A Lost Creation

Fatherhood

Touya had a little while to himself. Not long, probably an hour or two while Star slept, but he probably wouldn't allow himself longer than this smoke break to get back to her.
Partly because he was worried about her, but also because he knew she'd get stressed if she woke up and he was gone.
She was so lethargic. She'd be awake and fully aware and conscious for about an hour or so, and then start getting all cuddly and quiet, and then pass out for a couple hours, and then the cycle would repeat.

He knew it was because she wouldn't eat anything of substance, and they weren't able to get any of the liquid nutrition packs or tube feed for the feeding tube from hospitals that Giran had contacts within, because the hospitals were under so much strain after the war that everything was carefully accounted for. No-one wanted to risk being found out, no matter how much money was offered or safety was guaranteed.
So they had been trying everything to get her as much nutrition in her as possible. Even Aiko, who was cold to Star when they first met, was getting involved whenever she was over visiting her dad. She told them what tablet supplements she could have in the shakes, and what they could sneakily encourage her into eating which would help her calcium levels and iron intake and they managed to get her to eat gummy vitamins, too.

Whenever he tried gently coaxing her into telling him why she wouldn't eat, she was consistent in telling him that she wasn't really hungry, that the smell of food made her sick, and whenever he tried to get her to mindlessly snack on something like he had before, like Zero had said was encouraged online in situations like this, she got snippy with him.
Bribing didn't work, either. That just made her even more unhappy, because she'd get stressed that she'd miss out on whatever they'd promised her just because she couldn't bring herself to eat.
One time she'd even cried in frustration because she wanted to eat, but her body wouldn't allow it. Touya had needed to go outside to cool off, to try to overcome the feeling of uselessness but ended up having to just deal with it, thanks to both of their anxieties about leaving the other alone.

He wasn't sure what he was meant to do, and he was struggling keeping his temper with it all, too. He just wanted her to be okay. He wanted her to be the happy, healthy little girl he'd managed to get her to be, not this quiet, anxious and overly clingy, almost skeletal child. She hadn't even looked this bad on the streets when he'd first found her.

He's laying on the stone slabs that Giran calls a 'garden', staring up at the sky and contemplating what could be causing Star's sudden aversion to food as he smokes a cigarette alone.
It could be that her stomach had gotten used to a lack of food and was making her feel nauseous whenever presented with it now.
He was hoping that it wasn't because the two that had taken her had used food as some kind of punishment, and he feels like Star would have mentioned it if that were the case... But it could all also be stress induced, too.
The poor girl had been taken twice since being in his care and it was bound to take its toll somehow.

He needed Tomura.
He needed someone that was better than him at remaining level headed, which was a quality he never thought he'd say Shigaraki had, but he also never thought he'd date him either, and somehow that had happened too.
And although Tomura would never admit it, the sight of him when they'd all first formed the League of Villains told Touya that there was some kind of issue regarding eating with him back then, too. He looked like Star did right now with her bones visible through her skin.

He's midway considering whether she'd developed an eating disorder while she was away when Giran makes himself known through Touya's heavy fog of thoughts, laying beside Touya with a grunt.
Touya looks over at him with a raised eyebrow but an amused smirk on his lips.

"You gonna be able to get up, old man? I ain't helpin' ya." Touya teases.

"Shut it." Giran responds with a small grin back, a cigarette hanging from his own lips. "What're you doin' on the floor, son?"