"Starlight."
You feel a hand on your shoulder, shaking you awake gently. You groan in response, burying your face further into the pillow and squeezing your eyes shut even tighter in defiance.
"You need to get up and eat something." Tomura says, his tone telling you that you probably shouldn't push your luck.
He never got mad at you, not really, but he was stern when he needed to be, and was ten times more stubborn than Dabi was.
He wouldn't buckle with an innocent doe-eyed look like your pawpaw would.
"Sleepy." You say, your voice muffled by the pillow.
"You've been asleep since three p.m. it's been three hours. You won't sleep later if you stay asleep now." Tomura says simply, squeezing your shoulder before getting up from the edge of your bed. "Hurry, before it gets cold. Cloud, come on."
You feel the lump of a cat you'd been curled up around standing up, chirruping at Tomura's command, and immediately purring as he jumps off your bed and rubs against Tomuras ankles.
You turn at this, frowning.
"Don't take Cloud."
"He needs to eat too. Come on." Tomura replies, lifting Cloud up into his arms, holding him like a big fat baby.
He walks out of your room, leaving the door open behind him. Your lips turn downwards as you fight back a groan of frustration, but know better than to fight Tomura on this and take a moment to wake up properly, rubbing your eyes and yawning.
You eventually get out of your bed, padding barefoot across the hallway into the kitchen, where Dabi passes you with a bowl in each hand.
He drops a quick kiss to your head as he passes, Tomura following behind with one plate in his hand, the other being used to turn you back around and lead you alongside him, resting at the back of your neck.
"At the table." He says simply.
You let him lead you there, his thumb stroking the skin there faintly.
Dabi had never changed, he was always really affectionate with you, and Tomura both, even if you didn't reciprocate it. He was less likely to be physically affectionate with Tomura if someone else was around, but he would always have a hand on you or give you a hug or peck on the top of your head no matter who was around.
But for Tomura to be affectionate with you unprompted, it means something must be wrong, or he's worried about you.
Tomura sets the bowl he'd been carrying down on the table, motioning for you to sit there as Dabi puts the other two bowls down.
You sit under the chabudai, tucking your legs under the blanket, looking over the table as Tomura and Dabi take their places too.
"Good nap, hon?" Dabi asks affectionately, ruffling your hair the second he's sat down.
You swat him away, earning a chuckle as always, and his metallic knuckles stroking your cheek a couple of times before he accepts your silent protest and keeps his hands to himself.
"You still takin' your iron tablets, Star? You're sleepin' a lot lately." He asks, watching as you slowly take bits of food from the bowls around the table.
"Yeah, dad." You reply tiredly, keeping your eyes on your food, missing the exchanged look Tomura and Dabi give each other.
"You feelin' alright?" Dabi asks, going to press the back of his other hand against your head.
"I'm fine, dad." You insist, moving your head back so he can't touch you.
A flicker of hurt flashes in pale blue eyes, but Dabi brushes it off quickly, sniffing and smiling although it doesn't reach his eyes.
Cloud pads in, licking his lips still and immediately rubs up against Dabi, purring happily despite not even being pet in response.
Dabi grumbles as Cloud climbs onto his lap, which he always does, to leech off his heat while he's eating.
"I told you Touya, she's a teenager now. They need more sleep." Tomura says, which is humiliating for some reason.
Your cheeks heat as Dabi barks at him that he didn't know, and how on earth he was supposed to know.
You know this is just them, and that nothing serious is really meant behind it, but it still makes your heart jump a little when he snaps like that.
The two banter for a second before Tomura looks over at you, noticing your flustered expression and shoots a sharp glance at Dabi.
"Anyway." Dabi clears his throat.
"Shuuichi managed to fix your joycon, Star." Tomura says, taking his first bite of food. "He'll bring it to me tomorrow."
"'Kay. Thanks, pa." You murmur trying to clear your bowl as quickly as you can so you can go back to your room, even though you're feeling a little cooler-faced after a change of topic.
Conversation comes a little easier after that, although it's the same topics as usual. How tutoring was going, if you'd gotten any further on the art project you were working on in between art classes with Uncle Giran.
They always looked so proud whenever you said you were doing well or whenever you showed them what you were working on, even if it wasn't always true. Even when you did poorly on an online lesson, one of them, usually Tomura, would come and help you out with it until you did understand.
You didn't want to let them down. You didn't want to lose that proud spark in their eyes that your mom never had.
*•*
You'd been sitting in your room all evening, your elbows resting on your desk and your hands in your hair as you stared down at the drawing in front of you.
It was maybe the third drawing of a building you'd ever had to do, and you'd chosen what remained of the old bar you'd lived in when Dabi first took you in as your subject for the project.
Except you hated drawing buildings. You hated how many straight lines there were and how regimented you felt it had to be.
