Giran didn't stop spoiling you, even in the morning.
He pulled one of his thick sweaters over your head so you wouldn't get cold again while walking around his house in your pyjamas, humming as he made pancakes for you both, smoking the whole while.
"My daughter'll be joinin' us a little later." He informs you, ruffling your hair as he slides your plate in front of you.
You hum an acknowledgement, your eyes widening when you see the pile of pancakes and ice cream and fruit on your plate.
Giran chuckles at this, sliding into the seat opposite.
"You're lookin' healthier these days, lil' Star. We wanna keep tha' up now, don't we?" He asks with a smirk.
"Healthier?" You ask curiously.
"Yeah!" He nods. "Yer fillin' out. It's nice ta see. You were always so... small."
You hum thoughtfully. "Mom forgot to cook sometimes."
He gives you a sympathetic smile and encourages you to dig in, watching with a sparkle in his pink eyes as he watches you enthusiastically eat your breakfast.
"Excited to see yer paw?" He asks once you're halfway into your breakfast.
"Mhm! I'm gonna show him the ducks we painted! He likes ducks a lot!" You reply with a mouthful of food. "He said we can see them again soon!"
Giran smiles at you, his eyes gentle. "Ya know Star. It's bad manners ta talk with yer mouth full."
"Oop." You mumble, embarrassed. "Sorry."
He waves at you dismissively, about to speak before someone walks into the kitchen and interrupts him.
"Ah. Aiko." He greets, grinning at her.
There was no doubt about it, it was definitely his daughter. He had enough pictures of her hanging over the house. Her own pink eyes widen and then narrow when she sees you.
"Who's kid is this?" She asks, gesturing towards you, not even greeting her dad properly.
You felt a little uncomfortable being spoken about as though you were an unwanted item in a room, slowly chewing your food instead of enthusiastically devouring it like you had been.
"This is Dabi's lil' girl." Giran introduces you. "Star, this is my daughter, Aiko."
"Hello..." You greet shyly, trying to brave the fire behind her eyes at the mere mention of Dabi.
"Little girl?" She seethes, frowning directly at you. "Who'd he have a kid with?"
"He's not my real dad..." You mumble, hoping that'll soothe her anger. "He just helped me when-"
"A stray?" She snorts. "Dabi picked up a stray?"
"Aiko." Giran warns, his voice the sternest you'd ever heard it.
You flinch at this, despite it not being aimed directly towards you.
Giran notices straight away, rubbing your arm gently to try to soothe you.
Aiko huffs, tying up her long hair, and pressing a quick kiss to Giran's cheek before picking his empty plate up and going to wash it up.
He gives you an apologetic smile, his thumb running over the back of your hand.
"Dabi coming to pick her up?" She asks, once again speaking like you weren't capable of answering yourself.
You wonder how she could be so mean and cold when Giran was so warm and kind.
"Later." Giran replies with a grin. "Don' get too excited now."
"Oh shut it." She replies, rolling her eyes as she turns around, leaning on the kitchen counter and finally regarding you with a neutral expression.
You try to avoid her gaze, avoiding confrontation, and just pretending to be invested in what remains of your food despite it becoming more and more bland with every bite.
She becomes harder to ignore though when she slides into the seat beside you, leaning her face on her fist, and staring straight at you despite Giran hissing at her to stop.
Eventually you take a shy glance at her, finally finishing your food.
"Star, huh?" She asks, speaking to you directly this time.
Her pink eyes and general expression seem a little softer this time, so you nod slightly in response.
You hadn't ever really felt proper fear towards women before, at most only really being cautious of Himiko, your fear being mostly towards men. So her slight hostility towards you was new, and a lot scarier than you thought any woman could be.
Her eyes slide to the sides thoughtfully, and you look at Giran a little desperately, almost silently pleading for help. He gives you a little wink as he lights another cigarette.
"Dad, you shouldn't smoke around a kid." She scorns, trying to slap his hand.
"My damn house." He replies. "Star don' mind."
You nod, not wanting to cause a conflict between the two.
She raises a perfectly plucked eyebrow at you, but shrugs and leans back.
"So Dabi picked you up?" She asks, almost sounding doubtful.
You're about to nod again when a portal rips through the room, Dabi stepping through.
You bolt from out the chair, relieved to see him, and run straight to him, wrapping your arms around his waist.
"Woah- You 'kay Star?" Dabi asks, but you can hear the smile in his voice even as you bury your face into his side.
"Dabi, yer early." You hear Giran comment.
"Put that sh- put that out." Dabi snaps.
"Told you." You hear Aiko mutter sourly.
"It's my damn house!" Giran defends, but you hear the hiss of a cigarette being put out.
