"Everyone ready?" Yusuke asked as they huddled in front of the Todoroki Estate.

"I've been ready," Ryuji muttered, staring over the gates where the house was. Today was finally the day of the infiltration. He was going to save his best friend or die trying.

"Dollhouse. Todoroki Shiina." Akira spoke into the Meta Nav.

"Beginning navigation." It replied, it's screen loading. The scenery warped into an alternate dimension. The skies became bright and clear, the nature around them blossomed, and animals peeked out of their hiding places to play around. By far, Shiina's Palace was the most pleasant they had ever explored.

But it was all an illusion. The pretty scenery was just a cover-up like everything in the family was. Inside the house was where the real horrors laid. It was no different than the one in reality.

The eight of them sneaked past the golden gates and were met with a large Victorian styled house. It was perfect and pink. Like a little girl's dream dollhouse.

"Alright everyone," Mona said as they headed to the front door. "Let's get that treasure."

"And change her heart," Ryuji finished.

As they entered the lavish house, the Thieves were struck with a terrible sense of dread. Everything about the house was so fake and uncomfortable that the group felt like they were being suffocated.

The interior was just as lovely as the exterior. It looked like the home of some rich, close-knit family. Appearance-wise, it was everything the Todoroki estate wasn't. The walls were covered with pictures of a familiar yet unfamiliar yellow-eyed family. A red haired father with a large, warm smile. A white haired mother with her arms always around one or two of her kids. A white haired young man wearing the same goofy grin in all of the pictures. A white haired young woman with red streaks in her hair. And Shiina. She was always at the center of the photos. The most important spot.

The Thieves recognized her older siblings from magazine articles and social media, but there was one that they couldn't put their finger to.

"I always see that guy in the photos, but who is he?" Ann asked, her finger pointing at a red haired male with creepy yellow eyes.

Ryuji tensed up before glancing away from the male. "He's... one of Shiina's older brothers."

"Shouto?" Makoto guessed.

He shook his head. Strangely enough, the elder half of the Todoroki twins wasn't in any of the photos. "No, he's..." He swallowed thickly, shaking his head once more. "It doesn't matter. Let's just keep going."

Akira eyed him silently, growing worried for his blonde friend and even more concerned about the Todorokis. Just how many secrets did that broken family have?

Venturing deeper into the dollhouse proved to be difficult, but it wasn't like the Phantom Thieves weren't expecting it. They slaughtered every Shadow that came in their way and Akira noted that Ryuji was less vocal about his kills. It unnerved him a bit to see the teen so quiet. He could see that Morgana and Ann were beginning to notice the odd behavior too. He knew about Ryuji's past; an abusive dad that left him and his mother and Akira knew that it must've been killing him to see his closest friend going through the same thing he experienced.

The only difference was that Endeavor didn't look like he was going to go away any time soon.

A few hours later, the group finally found themselves in front of a pair of double doors that led to the garden. The Treasure was just a door away from them.

"Skull," the leader said quietly.

The boy only grunted in reply.

"You okay?" Akira asked, knowing that they were bound to run into Shiina's Shadow self soon.

"Yeah," Ryuji said, sucking in a sharp breath. "I'm okay. Let's go in."

"I hope everyone's ready." Yusuke spoke up.

"We're good to go." Haru said with affirmative nod.

"Good," Futaba said with a grim tone. "Because I can sense a Shadow right behind these doors. And they're tough."

Akira pushed through the doors, he and his group silently slinking in. Their noses were instantly struck by the scent of multiple floral fragrances. They didn't smell that pleasant though. Altogether, the combined aromas smelled sickeningly sweet. It smelled a lot stronger than the last time they were there.

They looked around to see if there would be any Shadows hiding beneath rose bushes, or waiting on top of apple trees to surprise attack them. There was nothing there.

"Look," Morgana whispered, his paw pointing ahead. "There's... someone there..."

Akira looked far ahead where the gazebo laid and saw bright red hair.

"Shiina..." Ryuji trailed off.

"The treasure's with her too." Haru pointed out.

