Everyone stood in one massive circle around Tomura. They all seemed upbeat considering the fact that he was leaving you all for an undetermined amount of time.
Spinner is clapping his back with the palm of his hand affectionately and grinning at him, Himiko is bouncing on her feet, looking up at Tomura with respect-filled eyes. Atsuhiro is a little more subdued as he leans on his cane, and Jin keeps alternating between singing Tomura's praises and cursing at him for leaving you all.
You think that Dabi's as sad as you are about the fact that Tomura's leaving, because he hasn't said a word, he's just been standing with you close to his waist, his hand resting still on the top of your head as he watches the others alongside you.
You don't understand why the others aren't sad too. When you had asked him if he would visit he had told you no, because he would be too busy. Not seeing Tomura for a few months at least was really quite upsetting for you.
It wasn't even like he was scary anymore like he used to be back when everyone first met. He was a lot calmer, and didn't lose his temper or glare at anyone just for being in his space or for being loud anymore. Everyone liked being around him a lot more, everyone came to him for advice and enjoyed their respective time alone with him like he'd promised everyone.
He's even smiling, a rarity for Tomura, as he talks to the others, wrapping an arm around Himiko carefully as she finally gets sick of waiting for him to be done with Spinner and wraps her arms around his torso, still looking up at him with a wide, sharp-toothed grin herself.
You look up at Dabi, but his face is unreadable. He isn't noticeably upset, but the fact he wasn't joking around with the others or touching Tomura too tells you that he isn't happy about it.
Himiko looks over at you, her eyes still sparkling with happiness, probably because Tomura was giving her a hug, but there's a curious gleam in them.
"Come join us Star!" She encourages, reaching an arm for you.
Dabi nudges you forward without a word, and you join the hug, wrapping your arms around Tomura's waist too and burying your face into his side.
A metal-laden hand places itself on the top of your head and you squeeze him tightly, your bottom lip wobbling despite yourself when you think about how you're not going to see him for a long time.
The others don't pay any attention to how tight you're holding onto him as he continues to talk with them all. It sounds like work stuff, telling them he trusts them to do a good job without him around and answering questions that you tune out.
The more you dwell on how he's going away, the more you begin to fear that he might not come back.
Before you know it, you're sniffling against his clothes and the talking has quietened down.
"Star?" You hear Himiko ask carefully. "You cryin'?"
You nod, not wanting to peel your face away from Tomura just yet.
There's a small 'aw' from both Himiko and Jin, and you feel Tomura's careful hands pry you away from him gently. Himiko's no longer clinging to him, and everyone seems to have given you both a little space, all of them smiling softly at you like they understand why you're upset.
Tomura slowly drops to a crouch, regarding you with curious red eyes.
"Why are you crying?" He asks, gently rubbing under your eyes with his thumb.
"I'm going to miss you." You sniffle.
Tomura is quiet, like he doesn't know what to do with this information, and he just looks at you quietly as you cry and wipe your own tears away.
"I have a very important job for you to do for me while I'm away, though, Star." He says, trying to catch your eyes.
"You do?" You ask between shaky breaths.
"Yes. I'm going to miss you all too. So I need you to do some drawings or paintings for me while I'm away." Tomura says evenly. "Of things that happened, or things you think I'd like. Can you do that for me?"
You nod, your tears slowing at the thought of doing something important for Tomura while he was away, too.
"Even if you get one done per month, that's good enough for me." Tomura continues. "I'm sure you'll do a good job."
You nod more confidently, feeling confident solely from the fact Tomura was sure you could do a good job for him.
When he opens his arms wide to allow you in for a proper hug, you take no time in taking him up on his silent offer, wrapping your arms around his shoulders.
He pets your hair with the flat of one of his hands carefully, moving his face so he can talk quietly to you.
"A second important job for you while I'm gone is to take good care of your dad, okay?" He reminds you quietly. "Make sure he doesn't get sad. I can count on you, can't I, Starlight?"
You nod against him, you always tried to look after Dabi like he looked after you.
"Good." He says, patting your head a couple of times. "I have to go now."