Dabi pets your hair softly as you cling onto him.
"Aiko." You hear him greet her gruffly.
"Dabi. Been a while." She replies, her voice back to being a little testy.
Dabi gently pries you off him, crouching in front of you and giving you a little smile.
It doesn't reach his eyes though, the smile almost looking a little... sad.
"Go get changed and then getcha stuff, Starshine." He orders calmly, swiping one of his thumbs over your jawline before standing.
You nod, picking up your plate and putting it in the sink politely like Magne had taught you to do back at the hotel.
This seems to please Aiko, a small smile pulling at one corner of her mouth as you turn and bow at her and Giran.
"Thank you for having me!" You chime.
"Yer silly, Star." Giran chuckles, pulling a chair back, indicating for Dabi to sit.
"She has manners." Aiko comments sarcastically, shooting a look at Dabi.
Dabi's eyes narrow, and you pretend you didn't hear it, darting off upstairs to go and collect your things.
You're a little sad to be leaving earlier than you thought. As much as you missed Dabi, you were hoping to do some more art with Giran today.
At least the appearance of Aiko and her weird dislike towards you made it feel a little easier to leave Giran's home.
After all, you didn't want to experience being unwanted again now you knew what it was like to be loved and treasured.
You change, folding up the giant sweater that Giran had given you to keep you warm and placing it on the end of the bed neatly.
You also put all your things back in your rucksack, trying to squeeze everything in, your teddy getting in the way a little bit.
You eventually give up, taking the teddy out so you can fit the little canvas in the bag without ruining it, and deciding to carry the plushie downstairs with you.
Maybe holding the teddy would make you feel a little braver about facing Aiko again.
When you plod down the stairs, you can hear raised voices. Something you're not pleased to hear. Something that sends your mind back to a dark place, somewhere you'd rather not be.
And just like in those days, you slowly approach the raised voices, trying to gauge what the argument was about.
You stand a little ways from the door separating you from the kitchen, pressing yourself against the wall and listening.
"Don't you think dad looked after you enough over the years?" You hear Aiko ask, clearly agitated. "And now he's gotta look after your little mistake?"
"Hey!" You hear Giran snap.
"I keep telling you, she ain't mine." You hear Dabi respond, clearly straining to keep his voice even.
"What, you just took on a ten year old out of the goodness of your own heart?" She asks, her voice drenched in sarcasm before snorting in derision.
"Think about how old I woulda had to have been for her to be mine." Dabi replies in a snarl.
"When did your age ever stop you before?" Aiko responds coldly.
"Aiko!" Giran yells, loudly this time.
You jump a little in response. You'd never heard Giran yell before.
The door swings open, the room's temperature shooting upwards as it happens, a very angry looking Dabi storming out of the room.
"Star!" He calls angrily, before spotting you backed against the wall. "Star?"
You stand where you are, confused and a little scared.
"C'mon. We're going." He says simply.
"Dabi." Giran sighs, trying to reach for him, only for Dabi to aggressively shrug him off.
"C'mon, Star." Dabi urges again, waving at you to join him. "Let's go."
You're embarrassingly stuck in place, not wanting to move an inch while Dabi was obviously mad, and Aiko was glaring at you from behind both Giran and Dabi.
Dabi stares at you, his eyes feeling a lot more cold and unforgiving than they usually feel for a good second or two before he closes them, and takes a visible deep breath inwards.
When he releases the breath, he opens his eyes, reaching his hand towards you for you to take.
"Let's go home Star." He says calmly. "You can show me your paintin' then, yeah?"
You hold your teddy a little tighter before approaching him and gingerly taking Dabi's hand, flinching a little when he gives you a gentle squeeze of reassurance.
You see the small frown that only appears for an instant on his face before he nods his head towards Kurogiri's warp gate.
You take small steps towards it, looking up sadly at Giran as you pass him.
"Love you, Uncle Giran." You say quietly, feeling shy about saying that around Aiko who was giving off her own dark aura.
"Love ya too, lil' lady." Giran smiles softly. "Can I get my goodbye hug?"
You nod, letting go of Dabi's hand in favour of giving Giran a hug as he crouches, his hand going to the top of your head as you do so, just like usual.
"Thank you for having me." You repeat. "And for the yummy food. And for helping me paint. And-"
Giran chuckles, ruffling your hair. "Ain't gotta thank me, little love. It's a treasure havin' ya."
Aiko's look of displeasure deepens even more, and you scuttle back to join Dabi, giving her a small wave out of politeness before Dabi ushers you closer to the portal.
"Aren't you gonna thank dad?" Aiko asks Dabi judgmentally.