Shadows withholding the treasure was nothing new to them and they all knew they were going to end up fighting Shadow Shiina one way or the other. So neither of them were hesitant of approaching the red haired girl.

She looked all too happy to see them, her legs swinging from underneath her as she sat patiently under the gazebo.

"You finally made it!" She chirped, eyeing them with glee. "You're here for this aren't you?" She raised the glimmering diamond necklace with her two pointer fingers. Futaba had to latch onto Morgana to keep him from leaping at the Treasure.

"Let me guess," Akira drawled. "You're not giving it up without a fight?"

She giggled. "Well, duh. That would be stupid of me."

"Shiina..." Ryuji spoke up, looking disgusted. "Do you even realize what you've become?"

"Excuse me?" She said stiffly. "I'm doing whatever I can to save my family from ruination. I won't let outsiders like you get in the way of that."

"You're family was broken from the very beginning!" He snapped. "You're just making it worse!"

Shiina threw her head back and laughed. It sounded unnatural, like a bunch of broken glass being shaken around. "Why are you being like this, Ryuji?" She asked with a broken tone. "You're supposed to be my friend...! Why can't you just let me have my perfect family?! Don't you want me to be happy?!"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW CRAZY YOU SOUND?!" He didn't feel any remorse when she flinched. "You're family's not perfect, Shiina! It's fucking ruined!"

"NO IT'S NOT!" She screeched.

"You got her all fired up now, Skull...!" Futaba said worryingly.

"I won't let you get in the way..." Shiina growled, harshly slamming the Treasure down on the table before storming down the steps of the gazebo. "I loved you, you know? But if you keep getting in the way of my perfect family then I have no choice but to kill you along with your other friends."

"Shiina..." Ryuji murmured.

"I'll just have to have my perfect family without you." She seethed before her whole body was engulfed in dark matter.

— ❤ —

Shiina was having a pretty shitty Sunday. She had gone out for some Jamba Juice and texted Ryuji on the way if he wanted to join her, but he declined. Apparently he needed to study. What bullshit. School started just a few days ago! Besides, since when did Ryuji study? That's right, never!

She was hoping she could tell him about the calling card she received from the Phantom Thieves. He was the only other person she felt it was safe to tell. Fuyumi would just faint, her father would probably just dismiss her for Shouto, Natsuo was all the way at college, and there was no way she was going to tell her twin about it.

So yeah, Ryuji was her only choice.

But he couldn't meet up with her because he was 'studying'.

She furiously spammed him, calling him out on his stupid lie while walking back home. Of course, it was never a good idea to pay attention to your phone rather than your surroundings because after sending the fifth message, she promptly bumped into someone. Luckily, her smoothie didn't fall, but her phone did.

"Shit, sorry," she apologized to the person. It was a buff looking young man who looked to be around Natsuo's age, perhaps older. His hair was short and silver, matching well with his grey eyes. For some odd reason, he had a couple white bandaids on his face which made her wonder if he got beat up a lot.

"No, it's fine," he assured. He bent down to pick her phone up and handed it to her. "Here."

"Thanks," she said, and that was the last of their exchange.

As she continued walking, she checked out her phone and was relieved to see there were no cracks. There was, however, a weird app that popped up into the screen out of nowhere.

It was a red app with a creepy eye design at the front. It laid innocently amongst the other apps, but Shiina knew she never downloaded it before.

When she got home, she tried deleting it, thinking it was some sort of bug. That didn't work. Instead, the app activated.

"Beginning navigation," a voice spoke.

Her living room started to disappear. Her surroundings flashed back and forth until finally, it stopped. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She was in an entirely different room! The tatami floor was gone, replaced by pink tiles. The walls were pink and had fancy arches and the furniture looked to be precious antiques.

Despite how nice it looked, there was something not right about this place.

The room's aura just wasn't the same. The atmosphere felt almost other-worldly, as if she had traveled to a different dimension. The air she breathed didn't taste normal and it was too quiet.

But then she heard footsteps approaching.

She turned just in time for a figure to step into the living room. All the air in her was forced out as she stumbled back, eyes widening at the figure before her.

