Tomura had allowed you to sit between his legs on one of the big couches in the bar area, your back against his chest and your eyes fixated on the screen of his handheld console.
He was playing some game where he was playing a little elf that would run around killing goblins and other creatures. The scenery was pretty, and there were nice elves and small friendly leaf creatures, even if the goblins were scary.
Sometimes there would be puzzles and he would ask you what you thought, which was a little tough sometimes, but together you'd figure it out.
You were enjoying the rare moment of time with Tomura outside of your school work, but you missed Dabi too. He'd gone off with Spinner to the gym, and told you that you weren't allowed to go with them because it was too dangerous.
Himiko and Jin had gone out to make some money with Atsuhiro, so that had left you with Kurogiri and Tomura for company.
"What do you think, Starlight?" Tomura asks, looking down at you over your shoulder.
He was in one of the hard puzzle rooms again, and you'd been watching the little on-screen character pace around the room while you'd sipped your nightly cocoa.
"You gotta make a scooper and put it on that thingy." You instruct, pointing at a static wheel in the middle of the room.
Without touching the screen, of course. Tomura still didn't like it when you did that.
"But it's not moving." He notes. "How should we get it to move?"
"Try putting one of those things on the electricity." You point at a platform in-game.
He hums, moving to do just that. You make a noise of excitement when your guidance stirs the wheel to life.
"Good job." He encourages. "Now, how to make the scoop?"
You open your mouth to instruct him when a mass of black appears in your peripheral vision. You turn to look, and see Dabi leaning on the back of the couch, his arms folded as he grins at you.
"Whatcha doin', nerds?" He teases.
"I'm helping Tomura do a puzzle." You reply. "We have to make a scoop to get the ball in the right place."
"Fascinating." Dabi replies dryly, ruffling your hair. "Y'had your iron?"
"Mmh." You grunt distractedly.
You point loosely at the screen to help direct Tomura on how to make the scoop out of the materials given.
Dabi stares at you for a couple moments, not that you notice, before standing and going to the bar.
You're intently watching the screen, waiting to see if your advice worked when Dabi slumps onto the couch too, by yours and Tomuras feet, holding a bottle of beer.
You jump, and Tomura moves his feet to make way, neither of you paying much mind, too busy seeing the result of your teamwork play out.
You cheer when it works, and turn to fist bump Tomura, something he's all too eager to partake in, a grin splitting his face.
"Good job, little Star." He nods, pulling his hood up.
"Alright Star, no more now otherwise your brain's gonna be whirrin' all night." Dabi leads, throwing Tomura a look.
"It's not scary!" You deny.
"That's not what I'm sayin'." Dabi replies. "Read somewhere little ones are mean'na have like an hour away from tech before goin' to sleep."
"I'm not little." You huff.
"Are too." He scoffs. "Could pick ya up with my pinky."
"Liar!" You accuse.
Tomura begins shifting behind you, moving the screen away from your line of vision.
"No fair." You huff. "You always let me stay up and play. I wanna help Tomura some more."
"Quit bein' such a squirt." Dabi retorts, flicking your nose gently.
"I'm playing a zombie game now." Tomura chimes in. "Might give you nightmares."
"Zombies?" You question fearfully.
"The ones that eat your braaaains." Dabi joins in, pretending to lean forward and bite your head.
You squeak and move away, Tomura catching your mug in time to stop it splashing cold cocoa everywhere without a word.
"It would be wise not to wind Miss Star up before bedtime either." Kurogiri comments judgmentally from the bar.
Dabi rolls his eyes, kicking his feet up onto the table and taking another sip of beer.
His eyes follow Spinner as he enters the room, still a little sweaty from their work out.
"Where're the others?" He questions Tomura as you lean into his side instead.
"Last minute details." Tomura replies without looking up from the screen.
"You told me that they were going to make some money." You yawn.
Tomura waves a hand dismissively at you.
Dabi wraps an arm around your shoulder to bring you into his side properly, his heightened body warmth doing its usual trick in making you sleepy.
