive nature of these illusions. They made him feel safe and warm, but they also chilled him to his very bones. It was unsettling.
Unsure what else to do, heād back come to the bus stop.
Itās early afternoon. Close to the time heād visited it before. He waits on the lonely bench, his hands pressed together and that strange tremble races through his veins.
This is stupid, he thinks, his eyes lowering from the sea of kids, all twisting and turning in a heap as they play. Itās an impossibility, really. The chances of that girl losing her ball again is minuscule. Thereās no way he can call to her either. Itās a waste. He shouldnāt even be here.
Heās standing to leave, when that small voice reaches him.
āOh! Youāre back.ā
His head whips around, his long white hair glowing against the sunlight.
There she is.
Sheās gripping the fence again, and sheās staring right at him.
Shigaraki smiles. Itās a gentle lift and he can feel his heart tapping a rough tattoo against his ribs. He steps toward her, kneeling when he gets close, careful to not overstep his bounds.
Heās not wanting to startle her.
No, heās wanting to talk with her. Maybe sheāll drop some kinda clue why heās so drawn to her. Or maybe sheāll morph into any other child again. Plain, uninteresting. Slipping from that odd ghost that sheās become to his subconscious.Ā
He hopes itās the latter. But part of him also longs for it to be the former.
Sheāll hop to the fence around 3:15.
She looks for him now, used to the routine of his presence.
He told her to call him Tomura, and the name falling from her lips made his heart ache.
Tomura stopped by on Fridays. Careful to not stay too long, to not draw too much attention to himself.
At first, heād sneak her little trinkets.Ā
A little plastic toy of his, one that he had since he was a kid. Sheād squealed with delight and clutched it to her. Heād grinned at that, remembering how heād once held onto the thick plastic himself.Ā
Once, heād just plucked a nearby flower as he walked to the school, presenting it to her outreached grasp. Heād watched proudly as she tucked it behind her ear, the color glossy beside her hair.
Sheās still a sassy little thing. But sheās softened a little, too. Her voice losing that early, untrusting, edge.
He didnāt ask her much. Sometimes they both just sat in silence as she sketched designs into the dirt. Sometimes he would listen to her chatter about her day. Her classmates, her teacher. Once, sheād even pressed something over the fence to him.
It was a drawing.
Heās not sure if it really was all that well done, or if itās just his heavy bias toward her. But he loves the mix of color and lines. Heād asked who the people were.
One was her friend, Kenji. One was her teacher. One was him.
Heād pinned it to the wall in his room. Displaying it, flaunting the gift. He looked at it every morning, admiring her work.
Heās late one day, and she scolds him, her small arms draping over the fence.
āI didnāt think you were going to come,ā she chatters, her red eyes lingering against his, the two colors casting back the same hue.
āWas running behind,ā Tomura replies, leaning against the low concrete barrier, resting his back against the fence.
Her little hands reach for his hair, playing with the pearlescent tendrils, weaving some into knots and braids.Ā
He doesnāt mind.
āHey, Tomura,ā she says, working a tiny hairband into her creation, her voice curious.
āHmm,ā he hums, careful to not shift his head, not wanting to disrupt her hard work.
āYou didnāt ask my name again. At least⦠not after that one day.ā
āDo you want me to ask?ā He queries, his pulse lifting.
Heād wanted to ask her again, but he didnāt want to startle her, to shatter these innocences that they shared.
āItās Beryl,ā she answers. She says it confidently, and he turns to face her.
She grins at him, wiggling one loose tooth playfully at his serious expression, trying to tug a laugh from him.
āBeryl?ā he repeats, unable to keep that awed hush from his raspy tones. Itās a pretty name. It suits her, really. But itās strange. Itās not Japanese.Ā
YouĀ hadnāt been Japanese.Ā
āThatās a good name,ā he assures her. āBut, itās not⦠you donāt hear that name very often.ā
āYeah,ā Beryl concedes, her vermillion eyes roving over his face. āMy momās not from here.ā
His nostrils flare at that.
He hasnāt asked her about her mother. Heās unsure if itās a general disinterest on his part, or trepidation. He fears itās the latter.
Gulping, he tilts his head at her, feeling that soft braid sheās plaited into his hair shifting.
āWhoās your mother?ā
āWho is she? Sheās myĀ mom, silly.ā
āNo,ā he pauses, ignoring that creeping tremor thatās working its way to the top of his skull, his skin prickling and cooling. āI meanā¦whatās her name?ā
āOh! Her name is-ā
āBeryl! Beryl, itās time to come inside.ā A teacher is calling for her.Ā
Tomura startles away, drifting to his feet and pacing quickly back to the bus stop. He canāt help the snarl that etches its way across his lips. Heād been so close. So fucking closeā¦
He chances a glance back at the fence and catches sight of Beryl. Sheās dashing across the playground, her dark hair waving in the sun.
Japan is about to slip into summer. School will come to a close, moving into a long break. He wonāt see her again for almost a month.
His heart sinks at that realization and he grits his teeth. Slipping his hands into his dark trench coat, he steps across the street, away from the bus stop, away from the little girl thatās feeling more and more like his own.
Edit: oh hey. so, i couldnāt stfu about this and created a sequel: MaterfamiliasĀ
hahaha & part iii