Which was maybe why you'd chosen a building with a giant hole in it.
It was meant to be brought into your next art class, which was meant to be in a few days, but it was nowhere near ready. You couldn't get past the rough sketch, the jagged charcoal lines almost mocking you on the paper.
You groan, leaning back, Cloud lifting his head and glaring at you for interrupting his nap.
You look over at the clock. Ten p.m., just on the cusp of when you're meant to start winding down for the night.
But there was no way you'd be able to sleep. Not with the pressure you were putting yourself under, and not while knowing whenever you fell asleep at night, you'd be faced with night terrors, whether it was about your mom, the times you were taken away from your family, or sometimes, if your brain was feeling extra antsy, you'd dream about your family hurting you.
They never would, of course. No-one had ever done as much as raise a finger to you. But knowing who they were, and what they'd done, sometimes liked to sit at the back of your mind, and scratch at the walls, wanting to be let out.
"Come on, buddy." You whisper to Cloud, deciding to go to the living area and see if Tomura or Dabi were up.
You get up slowly, allowing Cloud to jump off your lap and walk to the door, the fat white and ginger tabby cat sitting there and waiting for you to let him out.
You open your door quietly in case Tomura and Dabi are asleep in their room next door, but you soon hear the unmistakable sounds of metal items clanging against each other coming from the living area, the door across from yours ajar.
You follow Cloud across the hall, smirking a little at him when he nudges the door open with his head confidently and without slowing down his strides.
You can see Tomura's white hair tied up into a high ponytail like he usually wore whenever he was at home, the light from the TV reflecting on it.
Cloud jumps from the floor to the back of the sofa, bumping his face against Tomuras, and you hear a low chuckle come from Tomura.
"Kicked out, huh?" You hear him ask the purring cat as it climbs down his chest onto the couch.
"Dad?"
Tomura turns his head to look at you, and then glances at the clock before returning his attention to whatever he's playing.
"Yes, Star?" He replies.
"Where's dad?"
"Asleep on my lap."
You roll your eyes. "Cringe."
"Very." Tomura agrees, continuing to tap the buttons on his controller.
"Can I come and sit with you too?" You ask, watching his character on screen get flattened by a giant weapon.
Tomura grunts in annoyance when the words 'you died' come up on screen, scratching his neck a little.
"You know you can." He replies, loading the game again. "You'll have to move Cloud, though. Touya's stretched out."
"That's fine." You reply, approaching the couch in the darkened room.
You lift Cloud up with a small 'oof', sitting down next to Tomura and placing Cloud in your lap.
You glance over at your dad, his white hair even messier than usual as he lays his head on Tomura's lap, looking peaceful despite all the scarring, and a blanket tucked around him carefully.
You turn your attention to the game Tomura's playing, watching his character approach the giant enemy that had just killed him moments before.
"What're you playing?" You ask, already entranced the second you see the art style up close.
"Elden Ring." Tomura replies. "It's an older game now, but it was one of the hardest games you could play when you were younger."
"Must be for you to die." You murmur.
You seldom ever see Tomura die so pathetically in games, after all.
"I was distracted." He excuses with a smirk.
"Oh right?" You reply a little teasingly back as you scratch Cloud's head gently. "What's it about?"
"Hm. It's long winded." Tomura muses while continuing to battle the in-game enemy. "Essentially, there was a kind of civil unrest after the Elden Ring was shattered, and the previous owners' children were corrupted by the power that came with the pieces of the ring. I have to get the pieces back from each of them to rebuild the Elden Ring and restore order."
"Is that one of the corrupted guys?" You ask as the giant falls.
"No."
"What?!" You squeak, looking at him in surprise. "But it killed you!"
"Nearly everything in this game is designed to kill you." Tomura replies calmly. "Dying's just a part of it."
You glance at the screen, and then let a smirk pull at your face.
"Or you just need to get good." You tease, and earn a smirk back from Tomura, and an amused glance from red eyes. "Let me have a go?"
Tomura huffs in amusement, but passes you the controller.
"If you die and lose my runes, you'll have to go to bed." He says, a playful gleam in his eyes.
"Deal." You agree, deciding you'll avoid big enemies like the one you just saw him fight, thinking that might get you to drag it out a little longer.
And sure enough, after a brief explanation of the controls, and about twenty minutes of you wandering around the world, fighting the occasional 'lower level' enemies, you find some floating jellyfish, watching them with wide eyes, completely ignorant to the small smirk on Tomuras face as he watches, stroking Dabi's hair absentmindedly as you play.
"Jellyfish!" You exclaim mutedly despite yourself. "Cute!"
Tomura hums an acknowledgement.
