She was worse than Touya expected.
Admittedly, he hadn't expected much, the poor kid had been taken and then forced to witness them maiming her beloved 'uncle', her wrists still were bruised and burned from the handcuffs they'd had her in now.
But he hadn't quite expected quite how much she feared being out of his sight now.

He hadn't been able to make appearances in the new headquarters, because Star was jumpy and even worse around new people than she was before, but he couldn't leave her with Spinner or Compress either because she'd have a full on panic attack whenever he was out of sight.
That wasn't even Touya being dramatic on his end, either.
He'd waited for her to pass out one of the nights before leaving to meet Hawks, knowing he needed to keep the damn bird interested in the cause if he wanted to use him later to his advantage.

But it had taken all of ten minutes of him having left the ex-CRC building for Compress to call, expressing concern because after learning Touya had left for a little while, Star had started to 'struggle breathing'.
Touya had to then ditch the plans with the bird, not that he minded that too much, to go straight back to Star while trying to talk her through breathing exercises on the phone as she panicked.

And god, the sound of her struggling to breathe on the other end of the phone cracked his soul a little bit.

He understood that, though. Being worried when he was outside of their new home without her.
But she wouldn't let him out of her sight in the same building as each other, either.
To the point of which they'd almost had a fight about Dabi not being in the room while she used the bathroom, or vice versa, whether backs were turned or not.
He'd forced her to settle for sitting outside the door and calling to make sure that he hadn't left, which still was uncomfortable but it kept her tear-free.

The night terrors she already struggled with had tripled in intensity, too. She'd be whimpering in her sleep the second she dropped off, crying out for help or Touya himself loud enough for him to know that she must have been screaming it in her dream.
He'd just end up in her room, holding her, rocking her like she was six years younger than she actually was, petting her hair and trying to use Fuyumis old trick but to no avail... So he opted to just sleep in her room again.

It wasn't like he was unfamiliar with sleeping on the floor, it was second nature to him by now, but more often than not he ended up squished in her bed with her anyway.
It was just unfortunate, because she'd almost gotten used to sleeping alone, and now they were going to have even more issues trying to get her back in her bed alone.

She was already a kid with issues. She had a lousy mom, who had not-so-favourable partners from the sounds of it, she'd dealt with neglect, and found her mom after she'd died.
The kidnapping just made the consequences of all of that trauma so much worse.

He could have torn the people that took her apart given the chance, but he was unable to with her clinging to him like she was.
Tomura said that he would deal with them when the time came, because Touya would just be 'messy' about it, but Touya had rejected the offer, he wanted to see to them personally.
He would just have to wait until Star was doing better to do that. He could do it. He'd been waiting years for revenge already as it was.

He couldn't even see Tomura face to face, because Star wouldn't leave him be, and there was no way he was going to take her to Ujiko's lab. With her heightened nerves, the Nomu stored there would only serve as more nightmare fuel, and he had no idea how he would even explain them to her.

It was all so lonely and somehow smothering at the same time.

He really couldn't afford to neglect his duties any more, especially with half the League wiped out and unable to pull their own weight, so after a little while, Touya had to improvise, as much as he hated to do it.
Gently, he eases Star out of her little doodling bubble, crouching in front of her. She looks up at him innocently, the pure trust she has towards him evident in her gaze.

"Whatcha drawin', Starshine?" He asks, looking down at the sheet of paper she'd been scribbling on.

"Spinner told me he had a pet spider before. So I'm drawing him a spider." She explains, pointing at the half-shaded tarantula on the paper.

Touya shudders.

"Great, kid." Touya replies dryly.

She eyes him expectantly, as though waiting for something.
He cocks his head at her, amusement in his eyes as he tries to figure out what it is she's expecting.

"...It's good, Star. Ya should know that by now." Touya chuckles, ruffling her hair.

"Thanks." She replies, still sounding uncertain. "...You're not going to make fun of me?"

"Make fun of ya?" Touya parrots before realising his mistake.

Spinner, he always teased her for her innocent little crush on Spinner.
He was clearly getting cabin fever and losing his touch.
He puts on one of his teasing grins, reaching to pinch her cheek lovingly.

"Ah, but it's so much fun watchin' you bring it up yourself." He teases.

Her face burns under his fingertips and he chuckles, letting go of her face.

"How about you bring your little spider friend with ya? Need you to come with me someplace. But, we got rules."

"Rules?" She asks, her eyes lighting up. "Are we going to see Uncle Jin, Giran, Himiko and 'Mura?"

"Nah, princess. Nothin' that exciting." He replies apologetically. "Jus' really need to do my job. 'Kay? But... Well, obviously I can't go alone right now."

She looks a little ashamed, her eyes dropping to the floor as he says it, even though he treads lightly around the subject.
He hated that. He wasn't mad at her for being afraid, it was understandable.
But whenever he brought up how scared she was to not be around him, it was met with shame and sometimes failed attempts to prove him wrong.

"So I need you to behave yourself, yeah?" He continues, petting her hair softly to try and soothe her.

"I always behave. It's rule number four." She states.

Touya rolls his eyes. "Extra behave then."

"Okay." She agrees easily.

"You have to do what I say, got it?"

She hums a response, looking down at her drawing, looking as though she was completely uninterested again now she knew she wasn't getting to visit the others, and wanting to go back to her tarantula as soon as possible.
Touya groans internally. She just wasn't herself at the moment, understandably, but it was becoming draining for him to be around her while she's so miserable all the time. He wanted to make it better, to slowly boil the people that did this to her until the flesh melted off their bones.

"Go get changed, 'kay? Proper clothes, don't want you gettin' cold." He sighs as he stands to his full height. "I'll be outside waitin'. Make sure you have sensible shoes on, we're walkin'."

