Everyone was being so kind to you. Even kinder than usual.
Toga was adamant on playing with your hair whenever she was in your space for a long time, playing with your plushies enthusiastically and whispering stories to you when you had to start taking naps in the middle of the day.
Jin was... well, Jin. He was always cuddly and loving, happy to have you on his lap when Dabi went off with Spinner to go to the gym. Sometimes he'd let you wander off with him while he went to smoke, making you promise not to tell Dabi. You loved being around him and had taken to religiously calling him Uncle Jin instead of just Jin.
Atsuhiro kept learning new magic tricks to try to impress you, and they always did. Sometimes when one was particularly impressive, you'd run and find Dabi to drag him back to Astuhiro, making him repeat the trick.
Sometimes even Dabi seemed a little impressed.
You slowly began to warm up to Magne, because she was the only one outside of Dabi that didn't seem to bow down to Shigaraki whenever he was being grumpy or rude and you wanted to be like that too. You slowly allowed her to give you hugs, and pats of the head, and she began telling you all about the different kinds of people she used to hang around with which you always found really interesting.
Spinner tended to keep away from you as much as possible, only ever greeting you and exchanging short conversation with you, seeming to silently understand too much attention from him ended up getting you all flustered.
The only exception to this was during your English 'lessons', where you'd have to talk to him. Usually you were so caught up in getting your work right that you didn't really get too embarrassed by the mere fact you had to sit relatively close to him.
Even Shigaraki was being kinder than usual, allowing you to play his beloved handheld console for allotted amounts of time, his crimson eyes boring into you the entire time, even if he was sitting a little ways from you.
Sometimes if you clicked the buttons a little too loudly he'd grunt and scratch at himself, so you learned pretty rapidly to be gentle with it.
He'd still been helping you with your math, too. You feel like Dabi may have had a word with him because he was a lot gentler with you than he ever had been before, even if you could see the frustration in his eyes as you struggled to understand certain concepts.
Sometimes the way he would turn the worksheets to dust after you were done felt more like it was for him more than you, too.
You'd barely even thought about drawing, too occupied with playing with Toga, Magne and Jin, and studying with Shigaraki, Spinner and Kurogiri. So when Atsuhiro gave you back your sketchbook and pencils and paints you'd actually been a little surprised.
You had so much you wanted to draw now, so many moments that had happened that you wanted to capture so you definitely wouldn't forget they happened.
You wanted to draw Ducky, and Dabi, and a pretty picture for Toga, and a silly picture of Dabi and Spinner struggling to lift those big bars at the gym.
Unfortunately, Kurogiri had put a dampener on that, interrupting you midway through scribbling in the shading to give you some math worksheets.
You'd been enjoying the peace and quiet of the bar while the others all worked. Dabi had been a little grumpy and didn't want to be cuddled or get out of bed this morning, so you assumed his burns were hurting him, so you left him upstairs with Shigaraki, who had also seemed to stay in bed.
You huff a little when Kurogiri places them on top of your sketchbook.
"Tomura Shigaraki said you needed to practice multiplication." He says simply.
"Snitch." You whisper, mimicking Dabi's words from whenever Jin's second voice told on him.
Kurogiri's flickering eyes narrow, but he remains wordless hovering over you for a second.
"Do you need my assistance?" He asks.
"Nope." You reply, popping the 'p' and sliding off your stool, taking the worksheets with you. "I'll get Shigaraki to help me!"
"It's important you don't interr-" Kurogiri begins to say, but you wave dismissively at him like Dabi would whenever people said something he already knew about.
You knew what Kurogiri was going to say, because whenever you went to look for Shigaraki, he'd tell you to not interrupt him if he's busy, but it was rare he ever was. He was usually slumped on a seat somewhere with his games console or book between his hands.
You hop up the stairs happily, too short to reach the button to make the elevator work.
You were happy here. It took you a little while to get used to the bright lights and the white and the fanciness, but now you enjoyed having so much room compared to how the bar had been.
You skip up to Shigaraki's door, tapping your little knuckles against the door.
There's no response, but you know he was definitely in there because Kurogiri had mentioned earlier that Shigaraki was staying at home today.
You knock again, still not getting a reply, and in your desperation to not have to sit through a worksheet with Kurogiri, who never explained things simply, you slowly open the door, peeking around shyly to check he was definitely in there.
He was, as you expected, but your face burns as you catch the image of the back of him in a t-shirt and boxers.
He doesn't seem to catch on to the fact that you're even there, too busy pinching at the minimal fat on his thigh, readying a needle in a sight all too familiar to you.