"......Touya...?" She breathed out, feeling like she was going to collapse. He looked older, like the age he should've been. His hair was just as vibrant and as red as hers, but his eyes... his eyes weren't the same.

They were yellow.

"Ichigo," she flinched when she heard his voice. It sounded like his own... mixed with someone else's. He was even using his old nickname for her. He always called her Ichigo whenever she was mad, because when she was mad her face would turn red. Like a strawberry. He'd always tease her with that nickname, and she'd forget why she was mad in the first place, successfully distracted by him.

"T-Touya...?" She trembled, wet trails falling down her face. "I missed you, I missed you!" She ran to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing tightly as if she was scared to let go. And she was. She didn't want him to disappear again...! The first time was too painful!

A hand soothed the back of her head, and she didn't even care about how much it felt like a stranger's touch. Her brother was here! He was here and he was okay!

"Why—why are you here, Touya?" She sniffled, looking up at him. Oh god, he'd grown so tall!

"Let's go to the conservatory," he suggested, ignoring her question. "Everyone's waiting for you."

"The... conservatory?" Reluctantly, she pulled away to wipe her eyes. Her house didn't have a conservatory... Then again, this wasn't her house. And who was 'everyone'? "Touya-nii, who's house is this?"

He chuckled. "It's our house, silly."

"What?"

Again, he ignored her and grabbed her hand like he always did and led her through the house.

Touya's hand was so large and his touch was so gentle. She missed holding her older brother's hand. She missed her older brother in general. She was oblivious to the fact that his skin, which had always been so nice and warm, felt... cold.

As he led her to the back of the grand house, Shiina noticed the many pictures and paintings on the wall. She was in there, and so was Touya, and the rest of their siblings. Her parents were there too. What caught her attention was how happy everyone looked. Like a real, normal, and perfect family.

She was so distracted by the picture perfect images that she didn't even realize Shouto wasn't in any of them.

"Here we are, Shiina," he said, pushing the doors open. The conservatory was elegant and perfect just like every part of the house. The walls were replaced with glass windows, which allowed sunlight to bask into the room. It shined upon a group of very familiar figures. Her whole family was here. Her father, Fuyumi, Natsuo, and even her mother who was supposed to be at the hospital. Everyone was here except... Shouto.

"Mom?" She whispered in shock. "W-what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the hospital?"

Her mother tilted her head in confusion, yellow eyes glimmering. "The hospital?" Her voice was weird too. "Why would I be at the hospital, my dear?"

"Yes, Shiina, your mother is of great health," her father chuckled, smiling at her. The expression was so foreign that she was rendered speechless. His face was unfamiliar to her. The smile... the eyes... Even the fatherly tone he was using on her.

She looked around the room. "Where is Shouto?"

"Oh gosh, did you forget Shiina?" Fuyumi frowned.

"F-forget what?" She stammered.

Natsuo clicked his tongue and shook his head, though his eyes were full of mirth. "Ah, Shi-chan's always been so forgetful huh?"

"But we all love you anyways," Fuyumi smiled.

"Shouto didn't make it, remember?" Rei said gently.

Shiina tensed up. "...Didn't... make it?"

A reassuring hand was placed over her shoulder. "He died in the womb, unfortunately," Touyo said, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly.

"But that's okay," Endeavor assured. "Because we still have you. We're so glad that you were born, Shiina."

"Yes," Rei nodded, smiling in agreement. "Everything is just so much better now that you're here."

"R-really?" She couldn't believe her ears. She turned to her dad. "You're... you're really happy, daddy? Be—because of me?"

"Of course!" He answered jovially. "You're my pride and joy, Shiina! The best thing I was ever gifted! Your birth was the greatest moment of my life."

Shiina could've crying tears of joy. Her father had never, ever said such wonderful things to her. She couldn't even remember a time where he ever complimented her!

"But I—I don't have a Quirk," she choked out, trying to keep her tears at bay. "I'm Quirkless, daddy. I can't be the Number One Hero you want me to be. I—I'm not like Shouto, I can't beat All Might."

"Quirk?" He echoed. "What do you mean by that, sweetheart?"

She froze, blinking. "Wait... you don't..."

Fuyumi suddenly gasped. "Dad! Your gift!"

