Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Keigo is done with all this.

He smiles his fake PR smile as cameras flash and reporters continue demanding answers to questions he doesn’t know how to respond to.

“Hawks, what will happen to hero society now that the war is over?” He has no clue.

“Hawks, how does it feel to be one of the heroes who helped finish off Shigaraki?” No matter what the Commission said, he didn’t. He was just there when Endeavor and those UA kids took down the All for One-Shigaraki monster in a final epic attack.

“Hawks, when will you do your next photoshoot?” Why the fuck does that even matter? They were literally at war not even a whole month ago.

“Hawks, where are the rest of the so-called League of Villains? Can we expect them to appear in custody now that their leader is dead?” Twice, Toga, Spinner, Mr. Compress, Kurogiri… Dabi (no. Nope. He is not going down that route right now), all of them just vanished without a trace. He doubts they’ll be stupid enough to come back after that loss.

“Hawks-” His wings snap out wide and with a strong gust of wind he’s in the air. His muscles know the way, so it’s quick work getting to HPSC headquarters. He hits it just right, crashing in through the window of the President’s office, and smoothly shakes the glass shards from his wings.

“Hawks, what is the meaning of this?” She’s scowling, a strand of blonde hair free from her normally impeccable bun. She’s falling apart. So’s he. Too bad.

“I quit.” Cold blue eyes stare at him as if trying to determine if he’s joking.

“You can’t quit.” He takes his hero licence from his wallet and tosses it onto her desk. Her eyes go wide with panic. “You can’t quit! We own you, Hawks.” She smacks the license from the desk as if expecting him to catch it before it hits the floor. He doesn’t, and they both watch as the little plastic rectangle flutters to the ground.

“Then keep the name,” Keigo whispers as he stomps back to the window, taking off and leaving the Commission behind.

“Hawks! HAWKS! GET BACK HERE!” He doesn’t look back. A small smile curls the corners of his lips.

A handful of minutes later finds him at his Commission-owned apartment. He pulls up the loose floorboard next to his bed, pulling the cash from his current wallet before swapping it out with the one he takes from the floor. A quick check shows all five of his credit cards – his, not the ones the Commission can control – are still there. He tucks the cash into it and slips it into his pocket.

A feather drops free from the rest, sharpening with half a thought. Keigo slips the ugly tan coat from his shoulders, and with a small grimace digs the feather blade into his bicep. It takes a bit of wiggling, bubbles of ruby blood welling to the surface and rolling down his arm, but the tracker pops free. Taking a long breath as a pause, Keigo tilts his head to the right and presses the feather into the skin behind his ear. Like all head wounds, blood immediately drips free and stains his feather in a sticky coat of red. He shudders, but presses on and pops the second tracker they thought he didn’t know about from beneath the skin. Dropping both to the ground, he stomps on them. The sound of crushing electronics is gloriously therapeutic.

Then he’s leaving his apartment again. He’s not quite sure where he’s going, just that it needs to be far away.

For some reason that means his wings carry him to Best Jeanist’s place. He pauses. The last time he was here was when he had to pretend to murder the man.

“Hawks?” The older hero frowns down at him as he knocks on the door. Keigo’s equally bewildered.

“Uh. Hey. I’m going on vacation. A permanent one.” Jeanist blinks as he processes that, then his eyes crinkle as he smiles behind the denim.

“Good. I’m glad you’re taking time for yourself, Hawks.”

“Keigo,” he interrupts, needing to get it out there for once. “My name. It’s Keigo.” Jeanist nods, the corners of his eyes still crinkled.

“Keigo, then. You have my number, please call if you ever want or need to. Don’t disappear for too long on me.” Long fingers reach over to muss his hair, so he allows it a moment before he hops back with an awkward laugh, face ducking into the collar of his coat.

“Thanks, I will. Bye Dad.” Jeanist chuckles as Keigo freezes. He takes to the sky immediately, hoping the older pro will just ignore that tiny slip up. Or didn’t hear it. That would be much preferable.

For a brief moment he considers visiting Rumi or Tokoyami before leaving but dismisses it. He needs to leave before the Commission can gather their forces and track him down, and they’ll both be fine. They’re tough and have others they can rely on.

Long hours later his insistently ringing phone won’t stop, no matter how many times he blocks his handlers’ numbers. A quick slip of the hand has the device falling into the wide blue ocean below.

Keigo laughs and stretches his wings to fly even faster.

The sun has faded and the moon is on it’s way up when he finds a town he thinks might be falling off the edge of Japan. From up here he can tell it’s small; it’s bordered on one side by water and the adjacent one by mountains. There’s a single hospital, a handful of buildings he thinks are homes and a multitude of apartment buildings. A few other places smattered throughout must be shops.

In other words: it’s exactly what he’s looking for.

Given the number of apartment complexes, a cranky old man he finds at the first one he lands by is more than happy to rent him a room. He’s handed a key and given brief instructions on how to get to his new room. A quick detour up three levels worth of stairs has him unlocking the door.

Shoving it open, Keigo coughs at the dust this action disturbs. The room is small enough he doesn’t have nearly enough space to do so much as fully extend his wings, but that’s fine. This is his place. He bought it, not the Commission, not anyone else. He did.

The exhaustion hits then, as his shaking back muscles reminding him that he forced them to fly him across Japan. Listening, Keigo locks the door and flops down onto the floor, curls up into a ball, and falls asleep.

The next morning his aching back growls at him for deciding the floor is a fine surface to rest on after flying so far the day before. Ignoring it like always, he groans and shoves his way to his feet. His toes twitch within the constraints of his boots, begging to stretch out. Fuck, he should have removed them last night (this morning? Time can get confusing) before falling asleep.

He’s hit was a surge of warmth as he cracks the apartment door open, the sun shining down on him. Locking the door behind him, Keigo pockets the key and makes his way down the stairs. There’s no one in the lobby when the gets there, so he doesn’t have anyone to ask for a map, but maybe that doesn’t matter. Afterall, he’s got however long he wants to explore and find things. No patrol to factor in, no quota of villains to arrest, no war going on that he needs to fight.

A smile pulls the corners of his lips up as his wings perk up. Yeah, he doesn’t need a map.

Keigo steps out of the building and decides to go right, following his nose as a whiff of something delicious cuts through the air. Wandering along the paved sidewalk, he passes a few people who give him happy ‘good mornings’ and don’t stare at his wings or the recognizable tan and black hero costume Keigo really wants to change out of. By the time he finds the place his nose wants him to go, he’s shocked no one has asked for an autograph (he’s not complaining, but it is strange. Keigo has not been able to walk down a street free from people bothering him like this since before he debuted at eighteen).

A tiny bell rings a little jingle as he enters the small shop. Immediately his hunger is pushed back as his eyes snap around the room, cataloguing whatever he spots. Tall chairs are set out in groups of four around six circular tables each with its own little potted cactus as a centerpiece, three apiece on either side of the room to leave walking space down the middle of the shop. A counter stretches most of the width of the room with a glass display set into the center showing off muffins of all sorts, croissants, bagels, and loaves of assorted breads. Take-out cups of various size are stacked along the right of the counter, two bubbling coffee pots – the one with the orange lip no doubt decaf – sizzling close to the wall indicate what the cups are for. His nose twitches and the smell of cooking sausages invades, the scent wafting in from the backroom Keigo can’t see into given the door leading to it behind the counter is firmly closed.

That reminds his stomach that yes, he is hungry and has yet to replenish the calories he burnt traveling here yesterday. As he moves closer to the counter, his gaze flicks over to the chalkboard talking up a good portion of the wall to the left of the backroom door, where neat handwriting details the prices of their wares in cheery pink chalk. Peeking over the counter, cause maybe the owner is stuck on the floor or something, he finds nothing other than a cash register.

After waiting a handful of minutes, Keigo decides to investigate. A feather about the length of his index finger slides free, hovering in the air a moment before he sends it under the door. Humming mindlessly, he guides the feather up and around pots and pans, avoiding the sizzling fat from the sausages. Once it’s clear the person working back there is not holding anything, Keigo taps their shoulder with the feather. There’s a loud shriek, his feather is grabbed in a sweaty palm, then the door bangs open.

“What the hell?!” Keigo gives a small wave to the fuming teenager glowering at him. The kid stomps over to the counter, slamming the feather down onto the counter, which sends jolts of pain back to Keigo.

“Hey.” He gives a polite smile to the teen, trying to not stare at the angry red line of acne along the kid’s brow. The teen crosses his arms over his chest, scowl still present, and huffs a loud breath that moves a small piece of bright green hair that fell out of his ponytail away from his purple eyes. The two of them are about the same height, though where Keigo has years of built-up muscle, the kid’s got a healthy layer of chub. “Sorry for bothering you, but I’m really hungry.” Purple eyes glare at him a moment longer before the kid huffs and waves a hand in a whatever motion.

“S’fine. Haven’t seen you around before, you new? I’m Haru, by the way. This is my Grandad’s shop, but he only shows up in the late afternoon, so you’ll get stuck with me if you start coming here for morning coffee.” The teen finally let’s go of Keigo’s feather, so he takes the chance to pull it back to his wings. The kid tracks it as it goes, an eyebrow raising. “That’s a nifty quirk. Ever think of going into heroics? I hear flashy stuff like that always sells well.”

“What.” Keigo stares at the kid, wondering if he heard that right.

“Ah, never mind. You’re probably too old to start in that career anyways. So, what can I get for you?” The kid stares back at him like he hasn’t just broken Keigo’s mind, waiting for an order.

“Oh. Uh, large coffee. Black. And three, no, make that four of your breakfast sandwiches with sausage.” The kid nods, clicking some buttons on the cash register, and rattles off the sum. Keigo merely pulls his wallet from his pocket and slides over one of the credit cards.