Spinner comes to sit in one of the armchairs opposite with a cold glass of water, making general conversation with Dabi and Tomura.
Their voices all slowly become a mass of equally deep and rumbling sounds as your eyes droop.
"She's falling asleep, dude." You hear Spinner comment.
"Nuh-uh." You argue weakly, struggling to re-open your eyes.
One of Dabi's warm hands moves your hair out of your face and he chuckles.
"C'mon Star, bedtime." He begins to get up next to you.
"Nuuuuh." You whine, clinging to his arm and refusing to budge.
"Goodnight, Star." Tomura brushes his knuckles over your cheek in what you had decided was his own little way of being loving.
"Quit bein' a pain. Up ya get." Dabi says, trying to haul you up with him.
The words hit you a little harder than they probably should. He'd never called you a pain or anything negative seriously before, which meant you were really misbehaving and that he was almost definitely mad at you. And if you kept breaking the rules so often then maybe he'd break the rules too and stop loving you.
The thought was too much for you to bear, so you do what you do best and fawn.
"Sorry." You mumble, immediately getting up. "Night night."
"Night Star. Sleep tight." Spinner grins that genuine warm grin at you, and for once your body doesn't react by warming your cheeks.
"Tomura?" You ask quietly as Dabi pats your head while he walks past you.
"Yes, Starlight?"
"Are you coming up to our room later?" You ask shyly.
Dabi noticeably freezes in the short distance, but Tomura seems unphased, peering at you from under his hood and mass of baby blue hair.
"Would you like me to?" He asks calmly.
You nod slightly.
You'd enjoyed every time you'd slept with them both next to you. It was warm and safe, something you hadn't experienced before falling into Dabi's care, and something you treasured now you did have it.
Nothing could get you, or hurt you while you were between those two. You could just feel it.
And tonight you felt like you'd need that bit of security.
"Then I will." He agrees bluntly. "You have to go to sleep though. No late night questions again."
"Okay." You agree. "I'll sleep."
"Good girl." Tomura praises. "Go to bed now."
You nod and scurry off to join Dabi with your head ducked, even though he places his hand gently on the back of your neck to push you forwards with him.
You're silent the whole journey up to your room, Dabi's hand never moving from the nape of your neck and his thumb gently rubbing up and down the skin there.
You're silent as you brush your teeth and get changed into your pyjamas, Dabi reaching for you as you pass him on your way to get into bed and tapping you in a hug.
"Hey!" You whine, even though it was comforting to be held.
"What's up with you Starshine?" He asks, resting his head on your shoulder.
"Nothing." You lie, relaxing a little into his touch.
"Don't lie. You're usually chattin' my ears off about what ya been doin' while I'm away. You haven't said a word 'til now." He sighs. "D' I do something to upset you? Talk to me."
You pause. He read you like a book.
"You called me a pain." You reply quietly. "I don't want to be bad and make you not love me anymore."
Dabi's quiet for a moment, but sighs once more, gently turning you around to face him, cupping your face in his hands with a sad look in his eyes.
"Starshine, I wasn't bein' serious." He explains gently. "Was just playin' around with you like usual. You're not bad at all. An' I love you ta death."
He gently strokes your cheeks with his thumbs. "My poor, sensitive baby."
He leans forwards to kiss your forehead. "You got so much goin' on up there all the time, haven't you?"
You don't know what he's talking about, but you do know you want a hug, and so you reach towards him, immediately being embraced by him.
You feel the metal lining his cheek press against your head as he leans his face against your skull, hushing you despite you being silent and rocking you gently.
"I'm not a baby." You finally comment after recharging in his hold.
Dabi snorts, slowly releasing you. "Yeah, alright."
He ushers you into bed and sits beside you petting your hair for a while, listening to you explain the game you had been playing with Tomura earlier. Your explanation starts trailing off after a while, your eyes falling shut once more.
