A Lost Creation

Teddy

The lighting had been hurting Touya's eyes more than he cared to admit. It probably didn't help that he was concussed to high hell, thanks to the steel soles of that old bastard's shoes.
So when little Y/N realised she'd left her teddy downstairs, and refused to settle down without it, Touya's patience was tested further.
It's not that he was angry at her. He wasn't mad at her at all.
In fact, he was relieved she was okay, even if she was a little tired and ratty. That was fine, he could deal with her being tired and ratty. He understood it. The poor little one had been through a ton of emotions in one night alone.

It was the media he was annoyed at. He didn't like feeling like he was being framed as something he wasn't, especially something so vile and incomprehensible.
He didn't like that he'd tried his hardest for her and it was being tainted.
It wasn't like any of those fuckers had tried to protect her, or get her off the streets anyway. Now they were interested in what happened with her because she was with the League. It suited them to try to save her now.

He hated that now, whenever she touched him, he recoiled a little bit at first, as though some random person was watching them interact, waiting for something they could deem inappropriate and add that to the list of crimes that they'd made up after tonight.
Poor little Star was touch starved. And as much as she did shy away from physical contact initially, once she'd deemed you safe, she wouldn't let go of you.
And as much as Touya hated to admit it, he was a little touch starved too.

A snapped comment and a few sniffles from Star as her backs turned to him later, Touya sighs.

"I'm sorry Star. Didn't mean to snap atcha. That was bad of me." He apologises, genuinely meaning it.

"You broke rule one." She whispers, her voice tearful.

Touya sighs, rolling onto his side to pull her to him.
She doesn't wiggle away or give any kind of indication that she doesn't want him close to her.

"I'll get Kurogiri to bring Star Jr up, but ya gotta be patient. He might be busy wi' somethin' else." Touya whispers near her ear, pressing his face into her hair. "Just get some rest, 'kay?"

"Dont wanna. And his name is teddy!" She huffs.

He supposes he deserves the sass considering he'd sassed her earlier. She was young, tired, and emotionally spent.
Touya just sighs again, kissing the side of her head and rolling away once more to text a plea for Shigaraki to send the stupid teddy bear up so that Star could get to sleep.
Luckily the demand seems to be seen to pretty quickly, the teddy being launched through a warp gate, hitting Touya straight in the head.

He grunts in annoyance, despite the raggedy thing being pretty soft.
This catches Star's attention, giving a surprised giggle when she sees it flopped on the top of his head.
He rolls his eyes down at her, smirking a little. Giggling was better than sniffling.
He grabs the bear and hits her around the head with it playfully. She squeals a little, reaching to grab it.
He holds it away from her only for a moment before giving it to her, flicking her nose with his index finger gently.

"Now go ta sleep." He says, coursing his thumb over her cheek gently.

"Are you going to stay?" She asks.

This again. Checking he wasn't going anywhere, leaving her alone.

"Mhm." He hums, trying to not sound as tired of the questioning as he was.

It wasn't typically annoying to him to have to answer the same question for the twentieth time. He usually found it flattering that she needed him that much.
His head just hurt, and the media had gotten under his skin. That wasn't Star's fault. He needed her to sleep so he could process everything alone, and not risk upsetting her by accidentally being irritable with her again.

"Okay." She relents, scooting close to him again, nuzzling her face into his scarred arm.

He lets her do it, knowing that even with her teddy some nights, she still needed to have Touya close by. Sometimes he felt like the damn teddy himself.

"Dabi?" She asks after a little while, filling the empty space.

"Yes, Star?" He sighs.

"Why are you mad at me?" She asks, her voice nervous.

"I'm not." He sighs yet again, sliding down to lie on his back beside her. "I'ma level with ya Star, my head hurts, an' the heroes pis- annoyed me earlier."

He leans his head against hers, staring at the ceiling even in the darkness.

"'M sorry for bein' tetchy with you. That wasn't fair. An' I promise you haven't done a single thing wrong." Touya nuzzles his face against her cheek. "You're still the sweetest little thing, and I love ya to the core. 'Kay? Sorry for bein' a lousy parent."

The latter of his sentence surprises even him.
He wasn't her parent, not really. She'd even snapped at him once that he wasn't her dad.

"I meant guardian." He defends immediately. "Old man did a number on me."

"Giran calls you my paw." Little Y/N says softly.

"He does?" Touya asks, surprised.

"Mhm. He says 'how's your paw?'" Star informs him, cuddling into him even more. "So it's okay if you wanna be my paw."

Touyas heart freezes in place for a second. He had no idea that he wanted to hear that so much from her.
He had no place in being a parent to her. He was in his early twenties with barely any ability to look after himself, never mind a ten year old with the same amount of trauma as him.
But he was good with kids, thanks to the three sproglets that came after him.
And maybe, just maybe, he had something to prove. Trying to stop the cycle he went through, correct something within himself by protecting another lonely child.

"I'd like that." Touya finally manages to breathe out.

She's quiet, which makes Touya feel like she'd actually fallen asleep finally, but before he can wiggle free of the embrace, she finally speaks up, her voice hushed and tired.

"Me too."