You were talking to Dabi happily about the game that he and the others had bought you for Christmas as he drives, understanding the game more now you were able to play it properly by yourself, and not just wandering around the shrines and finding the little leafy fairies like Tomura used to let you do on his console.
He seems absentminded, but he wasn't as interested in video games like Spinner or Tomura are, so you just continue anyway, more than happy to chat away in a one-sided conversation because you were just thrilled that you had Christmas presents for the first time ever.
"Hey, doll?" Dabi asks out of the blue, interrupting you mid sentence.
"Yeah, pawpaw?" You ask in return.
It was rare that he interrupted you, always waiting for you to finish what you had to say before he spoke himself, so whatever he wanted to ask was probably really important.
"If ya see HakuchÅ today, make sure you're real nice to her, 'kay?" He asks, peering over at you.
"I'm always nice to her." You reply. "You're the one that's mean."
Dabi presses his lips together and looks away. You almost wonder if that was rude enough for him to upset him, but it was true, he was mean to her, he always told Hawks to stop bringing her, even though you'd told him you liked seeing her.
"You're right, Starshine." Dabi says calmly. "You're nice to everyone."
You watch him quietly as he drives for a moment, curious as to what had made him say that.
"Did I do something bad to HakuchÅ before?" You ask, a little confused.
"No, hon. Just makin' sure you're gentle with her, that's all." Dabi replies, leaning his head on his hand.
"Are you gonna be gentle with her too?" You ask. "'Cause you always tell her to go home or to school, even though she doesn't like school."
Dabi's eye twitches slightly. "That's different, Star."
"Why?" You ask curiously.
"Because I'm an adult."
"I don't get it."
"Your job is to be nice to everyone and be trustin' and innocent and my job is to be careful." Dabi replies, but it doesn't make any more sense to you.
"I thought your job was to change Japan?" You question.
Dabi snorts and shakes his head with a small smile. "Ya know what, Star? Don't worry about it. Jus' keep bein' your lovely little self."
"Oh, okay." You reply, still confused.
He falls back into silence and you follow suit, wondering about what he had said.
You wonder if maybe Dabi had realised how upset HakuchÅ had seemed the last couple of times she'd come with Hawks and wanted to be nicer to her too but didn't know how to say sorry to her.
When you get to the building, Dabi pets your hair adoringly and leans over to kiss your head and call you 'precious' before getting out of the car.
You rush to the building out of habit, ready to spend time with the others like usual. You practically run straight into Atsuhiro the second you enter, crashing into his back with a small 'oof'.
"Hello little lady." Atsuhiro says, amused. "All ready for your lesson then?"
"Lesson?"
"Geography, dear." Atsuhiro explains, patting your head. "Come along."
You groan, hanging your head back, and Dabi pinches your cheek lovingly as he passes.
"Four." He reminds you gently before letting go.
You reluctantly follow Atsuhiro to a conference room, only for him to make a globe appear from one of his blue marbles.
He asks you to point at Japan on the globe, his mask lifted to the top of his head so you could see the look of sheer surprise on his face when you don't immediately point it out. He explains to you where to find it, saying it's near Russia, China and Korea. You scan the globe for those names and then point at Japan.
He pats your head a couple of times and then asks you to find America. You peer around the globe before finding the name and pointing at it.
He's patient and calmly encouraging as he tells you to find a number of countries on the globe, smiling softly when you get it right and reaching to stroke your cheek gently with a gloved thumb.
And then the questions start and you know the answer to none of them, and you begin to panic, because you weren't doing very well with this lesson and you needed to so you can go to art school when you're older.
You can't tell him what the biggest country is, getting it wrong when you answer 'America'. You can't name all the continents around the world, and don't even know what a continent is. You can't tell him any of the islands off the coast of Japan. The only question you know the answer to is what the big mountain is in Japan, and that was because you'd seen it on TV a lot.
Atsuhiro begins to stop when you begin getting irritable in your frustration, crouching down to try and talk to you eye-to-eye and soothe you about how little you know.
You're relieved when Dabi steps into the room, running over to him and giving him a massive, tight hug. You could almost cry from your frustration.
"Woah, whassup?" Dabi asks, stroking your hair.
