You wake up and shortly give a groan of pain, your stomach still hurting and no Dabi beside you like he had been last night to warm your heatable plushie up again.
You stretch, yawning and slowly peeling yourself out of bed, bringing the smaller duck toy with you.
You pad sleepily over to Dabi's room, holding your ducky in your hand loosely with the full intention of asking him to warm it up for you again.
You knock on his door like he'd taught you to do, wincing when your tummy cramps up again. When he doesn't respond right away, you knock again, a little more firmly.
He was a heavy sleeper after all.
"Pawpaw!" You call through the door, getting frustrated.
He doesn't reply though, so you slowly open the door, peering around it to see that his room is empty.
You frown in confusion at first, because Dabi never left for work early. Especially without saying goodbye to you first, even if you're still half asleep when he kisses your head.
But when you spot the additional pictures on the wall that have been added since you last went in Dabi's room, you pause as you realise they were the ones you drew for Tomura while he was in the hospital.
Cautiously, you look behind you to make sure you're alone before sneaking into the room to see the drawings all together.
You knew Tomura hadn't been able to go to this room yet because of his leg, so that meant he must have asked Dabi to hang them up for him.
That makes your heart soar with pride, and you admire all the pictures you'd drawn for the two of them as they hang on the wall.
Once you have your moment of feeling treasured for once, you look around the room for a sign of where he may have gone. His jacket hangs on the back of an office chair, and when you put your hand in the pocket, his cigarettes are there. So he hasn't gone for a smoke.
But he doesn't ever go far without his cigarettes, so you know he's at least inside somewhere.
The bathroom door is open, so he's not in there, and you plod downstairs, going to try to find Tomura instead.
When you approach the room that Tomura has been sleeping in while his leg's in a cast, you can hear low male voices talking, their voices a deep hum through the walls.
You walk closer to the door of that room quietly, a habit you were yet to grow out of, as you try to listen to see if they are arguing.
"You said... Did you mean it?" You hear Tomura ask.
"Yeah." Is the immediate response from Dabi, and then you hear a choked noise leave him which is then followed by a gravelly, dramatic groan.
Tomura gives one of his amused huffs from behind the door, and Dabi snaps at him for finding whatever Dabi had done behind the door, out of your sight, funny.
"You'll have to wait it out." Tomura says simply.
You move a little closer. You wonder what they were talking about.
Wait what out?
"This sucks. It's embarrassing." You hear Dabi mumble, his words barely audible. "Every time I try it just won't fuckin' come out, it just gets caught in my throat like I'm choking."
"Try again. What colour is the sky?" Tomura asks him.
There's a few choked noises from Dabi, and Tomura hums in response after a while.
"A quirk like that would have been very useful for us to have, you know." Tomura comments judgementally.
"Oh shut it. Like I'd just let him beat on Toga for a chance of gettin' a quirk." Dabi replies in a disapproving hiss.
Then they both go quiet, which makes you nervous because that was a bit sassy for Dabi to say to Tomura. You would never ever say 'shut it' to him.
You want to know what's embarrassing, and why Dabi was choking, so you slowly sneak to the door and peer through the small gap.
You scrunch your nose up when you see them both laying next to each other on the couch, kissing. But it's also a relief after Dabi being rude to him and how you'd been worried that they didn't love each other anymore after noticing that they had stopped kissing in secret.
"What're you doin' Star?" A familiar voice asks from behind you with an amused tone and you gasp in your surprise, spinning around.
Jin looks down at you, smirking in amusement.
His black eyes are sparkling mischievously as he looks down at you.
"Were you spying, little Star?" He teases, picking you up easily and throwing you over his shoulder.
You squeal as he carries you into the room where Dabi and Tomura were talking and kissing, barging open the door fully with one of his shoulders effortlessly.
"I caught myself a spy!" He announces proudly, seemingly unbothered by the fact he'd interrupted Dabi and Tomura.
You punch his back with both fists, although gently because you don't actually want to hurt him, and demand to be put down, only for him to pat your back lovingly in response to your demands.