"This one's red... why?" You ask, just before it starts attacking you, catching you off guard and making you panickedly mash the buttons. "Whuh-"
"I told you. Everything is designed to kill you." Tomura says, clearly entertained as the character drops to the floor. "Impressive that it was a jellyfish that took you out."
"Shut up." You huff. "What's the point of a game that hard?"
"It's a challenge." Tomura replies. "Good try though."
"Thanks, 'Mura." You murmur, picking Cloud up and getting off the couch, placing him back down beside Tomura. "Night."
"Night, Starfire." He replies, still smirking. "Sleep well."
*•*
You had woken up with Cloud curled up amongst your plushies, and your usual glass of water on the bedside that one of your dads always left there in the mornings.
You had gotten through the days tutoring without messing anything up too much, and you were in your happy place, laying in bed, curled up with Cloud, playing on your Switch, but you were so irritable.
Every in-game death felt particularly sour, so you had given up and decided to nap.
You'd woken up by the warm hand of Dabi, who's looking down at you through messy white bangs with concern in his eyes. And instead of it being kind of sweet that he's clearly worried, you're angry at being woken up.
"Hey princess, you not feeling good?" He asks softly.
"No." You reply, your voice still rumbly from sleep.
"What's the matter? Headache?" He asks, smoothing your hair back like you're eleven instead of thirteen again.
"You woke me up, and I want to be asleep." You reply sourly.
He looks down at you, kind of stoically for once.
"Lunch is ready, and I was worried. You've been sleeping a lot lately. Is everythin' okay?" He says.
"I'm fine, dad! I keep telling you I'm fine!" You reply sharply. "Even Tomura's told you it's normal!"
"Watch it." He warns, but you know he would never do anything to hurt or upset you in retaliation, so you continue glowering at him.
You both stare at each other, Dabi refusing to back down, and you learning from both him and Aiko how to be stubborn.
Eventually he lets up, getting up without a word and walking out of your room, Cloud chasing after him like a little traitor just because Dabi's warm.
He doesn't even close the door behind him, which only annoys you even more.
*•*
After a while, you do end up feeling guilty, and you cautiously exit your room after staring at your drawing of the old bar for a shockingly long time without adding anything new to it... again.
You listen out for Dabi or Tomura in the hallway, but don't even hear the TV, which means Tomura must still be at work, and Dabi's gone out without telling you.
It makes you feel sick immediately when the idea that he might have abandoned you after all this time crosses your mind.
You call for Cloud too, but he doesn't come to his name like he usually would.
You look in the living area, and everything's as it was, so it should be okay. But the worry still sits in the back of your head, so you take the spare keys from the back of the door and lock up, going down the stairs and going into the back of the bar downstairs.
The second Zero sees you, he smiles a little more genuinely as he continues his task of cleaning the bar.
You approach him, pulling your sweater around yourself when you feel how cold it is in the bar.
You're thankful that it's before opening hours, because he would have turned you around if there were patrons in the bar.
"Hello, little Star." He greets, his eyes sparkling with joy at seeing you.
"Hey Zero. Did dad come down here?" You ask, cutting to the chase.
"Mm, he's in the back with Cloud." Zero replies dutifully. "Have you been drawing much?"
You don't really want to hang around with Zero and talk, but you feel obliged to at least give him a bit of small talk what with the bar being so empty. He was programmed to be useful, after all, and you worried that he got lonely when there was no-one to talk to, or aid.
"I've been drawing the old bar, from before you were with us." You explain. "It needs to be finished in two days."
"I'd love to see it when it's finished." Zero tells you wholeheartedly, throwing the dirtied cloth over his shoulder. He then cocks his head slightly. "You're-"
"I need to go and speak to Dabi. Can we talk later?" You interrupt without meaning to. "Oops, sorry..."
"Of course, Star. He's in the garden." Zero replies, moving to let you behind the bar, his scarred fingers lifting the counter with ease.
"Thank you, Zero." You say, giving him a quick hug, squeezing him slightly as you pass him.
He smiles and watches you push open the door to the kitchen, smiling at Kurogiri and giving a quick greeting to him as you walk by him.
You push open the fire exit to the bar 'garden', opening the door to the sight of Dabi smoking while sitting on the cheap garden furniture, his feet kicked up onto the plastic table, with Cloud jumping and batting at a butterfly on the patio flooring.
Dabi looks over at you, blowing smoke out of his nose.
"Back inside in five, Star." He says, flicking ash from his cigarette into the ashtray.
You ignore him, approaching him and wrapping your arms around his neck, burying your face into his mess of white hair.
He doesn't say anything, but he leans up to put his cigarette out in the ashtray, and you refuse to let go even then.
Once his smoke's out, his prosthetic hand goes to the back of your head, holding you where you are protectively.
"I'm sorry." You tell him, squeezing your arms around him a bit.