“It’ll be a few minutes, feel free to take a seat anywhere you want.” The kid swipes it and hands back his credit card, then disappears into the backroom once more. Figuring he might as well Keigo wanders over to pick a table on the right of the shop, coincidentally the one closest to the door. He flips one of the chairs sideways, and hops on, used to the pinch as his tailfeathers squish beneath him. He hefts an arm onto the backrest and leans on it as his wings sway out behind him.

Sitting there, Keigo goes to pull out his phone, only to recall he tossed it into the ocean. Damn. That’ll need to be something he picks up today then. Maybe he should make a shopping list. That was a thing people did, right?

He doesn’t need to wait too long before Haru comes back with a tray in hand. The kid sets in down in front of him and takes the opposite seat.

“So, what’s your name? What brought you out here to our little edge of nowhere?” He pulls out his phone, placing it down on the table so Keigo can see as he bouts up some game with little blocks of color.

“I’m Keigo. And I guess I came here because I wanted to get away from everything else.” The kid snorts a laugh even as his game screen flashes the ‘you lose’ screen.

“Well pal, you’ve picked a good place in that case. Can’t get much further away from the rest of the world than out here.” The kid goes back to his game, so Keigo unwraps his first sandwich and tears into it. It’s simple, just sausage, egg, and a hint of cheese on warm bread, yet it’s still exponentially better than anything he could cook.

He finishes the third one and half his coffee by the time he realizes it’s weird the kid is still there.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be prepping or something? For when other people come in?” Haru snorts another puff of laughter, long green ponytail swaying as he shakes his head.

“Nah. It’s barely past seven, none of the regulars come in till closer to eight. You, showing up at freaking 6:30, are the irregular one here.”

“Aw, come on!” Keigo grins teasingly, unwrapping the final sandwich, “be glad I slept in that late.” Normal wake up time ranged from 4-5am, depending on if he had a meeting with his handlers before patrol or not.

The kid points a finger at him in mock sternness. “I will not let you in before 6:30. If you show up, you get to either wait outside or help with morning prep.” Keigo laughs, then turns a tad more towards the serious side.

“I’ll try to come later tomorrow. I had no idea what time it was and am planning to get a somewhat regular sleep schedule going.” He keeps eye contact until the kid looks away, face a tad flushed, and attempts to shrug nonchalantly.

“It’s no problem. I, uh, should go get stuff ready now.” The kid bolts, glancing over his shoulder once on the way. They make eye contact again and the kid flushes further. Weird. He shrugs it off to finish the last of his meal.

Keigo leaves the shop and sets to wandering along the sidewalk. There are a few more people out and about now, smiling and calling good mornings to those they recognize. Which is pretty much everyone. He’s the odd one out, not shouting across the street and waving to acquaintances.

A sign catches his eye. Without giving himself time to duck out, Keigo slips inside the clothing store. It’s nothing of a fancy set up, just racks and racks of clothes organized with signs telling him where to find tops or bottoms or even swimsuits, despite it being fall. It’s a relatively open space, allowing for people to wander up and down the space between racks as they browse. The lighting is a dull yellow, the lightbulbs overhead buzzing just loud enough for Keigo to pick up. On the left is a small table with a cashbox, and a grey-haired elderly lady sitting behind in in a folding chair, hands nimbly drawing yarn about her knitting needles.

“Good morning!” The lady waves to him, setting down her knitting project and adjusting her half-circle spectacles as he moves closer to her. “What can I help you find today, dear?” He’s ready to tense at the endearment, but when it comes from this little old lady it doesn’t sound nearly as menacing as when his handlers said it.

“Good morning,” he parrots back. “I need clothes. Comfy ones.” Retirement means he is allowed to wear something other than what the Commission told him he could, so comfy stuff it is. That one purple hoodie Rumi let him wear was the best thing he owned till his handler found it and took it away. Fuck hoodies ‘being unbecoming of a popular hero’. They were big and soft and didn’t press at the base of his wings too bad.

The lady waves a hand to tell him to follow her and starts shuffling over to a rack of tops.

“Comfy,” the lady muses, glancing at the shirts in front of her before shuffling on. Keigo follows wordlessly after her, unsure how one is supposed to go about buying clothes. The lady turns towards him, humming as she looks him up and down, then pokes his left arm a couple times. Her finger catches on the small wound he left when cutting out his first tracker, but it hardly hurts enough to warrant so much as a wince.

She starts sliding things along the rack and yanks a hoodie free. “Try this one, dear.” It’s a soft green shade with a cute brown cartoon bear on the center. He loves it instantly. Taking the shirt from the lady, the fabric is soft but sturdy enough it’ll last. He sends a feather about the length of his forearm to hover behind him and hooks the hanger the hoodie is on over it. “This one too. And this one.” She hands him seven hoodies in total, all of which are soft colors and have cute logos on the front and seem like they’ll be a tad too large for him. They’ll be perfect for the fall weather, though he might need to invest in a coat as winter creeps closer. Deeming them all perfect, Keigo hooks each on the floating feather behind him.

“How are we doing so far, dear?” The lady smiles warmly at him, moving onto the next rack of things.

“Great, thank you.” He’s genuine in his thanks and hopes she hears that in his tone.

“Good, good, now you’ll be needing some t-shirts too – it gets warm in the summers, dear – and some long sleeve ones too for those in-between weather days. And some pants, of course. Some sweatpants, some nicer ones too since I’m sure a nice young man like yourself is working somewhere and needs professional attire, and some shorts for those warm summers. Now, dear, I don’t sell underwear or socks here, but the mart just across the street has those in bulk, m’kay?” She doesn’t look back to him, just keeps handing him things he hangs behind him on the long floating feather, so she doesn’t see his nod.

He follows her through rack after rack, finally speaking up once his eyes catch on something.

“Oh hey, can I get one of those?” He points to the black pants he thinks Rumi had, and the lady gives him a warm smile.

“Of course, dear. Let me find a pair of yoga pants in your size.” He doesn’t bother telling her his size – he’s fairly certain picking stuff out for other people is her quirk. “Don’t you worry, with a pair of these on, you’ll have all the young men in town staring at your cute little behind.” Keigo squeaks a small noise he’s tempted to call a squawk, face burning in embarrassment, but makes no move to correct her. Not only is she wrong (about the wanting people to stare at him, not the men part), but Keigo can just tell she won’t listen to him if he tries to convince her of anything else.

Finally, they emerge from the final rack of clothing, five medium length feathers hovering behind him with hangers clinging onto them.

“Okay dear, let’s see what that totals too.” The lady just hums, tapping a finger against her lip, and names a sum he’s pretty sure she just made up, because it seems far too low.

“Are you sure that’s right?”

“Of course! You wouldn’t insult an old lady’s ability to count, now would you?” Well, there’s no arguing there. He pays her in cash, correct in his assumption that she does not have a machine to take credit. She offers him bags, but he waves her off.

“Thanks for your help,” Keigo calls over his shoulder, grinning as she waves goodbye to him, and he ducks back onto the street. It is significantly busier now that he spent a good couple hours in that one store. People bustle about, heading off to wherever their destination is, and a few cars pass by.

Before anything else, he ducks into the alley between the shop he was in and the one next to it, stripping off his tan jacket and pants, and ripping the gold-on-black emblem off his chest. He stuffs the old costume in the nearest dumpster, changing into a pair of dark grey sweatpants and the green hoodie with the bear on it. He shoves his aching feet back into his hero boots and leaves the hero gloves for now, knowing he’ll need to find replacements for those today too. A quick thought has his feathers laden with new clothes zipping through the air and into his new apartment via the window a tiny feather wiggles open.

Next, following the older lady’s instructions, Keigo crosses the street to go find the other things he wants to buy. This store is much bigger, shelves full of stuff set up in some sort of grid pattern. From the entrance Keigo can spot a clothing section, a grocery section, an electronics section, and a shoe section. Do shoes count as separate from clothes? He shrugs off the question, moving out of the way of the door.

Looking around, all the other shoppers have a nifty cart with four wheels and a bar to push on. A quick scan shows that there are a whole bunch of those carts pushed off to the side. Grinning, Keigo pulls one free and gives it a tiny bit of force to see how hard he needs to push it for it to move. The answer is not very, as he nearly sends the things shooting out into the stand of melons a handful of feet in front of him. Hands gripping the handlebar tight enough his talons poke at the ends of his gloves, he gives a much smaller push. This time it doesn’t even move.

Aiming for middle force, Keigo gets the cart moving, only for it to jerk to a halt. He frowns, looking down at the wheels to see what’s wrong now. A wheel is the wrong way, and despite his efforts to push it to normal orientation, will not move. Huffing, his feathers ruffle in agitation.

Swearing under his breath, Keigo crosses his arms and glares at the cart. He can’t swap it out for another one, as that is obvious accepting defeat. And he should be able to do this! Everyone can push a cart. There’s no way it’s as hard as fighting a literal war, which he did decently well.

“Excuse me,” there’s a tug on his hoodie sleeve. Glancing down, Keigo sees a small girl maybe around seven with wide blue eyes looking up at him. Her tiny black cat ears twitch as her thin tail wraps around her other wrist in what seems like a self-comfort tactic. “Do you need help with the cart? I do too, so Mom helps me when I push.” Keigo wonders if it would be weird to break down crying right about now. Instead, he tries for a smile that fails as the kid has already looked away. “Mom, can we help him?” He doesn’t stop her as the kid tugs him over to the lady he assumes is her mom, who is setting a pile of reusable bags in a cart of her own.

“Cian, honey, what did we say about strangers?” The woman who is presumably the child’s mom scolds with a soft-but-stern look on her face. The kid’s ears wilt.

“Don’t run off to talk to strangers,” the girl mumbles, foot scuffing the ground. Then her ears perk back up. “But now that we’ve met, we aren’t strangers anymore. So can we help him Mom?” The mom sighs, mussing the girl’s hair affectionately.

“Sorry about her,” the woman speaks to Keigo now, rolling her eyes as if there’s some joke here he should know.

“Oh, it’s alright.” Well heck, he’s already here. “And she’s not wrong. I’m failing at the cart.” The woman gives a bright laugh, but not one that is laughing at him in a mean way. He chuckles along.