"Geography is dumb." You reply, clutching his clothes.
"Struggling, huh?" Dabi sympathises. "I'm sure you tried your hardest, kid."
"She did." Atsuhiro agrees. "Star, why don't you tell Dabi what continents there are?"
"Asia, Europe, North and South America, Africa and um..."
"Australia and Antartica, love."
"Those." You say, your voice muffled against Dabi's side.
"Wow! That's great Star." Dabi encourages. "All I knew was Asia and Europe."
"Really?" You ask, peeling yourself away from him to look up at him.
His azure eyes are soft as he looks down at you, nodding and stroking your cheek softly. "Yeah hon, you've done well. You're a lil' genius."
You flush. "Am not."
"I know what I'm talkin' about." Dabi says with a playful grin. "Why don'tcha go and play now?"
You look over at Atsuhiro, who has already marbleized the globe and is about to do the same to the atlas he materialised, too. He gives you a friendly nod of approval, smiling at you and then winking.
You grab Dabi's jacket instinctively, and he chuckles.
"C'mon. Your friend's here."
"HakuchÅ?" You ask eagerly.
"Ding, ding, ding. C'mon, got places to be Starshine." Dabi replies, turning around, your grip on his jacket causing you to spin too.
You call out a thank you and 'see you later' to Atsuhiro who bows in return.
"Does HakuchÅ look better?" You ask, looking up at Dabi, his expression back to being neutral.
His gnarled bottom lip tugs downwards slightly. "Hard ta tell, darlin'. Why don't you check in with her?"
"Okay!" You agree. You were planning on it anyway.
"I gotta go to the lab real quick to pick somethin' up. Are ya gonna be okay if I leave you wi' the others?" Dabi asks, his hand landing atop your head.
"Mhm. I'll be okay." You reply, leaning into his touch when he starts scratching your head carefully.
"Attagirl." Dabi praises. "Love ya."
"Love you!" You reply eagerly and effortlessly. "When's Tomura back?"
"Soon." Dabi says, scratching your head a couple more times before untangling the staples on his wrists from your hair carefully.
You get to Uncle Jin's conference room, Dabi pushing the door open for you and ushering you through. He doesn't follow though, staying at the door and watching as you greet HakuchÅ and wave shyly at Hawks. Jin calls you over for a hug, which you're always more than happy to give him.
"Be good." Dabi calls.
"You're going now?" You ask, and get a curt nod in response.
He's pretending to be cool and mysterious in front of Hawks and HakuchÅ again. You rush up to him anyway, him automatically crouching to give you a hug and to rub your back.
"I won't be long." He tells you quietly. "Have fun."
"I will. Love you."
"Love you too." He replies, letting go of you.
You lean forward to press a quick kiss to one of the blackening staples on his cheek, feeling him smirk the second you do it.
You don't hang around for too long, knowing that if he wasn't going to hang around with Uncle Jin, HakuchÅ and Hawks even for five minutes before he leaves, then he's probably busy and in a rush.
You practically skip to where HakuchÅ sits on the couch, dropping your bag and sitting next to her, looking up at her.
She looks a little better than last time. Maybe still a little tired, but there's a gleam in her eyes when she looks at you this time, and a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"You look better." You say. "I'm glad!"
"You think?" She asks, tilting her head slightly. "Thanks, Star."
"Is school better?" You ask.
"I haven't gone back yet. It's winter break." She explains.
"Oh. I'll tell Spinner, Uncle Jin and Atsuhiro. Maybe they won't make me do geography again for a while." You muse.
"Not a fan?" She asks, amused.
"It sucks." You mope. "I don't need to know about other countries. I just need to know about Japan..."
She snorts, but nods. "Yeah. I get you."
You beam at her, happy to have a more engaging, happy HakuchÅ again. You open your bag, pulling out your Nintendo Switch.
"Everyone got me this for Christmas! What did you get?" You ask.
"Wow!" She says, her eyes wide. "I just got some clothes and some singing lessons."
"Singing lessons? That's so cool! Can you sing now?" You ask eagerly.
"Uh, no." She laughs awkwardly.
