"Starlight."
You peer over at your bedroom door, your pencil pausing mid-scratch against the paper. Tomura is standing in the doorway, his white hair down and for once he's not all dressed up in his suit jacket and dress pants, like he's going to go out for work.
He's wearing a fitted vest shirt that shows off all his new scars and muscle, and tight black pants like Dabi's. For a second you even wonder if it is Dabi's clothes.
"You look nice pa." You say, after Dabi told you that you weren't allowed to call Tomura pretty.
"Thank you. Can we talk?" Tomura asks, his cracked lips turning upwards ever so slightly on one side.
"Oh, okay." You pause, watching as he steps into your room. "Am I in trouble?"
"You always ask, and yet are you ever in trouble?" He asks in return, raising a hairless brow behind white locks.
"No..." You reply cautiously as he closes the door behind himself. "But one day I might be."
He shakes his head, looking faintly amused, and approaches you, settling on the bed beside you, only quickly glimpsing at your drawing on the easel before putting his full attention on you.
His knuckles brush over your cheek, eating some of the anxiety that's beginning to gnaw at your stomach with how intensely he's looking at you.
"Have you been practicing your English?" He asks in English.
You process the words for a second and then nod, following it up with: "Yes."
"Can we speak in English? I don't want Dabi to hear." He continues, signaling with his hand near his ear to highlight his point.
You blink, but nod again, and Tomura nods as well, seeming to think over what to say next for a moment, his eyes moving to the side for a second.
"Do you like me being your dad?"
You nod. "You're good."
He huffs a little at you, a fondness in his eyes. "You're happy with me and Dabi together?"
You tilt your head at him. "Together?"
"Together means when more than one thing or people are together." Tomura explains in Japanese.
"Oh! Mhm." You nod.
"Would you like us all to be a family?" He asks in English.
You nod.
"I want to be..." You pause, not knowing the English word. "Adopted. Please?"
His expression softens, and he brushes his knuckles over your cheek again. "I'm working on it."
You nod, leaning into the touch.
"I mean, would you like me and Dabi to get married?" He asks.
You screw your face up, recognising the word, but not being able to place it.
"Married." He says in Japanese.
Your eyes widen and you nod immediately. "Family?"
"Family." He repeats. "Me, you, and Dabi."
You nod again, more enthusiastically.
"Are you sure?" He asks in Japanese again. "You won't be in trouble if you're honest."
"I'm sure!" You exclaim, bouncing a little where you sit. "I wanna be a family!"
He smirks, and nods, getting up. "You can't tell him."
"I won't!" You vow.
"Good girl." Tomura praises. "It'll be our secret."
*•*
And so you don't mention it again.
Although you come close when you have a nightmare about your mom and her boyfriends and climb into Tomura and Dabi's bed again in the middle of the night, Dabi's arms always curling automatically around the body closest to him.
Tomura is awake, as always, scrolling through his phone idly.
The screen light reflects off his hair, making it look almost angelic, like in the movies when people glowed because they were going to heaven.
"Your hair is pretty, 'Mura. Like the moon." You say sleepily, playing with the ends of his hair as you fight sleep off.
"Oh yeah?" He says, clearly entertained. "If I'm the moon, and you're Star, what does that make Touya?"
You think about it for a second, yawning and closing your eyes properly, still holding on to the new braid you'd made in Tomura's hair.
"The sun, 'cause he burns." You murmur eventually.
Tomura snorts, resting his hand on your head.
"Go to sleep, brat."
*•*
When Tomura had come back from wherever he had gone during the day, he's holding a plastic cage, and there are two men you don't recognise behind him carrying boxes and plastic bags.
Hakuchō looks warily over at them all, sitting next to Zero at the table as he works through a worksheet with her, too.
Dabi peers up next to you, raising an eyebrow when he sees Tomura, and then when you all hear a 'mrreow' come from the box, you freeze.
"No way." Dabi says beside you in disbelief.
"Cat!" You yell, as Tomura smirks and crouches, setting the box on the floor.
"Yes, a cat." Tomura responds, opening the metallic door. "His name is Cloud."
"Like the nerd from your game?!" Dabi asks sourly.
"There's another reason behind it, too." Tomura snorts.
You're not paying attention to their bickering, already neglecting your biology book to get onto the floor and try to pet the long haired calico cat that was taking careful steps into the room.
"He's friendly." Tomura says, leaving the cage on the floor and walking back to order the two other men around, telling them where to leave everything.
"He's so cute!" You coo, gently petting the top of Cloud's head. "Hakuchō, do you think Shinsou would like him?"
Hakuchō doesn't respond, she never really did whenever you tried to approach her, and just stares dead-eyed at the cat as it seems to turn to liquid to try and avoid you petting his back as he tries to explore the kitchen.
Zero watches Cloud approach carefully with his usual soft smile, leaning forward to pet Cloud with the backs of his fingers as soon as he's close enough.
Cloud sniffs his hand for a second before arching his back and hissing in disapproval, making Zero move his hand away and hum.
"That's not nice, Cloud. That's Uncle Zero! He's a friend." You tell the cat, as though it understands.
Dabi hasn't said a word this entire time, just staring at the cat in surprise.
"It's because I don't have a smell." Zero says simply.
"Everyone has a smell. Dabi smells like smoke, Himiko smells like flowers, and Uncle Jin smells like smoke and sweat!" You argue.
"I don't have a smell because I'm dead." Zero shrugs, still smiling. "It's probably unsettling for our new furry friend."
"Can you tell what Cloud's feeling?" You ask Zero, petting the cat who had done the rounds and returned to you.
"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.