Hakuchō didn't talk to you, or anyone else, for a week.
Even Zero, who was staying by her side no matter what, couldn't seem to get anything out of her. If he tried, she'd only nod, shake her head, or scowl at him. A lot of the time they were both in her room, because she didn't want to come and see everyone.
That's what Tomura said, anyway.
You were trying to be kind and patient about it, even though you really missed your Uncle Zero, and wanted to spend time with him too.
You also weren't really used to having kids your age around, and so you wanted to take advantage of it, especially now she was in your space this time, so you could be a little more comfortable, knowing that everyone would fight for you if you needed it. And you had your quirk back, so you could even put up a decent fight again yourself if it came to it.
But she wouldn't let you. Any attempt to talk to her was met with ignorance, a blank stare or sometimes, if you caught her in a particularly bad mood, a scowl.
So you took the hint and stayed away when she was in a communal area, only gazing at her from afar, usually using one of the others as some kind of human shield if you could sense her mood was bad.
When she started giving bland, one word answers, you started trying to talk to her again, greeting her whenever she was nearby. Sometimes she replied, sometimes she didn't.
She didn't really reply when you followed it up with 'how are you?', and when she did, it was usually sarcastic or a little snippy.
You could tell Dabi wasn't too happy with her being in the mansion along with the rest of you, especially when Tomura popped out for a couple of hours and left her with everyone else. He was either ignoring her, or glaring at her too, even though you'd spoken to him and told him you'd forgiven her.
Apparently, he liked to hold a grudge, especially when it came to family.
When you asked if that was why he'd killed his dad, he had pulled on one of your ears playfully and told you your ears were too small for 'all'a that'.
You'd huffed, but let it go.
You were easily distracted by the cut up fruits that Spinner had put in front of you, anyway.
You were done with your English lesson with Spinner, and had been through some hard sums with Tomura before he had disappeared off, asking you a weird question about what kind of metal Dabi wore in his piercings before leaving.
Dabi was still a little sleepy because of the medicine he had to take because of the fight he'd been in. Good medicine, though, he assured you, not bad medicine. So it was better to leave him alone while he was resting.
Spinner had gone off with Toga and Jin to go and see Atsuhiro, because he was still in hospital, and when you had asked if you could go too, it was met with grimaces and gentle reassurances that when he was better, you could see him.
Which left you with Kurogiri, Zero and Hakuchō.
And it was nice having Kurogiri back, he was trying hard to try to teach Zero how to be better at cooking when he was able to drag Hakuchō downstairs for long enough to help Kurogiri here and there, but he wasn't really much for conversation, just kind of standing there, waiting for someone to talk to him first.
So you make your way up to Hakuchō's room, knocking on the door and then peering around the door when Zero calls out 'yes?' as a response for her.
"Hello." You say shyly.
Zero's smile grows a little more at the sight of you. "Hi, Star. Is everything okay?"
"I'm bored. Can I come and sit with you?" You ask.
"Get out." Hakuchō says bluntly from under her covers.
You blink in surprise and then look at Zero as if he was going to save you. He gives you an apologetic look in return.
"Sorry, Star. Hakuchō wants to be alone right now." Zero apologises. "Why don't you go and draw in your room?"
"It's lonely." You reply, disheartened. "I want to sit with you and Hakuchō."
"Well I don't want you here." Hakuchō says, sitting up quickly and turning her head to scowl at you. "Get. Out."
"Nicely." Zero warns her, but he's still smiling ever so slightly.
You're confused by the hostility you're being met with. You don't really understand why she's ignoring you, and why she's so angry with you when she does interact with you, and so you look at her, frowning a little.
"What did I do?" You ask. "Why are you mad at me? I'm just trying to be friends with you."
"Well I don't want to be friends with you!" She snaps, throwing her hands in the air exasperatedly, which makes Zero's smile drop instantly. "You're annoying! You're just a dumb kid that follows everyone around like a lost puppy! It's pathetic."
Your shoulders sag slowly as her words hit you just as hard as they used to whenever your moms boyfriends used to spew them at you. Zero raises to his feet, holding his arm out as if it could physically defend you from her words.
"Stop that." He tells her firmly. "Star, go and draw in your room, okay?"
You take a deep breath, trying to hold the tears in, and turn around, fleeing to your bedroom. You close the door behind you, and flop onto the bed, curling up with teddy, rubbing the furless star on its chest as you try to swallow back the tears and unfavorable memories that were rearing their ugly heads.
You knew that everyone else seemed to enjoy your company, no-one had called you annoying, or made you feel like you were nothing but a burden, or that you're dumb since mom had died, but Hakuchō's words have you doubting how genuine that all was, and makes you wonder if you really were just annoying everyone by following them around.
You have a little cry to yourself alone in your room, despite trying to be tough about it, and remain curled up on your bed for what feels like forever with no-one around to keep you company, but it was probably realistically more like an hour.
Once you've collected yourself enough, you decide to go and see if Dabi was okay, and make sure he hadn't died in his sleep like mom had, just in case. You take your giant ducky with you, thankful that Hakuchō still appeared to be in her room if Zero's pale hair in the slit of the ajar door was anything to go by, because no doubt she'd probably find that dumb, too.
You just wanted a little extra comfort, that's all.
