"Do you have a mom, 'Mura?" You ask, leaning your face on your fist as you look out of the car window.
"Not anymore." Is the dry response.
"Oh." You pause, feeling guilty for asking. You knew how painful that question could be. "Did she take bad medicine too?"
"No, she didn't." Tomura replies honestly, but bluntly.
"Was she sick?"
"No."
"Oh." Your brow furrows. "Did someone hurt her like when Uncle Giran got taken?"
You look over at Tomura, who's jawline seems more pronounced, as though he was clenching it to make it look more muscular.
"There was an accident." He replies, slowly as though he's waiting for your reaction.
"I'm sorry." You murmur. "That's sad."
He doesn't reply, just keeps his eyes on the road, his jaw still clenched under his skin and his cracked lips pressed together. One of his hands moves to scratch at his neck like when he used to at the bar, so you decide to quickly change the subject.
"Did you run away? I did." You ask. "That's why I found Dabi and he looked after me."
"I know that, Star." Tomura replies.
"Well, did someone look after you? Or did you still have a pa?"
"You're full of questions today." He comments dryly, taking a deep breath and placing his hand back on the steering wheel. "My teacher took me in."
"Oh! A teacher? Was your teacher really smart? Is that how you know about math?"
"Yes." Tomura replies, still humoring you but not fully in the conversation.
"Can I meet your teacher? I want to be smart too." You ask. "Then I could definitely do art school when I'm older."
"No. He's not around anymore." Tomura says, his tone never giving much away.
"Oh." You say, your shoulders dropping as well as your enthusiasm about the subject.
Did Tomuras teacher die too? That's sad. Tomura didn't have anyone left. Not like you, you still had Dabi, and you try very hard not to think about how you would feel if Dabi wasn't around anymore.
Sure, Tomura was your pa now too, but Dabi looked after you the most. He saved you when you needed safety, and made you feel treasured and loved for the first time ever.
You don't get to ask any more questions, because Tomura pulls back up to your home, unplugging his seatbelt and placing a careful hand over yours to stop you unplugging your seatbelt too.
You look up at him quizzically, your mind immediately flicking through everything you've said and done today that might have displeased him.
"Are you okay?" You ask him after he doesn't say anything for a moment or two and just stares at you with his warm crimson eyes.
"Fine." He says, retracting his hand. "Can I have a hug when we get out of the car?"
Your face immediately lights up. Tomura had never asked for a hug before.
"Uh-huh!" You agree, hurriedly unbuckling the seatbelt strap so you can fufill Tomuras wish.
He watches you with a faint expression of amusement before opening the car door on his side and sliding out of the car, leaving the mask and sunglasses he'd been wearing inside.
You rush to him, ready to cling yourself to his waist like usual, but he crouches, allowing you to slam into him in a proper hug.
You wrap your arms around his neck tightly, pressing your face against his cool skin, feeling the bumpy scars from his old scratches on his neck against your forehead.
He loosely wraps his arm around you, too, leaning his cheek on your head.
"You trust me?" He asks, rubbing your back with his safe hand.
"Mhm. You're my pa now." You mutter against his skin.
He nods slowly, and squeezes you tight momentarily. "Thank you."
Gently, he peels himself away from you.
"We have a movie to watch and shrines to complete." He states, cocking his head. "Let's go."
You want to be a little huffy about how short the hug was, but appreciate that Tomura isn't as cuddly and as warm as Dabi, so you just try to be thankful that he asked you for a hug at all.
You walk with him back inside, waving hello to Uncle Jin, Himiko and Atsuhiro as you pass.
Tomura seems to be set on just going straight to your plans, which makes it even more obvious he really did mean it when he said he would be totally yours for the day and not allow the others to distract him.
He opens the door to his and Dabi's bedroom, holding his arm high enough so you can walk in first and then walking in after you.
Dabi's curled up on the bed having a nap, and you automatically, albeit slowly, climb onto their bed and crawl around his feet so you can press your back to his chest.
He wraps an arm around you immediately, bringing you close as Tomura turns on the TV to put on Spirited Away.
"Starshine." Dabi says sleepily. "D'jya have a good time with your mom?"
"Mhm. I told her about Uncle Giran, you and 'Mura, and art school, and about Uncle Jin, Himiko and Atsuhiro." You tell him, gently rubbing a thumb along the seam of where his healthy and damaged skin meets along his wrist.
He smells a little funny again, like dirt or something, but he sometimes just smelt like that so you don't comment on it. You didn't want to hurt his feelings, after all.
