NeonHorizon: I just wanted Kurogiri to have a nice Christmas so I wrote this. Might consider making a fanfic for Kurogiri in the future featuring this OC, depending on how you lovely readers feel. Happy reading!

He saved a life on Christmas Eve. It was by no means intended. Honestly, it was more of a reflex to open a warp gate when he saw the little girl running into the road and the truck speeding toward her. It all happened so quickly that he struggled to process what he had done for a moment.

The warp gate opened in front of the child. She tumbled through it and landed in front of Kurogiri on the sidewalk with tears running down her face. The truck's horn honked loudly and it sped past them. The honk frightened the child and she gripped the leg of Kurogiri's pants with a small, trembling hand.

He peered down at her, still trying to work through what had occurred. He was out running errands. It was supposed to be quick and easy. Yet here he was now; standing on the sidewalk with a crying child that he just rescued from a brutal death. Kurogiri, still not quite sure what he should do now, looked around for someone to leave the girl with.

This stretch of road was busy with vehicles, but not pedestrians. The few people that were in the area just gave him curious stares before continuing on their way. The man realized that help would not be offered and began to contemplate just leaving her. After all, he had business to attend to. Items to acquire for Shigaraki. Contacts to speak with.

Looking down at the child again, his glowing eyes narrowed slightly. This girl had to be around six at the oldest. She was trembling and sobbing; still terrified from nearly being decimated by the speeding cargo truck. Wearing a pink dress with a matching pink ribbon in her bobbed, wavy, pale blue hair.

The hair made him think of Shigaraki, of his duty to Shigaraki, and he began to weigh his options. Leaving her here alone would be cruel. Even he knew this much and could admit it. Taking her to the police was out of the question since he was basically a villain and All for One would not want him going anywhere near a police station. Bringing her back to the bar was also out of the question.

"Michiko! Michiko, where are you?!" The desperate cries came from down the street, around the corner. A female voice that held fear and despair.

Kurogiri held out a dark, misty hand toward the child and it was accepted without hesitation. It was perplexing. This child was trusting him so completely. He set a brisk pace, but made sure that the little girl was able to keep up as he led the way toward the street corner.

His intent was to release her hand before he reached the corner and just send her ahead. He had no desire to deal without whatever was happening and he knew that if her mother saw him leading the child, it was likely she would misunderstand. He had things to do. He needed to be quick and return to Shigaraki. Kurogiri had no time to be playing hero.

The woman rounded the corner before he could reach it, still calling the name "Michiko", and Kurogiri was once again perplexed. This woman was young. She had to be in her mid or late twenties. Like the little girl, she had pale blue hair. However, hers hung loosely past her shoulders in elegant waves. Her eyes were a vibrant magenta shade and shone with fresh tears when she saw her child.

In the next few seconds, she had closed the distance between them and was on her knees on the sidewalk. Hugging her daughter and softly scolding her for wandering off while they were shopping. "Never, ever do that again, Michiko! What if something had happened?!"

"I-I almost got hit! By a truck! B-but he saved me! He save me, Mom!" The little girl hugged back, but then leaned away to point at Kurogiri.

The woman held the girl closer as she looked up to meet his glowing gaze and she did the strangest thing. She smiled at him. A true, pure, grateful smile that caused the villain's dark heart to beat double for a moment. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Her voice was warm, kind. Her tone reflected such a deep gratitude that he, for a brief instant, felt like a hero.

That was Christmas Eve. It was now Christmas Day. Kurogiri was given time for himself, but had nothing to do so he simply wandered the back alleys. He had trouble remembering the last time he had time to himself. It was so strange to find himself trying to figure out what he actually wanted to do. He was used to his days being spent aiding Shigaraki or running errands.

After the incident the previous day, he was wary of going near the streets. He had left briskly after the woman thanked him. He had only done one small thing, but it had caused such an impact. It brought on feelings of puzzlement. It made him feel something, but it was hard to place. Like it was at the edge of his mind. Like the answer was behind a screen, blurring it and distorting it; making it nearly impossible to determine what it was.

"Ah! It's you! Mist-san!" a small, high-pitched voice called.

He paused in his steps. Kurogiri had been walking down an alley to avoid people and yet he was found so quickly. He turned to look and found the little girl from the day before. She ran up to him without hesitation and threw her arms around him in a hug.

"Mist-san! Thank you so much for yesterday! I didn't think we'd see you again, but here you are! Mom, look!"

"Michiko, wait…oh!" The woman came around the corner and smiled warmly. "Hello! I'm sorry. Michiko, you shouldn't force hugs on people."

"But, Mom, I found him! I didn't think we'd see him again!"

"Excuse me, but is there a reason why you hoped to see me?" Kurogiri was hesitant to speak. Fearful that they intended to go to the police. Fearful that they recognized him as a shady person, that he would be incarcerated, that he would be torn away from his duties to Shigaraki. He might need to make a quick escape.

The little girl stood back and beamed, but grabbed his sleeve. "You have to come with us! I want to give you something!"

"You wish to give me something?" Now he was really confused. However, he let the child pull him along down the alley. Now that she had said this, it did not seem like they disliked him. Quite the contrary; they both seemed especially grateful for what he had done the day before.

Her mother walked alongside him and smiled a bit sheepishly. "Michiko. Yesterday after you left us, she wanted to get you a gift. I told her that we might not see you again, but she insisted."

