"Pawpaw! Pawpaw!"
Not what Touya wanted to wake up to so early, but at least it's an excited call rather than a scared call.
He groans sleepily in response, instinctively curling his arms around the little girl jumping on his bed and pulling her against him, shushing her softly.
"The tooth fairy came!" She exclaims, trying to free one of her arms from his grip.
"Tha's great, Starshine." He yawns. "S' too early for your dad right now, hon. Sleep."
"But look what the fairy left behind!" She insists.
It takes everything in him to peel his eyes open. He had barely slept last night, worrying about things he would never have worried about if he had just kept his wits about him and kept his heart closed off to everyone around him like he had originally planned to.
He was worried about Star, about the stress rash on her face and the fact that she was getting worse under their care instead of better. She wasn't gaining weight still, and her bouts of depression were becoming more frequent.
Realistically, he knew that was probably just her getting older. Nothing fucked with the head quite like puberty on top of all the other issues poor little Star has, but it didn't make him feel good about his ability to care for her anyway.
He was also, annoyingly, concerned about Tomura. About what All For One will end up doing to his partner's body while he's not in control of himself.
Touya knew that All For One's kindness didn't stretch far without conditions, or at the least, repayments. And he was willing to bet that the blind eye All For One agreed to turn to Tomura's actions for two days would somehow come back to bite Tomura in the ass.
"Wow hon. That's cool." Touya yawns as he gazes drowsily at the coin gleaming in the dim light. "A whole five hundred yen? Musta been feelin' generous."
He pretends to swipe the money off of her, and she squeals, tightening her grip on the coin and wiggling her entire body in his hold.
"Sleep time." He says again, squeezing his arms around her waist.
"Do you think the fairies will make a good house from my tooth?" She asks, ignoring his request for sleep.
"Mhm. They'll have it pride of place, hon." He replies, his voice a sleepy rumble.
It wasn't exactly a lie. He had planned on making it into some kind of jewellery that wouldn't burn up if he needed to use his quirk while wearing it.
He needed to trust its safety with Giran, and then trust it in the hands of whoever Giran managed to find that could make such a thing.
"But what about the teeth I swallowed?"
Touya fights back the urge to groan. He just wanted to sleep.
"Why were you swallowin' teeth, Star?" He asks, a little more sourly than he should.
"I didn't mean to, they just fell out when I was eating..." She replies, sounding embarrassed.
"Well, 'fraid they're gone then." Touya replies, trying to force himself more awake because he definitely wasn't going to be getting any more sleep. "Don't worry, hon. The tooth fairies never run outta teeth."
"But what about the ones mom put in the bin?"
He takes a deep breath before replying. Even his own mom, who struggled connecting with any of her kids, kept all of their teeth in separate boxes in her bedside drawer.
One... two... three...
"The poor fairies'd come and get 'em probably, hon. Dumpster divers like you." He forces himself to tease.
"Shut up." She grumbles. "You did it too."
"I did." He agrees, kissing the back of her head.
She goes quiet for long enough for Touya to foolishly close his eyes again in the hope for more sleep.
That is, until he feels her trying to pry his fingers open so she can put the coin he'd slid under her pillow last night into one of his hands firmly.
"What're you doin', Star?" Touya asks.
"I heard Tomura tell Zero we don't have much money, so you can have it." She replies, still struggling to open his hand.
He clamps his hand shut even tighter, refusing to take the money back.
"That's very sweet, darlin', but it's your money. I don't need it." He says, kissing her head again. "Use it to feed yer duckies or get some candy or somethin'."
"But I don't need it..." She says.
"You might not need it, but the fairies gave it to you for givin' 'em a good tooth to build with. Wasn't my tooth, hon. Keep your money, 'kay?" He insists. "You're a good girl for thinkin' about everyone else though. Spinner'd be proud."
"Dad." She whines in embarrassment.
He chuckles. He hadn't actually meant to use her little innocent crush against her that time, he just knew it was the kind of thing Spinner would do, too. Taking the loss for others gain just because they're nice people.
"I just mean 'cause he's a good guy, cuddlebug." Touya tries to reassure. He didn't need to add needless humiliation to her stress.
She responds with a grumpy 'hmph', but does stop trying to force the coin into Touya's hand, which counts as a win to him.