“Sweetie, you can’t fail at pushing a cart. You might not know how to do it yet, but I promise it’s easy. Just watch me, ok?”

“Thanks.” He gives her a grateful smile and watches as she expertly wheels the cart forwards a handful of steps. She’s not pushing it as much as he was; in fact, she’s just walking and forcing it to stay in front of her. Huh.

Hopping back to his own cart, a finger-sized feather zips off his wings to harshly jab at the stuck wheel. Once it pops free, he sets to copying the woman.

It’s disappointingly easy.

“Hey, thanks for this.”

The woman waves him off, grinning. “Oh, it’s no trouble at all! I’m Akasuki, by the way, but everyone calls me Suki. And this little troublemaker is Cian.”

“Nice to meet the both of you. I’m Keigo, I just arrived here last night.” Keigo follows Suki, his feathers fluffing up to little Cian’s delight as he pushes his cart along without incident. His eyes scan the shelves, searching for things he might need. Most of the items on the shelves he at least recognizes from seeing them online or hearing other people talk about them.

“Do you know what you’re looking for?” He jolts when Suki questions him, having been staring at a pack of meat and wondering if he could just eat it raw. Cooking it is for sure out of question for someone of his culinary talents.

“Uh,” his brain helpfully reminds him of her question. “Oh, not really. I need shoes, gloves, socks, underwear, and should probably get some food.” He scratches his head, frowning down at his empty cart. Hers already has a few packs of frozen meat and some vegetables, and the couple candy bars Cian snuck in when she thought her mother was not watching.

“You haven’t done this before, have you?” Her question is soft and kind, yet still has him jerking his wings in tight to his back as the feathers sharpen instinctively.

“Am I that obvious?” He laughs, but it’s flat and dead, more to distract than anything else. But instead of calling him out on it she reaches over and pats the back of his hand where it’s gripping the handlebar of his cart.

“Don’t worry, we’ll help. Right Cian? We’re going to help Mr. Keigo find all his things, ok?” The girl cheers, hands going into the air.

“Yay! Extra shopping! Mom, can we go to the toy section at the end please?” The mother looks to him, so he shrugs.

“Why not? I’ve got nothing to do today and have never seen a toy section before. Might be cool.” That statement makes the girl gasp at him.

“MOM! Now we need to go! Mister Keigo has never seen the toys before!” The mother laughs, smiling fondly at her daughter.

“Alright, I guess you’re right. We’ll head over after finding everything else, okay?” The girl nods happily, and Keigo finds his own head bobbing along. He’s quick to force it still, returning his attention to the shelves. After a moment’s consideration, he grabs a box of the crackers shaped like animals Rumi likes. He makes the mistake of meeting the mother’s eyes after that; it’s clear she’s judging him for the kid’s snack, but oh well. He likes them and they remind him of the rare days off spent at Rumi’s watching crappy romcoms.

There’s a bit longer of walking up and down the food aisles where the woman finishes finding the groceries on her list and Keigo finds a bunch of pre-made meals that look ok. He grabs enough that he thinks they’ll last him a couple weeks and dumps them in his cart while ignoring the judgemental eyebrow raise this gets from the mother.

He’s stupidly proud of himself for picking out a bunch of boxes, an emotion shown through his tail attempting to swish side to side happily. All that does is make his left pant leg look stupid.

They leave the food aisles, heading into the clothing section. Here he’s quick to pick out a couple bulk packages of large white socks he thinks should fit and some plain black boxers. He ends up with a pack of camouflage ones too upon Cian’s instance that they are the prettiest pattern in the section, so he has to get them.

They are on their way to the shoe corner when he spots a stack of crappy leather gloves. These are not meant to withstand the sharpness of his talons, so he throws a good dozen pairs in his cart. It would be best to keep the ones he’s got on now, but it seems wrong to be wearing any part of the costume that made him the Commission’s Hawks.

“What do you need those for?” Cian peeks over the edge of his cart, staring obviously at the pile of black gloves.

“My nails. They’re really sharp, so it’s good to wear gloves so I don’t scratch anyone.”

“Oh.” Her ears droop, and her voice is sad. Keigo has no clue what he said to upset her. “Mom, do I need to wear gloves too? I scratch you sometimes on accident.” Oh. Fuck. She’s got a cat quirk, of course she’s got little kitten claws Keigo somehow didn’t notice.

“No, you don’t need to,” Keigo quickly intervenes, hoping to fix it. “Look.” He pulls his right glove off and moves his hand next to hers. His black talons are blaringly ugly compared to her regular flesh-colored nails that are slightly more triangular than could be considered normal. “Mine are really sharp around the edges and I can cut people up pretty bad. You don’t need to wear gloves, Cian.”

“Really? Yay!” That settles it for the girl, though a glance at her mother shows that she’s staring at the back of Keigo’s hand with wide eyes. He follows her gaze, finding the thicker white scar lines she’s spotted that stand out from the fainter, thinner, ones.

“What happened?” Keigo’s quick to fake a smile, laughing off her question as he tugs his glove back on with practised movements.

“Accidentally got on the wrong side of a hammer.” Repeatedly. As his handler held his bloody hand in place while he tried to pull away, sobbing ugly tears and screaming as the bones were smashed over and over. Punishment for relying too much on his dominant hand rather than using his non-dominant left like they wanted. He was nine.

“Oh.” For some reason Keigo isn’t sure she believes him.

“Shoes?” It’s an offer of a new subject, one she latches onto quickly, informing him of the different types of shoes he can get here. He doesn’t listen, knowing he’ll get boots, focusing instead on forcing his heartbeat back to a normal pace.

It takes him all of five seconds to pick out a pair of black boots. They’re a good three sizes bigger than the ones he’s got on now, and about one and a half times as wide. They should allow his toes lots of room to stretch out. But while he’s done with shoes quickly enough, Cian apparently needs new indoor sneakers for school. It takes her a good half an hour of trying all the pink ones, and the ones with cats on them multiple times, before she settles on the first pair she tried on (pink and cats).

That done, they head towards what Keigo figures is the toy section, though Suki detours in a way that allows her to point out a few other things he would have forgot about. A toothbrush, some mint toothpaste, a soft bristled hairbrush, a comb for his feathers, green apple scented shampoo and conditioner, a bar of soap, and a stick of deodorant all land in his cart.

Cian cheers as they reach the toy aisle, running down it to where there’s a section of what he guesses is stuff based off a show she likes. Pushing his cart like an experienced shopper, he follows Suki down the aisle as she moves to keep her child in sight. His eyes rove around, taking in the cheap plastic structures, colorful little characters, and plushies of every sort possible.

“Mister Keigo, this one looks like you!” Cian is holding a circular red plush out towards him. It looks more like a pillow than an animal, yet given the yellow beak, red wings, little black eyes, and small puff of red along the top, is clearly supposed to be a chicken. He grins at it, leaning over to poke it. His grin widens as the plush swallows his finger, then rebounds back to normal once he pulls back.

“I kind of like it.” He’s reminded of that old Endeavor plush he had growing up – the one his handlers didn’t let him keep no matter how much he cried when they took it away.

“You should get it.” His head snaps to the side at Suki’s words, shocked the grown woman is suggesting he, a grown man, should buy a plushie meant for kids. He looks back to it as Cian places it gently in his cart. He shakes his head fondly, a smile on his lips.

“You know what? Sure, why not. Maybe Mr. Chicken and I can be friends.”

“Good idea! Everyone needs a teddy bear friend!” Cian pats the plush on the head before spinning off to go look at some more toys.

“Alright Cian,” the mother calls out maybe five minutes later, “let’s go pay.” The little girl scampers back to her mother’s side, one little hand grabbing onto the metal mesh of the cart’s side. “Now,” Suki looks over to address Keigo now, “when we get there all you have to do is put your purchases up on the little conveyer belt and the cashier will scan everything for you. Then you pay, push the cart back to the door, and are good to go.” He nods, taking a long breath to still his nerves. Why does this seem to be a more daunting task than taking on an armed villain?

Keigo follows the woman to the check out spot, letting her go first so he can watch what she does. It seems pretty easy: Cian helps her mom put their groceries on the belt thingy, the young lady working the cash chats with Akasuki as she scans the little barcodes on the bottoms or sides of the items, and a screen shows all the prices as items are scanned out. Once their items are finished being scanned, Suki pulls the cart around to the other side of the check out station and Cian hands her the reusable bags they brought along so they can place their purchases within.

And now the cashier is staring at him expectantly. Swallowing back his nerves and hiding them behind a friendly smile like he was taught, Keigo pushes his cart up and goes about setting things on the conveyer belt.

“Did you find everything alright?” He jolts when she speaks up, fumbling the package of socks he’s holding.

“Yep.” Keigo tries for another smile, glancing up, and is glad to see the young lady is already looking down as she scans his items. Thank God she doesn’t seem to actually want to carry out a conversation. It’s silent save for the beeping of the barcode-scanning machine and Cian’s chatter as they wrap up packing their groceries in bags.

“Would you like a bag?” The question is monotone, very clearly just something that is required to be asked.

“Uh, yes please.” Maybe he’ll look into those fabric bags Akasuki has. They seem more reliable than the plastic ones the cashier is placing his things in. It’s not long after that she’s hitting some buttons on the screen, and the total flashes at him in bright green numbers.

“Would you like to donate to the HPSC fund for injured pro heroes?” He successfully holds back a laugh at that one. No, he is not going to contribute to the fund that goes into paying assassins and raising child soldiers.

“No thanks.” With that she stretches a hand out for the credit card he gives over and slides it along the side of a machine with a beep. It’s handed back to him, and he detaches a mini swarm of feathers to pick up the bags and carry them behind him. “Thank you,” he smiles to the cashier before following after Suki, who waited for him, so she could him where to put the cart back.

“Um, are you sure you should be doing that?” Suki waves towards his floating feathers, and he shrugs off her concern.