You feel him kiss your head and promise he loves you once more before you're finally out cold for the night.
*•*
You wake up sandwiched between Dabi and Tomura, each of them laying an arm over you and facing the other.
You hadn't even felt Tomura come to bed last night, and you were usually easily awoken. You must have slept really deeply.
As if he somehow could sense you were awake, Tomura opens his eyes slowly, looking down at you. You look up at him with wide eyes as he yawns.
"Happy birthday, little Star." He greets tiredly.
"Huh?" You ask, dumbfounded.
"It's Shūbun no Hi. Your birthday." He explains in a whisper.
"It is?" You query, a little excitement seeping through in your voice.
Your heart lifts slightly in excitement, too. An actual birthday.
You hadn't had an actual birthday before that you remembered, mom had always forgotten.
Tomura nods in response to your question, brushing his knuckles over your cheek softly.
"Quiet." Dabi mumbles sleepily, turning his face further into the pillow.
"It's my birthday!" You tell Dabi excitedly.
"Nah. You're gonna stay little forever." Dabi denies in a sleepy drawl, holding you a little tighter.
"Nuh-uh. Tomura says it's my birthday! I'm eleven now!"
"Don't listen to him, he's crazy." Dabi grumbles sleepily, but you can see the scarring on his face lifting into a grin.
He lifts his head, turning his face to look at you properly with a small smile pulling the corners of his lips upwards.
"Happy birthday my little Starshine."
You feel your face light up with joy, excitement flooding through your body and making you want to bounce, but Tomura and Dabi's arms are holding you down and keeping you grounded.
"Can I have cake for breakfast?" You ask.
"If the fun police allows it." Dabi rolls his eyes and turns onto his back to stretch out his scarred limbs.
"Where did you learn that from, Star?" Tomura asks.
"On TV there's always cake on birthdays." You reply matter-of-factly.
Tomura hums, Dabi shaking his head a little.
You lie there chatting excitedly to Tomura while Dabi wakes himself up properly. He wasn't very good in the mornings, and usually took a good hour to 'turn human' again.
Once he's awake, he kisses your forehead and begins to sit up.
"Right. Let's get the day started then." He yawns again. "Y'gonna let me have some cake for breakfast, too?"
"Mhm, everyone can have cake!" You agree, sitting up alongside him and bouncing with excitement.
You pause. "There is cake, right?"
"There's cake." Tomura nods, placing his hand atop your head as he stands. "You have to be quiet even though you're excited, okay? Everyone else is asleep."
"Okay!" You promise, hopping onto your feet.
You stretch out too, soon following behind Tomura and Dabi as they leave the room, trying to keep your footsteps quiet.
The two talk lowly between themselves, and you're far too interested in the prospect of cake for breakfast to really pay too much mind to whatever they're discussing.
When the elevator gets to the ground floor you practically run out of it, screeching to a halt when you see a small rubber duck on the floor.
You bend to pick it up, confused.
"There's a duck." You say, spinning around to show them.
"Weird." Dabi shrugs. "Can ya spot any more?"
You turn back around, looking for any more rubber ducks, quickly glancing at the one already in your hand. It had little stars printed on it.
You take a few steps forward, Dabi and Tomura hot on your heels. You find a second one, gasping when you do.
This one looks like it's been splashed with paint, and you hold it up to show your two guardians in your excitement.
"Keep looking." Tomura encourages.
So you do.
You find another one, a black one with blue flames on it. You hand it to Dabi and tell him that one was for him. You hurry off to find more. You find one more in the dark bar area, the stars on the body glowing faintly in the darkness.
The second you pick it up, the lights go on and there's a big cheer of 'Happy birthday Star!' that startles you enough to get you to drop the duck on the floor as you bolt upright in surprise.
Everyone was there, smiling happily at you with mugs in front of them, or in their hands, still in their pyjamas. Well, apart from Kurogiri and...
"Uncle Giran!" You call, dropping your collection of ducks and bolting specifically for the oldest man in the room.