"Huh?" Shiina blinked.

Endeavor looked as if he just remembered something. "That's right! Thank you, Fuyumi, I almost forgot! Shiina, come here, I have a present for you."

"A present...?" She repeated, walking forward as Touya joined his other two siblings.

Her father showed her a gift box, which he opened. Inside was a jade bracelet, glittering nice and bright. "A belated birthday gift," he said. "Since I was so busy with work that I couldn't make it to your fifteenth birthday party."

I didn't have a party, she almost said aloud. My birthday was never celebrated. None of ours were.

She paused when she reached out for it. She was hesitant. All of this was so nice... but it was wrong. The pleasantries. The happy family. Her father treating her like she so desperately wanted to be treated. Touya being back. Her mother being home.

Shouto being dead.

It left a troubling feeling in her stomach.

"Do you love me...?" She asked her father quietly.

He gave her a smile that made her stomach twist. "Of course I do."

This isn't real. She thought, lips quivering. He doesn't love me. Not in real life.

Her real father was back home. And he didn't love her at all.

She stepped back, feeling as if the illusion she placed over herself had finally shattered. "This isn't real."

Everyone's face fell. Touya stepped forward. "Ichigo—"

"—Don't call me that!" She snapped, whirling around. She backed away from everyone, glaring with hateful eyes. "None of this is real! My dad doesn't love me, Shouto's not dead, and mom's supposed to be at the hospital because she's fucking traumatized by all the shit she's been through!"

"That's quite the imagination you have Shiina." Her dad chuckled, but it lacked any real emotions. She stared him square in the eye and flinched when she finally saw the familiar coldness his eyes always held.

"I'm leaving this place." She spat.

"No you're not." Touya—the fake Touya spoke, standing between her and the door.

The door was blocked. But the conservatory room was full of glass. Shoving her fake sister out of the way, she covered her face and dove through the glass walls, her body crashing down on the outside grass and little pieces of glass. Not sparing her fake family a glance, she bolted away.

She had no idea where she was running, but when she heard an onslaught of non-distorted voices, she thought fuck it and headed straight there. She was rendered speechless when she managed to make it to what appeared to be the center of the garden.

A bunch of suited and masked individuals—along with a talking cat—were battling it out with a massive, monster doll that was screeching so loudly that Shiina felt like her eardrums were about to burst. It was around eight feet tall, with hollow sockets and stone-like skin covered with dirt and chips. Her hands held half a pair of broken scissors coated in what appeared to be dried blood. The doll's red hair reminded her of herself.

"Shiina!" A blonde boy cried out and Shiina's heart stopped when she recognized the voice as Ryuji's. What the hell was he doing here?! "Open your damn eyes and see that your old man's ruining your life! Can't you see that he'll never love you?! That crazy bastard isn't even capable of that emotion!"

"DON'T LECTURE ME ABOUT MY FATHER WHEN YOUR OWN ABANDONED YOU!" The doll shrieked, raising it's scissor blade and slamming it down on him. Ryuji just narrowly evaded being sliced in half.

What the hell, that thing is me?! Shiina internally shrieked.

"Shit, Shiina's here!" A voice coming from the floating eyeball exclaimed.

"Yeah, we know!" A short haired girl snapped before delivering some hefty punches on the doll's body.

"No, I mean the REAL Shiina!"

"WHAT?!" Ryuji turned, locking eyes with the real Shiina who was just a few yards away from the scene. His jaw dropped. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

"My—my phone sent me here," she spluttered. "What the fuck are you doing here?!"

A blue haired boy with a fox mask quickly went to her side when he noticed the small cuts on her skin. "Are you alright?" He asked breathlessly.

"I'm fine," she answered quickly. "But we need to get out of here. This whole place is insane. It's like Coraline, but instead of button eyes, it's yellow eyes! This house is all fake!"

"But wouldn't you want this to be real?" A new voice chimed, sounding eerily similar to her own. Everyone turned towards it. The large creepy doll was gone and in it's place... was her.