Your shoulders sink but you nod understandingly. You'd probably feel a little pressured if she asked you to draw in front of her, too.
Instead, you ask her if she wants to help you play shrines, and she nods, although it's a little hesitant. You get excited, explaining to her the basics of the game and how the shrines work. She looks a little confused at the beginning, but slowly begins to get into it like Dabi did, pointing at potential answers to the puzzles and pointing out shrines when she spots them in-game.
You completely lose track of time while playing with her, enjoying having someone around your age that was a little calmer to spend time with than Himiko.
You loved Himiko, but she was overly eager about everything and always wanted to be close, and sometimes you just wanted to play a little more quietly and not be cuddled or nuzzled all the time.
When Dabi comes back, he pats your head before rejoining Hawks and Jin, discussing patrol routes. You're not too confident in what that means, so you carry on playing your game. HakuchÅ is distracted though, looking up at Dabi like she's panicking while he discusses getting the patrol routes for the center of town from Hawks.
You tug on her sleeve gently, and her eyes roll to you.
"He's not scary." You tell her quietly, trying to reassure her. "He told me to be nice to you today, so he cares. He just has to be careful."
"Careful of what?" She asks just as quietly.
You shrug. "That's just what he told me. That he's an adult, so he has to be careful. But my job is to be nice, and innocent, and trusting."
She looks confused and a little wary but nods slowly anyway.
Your console alerts, letting you know that it's running out of battery. You huff, but put it back in your bag without comment, looking over at Hakucho again who's picking anxiously at her feathers.
You gently put your hand in between her fingers and her feathers, making her startle.
"Your wings are pretty, leave them alone." You say, straightening out the feathers carefully, finding a little bump on one. "See? You have a broken feather."
"Get off me!" She snaps, and you immediately fly backwards, your eyes wide.
Jin, Hawks and Dabi all snap their heads towards you. And although Dabi's eyebrows pull together, there's no instant reaction of defensiveness like there was when Hawks got mad at you.
"Star, c'mere." He instructs lazily, and you gather your bag preemptively, apologising to HakuchÅ quietly before you go over to him with your head hanging.
He's not angry though, because he pulls you into his side and rubs your arm with his hand a couple times, kissing your temple even though Hawks looks uncomfortable with it for some reason.
"What'd ya do, Star?" He asks softly.
"I touched her wings because she was picking at them and I found a broken one, so she yelled at me." You reply just as quietly.
You're not even upset, you just feel bad for messing up with HakuchÅ when you were meant to be being nice to her.
Dabi hums, squeezing you close momentarily.
"You gotta respect people's boundaries hon. Remember when we first met and you didn't like people touchin' ya?"
You nod. You remember well. You hadn't even wanted to sleep anywhere near Dabi originally when he took you to a safe house for the first time.
"Maybe HakuchÅ feels the same way." Dabi explains calmly. "Not everyone wants'ta be touched without bein' asked first darlin'."
"But she was messing up her pretty feathers..." You murmur. "Like 'Mura used to do with his neck."
"Doesn't mean you can go touchin' on her." Dabi says a little more firmly. "Everyone's got different feelin's about being touched. You know, like how I'm okay with it some days, and then on bad days I don't like it. Some people don't like it at all. Some people take time to be okay with you touchin' them, like you did. Some people don't like havin' certain areas touched... You gotta ask first, 'specially with new people, Starshine."
"Okay. Sorry." You mumble, embarrassed that you're being told off in front of Hawks, even if Dabi's doing it gently and still giving you a hug.
"You're a good girl." He says softly, kissing your temple again. "Go say sorry an' make up. 'Kay?"
"Okay." You agree, scuttling over to HakuchÅ the second he lets go of you. "Sorry for touching you without asking. Can we be friends still?"
She smiles softly. "Of course. Sorry for yelling. It's embarrassing, but my wings are sensitive."
"Oh, sorry." You say, settling next to her again, crossing your legs and trying to subdue your enthusiasm a little bit so you don't upset her again. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"I'm okay. It just took me by surprise." HakuchÅ tries to soothe. "Did you want to play tic tac toe again?"
*â¢*
You're sleepy, and practically falling asleep on the couch in Dabi's office when he gently shakes you awake, calling your name.