You feel the colour drain from your face and your stomach begin to churn as you watch him jab it into his leg, gagging ever so slightly.
The sound makes Shigaraki stiffen, pausing the pressure he's putting on the injection, his head snapping towards you.
You squeak as you see the look on his face, one of pure unbridled anger. You'd never seen him this mad before.
"Get out." He hisses.
"You shouldn't-" You begin to argue.
'You shouldn't do that.' You want to say. 'That's how mom ended up staying asleep.'
But he interrupts you before you can even think about continuing your sentence.
Ripping the injection from his leg, and clenching it in a five fingered grip, ultimately turning into ash, he roars:
"Get out!"
You bolt immediately.
No-one had yelled like that at you since you had been with Dabi, and it had brought back a whole cacophony of memories and feelings that you weren't prepared to deal with.
You enter your room in a panic, looking around for Dabi, who wasn't in the bed like you'd left him.
You whimper, terrified that he'd left you, and that you were now left to deal with Shigaraki's wrath alone.
You hear the splashing of water come through the ensuite's door.
"Star?" You hear Dabi ask, concern thick in his voice.
You don't even test the door to check its locked, bursting into the bathroom with tears spilling down your cheeks.
The reaction is instant, Dabi instantly moving to hug his knees, the quick movement sending bath water sloshing everywhere. His eyes widen and then narrow just quickly as he looks at you, obviously angry, the heat in the room rising slightly.
"What are you doing?!" He snaps, making you cry harder.
He seems to catch himself, his hands tightening their grip on his scarred arms as he collects himself, taking a deep breath in.
"Star. You can't be in here." He tries to tell you calmly. "Go outside an' wait."
"But I saw Shigaraki doing something bad and he yelled at me!" You babble quickly. "Please stop yelling at me, I'm not bad."
You choke on one of your sobs, flopping to the side of the bathtub and laying your head on the porcelain edge.
You hear Dabi mutter something under his breath, but it's too low for you to pick up on.
There's silence for a short while as you sob against the bathtub, before Dabi sighs, and places a warm and wet hand on your head.
"Calm down, an' tell me what you're yellin' about." He says, his voice even.
"Shigaraki was taking the same medicine that made mom not wake up!" You exclaim between sobs. "And he yelled at me, and I'm scared."
Dabi's hand pauses for a second, before picking up it's pace again as he pets your head.
"Medicine, huh? What kinda medicine is tha', Star?"
"The one that you have to put in your legs and arms." You sob, wishing you could climb into the bath too, needing the comfort and needing it now.
Dabis hand heats up within an instant, the heat threatening to burn you if he hadn't yanked it away from you.
If you'd have looked up you'd have seen a mixture of pure rage and disgust on his face.
"He did that in front of you?" Dabi asks, clearly straining to keep his voice calm.
"He didn't know I was there." You admit, your breathing ragged.
You finally look up at Dabi, your sight blurry from your tears.
You don't even really register the fact that he's in the bath, clearly folding himself up so that you won't catch sight of too much of his scarred body. You don't even take notice of his gnarled legs that you hadn't really seen before.
He looks straight back at you, his face softening, and the stapled corners of his mouth pulling down. He looks Dabi's equivalent of heartbroken as you continue taking broken breaths, tears still streaming down your face.
"An' he yelled at you?" He asks, bringing his scarred knees closer to his chest as he reaches to brush his thumb over your cheek.
"He yelled at me." You repeat, fresh tears welling in your eyes.
Dabi's marred jaw clenches, making the staples lining his cheek glint a little under the fluorescent lights.
He sighs, loosening his jaw and moving his hand away from you to run it through his hair. "Alright. Alright."
"You have to go and check on him." You urge, rubbing your eyes. "'Cause if he gets hurt you'll be sad."
Dabi scoffs, turning away and making the water splash a little, although his body stays coiled up.
"I ain't checkin' on him right now. I'm busy. An' I'm angry."
"You're not busy! You're in the bath!" You accuse, grabbing his arm and trying to shake him.
"Don't touch me." He warns, icy cold eyes meeting yours from the sides.
Your lip wobbles, one more snapped or yelled sentence away from having a break-down.
"Oh for fu-" You hear Dabi groan. "Listen, I gotta take care of this stupid body. I can't just wash normally, 'kay? An' then I'll go check on that dopehead."
You sniffle a little, trying to control yourself.
"But I'm only doin' it because you're worried about him." Dabi says firmly, shooting you a look. "He's lucky I don't do the job of finishin' him off for him. No-one yells at my kid."
Dabi grumbles a little to himself.
"No-one."