“Yeah, it’s fine. They’re not sharp enough to go through the plastic right now, so it’s all good.”

“Right.” The look he gets makes him wonder if that’s not what she’s concerned about.

They step outside and the feathers zip off to his apartment to put his new purchases with the ones from earlier.

“Thanks for your help in there.”

“You’re welcome. I’d love to stay and chat, but Cian and I have a few other things to get up to today. It was nice to meet you, Keigo. We’ll see you around!” He waves as the two walk away, then looks around the street. He might as well keep wandering.

Chapter Text

It’s an hour later, as he’s marching over a cobblestone footbridge that overpasses a little stream with a duck swimming in it, that he spies his next destination. It’s a cute place, two stories high, decently wide, baby blue siding, a sign reading ‘North Street Library’, and large windows lining the side Keigo can see and most of the front once he gets closer and peeks around the corner. Inside he can see rows of books, the shelves reminding him of the store he just vacated, but a whole lot cheerier somehow.

Hawks never had time for much of anything outside hero work, but Keigo always thought reading, outside of paperwork, was fun. So, he twists the doorknob and pushes in the door, smiling as the smell of books and quiet seeps over him. From inside, he spots a few tables and chairs he missed from outside, as well as the whole corner off in the back of the right side of the room set out with kids’ toys on the matted floor. The shelves are lower in that corner, the highest one maybe coming up to waist height, and are lined with thin books, fat thick paged ones, and a few smaller toys that got placed amongst the picture books. The other shelves around the place stretch up a good seven feet, novels taking up most of the space, with two obvious sections for movies and magazines respectively. Those tall shelves line the left side of the room, and the few tables are scattered in the middle of the two sections.

“Good afternoon.” Keigo turns to the right, towards the voice, taking in the large L shaped counter sectioning off the frizzy-white-haired old lady he guesses owns the place. He estimates her age to be early seventies at the youngest. She sits at a desk safely tucked behind the counter, a novel in hand.

“Hello,” he greets, moving to the side so that the computer monitor that’s set on the counter doesn’t block his view of her. He leans his arms down on the counter, taking in the boxes stacked up along the far wall. The lady places what looks like a hand-made bookmark in her novel, takes off her reading glasses, and heaves to her feet, shuffling over. Keigo notices her limp and holds back a wince of sympathy. That’s clearly an old injury that’s been paining her for some time.

“What can I help you find today, dear?” There must be something in the water here. They’re all too nice. Keigo smiles back, elbows resting easily on the edge of the counter, one knee bent to allow that.

“I’m new in town, and on my exploration today I just happened to stumble in here.” The lady gives a cheery laugh.

“Oh, now that’s silly. No one ‘happens to stumble in here’. I’m sure you’ll find you’re here for a reason, dear. Now, let’s get you a library card.” Keigo blinks, about to tell her he really doesn’t need one – he can easily afford to buy any books he might want to read – but she’s already limped back to her desk and pulled out a chunk of colored plastic. She hums as she shuffles back over, clicking the mouse connected to the computer to turn it back on. It whirs, the screen lighting up. A few taps, then she flips the card over to scan the little barcode on the back with some sort of scanner – rather similar to how the stuff was scanned at the store earlier.

“Ok dear, I’ll need your name, address, birthdate, and an emergency contact number.” Going along with it, he rattles off the first three, then hesitantly, gives her Jeanist’s cell number. Putting Tokoyami down as his emergency contact would be frowned upon, so between the older pro and Rumi, Jeanist is less likely to make fun of Keigo should something occur.

“There you are now,” a wrinkled hand slides him the card and a pen. “You’ll want to sign your name on the back here.” There’s a small line telling him where to put his name, so he does so happily, glad to see ‘Keigo’ staring back at him rather than ‘Hawks’. “Now go have a little wander and come back when you’ve found some books you’d like to give a try.”

The lady waves him off with a warm smile, and Keigo finds himself shuffling off to go examine the shelves of novels. There must be some sort of system going on for it seems like the books are arranged in alphabetical order, but there are a few that mess up that order so he’s not entirely sure that is the case. He doesn’t recognize any titles, so he does what everyone always says not to and picks a few with neat-looking covers. One red and black one he thinks might be mystery given how the red drips down off the title like blood, one with green and gold and white that seems whimsical enough to be fantasy of some flavour, and after wandering a few shelves over finds another that’s entirely pink, the only word on the page the title: Book. He can’t not add that one to his small stack.

The next shelf he goes to look at does not hold novels. Instead, there are thinner books, with titles about gardening. Eyes scanning along, he finds one about cooking that, according to the title, holds the world’s easiest five-minute meals. That one immediately gets added to the growing pile tucked under his arm.

He goes to move onto the next aisle, only for a thump and soft curse to break through the serenity of the library. Feathers take the books in his hand as Hawks sprints over to the counter, eyes scanning around, wings spread wide as he’s ready to take off and defend. His eyes land on the old lady, who has fallen to the ground and can’t seem to get up.

Blinking, Keigo focuses his attention on her, hopping the counter in a single smooth motion to help her sit up.

“Are you hurt? I can fly you to the hospital if you want. I saw it on the way in, I think it’s like maybe five minutes from here.”

“Oh,” the lady pats his hand, giving him a warm smile, “that’s quite alright dear. I just had a little tumble; it happens every now and then these days.”

“Did you hit your head?” He gently takes her chin to look into her eyes, checking to see if they look clear.

“Aren’t you the sweetest, checking on an old hump of bones like me.” She chuckles, putting a hand underneath her to stand.

“Should you be standing up so soon? Maybe it’s best if you stay here a moment longer, just to make sure.” The lady pats his cheek, brushing off his concern, and continues moving around to stand up. Her left leg, the one that causes her limp, can’t quite bend the right way to allow her to get up. He can’t tell if it’s her hip or knee that’s messed up, but whatever the case it’s clear she should not be working someplace where she’s alone and at risk of falling and not being able to get up for a long time. “Can I help you up at least?” He offers his arms, and the lady huffs, nodding her agreement. With that Keigo scoops her up in his arms, bridal style, and stands so he can set her back on her feet.

“Oh my!” The lady giggles, brushing a white curl from her face as she waddles over to sit down at her desk. “Thank you dear, you’re a very sweet young man. My own personal hero, even.” It’s embarrassing, but he can’t stop the way his feathers puff up at the praise. “Now then, did you find anything you’d like to check out?” She must spot his feathers holding the books he picked out, for she goes to get up again.

“Woah, take it easy. I’ve got no plans so I’m in no rush. Please just sit back down.”

“Oh, alright then. But if you’re staying, you must indulge an old lady in some friendly conversation.” He nods, stepping back to hop up onto the counter so he’s sitting on it, legs swinging freely.

“Sure, I can do that. I’m Keigo, by the way.”

“Keigo. That’s a pretty name, dear. Mine’s Fai. Now, tell me all about you. Where’d you come from? Any secret scandals you run off to escape? Perhaps a scorned lover or two?” There’s a twinkle in her eyes that says she’s teasing, so Keigo goes along with it.

“Well, I’m from Fukuoka. I left since things at work were rather… tense. Too demanding. Have been for years, but yesterday was the first chance I saw to get away, so I did. Secret scandals? Well, I guess you could say that. I upset a lot of people, betrayed some I wanted to call friends, got what I deserved for that whole thing.” He couldn’t bring himself to blame Dabi for the whole sort-of-trying-to-kill-each-other thing. He tried to kill Jin, no matter how half-assed an attempt. Dabi is very overprotective of his friends, not that he’ll ever admit it. Besides, the guy had the chance to burn Keigo’s wings off – he’d felt Dabi’s palm touch his back – and pulled back. He chose not to take away the one thing Keigo loved more than anything. So, no. He’s not mad at Dabi. If anything, he’s mad that society failed them enough they ended up in that situation in the first place.

“Yes, yes. Now what about lovers? I’m sure a pretty young man like yourself has had a few attempts at love.” Keigo winces under her eager gaze.

“Eh, not really. I never had time for love.” The twist of her lips tells him exactly what she thinks of that. “But hey, I’m retired and have all kinds of free time now, so maybe I’ll find someone here.”

“Hm.” She taps her chin, thinking. “Well, I know a great deal of people in this town, almost everyone comes through here, you see. Perhaps I ought to set you up with a few single friends I know.” Keigo yelps, spluttering as his face goes red, feathers fluttering in a panic.

“Ah, no thank you, Mrs. Fai. I’ll be ok.” The lady huffs, crossing her arms.

“Well, you’re no fun.” Keigo’s pretty sure he’s not supposed to hear that, given her sudden mortified look when he snorts in amusement.

Both are saved from responding as the door opens, and a newcomer enters. It’s an older man close to Fai’s age, maybe half a foot taller than Keigo even with his slouch, bright green eyes lighting up as he shuffles inside.

“Good day there, Fai. It’s a breezy one out there today!” There was a hint of a chilly fall wind earlier; it must have picked up. “Ah, and who’s this? I haven’t seen you around before, young fella.”

“Hey, I’m Keigo. Just moved here.” The guy stretches out a shaking arm, and Keigo twists around to shake the offered hand. The old guy’s got a surprisingly strong grip.

“Good to meet you! I’m Gale. Now, you’d best be nice to young Fai here, you hear?” The lady giggles, and Keigo just nods, unsure if a handshake is supposed to go on this long as the man keeps Keigo’s gloved fingers captive.

“Good to meet you too, sir.” That must have been the right thing to say as Gale lets go of his hand, gives Fai a wave, and moves to shuffling over to the novels.

“Gale’s an old friend,” the librarian supplies, smiling affectionately after the man. “Real sweet man. Never married, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. He had so many girls chasing after him back in the day.”

“Oh.” He makes what is probably the right choice and does not prod that whole mess.

The man shuffles back, having retrieved a single novel rather quickly. “I’ll get this one today. A buddy of mine, you remember Palu, right Fai? Well, he told me this one is a good one, so I’ll have to try it and tell him he’s wrong.” Keigo snorts, picturing the two older men squabbling over a book at a coffee shop or something.

