*Watching Shigaraki Getting His Ass Kicked From A Distance*

*Watching Shigaraki getting his ass kicked from a distance*

Twice: “Shigaraki’s in trouble! He’s fine. We gotta help him! Anybody got a knife I can throw at the heroes?!”

Toga, bringing him a knife: “Right here!”

Twice: “Hang on Shigaraki, help is on the way! YEET!!!”

*Zooms out to show the knife is still right beside him*

Twice: “Huh? Wait, the hell did I throw?”

Toga, flying through the air toward the heroes:

“AAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Oh look! Time to panic and finally turn the WIPs I have into actual stories!

One Week To Go!

Good evening, everyone!  This post is to let you know that there is one week left to go until Spinaraki Week 2020.  Seven days left!  

…And only three days left until this week’s chapter spoilers start leaking!  We’re all anxious to find out whether Shigaraki’s going to Plus Chaos us by turning into Motharaki at the last possible second before this event, which brings us to a late note: 

If something huge lands on us with chapter 281 and you want to do something Spinaraki-related with that information, feel free!  We will be tagging for spoilers for the upcoming chapter using the bnha spoilers and bnha 281 tags.  If you’re concerned about spoilers, feel free to blacklist those tags, if you haven’t already.  Ditto for anything that shows up towards the end of the event week with spoilers for 282.  

As for the rest, we’re assuming that most people here are probably up on at least the broad strokes of the manga–Spinaraki hasn’t even properly hit its stride yet in the anime, after all–but we’ll be tagging any major/obvious manga spoilers with the bnha spoilers tag as a courtesy all the same.  

Get hype, get nervous, but either way–get ready!  We’re almost there!