He lifts you up with ease, chuckling as you wrap your arms around him.
"Hey little love." He greets. "Been a while, huh?"
"I missed you so much!" You exclaim, tightening your hold on him and burying your face in the crook of his neck.
"Missed ya too little one." Giran replies, kissing your head so lightly that you barely feel it.
He gently drops you to the floor as Tomura orders for Kurogiri to bring out some cake for breakfast.
You look up at him, grinning widely. You glance around the room and realise that there's a large amount of duck themed decorations around. There's a big 'happy birthday' banner behind the bar, a rubber duck shaped cake which had been poorly decorated on the countertop, and a big duck balloon, as well as a balloon with the number eleven on it.
"A party?" You ask excitedly.
"Well. Uncle Giran wants to take ya paintin' first. An' then Shigaraki mentioned that ya wanna go t' the shrine, an' then you'll party. How's that sound?" Giran asks.
"Yes please!" You nod, your heart feeling as though it was going to burst out of your chest from the amount of love you were being shown.
And so you have cake for breakfast, Kurogiri allowing you to cut it as long as someone was around to catch you in case you almost hurt yourself.
You spend most of your time with Uncle Giran, but do play with your rubber ducks with Himiko and Jin for a little bit too.
Eventually, Giran asks you to go and get changed so that you can go and do some painting together.
You change quickly, practically running upstairs and throwing on the closest clothes to you before running back downstairs.
You say a quick goodbye to Dabi and the others and follow Giran outside of the hotel, not making use of Kurogiri's quirk for the first time.
You chatter away to him, telling him nearly everything he'd missed out on while you hadn't seen him, not stopping even as you'd gotten to the private studio he'd rented out for the morning.
You tell him about how Magne had gotten sick really quickly and died, about Atsuhiro's new shiny arm, about you having to have blood taken and finding out you had anemia, about Dabi's new staples and how he had an infection, and then about how Tomura and Dabi were boyfriends now.
That had made Giran choke on his cigarette mid-painting.
"What?!" He asks in shock. "Yer paw's datin' Shigaraki?"
You nod, continuing your painting of the bowl of fruit in front of you like Giran had instructed. You don't see the numerous blinks of disbelief from the older man at your words.
"Dabi's datin' Shigaraki?" He repeats.
"Mhm! They're boyfriends!" You confirm. "I want Tomura to be my pawpaw too but he said not until we're both ready."
"Tha's sensible." Uncle Giran nods. "Yer paw's never dated anyone before. Must be special, eh?"
"He's nice." You nod. "He looked after me when I started bleeding. And he doesn't get mad at me when we do math anymore."
Giran chuckles. "Ain't no secrets with you, are there Star?"
"Not allowed secrets." You inform him.
You continue painting in silence after that, sticking your tongue out in concentration at times.
You're nearly done with the painting when Giran speaks up again.
"Suppose tha' makes sense as'ta why he arranged all this, then." Giran muses aloud.
"Hm?" You ask, copying Girans movements of taking a step back to look at the painting.
"Don't worry, little love." He replies, peeking at your painting. "Tha's a very shiny apple."
"Thank you!" You chirp happily. "Do you think Dabi'll be proud?"
"He's always proud'a you." Giran chuckles.
*•*
You skip back into the hotel, canvas in hand, heading straight for the bar to show Dabi your painting.
Everyone's still gathered around the bar, but they're actually dressed properly now, lively chatter filling the room.
"Star's back!" Jin calls happily.
Dabi turns his head back to look at you with a lazy grin.
You rush to him, reaching to be picked up like a toddler. He obliges despite you being a lot bigger than you acted at times, allowing you to sit on his lap.
"Good time paintin'?" Dabi asks.
"Mhm! Look!" You place the small canvas in front of him proudly.
Everyone gathers to look, making noises of approval. Dabi picks up the painting to look at it properly, and then kisses your cheek. You can feel his lips pulled up into a prideful grin.