Fai goes to get out her seat, and Keigo squawks, panicked. “Mrs. Fai, please stay seated.”

“I need to check the book out for Gale. You can’t keep me here forever!” It’s hardly been ten minutes.

“Look, walk me through how to do it then, ok? I really think you should take it easy.”

“Come on Fai, let the lad have a go at it.” Their combined efforts have the old librarian huffing, setting back in her desk chair.

“Fine then. Alright dear, click on that top button on the side of the screen, the one that says ‘check out.’” Following the instructions, Keigo navigates the mouse over to the tan bar crawling up the left side of the screen, clicking on the ‘check out’ option. A new screen pops up, so he turns back to Fai. “Now you scan the library card first, then the back of the book, tell Gale the due date, and close the screen.”

He notes how her instructions are not incredibly clear and can’t help but feel this is some sort of test. Well, he’s well acquainted with tests and having superiors purposefully neglect to tell him things to see if he can pick it up. As such he has no problem scanning the card the older man offers him, nor the book. Once that’s done a close option pops up on the screen, but before hitting that he scans for a place it’ll tell him when the book is due back. Finding that, he rattles off the date for three weeks from now and closes the window.

“How’d I do?” He hops back onto the counter, grinning smugly. The old lady recovers quickly, but not before Keigo catches her shock.

“Oh, decent enough, dear. Now then, Gale, you promised to tell me about that golf tournament your brother was in last weekend.” The man lights up, settling in speak with Fai, so Keigo takes initiative and checks out his books to himself, pulling his library card from his wallet. That done he looks over to where Gale is leaning against the counter, knees shaking. That’s no good.

“Hey, you might as well just come back here. Here, let me get you a chair.” A few medium length feathers detach, zipping off to grab one of the nearby cushioned chairs, setting it down adjacent to Fai.

“Oh, now that’s quite the handy quirk. Thank you, lad.” The man comes around the counter, walking through the empty space where there should be a corner made for such things. He settles into the seat and continues chatting with the librarian.

Figuring he’s got nothing better to do, Keigo wiggles around until the counter is as comfortable a seat as it’s going to get with his tail feathers being crushed and opens the pink book. He’s rather curious to know what it’s about. Sure, he could leave, but he’s not convinced the old lady is alright after that fall. Best to stick around a bit just to make sure.

“Unbelievable!” Keigo slams the novel shut, huffing. He’s not done it by a long shot, maybe a hundred pages into the four-hundred-page book. “Why the fuck did they kill her off?” But God, it makes no fucking sense. It doesn’t advance the plot and won’t act as motivation for the rest of the characters. The author just killed her off to get her out of the way, which is so cheap. Plus, she was his favourite character.

He sets the book to the side, glaring at it. Before he can decide between throwing it out the window and picking it back up to keep going, a breeze wafts in, signaling someone opened the door. Hopping down from his perch, Keigo turns around to give the newcomers a friendly wave.

“Hey.” He greets as a woman enters. She’s got long black hair that’s held back in a thick braid and is easily a few inches taller than him. There’s a kid next to her, and considering they share the same pretty orange eyes, Keigo is willing to bet the boy is her son. The little boy has two of the thin kids’ books in his arms and is obviously eager to head over to the kids’ corner.

“Oh, hello there. Where’s- ah, there she is. Good afternoon, Fai.” The woman leans around Keigo to wave to the old lady, who gives a small wave back and tries to get up only for Gale to put a hand on her arm, stopping her.

“Good afternoon, Lyra. Maybe you can smack some sense into these two boys. Neither is letting me do my job!” But instead of coming to her rescue, the younger lady laughs.

“Good! I’ve been telling you to retire for years, Fai! Go and enjoy the last years of your life, explore what’s out there beyond this desk.” The older lady scowls, grumbling something about younger people thinking they know everything.

“Mommy,” the boy tugs at his mother’s pant leg, “can I go play with the toys now please?”

“Of course, Nao. Just put your books up on the counter so the nice man can return them for us first.” The boy dutifully places the books in his arms up on the counter Keigo just vacated, then runs off to the toy section in the far corner of the library. “Well, hi.” She gives a small wave to Keigo, which he returns. “I’m Lyra. I own the bakery across the street,” a thumb jerks over her shoulder, “so you’ll be seeing a lot of me. We always come here Saturday’s during my break to give Nao a change from having to sit around the breakroom. No matter how great some of the teenagers are around here, I can’t afford a sitter every weekend – I’m sure you understand.” Keigo gets that she’s referring to their similar age, but no, he does not get it. He doesn’t have a kid, doesn’t want one, and could afford to pay for a babysitter. But he also remembers the time when his family didn’t have enough to scrap together for food that week, so he nods along.

“The school is great in that regard,” she continues. “They have a free after-school program that runs until five-thirty every weekday, which is more than enough time to close up and go pick him up. But the weekends can be tough sometimes, more so on the days the school doesn’t have a camp or day-activity of some sort going on.” She starts unpacking the reusable bag Keigo didn’t notice, a good fifty of the small kid’s books piling up on the counter. “So, have you got kids?”

“Oh, ah, no. And before you ask, no, I don’t have a partner and don’t want to be set up with a friend of yours.”

“Oh?” A dark eyebrow raises inquisitively. “Well, if not a friend, what about me? I’m single, your single, we’re both hot. It could work.” Keigo quickly shakes his head, refuting that.

“Thanks, but no thanks. You’re not exactly what I look for in a partner.”

Her lips pinch as her eyes turn to fury. “A single mother working her ass off to provide for her kid isn’t good enough for you?”

“Female.” She pauses, squinting at him as he raises his hands in a placating manner. “I’m very gay. Please don’t try to seduce me.” A smile cracks open her lips, the previously stormy look gone.

“Fair enough. But that isn’t going to stop me from giving you my number so we can be friends. Here, give me your phone.” His hand goes for his hero coat pocket, only to realize that he’s not wearing it and he doesn’t have a phone.

“Ah. I’ll need to get back to you on that. Tossed my phone in the ocean on my way over. Couldn’t block all the annoying numbers, so best to just toss ‘em.” He gives a cheeky grin that has her snorting an unattractive, but genuine, laugh.

“Fine them. I’ll come back in a few days, so you had better have one then. I need someone my age to complain to.” She waves over her shoulder as she ducks away, heading to go browse the magazines. Keigo grins at her retreating back. His feathers fluff up: he just made a friend.

Turning to the pile of books stacked on the counter, Keigo hums, glancing over to the computer. Well look at that, there’s a nifty little button on the side ribbon titled ‘return’. He clicks that one, and a screen similar to the one for scanning books out pops up. Figuring he might as well give it a try, Keigo scans the barcode of one of the picture books. It goes through, the title showing up on the screen with a little ‘checked in’ next to it. Assuming that’s right, he keeps going, checking all the books Lyra and her son brought back and setting them in a neat pile.

“Hey, Fai, what do you want me to do with these?” The lady looks away from her conversation with Gale, taking in the stack of picture books Keigo is pointing at.

“First you need to check them back in-”

“Did that.”

She blinks, clearly not expecting that response. “Well then. There’s a cart over there by the wall,” it’s between the counter and the boxes, which explains how he missed it, “I put books that can go back on the shelves there, and once it’s full take it out to put them back.”

“Ok.” Noting the wheeled cart is empty save a few hardcover novels, Keigo sets the stack of picture books on the top layer of the two. The done, he looks over to the kids’ corner to see Lyra has joined her son in playing with the stacking blocks.

Keigo blinks, then gives his head a rough shake. What is he doing? Just because he’s on the wrong side of the counter doesn’t mean this is his job. Besides, it’s been a number of hours now and the old lady seems fine.

“Hey, I think I’m going to head out. There’s a few more things I need to pick up today.”

“Alright dear, see you tomorrow at eight.” Fai waves him off without turning away from whatever tale Gale is retelling.

“See you then.” It’s an automatic response, and the second the words leave his lips he wants to smack himself. He slips out the door, pausing for a moment as he wonders if he should go back inside to take the books he checked out, but shrugs and figures leaving them in the library is a pretty safe spot to leave books.

In any case, he came here to retire, not get dragged into another job. He’ll just tell her he’s not interested in a job tomorrow.

It takes a bit of wandering around, but he finds a store that sells cellphones.

“Hey,” Keigo calls out as he shoves the door open.

“Oh!” A man a few years older than him comes over to greet him, belly sagging at the seams between pants and tucked-in collared employee shirt. “Hello there! What can I help you with today?”

“Phone.” Keigo points to the display they’ve got set up. “I tossed mine in the ocean and need a new one.” The man laughs, though it quickly fades out once he realizes Keigo isn’t joking.

“Right,” the man swallows after an awkward pause, walking over to the phones on display and waving for Keigo to follow him. “These ones are the newest models and as such have the best storage and photo capabilities and-”

“Sounds good.” The guy furrows his brow as Keigo interrupts him. “I like the one with the red back.”

“You don’t want to look at other options? Cheaper options, perhaps?” Eyes scan him up and down as he fights the urge to fidget. It’s not his fault the apartment he’s currently at doesn’t have a shower so he still looks awful from yesterday’s long flight. Instead, he just points to the smartphone with the pretty red backing again, giving a polite PR smile.

“That one please.” Nodding, the man starts rambling off the speech they give everyone who buys a new phone, talking about cell service and texting and the different cell plans and ways to pay that off.

“You might as well just give me the one with unlimited everything.” That’s what he had before, and it always worked well.

“I could, but you don’t really need data for much of anything around here. We don’t get signal from the rest of the world, so it would only be good for checking the Facebook pages for the local businesses or booking movie tickets online.” Keigo makes a small contemplative noise. That follows. There had to be some reason people didn’t recognize him. Them not getting news from the outside world – no matter how bizarre a concept – does fit.