You reluctantly let go, glancing over at Dabi, who was still looking unimpressed, leaning against the doorframe.
"You haven't said goodbye to Dabi yet." You point out quietly.
"He's taking me where I need to go. Don't worry." Tomura replies. "Go work on some math, brat. I'll see you soon."
He's smirking which tells you you're not really in trouble.
"Liar." You mutter, but obediently wander over to the kitchen where your work book had been.
Maybe Atsuhiro would help you while Tomura was away.
*â¢*
Dabi wasn't really talking, which made it hard for you to take care of him because you didn't know what would make him happy again.
He seemed especially in a bad mood about having to go to work again despite still struggling with the effects of the quirk, although his random truthful comments had become less and less common.
He had crouched and told you to not mention the truth quirk when you came along with him to his work building, or mention that Tomura had gone away for a while, and the fact he'd crouched and maintained eye contact with you meant you absolutely had to listen to him.
In the car, he didn't put on the shouty music he usually listened to unless you specifically asked him not to, he listened to sad music this time, and every time you looked over at him you half expected to see him bleeding because you felt like crying listening to it.
"Are you really sad?" You ask him after a while.
"Yeah, hon." He replies, leaning his face on his hand as he drives.
Your shoulders sink, but you understand.
You try to think of something you could do to cheer him up, like Tomura would want you to. You wonder about asking him if he wanted to see the ducks, but he didn't even want to go to work, so you decide that maybe he just wants to stay at home.
"Do you wanna have a sleepover?" You ask, knowing that was something that would cheer you up.
"Nah. Not the best company right now, darlin'." He replies, not even looking at you. "Toga might have a sleepover wi' ya if you want though."
"But I want to have a sleepover with you! Even if you're sad." You reply adamantly.
"Really not in the mood, Star." He says, but he does sound a little apologetic.
"But Tomura told me to look after you." You try instead.
"He did?" Dabi asks, finally looking at you with a small frown.
"Uh-huh." You reply. "It makes me sad when you're sad. Can we have a sleepover? Please?"
He shakes his head, sighing to himself. "He shouldn'tve put that responsibility on you, darlin'. You're just a kid."
His hands swap places so the one he'd been leaning on is on the steering wheel, and the other is placed on top of your head, ruffling your hair affectionately.
"I'm alright, lil' Star." He says, giving an unconvincing smile. "Jus' a little stressed 'cause I gotta run the show while 'Mura's away. I'll be alright in a coupla days, I jus' need some time to adjust. You understand what I'm sayin'?"
You shake your head when he steals a quick glance at you.
"What I'm sayin' is, I'm a little stressed with work stuff an' sad that Tomura's goin' AWOL for a few months. Just need some time to myself to figure it all out, okay?"
Your worry must immediately show on your face because he begins talking again quickly.
"Don't mean that I don't wantcha, Starshine. Just need my own space for the next couple days to settle inta the new routine of things. I still love ya lots, doll. Always will." He reassures you.
He even pinches your cheek in the way that always has you whining and swatting his hands away, chuckling to himself for the first time today.
He pulls up to the massive building that always seemed to have people swarming around and inside of it and unclips his seatbelt, telling you to follow behind.
You follow behind him as everyone greets him and waves at you, even as you continue holding onto his jacket. It'd been a while since you'd been here and you were feeling a little nervous about it for some reason.
He doesn't hang around to chat with them all, though, leading you both to a boardroom within the building.
You don't really talk much, which has Dabi glancing down at you from time to time as you both walk.
Eventually he speaks again.
"When I'm feelin' a bit better we can have a sleepover, yeah?" He says, trying to win you back over.
"Sleepover?" An upbeat voice says from behind you, making you jolt and Dabi's face immediately sours.
You both turn to face whoever it was that spoke, met with the sight of Hawks and HakuchÅ walking towards you both. Hawks is smiling crookedly, although it doesn't reach his eyes, and HakuchÅ looks a little awkward, her eyes moving between both you and Dabi.
You think she's a little scared of Dabi after you accidentally made her sick and Dabi told Hawks off, which was fair enough, that was pretty scary.
