Touya wakes up with arms tightly coiled around his neck.
"Ugh..." He groans, shifting his head as best he can, his vision and brain sleep-hazed. "Geddoff, Tomura."
"It's me." Star replies, quietly.
"Star? Wha?" Touya asks groggily. "What're you doin'?"
"I'm scared. I think I'm going to have a baby." She responds quietly, but her voice is full of worry even as she keeps it hushed.
Touya frowns deeply with his eyes still closed. "Huh?"
"I haven't had a period for a while, but Toga says that only happens when a lady's pregnant... I don't want to have a baby." Star whispers, clinging to him even tighter.
Touya takes all of that in slowly, his brain sobering up more and more the more she continues to talk, and soon enough, Touya's unable to stop himself from bursting out into laughter. Loud laughter.
Loud enough to wake Tomura up from the edge of their shared bed, his long-haired lover sitting up slowly and wiping the sleep from his eyes, too. He must have been really tired for him to fall asleep deeply enough to not have registered Star climbing into the bed with them.
"What?" Tomura asks as a general question to the two of them.
His voice is even hoarser than usual from being roused from his sleep, his muscular arms loose by his side and his back slouched as he sits up.
"It's not funny, Dabi!" Star defends, sounding embarrassed. "I'm scared!"
"Sorry, hon. I'm sorry." Touya apologises, trying to collect himself enough to stop him from laughing at her worry.
"What's the matter, Star?" Tomura asks, sounding a little exasperated.
"I might be having a baby." She replies fearfully, turning her head to try to face the man behind her without letting go of Touya's neck.
Tomura's non-existent eyebrows furrow. "What?"
"Toga told her that only happens when people get pregnant." Touya snorts, and then tries to hide it with a faux cough.
"You're not having a baby, Starlight." Tomura tells her tiredly.
"But I've not had a period for ages!" She frets. "And yesterday I was sick! Mom said she was sick all the time with me when I was in her belly and that's why I have a quirk that makes people sick!"
"You were sick 'cause you ate too quickly when your stomach ain't used to it." Touya corrects, poking her belly gently and playfully. "You forgot to remember to slow down when you're eatin' after a while of not havin' food."
"And you've not had a period because you've been under stress mentally and physically." Tomura adds on calmly.
"But Toga said-" She begins to argue.
"There's lots of factors that can stop them." Tomura says flatly. "You're very underweight, and so your body has shut down certain functions."
"Oi." Touya warns.
"It's the truth." Tomura shrugs. "You're unwell, so your body's behaving as such."
"I'm not gonna have a baby?" She asks quietly.
"No, Star." They both reply at the same time.
"I guess that makes sense, 'cause you need a boy and a girl to have a baby..."
"You ain't gettin' a boyfriend 'til you're thirty." Touya interrupts quickly.
"We're not doing this right now, Star. Go back to sleep." Tomura says firmly, seemingly determined to end the conversation before it starts.
"Mmkay." She agrees, letting go of Touya's neck finally to curl up against his side.
"In your room, Star." Tomura tries to lead gently.
"But I was scared." She says, turning her head to look at Tomura again.
"You're getting too old to keep sharing a bed with us, Starlight." Tomura doubles down as gently as Tomura possibly could get.
"But Dabi said I could stay the night every other night!" She continues to defend. "Dabi!"
"I did, didn't I hon? C'mon, cuddle up. Let your pa sleep." Touya says, pulling her closer to him and further from Tomura.
The two exchange a look, Touyas a lot more sharp than Tomuras, and Tomura settles down right on the edge of the bed again while his ruby eyes still burn into the side of Touyas head.
"How'd ya sneak past Zero, Star?" Touya asks her curiously.
"He was having a big dream." She whispers back, her eyes closed and her fingers running over the staples along his chest.
"A big dream huh?" Touya repeats quietly, intrigued.
"He was moving and mumbling." She says. "He woke me up, and then I couldn't sleep again and got worried."
"Over nothin'." Touya replies with a little squeeze. "Go back to sleep, Star. Love ya."