"No can do, little one." He replies. "Not until you've received your sentence."
"Sentence?" You query, yelping in surprise when he throws you down onto one of the couches in the room.
When you realise you're safe and unharmed, you give a shocked giggle, sitting yourself up slowly. Your entertainment is short lived though, as you realise when you meet the dead stare of ruby and sapphire eyes that you're probably in trouble.
You curl up into yourself right away, your face falling and your shoulders dropping.
"A thousand tickles." Tomura deadpans, before standing slowly from the couch with his crutches.
"What?" You ask quickly, confused.
You don't receive a reply, but Jin begins to tickle you almost immediately after Tomura begins to leave the room slowly on his crutches.
You squeal and kick at him, trying to get him to stop. He doesn't though, continuing to poke your sides to try and get you to giggle with a wide grin on his face.
You keep begging him to stop, only for him to tell you you haven't had enough tickles yet and continuing to dig his fingers into your sides as you writhe and wiggle to try and get away from him.
"Tha's enough, Jin." Dabi says after a while, patting his back. "Give us five?"
"Sure thing boss!" Jin sticks his thumb up. "I'm just gettin' started!"
Dabi ignores him, crouching opposite you and watching Jin leave the room. He waits until the door is closed before turning his attention to you, his eyes calm and gentle despite you feeling like you're going to be told off.
"What're you doin' spying on us, kid?" He asks, reaching out to tuck your hair behind your ear.
"I didn't mean to..." You lie, badly.
Dabi doesn't look impressed, staring at you expectantly for a real answer, and so you relent after the mere seconds of silence gets to you.
"I wanted to know if you were arguing." You explain quietly, and Dabi nods slowly.
"Why'd you lie, Star? Thought we didn't do that." He asks, his eyes searching yours.
"I didn't want you to be mad at me." You reply, avoiding his eyes and fiddling with the hem of your jumper idly.
"Have I ever gotten mad at you for tellin' the truth before?" He asks patiently.
You shake your head. "But mom..."
"Am I your mom?" He asks, cutting you off before you can finish.
"No, you're my pawpaw." You reply, meeting his eyes finally.
"So you don't gotta worry about what your mom did, do you? 'Cause I'm not your mom, I'm your pawpaw. An' I won't be mad at you for tellin' the truth. Might get a bit upset with you for tellin' lies though, 'cause if you tell lies, how'm I meant to know anythin' important?" He asks.
"You can't." You reply, your voice barely audible.
"Exactly. An' if something important happens, an' you need my help, I need to know about it, don't I?"
You nod.
"Okay. So we're not gonna tell lies again, are we Star?" He asks, his face serious as he waits for your answer.
"No."
"Attagirl." He praises. "Now... Why're you worryin' about me and Tomura fightin'?"
"You never kiss in secret anymore. And you didn't talk for a whole day the other day." You explain, sinking back in the seat slightly to try and get a little more relaxed now you had been reassured he won't get mad.
"We kiss all the time, Star." He sighs, and then grimaces a little. "Sorry. Didn't mean ta say that."
"But I never see." You mutter.
"When ya did see, you called us gross." Dabi explains gently. "So to keep you feelin' comfortable, we've been keepin' all that private."
"You still love each other?" You ask testingly.
"Well..." Dabi cringes, a choked noise leaving him before he sighs and gives up. "I love him, doll, yeah."
"Gross." You say softly, giving him a small smile.
"Very." He agrees, cringing as he looks off to the side momentarily. "Don't go pesterin' him about that though, okay? He's... a tough shell to crack."
"Okay pawpaw. Sorry for spying." You apologise.
"Don't do it again, 'kay? Don't want you hearin' or seein' anything you shouldn't." He sighs, pressing a kiss to your forehead and standing.
"Like what?" You ask curiously.
"Like adult stuff." He replies bluntly.
"But like what? Money?" You ask, remembering when the men used to come to your house to talk to your mom about money and you'd have to hide.
