A Lost Creation

So Many Surprises

"He's curious about you." Zero smiles softly, and then returns his attention back to Hakuchō, pointing at a diagram. "What was this muscle called? Do you remember?"

Hakuchō follows his finger and gives a barely audible answer while you continue petting Cloud on the floor.
Dabi gets up and walks in the direction of where Tomura had gone with the other two wordlessly, ignoring Cloud as he meows curiously at him.
Himiko replaces his presence quickly, practically sprinting into the room, her eyes wide and excited, a deep pink blush on her face.

"Aw! Cuute!" She practically sings, flopping onto the floor next to you and petting Cloud happily. "What's her name?"

"His name is Cloud." You tell her, and she coos even more over the cat that was quickly showing favouritism towards her.

You're surprised when Hakuchō shyly wanders over too after a while, her wing accidentally brushing your arm as she stands next to where you're sitting, looking down at the fluffy cat.

"Can I sit here?" She asks, despite Himiko's sharp look.

"Mhm!" You nod, moving to allow room for her splinted wings.

Himiko watches her carefully, especially when Cloud wanders over to her and bumps his head against Hakuchō's knee.
For some reason, this makes Hakuchō's eyes water as she carefully pets his head. You know that you used to get embarrassed when you cried about mom in front of others, so you don't point out the fact she's upset. Instead you cautiously reach to rub her arm, until you lock eyes on the hand petting Cloud and you realise she has pink marks on her wrist.

"Oh, you're hurt." You point out, going to reach for her wrist instead.

She immediately raises her arm to move it out of the way of your touch, but you only know that movement to mean one thing and you cower immediately, closing your eyes. Cloud hisses at the sudden movement, and Zero is there in a split second, catching her wrist in one of his big, scarred hands.
Himiko somehow had pulled a knife, too, but tucks it out of sight again when she realises Zero has control of the situation, so it's gone when you open your eyes at the lack of impact.

"Now, now, children." Zero says, sounding a little exasperated instead of his usual calm tone. "Let's not do anything rash."

"Don't touch me." She says simply, directly to you.

"Sorry." You reply automatically, your heart sinking.

You knew what it was like to not want to be touched, and you'd made someone else uncomfortable by doing just that. You thought maybe this was finally your chance to be friends with her and you'd blown it, too. Now she just looked more upset.

"Come on, Hakuchō." Zero says, back to his normal inexpressive voice. "Let's take care of the mess you made earlier."

And so he pulls her up, gently, and she stands with her head hanging slightly, pulling her wrist from his hand and following behind without even saying a word to you or Himiko.
Himiko watches them walk off with a frown before turning her attention to you, her face softening up. She looks a little surprised to see you're upset too, and immediately captures you in a tight hug.

"Don't be sad!" She says, grabbing your arms and moving you back, looking at you with a determined look in her yellow eyes. "You don't wanna be friends with her anyway, she's mean. It's not cute to be mean."

You're uncertain though. Tomura had told you she needed a friend because she was hurting. You hadn't known he meant physically, too. No wonder she was grouchy.
Cloud meows loudly, and you both look over to see him sitting on top of the fridge.
You have no idea how he got there, and for a second the mood is lifted and you're giggling to yourself.
Dabi returns, looking at the two of you on the floor and following your pointed finger to Cloud, looking down at the scarred man from the refrigerator.

"Huh. He's tellin' you to eat, Starshine." Dabi teases, nudging you with his foot as he passes.

Toga nods, her eyes sparkling. "Cats are smart like that!"

And you believe them, so you let Dabi and Cloud pick out your snack for lunch and try your best to eat it without thinking about it too much, just like Aunty Aiko had said.

*•*

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Star." Dabi says, raising a thin white eyebrow. "What if he pees in here?"

"He won't, he's a good boy!" You defend, your arms wrapped around the purring cat curled up in place of your usual teddy.

"We've had him for a day, doll." Dabi points out, but when you refuse to let go of Cloud, he rolls his eyes and kneels by your bed. "Can I ask you somethin'?"

"Mhm." You reply, letting him move your hair out of your face without complaint.

"You happier?" He asks, stroking the fading rash on your cheek.

You nod.

"You feelin' okay about me an' Tomura still?" He asks, folding his arms over the edge of your mattress.

You nod again. "You don't fight or forget about me."

Dabi looks at you with an expression you don't recognise for a moment, and then he nods slowly, his adam's apple bobbing.

"You think... you think you'd like it if maybe I married him?" He asks.

You stare at him, a little confused. Did he know? Tomura had definitely told you not to tell him.

"Just 'cause, y'know, there's benefits to bein' married at all." He defends, picking a staple in his cheek and frowning. "Nothin' major if not."

You still can't tell what you're meant to do, so you just continue kind of staring at him, the food you'd managed to eat for dinner making itself known in your stomach as your stress of what to do worsens.

"It's just his birthday comin' up, an' I wanted to make it special, ah, I dunno, it was dumb. Forget I said anythin'. Night darlin'." He says quickly, kissing your head and then scratching Cloud's head and moving to stand up.

You grab his metal hand, stopping him where he is and he looks at you sheepishly.

"Like a family?" You ask, even though Tomura had answered that for you a day or so before.

"Yeah, hon. A family." Dabi agrees. "Us three."

"Four." You correct, and Cloud meows. "I want that."

"Yeah?" Dabi asks, the corners of his mouth turning upwards instantly. "Wanna help me do it?"

"Okay, pawpaw." You agree, and he grins widely, the staples either side of his mouth buckling.

"Knew I could count on you, princess." He says with nothing but love in his voice. "Night."

"Night." You yawn, pressing your face into Cloud's fur as Dabi closes the door, leaving it ajar so you're not completely in the dark.

Cloud purrs the entire time, giving a consistent noise that helps lull you to sleep, as well as being warm, although not as warm as Dabi.
You nod off at one point, although you don't remember when, your face still pressed into Cloud's fur.
And you dream of weddings. The glamorous kind you'd seen in the movies on TV, except once it was over, you were forgotten about, and left on the streets again. The streets were where your mom found you again though, held you and soothed you in a way she never had in life. But before you could really enjoy the rare hug from your mom, she keeled over with a needle in her arm and bugs flooding out of her mouth, her heavy and lifeless body pinning you to the floor.

But then Cloud appears in your dream, licking you with a sandpapery tongue as you panic. You move your face away a couple of times, but then slowly the alleyway morphs into your actual room and you take heavy breaths as you realise your moms body was actually just the weight of Cloud on your chest, and he actually was licking you.

"Stop it, that's gross." You say, sniffing and realising you're crying and that he's licking at the tears. "Cloud, stop!"

He doesn't, though, continuing to lick your face with his bristly tongue, which feels weird.
You try to move away, but he won't let up, and before you know it, you're giggling, and everything feels so much better so much quicker.