Something about her smile made him feel a bit less reluctant to go. Any other reluctance melted away as they came to their destination: a café. A warm, sweet-smelling café that bore the name "Good Coffee". The woman unlocked the front door to admit them, making him realize that this café actually belonged to her.

"I'll go get it! Don't leave, okay, Mist-san?" Michiko hurried to the back room and could be heard running up a flight of stairs.

Kurogiri stood near the door, feeling a faint awkwardness. This was nothing like how he was used to being treated. Christmas always passed without a gift. His efforts went without a word of thanks. To be so appreciated felt strange, but there was a flicker of something. A warm feeling. A good feeling.

The woman walked to the counter and turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Have a seat. I'll make some coffee." She gestured toward the closest table and set about making coffee for two. "Do you have a name, Mist-san?"

He hesitated to answer, but finally caved in when she set down a tray on the table. Two cups of black coffee. One cup of warm milk with cinnamon. A small pitcher of cream. A sugar container. As well as three slices of strawberry cake and three forks. "I go by Kurogiri."

She seated herself across from him after setting out the cake slices and cups. "Kurogiri. That's a pretty cool name. Mysterious! I like it!"

Now that he was closer, Kurogiri could see more about her features. Her skin was a warm, fawn sort of tone with dark freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheekbones. When she smiled at him, the smile settled easily on her features. Not at all forced. Sweet and natural. "And your name?"

"Yawarakai Misora." She blew gently on her coffee before taking a dainty sip.

Kurogiri found himself staring as his dark, misty hands moved to the cup she had poured for him. She never put cream or sugar into her coffee; she simply began drinking it black. Another perplexing thing to him. He poured a small amount of sugar into his own before taking a sip. To his astonishment, it actually tasted quite good. Not bitter in the least. The beans had been perfectly roasted.

"You are quite skilled," he stated. "Thank you for this. I'm afraid I don't have-"

She held up a hand, still smiling. "It's free. I couldn't charge you, Kurogiri-san. Not after what you did yesterday." The smile on her face began to fade as she lowered her gaze to her coffee, absently swirling the cup to making it swish around. "Michiko's all I have now. I don't know if I could keep going if something happened to her."

A pang. Like a small shock of electricity to his chest. His glowing eyes narrowed and he sipped his coffee again. "I don't mean to pry, but where is her father?"

Misora set down her cup and ran her fingers through her wavy, pale blue hair. "This is her first Christmas without him. We separated three years ago. We'd been together since high school. I had Michiko when I was still pretty young. I guess…maybe he just got bored. He started talking to a girl overseas and moved. The first two years, he came to visit for Christmas and New Year's. But our divorce finalized this year and he just…"

She grimaced and wiped her sleeve across her eyes. "I guess he was just waiting for the final cut. He called and said he had plans with her this year. I can deal with it, but Michiko's been having a hard time."

Kurogiri was not a sentimental man. However, he felt another pang. A flicker of something really deep down. Like a burning, buried in his chest beneath layers and layers of heavy darkness. He set down his cup and lowered his head. "That is cruel."

"I've got it!" Running footsteps could be heard before the little girl came running into the café again. She was holding a haphazardly wrapped Christmas present in her little hands and Michiko was trying hard to contain her smile. "Mist-san, I wanted to give you this! Thank you for saving me yesterday!"

"It's Kurogiri-san, Michiko." Her mother smiled as the child looked from her to the man.

"Kurogiri-san?" She tilted her head, but then grinned. "That's such a cool name! Mom, did he show you his quirk?"

"Michiko, why don't you give him his gift? And it's not polite to make someone show you their quirk." Misora scooted out a chair for the little girl as Michiko approached the man.

"I'm sorry! This is for you! I wrapped it myself and…it doesn't look very pretty…but I really wanted you to have it!"

It was clear the girl was proud of whatever it was. Her mother seemed excited to see him open the gift as well. This was so different from how he was used to being treated. Shigaraki was often demanding. After all, he tended to act more like a spoiled child than an aspiring villain. Michiko showed more maturity than he had ever seen Shigaraki display. Her mother was kind and generous. She seemed unbothered by his appearance and the cold, quiet way that he regarded the two.

Looking down at the messily wrapped gift, he began tearing away the wrapping paper. Inside was a dark red scarf crocheted from a warm, thick material. Along with it were a few wrapped candies that the girl had probably thrown in at the last minute. Kurogiri, being unable to remember the last time he received a Christmas gift, stared at the items and felt that flickering again. Like a flame desperately trying to stay lit. Desperate to seek fuel to burn brighter.

"Thank you. Michiko-san, Misora-san. I appreciate these gifts." He paused before continuing, looking at the mother and daughter. "These are perfect for the cold weather. Thank you."

Misora beamed as Michiko told him to try the cake her mother had made. "I mean, of course, you could stay for dinner. If you don't already have plans. I'm making something pretty special that Michiko picked out and there's probably going to be a lot left over."

He had no plans for the rest of the day. All for One had given him a full twenty-four hours to do as he pleased. That meant not catering to Shigaraki's whims. Not dealing with errands or meeting with potential new villains. He had time.

Looking at the two, he found that flickering sort of feeling growing. A warmth. A hint of bliss. These strangers were being so kind to him, so grateful for what he had done. Giving the faintest of nods, he reached for his cup of coffee. "I would be honored to join you for dinner."