His thumb courses over your skull gently, still remaining quiet, which is almost worse than if he were to snap back at you like you deserved.
"I've been so angry lately and I don't know why." You explain, just trying to get him to answer at this point. "I didn't mean to take it out on you. I'm sorry, pawpaw."
He sighs, his hand going to rub your back instead. "Why didn't you talk to me about it, hon?"
"There's nothing to talk about, I'm just mad." You reply, pulling away from him to look at the soft blue eyes amongst all the dark scarring.
"But if you tell me that we can try to figure things out, whether that means findin' an outlet, or me jus' giving you space if that's what you want." Dabi says, moving your hair out of your face softly. "You never tell me anythin' anymore, and Tomura tells me it's a teenager thing, but I worry that you feel like you can't tell me anythin' anymore. I'm here to look after you, and I don't want you to feel like you ever hafta hide anything from me. 'Cause if you don't tell me something important one day, it might lead ta somethin' bad for you, something I coulda helped you avoid."
You let him say his piece, knowing he will let you speak after, and you're relieved that he's giving you a half-hug, his arm around your waist, rubbing up and down reassuringly and his head leaning against your side.
"I'm sorry, dad, I should have said something earlier." You reply, chewing your inner cheek.
You feel guilty for it, not telling him stuff. You don't even know why you stopped. Neither him or Tomura had been horrible to you, no matter what you'd told them.
"I know I can tell you stuff, I just..." You pause and then shrug. "I don't know. I'm confused, and angry, and I'm tired all the time."
He continues rubbing your side, humming an acknowledgement.
"Am I broken?" You ask. "If you're mad, you should know why, right?"
"Ain't broken." He replies quickly, and firmly, not allowing any room for argument. "Sometimes we all get angry for no reason, doll. 'Specially kids your age."
"Well how do you know that, and Tomura has to tell you everything else about teenagers?" You ask, looking down at the top of his head.
"Had my accident when I was thirteen." Dabi replies, letting go of you to look back up at you. "Was in a coma 'til I was sixteen. So I didn't really getta be a teenager."
You crouch closer to the floor beside him, petting Cloud as he approaches you, meowing.
You think for a second about it, Dabi, your age, in a coma for three whole years because he'd lost control of his quirk. You couldn't even imagine what he'd look like without the scars left behind from it, or the extra scars he added while fighting.
"I worry that if ya keep bottlin' stuff up, you'll end up doin' somethin' equally as stupid, and I don't want that for you." Dabi says, ruffling your hair. "You're my baby."
You roll your eyes. "Dad..."
"You owe me one, so don't start." He replies, but you can hear the grin in his voice. "Is there not anythin' at all that's making you angry? Even if it's something small."
You pause, scratching behind Cloud's ear and listening to him purr for a moment.
"I hate my drawing for this week." You reply. "It's stupid, I'm sorry."
"What don'tcha like about it, hon?" He asks, removing his feet from the table and setting them on the ground, leaning himself forward with his elbows on his thighs.
"Just messy. And buildings aren't meant to be messy." You mutter, sighing and getting onto the floor to let Cloud climb onto your lap.
"You're drawin' the first base right? Our first home?" He corrects himself quickly, and you hum an affirmative. "Well, what happened there was kinda messy. Maybe you're just channeling the vibe of the place without realising or somethin'."
You hadn't really thought about it like that, and honestly, you're not convinced still, but it was something more substantial than you just being bad at art and needing to give up before you embarrassed yourself in front of everyone.
"Maybe." You agree noncommittally.
"Don't gimme that." He replies, nudging you with his foot. "You're a clever girl, doll. You must get it from Tomura."
You roll your eyes, but smile. "You say that like you guys are my birth parents."
"We are as far as I'm concerned, Starshine." Dabi replies with a grin, nudging you with his foot again.
"Delusional." You tease.
"That's a big word for you." Followed by another nudge with his foot.
"Oh, stop it. Jerk." You giggle, pushing his leg back finally.
He does it a couple more times, grinning widely, but does stop, his grin turning into a worried smile.
"Seriously, darlin', talk to your old man, okay?" He asks, stroking your hair affectionately. "Nothing you could ever say is too embarrassing or stupid, an' you know you'll never get into trouble as long as you're honest."
"Yeah, I know dad." You say, petting Cloud as he sleeps in your lap. "And you're not old... yet."
You giggle again as he pushes your head forward, making Cloud hiss and jump out of your lap with how sudden your body moves forward.
"Scram, nerd. Me and Cloud were enjoying our man time." Dabi says, but you can hear the grin in it.
You get up, brushing your clothes off and giving Dabi another hug.
"Love you dad."
"Love you too, princess." He replies, stroking your hair with the flat of his hand.