"Sure." He shrugs, turning to face Giran. "Thanks for havin' Star, an' thanks for lettin' your daughter talk shit about me for somethin' she was privileged enough not to hafta do as a kid."
You look up at him, confused about what he was even talking about, and slightly shocked that he swore in front of you, before he pushes you through the warp gate with his hand against your back gently.
Within a single breath, you're standing in the hotel garden.
You turn to look at him as he rubs his face with his hands.
"Why were you yelling?" You ask cautiously. "Why were you mean to Giran?"
"Don't start, Star." He warns, although he doesn't sound mad.
"Am I never gonna see Uncle Giran again?" You worry.
"Star. It's fine. I'm not mad at him." Dabi sighs in exasperation, looking over at the hotel building and picking at one of his cheek staples.
"You sounded mad..." You continue.
"I said it's fine."
"Okay." You reply, shutting up like you felt he wanted you to.
He takes another deep breath after looking down at you, crouching so he's eye level with you, his scarred arms resting over his thighs.
"Sorry. I broke a rule again, huh?" He asks, giving you a regretful smile.
You nod, and he sighs, nodding as well in response.
"You mad at me?" He asks quietly.
You shake your head. You weren't mad at him, you just wanted to know what was wrong with him. He'd sounded sad on the phone yesterday, and now he was picking you up earlier than expected, and getting into arguments.
"You can tell me if you are. 'Kay?" He reassures you. "We can talk it out. I won't lose my temper again. Promise."
"It's okay."
"Okay." He says, sighing a little again, and looking at the hotel once more. "Star, I have somethin' I gotta tell ya before we go in."
You tilt your head a little, holding your teddy close.
"Have I done something wrong?" You ask quietly.
"What? No." Dabi sighs, running one of his hands through his mass of ever-messy hair. "Ain't nothin' to do with you, hon. Promise."
"Oh. Okay."
You're relieved, but still a little unsettled.
"Thing is..." He begins, taking another deep breath before looking at you, reaching for you.
You drop teddy gently onto the floor and walk into his arms, feeling as though he needs the hug more than you do.
"Things are a little sad in there." He continues, holding you and petting your hair softly.
"Why?" You query, wrapping your little arms loosely around him.
"Well..." Dabi falters. "This is horrible, Star, but Magne... Magne ain't around anymore."
"She left?" You ask in surprise.
"No..." Dabi rests his chin on your shoulder.
You feel him cringe, the staples that line his cheek pressing into your own skin in a way that tells you what facial expression he's making.
"She... she died, Starshine. I'm sorry." He finally manages to say, although it sounds as though he struggles to get it out.
Your eyebrows furrow.
Magne had been fine yesterday. You'd seen her, albeit briefly, and she seemed perfectly healthy. She didn't look skinny and a little grey like your mom did, and she wasn't sick that you'd noticed.
She was messing around with Jin and Himiko, just like usual. She can't be dead.
"But she was okay yesterday." You state as Dabi continues stroking your hair.
"Kid... Sometimes people jus'..." He begins, before sighing and seemingly changing tactics. "You're right. She was okay yesterday. But she bumped into someone... nasty, yesterday when we were workin'."
"Nasty?" You reply, a little scared. Your brain immediately took you to all the mean boyfriends your mom had before. They were nasty.
"Yeah. I ain't gonna get into the details 'cause you've got young ears, but he ended up usin' his quirk on her." Dabi informs you patiently. "Magne got really sick real quick, an' we couldn't... we couldn't do anythin'."
"Sick?" You question, even more scared.
"I'm sorry Star." He says quietly, leaning his head against yours. "Compress tried to help, but... well. You'll see eventually. An' Toga was gonna go after him too, but I hadta stop her."
"Magne's gone?" You ask, as all the information suddenly sinks in all at once. "She got sick?"
Dabi squeezes you a little tighter, seemingly all out of apologies or explanations.
"But..." You begin to tear up. "But I wanted her to teach me how to braid my hair. And she never told me the end of the story about her friend who dressed like a princess!"
"I'm sorry Star. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."
Whatever he was going to say, he didn't finish, taking a deep shaky breath and you feel his heat rise a little higher than usual again.
"Toga'll teach ya how to do braids." Dabi says confidently, gently pulling you away from him to give you a sincere look. "An' we can make up the end of the story if you want? Maybe tha's how we can distract you from your nightmares. Sound good?"
"But I want Magne to tell me." You reply, rubbing tears from your face.
"She... she can't, Star." Dabi replies, his lips tugging downward. "You know she can't."
Your lip wobbles.
"I'm sorry." He just says simply, his adam's apple bobbing under the scarring of his throat. "I'm sorry baby girl."