A Lost Creation

What Do You Take Me For?

Touya was neck deep in work. And as much as he appreciated being trusted enough to run things with Tomura gone, and being recognised as a hard worker by his boss and partner... he fucking hated meetings.
The whole time Tomura has been away, Touya had grown a newfound respect for his ability to sit still and actually listen during the hours-long meetings Touya had to endure in his absence.
And now it was way past Star's bedtime, which meant that Touya had missed another night of putting her to bed, and although he was glad to hear that Star had let Zero put her to bed tonight, finally trusting him in her room after the first night Touya had taken him out of the lab, he wished he could have gone home and seen to it himself.

She'd been so angry lately. She was beginning to calm down finally, but she had been a lot stroppier than usual in the last few days, and Touya couldn't figure out how to make it better. He couldn't make Tomura come back, otherwise he'd be back by now. He couldn't erase the damage her mom had done to her. He couldn't take back the years of neglect and abuse she'd suffered at the hands of that vile woman and the poor company she kept.
He could only love her like she was his own and try to make her feel cherished and safe for the rest of her childhood.

When the burner phone he'd shoved in his drawer vibrates and plays birdsong loudly, he's pulled out of his head, his eyebrows pulling together. It was late, and the only two people that had that number were Hawks and his kid. And it was too late for either of them to be calling for a good reason.
When he sees the word 'swan' on the screen, he answers immediately, his stomach dropping.

"Where are you?" He asks quickly, standing from his seat and grabbing his jacket.

"At home." She replies.

At home? Where the hell was Hawks? Touya wasn't an idiot, he knew everyone did parenting differently, but seriously, how oblivious could one person be-

"Everything's fine, I just need to talk to you. Can you come and pick me up?" She continues, her voice sounding a little wobbly.

A chat? She'd called the number he told her was specifically for emergencies for a conversation she could easily have when she next saw him?

"Ain't a fucking taxi service kid, jus' speak to me next time you're here." He snaps, hanging up.

Well, now he's standing up, he may as well go home. Maybe soak his scars in salt water and think about getting all the staples replaced. They were starting to rust and tarnish again, it was a shitty job, it hurt, but it felt a little better knowing he had the money to pay for someone to do it instead of selling himself out for it to be done again.
The phone starts vibrating again, and he snatches it up with an annoyed hiss.

"What?"

"Please. It's really important." She begs.

Touya clicks his tongue at her, looking at the clock. Too damn late for a kid her age to be begging a villain to come and pick her up for a talk if it wasn't important he supposes.

"What's so damn important that I gotta come an' get you for a chat?" He asks, trying to get some more information out of the girl.

"Please." She repeats quietly.

Interesting. Maybe she didn't feel comfortable talking with that stupid chicken around. Probably didn't even tell him that she had Touya's number.

"Who can fuckin' blame her." He mutters to himself before saying a little louder: "Fine. This better be good, kid. I got a lot goin' on right now."

He's about to hang up when she speaks again.

"Don't bring Star." Hakuchō says quickly.

He couldn't even if he wanted to, but she didn't need to know that. The sudden request is a little weird, but the fact she even felt the need to bring Star into this is enough to have Touya's instincts alert as he pauses to consider potential topics the teenager might want to talk to him about.