Hakucho had left earlier in the day with Hawks to go and do other things, which had left you alone with Dabi while he did a lot of paperwork. You had done a little drawing for Tomura's return, but ended up getting frustrated when you couldn't draw a reindeer very well from memory and gave up, sulking on the couch.
You grumble sleepily in response to Dabi's gentle attempt at awakening you, trying to swat him away as you fight between sleep and awareness.
"Wakey-wakey... Otherwise you won't be able to sleep later." Dabi says, dragging out his words playfully. "Plus, I got a super important job for ya."
"A job? For me?" You ask curiously, slowly blinking awake.
"Yeah, hon." He says, moving your hair out of your face with his warm fingertips softly. "Really important. And no-one else knows 'bout it yet, that's how special an' important it is."
"What is it?" You ask, sitting up a little bit more, startling when you see another man in the room.
He doesn't look big and strong like you usually are wary of. He's around Dabi and Tomuras height, with long grey hair and stitches like frankenstein's monster seeming to cover most of his body, even his face, much like Dabi's. He has a few red scars that look like healed slashes all over too, which makes him seem a little scary. He's lean, like Dabi, not too strong like Uncle Jin or Tomura. His eyes are different colours, which is pretty, and he looks friendly facially, even smiling at you softly, but the rest of his appearance is worrying.
"S'alright, doll. This is Zero." Dabi explains, standing. "He's a nomu."
"A nomu?" You ask slowly.
"Yeah. He's...uh... kinda like a butler, or a nanny. Kinda like Kurogiri. He's gonna be a new friend of ours." Dabi explains. "I need you to tell him what ya know 'bout HakuchÅ, so he can be useful to her when she's here too."
"Oh. Okay." You say, rubbing your eyes. "Hello Zero, I'm Star."
"Hello Star." Zero says, bowing politely and grinning a little more. "Can you tell me a little more about HakuchÅ?"
"Mhm! She's fourteen, she looks like me, but a little bigger, and she has big, big white wings!" You motion with your hands. "She wants to sing, and I think she kisses boys, which is gross."
"Kissing is gross." Zero nods and agrees.
"See, Zero agrees!" You say to Dabi, flinging your arm towards his new coworker that you decided you definitely liked.
Dabi just responds with a little smirk, which is a weird reaction but you don't think too much of it, instead returning your attention back to Zero, wanting to talk some more about your newfound friend.
"She goes to school, but she doesn't like it because kids are mean. Her dad, Hawks, doesn't call her nice names like Dabi does to me. I don't think she has a mom and she got clothes and singing lessons from Santa."
Zero listens intently, nodding along as you talk, but Dabi looks a little exasperated with you, like what you're saying isn't good enough. You decide to ignore it though, because Zero looks like it's all very useful to him.
When you announce that that's it, Zero nods for a final time, giving you a big smile, his facial stitches looking like they flex a little with it.
"Thank you, Star. I'll keep all of that in mind." Zero says. "It's getting late. It must be her bed time soon, right?"
"It sure is." Dabi says with a grin, hauling you up into his arms even though he rarely does these days.
You squeal playfully, wiggling in his arms, even though you know he struggles holding you in the air now you're 'healthy' like Uncle Giran says. He puts you down on the floor pretty quickly, getting you in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles against your head as you scream in faux terror, walking out of the office with Zero following behind wordlessly.
"Are you coming with us?" You ask Zero when you realise you're nearly at the exit of the building and he's still following behind you both.
"Yes, I'll be staying with you all." Zero replies.
"Oh. Everyone's really nice. When you meet Tomura he might be a little scary, but when he gets to know you, he's really nice." You inform him. "He's my paw, and Dabi's my pawpaw."
"I've been told. Dabi has been looking after you after he found you on the streets, and you have been with the Lea-"
"Stop." Dabi says quickly, interrupting the long-haired man rudely.
And as though he was some kind of robot, Zero shuts up immediately, his face going completely blank for a moment before that easy smile returns and he falls back to silence as he follows you both, Dabi talking to you about getting McDonalds for dinner as a treat for doing your first ever geography lesson.
Zero seems a little weird, but none of your family are normal.