She shakes her head, grabbing his leg.
Well, it was worth a try.

He exhales heavily from his nose and motions for her to get up, following her to her bedroom as she questions him about his job, and where they're going to go, and if there's going to be any alleyways.
He answers the questions as nonchalantly as possible, making it seem like there's nothing to worry about in the hopes that his words won't feed her anxiety if he seems unbothered. It seems to work, even when he explains that yes, there will be an alleyway, she just asks if he can carry her while they walk through it.

Not the most street-smart, Star doesn't realise that Touya carrying her won't make her any safer. In fact, if she was ambushed again, having to carry her would just slow him down, but he agrees anyway. Asides from the heroes, which tended to avoid the area they'd be going to, there should be no-one after them now.
He keeps his back to her as she changes, picking at one of the staples on his cheek. He doesn't know why he told Hawks to meet him where he did, he was already regretting the decision. Maybe it was the irony behind a hero being in the space he had struggled in when he himself was a teenager.

"Can you tell 'Mura I don't like the binder?" Star asks from behind him.

"Eh?" Touya asks, his eyebrows pulling together. "He got you a binder?"

"Mhm, but it's too tight, I don't like it." She replies. "Makes me feel icky."

"Alright." Touya sighs. "Why didn't you tell me about that?"

"About what?" She asks, her voice muffled as she puts a hoodie on.

"Well... if you were feelin' like that." Touya responds, lowering his fingers when the tugging of his staples begins to get sorer than usual.

"Like what?" She asks, tugging on his jacket from behind.

He turns to look at her, and sees genuine confusion in her eyes.
He shrugs, and ruffles her hair, ignoring the twinge of jealousy that she had opted to approach Tomura about that rather than him.

"Don't worry, hon. Tomura's probably better to talk to about that kinda stuff, anyway."

*ॱ*

He manages to get her all the way there without too much of a panic.
Well, a verbal one anyway. He opted for giving her a piggyback in the alleyway, she'd grown far too much far too quickly for him to haul her up in his arms like he used to.
It sucks for her, only being able to be held like her mother should have done for a little while until her body grew too much for it to be comfortable for either of them. But Touya tries to think of it more positively.

Just like everyone else in the League, she was healthier. Happier.
Touya himself was more built than he had been when joining, Compress had gone from having a softer stomach to a slightly harder one too. Spinner had always been strong, and Toga was definitely stronger, too.
Tomura and Star were definitely the ones that had seen the most change though. Tomura was literally skin and bone when they had all first met, and now... well. He was practically a different person. Star, too, had been extremely malnourished, small, and tired-looking. Now she was growing taller, putting on weight well and looking less like an eleven year old by the day.

It's not until they get into the building that Star begins to worry.

"Careful, there's glass..." She frets, pointing at the floor.

"I know, doll." He replies calmly.

"Everything's broken..." She looks around, noting the hole in the ceiling that hadn't been there when Touya used to squat here.

"I know." He answers again.

He was the one that broke it all, after all.

"I'm a little scared." She admits as the glass crunches under Touya's boots.

"No need ta be scared. I'm here."

He's being blunt, and he knows it. Maybe it was still too soon to be in this space. He can feel the energy from that night still, the memories replaying in his mind as he places Star down at the bottom of the rotting staircase and encourages her up.

"Carefully." He emphasizes.

She nods, carefully going up each step, checking that Touya's still following her.
When they get to the upper floor, it's still pretty much how he'd left it, even the dust seems undisturbed. His old bed mat is still in the corner, even though he chooses not to look at it, his old clothes are scattered on the floor, someone clearly having gone through the dresser at some point to try and find something worth taking.

"Someone must live here..." She looks at him worriedly.

"Not any more." He replies, patting her head. "Why don't we make ya a little nest for you to do your drawin' in?"

"I can sit on the be-"

"No!" Touya responds loudly before she can even finish, making her flinch. "Sorry, Starshine. Lets not mess around with the ratty mattress, yeah? Jus' in case someone does still live here."

She nods, looking more wary at the idea someone could still be around.
She stays nearby as Touya picks up his old shirts and hoodies, folding them up and making a somewhat decent seat for her on the floor with them. Once he's done he places his hand on top of her head to grab her attention.

"Listen." He drops to a crouch, looking her in the eyes. "You hafta stay up here, okay?"

"But..."

"Listen." He repeats, raising an eyebrow. "I need you to sit up here, and put these in, 'kay?"

He passes her his phone and some earphones, her eyes widening when he places them in her hand.

"Now, you can listen to whatever's on this app here." Touya coaches, pointing at an app on his home screen. "An' if something happens, or you get scared, you can call anyone on this list, 'kay?"

"But I don't know these people..." She replies uncertainly.

"They're fake names. You can pick any. It's only gonna be Tomura, Jin, Giran, Spinner, Toga or Atsuhiro." He promises. "You know they'll help you if you need it, don't you?"

She nods slowly, putting in the earphones at a snail's pace while she slowly lowers herself to the floor, sitting on the little padded area Touya made for her.
She's already lost in the phone, a blessing, because he needed her to be distracted while he sorted this out with Hawks. He didn't want her seeing or hearing what he needed to discuss, so the fact she was so easily sucked into the screen was perfect.
He strokes her hair with the flat of his hand, resting it on the back of her head as he kisses her forehead softly.

"Stay here." He reminds her, and she nods. "Keep those earphones in, yeah?"

She hums a response, her eyes lowering to the screen again.

"If you get worried you can carefully look down the hole just there so you can see me, 'kay?" He tries to catch her eyes. "Don't go to the edge though. Don't want you gettin' hurt."

"Okay, dad." She replies.

"I love ya."

"Love you too." She murmurs absentmindedly, tapping on the screen.