It was an almost perfect carbon copy of herself, except her eyes were yellow and her voice was distorted like everyone else. She was wearing a pretty, pink dress with long, thigh-high white socks. Her outfit was full of perfect frills, perfect bows, and perfect laces. It was like Alice in Wonderland, but everything about her screamed 'twisted'.

(pink version of the middle outfit)

The real Shiina backed away even more. "I do," she replied honestly, distraught. "I wish my life was like this, but it's not and it never will be."

Her yellow eyed clone frowned in contempt. "So you'd rather live your miserable life than get the life you deserve? Pathetic."

"No you're pathetic!" She shot back. "You've completely deluded yourself! No..." She trailed off, realization sinking in. "I've completely deluded myself...!"

Sensing that something major was about to happen, the blue haired boy backed away until he felt it was safe.

"Everything about this is fake!" Shiina screamed. "An illusion created by me to make me feel better about myself!"

Suddenly, the most painful sensation swept throughout her entire body. She groaned aloud, clutching her skull as pure agony rolled off her in waves.

Finally, a dark voice purred in her head. It made the pain grow more unbearable. She dropped to her knees and screamed, writhing. I've been waiting for you to disillusion yourself. Reality is not quite as pleasant, is it? Nevertheless, I know you will overcome it... It is time we forge a contract... I am thou, thou art I... I shall help you open your eyes, and you will never again stray from your path.

Amidst her thrashing, something appeared over her face in a flash of light. A mask.

"I can see clearly now, Tullia," Shiina panted. Without hesitating, she gripped the mask's edges and ripped it off, screaming as her flesh ripped along with it. Blood spurted every whichway, coating the upper half of her face. As her eyes turned yellow, a burst of blue flames encased her, and she could hear several people screaming in surprise.

A dark entity appeared behind her in a blinding flash.

A horrific looking woman hovered behind Shiina. Her hair was a dark shade of red, matching the blood on her clothes. The crimson liquid was splattered all over the woman's ripped black toga and it covered the bottom half of her face as well. Even her eyes looked like it had been replaced by a fountain of blood. Her legs didn't show, her lower half was just a swirly, wispy mass of black and red.

Tullia looked like a monster but Shiina had never felt so comforted by a person's presence.

Shiina stepped forward, her heeled boots making a loud click sound. Her casual wear had been replaced by a bodysuit. It was black with splashes of vibrant red on it. She had a braided sash across her waist and a long pair of gloves that reached passed her elbows. Her hands were brandishing a sort of clawed gauntlet that was almost a foot long, the same color of crimson on her outfit.

( it's just like that ^ but without the... side openings. There's no boa either or cool sword )

( these are what the claws look like except they're red and can be retractable. As for her feet, Shiina does have boots on but the bottom of them has those claws^ )

"I've been so stupid..." Shiina choked out, glaring at her yellow eyed self. "For years I've blamed Shouto for my problems, but he's done nothing wrong. He's not to blame. Dad is for ruining our family and I am too for letting it happen...! I will not fool myself again!"

"You've opened your eyes," the other Shiina commended, stepping back and nodding her head in acceptance. "That's good. Make sure to keep your eyes open. Don't let yourself be blinded again."

In a flash, the other Shiina disappeared with a golden glow and the real Shiina felt complete.

"Shiina!" Ryuji ran to her. "You actually got a Persona, holy shit!"

"Ryuji, seriously, what the hell are you doing here?" She wondered aloud.

He gave her a sheepish look, scratching the back of his head. "Well, uh—"

"—Incoming!" A black haired boy holding a large knife called out.

Shiina whirled around and saw that the rest of her fake family had joined the show. Shit, she inwardly cursed. Almost forgot about them...

"I told you before, Ichigo," Touya began, his form slowly being overcome with black sludge. "You're... not... leaving!"

Within seconds, her family had burst apart and transformed into sludge-like monstrosities. They had been reduced to gunk monsters, some with doll limbs sticking out of their gruesome looking bodies. Except for Fuyumi, who had turned into some sort of black slug.

(Touya)

(Endeavor)

(Rei)

(Natsuo)

(Fuyumi)

"Do your dear mother a favor and die!" One of the monsters shrieked, sounding a lot like her mother. The monster with the pipes and wheels sprinted towards her, leaving a trail of black slime at her wake.