"An' Tomura looked after ya?" He asks, burying his face against the back of your head.
"Mhm. We had a hug, too." You tell him, trying to play it cool in front of Tomura, even if it seemed like he wasn't paying any attention to you both.
"Tha's nice, Star. You're such a cuddle bug." Dabi yawns. "Didja get sad?"
"Not this time." You tell him quietly.
"M' glad." He says, kissing the back of your skull. "Want ya to be happy."
"Budge up." Tomura demands, poking Dabi's shoulder roughly.
Dabi groans dramatically but moves you both further along the bed, still clinging to you like you're a teddy bear.
Tomura settles next to him, looking down at him with a strange look in his eyes.
"We're watching Spirited Away." He says.
"Sleepy." Dabi replies, squeezing you again.
"I bet you are." Tomura deadpans. "She can't see with you holding her like that. Move."
"You have to say Simon Says." You tell Shigaraki, having learned about that game from Dabi recently.
"Shigaraki says move." He repeats, although it doesn't sound angry.
Dabi grumbles, but shifts, opening his redder-than-usual eyes slightly and laying on his back so you can drape yourself over his chest, angling your head so you can see the TV.
Tomura brushes his knuckles over your cheek gently.
"Are you comfortable?" He asks.
You nod, wishing you had one of your teddies with you, but accepting Dabi as a replacement for them.
Tomura hums to himself, sitting with his back against the headboard and hitting play on Spirited Away, crossing his arms over his chest as his eyes settle on the screen.
You can't help but feel so much better having people to watch it with now, even if Tomura's stoic and not very talkative about it and Dabi sleeps through most of the movie.
It was definitely better than watching it completely alone.
*â¢*
The evening is the nicest evening you've had for a few days, Tomura managing to rope Dabi into helping you both with the shrines too, and despite huffing and calling you both nerds at first, he ends up getting invested in the game too, eventually happily and automatically taking the console from your hands when it became night in-game and the skeleton monsters randomly appeared from the ground.
You spot Tomura smirking smugly from the corner of your eyes a couple times and squeeze his pinky finger with your own whenever Dabi does it after a while.
You eventually start yawning regularly enough for Tomura to gently pry the console from your hands and inform you that it's bedtime.
You don't argue it for once, happy to go to bed knowing that you got to stay with them tonight, so you would be completely comfortable and safe tonight, even if they closed the door and had you in complete darkness.
Dabi had brought your toothbrush and put some of your pyjamas into their small bathroom so you obediently went to brush your teeth and change, and when you came back out, Tomura was changed and his white hair isn't in a ponytail anymore, and Dabi has changed too, both of them sat in bed with enough space between them for you.
You climb onto the bed again, getting under the covers and nestling up so you're comfortable, it takes a while and when you realise you don't have any of your teddies you do panic a little bit, but try not to show it.
You're surprised when Tomura reaches for something on the floor and places your teddy next to you, as though he'd known you would need it.
"Thank you." You say quietly, holding the tattered thing close and closing your eyes finally.
"Sleep well, Starlight." Tomura replies, running gloved fingers through your hair quickly.
"Night night pa. Night night pawpaw." You yawn, stretching your legs out a little.
"Sleep tight Starshine. Love ya." Dabi's voice says from behind you.
"Love you." You reply sleepily, and for once, it doesn't take long at all for you to fall asleep.
*â¢*
You wake up disoriented, groggily lifting your head and squinting in the darkness. The room is unfamiliar, and the only reason you know you're safe is because you can feel Dabi's warmth beside you. There's a dim light in the direction you're facing, so dim that you can barely make out the figure of someone laying on their side.
You then remember where you are, who you're with, and from the looks of the dim light that could easily be a phone screen, you know that Tomura's awake.
"'Mura." You say drowsily.
He peers at you over his shoulder. "You're awake. Bad dream?"
"No. I dreamt of mommy." You tell him quietly.
"Is that a good thing now?" He asks, sounding curious.
"I was showing mom you and Dabi." You reply, inching closer to him. "I think she liked you. She didn't have bugs in her mouth this time."
Tomura doesn't really respond, just hums and turns his head back so he can continue whatever he's doing on his phone.
"'Mura?"
"Go to sleep, Star." He says, firmly.
"I want to ask you a question." You continue softly.
"I don't want to talk about..." He begins, but you interrupt him.
"About Dabi."
"Dabi?" He asks, craning his neck to look at you again. "What about him?"