"Love you, pawpaw." She whispers back, then pauses. "Love you, pa."
Tomura manages to hum what sounds like a positive response, and Touya can feel her lips turning upwards against his arm at the sound.
She manages to drop straight back off within no time, but no such luck for Touya and Tomura. Touya is itching for a cigarette and Tomura seems to be staring at the ceiling wordlessly, not even trying to get back to sleep.
At least it is Tomura, and not All For One.
"Fuckin' gagging for a smoke." Touya murmurs, trying to fill the silence and treasure the time with Tomura while he has it.
Tomura glances at him, but doesn't respond.
Touya turns his head towards his lover, tracing the dark outline of his fluffy hair, facial features and upper body with his eyes as it's exposed outside of the covers.
"Nothing?" He asks, trying to feign some kind of dry humor about being ignored.
"Star was right. You should quit." Tomura says quietly into the darkness.
"Don't you fuckin' start too." Touya huffs. "There're more things that are gonna kill me 'fore smoking does."
Tomura just hums in response again, and Touya stares at him for a second before shaking his head and closing his eyes, giving up on small conversation with Tomura.
He's half asleep when he feels the mattress dip on his side and then cracked lips pressing against his quickly.
He's unable to stop himself from smirking a little as he catches the sight of Tomura laying back down with his back to him in the dark.
"Cute, boss." Touya teases quietly.
Star groans in her sleep, unconsciously moving closer to Touya's warmth as she does so.
He pets her hair gently, smirking into the darkness.
"Go to sleep, Dabi." Tomura replies, but he can hear the slight grin in it.
Touya eventually drops off back to sleep somewhat happy for the first time in a while, knowing that at least for a moment, he had his partner completely back.
He even reaches his arm out to have his fingers gently threaded through Tomuras long, white locks while he sleeps, right at the ends where he'd learned that AFO couldn't feel too strongly so he could be close to Tomura somehow without having the contact snatched away from him.
*â¢*
Star had gone.
Touya couldn't find her anywhere, and it was his one job to look after her.
She couldn't be with Tomura, because he'd gone off to god knows where, likely to see his teacher. And he knew it was a no go to take Star anywhere near that old creep.
Zero was helping Giran and Toga with Twice, so she couldn't be with him, and Spinner was actively looking for her too.
Touya isn't sure what made him check the room with the balcony, but he's thankful he did, because there she is, hugging her knees while sitting outside.
It makes him a little nervous seeing her out there alone in the cold, but knows there's no way that she could fall off with the high barriers on the edge.
He opens the door, closing it quietly behind him and frowning when he hears quiet sobs.
"Star? What's the matter?" He asks, sitting next to her and pulling her to his side.
"Go away." She sobs, pressing her face harder into her knees.
"That's not nice, hon." Touya replies calmly, trying to duck his head to get a good look at her. "Talk to me."
She shakes her head, but doesn't make an effort to move away from him as he wraps his arm tightly around her.
"Someone upset you?" He asks quietly.
She shakes her head again.
"Somethin' hurting?" He asks, a little more worriedly.
"No." She replies tearfully.
"Then what's the matter, princess? Me an' Spinner were lookin' all over for ya, worryin'." He asks softly, rubbing her arm.
"I just feel wrong." She cries, moving her face to reveal her puffy eyes and tear-streaked face.
"Oh hon..." Touya murmurs, the stapled corners of his mouth dropping. "Tell your paw whats goin' on in that head of yours."
"I'm just wrong." She whispers, tucking her face back against her knees.
Touya snorts, pulling at her arm a couple of times playfully. "You ain't wrong. Not in the slightest."
"I am." She insists tearfully. "I can't eat, and I mess everything up for everyone. And I'm stupid."
"What? Star, no." Touya scoffs, trying to peel her face from her self-made cocoon. "You're workin' on the eating. You haven't messed anythin' up, and you're not stupid."