“Alright. I guess I’ll try unlimited texting and calling, and uh, the 5GB data plan then.” Turning, Keigo heads to the left, where a glass display of phone cases stare back at him. “And I’ll take a clear case that fits. I like the back too much to cover it up. Oh, and throw in a pair of headphones. Like not the little earbuds, but big chunky ones like those.” He points to a pair of black headphones that are reminiscent of the ones from his hero costume. “Er. But not black.” The man pulls up a pair of purple ones with gold accents, and after getting a nod from Keigo, clicks a few buttons on the cash register. Keigo slides over a credit card, and soon enough he’s waving goodbye over his shoulder as he heads back onto the streets with his new purchases in a small bag.

One thing done at least.

The streetlights flicker on with a faint buzz, bathing the darkening roads in pale yellow light as he walks back to his apartment. He passes by shop owners closing up for the night and waves, trying to get into the small-town spirit. As such, he’s passing by a shop and turns to wave to the owner, only for a blanket to be thrown in his face.

Spluttering, Keigo smacks his hands around, wings flapping uselessly behind him, as he manoeuvres the hunk of soft black fabric off his face.

“What the hell?” A giggle he’s certain he knows meets his ears. Turning, Keigo sees a mousy young woman grinning a tad too wide at him from the doorway of what looks like an interior design store. Hence the blanket.

“I am SO glad to see you!” The brown-haired woman squeals, hands clapping together excitedly. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell the others, I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise! Oh, this is so exciting! See you around~!” She spins back inside, locking the door and winking at him, then darts off into the dark of the closed shop.

Keigo has no clue what just happened, but he’s pretty sure he got a free blanket out of it. He shrugs and continues on his way.

It’s not long after that when a few black-clad people in ski masks, most bearing some sort of bludgeoning weapon, his gut finds suspicious start prowling about, slamming on locked shop doors until they’re let in. Haw- Keigo wants to step in, but that’s not his job. Not anymore. It’s still hard to walk away.

Keigo returns to his small apartment maybe twenty minutes later. Sitting in the middle of the floor where the him-shaped spot is clear of dust, he cracks the phone out of it’s packaging and goes about booting it up after smacking it into the clear protective case. It takes a few minutes, but he gets it set up and programs Rumi and Jeanist’s numbers into his contacts, under the names Carrots and Best Dad respectively. Maybe it’s silly, but it’s easier to use nicknames that can’t be traced back to actual people as easily.

He wants to send each a message to let them know he’s ok, but it’s probably too soon. Afterall, if the Commission launches an investigation, which they will, then anyone who’s in contact with him would be legally obligated to step forwards. No, he’ll wait a few months first, then let them know he’s ok.

Stomach rumbling, Keigo sends a feather to fetch one of the pre-made ready-to-eat meals he bought. It’s dry and bland, but he swallows it down and it quells the angry noises his stomach was making. A feather carries the now-empty box to the door, where he’ll see it in the morning and remember to buy a garbage bin.

Keigo looks around the tiny room, wondering if a mattress would even fit in the room. Probably not. It’s already packed full of the stuff he bought today. There’s just enough of a space for him to curl up with the black blanket and the red plush, Mr. Chicken, in the same spot on the floor as last night, wings pressed uncomfortably tight to his back as he attempts to not knock anything over. The hardwood makes his shoulders and hips ache, and Keigo knows his back is going to hate him in the morning.

He really ought to look for a bigger place tomorrow.

…And thank that crazy shop owner for the blanket. It’s cozy and he’s always loved soft things like this.

Chapter Text

Morning comes and Keigo sleeps in until what his phone tells him is just past six. He wants to get up and go get breakfast but promised the kid from yesterday he’ll wait till later. So, instead he grabs his toothbrush and toothpaste and shuffles into the bathroom he doesn’t fit in. Even when dropping all but the feathers closest to the bone he can barely squeeze inside. It’s only got a sink and a toilet, so he’ll have to find a better place (or a local gym) before he stinks enough people notice.

After brushing his teeth and finishing the rest of his business in the bathroom (including splashing water from the sink onto his face and armpits, which results in him making a mess), Keigo strips out of the rest of his clothes and finds new, clean ones. After a moment’s consideration, he picks the camouflage boxers over the plain black ones, folding the top band down so that it doesn’t pull at his tail feathers too bad. Frowning, Keigo tugs absentmindedly at the offending red feathers, wondering if he could get away with wearing the yoga pants and tucking them down a pant leg without looking weird. Probably not.

Instead, he picks out a pair of black jeans that prove to be loose enough his tail feathers don’t look weird when shoved down the left leg, and an extra-large, soft, baby blue hoodie he loved instantly when the lady handed it to him in the shop yesterday that bears a funky cartoon chicken on the front. A feather makes quick work of slicing slits in the back, which he shuffles his wings into as he tugs it over his head. A pair of the white socks cover the cracked skin-colored scales of his bird-feet, protecting them from rubbing raw against the walls of his new boots as he steps into them and laces them up. These ones let his toes lay flat inside rather than having to permanently be bunched up – a vast improvement from before. After brushing his hair enough he’s happy with it, he grabs his wallet, new phone, room key, and the same pair of cheap gloves that he wore yesterday before stepping out for breakfast.

A quick glance at his phone shows it’s about seven, so that surely can’t be too early for the teen at the café. Deciding to skip the stairs, Keigo hops the railing and lets his wings break his three-story fall before he slams into the ground. There’s no one around to see the stunt or his dopey adrenaline-fueled grin.

Whistling, Keigo has to hold himself back from skipping down the street as he waves to the few people out and about, his wide grin proud on his face. As before, it takes only a handful of minutes to reach the café. Keigo pokes his head inside, the little bell jingling, and waves to the teen fiddling with the coffee pot as he slips inside.

“Morning!” The teen, Haru, if Keigo’s remembering that right, snaps his head up at Keigo’s voice.

“Oh, hey! You actually came back.” Purple eyes are bright as the kid smiles cheerily.

“Course! I need my morning coffee,” Keigo jokes half-heartedly. The kid chuckles along, finishing whatever it is he was doing and leaning with his forearms against the counter.

“Fair enough. Want anything with the large black coffee?” Keigo wants to comment on the fact the kid remembered that from yesterday but stops at the small flush in the teen’s cheeks.

“Uh. Yeah, do you do omelettes?” Keigo squints at the chalkboard, but the kid is already pressing buttons on the cash register.

“Course I can! I’ll make you the best damned omelette you’ve ever had!” That’s an odd amount of passion over a few eggs.

“…Thanks. I’ll take two of the funky scones with that then.” He’s never tried those before, and they look cool at the very least. He slides his credit card over before the teen can vocalize the price. Their fingers brush as the teen hands the card back, which makes Haru flush violently and stumble into the doorway as he heads into the backroom.

Very odd indeed.

Keigo ends up not liking the scones, but the teen is staring at him all hopeful so Keigo can’t bring himself to say anything. The omelette is pretty good though, packed full of sausage, bacon, cheese, spinach, tomatoes, and diced green peppers. He manages to finish off the first scone then claims being full, so the kid gives him a little brown paper bag to carry the other one out with him. With that he waves goodbye and sets out to explore the town some more.

Before he realizes where his traitorous feet are taking him, Keigo finds himself crossing the cobblestone footbridge and pushing the library door open.

“Good morning, dear! You’re just on time.” Fai smiles warmly at him from her desk as she scribbles at some papers. Her eyes latch onto the bag in his hand. “Oh, is that for me? How sweet!” Well, that’s less wasteful than throwing it out.

“Yeah.” He hops the desk in a single easy bound rather than walking around to the opening at the corner, wings giving a tiny instinctual flap. “Good morning to you too.” He hands the bagged scone to her outstretched fingers. “Now, I think we need to talk about all this.” Keigo makes a motion to encompass the whole of the library, but Fai is already immersed in eating the pastry, so she doesn’t see.

“Well, I suppose you’re right.” Oh good, she’ll listen when he explains that he’s retired and not looking for a new job. “Now, I can’t pay you. All we get to run the place is enough to pay for electricity here and upstairs and a few new books every couple months. But it’s a very rewarding job and I’m sure you’ll love it.”

“Now wait a sec-” This is not the way he wants this conversation to go.

“The hours are good, especially for a young man like yourself who’ll want to go out at night with your friends. We’re open weekdays from 9am-5pm, 9am-2pm on Saturday, and we’re closed on Sundays. Course, open at 9 means we need to be here getting things ready for the day around 8 or so. Now I live in the loft just upstairs, but I’m sure you don’t have too far a commute.” She finishes the scone and drops the empty bag into the garbage bin at the foot of her desk.

“But I-”

“This old lady didn’t want to hire someone on, but I suppose they’re all right in saying I need to think about the future. I won’t live forever and suppose I should retire eventually. Plus, if I don’t hire you Gale’s going to haggle me about ‘not taking care of myself’ and all that. Just because I fall sometimes doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself.” Fai huffs, and Keigo frowns, mulling that over.

“That is a good point.” If he’s here for a bit, then he won’t have to worry about her hurting herself and having no one around to help. Plus, he can get away with giving her a feather for emergencies.

“Course you’d think so,” Fai grumbles good-naturedly. “All I need from you is a promise that you’ll take care of this old place after I’m gone. Most people don’t realize it, but this here is the heart of the town, and it’s our job to take care of it.”

“Yeah, ok. I can do that.” For now, at least. Until he finds someone else that can look after the old lady and the library.

“Good. Now, get your fancy feathers to bring a chair over and sit yourself down. I’ll show you how to go about the morning paperwork. It’s nothing difficult, just some housekeeping to keep things organized.” Feathers detach and bring over a cushioned chair that they set down adjacent to Fai’s. He settles down, shifting as his tail feathers squish, and peeks at the forms. Doesn’t look too hard to follow.

About twenty minutes later he’s certain that the paperwork is not hard. One, it’s only been twenty minutes and they’re already done, even with her going slowly to talk him through it. Two, it’s entirely voluntary and only needed to keep things organized for when the municipal government comes around to give them their money. Three, compared to the mountain he got every week for the past six years as a top pro hero, this is nothing.