"There's my Starshine. The lil' prodigy." He praises, and even though you still have no idea what that means, he sounds proud when he says it, so you're happy anyway.
"My turn now! My turn!" Himiko calls excitedly, leaping to try and grab your hands and pull you down.
"She needs time ta settle before goin' to the shrine, Toga." Dabi replies firmly, holding you closer to him.
"I can make a wish?" You ask. "For real?"
"For real. But we're on limited time with Toga's quirk, so ya can't stay too long, 'kay?"
"Star." Tomura speaks up, his eyes serious when you meet them. "If we found where your mom was buried, would you like to see her? Or not really?"
"Tomura." Dabi hisses by your ear.
The room goes painfully silent as you mull over Tomura's words.
You hadn't given your mom any real thought for a while.
"Okay." You agree with a firm nod.
Tomura's eyes widen momentarily, as if he hadn't expected that answer, and you feel Dabi freeze behind you, too.
Himiko gives you a tight squeeze, her messy blonde hair tickling your cheek.
"Can I dress you up?" She asks with shining eyes.
"Okay." You agree again. "I don't want to wear a dress though."
Himiko squeals in excitement, pulling you off Dabi's lap and pulling you towards her room, hanging off the railings in the elevator as she exclaims her excitement for being able to take you out.
She tugs you all the way to her room, planning aloud how she's going to dress you and do your hair.
Her room is just how you expected, clothes, makeup and teddies strewn about everywhere on her side of the room, and then on the other side of the room, everything seemed to be tidy, everything in its place.
Probably exactly how Magne had left it before she had died.
You allow her to put you in semi-smart clothing without too much of a fuss. She flicks through her endless supply of clothing, choosing to put you in a knee length black skirt in compromise of not wearing a dress. Knowing Himiko, it was probably meant to be shorter, but on you it had added length.
She also puts you in a black shirt with kimono sleeves on you as well as adding a pink scarf to keep you warm.
"You look so pretty!" She coos. "Lemme do your hair now!"
"But I don't have much hair anymore..."
"We can tie it up like mine!" She nods. "Two little buns. Adorable!"
You say nothing more, allowing her to do it relatively quickly with how short your hair is now. She pinches your cheek lovingly once she's done.
"Hmm, I won't put makeup on you because Dabi gets mad, but you look so cute anyway!" She says, looking proud of herself. "Let's go show everyone!"
You bob your head, walking with her to the elevator again as she practically skips with joy.
You can't help but think of Magne, and how you wished that she could have been with you and Himiko while getting ready for the shrine.
"Big sis?" You ask as the elevator opens on the ground floor.
"Mhm?" She hums, grabbing your hand.
"Do you miss Magne a lot?" You ask quietly.
"Yeah." She replies thoughtfully, walking with you hand-in-hand. "Do you, too?"
"Sometimes...." You agree. "I wish she could have helped dress me up."
"She would like what you're wearing!" Toga says confidently.
"Can we go see Magnes' grave too?" You ask, looking up at the girl who had slowly become a sibling-like figure to you.
She freezes, her eyes flashing with an emotion you don't recognise for a split second before she shrugs, looking down at you with a wide, almost forced looking smile.
"I don't know where it is." She replies simply. "C'mon, let's go show everyone!"
She practically drags you to the bar after that, not allowing another word to leave your mouth.
The second you re-enter, all eyes are on you, Jin whistling at you playfully. Your cheeks burn a little when you spot Spinner looking at you with a small and friendly smile, too.
"Very pretty." Uncle Giran compliments, patting your head. "M' gonna head off now, little Star. I hope ya have a wonderful time. Love ya."
"Love you too!" You reply instantly, reaching for a hug.
He obliges, giving you yet another rare hug and kissing both of your cheeks before waving and calling out a farewell to everyone.
Dabi takes his place in front of you, crouching and pulling your skirt down a little more.
"You gonna behave for Toga, Starshine?" He asks, petting your cheek.
