Through the Years

New Home, New Start

"What do you think?" Dabi asks, rubbing your back.

You stare at the small living area and kitchen. It was tight, smaller than your apartment with mom was, and a lot tighter than you were used to living now, after all. You were used to being in a mansion, with everyone else. But it had slowly gotten more and more empty the longer time went on.
Himiko moved in with Uncle Jin, Atsuhiro had bought a new house and was enjoying living alone and only visiting from time to time after work hours, Spinner had gotten his own apartment too, and Zero was spending a lot of time with Aunty Aiko, which left it as just you, Tomura, Dabi, Kurogiri, and your calico cat, Cloud, in the mansion.

You didn't mind being in the mansion, it was what you'd known for years now, and there was so much room for everyone in case other people did want to visit.
But Dabi didn't like it anymore, especially now Tomura was out for so long every day, sometimes overnight, doing work stuff. He said it was lonely and empty, and unnecessarily big in the mansion.
So Tomura got this new bar for you all, with the idea that Zero and Kurogiri could run it, staying in one apartment upstairs together while you, Dabi and Tomura stayed in the other.

"Cloud needs a garden." You point out as you carry the fat lump in question in your arms like a comfort blanket.

"There's one downstairs doll." He reassures you, scratching Cloud's head and making the cat purr like a chainsaw. "Like Tomura would forget about somethin' so important."

You press your lips against Cloud's head thoughtfully as you think of another question.

"What about when the others visit?"

"They'll go back to their own places, darlin', like they do now." Dabi says softly, petting your hair in long strokes of his metal palm. "I know ya miss seein' everyone every day, but everyone's got their own lives back again now."

You know, but it doesn't make you feel any better about it. Maybe because it's new, it feels soulless and empty. You know that Tomura has bought this place because you always said about how much you missed the first bar you all lived in. So you suck it up with an uncertain smile, clinging to Cloud like you wished you could cling to the memories of everyone living together.

"Sure. It's good."

*•*

You're curled up, in your new quiet, tiny apartment, in your new bed, surrounded by plushies your family had given you over the years.
Cloud is loafed up beside you, letting you pet him while purring madly. He doesn't seem to realise you're upset, perfectly content despite his new surroundings.
You'd come straight upstairs after finishing your online lessons for the day. Today was the first day in your new apartment that wasn't all three of you trying to unbox things while avoiding Cloud as he bumped against your ankles.

You think that maybe Dabi pushed himself too much with the unpacking and carrying of furniture and boxes, because you hadn't seen him much today at all. Only seeing him briefly when he went to get water, and peered over your shoulder to make sure you were doing your work and not doing other things online instead.
Tomura was working, like he so often was these days, and had left so early that he hadn't even said goodbye, just left a glass of water on your bedside table like he always did every morning.
So you hadn't even had them around today either.

You suppose that at least Cloud wasn't too unsettled. You'd been worried after researching online about moving with cats, and although both Tomura and Dabi had reassured you that Google wasn't always accurate, you were still worried that Cloud would be stressed out.
You press your face into Cloud's vibrating body, trying to soak in his happiness, and it just makes him purr louder.

Zero seemed perfectly happy too, and Kurogiri just kind of got on with anything and everything that was thrown at him. It was seemingly just you that was struggling with the change.

"Star? You okay?" You hear Dabi ask. "Your tummy hurtin'?"

"I'm just cuddling Cloud." You tell him, your voice muffled by fur.

Dabi's body weighs the mattress down on one side, and you feel his hand rubbing your side as though he's trying to reassure you.

"It's so quiet." You relent after a while.

"Yeah." He agrees sympathetically. "You're a teenager now, why don't ya play some music really loud?"

You roll your eyes at his antics, especially when he nudges your shoulder.

"I'll even yell at you to turn it down." He tells you, as though he's bribing you to agree.

"You're an idiot." You snort.

"C'mon." He teases. "I never got to misbehave as a kid, let me live through you."

"Shut up, dad." You giggle as his nudging becomes even harsher.

"That's more like it." Dabi chuckles, leaning to kiss your head even though you groan at him. "I'll make your favourite for dinner, how about that?"

"Thanks, pawpaw." You say, petting Cloud.

"Quit your sulkin'." He teases once more, ruffling your hair. "Love ya."

"Yeah, you too, dad." You murmur.

*•*

Tomura turns up late. Later than usual.
And he looks so tired, like he'd been through a war, but he's still wearing a suit, so he's not been training or anything. Dabi looks over his shoulder at him as you both sit on the couch watching The Boy and The Heron, Cloud curled up on Dabi's lap and leeching off his heat. The scarred man next to you whistles lowly at the bags under Tomura's scarred eyes.

"Rough day?" He asks, only slightly teasingly.

"Why is everyone a bigot." Tomura replies, the question coming out as a statement as he walks past you both to the kitchen. "I need a drink."

Dabi cringes a little bit, looking at you. You shrug a little, not too sure what that word even means. You're guessing it means 'idiot' or some other variation.
Tomura clatters in the kitchen, and Cloud perks up from his nap, hopping off Dabi's lap to go and join Tomura. You watch as Cloud jumps onto the countertop by the bottle Tomura's unscrewing, and bumps his fluffy head against one of Tomura's hands.
With Tomura's hair tied up, you can see his facial expression soften as he pauses his original task to pet Cloud's head lovingly.

After his drink is poured, he flops onto the armchair alone, meaning you needed to give him his space, but that rule never applied to Cloud, who jumps up onto his lap and begins kneading his paws into Tomura's thighs, even though he tuts and tries tapping his paws with a single finger to get him to stop.

"No luck passin' the bill then?" Dabi asks cautiously.

Tomura rolls his eyes and takes a sip of his drink, the ice clinking loudly against the glass. "Sometimes I wonder if we should just use my old identity."

Dabi crinkles his nose as if disgusted, but his icy eyes are sympathetic as he looks over at your other father, who's mindlessly scratching Cloud's head and watching the movie, despite it nearly being finished.

"No thanks. Wanna marry Tomura." Dabi says with a scoff, leaning back in his seat and placing his arm over the back of the chair and behind you.

Tomura huffs in amusement, but doesn't say anything else, and honestly, with him back in your space and your family back together again, the house does begin feeling a bit more homely.