The next morning, in a certain unnamed bar—
"Haah…"
Shigaraki Tomura yawned as he rubbed at his eyes and dragged himself out of his room.
Because he had gotten back late the previous night, he hadn't slept nearly enough. Even now, his head still felt heavy, and the lingering drowsiness clung to him like a stubborn fog.
Under normal circumstances, he would have happily gone back to bed.
Unfortunately, he had an appointment today.
With Himiko Toga.
So after a brief internal struggle between responsibility and the undeniable sweetness of sleep, Shigaraki forced himself to leave his blanket and start moving.
The moment he stepped out of the bar and into the pale light of morning, however, he froze.
Not far from the entrance stood a blonde girl in a sailor uniform, both hands holding her school bag neatly in front of her.
The soft morning sun caught in her long, smooth hair, turning it into a sheet of gold.
She stood there quietly, bathed in warm dawn light, with an air of refined calm around her that made her look exactly like a well-bred young lady from a proper household.
And that girl was—
Himiko Toga.
"…Himiko?"
Shigaraki blinked.
For a second, he genuinely wondered whether he was still half asleep.
What was going on?
Why was this rich young lady standing outside his bar first thing in the morning?
More importantly—
How did she know where he lived?
If he remembered correctly, he had never told her his address last night.
Not once.
So how exactly had she found this place?
Before he could voice the rest of those questions, Toga had already spotted him.
The moment her eyes landed on him, her face brightened instantly.
A cheerful, dazzling smile bloomed across her features as she raised one hand and waved at him with obvious enthusiasm.
"Good morning, Tenko~!"
Her voice was bright enough to cut cleanly through the last remnants of his sleepiness.
Shigaraki paused, then responded on reflex.
"Morning… Himiko."
But almost immediately afterward, he remembered the very important issue still hanging in the air.
He cleared his throat lightly.
"…By the way."
"How did you find this place?"
"Oh, that?"
Toga answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"I asked around a little and got some information about you."
She smiled sweetly.
"Like where you live."
"…Hey."
Shigaraki stared at her.
"Let's not even get into the amount of information packed into that one sentence."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Isn't looking up someone's private information without permission already a crime?"
Toga blinked innocently.
"How could it be?"
Then she smiled again, bright and open as ever.
"I just sincerely wanted to be friends with you, Tenko."
Her tone was light, but there was obvious delight in her eyes as she continued.
"Though I really didn't expect that you'd go to the same school as me."
"We both go to Kanzaki Middle School."
At that, the smile on her face became even more radiant.
Clearly, discovering that fact had put her in an extremely good mood.
Of course—
There was one tiny detail.
They weren't actually in the same class.
Or even the same grade.
But none of that mattered to her in the slightest.
As far as Toga was concerned, the fact that they attended the same school was already more than enough to feel like destiny.
Looking at him with bright, crystal-clear eyes, she stepped closer and stretched out one hand toward him.
"Come on, Tenko."
Her tone was full of expectation.
"Let's go together."
Shigaraki looked at her outstretched hand, then at her face.
And in the end, he let out a helpless little sigh.
"…Fine."
A second later, he stepped forward and took her hand.
Her fingers were soft.
Warm too.
Honestly, Shigaraki had always been a little weak against girls like this.
Girls who got close quickly.
Girls who acted familiar without hesitation.
Girls who simply treated distance like a minor technical issue.
There was an old saying for this sort of thing:
When a man pursues a woman, it's like crossing a mountain.
When a woman takes the initiative, it's like a paper-thin barrier.
And even good men had trouble dealing with persistent girls.
Shigaraki was no exception.
Still—
What really surprised him wasn't her boldness.
It was the school.
He had genuinely not expected Himiko Toga to be a student at Kanzaki Middle School.
Back when he asked his teacher—All For One—to prepare a fake identity for him, he had simply told him to forge something plausible. Just enough to let Tenko Shimura exist on paper and smoothly enter U.A. in the future.
That was all.
He hadn't cared much about the details.
So he had definitely not expected that All For One would randomly place him in the exact same school Toga attended.
What were the odds?
Shigaraki glanced sideways at the blonde girl now happily walking beside him, still holding his hand as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
Then, after a short silence, he gave a small inward sigh.
Maybe…
Maybe this really was the choice of fate.
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