Spinaraki Week 2020 Day 1: Fantasy

And From This Slumber You Shall Wake

The kingdom of Yuei has cast a curse upon Shigaraki that they believe will not only prevent him from interfering with their upcoming battle, but will take him out of commission entirely. After all, who could ever truly love a destructive monster like him...

~~~~~

The army of Yuei was visible from the tallest tower of the abandoned castle the League of Villains had made into their newest hideout, and Tomura Shigaraki would not wake up.

It hadn’t taken long for Ujiko, the resident necromancer, to figure out what happened when their leader had first collapsed only a few days prior, but the cause of his unconscious state spelled uncertainty for their future. It was a curse of endless sleep, most certainly cast by the magic users of Yuei if the leaked plans of their upcoming attack were true, one that could only be broken by the age-old method of true love’s kiss.

“Blast it all! Of all the curses they could have used,” Ujiko cried out, as he violently pushed himself away from the desk full of spell-casting texts, nearly shaking Toga down from her perch on the desk’s edge. As he made his way over towards one of the many bookshelves in his vast library, the league’s fiery sorcerer turned to the rest of the group. “You gotta admit, they did make one hell of a smart move.”

“Dabi, now is not the time to praise the enemy,” hissed Mr. Compress, the illusionist clearly incensed by the comment as he helped Toga to steady herself. “Dabi does sort of have a point, Mister,” the rouge witch said. “They chose a spell that not only took our dear leader and heaviest hitter out of the fight, but also made the cure something they’d probably think is impossible to fulfill.”

“Yeah, we know Shigaraki is really a lovable softie on the inside. Always making sure we’re okay. Someone’s gonna fall for him sooner or later,” declared Twice, the emotional barbarian sounding joyfully optimistic, only to abruptly sour his own mood as he hollered, “No chance! He’s an ugly, heartless bastard! Not a single drop of compassion in him!”

From the bookshelves, Ujiko shouted over his shoulder, “We can’t rely on someone magically falling in love with him now of all times, not with Yuei most likely on their way here as we speak. Now are you going to sit around or are you going to help me find a different method to break the curse?” The league quickly mobilized and started to comb through the shelves, both to save their unconscious leader and to keep Ujiko from yelling again. Before starting her own search, Toga dragged Spinner, the league’s dragonborn paladin, off to the side.

“Toga, what are you doing? We gotta find the–”

“And we will, but we also need someone to keep an eye on Tomura just in case anything happens, don’t we?”

Spinner stiffened, eyeing Toga in an attempt to unearth any ulterior motives, but he never was the best at reading others, or at most things regarding social interactions for that matter. After a moment, he asked, “Why me? What makes me more suited for guarding Shigaraki than helping out here?”

At this, Toga’s mouth curled into a smile that, while undeniably sweet, was coated with a smugness that even Spinner could see, as if she knew something that he, –and maybe even the others– didn’t.

“Trust me on this, Spinner. I think it’ll be the best outcome. Just keep your sword ready, and have some faith in yourself for once,” she grinned, and with that she retreated into the maze of shelves before he could ask her anymore questions.

~

The days the league spent in the library still had not brought forth anything helpful, and now Yuei’s army was marching ever closer. Spinner quickly turned away from the view from the tallest tower and made his way back to his post at Shigaraki’s side. He had barely stirred since the curse started, with only the occasional twitch and the ever steady rise and fall of his chest as proof that he was still alive. Miraculously, Shigaraki could still swallow the water and porridge brought to him, meaning that Spinner didn’t have to worry too much over his leader becoming even more malnourished than he already was. It was a small comfort, but one that soothed his own fears nonetheless.

“Bad news, Shigaraki,” Spinner groaned as he sat down in the wooden chair he had dragged over to be as close to Shigaraki’s bedside as he could. “Yuei’s army is within our sight, and it looks like they’ve got every knight within the surrounding lands to fight with them. Time’s really running out now, huh.”

He slowly reached towards Shigaraki’s hand but paused at the last moment, unsure how Shigaraki would react, or if he would react at all, before stealing his courage and taking Shigaraki’s hand into his own.

“You’ve always been the strongest one in our band of oddballs, always pushing yourself beyond your limits. So, now you gotta get up, okay? Shigaraki?”

Unbeknownst to Spinner, fighting within the heavy waters of his own conscious, Tomura Shigaraki was barely keeping himself from sinking into oblivion. It wasn’t enough to wake up on his own, but Tomura was just able to occasionally squirm and swallow the food and drink Spinner had offered. And although he knew Spinner couldn’t hear him, Shigaraki replied anyway.

Trust me Spinner, I’ve been trying to get up since this damn curse started! No way would I intentionally leave you guys to fight a battle on your own like this, especially if Yuei’s army is as big as you’re making it out to be.

“I know we’ve barely been getting by nowadays, but the only way we’re gonna see brighter days is if you wake up. And not– it’s not just in terms of victories, you know. I understand that you want everyone to get what they want in life, some happy memories and experiences, and I just think you deserve some of that too–”

He suddenly cut himself off with an involuntary sob, and Spinner noticed the tears that were gathering in his eyes. Once he realized he was crying he couldn’t stop, droplets of warm salt water cascading from his eyes.