You nod obediently. "Can you come too?"
A very faint cringe flits over his face and he shakes his head.
"No can do, birthday girl." He replies apologetically. "Toga's gonna take you to go see your ma, 'kay? But she only has 'bout thirty minutes. So make sure you don't take too long making your wish."
"Okay." You agree, closing your eyes when he kisses your forehead as he stands.
When you turn around to retrieve Himiko you jolt in alarm when you're met with the image of a random old lady amongst the others.
They all chuckle a little at your reaction.
"It's me, silly." The old lady giggles, reaching out for your hand. "Let's go see your mom!"
You'd never seen Toga's quirk in use before, so in fascination you slowly place your hand in the hand of the false appearance Himiko had created.
A warp gate forms behind her and she gently tugs you through it with her, the gate taking you to an alleyway in the orange light of the sunset.
Himiko looks around to make sure you hadn't been seen before pulling you by the hand towards the nearby shrine, people swarming around it. You understand why Dabi didn't want to come now.
"Let's get an ema, dear." Himiko encourages, giggling a little at the pretend grandma act she was putting on. "Then you can make your wish!"
"An ema?" You question. "But-"
"It's my gift to you." She replies in a sing-song voice. "Ema's aren't too pricy."
"Mom never let me..." You muse.
Himiko's grandmotherly visage speaks to one of the members of the shrine, offering a small amount of yen for a single wooden plaque.
Once received, she passes it to you with a soft smile on her fake wrinkly face. You hold it close to your chest, as though it was the most treasured possession you own.
"What are you going to wish for?" She asks as you walk to write your wish on it.
"More happy days." You reply easily.
She looks a little surprised at first before grinning widely at you, a little unsettling on the face that wasn't her own.
"I'm glad you're happy today!" She says, joy clear in her voice. "I'm happy too! I get to spend time with you all by myself!"
You blush a little at her words. You didn't think any of them would want to spend time alone with you outside of Dabi because he was your pawpaw.
You write your wish carefully on the ema, pausing when it comes to writing your initials on the little wooden board.
"Um, Him- Grandma?" You ask shyly.
Toga giggles at the new moniker. "Yes, dearie?"
"My name..." You mumble, before remembering you weren't meant to give out your real name. Rule number one.
"Oh just draw a little star!" Himiko nods, pointing at the corner of the ema. "God will know who you are."
You follow Himiko's advice without question, doodling a little star at the corner of the ema.
You watch as other people hang their emas up in the shrine, feeling a little dejected about having to leave the gift Himiko had given you here at the shrine.
"Can I take it home?" You ask, holding it tightly again.
"Well...I think it needs to be burned for your wish to come true..." Himiko replies uncertainly.
"Dabi can burn it when I'm ready to say goodbye to it." You offer.
Himiko nods. "Okay. Wanna go find your mom?"
You nod, handing her the ema on account of you not having any pockets and her having a large bag. She tucks it into the bag, taking your hand once more and leading you towards the cemetery.
There's lots of people at the cemetery too, rearranging flowers and eating their dinners by the graves. You'd never paid much attention to cemeteries before, and now you were in one, trying to find your moms monument.
You read the names one by one as you pass, frowning more and more when you pass one that isn't your moms name.
And then you find it, a small monument, the smallest in the graveyard.
You freeze immediately, your heart turning cold as you gaze upon the sad sight of the tiny stone with no flowers or incense by it. It was highlighted how unloved your moms grave was by the grave next to it, which had a whole bunch of flowers, teddy bears, incense and what looked like candy.
Himiko squeezes your hand, and then rather impolitely leans against the gravestone beside your moms, covering the name of whoever's grave it was.
"I don't..." You begin.
"You can talk to her, out loud or in your head." Himiko replies. "Want me to start?"
You nod, thankful for Toga's thoughtfulness.
She looks around, making sure no-one's within earshot before introducing herself to your mom's grave.
"We're looking after her now!" She informs the static gravestone as if your mom really could hear. "It's her birthday today, so Tomura found you for her!"