“You catch on quick, dear. What a smart cookie you are.” Fai musses up his hair, and he tries to scowl but ends up chirping instead. Freezing, Keigo waits for the accompanying slap. After a moment when she withdraws her hand and still has yet to say anything, he relaxes, clears his throat, and moves over the incident. Maybe she just didn’t hear.

“Right. So, it’s half past eight now, is there something to do or do we just wait for people to come in?” Fai laughs, picking up the papers, rustling them until they’re in a neat stack, and places them in a desk drawer.

“There’s always something to do, dear. But we’ll start by flipping around the sign to the open side. It’s getting close, and I never mind if people pop in early.” A feather zips off to the door to do that, and she shakes her head with a fond sigh. “Very handy quirk, that is. Just be careful you don’t get in trouble for using it, ok dear?”

Keigo waves her off, grinning. “I’ll be careful.” His quirk is very well trained so there’s no way he’d mess up and hurt someone.

“Alright. Now, come over here and I’ll show you how to pack some books to ship them off.”

“Wait, why are we shipping books away?” Fai shuffles over to the computer, turning it on and clicking over to a page that gives a list of titles.

“We share with a few libraries in nearby towns. We all buy different things so if someone wants a title we have and someone else doesn’t, they put in a request, and we’ll send it over to them so their patron can read it. Then they’ll send it back once the item is returned. Kyo will come on Tuesdays to pick up whatever we have to give out, so there’s no need to worry about driving things over or any of that. Fridays they’ll come by to drop off whatever our patrons order in. Make sense so far?” The librarian turns to him with a kind smile, and Keigo nods.

“Yeah, that makes sense. I can go find those if you want.” He points to the list on the computer, eyes scanning over it once as he memorizes it.

“Oh, thank you dear. Let me write it down for you.” He stops her before she shuffles off to find a piece of paper.

“Don’t bother, Fai. It’s up here.” He taps his temple, making her giggle, and slips out from behind the desk to go find the titles. Humming, Keigo’s eyes scan the shelf he’s at as feathers drop from his wings, launching off to go feel novel spines. Sure, he can’t see out of his feathers, but if they can feel the indentation of lettering then that works just as well.

Within seconds Keigo has got a stack of fourteen novels and feather-carries those over to the desk.

“My goodness, dear!” Fai gapes as the feathers set down the novels as he moves over to the magazines to find the three requested. He allows himself a small burst of pride and a cocky grin at her shock. Flipping through the interior design pile, Keigo picks out the three months requested and heads back to the counter.

“Ok, now what?”

Fai digs out the black bags they use to ship mail between libraries and shows him how to write up where the items are going. He’s a little concerned she’s using sticky notes to label things, but hey, he’s not going to tell her how to do her job.

That done and set aside for Tuesday, Keigo paused, brow furrowing.

“Wait. Today is Sunday. I thought the library was supposed to be closed Sundays?” Fai shrugs, nodding.

“Yes, and it normally is. But I figured you could use an extra training day – I might have been wrong about that – so I sent a notice out on the Facebook page saying we’d be open today from nine until two, like Saturdays.”

“Oh. Sorry you missed your break day because of me.” She should have told him to come in Monday.

She shrugs, waving him off. “No worries there dear. The quicker you’re trained up the quicker they’ll convince me to retire; then I’ll have too much free time. Who knows, maybe that won’t be such a bad thing. I’ll travel a few years before I can’t, and I’ll finally be able to visit that little vacation home Gale’s always trying to invite me to.” She sighs, sitting in her desk chair with a long huff. “Don’t you end up like me, you hear Keigo?” He jolts at the sound of his name, straightening to attention. “Don’t you end up old and alone with only this place to claim as your legacy. I can see so much potential in you. Go where life takes you and enjoy it.” Unsure how to answer, Keigo just nods. He doesn’t mention how he’ll have a legacy as the hero who rose in ranks young then betrayed everyone by dropping off the face of the earth.

But maybe that’s Hawks’s legacy, not Keigo’s.

Their first patron of the day, to no surprise, is Gale. He shuffles inside and lights up as he waves to Fai, grunting an acknowledgement to Keigo as an afterthought. He merely points to the chair still next to the librarian’s desk, a silent offering to the older man. The man nods in appreciation, coming over to sit next to the woman and start up some conversation or another.

Keigo takes the chance to keep exploring the computer, playing around with the functions on the sidebar. The check in and out ones are easy enough, and the one labeled ‘holds’ is clearly supposed to be for when people come in and request a book they don’t currently have, whether that be from another library or one that’s checked out (he also found out that the first of the tables lining the center of the room is where they stick the books that came in so the person who ordered it can see it easily). Then there’s the search function, which tells him what they currently have on shelves. That’ll surely be a handy tool. There’s a function for opening a new library card, which prompts him to scan the barcode of a new one (from the stack in Fai’s desk) and fill out the personal information required. There’s one for fines too, but that asks for a passcode and since a glance over his shoulder shows Fai’s busy laughing with her… friend, so Keigo leaves them be.

The door swings open, and to his surprise he recognizes the trio entering.

“Hey!” Keigo waves, feathers puffing up, as Cian, her mother Akasuki, and a man he guesses is the father (considering he’s got cat whiskers and fur around his face that would lead to Cian’s quirk) step inside.

“You’re here!” The girl grins, shoulders relaxing as if she was worried he wouldn’t be. “Mom?” Suki grins, reaching into her purse and handing over a small box to her daughter.

“Good to see you again, Keigo.” He goes to respond, but Cian is shoving the box at him, so he gives the girl his attention.

“What’s this? You got me a present?” He picks it up, rotating it around until the girl prompts him to open the gift. Doing so, his brow furrows as unwrapping the gift reveals a small bottle of gold nail polish. “Oh. Thanks?”

Cian plants a hand on the counter, showing off kitten claws that are painted pink.

“I like painting mine, and I think it helps make them feel safer. So I wanted to get you a pretty color too, so you’d feel safe. Mom helped me pick it, is it good?” Her tail winds around her wrist. “I wanted to get pink, cause that’s my favourite, but Mom said you’d like this one better.”

“Thanks Cian, I really like it.” He gives her a warm smile, setting the little bottle back into the tiny box it was wrapped in. “It’s a very thoughtful gift.” She smiles, then scurries off to go look at the small chapter books meant for kids her age.

“So, how’d you know to find me here?” He addresses the question to Akasuki, the man hovering at her side.

“Oh, you’ll get how it is soon enough. I heard from a friend who heard from a friend that a new guy with big red wings was working at the library, so obviously it was you. Which worked out well since Cian was very intent on giving you that,” a finger points towards the bottle of gold nail polish. “She’s certain you’ll be happier without gloves and thinks this is a fix-everything cure. As someone who’s clawless, I have no clue, but either way it’s a gift, so do what you want with it.”

He's not sure what to say to that. “Thanks?” She huffs, rolling her eyes, then grabs her husband’s hand to pull him over to where their daughter is making a mess of books.

Keigo’s still staring at the small bottle, wondering what the fuck he’s going to do with it, when they come back with a few beginner chapter books for Cian and a Disney movie he figures he should recognize. Hey, at least he can say it’s Disney. That’s an improvement from pre-Rumi days at least.

“Oh, let me get that dear.” Fai tries to get out of her seat, but Keigo sends a feather to push her back.

“I’ve got it. You keep talking with Gale.” His feather picks up her grumbled words, but he stifles his chuckle. “You got a library card on you?” Akasuki produces one from her purse, so Keigo dutifully scans it and checks out their items easily enough. It’s not like scanning a barcode can be very difficult.

“Bye bye Mister Keigo!” Cian waves to him, her tail swinging along behind her happily, as the three of them leave the library. He waves back, a smile pulling at his lips.

In no time it’s two and he’s being kicked out. Gale left a few minutes beforehand, when Keigo was finishing up all the closing tasks. Fai scowled at him, grumbling something about how she’ll be forced to leave sooner rather than later at the rate he was picking things up, but something tells him she’s not actually upset about that.

Keigo pauses on the cobblestone footbridge, folding his forearms along the railing to peer down and watch the ducks swimming in the small river maybe five feet below. The wind tugs at his hair and ruffles his wings as the still-warm fall sun shines down on him. It’s nice. Peaceful.

So, honestly, he should have expected someone to slam into him, sending him toppling over the side of the bridge. Laughter fills the air as his wings snap out wide, and he pounds them down, flying up to land on the railing he was leaning against.

“Can I help you?” Keigo snaps at the three on the bridge. They’re all wearing black, like some sort of gang or boy band, and their cruel laughs have turned to sneers.

“You’re supposed to fall into the water, bird boy. Get back to it.” The one with big shoulders and a mohawk smirks, arms crossing over a chest Keigo knows is all gym-muscle and steroids and not practical.

“You.” He stops, blinking and shaking his head as if to clear his delusions. “You expect me to jump in the river? Why would I do that?” They exchange glances, clearing not having expected this much resistance.

“Because we said so and it’ll be funny. Go on birdy, take a bath.” The interaction is drawing a crowd, the few on the nearby streets pausing to watch it unfold.

Keigo glowers at them, annoyed. “I didn’t retire for this. Leave me alone.” He spins on his boot heel, walking along the railing of the bridge with perfect balance.

And, of course, that invites one of them to try and push him again. Hawks twirls out of the way of the shove, wings snapping in tight as to not throw him off balance. A gloved hand lashes out, grabbing onto the arms trying to push him, and he pulls as he pivots, launching the gym rat over the side of the bridge and into the water below. There’s a shriek as they stand up in the waist-deep water, drenched.

He feels kind of bad – for the ducks, that is. They were minding their own business and he’s definitely scared them away.

“Leave me alone,” Keigo repeats, glaring at the two still on the bridge who are watching him warily.

No one moves after him as he hops down from the railing and continues on his way, feathers half-sharp.