Spinner, are you okay? Never mind that’s a stupid question, clearly you aren’t! I can feel your tears landing upon my hand. Damn it! It’s been a while since I used to be this much of an emotional sponge, a decade at least. Just another one of my dormant traits the league has brought out of me! You especially, Spinner. If I could, I’d tell you I’d actually like that, those happy experiences you want me to have. But only so long as I can share them with you, if not for my own sake, then so you never get as upset as you sound right now ever again!

“Please!” Spinner shouted, tears now pouring from his eyes like desperate waterfalls. “Please wake up! I–I’m just realizing how badly I’m gonna miss you if you don’t wake up. Please come back, Tomura! Come back, I…”

In that moment, faced with the increasing possibility that he would never see the boyish sparkle in garnet eyes, never brainstorm any more high-stakes plans to defeat the next challenge in their way, and never feel fuller than his hollow sense of self had ever felt before meeting Tomura, Spinner finally realized the core reason he was left utterly devastated in the face of Tomura Shigaraki’s endless sleep.

“I love you.” Spinner’s confession was only a murmur, as soft as petals landing on the ground after being unceremoniously ripped from their flower. “I–I love you, so please…please…” he continued to whisper, before finally bowing his head, allowing himself to be consumed by the despair of losing a love formerly unrecognized before it even had the chance to bloom, perhaps never even being reciprocated in the first place.

And from deep within heavy waters, at the risk of never again experiencing the warmth of an emotion he previously thought he was incapable of feeling, Tomura Shigaraki summoned his remaining mental power, and squeezed. As his strength finally gave out, Tomura knew that the scaled hands that held his own had surely felt his last call from the depths of his own mind, hopefully understanding the meaning behind it, and with his trust placed in the dragonborn paladin he had come to truly admire, he sank into oblivion.

~

Spinner was quickly tugged out of his mourning by the nearly bone-breaking squeeze of the cold, boney hand he was holding. It couldn’t have lasted more than five seconds before it went completely limp, but it was enough time to shock Spinner out of his depressive state and realize that not only had Tomura somehow heard his cries, but answered them the only way he knew how in light of the curse. Although the first fact left him embarrassed for a moment, the second practically set him ablaze with the implications of what the squeeze most likely meant. So in spite of his embarrassment and the already creeping uncertainty in his interpretation of Tomura’s message, he built up his resolve and slowly started leaning downwards.

What if I’m wrong about this? What if he meant something else by squeezing my hand?

He could feel his face grow hotter, his stomach twirling itself in knots as his self-doubt grew.

But what else could it mean? Dammit, I’ve never been good at reading cues, especially ones that could possibly be romantic.

He could begin to feel the soft puffs of air from Tomura’s perky nose, slow and steady in his cursed sleep.

Ugh, what would Tomura do here? What would he tell me do?

At this point, his lips were mere inches away from Tomura’s, quivering slightly in apprehension and hesitating before the point of no return.

But I know what he would tell me, don’t I? Hasn’t he already told me that I should get what I want in life. Well, someone I want is right in front of me, and I think that someone wants me too. He’d tell me to go for it.

And so, he went for it, gently pressing his scaled lips to Tomura’s ever-dry ones in a chaste kiss. A few seconds passed, and Spinner started to worry that he’d gone and ruined everything, until he felt the twitch of fluttering eyelashes against his cheek and a slight press upwards from the lips below his own. He pulled away just in time to see the garnet eyes he adored reveal themselves from behind heavy eyelids.

With the last remainders of his shock, Spinner could barely get out the words, “Me? Really?!”

“Pft, yeah you!” Tomura laughed, as his soft smile widened into the enthusiastic grin that caused Spinner’s heart to speed up.

“I just,” Spinner inhaled as he gathered himself, trying to shake off the rest of his disbelief, “…why me out of everyone? I’m not all that powerful or amazing at what I do, so I’m not sure what you see in me, you know.”

“Well you’re thinking about it from the wrong angle, first of all. I could probably recruit a hundred swordsmen, but I know none of them could ever fit by my side as well as you do.”

Hearing the reassurance straight from the mouth of his true love, Spinner was finally able to settle down, taking the opportunity to hold his beloved close as Tomura returned the action and continued.

“You’ve always been so loyal, yet never at the cost of leaving your opinion unheard. You allow me to lead, but you know when to step in and suggest another idea when I’m about to do something stupid in the heat of the moment. You’re another critical yet encouraging mind that I can bounce ideas off of. But most importantly, despite all the potential to worship me for my godlike strength, you continue to treat me as human I am within my innermost layers, something that I’ve barely ever been seen as by everyone else. You’ve never been too aggressive, or too submissive, when interacting with me. In fact, you’ve always been so good to me. So how could I do anything other than do right by you in return?”

Spinner, struck silent by the confession, could only reply in the form of yet another kiss, this time fully reciprocated by Tomura in a sweet and loving affirmation of their feelings.

The only thing that prevented their kiss from continuing any longer than a minute was Twice yelling about the Yuei’s fast approaching army, yet as the two lovers dashed towards their companions to hash out a plan, scaled hand in boney hand, they both knew that they would most likely have all the time in the world to explore their new relationship.

Spinaraki Week 2020 Day 4: Crime Time + Late Nights

I Don't See No Red Lights (Just A Wild Ride)

Also known as the story behind how the League of Villains got their “Get Wrecked Overhaul” van, and why Spinner is the getaway driver.