He lifts his head from his pillow and kisses all over her rashy cheek in a way that makes her try to strain out of his arms and whine again, Touya grinning against the inflamed skin on her cheek before letting go and relenting to the fact his day had to start.
"Come on then, let's get some of Tomura's magic medicine on ya face." He yawns, stretching his arms, chest and shoulders out.
"It's magic?" She asks. "My face is still itchy though..."
"Sure hon, he told me so himself." Touya plays along without really thinking about it and he looks at her in mind suspicion. "You been scratchin'?"
She pauses for a while which answers his question even before she verbally does. "...Sorry."
"Only hurtin' yourself darlin' girl." Touya replies, ruffling her hair a little rougher than usual. "The magic won't work if you keep scratchin'."
She grunts and swats his hand away, watching as he slides himself out of bed and grabs a nearby shirt to throw over his head.
As always, she's well behaved with him, letting him put the soothing ointment on her face while she sits on the counter.
They get about their day, both him and Zero trying to sneak some solid food into her diet. He manages to catch sight of her eating some blueberries while she learns with Zero, and then she manages to eat, and keep down one of Spinner's treasured protein bars later on in the day.
It has him feeling hopeful for when they have to part ways again and he has to leave her with Giran.
*•*
The next few days pass in a blur.
Star still isn't eating properly, but they managed to introduce small amounts of soup into her diet. They start with miso soup and then slowly try introducing noodles, too. It's not much, but it's something.
There's only tears, a small tantrum and reluctance to pack when Touya tries to encourage her to pack for at least a week.
And that was the best case scenario.
When he actually tries to drop her off at the old man's place so he can join Tomura and the others he gets the works.
Tears, stomping her feet, yelling, gripping onto him and not letting go... Even though she was staying with her beloved Uncle Giran, who she'd practically beg to stay with before.
She even tries ordering Zero to stay, but fails, not knowing that Tomura and Dabi's orders would always have hierarchy over hers.
"Star, I need you to let me go." Touya tries to say, his voice straining to stay firm.
Because he hates seeing her so distressed, and he especially hates being the cause of the upset.
He wants to crumble and let her have her way, but he can't.
"No! I don't want you to go." She says for at least the tenth time.
"Star, c'mon little love. Yer paw's got places to be." Giran tries to lure.
She refuses though, only clinging even tighter to Touya. She presses her face harder into his side and shakes her head adamantly in response to Girans involvement.
"Star." Touya tries again, gently trying to pull her away from his torso again.
She's stubborn, and for a kid that barely weighs anything anymore she still has some kind of strength for him to struggle to get her off without putting too much effort behind it.
He does manage to get her to pull away though, revealing her tear-soaked face and irritated skin. He holds her away for long enough to crouch in front of her and cup her little wet face in his hands.
"Star." He says firmly. "You gotta be brave."
"I'm not brave!" She insists.
"We've been over this." Touya says, continuing to be firm. "You're brave, as much as you wanna pretend you're not. You were brave when you found your mom, ya grabbed Tomura that one time, made the old fart that knocked me out sick, bit my ol' man, and didn't stop fighting when they took you even though it would've been scary, right? You've done so many brave things. I need ya to be brave right now, too."
"I'm all out of brave!" She sobs.
He wants to snort in amusement, but his exhaustion at the situation and the knowledge that he needs to be firm stops him from doing so.
"You seriously think I'd do somethin' that'd put you in danger?" He asks, raising a white eyebrow at the girl.
"...Not on purpose." She replies.
"You think Zero'd let me?" He asks, jutting a thumb towards the scarred man standing behind him.
Star peers over Touya's shoulder at Zero, and then shaking her head when she looks back at Touya.
"There ya go then. Go with your uncle an' be a good girl." Touya sighs, squeezing her clear cheek between his thumb and forefinger as playfully as he can muster.
"But-"
"Don't wanna hear it Star. I gotta go and fi-work now. 'Kay? Be good for the old man, he loves you." Touya tells her, straightening out her clothes and looking up at her as she cries silently. "Please stop cryin', hon."
"But what if I never see you again?" She asks sadly.
He rolls his eyes, cupping her face again. "If you think after everything that I'm not comin' back for you, you're a dummy."