"You are not my mom!" Shiina shouted, and Tullia thrusted her palms out, streams of black and red energy shooting out. Some shots stabbed through the monsters, but the black sludge slithering on the ground seemed unaffected.

A loud screech interrupted their conversation, and the nine of them looked up to see the Touya-monster opening it's dark mouth, a purple ball forming in front of it.

"Dodge!" The boy with curly hair shouted. Altogether, they dove to the side. Shiina landed gracefully on her hands and feet before launching herself forward, claws out. She sliced at the creature's side, her claws making a squish noise as she pierced it's flesh. As she hung on it's back, it raised one arm and sliced at the skin between her neck and shoulder.

"Ow!" She hissed, flipping back to make distance between her and what once was her brother.

"You fucking psychopath!" Ryuji snarled, seeing the wound on his friend's body. His grey mask was engulfed in blue. A massive figure appeared above him. A brick red monkey wearing ancient Chinese armor and donning an impressive blonde mohawk smirked deviously, readying his bludgeoning staff. "Seitan Taisei!" He called out, and his Persona aimed his staff.

A ball of electricity started to form at the end of the monkey's staff and shot critically at the monster, killing it instantly.

One down, five more to go.

A blonde girl dressed in a red cat suit approached Shiina. "Are you okay?" She asked, brandishing a whip.

Shiina tilted her head in confusion. "Your voice sounds... familiar..."

The girl tensed up. "Uh, I-I'm a famous singer!"

"Do we go to school together?" The red head asked.

"We should focus more on the fight!" She suggested hastily.

"O...kay?" She trailed off, the blonde girl eagerly running towards the fight. Weird.

She ran as well, her Persona following her movements.

Everything felt so weird and new to her. The adrenaline and the exhilaration she felt as she battled against the doll monster was something she had never felt before. She was leaping swiftly and attacking with seemingly untapped strength, she was doing things she had never done before.

...Yet it felt so right. As if she had been doing this for years! She wasn't quite as active, she never underwent training like Shouto, and she certainly never practiced how to fight. But yet, this felt so normal for her.

Whatever this is, I like it! Shiina grinned.

She and her Persona were in tune with each other. Without needing a verbal command, Tullia would attack with a flurry of red and black beams or would lunge and sink her claws into the shadow's sludgy flesh.

Fuyumi and Natsuo's Shadows have been defeated so far, which left only her parents.

Tullia raised her arms and a pillar of dark energy blasted through the remaining monsters, making them shriek in pain. It made her sick every time she heard her mom scream, but she knew this wasn't her real mother.

"They're definitely weak to curse," the one in black stated. He looked at her. "Your Persona specializes in curse magic. Keep attacking them. We can finish this."

"On it," she nodded. "Tullia!"

Tullia let out a glass-shattering screech and opened her mouth, a ball of black and red energy forming.

"Arsene!" He called out, his own Persona materializing. It thrusted it's palm out, chuckling deviously.

Simultaneously, the two attacks made their hit.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Her parents writhed in pain before they exploded in black.

"We did it," a curly haired girl that sounded a lot like the Okumura heiress sighed in relief.

Suddenly, the whole building started to shake.

Shiina blinked, the short-lived moment of victory now ruined. "Wh—what the heck is going on?!"

"The Palace is collapsing!" The cat answered.

"Someone get the Treasure!" Ryuji shouted amongst the chaos.

"I got it!" An orange haired girl called out, running back from the gazebo with a glimmering diamond necklace in hand. "Here, it's yours!" She said, tossing the accessory to Shiina who caught it.

"Now let's get out of here before we get killed." The black haired boy commanded.

Well, Shiina certainly wasn't against that. She ran with them to the exit and as they made it out of the gates, everything disappeared.

She was back in her living room. Everyone else was gone. The world no longer felt like it was being ripped apart.

"Oh... oh god..." She said breathlessly, collapsing to her knees. She couldn't stand anymore. She felt so painfully exhausted...