~~~

If someone with a time-traveling quirk had gone back to just before Stain appeared on television and told Spinner that within a few months he would be driving backwards down a highway, in a stolen van, police in hot pursuit, at 1am on a Tuesday, while his passenger was having the time of his life, he would refuse to believe them once he heard about the passenger. A person actively enjoying themselves with him in close proximity? Impossible. But that was exactly what was happening, along with the highway chase of course.

~

This was not what he’d expected the late night trip to the convenience store to lead to. It was his turn to make the run for snacks and Shigaraki had just followed him without any explanation. Just before he could enter the store, Shigaraki grabbed his arm and practically dragged him into the nearby parking lot, causing him to let out a slightly embarrassing yelp.

“Whoa wait, where are we going? The store’s that way!”

“And we’ll get there eventually, but we gotta do something important first.” Spinner looked at Shigaraki’s face and noticed his expression –a devious grin and playful glint in his eyes– was one that hinted of upcoming mischief and scheming.

“We have a hoard of starving, homicidal maniacs to appease,” Spinner said semi-sarcastically, since he was technically right, “What could possibly be more important?”

“It’s a little multi-faceted. We’ll be obtaining an extra mode of transportation that doesn’t rely on Kurogiri, acquiring a game piece I need for my upcoming match against Overhaul, and as a bonus, you get to be taught an important lesson that all city-dwelling criminals learn pretty early on. Ah, that’ll work!” Shigaraki exclaimed, pointing towards one of the parked vehicles, which Spinner realized was a van.

“I’m confused, what does this van have to do with anything?”

“You’ll see. I’m gonna run in and grab the snacks and a few other things. While I’m gone, I want you to break the antennae off of that old rust-bucket next to the van.” At that, Shigaraki quickly made his way back to the entrance much to Spinner’s confusion.

“Huh? Wait where are you going? I’m still-” “C’mon, you’ve got this,” Shigaraki shouted. “Those muscles aren’t just for show, right?” And with that, he was gone, leaving Spinner baffled and blushing. He eventually did break the antennae off, quite easily, after he got over the initial shock of the compliment –was it a compliment?– and a minute later Shigaraki was rushing back over with the snacks under one arm and brandishing… something in his other hand.

“Okay, just do as I say and then we can go. Here, shove this wedge into the top of the van’s window.” “A wedge? What do we need– oh never mind,” Spinner cut himself off as he followed the instructions.

“By the way, are you feeling okay Shigaraki? You seem a little out of breathe.”

“Yeah I’m fine,” Shigaraki panted, “Now take the antennae and poke it into the space you just created between the window and the frame– yeah like that! Okay, aim for that little button by the door handle. No the one with the lock symbol on it.”

As mortifying as it was to look back on, the reality of Shigaraki’s “lesson” clicked into Spinner’s mind simultaneously with the click of the now unlocked van that he had just broken into. His mental stewing over not figuring out what he was just taught until the end was interrupted by Shigaraki as he hopped in and tossed the snacks into the back, turning towards him right after with a sarcastic smile saying, “You gonna get in or what?”

After sitting down, Spinner became horrified at the sight of a steering wheel in front of him. “Shigaraki, why am I in the driver’s seat?”

“Because,” Shigaraki said, as if the answer was obvious, “we have to take the van for a test drive to make sure it runs smoothly enough, and since I don’t have any driving experience, you’re gonna drive.”

“I don’t have any experience either!” Spinner yelled, throwing his arms up in anger. “What the hell qualifies me to drive but not you?”

“I’ve seen you play Grand Theft Auto at least seven times since you’ve joined the group, and I know driving is one of the main mechanics. I prefer RPGs, so I don’t usually play games like that, so you have more experience with it. Just drive like you do in the game, I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

Spinner wasn’t usually the type to scream, or have outbursts in general. A lifetime of getting treated like garbage for doing literally anything that brought more attention to himself than his appearance already did does that to a person. But at that moment, either due to the level of anger or the trust he had in his apparent passenger to not retaliate, Spinner blew up.

He couldn’t remember much of his rage-hazed rant, but he did remember going slightly hoarse from the screeching about how no driving in real life is not “basically the same as in video games you moron”, and waving his arms to the point of nearly smacking Shigaraki upside the head. The only reason he didn’t keep it going for the next hour was because Shigaraki grabbed his face and forcibly shut his mouth so he could interrupt.

“Okay, you can yell at me all you want back at the hideout, but you may wanna start driving now. I didn’t exactly pay for the snacks and it looks like the manager called the cops.”

Spinner looked out the window and, yep, there were red and blue lights reflecting off the buildings, getting brighter and brighter, and the unmistakable sound of sirens. The threat of dooming himself and his leader to a life behind bars so soon was enough for Spinner to grab the keys, likely a spare set left on the console by a seemingly stupid owner, shove them into the ignition start the car, and proceed to fly like a bat out of hell from the parking lot and out into the street, now easily seen and targeted by the police.

In his panic, he lost himself in the act of evading capture and ordered Shigaraki to pull up a route to the nearest highway on his phone while attempting to throw off the cops through quick swerves into one way streets and through red lights. Once he heard the words “got it”, he snatched the phone, not paying attention to the slight enthusiasm in his passenger’s voice, and swerved through traffic to reach the highway.