You open the door to Dabi and Tomura's room slowly, peering in and seeing Dabi splayed out on the bed, taking a nap. You close the door quietly behind you, and pad quietly over to the bed, climbing on and nudging his shoulder gently to try to get him to move enough to let you on, too.
"Mmf." He grunts, burying his face deeper into the pillow.
"I wanna lay with you." You whisper, hoping he's awake enough to hear you.
"C'mere." Dabi yawns, turning over and flopping his arm out, above your head.
You move closer to him, laying your head on his arm and laying with your back to his side, cuddling your giant teddy in the fetal position, soaking in the warmth of Dabi as he snores softly beside you.
This helps a little. Mom never used to let you do this with her, so he definitely had to love you, and not think you were just a dumb, annoying kid.
*•*
You wake up to gentle fingers moving your hair out of your face, the strands tickling you enough to wake you up. Your brows furrow as you wake, opening your eyes to the sight of ruby eyes amongst scarred skin.
Your heartbeat slows as you realise that it's just Tomura, and that the nightmare that'd begun to form hazily at the feel of being touched in your sleep was just that, a nightmare.
"Hello." He says as softly as he can.
You yawn, and reach for him, but he doesn't climb onto the bed with you both, instead looks at you, brushing the backs of his knuckles over your cheek over and over thoughtfully.
"You've been crying." He states.
"Nuh-uh." You lie. You didn't want to get Hakuchō into trouble.
Tomura smirks slightly. "Yuh-huh, brat. Your eyes are swollen."
He continues looking at you as softly as Tomura really ever does, looking the most concerned you'd ever seen him look at anyone before. You definitely aren't used to being on the receiving end of it.
"Did something happen while I was gone?" He asks, leaving your face alone, folding his arms over the edge of the mattress and leaning his face on them.
You shake your head, knowing you probably shouldn't lie, because Dabi told you not to, but if Hakuchō was upset because something bad had happened to her, because Hawks wasn't protecting her well, then you didn't want Tomura to yell at her or scare her and make it worse. Plus, it was probably your fault anyway.
Tomura doesn't say anything, or immediately call you out on your lie, he just watches you quietly, his red eyes stark against the white waves that frame his face and are falling down his back now.
"I can't help you if you don't tell me." He says simply, still watching you.
You think about it for a second.
Could he even help, really? If the issue was you being annoying, there wasn't much he could do about that.
"Am I just a dumb kid?" You ask, struggling to swallow a little after you speak.
Tomura's wrinkled brows pull together slightly, and he reaches to pet your cheek again. "Not at all."
You must not look certain, because he's only silent for a mere second, before speaking again, trying to keep his voice low to not wake Dabi up.
"Not many children your age can speak English as well as you, or draw as well as you. You're street smart thanks to Dabi, and intelligent enough to survive on the streets alone for longer than most kids would have." He says, his eyes searching your face. "If you were dumb, why would I need your help doing the shrines in Breath of The Wild?"
"You're very smart." He says in English, as if to highlight his point.
"I feel bad." You tell him in English, and he nods, reaching for you properly now.
You take the chance to move closer to him, feeling his arms wrap around you and ducky as he folds over the bed.
"Did someone call you dumb?" He asks. "Someone with feathers, maybe?"
You nod, feeling his hair tickle your cheek. "Don't tell her off."
"Dumb is a poor insult, Star." Tomura says, his cracked lips brushing your temple before he stops hugging you, his thumb running under your eye. "Why did it upset you so much?"
"Moms boyfriends used to call me that." You murmur, feeling Dabi stir behind you. "It made me think of then."
Tomura nods understandingly, not letting up his eye contact, even when Dabi grumbles sleepily behind you and rolls over, wrapping his cold prosthetic arm around your waist, making you squeak in surprise.
"Shh, princess." Dabi yawns. "Sleepin'."
Tomura gets up from the bed without any more caresses, looking down at you both with a vague look of amusement.
"Hey, Touya, Star thinks she's dumb." Tomura says, and then winks at you before walking to the other side of the room and shrugging off his jacket.
Dabi squeezes you tight for a brief moment, the cold metal of his hand pressing into you sharply, but is soon released into a looser hold.
"Well tha's silly. She's the brightest Star ever." Dabi says in a sleepy slur without a shred of doubt behind his words. "My lil' Starshine. Call her that 'cause she shines like the sun."
"Dad." You whine, embarrassed.
He leans up and presses quick kisses your cheek over and over while you're stuck in his arms, even as you desperately try to free yourself, only to be dragged back against him, Tomura watching from his office chair with an entertained look on his face.
"Stop! It's gross!" You cry out.
"F' you think that's gross, wait 'til I slobber all over your face." He teases, poking out his stitched-up tongue as though he's going to lick your cheek instead.
You squeal this time, and genuinely put some real effort into straining against his hold. Tomura huffs amusedly, and Dabi chuckles, pulling you back and pressing his face against your shoulder.
"Don't call yourself dumb again, or else I really will do somethin' to gross you out." He warns, yawning and letting go of you. "No-one insults my darlin' girl and gets away with it."
He stretches his arms out, bending his back side to side, and while he's distracted, you and Tomura lock eyes in what you think, and hope, is a silent exchange between you.
A wordless agreement not to tell him who had really called you dumb.