"Star, c'mere." Dabi calls and nods towards the open door.
You peer over at him, sitting in quiet peace with Hakuchō and Cloud with Zero watching over the three of you dutifully. You glance at Hakuchō and then back at Dabi, giving him a look you really hope translates to: 'please don't ruin this for me'.
"C'mon." He encourages again, ignoring Hakuchō like he had been since Tomura brought her back.
"Me and Hakuchō are playing with Cloud..." You say cautiously.
"You can play with the bird and cat in a second. This is important, 'kay?" Dabi insists.
Hakuchō screws her face up a little bit at being called a bird but doesn't comment or snap back, and you can't help but feel a little angry towards your dad. You wanted a friend, someone outside of the little family you'd both made for yourselves, and his rude comments and ignorance were not helping her warm up to you one bit.
You don't say anything to him though, because you guess you understand why he's still mad at Hakuchō, and just give Cloud one last scratch on the top of his head before standing up and walking over to meet Dabi in the doorway.
"What is it?" You ask curiously, looking up at him as he peers around the empty hallway and digs in his pocket.
"What do ya think of this?" He asks, his voice hushed for some reason as he pulls out a small black box.
You watch as he opens the box to reveal a plain black thing with a blue stripe running around it.
"Pretty." You comment with a nod. "It matches your fire."
"You think Tomura'll like it?" He asks, closing the box and slipping it back into his pocket, picking at one of the staples in his cheek like he always did whenever he's nervous.
"Oh." You say quietly, and nod.
Dabi gives you an amused smirk and ruffles your hair. "Yeah, not for me. Dork."
You grunt in annoyance as he pushes your head down playfully.
"Go on then, carry on playing." He teases. "Dear old dad can wait 'til you're finished."
You 'hmph' and frown at him, which only makes his smirk grow wider at the fact he'd gotten a rise out of you.
"I want a friend." You tell him.
"Ain't stoppin' ya, doll." He grins, rubbing his thumb against your cheek. "Gonna go train with Spinner, alright?"
"'Kay." You agree, tiptoeing to bump your head against his lips gently as he leans to kiss the top of your head.
You watch him walk away before turning back on yourself and going back into the recreational room to join Hakuchō, Cloud and Zero again.
Hakuchō is still petting Cloud quietly, Zero sitting and watching her with his usual soft expression that completely contrasts the harshness of the slashes covering his face and arms.
She glances up at you, a hard expression in her eyes.
"What did he want?" She asks bluntly, the first words she'd really said to you since calling you a 'dumb kid', and your heart soars with hope.
"He wanted to ask me a question." You reply, sitting back down opposite her and crossing your legs.
"About?" She asks, returning her eyes towards Cloud.
"It's meant to be a secret..." You say a little apologetically, moving to scratch your cheek.
"Star." Zero warns gently. "You just cleared up that rash."
"Sorry." You murmur, lowering your hand again.
Hakuchō looks up at you again, and then her eyes drag over you as if she's looking for any remains of the stress rash you'd been sporting since coming back from her and Hawks' house.
"Was it about me?" She asks, her voice completely emotionless, and her eyes scarily dead, too.
You shake your head. "It was about Tomura."
"If it was about him, then you can tell me." She says simply, ceasing her petting of Cloud to lean back on her hands and weigh all her attention on you.
"I can?" You ask, looking at Zero for confirmation, but his eyes are a thousand miles away.
"Yeah. If it's only a secret about Shigaraki, you can tell me." She says with a shrug.
You hum a little to yourself, picking Cloud up and plopping him onto your lap.
"Dabi wants to marry Tomura." You say. "He wanted me to look at the ring."
She stares at you, her look hardening even more.
"Gay marriage isn't legal in Japan." She states coldly.
You look at Zero, and then at her again. "Um, what...?"
She frowns at you then, but you don't really understand why, because you're just asking a question only because you're confused about what she said.
"A boy and a boy aren't allowed to marry each other. Or a girl and a girl. It's called gay marriage." She explains, like you're five instead of eleven. "What, they didn't even tell you the name for their own relationship?"
You swallow down the hurt at the demeaning tone, and try to ignore the memory of her calling you a dumb kid, because the way she's looking at you and talking to you right now really makes you feel like you are one.
"But why can't they?" You ask, a little shakily.
She shrugs. "They just can't."
"But if they love each other and want to be a family-" You begin, only for her to fly to her feet, immediately alerting Zero, who drops his usual smile for a moment.
"Not everyone gets to have a family, Starshine." She snaps at you, making you flinch and Cloud begin to growl at the back of his throat. "But hey, of course you will. You get everything."
You open your mouth to say something, but she storms out, Cloud hissing and batting her ankles as she walks past with Zero hot on her heels.
Your shoulders drop as you're left alone in the room, with only Cloud to keep you company, but even he can't reassure you that you hadn't done something wrong without realising to upset her again.
Instead he just pats at your hand with his paw when you begin to mindlessly scratch at the patch of skin that had been irritated before, bringing you back to reality.
When you stop and look down at him, he flops onto his side, allowing you to pet his fluffy belly softly.
*•*
"Star." Tomura says in English, throwing you off.
"Mm?" You reply, turning and blinking at him.
