(Never) forget you

13

"How do you do it?" you asked, bringing your knees up to your chest. The purple-haired boy brought himself closer to you. Looking to your right, you saw his eyes, calm as always, dark bags under them.

In those few days you had been there, in that room, you were never able to comprehend how he did it. He just looked like nothing happened, like everything going on was bothersome -boring even.

"Hm?" he asked, wrapping an arm around your shoulder, bringing you closer to him, your head now on his chest.

You hugged your knees harder, trying to put your words together. "How are you not affected by- by-"

"I am." He interrupted, and you lifted your head up to look at his face. It had now become darker in a way; his brows were furrowed, his eyes duller, his bottom lip between his teeth, biting it so hard you thought it was going to bleed. "But we need to show him that we won't give in, no matter what he does." He continued. His expression then softened as he looked down at you, giving you a small, forced smile, like a big brother trying to cheer his sister up. "Okay?"

You nodded, unsure of what else to say. "Okay"

For a while, you both stayed like that, not saying anything, the other person's touch enough to reassure you that you weren't alone.

You hadn't known him for long; maybe 3-4 days? Knowledge of time wasn't an option in that dark, cold room. But even so, you both felt safe next to each other.

Maybe that was because of the circumstances, and if you ever got out, you wouldn't speak another word to one another, or maybe this experience would make you close. There was no way of knowing. So, for now, you just enjoyed each other's company, and the somewhat safe feeling it brought the both of you.

After a few minutes, your legs had become sore, so you tried to get up. Looking up, you saw Shinsou had almost fallen asleep, his arm still wrapped around you. Carefully, you took it off, and while stretching, you took a few more moments to examine his face.

His head was leaning back against the wall, and he looked quite uncomfortable. You sat down to his left and, after wiping the dust off your pants, took Shinsou's head and placed it in your lap.

As he found himself laying like that, his body relaxed almost instantly, and when you placed your hand in his hair and started slowly caressing it, he fell asleep immediately.

However, that peaceful atmosphere didn't last long.

You were carelessly running your fingers through Shinsou's hair, when the door forcefully opened, causing you to flinch.

"Look at you both, sitting there like that."

Your hand froze at the sound of the man's words.

It had always been unknown to you, what he was doing there. He wasn't much older than you -maybe 16-17. Why was he in that kind of place?

You didn't say anything, so he spoke again.

"Looks like our other candidate is sleeping, so would you like to go first? Or have you finally decided to give in?"

Your hands trembling in your lap, you gave him the hardest glare possible, before carefully getting up without waking Shinsou.

The door opened once again, and the shadow man gave Shigaraki a questioning look, before throwing you a glance and nodding in understanding.

As Shinsou woke up a few hours later, he saw your unconscious body laying next to him, new bruises covering your hands and legs.

***