"But I puked, 'cause I'm stupid and didn't remember to eat slowly and now I'm scared to eat again. And I've made you and 'Mura stop loving each other, and mom stopped loving me too because I messed up her boyfriends up, and I made you hurt yourself because I got taken and you burned, and I am stupid because I can't do math and you laughed at me because I'm dumb."
Touya is stunned silent for a moment, still holding onto her with one arm. His white, thin eyebrows pull together and loosen a couple of times as he contemplates how on earth to respond to all of that.
"You're not stupid, hon." He repeats, removing his arm from around her to gently move her hair from out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. "Doesn't make ya stupid to eat somethin' quickly when your body's so used to not eatin'. I used ta do it all the time when I was younger."
"You did?" She asks quietly.
"Yeah! Used to chow down too quick whenever I got the chance to eat somethin' and throw it straight back up. How'd ya think I ended up knowin' enough to tell you not to eat too quickly?" Touya shrugs. "Ain't a big deal."
She sniffles a little as Touya leans to kiss her temple softly.
"I keep telling you me and Tomura aren't fightin' 'cause of you, too. I told ya, he ain't himself right now, but we're gonna be just fine." He continues to try to reassure her. "You can't ever judge yourself based on how your mom treated you, 'cause you're gold, darlin', and your mom had all the wrong priorities. Her boyfriends were all nasty, weak losers and even if you were the reason they went walkies, that was a blessing for ya both honestly, doll."
She continues to sniffle and take shaky breaths, but fresh tears don't seem to be dropping down her cheeks anymore, which Touya was going to take as a win.
"Can't blame yourself for me gettin' burned either. That was nothing to do with you. My body just ain't cut out for my quirk, and I hadta use it a lot while you were gone." Touya explains without really explaining.
"Can you stop?" She asks, turning her face to look at him again.
"Nope." Touya smirks down at her. "Gonna keep goin' 'til my Starshine is shining again."
"No." She groans, looking a little embarrassed. "Stop using your quirk."
The memories hit him like a freight train, memories of his mom managing his injuries and begging him to stop. Memories of Natsuo and Fuyumi finding new bandages and band aids on his body and pleading with him to stop too. He manages to cut off the train of thought before it turned to his father.
He clears his throat and smiles softly at her, almost apologetically.
"Quirks too strong to not use it, hon."
"But I don't want you to keep getting hurt." She persists. "What if you get burned like my arm got burned and you can't feel anything all over? We could never hug properly again."
"Even if I couldn't feel it, I ain't ever gonna stop givin' you hugs, darlin' girl. Even when you're older and it aint cool to hug your old man anymore." He replies quickly, not wanting to think too much about the burn on her arm. "Now, just 'cause math ain't your strong suit, doesn't make you stupid. I can't do math, does that make me stupid?"
She shakes her head. "You're smart."
"Jin ain't any good at math either. He stupid?" Touya continues.
She shakes her head again.
"What about Spinner?" Touya asks, trying not to smirk.
She shakes her head viciously at that, and he chuckles to himself quietly, rubbing her back and trying to give her a soft look as she stares at him, hanging off every word that he says in the hope he can make her feel better.
"There ya go then. An' I didn't laugh at you 'cause you're 'dumb' either, hon. I laughed 'cause what you said was funny. You're just a lil' baby yourself! And where would ya even put a baby?" Touya tries to explain without getting too into it, and gently poking her belly at the side.
"I'm not a baby." She defends. "Shut up."
Touya ignores the sass in favor of teasing her a little more.
"Sure you are. You're my baby." Touya teases further, relief washing over him the less she sniffles and takes shuddery breaths. "Always gonna be my baby. Even when you're all grown up and married an' painting masterpieces you'll always be my baby girl."
"You want me for that long?" She asks, easily for the millionth time since Touya had taken her on.
He rolls his eyes, smirking at her. "How many times do I gotta say it?"
"But I was rude..." She frets with a sniff.
"A little, but it's not a problem. You sorry about it?"
She nods, and turns and reaches to give him a proper hug, one that he reciprocates without question.
He pets her hair lovingly, kissing the top of her head.