This was news for you. Your heart lifts a little, despite the ache that was beginning to settle in your bones at the sudden reality that your mom was really gone.
Tomura really did like you.
"Hi mom." You mumble, a little embarrassed. "I miss you. Do you miss me?"
The wind blows a little, but there's no response from the stone, which doesn't help you feel any less embarrassed.
"Dabi looks after me now." You tell her, trying to find some confidence. "I like him a lot. He's silly, and he doesn't yell at me. I think you'd have liked him too, mom."
Toga continues leaning on the gravestone beside your moms wordlessly, allowing you to say what you needed to say.
"Dabi said that you did love me, and that you just had big feelings that wouldn't stay in your body, so that's why you had to take the sleepy medicine..." You trail off, thinking about what to say next. "I hope your feelings aren't too big for you anymore."
Another painful silence, nothing but the wind responding to you.
"I'm eleven today mommy." You say. "Everyone threw me a party and Uncle Giran painted with me. I've had a nice day. I'm happy."
Toga smiles softly in your peripheral vision, and you take a deep breath, knowing you didn't have too much time to talk to your mom.
"I hope you're happy too mom." You finish, trying to lift your shoulders. "Me and Toga can't stay long, so I have to go. Next time I'll pick some flowers for you."
Toga quits leaning on the gravestone to bow towards your mom's.
"Nice meeting you, ma'am!" She chimes. "You should be glad I came instead of Dabi, too, 'cause he has a lot to say to you."
There's a dark glint in her eyes during the latter sentence, and she quickly picks up a bouquet from the grave she'd been leaning on, dropping it onto your mom's a little carelessly, grabbing your hand, and bidding her monument a cheery goodbye.
"You can't do that!" You say in shock, looking back over your shoulder at your moms grave while Toga drags you away.
"Aw, they wouldn't mind." She promises. "C'mon, lets go dance!"
You look back a little forlornly at what remains of your moms existence for a moment before taking a deep breath, blinking away tears and facing forwards again, knowing that seeing your new family would cheer you up once more.
*•*
When you get back to the hotel, the bar area has been rearranged so that half the room is bare, the majority of the furniture all pushed to the other half.
There's even flashing coloured lights and loud music, Jin and Dabi dancing sillily in the empty half of the room with beers in their hands.
Toga rushes off to her room as clumps of clay begin dripping off her, and you immediately go to join Dabi and Jin who usher you over the second they spot you.
"You okay, dollface?" Dabi asks, passing his beer to Jin.
He drops to a crouch and gives you a hug the second your face crumples.
"Oh darlin'." He sighs, rubbing your back. "You were so brave goin'."
Jin must fob the beers off to someone else, because you feel his strong arms join Dabi's around you.
Someone's kissing the side of your head, you can't tell who, though, with no tell-tale scraping of metal against your head or the feeling of Dabi's gnarled scarred skin, your hair getting in the way of being able to feel it.
"Did you say everything you needed to?" You hear Tomura ask.
You peer in his direction, his face blurry through the tears you refuse to shed.
"I think so." You reply in a shaky voice.
"Good." Shigaraki reaches out, brushing the back of his hand over the small section of your face that wasn't being crushed by Dabi or Jin. "That's more than some get."
A taloned hand gently rests on top of your head. "Would some presents cheer you up?"
"Presents?" You sniff.
"Me, and Compress got you some stuff." Spinner informs you as Dabi and Jin peel themselves away from you.
"Me and Tomura got ya something, too." Dabi brushes his thumb over your cheek lovingly.
"I got ya the rubber ducks!" Jin chimes in. "Quack quack!"
You giggle a little at his second voice, wiping your eyes. "There's really presents?"
"There's really presents. They're on that table over there." Spinner points at a table on the furnished side of the room which has a couple wrapped presents on it.
You blink, a little surprised there were presents too. You'd already had cake, and been taken out of the hotel twice, that was good enough for you.
