Chapter Text
“Thanks for the follow, HandMe_Destruction! Glad you’re enjoying the stream!” You flashed a grin at the camera before you went back to looking at the screen. “So! What do we think? Do we go left or right now? That one on the right looks pretty safe, but I always say “when in doubt, go left”!” Allowing yourself a little laugh, you sent the character sprinting off down the path on the left side of the screen.
He was only half-paying attention at first. It wasn’t that often, but sometimes he got kind of lonely. Everyone does, right? But he didn’t exactly want to be with someone else. Yeah, he could throw money at a camgirl, but after what happened last time…
So when he got lonely today, he decided to put on a streamer to have in the background while he gamed. He looked specifically for someone playing the same game as him and that’s how Shigaraki found you. He didn’t think you were all that special at first; you weren’t great at the game and kept making newbie mistakes.
What made him hit the “follow” button? Well, really, it’s your charisma. You talked to your viewers and made him feel like he was really sitting there with someone else. He could imagine you were actually there instead of it just being him sitting alone in this room lit solely by the blue glow of his computer screens.
“You should’ve gone right,” he grumbled, scratching at his neck. “Why would you go left? Didn’t you watch the trailer?”
“Shit, shit, shit! You know what? Maybe right was the right way to go after all!” You laughed as your character got shredded by a werewolf and you shook your head. “Well it’s a good thing we saved back there, right? Let’s try that again.”
His eyes narrowed and he leaned closer to the screen. His own character was idling at the same save point because now he was determined to make this experience even more realistic. He’d play the same routes like he was there with you playing in a multiplayer server.
Your character and his character were both running down the same paths now. Every turn you made, he’d make. Every item you picked up, he’d pick up. When you got to the boss waiting at the end of the path, he had to stop paying attention to you and actually play seriously. Shigaraki wasn’t going to let himself lose just because you kept making mistakes.
His character survived, but yours didn’t make it. He saw you frown and rub at the bridge of your nose. On camera, you leaned back in your chair and pulled up your hood for a few seconds as you seemed to sulk. It was confusing to him.
First of all, you should’ve just gone back and upgraded your armor. Then you could go at it again and probably survive. Secondly, why did you look cute when you were pouting like that? You, who he wasn’t totally sure of what gender you were. Why did you look so cute when you finally threw back your hood and sighed?
“Okay! Might have to call it quits for tonight. I’ll have to read up on some strategies for this guy and come up with a new…huh?” You’d just decided you were going to stop streaming for the night. Just grab a drink and watch some comedies to cheer yourself up after getting your ass handed to you by that boss. Then you saw the message.
Most of your followers and subscribers carried on their own little conversations in the chat. When things heated up, they’d usually cheer you on or offer tips. They’d ask about your day, too. Everyone was trying to send you words of encouragement except for one. Your newest follower.
The message from the user HandMe_Destruction said, “Get into the Onyx server in multiplayer. I have items I can give you.”
You read the message again and tilted your head. A smile tugged at your lips and you rubbed the back of your neck. “Okay, maybe I’ll give it another chance. HandMe_Destruction’s offering some help. What do we think?” It was a unanimous agreement from everyone in the chat; you were going to enter that server.
Every time you said his username, he felt his pulse quicken. He subconsciously held his breath as he waited in the server and when your character appeared, he smirked. “Alright. I’m going to give you what you need, so you’d better make this worth my while.”
What goodies did he have to offer? Some armor that had been upgraded to its maximum defense levels, a pair of high quality twin blades that matched your character class, and he even gave you a bunch of potions. Of course, you thanked him. You thanked him in the game as well as in the stream.
“You’re the best, HandMe_Destruction! Hey, can we get a hand emoji in the chat?” You gave the camera a mock salute, grinning.
Oh, you were cute. And you really did make him feel like you were there with him. Like the two of you were gaming together. Shigaraki continued to smirk at the screen and scratched his neck as the chat filled with hand emojis. People were thanking him for all his help, but what really mattered was your gratitude.
“Seriously, dude. I’ll have to find a way to thank you. I wouldn’t be able to beat this guy without your help.” You were back in single player mode and your character was running toward the boss.
Someone gifted him a subscription, but he didn’t really care. He was leaning forward in his chair and staring at the screen. Waiting to see if you could actually beat the boss this time. To his absolute astonishment, you did it!
With all the nifty gear that kind stranger gave you, you really couldn’t lose. Your character charged into the boss’s lair and had him sliced into little pieces in a matter of seconds! Everyone in the chat was cheering for you and some people donated money, but you were watching for HandMe_Destruction’s reaction. All he commented was “good”, but that was good enough for you.
“Okay, everybody! It’s getting pretty late and I’ve got work in the morning so I’m calling it here. Be sure to drop in on Wednesday for the next stream! Make tomorrow magical~” You gave your audience a wave and a smile before you ended it.
Leaning back in your chair, you stretched your arms over your head and yawned. Working during the day and streaming in the evening was kind of exhausting sometimes, but it was fun. You liked being able to entertain people and when you got comments that you’d brightened someone’s day, it just made your day that much better.
The apartment was pretty quiet now that the stream ended. It was just you and your tortoise. You’d gotten her as a gift when you around five and the weird reptile had been a constant companion for most of your life. Her name was Tiramisu because when you were a kid, you had…questionable taste in names.
The tortoise lifted her head from the fruit she was munching on and peered up at you curiously. “Yeah, stream’s over for now. I think we’ve got time for one sitcom before bedtime, though. What do you think?” That slow blink was all you needed to decide she agreed with you. The gate to her little enclosure was opened and you walked off to sit on the couch with her very slowly following.
Who were you? Shigaraki was staring at the screen, trying to get back to his game now that your stream was over. Yeah, he’d followed you and someone gifted him a subscription, but that didn’t mean he knew who you were.
So he clicked on your profile and skimmed over it. Your username and the weird little details you put on the profile like your favorite color, your favorite food, what character classes you liked best, favorite games. His eyes paused when he came across the section that read “pronouns: they/them”.
“What does that mean?” He hated that he had to look it up online, but now he was just a little too invested. When he read the description, it didn’t really change anything. Just what he thought of you as. Not a girl. Not a boy. No, he’d be thinking of you as just a gamer now. That made sense to him.
And he still couldn’t help thinking you were kind of cute. So he followed you on the social media accounts you had listed. None of these were your private one, obviously. Shigaraki knew you were smarter than that; these were for you to interact with fans. He didn’t even know what your real name was.
When was your next stream? You said it’d be on Wednesday, didn’t you? That was two whole days for him to have to wait! He hated it, but he actually liked having someone to play with. He almost wished you could play in person together.
Now that he was back to enjoying this dark, gloomy room by himself, he was scratching at his neck harder. His teeth gritted and he pulled up one of your social media accounts. So many pictures for him to look through! There you were with a coffee, there you were in a hoodie and beanie that advertised a popular RPG, and there were a few of you with what looked like a turtle or something.
Wouldn’t it be fun to have you with him? You liked all the same games so you’d have so much to talk about! And wasn’t Kurogiri always trying to encourage him to be more sociable? So why not develop his socializing skills by talking to a…cute…gamer like you?
“You want me to gather information on someone?” Kurogiri sounded a little skeptical about it when Shigaraki brought it up.
“I want you to get as much information as you can. They’re a potential recruit. I just want to make sure we don’t have any nasty surprises. So just do your job.” He wasn’t going to tell Kurogiri the truth. That he just wanted to learn more about this gamer that he found unexplainably cute. That wouldn’t sound very villainous, now would it?