By the time Spinner got on, one of the police cruisers had nearly caught up, and rammed into the van’s side to spiral it out of control. Somehow, he was able to switch gears fast enough to accommodate and quickly found himself driving backwards down the highway, with at least ten cop cars in hot pursuit, and it was at this point that he realized Shigaraki was screaming. A glance towards his face showed that he was splitting his chapped lips with how large his smile was, his expression much like the ones of thrill-seekers on a roller coaster, and it strangely calmed Spinner down somewhat, because at least he wasn’t screaming in terror.

Now that he knew that Tomura was okay and not panicking like he was, Spinner’s attention drew back to the matter of how to shake the police off their trail. It took him a minute, all the while trying his hardest not to hit any of the other cars on the highway, but he finally came up with a plan. An incredibly stupid and dangerous one, but a plan nonetheless.

“Tomura, do me a solid and lookout for anything that might slow down the cops.” He heard the rustle of clothes so he kept his focus on the occasional car he had to avoid, and within a few minutes Tomura responded with great news.

“We just drove past a warning about this highway. It looks like a bridge section up ahead under construction, so they’re diverting traffic off the exits on either side. Explains why there aren’t as many cars out here.”

“Is the bridge over another road?”

“Looks like it according to my phone.”

“How long until we get there?”

“About a mile or so. Why?”

Tomura turned to Spinner, and in response Spinner let a shit-eating grin spread across his face as he threw Tomura’s words back at him.

“Because, we have to make sure the van runs smoothly for during this test drive, and what a better way to do so then to see how well it drives given a wide range of scenarios. Like with sudden gear shifts, and how it holds up when landing from jumps.”

Spinner could imagine the dumbstruck look on Tomura’s face once he realized what Spinner was about to do, but as much as he wanted to peak and see it, he had a van to drive.

Paying no attention to the increased honking of the police cars trying to warn him of the unfinished bridge, nor the traffic cones set up to block it, and not even how Tomura was reacting to any of this, Spinner span the steering wheel in the last few seconds, causing him to drift sideways in the last few meters before the road ran out. To what was probably the horror of the cops who had been chasing it, the van flew sideways off the bridge.

Inside the van, Spinner took the precious seconds he was airborne to switch the gearshift from Reverse to Drive, and let his foot rest after using the gas pedal for so long. When the van landed on the highway, which happened to intersect perpendicularly below the incomplete one, Spinner went pedal to the metal and sped off, leaving the persistent police behind.

~

Spinner continued to block out everything but the road ahead until he was able to find an abandoned parking lot, made of cracked cement and a weed-ridden pavement, and finally stop the van and turn off the ignition.

He then had about thirty seconds to breathe before turning back in to hear Tomura whooping and hollering about how much fun the chase was, following after him as he almost threw himself out of the van in his adrenaline high state to jump to the top of the van. While Tomura got the rest of his excitement out of his system, finally slumping backwards as he caught his breath, Spinner took his time climbing up the side and getting comfortable on the roof, just in time for all of his anxiety to come back in full force.

“I can’t believe we just did that!”

It the first coherent thought either of them could put into words, but while Tomura spoke it elatedly, Spinner’s tone was far more panicky. Spinner quickly barreled on before Tomura could get another word in.

“What even happened just now? One minute we’re grabbing food, the next we’re stealing a van, and the minute after that I’m speeding down the highway trying not to die or get captured! All of that for a getaway vehicle and– I mean– what do we even need a van for Tomura?!”

“I told you,” Tomura replied eagerly, “It’s for Overhaul. See, I’m almost certain that Toga and Twice are gonna mess things up for the yakuza assholes so badly that most of them are gonna get caught, and if Overhaul happens to be arrested he’ll have to be transported to Tartarus or a hospital depending on how badly he gets his ass handed to him. That’s where we come in: we intercept him on route with the van, take his arms as payback for Magne and Compress’s arm, then we drive off past the horizon and go out for food, or Kurogiri bakes us a cake when he comes back from his solo-mission.”

Spinner paused, taking in the plan. “Okay,” he exhaled, trying his best to cool down, “okay, that– that actually sounds good, makes sense, maybe a bit flashy, but doable. Yeah.”

Tomura grinned. “Good to know someone doesn’t think this plan is trash. Personally, I can’t wait to ride on top! I bet it’ll be even more fun without seatbelts!”

Nevermind, Spinner was panicky again. “ON TOP! You wanna ride on top of the van after that shit-show of a scene I pulled back there?!”