You usually would get excited to see her, but you had that horrible empty feeling inside of you that still felt heavy despite also feeling like nothing at all. You give her a small smile, which she returns uncertainly.
"You're late." Dabi says coldly.
Hawks chuckles and pats HakuchÅs shoulder. "Had to wrestle this one out of bed."
"So you're just gonna keep bringing her then?" Dabi asks dryly.
"It's nice to see the girls play, don'tcha think?" Hawks grins, nudging HakuchÅ forward with his wing slightly.
"Well birdie, neither of us are in the mood to play around, so take her back to school like she should be." Dabi hisses.
"I hate it there." She says quickly in response.
"Too bad so sad, kid. That's life." Dabi huffs. "Ain't my problem."
"Don't be mean to HakuchÅ! She's my friend!" You chastise, tugging on his jacket.
"Ain't your friend, kid. They're snakes with wings." Dabi scoffs and then chokes a little bit.
"Ouch." Hawks says, but he looks unbothered and sounds as upbeat as usual.
"I like HakuchÅ." You defend, looking up at him. "Say sorry."
"Ain't gonna happen." Dabi shrugs. "Let's jus' get this damn meeting over with."
Hawks leaves HakuchÅ in favor of walking beside Dabi with a wide, friendly grin and one of his wings curved ever so slightly around him.
HakuchÅ looks a little exasperated, as though she'd spoken to him about how close he got to Dabi and how you'd told her Tomura wouldn't like it, only for him to ignore it.
You're not even sure where that stands now Tomura is gone for a while, was Dabi still boyfriends with Tomura or had they broken up?
"Sorry he was mean. He has big feelings today." You explain quietly to her.
HakuchÅ looks over at you and nods, not giving you a verbal response as you walk behind the older men together.
"A sleepover, huh, Star?" She asks eventually with a forced smile.
You nod, continuing to walk beside her. You couldn't tell her that the point of the sleepover was to cheer Dabi up because Tomura's gone, so you just stay quiet, watching Hawks interact with Dabi without a care in the world, even though Dabi was clearly in a mood.
"You have sleepovers a lot?" She asks. "I've never had one."
"Never ever?" You ask, surprised. "Me and Dabi used to always have sleepovers, but then when he started being boyfriends with Tomura, he wanted to share a room with him instead."
"Oh right?" HakuchÅ asks, her wings spreading slightly behind her.
"Yeah. But me, 'Mura and Dabi had a sleepover the other day, and I've had sleepovers with Uncle Giran and Himiko too!" You continue. "It's fun. I like not being alone in case I have dreams where mom has bugs in her mouth."
"Bugs? In her mouth?" HakuchÅ repeats, sounding confused.
"Mhm, but Dabi told me about a silly story about a lady that swallows a fly, so I try to think about that now." You continue to explain.
"Right..." HakuchÅ muses, still sounding confused. "So what do you do at your sleepovers?"
"Well the one I had the other day we went to see the ducks and then we watched a movie and played games." You tell her as you walk under Hawks' arm into the boardroom. "Himiko usually likes to do makeovers and tell secrets, and Uncle Giran lets me have lots of ice cream and we watch old movies."
You make your way to the couch in the room while Dabi and Hawks sit by the boardroom table, in a deep conversation with one another from what you could see.
You drop your bag with your teddy and sketchbook and pencils on the floor before jumping onto the couch and folding your legs while you wait for HakuchÅ to join you.
"Don't you have pillow fights?" She asks as she sits down on a couch beside you, draping her wings over the back of the chair. "I see that a lot on TV."
"No..." You reply thoughtfully. "Maybe we can have a sleepover one day and have a pillow fight?"
"Oh!" She exclaims in mild surprise and then smiles awkwardly. "Yeah, maybe?"
You beam, excited at the idea of having a new friend who wants to have a sleepover with you.
For some reason this seems to take her aback, her eyes widening as though she wasn't expecting you to be happy about the offer.
"Will you tell me secrets too?" You ask, only really having experiences with Himiko to go off in regards to what sleepovers were like with girls.