"Has he said something that upset you, too?" You ask as quietly as possible.
Tomura is quiet for a moment as he assesses your face in the darkness.
"Yes." He replies after a while.
"Did you forgive him?" You ask quietly.
"You're upset about what he said about your mom?" Tomura says, but it's less of a question and more of a statement.
"Mean men used to call mom that and then hurt us."Â You explain quietly.
Tomura falls silent once more, seeming to be thinking about what you said before the light of his phone screen turns off and he turns around to face you properly, a gloved hand moving your hair out of your face gently.
"Is Dabi a mean man?" Tomura asks.
"No." You reply instantly.
"And he's usually pretty nice about your mom?" Tomura asks.
"Yeah..." You reply.
"And do you think he would have said something to upset you on purpose?"
"No." You reply slowly and quietly.
"Because he-" Tomura gives a small sigh. "Because he loves you."
You nod a little in the dark.
"Because he cares about you, he doesn't like hearing stories about your mom. He wants better for you than what she gave. Does that make sense?"
"But mom sometimes watched TV with me." You defend.
It happened so rarely though that it does feel like a lie.
You hear Tomura inhale slowly through his nose before you get another verbal answer from him.
"Sometimes, Star, it takes becoming an adult to realise things. When you're older and you know more, you might think differently about her." Tomura explains calmly and quietly. "If that happens, your dad and I will be there for you... everyone will be."
"I'll love mommy even when I'm older." You say stubbornly.
"Whatever. That's fine." He shrugs. "Go to sleep now, Star."
"Can I have a hug?" You ask quietly.
"Will you shut up and go to sleep after?" He asks with no venom to his voice and continuing the clumsy but soft petting of your hair.
You hum an agreement and he sighs, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you to him gently, squeezing you softly and running the flat of his hand over the back of your head a couple of times.
"Thank you for talking to me a lot today and coming to see the ducks." You tell him quietly as he pulls away again. "You're a good pa."
"Go to sleep or it's never happening again, brat." Tomura says, turning over again, but you can hear the slight tinge of amusement in his voice.
You know that even though he doesn't mean it, that when he starts calling you a brat you need to be a little more well behaved, so you hum an agreement, turn around towards Dabi again and close your eyes, your hand reaching out to rest over his ridged scars on the arm closest to you.
You wish you could stay here with them both forever as you fall back to sleep.
*â¢*
You stir awake with one side of your face all warm, an occasional rumble under your cheek. You don't open your eyes just yet, able to go back to sleep if you really tried to ignore Dabi's attempts at murmuring.
You nuzzle your face against his chest sleepily when his fingers start carding through your hair softly.
You listen to their low voices as they talk calmly with one another, not really understanding the subject matter, but finding it incredibly soothing to listen to anyway.
It was definitely nicer than listening to the usual yelling and crying you'd become so used to when mom would talk to her boyfriends.
It's nice that even after all your worrying about Dabi becoming boyfriends with Tomura, they don't scream at each other or fight, and Dabi hasn't forgotten about you because of Tomura, or chosen Tomura over you yet.
You're drifting back to sleep when you feel Tomura shift beside you, hearing the two share a quick peck and then dry lips are being pressed against your temple quickly, too.
"Back in a minute." Tomura says quietly. "Care about you both."
Dabi snorts underneath you. "Yeah, love ya too, Shig."
"Love you." You murmur sleepily, and Dabi's fingers slow in your hair.
"Treasures awake, huh?" He asks softly. "Heard ya woke up for a while last night."
"Me and 'Mura talked." You yawn.
"Didja have a bad dream?" He asks.
"No, I dreamt mommy met you and Tomura." You tell him.
"Well, I'm glad it wasn't a nightmare." He says, coughing a little. "...Did ya wanna talk about yesterday?"
"No, it's okay." You reply, patting his head. "You didn't mean to make me sad. Can you not call mom that word again though please?"
"I'll try." Dabi agrees, holding his pinky out for you.
You wrap yours around his and he brings your finger to his mouth and kisses it softly before letting go of it.
"I love you too, pawpaw." You say. "Even if you say mean things sometimes because of the quirk."
"You got so much love inside ya, huh Starshine?" He says with a soft and sad smile. "Hope that doesn't change. You're my world, sweetheart."
And you actually believe it when you feel those gnarled arms wrap around you to give you a gentle squeeze, his mismatched lips pressed against your forehead briefly before he lets go of you to squeeze your cheek playfully instead.