Sunlight flickered through the leaves like nature's disco ball. The wind was crisp, carrying hints of breakfast and dew. And perched like mismatched birds in the highest limbs of UA's massive perimeter tree—
Shigaraki and Dabi.
Shigaraki was draped over a thick branch like a cryptid who'd given up on postures, one hand dangling lazily, his hoodie pulled half over his face.
Dabi leaned back with practiced indifference, his arm tossed behind his head, boots crossed, eyes closed—but not truly asleep. Just playing it cool like his body hadn't melted into that bark twenty minutes ago.
And then—
Rustling.
Branches whispered. Leaves shifted.
Darkcreasa climbed up effortlessly, her movements quiet, fluid, like part of the tree had learned shadow techniques. Her fingers curled around a knot as she lifted herself beside Dabi with no ceremony, just presence.
Toga followed.
Louder. Looser. Happier.
She swung onto the branch beneath Shigaraki's legs, upside down for a moment before flopping sideways and poking at his ankle.
"Togaaaa," Shigaraki groaned, voice wrapped in sleep sand.
She beamed. "You guys still sleep in trees like forest cryptids. It's cute. Weird. But cute."
Dabi opened one eye. "We were sleeping."
"And now you're socializing," Darkcreasa said dryly, settling into a seat near the bend of the trunk.
She leaned her head back.
Let the breeze touch her cheeks.
And said—like it was natural—
"This is the only place I breathe like it's not forbidden."
Dabi didn't comment.
He didn't need to.
He nodded once.
That rare, quiet kind of agreement that didn't need words.
Shigaraki shifted his arm to cover his eyes.
But didn't move away.
Toga kicked her feet. "Okay, but let's make this our spot again. Like, official. Sparkle tree rehab council. Meetings every Sunday."
Dabi scoffed. "If it includes nap rights."
Shigaraki grumbled, "And no sunlight before ten."
Darkcreasa closed her eyes, a ghost of a smile pulling at her lips.
"Deal."
The wind ruffled through leaves like gossip passing between whispers.
Sunlight filtered down the bark, pooling against half-limp limbs belonging to Shigaraki and Dabi, still draped across branches like they were too edgy to admit they liked the breeze.
Toga, twirling a stem in her hair, hummed.
Darkcreasa balanced coolly beside her, ankles crossed, boots wedged into a knot. Still unreadable. Still magnetic.
Shigaraki broke the silence first, voice gravel-thick and half-buried in his hoodie.
"So. How was sparkle war?"
Toga bounced slightly, eyes glowing. "BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE. Pajamas. Nail polish. Pillow battles. We declared Torū the Queen of Feather Tactics. Jiro confessed her electric love saga. Mina reenacted her first kiss with Kirishima on three different pillows."
Dabi muttered into the tree bark. "I'm exhausted just hearing that."
Then—
Toga leaned sideways, eyes glinting with dramatic fire. "We had girl talk."
Simultaneous groans.
Shigaraki shoved his hood down deeper like he could escape the word.
Dabi covered his ears. "Stop. Why did you ask Shigaraiki!?"
Darkcreasa chuckled under her breath. "She's not exaggerating. Mina asked everyone their crushes."
Shigaraki lifted an arm just enough to squint. "And?"
Darkcreasa smirked. "Toga had a list."
Toga grinned. "Izuku, Ochaco, Darkcreasa, Shiggy-kun, Dabi-kun, maybe that one support course guy with the glasses—"
Dabi coughed. "I'm sorry—what?"
Toga shrugged innocently, gesturing with her ribbon-wrapped wrist. "Darkcreasa says she doesn't have a crush, but I know there's one."
She leaned in dramatically.
"It's either Shiggy-kun…or Dabi-kun."
Silence.
Heavy.
Potent.
Explosive.
Darkcreasa froze.
Her face flushed.
A deep, burning red — not dramatic, not theatrical. But full-body embarrassment that bloomed like a secret uncovered too fast.
Shigaraki shifted.
Slowly lowered his arm.
His eyes wide.
Cheeks—pink.
Actual, undeniable pink.
"…She said that?" he murmured, voice caught between panic and a glitch in villain code.
Dabi jerked upright so fast the branch creaked. "SHE WHAT—"
His foot slipped. A leaf avalanche triggered.
He nearly fell.
Toga caught him with one hand and one evil giggle. "OHHH this is golden."
Darkcreasa buried her face in her sleeve. "I hate everything."
Shigaraki blinked at her, genuinely stunned. "You like one of us?"
Toga clasped her hands. "No lies now! The tree demands emotional truth!"
Darkcreasa groaned. "Can someone please cut this branch and end me."
And somewhere on the ground, Aleasha looked up through her book, squinting at the rustling above.
Bakugo passed her holding two plates.
"Tree's loud today."
Aleasha nodded. "It's processing feelings."
Bakugo scoffed. "Yikes."
Dabi gripped the branch with both hands, nearly upside down, looking like someone who'd just been told he'd lost a popularity contest he didn't even enter.
"She didn't deny it."
Toga giggled nearby. "She flushed like a volcano smoothie!"
Shigaraki rubbed the back of his neck, expression somewhere between confused and hopeful. "Okay, but—wait. If she has a crush on one of us… why not just say it?"
Dabi blinked. "Because she has taste? Or anxiety? Or she likes you, and that's terrifying?"
Shigaraki glared. "You don't know that."
Dabi smirked. "I kinda hope it's me. That'd be fun."
Toga gasped. "You BOTH want to be her crush?!"
