A Lost Creation

A Tale as Old as Time

Touya was a fucking idiot.
It had taken him two extra hours to calm little Star down because he hadn't thought before he'd opened his damn mouth, and ended up triggering some kind of episode where she could barely breathe, she had been panicking so much.
He knew better, which made it even worse.
He knew she was the one that found her mom, and he still said what he said.

She'd finally passed out curled up by his side. Her eyes would be all swollen again in the morning, like when Imasuji had upset her the first time.
At least this time Touya had been with her to ride out her feelings rather than having to listen to her suffer behind a locked door.
But now he was tired, and felt horrifically guilty and stupid.
He stayed with her for another hour to make sure she was definitely asleep, petting her hair softly, and holding her close.

But he really, really needed a cigarette and a drink.
So he slowly peeled himself away from her tiny sleeping body, replacing how she'd been cuddled up against him with a pillow, hoping that'd buy him some extra time if needed.
It was risky. If she woke up, he knew she'd be instantly panicking about him having left her, despite how many times he'd promised he'd stay by her side until the very end.
He kissed her little head for the hundredth time this evening before quietly sneaking out of the room.

It's quiet in the hallway, which is a good sign.
In Touya's head, that meant her crying hadn't kept anyone up, which meant that Shigaraki wouldn't bitch at him whenever he got the chance to.
He quietly pads down the stairs, scratching at his head. He knew which steps creaked where now, so he managed to get down to the bar without a peep.
He doesn't mess around, lighting a cigarette and leaving it hanging from his lips as he reaches behind the bar, grabbing a bottle of whiskey and flicking the lid off.

Grabbing a glass, he begins pouring the honey-coloured liquid into the tumbler, only bothering with that because last time Shigaraki had caught him drinking from the bottle he'd gotten real pissy about it.
When he turns around, cigarette in one hand and glass in the other, he's not expecting to be met with the sight of the man himself, a cold but neutral expression on his face as he stares at Touya.

"Shit, boss." Touya hisses, almost spilling the whiskey in shock.

"She was crying again." Shigaraki states, his eyes narrowing behind the limp pale locks of hair that were constantly in his face.

"Get offa my dick, man." Touya snaps, more annoyed at himself than Shigaraki or Star.

Shigaraki's lip twitches in annoyance, but he doesn't say anything else, only watches in silence from the opposite side of the bar as Touya sips his drink between tokes of his cigarette.

"The mission-"

"I'll sleep through the day." Touya replies instantly, knowing exactly where Shigaraki's bitching was going to lead to.

"You're in charge of-"

"Aren't you a little dry to be ridin' me like this?" Touya deadpans, rolling his eyes and preparing himself to go upstairs, drink in tow.

"This is serious." Shigaraki hisses, scratching angrily at his neck. "We can't have distractions."

Touya can't find it in himself to try and control his temper. He's too tired and too stressed from having to deal with Star instead of sleeping for three extra hours.
So he downs his drink in one, slams the glass on the bar counter, stubs his cigarette out in the ashtray on the bar and begins to head straight back upstairs, only for Shigaraki to grab his wrist in a tight four-fingered grip and pull him with a surprising amount of strength for such a slender man.
It makes him mentally revisit the couple of times that he'd manhandled the smaller man, the ease of which he'd been ragged around himself helps him realise that Shigaraki had clearly allowed him to do so to him.

He's not sure who that's more embarrassing for.

Shigaraki's mouth slams into his, the chapped skin there rubbing against Touya's upper lip a little uncomfortably.
He should have expected this from Shigaraki's silent questioning earlier, the one that Touya had denied. He must have heard Star's crying earlier and then heard Touya leave his room, following after him under the guise of being worried about Touya potentially being 'distracted' during the mission later on that day.
Who knew the sour, pale-haired man would be so needy when the seal of touching was broken.

Touya pushes Shigaraki's head back, pressing his palm against the smaller mans forehead.
Shigaraki looks pissed off, naturally. Probably saw it as a rejection. But Touya just couldn't get into it knowing that Star had gotten herself all worked up about the idea of Touya liking him.
The scarred side of his lip is even curled up slightly in Shigaraki's annoyance.
Touya rolls his eyes a little, rubbing his thumb over Shigaraki's bottom lip. The touch is gentle, even for Touya.

"'M goin' back to bed." He informs him. "So I'm not distracted tomorrow."

Shigaraki isn't used to his own words being used against him, and so he watches Touya with furrowed brows as Touya wiggles out of his loosened grasp, and begins heading back upstairs.
He could have done with another drink, and another cigarette, but he needed to be alone. Apparently, that wasn't going to happen tonight.

He goes into the bathroom, needing to brush away the taste of cigarettes and whiskey before he can try to sleep.
He doesn't even get to spend any time alone in there either, leaving the door ajar like a fool, only for little Star to come padding out of his room, half asleep, calling for him as though they were the only two residing in this space.

"In here, Star." Touya sighs, opening the door some more.

She clings onto his side the entire time he brushes his teeth, barely awake as she asks yet again if he promises to stay with her.
He remakes his promise as soon as he's rinsed out his mouth, just like he always does whenever she crawls into his bed during the night, soon after picking her up to carry her back to his room. He didn't trust her not to fall over in her current state and begin crying again.
He and Shigaraki lock eyes for a brief moment as they pass each other in the hallway.

Just like always, he tried not to think too much of his boss as he laid little Y/N down on his bed again, wrapping her up in his blanket that he rarely ever used himself, laying next to her.
After all, she was distraction enough from his main goal. What he joined for.
He didn't need the age old trap of 'love' to trip him up, too.