"Next time you're feelin' all down in the dumps like that, please come and talk to me, okay?" He says as softly as his ruined voice box will allow. "You don't gotta go and hide. We can talk it out and make ya feel better in no time, see?"
"But I still feel bad." She replies, rubbing her wet face with her sleeve. "My heart feels heavy."
"You sure no-ones upset you?" Touya asks suspiciously, his eyes narrowing slightly as he continues petting her hair.
She pauses for a moment before taking a shuddery breath and speaks up again.
"I didn't like it when you laughed at me." She admits nervously. "It made me remember bad things."
Guilt immediately gnaws at Touya's gut as his expression droops into a more apologetic one, his hand falling to her back.
He takes a moment to stop himself from acting in emotion rather than with his head, taking a deep breath through his nose so she can't take the noise as a negative one and rubs her back gently.
"Can ya look at me?" He asks her softly.
She doesn't do it immediately, staring at her feet for a moment or two, but she does eventually tear her eyes away from the floor to look at him nervously.
Her eyes scan over the fresh scarring on his cheeks before settling on his gaze.
"Thank you for bein' brave an' telling me." He says evenly, brushing his thumb over one of her protruding cheekbones. "I'm sorry for upsettin' you darlin'. I didn't mean to make ya sad, you just make me laugh 'cause you're a funny kid."
"It felt like a mean laugh." She replies quietly.
"Definitely wasn't a mean laugh baby girl." Touya reassures as gently as he can. "I would never laugh at ya like that. And I won't ever make you sad like this again, 'kay?"
"Okay." She agrees with a sniffle and a head bob.
"I love ya, okay? Would never do something to upset ya on purpose, hon." He says, kissing her head again. "You're my lil' Starshine."
"Love you too." She sniffs, leaning against him again. "You promise I'm not stupid?"
"Pinky promise." He says, holding out his pinky and curling it around hers the second it's close enough. "Stupid people can't draw as good as you, make me laugh like you do or learn English as good as you, hon. You're Star, an' you're as bright as one."
She nods, wiping her nose with her sleeve and visibly trying to collect herself a little more.
Touya watches with a heavy heart himself, still rubbing her back and being eaten alive by guilt inside.
"How about we have a Star and paw day? We can do whatever you want, princess." He offers.
She nods, thumping her head against his scarred arm.
"Can we wait 'til I'm feeling better?" She asks quietly.
"'Course darlin'. Cash it in whenever you're ready." He says, leaning his scarred, numb cheek on her head.
He sits there silently with her, just physically being there for her, a literal rock to lean on while she was feeling like this. He keeps his arm around her or his hand threading through her hair as gently as he can without snagging any of his staples in it, and presses soft kisses to any area he can without her getting all embarrassed and whiny about it.
He carries on being there for her in the shared silence until Spinner manages to find them, Star immediately moving away from Touya, and him having to stifle the little chuckle that wants to leave him at her shyness.
"Hey! You okay, Star?" Spinner asks, patting her head affectionately.
"Mhm." She replies, not turning to face him properly so that he can't see that she'd been crying with how obvious it was on her face.
"I'm glad." He replies warmly before looking at Touya, concern laying behind those brown eyes. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure. Star, come on in, 'kay? It's cold out here." Touya urges, scruffing her hair before he pushes himself up.
She gets up slowly behind him, probably waiting for him to lead Spinner away so he doesn't see her swollen eyes.
He wraps an arm around Spinner's shoulders casually, leading him back inside so that Star can come inside too. She darts past them quickly, hiding her face from them both. Touya lets go of Spinner the second she's out of the room, leaning against the wall with his arms folded.
"What's up?" Touya asks.
Spinner crosses his arms over his chest too, and leans on the wall opposite too, looking at the door that Star just left from momentarily.
"It's Shigaraki." Spinner sighs, returning his attention to Touya.
"What now?" Touya groans, digging into his pocket for his cigarettes.
Spinner watches him quietly and thoughtfully as he pulls a cigarette from the packet and lights it.
"...He wants a second war."
Touya chokes on smoke.
"What?"