"Huh...?" The diamond necklace was no longer in her hand. Instead, it was replaced with an old toy she thought she had lost so many years ago. It was the stuffed Endeavor toy her father got for her, back when he... when he still treated her decently. She wasn't going to say 'loved' because now she knew the truth: he never once loved her or any of his kids.

I dropped this before, she thought, tears running down her face. I remember it. It was after a doctor's visit... when they told me I was Quirkless...

"...Shiina?" A hesitant voice said.

She snapped her head up.

Shouto.

"......Are you alright?" He asked her softly.

Shiina figured that she looked like a mess to him. On her knees, crying in the middle of the living room with an old Endeavor toy in her hand and a fallen smoothie on the floor.

"Sh—shouto—!" She choked up, her cries growing louder. Oh god... She had been so horrible to him all these years...! What kind of sister was she? Putting the blame on him, calling him such rude things! He had it worse then she did, but she berated him nonetheless! She was just as bad as their father.

"Shouto, I'm so sorry!" She weeped, dropping the toy to cover her mouth. "S-so sorry, oh god, I'm so sorry, Shouto, I'm so sorry!"

His eyes widened in disbelief. Was he hearing things right? Seeing things right? His younger twin, who hated him for a good portion of their life was... apologizing to him?

"Are you—" He paused. She clearly wasn't alright. "Why are you crying, Shiina?"

"Because I've realized what I've done," she struggled to say through her sobs. "I realize it now, Shouto... I've been so horrible to you when all you've ever done was care for me... You've always been so nice, but I never once reciprocated. I was so fucking desperate for dad to 'love' me again that I've deluded myself into thinking you were the cause of all my problems... But you're not! I am!"

He shook his head, joining her on the floor. He kneeled down and balled his fists. "You've done nothing wrong," he said firmly. "It's not your fault you were born Quirkless. It's a father's job to love all of his kids equally. Our shitty old man didn't do that... All you've ever wanted was to be loved by him... Y-you've... you've done no—nothing wrong..." He started to stammer, and Shiina looked up to see that he was beginning to cry as well. "You've done nothing wrong..." He repeated.

"...I'm sorry, Shouto." She said quietly.

"It's okay. I forgave you a long time ago." He stated, which made her smile weakly. She truly had the greatest twin ever. She only wished she had realized it sooner.

"Ah... can I... do you mind if I... er, hug you?" She asked nervously. She could really use a hug right now. And it had been a very long time since she and Shouto hugged. A decade or so, she guessed.

He blinked, not expecting the request but a slight pink dusted his cheeks. "Um... sure..."

She embraced him tightly, but quickly. Only letting the hug last a few seconds since she knew he wasn't a huggy type of person. She pulled back and looked at the mess she made on the floor. "You should, um, go do your homework now. I need to clean up." She started to stand, but her legs gave up on her and she fell back down to her knees.

"Shiina—?!"

"—I'm fine," she said quickly. "Just... just tired..." She hastily wiped her face, thinking Oh god, I'm too tired to even clean up.

Kind as ever, Shouto helped her stand. "What were you doing anyways?"

"Well, I went out for some Jamba Juice," she answered, but it didn't exactly explain why she was so tired.

"Why are you so tired?" He asked.

"It was a long walk." She lied.

"Oh. Do you need help walking back to your room?"

"I..." She looked at her spilled smoothie.

"I'll clean it up. You should go rest." He insisted.

She bit her lip. She didn't want to make her brother do anything...

"Please." He added.

"...Okay..." She sighed.

With his arm wrapped around her, he helped her walk to her room. He even helped tuck her in bed! She was seriously the worst person in the world to be so cruel to him.

As he started to leave her room, she called out to him meekly.

"Shouto?"

He paused at her doorway and turned to her expectantly.

"Do you mind throwing out that Endeavor toy too?"

His response was immediate: "Gladly. In fact, I think I'll even burn it."

— author's note —

The creepy doll pictures are from this game called Alice Madness Returns. Love that game, btw. It's been a while since I played it...

Fun Fact! Shiina's Persona, Tullia, is named after Tullia Minor. She was the last queen of Rome and she, along with her husband, successfully overthrew and murdered her father to secure the throne!

😃