You wake up with a start when your light turns on suddenly, and Himiko throws herself onto your bed excitedly, wrapping her arms around you and grinning into your neck.
"Merry Christmas!" She exclaims, far too energetic for so early in the morning. "Santa came!"
"What?" You ask, still half asleep despite your heightened heartbeat from the sudden awakening.
"Santa came!" Himiko repeats. "He left us so many presents! And Rudolph ate your carrot a little!"
"What? Really?" You ask, your excitement begins to bubble in your chest the more you wake up.
"Yeah! Come see!" Himiko encourages. "Let's wake up everyone else, too!"
You agree, which makes Himiko squeal with excitement, and she peels herself from you, practically bouncing while she waits for you to get out of bed yourself. You carry the teddy with the moon on it with you while you follow Himiko to Jin's room, joining her in jumping onto his bed and waking him up with a hug like she had done to you.
It's worth it, because he wakes up with a big sleepy smile and gives you both a squeeze and kiss on the cheek while mirroring your excitement about it being Christmas day. Once you and Himiko have had your fill of cuddles with Uncle Jin you all get up and he slips on some comfy house shoes and heads downstairs to make coffee and probably smoke while you and Himiko wake up everyone else.
You kind of wanted to wake Dabi up next, but Himiko said that you had to wake him up last for some reason. Not wanting to argue, you follow her to Atsuhiro's room, who gets a more subdued awakening, Himiko shaking him gently while chanting the word 'Christmas' over and over. You stay outside of Spinner's room while Himiko jumps up and down at the foot of his bed and throws a pillow at him to wake him up.
When you get to Dabi's door, Himiko lets you go in first, and you quietly sneak up to him while he sleeps, his back to the door, and his body all curled up like a cat. He looks like he's holding a hoodie close to his chest like you would cuddle your teddies, his face buried into it while he sleeps.
"Pawpaw." You call softly, climbing onto the bed with him.
He murmurs sleepily, stretching out slightly and curling straight back up again.
"It's Christmas." You whisper, curling around his back. "Pawpaw, wake up, I wanna see what Santa bought."
"S' Christmas?" He asks sleepily.
"It's Christmas!" Himiko exclaims as she jumps onto the bed too, landing on Dabi's legs and making him jolt upwards. "Were you cuddling Shiggy's hoodie?"
"What? No. Crazy ass." Dabi scoffs, but there's a pink tint to his cheeks that's hard to ignore.
"Wake up so we can open our presents!" Himiko demands, tearing the hoodie away from him and throwing it across the room so she can cuddle up to his side instead.
"Go away, I hate mornings." He says grumpily, but wraps an arm around you each.
"But it's Christmas. Himiko says this Christmas is going to be a really, really good one." You say, trying to encourage him to get out of bed a little earlier than he usually would.
"And I'm never wrong." Himiko says proudly.
"Yeah? What about that time you-" Dabi begins to ask with a smirk, but she cuts him off.
"Never. Wrong." She repeats firmly.
It takes a little while, but you manage to coax Dabi out of bed, and you follow behind an equally excited Himiko, thundering down the stairs to see what Santa brought you both.
You can't help but squeal with excitement when you see the presents under the tree. Santa had never been to your house before, and it looked like he bought a lot of presents. And just like Himiko said, there was a little nibble on the carrot you'd demanded that Dabi leave out for Rudolph. You hold it up to Dabi triumphantly, and he chuckles, patting your head.
"Didn't eat much, huh? Loadsa kids musta bugged their dads to put food out for him."
You put the carrot back down and pick up a little note left behind underneath it, waiting for Himiko to settle down next to you on the floor before opening it, just in case it was for her too.
'Star,
Thank you for my letter. I think I must have missed a few of your letters over the years!
To make up for the slip-up, I've made sure to leave you and your family lots of food and have given you a few extra presents this year.
Rudolph says a very big thank you for the snack you left him, too. I gave him a good hug for you, just like you asked.
Have a merry Christmas,
Santa.'
Your heart lifts up more and more the further into the letter you get, and you immediately fling around to give it to Dabi in your excitement. His eyes scan the letter quickly and he smiles the second he looks up to see your shining eyes.
"Tha's nice Star. Why don'tcha open the presents?" He asks, pulling forward a pile of gifts in red wrapping paper.
Himiko is already halfway through hers, giggling excitedly when she opens packets of makeup, hair clips, small plushies and chocolate snacks.