"Kinda. Drop it now Star, 'kay?" He asks, his voice strained.
You hum to yourself, thinking about what 'adult stuff' could be before remembering why you were trying to find him in the first place.
"Can you warm my ducky up for me?" You ask. "I dropped it when Uncle Jin picked me up..."
"Sure, hon." Dabi agrees, running his hand through his messy black hair and then motions with his hand for you to get up. "C'mon, let's go get breakfast."
You agree, hauling yourself from the sofa and following behind him, talking to him about a dream you'd had last night about you being older and going to art school.
This wasn't news to him, you'd told him about wanting to go a while ago and he'd compromised by saying you could do lessons with Uncle Giran.
"One day I'd loveta get you into art school." He muses quietly, and then seems caught off guard by his own voice.
"Really?" You ask excitedly as you take your place in the giant kitchen.
You make sure to sit next to Tomura, who's paying you both no mind as he scrolls through his phone, leaning his cheek on his fist while Spinner fries eggs with his back turned to you both and Jin leans against the counter, sipping from his cup of coffee.
"Yeah, really." Dabi replies instantly, kissing your head before sitting down.
"Can I? When I'm older?" You ask eagerly.
"Maybe, doll. Hadn't really thought that far ahead."
"Why?" You ask curiously.
You half expect an admission that you were never meant to stay with him for this long, that he was going to take you to Giran to find another home or something.
But instead you just get a confusing answer.
"Didn't think I'd make it this far to be honest." He replies without thought and then immediately chases it up with: "Stop askin' questions now, Star."
"But what did you me-" You begin to ask
"You heard him, Starlight." Tomura warns without looking up from whatever he's doing.
You huff, but don't push it now Tomura's involved, taking your ducky back from Dabi as he hands it to you and pressing it to your stomach while he ruffles your hair as if to silently reassure you that he's not angry at you.
You wanted to talk about art school, especially when Dabi said that you might not be able to go to art school but you could do art classes with Uncle Giran before.
Jin places a glass of apple juice in front of you like Kurogiri used to, patting your head affectionately as you thank him.
"I think Star'd do great in art school." He says, backing into his corner again.
"We all know she would. It's the logistics of getting her in that's the problem." Tomura says, still not looking up from the phone in his hand.
"Birth certificates and grades can be faked." Dabi says compulsively, and then groans again.
"Are you okay? Do you have a tummy ache too?" You ask, trying to hand him the duck plushie to be helpful.
"No, hon, I'm fine." Dabi sighs, his warm palm going to rest at the back of your head, his thumb coursing up and down against your head.
"I'll talk to Giran about it." Tomura hums in response, still reading whatever is on his phone screen.
You wonder what he's reading about, it must be interesting.
"Really?!" You ask, perking right up again in your excitement.
This is when Tomura finally puts his phone down, looking at you with an intense crimson stare. He reaches his uninjured hand out to pet your cheek with the back of his hand in a way you had grown so used to and you subconsciously lean into it.
You still felt like you had to appreciate every soft touch and hug whenever you got it, just in case it was ever taken away again.
"If you still want to go when you're older I will, yes." Tomura promises with a low voice. "But you have to work hard with your other lessons, too. That's the trade."
"I will! Thank you 'Mura!" You exclaim, hopping out of your chair to give him a gentle and careful hug.
He wraps one arm lazily around you in return, not tightening his hold even when you squeeze him tight, wanting to express your gratitude the best way you knew how, thanks to Dabi's influence.
"Careful, Star." Dabi warns as you do so.
"She's fine." Tomura replies for you, patting your head gently before gently prying you away. "Get off me now, brat. I'm working."
"Love you." You reply with a giggle.
"Yeah yeah." He grunts, waving you off with a miniscule smirk.
"Suck up." Dabi teases, pinching your cheek and shaking your face gently.
You stick your tongue out at him as Spinner slides a plate towards you with a small smile.
You can't help but do a happy little sway to yourself as you dig in, happy with the promise of going to art school like you wanted to when you're older.