You'd zoned out while sitting with Cloud on the bed. No-one had come up to get you for any lessons today, so you'd been bored out of your mind, and unable to settle on anything to do for longer than ten minutes.
You were finding your new furry friend's company a lot more comforting and enjoyable than you'd really expected, happy to just sit around with him and give him pets and cuddles.
"Can I come in?" He asks, continuing to speak English, tying his long white hair up.
"Okay." You agree, watching as he approaches you and sits on the edge of your bed beside you, reaching to scratch between Cloud's ears.
"Have you had a good day?" He asks in Japanese.
You purse your lips for a second, unable to tell him you'd upset Hakuchō, because then he'd ask how and you'd have to spoil the secret. So you just shrug a little.
"It was boring."
"Mine too." He nods, looking at you and his cracked lips pulling up on one side. "But I got to do one fun thing."
"You did?" You ask curiously. "What?"
"I got to pick this up." He says, handing you a small box that looks far too familiar.
You look at him, and he nods at you to open it.
You swallow a little bit, moving to open the box, before a cool hand stops you and draws your attention back to soft red eyes.
"Tell me in English. Okay?" He says, in English.
You nod, and his smile reappears, his hand moving away from yours so you can open the box properly.
In the box sits a black ring again, but this time, it's just plain.
You look back up at him, kind of unenthused, and he looks a little amusedly at you, plucking the metal band out of the box.
"It's special." He tells you, his eyes searching yours to make sure you understand. "It won't melt."
"Won't melt?" You ask, and he repeats the word in Japanese. "Oh. Okay."
"Look." He says, turning it to reveal the inside.
You give a sharp gasp when he reveals a small engraving of a sun, moon and a star on the inner part of the ring.
"It's us!" You exclaim in English, making Tomura actually chuckle.
"It is." He agrees. "Do you like it?"
You nod eagerly. "Really like!"
After all, it was always nice when they included you, too.
Your smile soon fades though when Tomura tucks the box back into his jacket pocket.
"Pa... Hakuchō said boys can't marry boys, though." You say in hushed Japanese.
He looks at you with an unreadable expression for a moment, but long enough to make you a little nervous until he nods his head slowly.
"She's right." He replies. "But I'm in charge now, and if I put it to a vote, people might change that."
You don't fully understand what he's saying, but get a vague gist.
"But what if people don't change that?" You ask as he brushes the back of his knuckles over your cheek softly.
"We'll keep trying until they do." He says reassuringly.
"We'll be a family anyway?" You ask, and he nods.
"No-one can take that from us." He tells you with a soft expression on his usually cold and stoic features.
"Okay." You relax into his touch, and he presses his scratchy lips against your forehead gently.
"Don't worry, little Star." He says, standing up. "I'll always make sure we can live happily."
And you believe him, so you just watch as he picks Cloud up, looking at you scrutinizingly.
"Have you eaten today, Star?"
"I had carrot sticks." You tell him, but that doesn't seem to impress him either.
"That's not good enough. Come on." He says, nodding at the door.
And you know better than to argue with Tomura, so you stand up obediently and follow behind him to the door, only to startle a little bit when he opens the door to the sight of Hakuchō, her white wings and her hand raised as though she was about to knock on the door.
She immediately seems to go a little awkward at the sight of Tomura, her arm lowering and her eyes darting around as she stutters, taking a step back only to step on Zero's foot.
"Is everything okay?" Tomura asks Zero more than Hakuchō.
"Hakuchō wanted to say sorry to Star." Zero explains, gently pushing Hakuchō towards you. "Go ahead."
She looks completely humiliated, her wings sagging a little as she realises she's stuck in this situation now and her eyes fall to her feet.
"Sorry Star. I didn't mean to snap at you earlier." She says, gulping audibly. "It's not your fault that you have things I don't."
Tomura looks down at you, one of his wrinkled and scarred brows raised in curiosity, but you're too busy being elated about getting an apology from the teenage girl he'd brought into your home.
"We can share if you want!" You offer eagerly. "You already have Uncle Zero a lot!"
She opens her mouth as if to say something, glances at Tomura and then closes her mouth again.
"I want to be your friend, so I don't mind sharing." You tell her, beaming at her.
"That's not..." She begins to say, but stops herself, and seems to take a deep breath, her eyes going watery. "Okay."
It's not too enthusiastic, but it's the most you've gotten from her yet.
"We can even share Cloud! He's probably sorry for hitting you earlier." You say, looking at the cat in your pa's arms. "He's nice to cuddle at night. If you have scary dreams he makes you feel better, too."
"He...does?" She asks uncertainly.
You nod, and Tomura begins gently ushering you out of your room, probably in a hurry to get you to eat more. This doesn't slow down your attempt to forge something between you and Hakuchō though as you continue to offer to share your plushies, the clothes that Aunty Aiko had given you, and even your art supplies while Zero gently pushes her along too.
None of those offers seem to catch her interest, but you carry on anyway, even down the stairs.
"I'd like to have Cloud sometimes." She admits quietly. "...Please."
"Okay!" You agree easily, knowing you always have Tomura and Dabi to fall back on if you have a bad dream. "You can have him in your room tonight."
"Thank you." She says, her voice so faint you barely pick up on it.
"That's very nice of you, Starlight." Tomura praises, placing Cloud on the floor and giving Hakuchō a pointed look. "People could learn a lot from you."