“What shitshow?” Tomura whirled around, facing Spinner with a look of utter disbelief, as if he’d just told Tomura that his villain outfit wasn’t inspired by Stain. “That was some great maneuvering, unless you somehow missed the part where you were driving backwards without crashing!”

“Wha– Did you miss the part where we drove off a bridge? Shit, did the fall concuss you?” Spinner exclaimed, already reaching for Tomura’s head to examine it.

Tomura froze for a moment, his face looking puzzled for a moment before seemingly figuring something out, then he carefully took Spinner’s hands –pinkies raised– and guided them away from his face.

“I’m completely fine, I swear,” he said as gently as he could with his scratchy voice, as if he was –or was he intentionally– trying to calm Spinner down, “And that fall doesn’t count, it was intentional. Besides we both got out of there in one piece.”

Shigaraki paused for a second, seemingly contemplating whether or not to say more, then he looked up from Spinner’s hands to his eyes and gave him a smile before continuing. “It was all thanks to you! Well, and the awesome driving skills you apparently learned from Grand Theft Auto.”

Spinner had seen him smile before, all twisty and at least slightly deranged, but the smile Tomura was giving him right now had none of that madness. It was a fully genuine smile, and if that wasn’t enough to have him blushing, then said blush got even worse when Spinner realized that the smile meant that Tomura wasn’t joking, it was honest praise. Tomura had just given Spinner the first sincere compliment he had heard since forever ago, over his inexperienced and insane driving of all things!

~

The rest of that night was blur for Spinner, with only a few memories of blasting the new van’s –his van’s– radio and practically destroying the snack supply together with Tomura managing to stick in his brain after the night was over. Luckily for Spinner, the lecture Mr. Compress hit them over the head with when they finally got home around 4am was not one of them. What stuck was the strange start, the thrilling chase, and the warm feeling of genuine admiration from their adventure that Tuesday morning.

And if Dabi happened to complain about his driving a week or so later, while barreling down the highway yet again, well, Spinner knew better.

Here’s my idea of what I think could happen:

Shigaraki hears the news, and at some point gets a hold of Twice’s body. He uses the AFO quirk to take Double and takes all new measurements of himself. Shigaraki then does his own homage to “Sad Man’s Parade” and creates a *%#$ ton of Shigaraki clones that spread out far and wide, all of which have both Decay and Double.

Hawks killed Twice due to the perceived threat of a clone army, using “the ends justify the means” to rationalize his actions. But that line of thinking goes out the window if the means don’t lead to the ends that are desired. Trying to prevent an army of Twices, only to give rise to an army of all-powerful Shigarakis, would mean that Hawks’s actions directly lead to even more casualties than if he just left Twice alone. His means lead to the worst possible ends.

If that isn’t “a taste of his own medicine made a million times worse”, I don’t know what is.

listen, Shigaraki's policy of revenge is clearly "give them a taste of their own medicine and then make it a million times worse".

Stain disrespects him? Shigaraki disrespects him harder, then gets him into jail. Overhaul disrespects him, kills a comrade and destroys another one's arm? Shigaraki kills one of theirs, destroys both of his arms, metaphorically spits on his quirk-less body and takes his quirk-erasing bullets (work of a lifetime), then leaves him to the heroes. Redestro chops off his broker's right fingers and threatens to disrespectfully terminate his villain organization? Shigaraki mocks him, then levels his city, makes him chop off his own legs, almost terminates his villain organization except that he is appointed leader by RD himself.

Now, I could go on, but the unexpected point of all this is: how much was Twice worth? How could you possibly repay the death of a man who could multiply himself endlessly and then make. it. worse?

Eh, dunno, you answer that.

Here is the PLF meeting table:

There is one empty chair as seen next to Re-Destro. Since this scene happens right around the time Shigaraki starts his surgery, and assuming Geten is in the seat Hawks is blocking, that empty chair is Shigaraki’s.

Now you may ask why Shigaraki would want to sit next to Re-Destro of all people? However, the answer of Shigaraki’s placement at the table has nothing to do with Re-Destro, but is instead influenced by where someone else is sitting.

Take a look across the table from Shigaraki’s seat and who do you see?

Spinner.

Sitting directly in the center of Shigaraki’s hypothetical field of vision. Shigaraki chose that seat for the sole purpose of having the excuse to stare at his scaley boyfriend and not pay attention to anything else. Who cares if Re-Destro is acting obnoxious when Shigaraki can just tune him out while admiring Spinner.

TLDR: Shigaraki chose his seat specifically so he could look at Spinner. Spinaraki confirmed.