She laughs nervously. "Uh...Maybe."
"Okay! And I'll let you do makeup on me without complaining, I won't even tell Dabi." You say eagerly.
"Would he not like that?" She asks curiously.
"No. He gets mad when Himiko puts makeup on me. He tells her I'm not a doll." You pause. "But sometimes he calls me 'doll', so I don't know."
"He does? That's...cute." She smiles a little unconvincingly again.
"Mhm, he calls me doll, princess and cuddle bug." You reply, rocking a little as you talk to her. "Does Hawks call you nice names?"
"Not really..." She murmurs. "Called me 'dove' once."
"That's a nice one! Because your wings are white!" You nod in approval.
"I guess..." She shrugs slightly, glancing over at him and Dabi.
You take this as a sign that she doesn't like the subject matter, so you try to change it and make her more talkative again, getting your sketchbook out of your bag and proceeding to show her all your drawings. She seems impressed with some, confused with others and when you get to the pages that Jin had helped with, she gives surprised laughs.
"You're really good. You should keep drawing." She says with a small smile after Dabi calls you over and you begin to pack away your sketchbook.
You'd heard it time and time again from Dabi, Giran and the others, but it felt different coming from HakuchÅ. Probably because she wasn't part of your family so she didn't have to be nice to you, but she was anyway.
You grin at her as she stands too, ready to rejoin Hawks.
"C'mon, Star, we got places to be." Dabi calls, his hand in the pocket where he usually keeps his cigarettes.
"Coming! Coming!" You hurry up to him, smiling when he pats your head a couple of times.
"Go check in with Twice. He has the files." Dabi informs Hawks blandly before leading you out of the room with a warm hand on the back of your head.
"Bye-bye HakuchÅ!" You call over your shoulder, and get a small wave back in return.
"Bye kiddo!" Hawks calls after you, but you don't really respond except for a small smile.
You still weren't sure how you felt about him after he'd grabbed your arm that one time. He'd only ever been friendly since, but there were plenty of times your moms boyfriends had been mean to you and then been really nice for a while afterwards.
You just couldn't shake the feeling there was something dark under that friendly exterior.
"Gonna go for a smoke, hon, then I gotta see Re-Destro. You wanna hang out with Toga while I'm busy?" Dabi asks, his thumb coursing over the back of your head.
"Mhm. I don't want to see him." You reply absentmindedly.
You feel his eyes on you momentarily before his hands scruff up your hair.
"What's on ya mind, lil' miss Starshine?" He asks, sounding more playful than he had been at all today up to this point.
"Can I have a sleepover with HakuchÅ one day?" You ask, looking up at him.
His face immediately sets into stone. "Naw, kid."
"But-"
You cut yourself off with a surprised giggle as something soft tickles your arm. Dabi's eyes narrow as you curiously look down your sleeve and pull out a red feather with wide, sparkling eyes.
"Look!" You tell him, holding it up. "One of Hawks' feathers!"
"Lemme see that, princess." Dabi says, reaching out to take it from you.
You hand it to him without a second doubt, watching as he rolls it between his thumb and forefinger, staring at it as he does so. And then within mere seconds, his hand has closed around it and flashed blue, incinerating the pretty feather right before your eyes.
"Hey!" You snap.
"Clumsy work." He mutters to himself, wiping the ash off on his jacket. "Sorry Starshine, can't risk you gettin' bird flu."
"Bird flu?" You repeat curiously.
"Nasty, I promise ya." He says simply.
"Oh..." You sigh. "I really wanted it though."
Dabi rolls his eyes. "C'mon, can get you a whole bag from the damn craft stalls in town."
You silently mourn the loss of the crimson feather you'd found tucked into your clothing as you walk beside Dabi to the courtyard outside.
He seems to pick up on the sour mood you're in now yourself as he wraps his hand around yours and gives it a little squeeze.
"Y'know I'll always do what's best for ya, right, Starshine?" He says softly.
"Yeah, I know pawpaw." You agree, albeit forlornly, squeezing his hand a little too.