Atsuhiro, Spinner, Jin and Dabi all watch with coffees in their hands as you unwrap your presents carefully one by one. Santa bought you a sketchbook, some special charcoal pencils, canvases, new paint brushes and paints, as well as a small duck plush that matched one of the cat plushies that Toga received.
You spin to show Dabi that present too, in awe.
"How did Santa know I like ducks?!" You ask in amazement.
"The giant one you left lyin' around last night probably gave it away, darlin'." Dabi chuckles, taking the plushie from you and pressing it all over your face to pretend it's giving you kisses.
"Stop!" You whine, swatting at him, even though you're enjoying the attention.
"Did Santa do a good job then?" Spinner asks you while Himiko begs Jin to let her paint his nails later with the new set she got.
"He did!" You nod, taking the plushie back from Dabi and setting it between your crossed legs.
You were excited to use your new pencils, but you'd have to ask Uncle Giran how to use them properly first. You were also glad to have a new sketchbook after Uncle Jin ruined the one Uncle Giran gave you a little while ago.
Spinner grins, and Dabi ruffles your hair affectionately, putting his coffee down on a nearby table.
"You got a little somethin' from us all, too, princess." He informs you, pointing to a present tucked behind the tree. "Go grab it?"
You nod, carefully reaching behind the small scattering of presents still under the tree to grab the box Dabi had pointed to. Suddenly, all eyes are on you again as you set the box in front of you.
"You can open it." He says with an amused lilt to his voice.
You can't help but feel a little pressured with everyone's eyes on you as you carefully peel the present open. Dabi ends up rolling his eyes at your considerate unwrapping.
"You don't gotta be so precious about it, hon." He tells you, but you're distracted, because you'd finally peeled enough of the paper away to reveal the box.
Your eyes roll upwards to stare at them all in shock. There, clear as day written on the box, were the words 'Nintendo Switch'.
You had actually forgotten you'd even asked Santa for one, perfectly happy with what he had gotten you. But now you had one in front of you, you couldn't help but tear the paper off now to make sure your eyes weren't deceiving you.
They all chuckle when you do, Himiko coming to sit next to you again, showing just as much excitement as you as you open it up, revealing that it wasn't a prank, and there was a handheld console just like Tomura's inside the box.
"Spinner even set it up for ya, so you should have that game you're always on about on there, an' a profile or somethin'? Ah, I don't know." Dabi explains as you pick it up and click the buttons.
"So you have your own profile on there, and I put both of the Legend of Zelda games that you play with Shigaraki on there." Spinner explains, moving closer and pointing his taloned finger at the screen to explain what he's talking about.
"My picture's a star!" You exclaim, looking up at him with awe in your eyes.
He scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah..."
"Thank you Spinner!" You exclaim. "I love it!"
"Well... If you ever want to change it..." He says, gently prying the console from your hands so he can show you how to change it. "You can even be Link, see?"
"The star is good! Thank you!" You repeat, taking the chance of him holding it to give everyone a hug and thank them all one by one, even Spinner himself, who gives you a tight squeeze back before giving you the Switch back.
The others all open their gifts to one another once you're done, and busy starting your own game. You half watch, curious to see what everyone else got, and feeling a little guilty that you hadn't gotten anyone anything.
Dabi seems to get CDs, nail polish, alcohol, and something he scoffs at and then refuses to let you see, slipping it into his pocket. Atsuhiro gets a fancy new mask, a new set of playing cards and a couple of books, Spinner also gets CDs, a game, and a knife that you also weren't allowed to get too close to or touch, even though Himiko was allowed. Uncle Jin gets a lot of cigarettes, some alcohol too, and a necklace from Himiko, which apparently matches one she has herself.
When everyone's done, and Atsuhiro talks about going to begin cooking the food Santa left behind, you climb onto Dabi's lap, leaning against him and looking up at him with a guilty look.
"I didn't get anyone anything..." You whisper, a little embarrassed.
"You've done plenty of drawings for us all over the year, an' you saved our skins back at the bar." He tries to reassure you, moving your hair out of your face. "F' ya ask me, little Starshine, you bein' here with us is present enough."
"But..."
"How about you draw everyone a picture with your new stuff today?" He asks. "Food'll take a while, an' I'm sure Spinner'd love the chance to nerd out over games with ya."