Shigaraki turned crimson. "No—well—I mean… I wouldn't hate it…"
Dabi scratched his cheek, suddenly shy. "Same."
Toga clutched her cheeks. "OH MY GOSH you two are actually melting! I'm witnessing emotional combustion!"
Shigaraki leaned forward. "We just want to know… which one?"
Darkcreasa glared. "Which one what?"
Shigaraki's eyes narrowed with deadly focus.
The question hung like pollen in the breeze.
"Me or moldy hoodie. Who's the chosen blush?"
Dabi said it with the careless smirk of someone who caused chaos on purpose… but didn't expect it to hit that hard.
Darkcreasa flushed instantly, eyes darting to the branches to the tree, like maybe the wind could hide her.
And Shigaraki?
He stopped breathing.
Literally.
His hoodie, insulted by proxy, drooped dramatically.
His hand twitched.
His eyes snapped to Dabi like someone just weaponized a phrase he wasn't built to deflect.
"Moldy hoodie?"
Dabi blinked, half-grinning. "Look, it's a vibe. You wear decay like a fashion statement."
Shigaraki stared for a beat—then turned to Darkcreasa.
She was already glaring at the grass, fists clenched, cheeks a glowing crimson chaos.
So it was him… or not not him.
Darkcreasa's jaw dropped. "I am not answering that."
And she jumped off the tree and ran.
But she didn't deny it.
Shigaraki's ears turned pink. Actual pink.
The guy who disintegrated furniture for breakfast was suddenly clutching an emotional spark like it might combust him instead.
He leaned against the branch.
Covered his mouth.
Then muttered:
"I am not moldy."
His voice wasn't angry.
It was confused.
Soft.
Stupidly hopeful.
Dabi snorted. "Bro, you're literally offended and excited. Pick a lane."
Shigaraki rubbed his temple, hoodie sliding off just slightly.
He peered down at the spot where Darkcreasa had vanished.
"She didn't say who."
"She didn't say no."
Toga dropped from the branch, landing in a glitter crouch.
"Gentlemen," she said with the glee of a reality show host, "we've officially entered Crush Crisis: Tree Edition™."
Shigaraki stared at the bark.
Then whispered, barely audible—
"Do I… look blushable?"
Dabi almost fell off the branch again.
And for the first time ever—
Toga didn't tease him.
She just nodded.
"Yeah. When your hoodie doesn't smell like museum dust."
Shigaraki sat perched against the curve of the branch, hoodie tugged forward like armor. His fingers toyed with the frayed hem, head down, face shadowed.
And inside?
His brain was in crisis mode.
"She said nothing," he mumbled.
Dabi sighed. "She said nothing because she didn't pick either of us."
Shigaraki flinched. "You don't know that."
Dabi smirked. "I know she ran. Like a winded anime protagonist. Doesn't scream romantic clarity, dude."
Shigaraki didn't respond. He stared at the bark beneath his boots like it might spell answers in tree Morse code.
Inside his mind?
The entire dialogue archive was spinning.
"You dropped your pen."
Did he sound robotic?
"Nice sketch. Thoughtful linework."
Did she think he was judging?
"You always sit by the perimeter windows."
Too observant? Weird?
"I can relate to not wanting to be in the center."
Was that deep or depressing?
Dabi groaned nearby. "She's probably into someone normal."
Shigaraki's shoulders tensed. "I'm not normal."
"That's what I just—wait, are you hoping it's you?"
Shigaraki didn't answer.
Dabi grinned. "You're hoping. You're hoping so hard."
A long pause.
Then—Shigaraki muttered:
"I don't hate the idea."
Dabi blinked.
A rare moment of softness sparked between them.
He patted Shigaraki's arm, very lightly. "Okay, that was kinda adorable."
Shigaraki groaned. "Kill me."
"No way, Hoodie Crush. You've got a girl to overthink at for the next five years."
Darkcreasa's boots thudded lightly across the tile, the echo trailing behind her like a guilt she couldn't outrun. Her face was flushed, her chest buzzing from whatever that *tree debacle* just was—Toga, crushes, chaos, the blush heard around the branches.
She turned the corner, breath uneven, and then—
Stopped.
A splash of color caught her eye.
The bulletin board beside the dorm lounge was normally cluttered with tutoring schedules, quirk training memos, and Torū's occasional "invisible snack exchange club" sign-up sheet.
But today?
Pinned squarely in the center…
📣 "UA PARTY: Next Sunday — Common Room Celebration!"
Open to all Classes! Dancing, Games, Quirk Battles! Dress Cool, Bring Snacks, and Leave Drama at the Door💥
Below it hung Polaroids of Class-A students laughing mid-sparring match, Mina grinning with a water balloon launcher, Denki with sparking fingers and a marshmallow stuck in his hair, Jiro caught headbanging while Momo attempted to shield her tea.
It was loud.
Cheerful.
Undeniably them.
And Darkcreasa?
She stared.
A party.
A UA-sanctioned celebration.
Dancing?
She didn't dance.
Games?
She didn't compete for fun.
Quirk battles?
She competed to survive.
But for some reason… her eyes lingered.
Maybe it was the photos.
Maybe it was how normal they all looked.
How untangled from their pasts.
How free.
And maybe—
Just maybe—
She wasn't completely opposed to the idea.
Even as she stood there, the sound of wind through leaves haunted her memory.
Dabi's smirk.
Shigaraki's stunned blinking.
Toga's glitter-screams echoing from above.
And the last thought before she turned toward her room?
"I wonder if he'll be there."