"But what if we get taken?" She frets quietly so that Giran can't hear her.
"You won't." Touya reassures quietly. "No-one's gonna take you again, I promise."
She doesn't look certain about it, and still keeps looking to Zero for help, even as he stands still behind Touya, arms folded over his chest and a soft smile on his face.
Touya sighs, wiping her silent tears away with his thumbs affectionately.
"But you're dressed different... You're wearing white. I don't like it." She worries.
Perceptive, really.
He'd been given a new white fire-proof coat by either Tomura or All For One, he couldn't quite tell. The same went for the white pants and the boots.
The fact it resembled clothes he'd seen adorned at funerals didn't make him feel too good about it being Tomura's choice.
"I love you Starshine, an' that's why you gotta stay here with your grandpaw for a little while." He repeats, ignoring her comment about his attire. "I'll come get you as soon as I can, an' if I'm not too busy I'll call you. 'Kay?"
"You promise?" She asks shakily, her hands shaking as she wipes her tears away before he can.
He holds his pinky out to her, waiting patiently as she debates on whether to make the promise, calm down and go into the house with Giran or continuing to refuse to be obedient out of fear.
With a deep breath she nervously curls her little finger around his, looking at him with an expression which wordlessly begs him not to break her trust.
"I love you, princess." He repeats.
"Love you, pawpaw..." She replies nervously.
"Gimme a hug." He says, holding his arms out.
She wraps her arms around him tentatively, and he returns the hug, kissing the top of her head in relief that she seems to have given up the fight.
"You'll come and get me again soon?" She asks.
"Yeah hon. Three days at best, a week at worst." Touya vows.
"Okay..." She murmurs, still sounding reluctant.
He squeezes her gently before slowly pulling away and standing up again, stroking her hair as adoringly as he can and making sure he takes in the sight of her properly before leaving himself.
But she looks anxious and sick thanks to her inability to stomach solids, not the smiling, switched on, playful Star he'd had by his side months ago.
"Gimme a smile doll?" He asks, smiling softly at her, not that it was as cute as hers on account of all his scarring.
She smiles but it's not an honest one, it's not even close to being convincing thanks to the drying tears on her face and the clear unhappiness in her eyes.
He shouldn't have bothered asking for her to smile so that would be the last memory he'd have if anything happened to him. Now he'd just be fixated on how upset she was before he left.
He leans down to kiss her cheek softly and ruffles her hair.
"Remember the rules, 'kay?" He asks her, knowing she never forgot them. He turns his attention to Giran, who's doing a poor job of hiding his concern too. "See ya later old man. Thanks for takin' care of Starshine for me."
"Anytime, son." Giran smiles crookedly, placing his hand on one of Star's bony shoulders. "Stay safe out there."
Giran raises a knowing eyebrow at Touya, squeezing Stars shoulder when she begins to cry again.
"Uncle Zero!" She cries out.
"What is it, little Star?" He responds curiously, tilting his head like a puppy.
"You haven't hugged me goodbye yet!" She accuses.
If Touya didn't know Star, he'd consider it an attempt to drag it out even longer. But he did know Star, and knew that it actually really had bothered her that Zero hadn't given her a goodbye hug yet.
Zero immediately drops onto one knee and opens his arms out for her, wrapping his arms a little more naturally than he had before around her.
"Jerk." Touya hears her sniffle against Zero.
"I'm sorry, Star." Zero replies as evenly as ever, pressing his face into her hair.
She begins whispering to him and he gives a couple of hushed responses back before letting go of her and awkwardly pressing his lips to her forehead.
"Be good." He hears Zero tell her before raising to his feet again.
Giran's hand lands on her shoulder again, likely to stop her from darting out and following them as they leave.
It feels wrong, it feels awful leaving her there, even though he was sure to pack her favourite plushies and Switch, and he was leaving knowing that Giran would dote on her the entire time. He loved her like she really was his granddaughter.
He waves at her as he walks away from the house, feeling sick to his stomach from the guilt.
"Are you ready, Dabi?" Zero asks once they get to the car.
"Give me five." Touya replies a little breathlessly, leaning his face in his hands and trying to collect himself.
He wouldn't be any use if he lost control and burned himself out before getting to the others, after all.