You also had just kind of assumed that you wouldn't have presents, because they'd gotten you presents outside of your birthday for being good, and to make you feel better.
You'd never had presents on your birthdays, or really in general before.
"Come on, little lady." Atsuhiro encourages, holding out his hand. "Let's go open your presents, yes?"
He's not wearing his mask again, and he's looking at you with a soft smile, so all you can do is nod and take his hand, all of them following his lead to your presents.
Himiko rushes in too, quickly throwing her hair into her usual messy buns as she perches on the back of the couch opposite you and Dabi.
Atushiro gently places a big parcel in your hands, sitting back on the couch with Spinner and Jin.
"Thank you!" You bow politely, making them all chuckle.
Dabi rubs your back in a grounding manner as you slowly begin to peel the paper off the gift.
A small painting kit with a little easel, and a seperate palette, just like Uncle Giran had, but smaller.
Your breath catches and your eyes widen, Spinner smirking and Dabi laughing lowly.
"You like it, little miss?" Atsuhiro asks, smiling as well.
"Uh-huh! Thank you so much!" You hop to your feet. "Can I give you a hug?"
"Of course you can!" Atsuhiro replies, opening his arms wide.
You ditch the present with Dabi, launching yourself at Atsuhiro who laughs and holds you carefully with his metal and flesh arm alike.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" You squeeze him tight, and let him go, looking shyly at the other man who had paid towards the gift. "Thank you Spinner."
"Ya gotta give him a hug too, Star." Dabi teases from behind you, snickering a little. "Don't be unfair."
Spinner rolls his eyes and grins. "You don't have to, Star. It's okay."
He always looks so friendly and is so kind and thoughtful that you swallow your shyness and slowly approach him for a hug too.
He seems a little taken aback, you hadn't ever hugged him before. He accepts it quickly though, giving you a quick squeeze and pat on the head before you scurry off to sit next to Dabi with burning cheeks again.
"This one's from us." Tomura nudges a poorly wrapped gift towards you as you settle back down. "...Your dad wrapped it."
"Did a pretty good job considerin' I was sto- sleepy." Dabi argues, leaning back and sipping his beer. Tomura only hums judgmentally in return.
"Thank you!" You exclaim as you pull it into your lap.
Whatever it was, it was squishy. Another stuffed toy maybe?
You don't take care unwrapping this one. It wasn't as neatly packaged as Atsuhiro's and Spinners, and so you felt it didn't matter if you ripped the paper a little.
Sure enough, a teddy bear's head is exposed when you rip open the top of the gift.
When you peel off the rest of the paper, you see an eerily similar version of your raggedy teddy, only with a moon on its chest instead of a star.
"Found out your teddy was part of a set." Dabi explains. "Not often ya get 'em sold separately. Tomura found it on some nerd site an' fought hard for it."
You knew. You'd seen it before.
"Mom..." You murmur quietly, running your fingers over the embroidered moon on its chest.
Everyone goes quiet for a little while until Dabi gently strokes your face with the back of his hand.
"You like it?" He asks a little nervously.
You were probably just being superstitious after seeing your moms grave, and talking to her.
But this was the same teddy your mom had. You'd been given the star version when you were a baby, but had seen the moon one in moms room several times.
You couldn't help but think it was a sign from her.
"I do." You nod, cuddling it tight. "Thank you."
Dabi seems relieved, and Tomura's eyes shine a little brighter, even if he looks as expressionless as ever.
You bury your face into the teddy, as if it were really your mom having come home from a hard day's work like in the movies, holding it tight until Himiko excitedly mentions wanting to dance.
Your head perks up and you enthusiastically agree to join her, taking your new teddy with you.
Everyone ends up on the makeshift dance floor, even Tomura. You dance specifically with your teddy for a couple of songs before dancing individually with Dabi and the others.
Even though it probably looked silly to dance with the teddy, you could kid yourself into thinking it was like dancing with your mom on your very first birthday.