"Is that good enough?" You ask quietly.
"More than enough, doll." He reassures, kissing your forehead. "Off ya get, dinner'll take a lil' while."
And so you go off to do just that. You decide to draw a cat and duck for Himiko, meant to represent you both, even giving the cat the buns that she always had her hair kept up in. For Atsuhiro you decide to draw (to the best of your capabilities) one of his masks with lots of sparkles and flowers around it. For Uncle Jin, you drew him a silly picture of him happy and another one of him angry, just like his two voices. You drew a picture of a games controller for Spinner, trying to remember what they looked like from your time in the bar.
You're done with your drawings before dinner is ready, Dabi and Spinner helping Atsuhiro in the kitchen while you hand the drawings out and thank them all for your presents.
Himiko squeals and gives you a hug, rubbing her cheek against yours over and over affectionately. Spinner gives you a wonky grin and lets you fist-bump him. Atsuhiro kisses both of your cheeks faintly and squeezes your arm affectionately, giving you a warm smile and thanks. Uncle Jin lifts you straight up in the air, and spins you around.
For Dabi, you give him the drawing of Tomura you were going to give Tomura when he was back, but Himiko asking him if he was cuddling one of 'Muras hoodies made you realise just how much he was missing Tomura, too.
You wait until he's alone to give it to him, though, not wanting to embarrass him in front of the others.
You corner him while he's smoking, ignoring the raised eyebrow you get from him when you get too close to him while he's smoking. The look changes though when you give him the drawing.
The corner of his lip twitches slightly when his eyes scan over the page, and suddenly his burning blue eyes are on you, waiting for an explanation.
"I miss him too." You say simply. "Merry Christmas, pawpaw. Sorry it's not very good..."
He smiles at you sadly, stubbing his cigarette out and reaching for you, a silent beckoning you're always more than ready to entertain, walking straight into his embrace, feeling his arms wrap around you while carefully holding the drawing, and his chin rest on the top of your head.
"I love it. Thanks, doll." He says, holding you tight wordlessly for a little while.
*â¢*
Christmas dinner is so much louder and fun than you remember. Uncle Jin and Atsuhiro are singing Christmas songs loudly between mouthfuls, Himiko is giggling and seeing how many paper hats she can put on Spinners head with the crevices between his scales to keep them in place, him entirely happy to let her carry on, and Dabi is laughing and smiling more than you had ever seen him smile and laugh ever.
Your heart is full as you look at your new family, everyone having fun and playing around while they eat. And the food is so good too, even better than what you remembered your Grandma's cooking to be like.
You sing along with Jin and Atsuhiro, place a hat on top of Spinner's head too, and let Dabi pretend to eat your favorite parts of what's on your plate without complaint.
You all play charades when dinner is over, Uncle Jin ends up having to miss out on his turns after he ruined the game by blurting out the answer three times in a row. No-one minds though, just tries to include him as much as possible anyway.
And then you let Spinner play shrines with you for a little while too, feeling a little reluctant to go to bed by the time Uncle Jin brings you your iron tablets and nightly cocoa.
But by the time you've finished your cocoa, you are really tired from the intensity of the day, and obediently say goodnight to everyone when you're encouraged to, and follow Dabi upstairs to brush your teeth and be tucked in for the night.
When Dabi has tucked you in, he settles by the side of your bed, stroking your hair lovingly.
"Didja have a nice day, Starshine?" He asks.
"It was the best Christmas ever." You reply enthusiastically. "I wish it wasn't over."
Dabi's scarred face splits into a wide grin, and he nods. "It was, wasn't it? Haven't had a fun Christmas since I was like your age."
"Really?" You ask, surprised.
"Really. But seeing you all excited and happy? That's what made Christmas, cuddle-bug." Dabi's smile softens. "Get lotsa sleep. Today was a big day."
"Night night pawpaw." You yawn.
"Night, doll." He replies, kissing your forehead.
He gets up to leave, crossing your room and placing his hand on the door handle when you feel compelled to speak again.
"Dad?"
"Yeah, hon?" He asks, pausing immediately.
"Thank you for looking after me all this time. I love our family and I love you." You say, squeezing your teddy tight to your chest. "Today was the best day ever."
Dabi's quiet for a moment before you hear him laugh quietly. "You kill me, kid. I love you too darlin' girl. Sweet dreams."
And for the first time ever, you don't question it at all.