With that encounter he doesn’t feel like exploring town anymore. So, he heads back to his apartment. His lonely, cramped apartment he’s barely got enough space to sit in.

Pulling his boots and gloves off, Keigo shimmies out of his jeans and pulls his tail feather around, fingers carding through as he checks to see if any barbs split. Deeming them fine, Keigo groans as he sits down in his designated floor space, on top of the black blanket that weird shop owner gave to him.

“Fuck.” Keigo wiggles around, huffing, until he can reach the red chicken plush. Scooping it up, he hugs it to his chest, face pressing into the soft material. “Why do some people have to be so mean, Mr. Chicken?” A hand plays with the small fabric tail, his own twitching in response. “I don’t want to have to deal with a bunch of bullies.” Of course, the plush can’t answer him. He just squeezes it tighter, his own wings curling around his shoulders. Maybe if he closes his eyes he can pretend someone else is hugging him.

He wakes to his stomach rumbling. A quick look at his phone shows it’s nine at night. Eating through another of the pre-made meals, he leaves the empty box with the other by the door since he forgot to look for a garbage bin.

With that Keigo flops back to the ground, sighing. He just slept so he’s not tired. He doesn’t really want to go out and do something, but there’s also nothing to do nor the space to do it in here.

Grabbing his phone, Keigo take out the headphones he bought and connects them to the Bluetooth option. It takes a few tries, but he downloads a music app and hits play on some random playlist that seems like it’ll be good. Slipping the headphones over his ears and turning up the volume, Keigo heads out of his apartment. He hums along to the song, ungloved fingers tapping a rhythm along his bare thigh. Oh. Maybe he should have put his pants back on.

…Oh well. It’s not like he’s planning on interacting with people. Besides, he’s still got his boxers and hoodie. That’ll have to be good enough.

A quick peek into the lobby shows no one there. Does anyone actually work there? Shrugging off the question, Keigo takes the chance to walk outside, bare talons clacking loudly against the tile flooring, and quickly takes to the sky. One hand keeps a firm grasp on his phone as it plays his music, the beat numbing his brain.

Once high enough he doesn’t have a chance of hitting anything, Keigo closes his eyes and lets his wings carry him. There’s a slight pull with each wingbeat as he flaps to keep his glide smooth, the muscles reminding him of the beating they took the other day in his mad escape over here. But it’s not bad, regular even, so his flight does not falter.

Wind pulls at him as he zips through the night sky. It tosses his hair, little fingers trying to grab at his headphones and yank them off – the reason he never bothers with earbuds, those things never stay on during flight. Fall night breezes snap at his tail feathers, the vanes fluttering and sensitive, unused to it. He’s also unused to the tail, and more than once it throws off his balance, forcing him to bank in a way that lets him get into a different air current.

After some time, his playlist ends. With a long sigh, Keigo reluctantly blinks open his eyes. He’s close to the mountains he saw coming in. Observing those, their rocky peaks scream a challenge, one he wants to conquer. He wants to climb it. A frown slips onto his lips as he pauses to flap midair and consider that a moment. Yeah, he wants to climb it. Not fly over but take the time to enjoy the rough rock and activity that would count as training, at his own pace. Humming in contentment, Keigo nods to himself. That sounds like a good plan, so long as he goes either in the next couple weeks or months later after the winter season has passed.

A shudder runs down his spine. Voluntarily mountain climbing in the dead of winter sounds about as hellish an activity as he can imagine.

Tapping his phone, Keigo unlocks it and navigates over to a new playlist. Peppy, familiar music pounds into his eardrums. A smile tugs his lips up, recalling how Rumi would belt out pop songs in the worst singing voice he’s ever had the displeasure of listening to those few times she dragged him out for karaoke night.

The wind currents are quick to carry him back to his apartment, even with him gliding, flapping his wings only enough to stay afloat. Touching down outside the place, a look at his phone shows it’s just past midnight. The odds of him sleeping are still drastically low considering his nap, but he’s at a loss for what to do. Maybe watch a movie? That was a thing people did.

Pausing the music, Keigo sets to downloading that streaming app Tokoyami pestered him into getting for his agency laptop. The kid loved to watch random cartoons during their lunch breaks.

It’s silent as he slinks back to his room, new app doing that thing where the little square goes from dark to bright, showing it’s ready to be used. Tapping on it, Keigo proceeds to sign up for an account, typing in a memorized number for one of his credit cards. Apparently the first month is free, so that’s nice. Scrolling along, he swipes through movie options until he finds something he thinks looks vaguely interesting.

Unlocking his door, relocking it behind him, and settling down in his spot on the floor, Keigo readjusts his headphones and taps on it. The movie boots itself up and he finds himself immersed in some sort of musical-dance show thing. Fuck, he thought this was an action movie. Eh, switching now seems like too much effort. One hand grabs Mr. Chicken and moves the plush beneath his head to act as a pillow while feathers take the phone from the other one, holding it afloat for him. After pulling at the blanket so it sort of wraps around his bare legs, Keigo stops moving around and focuses on the movie. It’s shockingly not that bad.

Chapter Text

The sun peeking in through his singular window alerts Keigo that it’s time to turn off his phone. He got through three movies, his back and butt are numb, and his stomach rumbles in a not-so-silent demand for food. He rubs at his eyes, squeezing them shut and trying to blink away the slight ache behind them. Maybe six and a half hours staring at a bright screen overnight wasn’t a great plan.

Stumbling to his feet, Keigo drops all the feathers he can and pulls his hoodie off before stepping inside the tiny bathroom. Twisting the sink faucet on and stoppering it, he uses handfuls of water to wash the sweat from his face, neck, shoulders, armpits, and wherever he can reach on his back. Turning the faucet off now that there’s a decent pool of cold water, Keigo mentally prepares, then dunks his head into it. The few feathers left on his wings go sharp at the sudden cold.

“Shit,” he hisses, standing up with cold water running down his face, goosebumps peppering his skin. Hands quickly scrub at greasy golden locks in an attempt to make them look a tad less grimy. It doesn’t help that much. The water drips from the hairs at the base of his neck, sending tiny freezing rivulets down his spine.

Shivering, he looks down at the remaining water in the sink and slowly reaches over to un-stopper it, letting it drain away. No way is he forcing his feathers into water that chilly; that’s just asking to catch a cold.

After looking around and acknowledging that he has no towels, Keigo calls over a few smaller feathers and gets them to fan him. A sped-up sort of air-drying. He’s not sure how effective this is, but he’s dried enough fifteen minutes later, so he doesn’t really care. Finding another pair of sweatpants, deep forest green ones, he swaps out his camouflage boxers with plain black ones then tugs the pants on. Tail feathers are shoved down the left leg, fluffing and resettling absentmindedly as he goes to fetch a fresh pair of socks. Deciding to switch it up, Keigo picks on of the long-sleeved shirts he bought, a plain navy one, rather than a hoodie. It’s loose and a whole lot more comfortable than he first thought it would be. Gloves found, boots shoved on, cell phone, key, and wallet acquired, Keigo sets off for breakfast.

Stepping outside informs him that there’s a bit of a breeze today, but it’s one carrying the last wisps of summer, not incoming winter freezingness, so it’s nice. Shuffling his way to the café, he wonders why he ever thought it was safe to go fight villains feeling slow and heavy like this. And that was only one night. He’s had multiple weeks of shifts that ran over 72 hours – hell, the war wasn’t kind enough to allow them time to sleep as the final pieces clicked into place.

In any case, he’s doing his best to get out of zombie shuffle mode by the time he pushes his way into the café.

To his surprise he is not the only person in the shop this time. Granted, he’s later than normal, so it shouldn’t be that much of a shock. Once his brain catches up, he realizes he recognizes the woman as the shop owner that gave him the blanket. She’s ordering what sounds to be a bunch of coffee.

“Hey!” Keigo calls out, grinning, as his slight tiredness washes away. The woman turns to him, brown eyes going wide as she squeals at the sight of him. “I wanted to thank you for the blanket.”

“Oh, that’s no problem, silly!” That wide smile is back and itches at his brain. It looks wrong on her face. “I know how much you love soft things.”

“Thanks?” Creepily accurate, but still right.

Haru sets down the woman’s coffees, all six in one of those grey cup-holder trays.

“Keigo! Good morning.” The teen smiles at him warmly. Keigo goes to return the smile, only for a flash of steel to have him lunging forwards. His fingers snap around the woman’s wrist, stopping the knife three inches from Haru’s neck.

“BACK OFF!” She shrieks, snarling at Haru as she strains against Keigo’s hold. “He’s taken, so don’t you dare try anything.” She drops the knife, aiming to catch it in her free hand, but a feather intercepts it before she can reclaim it. Keigo squints at the blade. It’s hilt is familiarly pink.

“Toga?” For a second he thinks he’s wrong, then she smiles sweetly at him, and he knows he’s right. What are the odds he just happens to stumble across the same tiny town a member of the now disbanded League is hiding out in? Apparently better than he previously figured. Keigo sighs, wings drooping. “Please don’t stab him. I don’t have the energy to deal with that. I’m an old, retired man now.” She gasps, clapping her hands together in delight.

“You retired?! That’s perfect! He’s gonna be so happy!” A particularly loud squeal has him wincing.

“Who, Toga? Also, stop telling people I’m taken. You know I’m single.” Like every time he tried to tell her in the past, Toga just smirks knowingly.

“I can’t say, I promised not to.” Keigo sighs. He doesn’t get why she’s so convinced he’s dating someone, but she’s been spreading that to everyone who so much as looked at him at the PLF. He’s asked her too many times and told her he’s gay, but she insists she doesn’t have a crush on him (thank God for that. She’s barely eighteen and at least half crazy). Which then begs the question: who does? She must know something, unless she’s doing this just to be a bother, but that’s not Toga’s style when it comes to love. Factoring in the few people she knows well, that doesn’t leave much of a pool of possible suspects.

He tries not to think about it.

“Well, Hawksie, why’d you retire?” Keigo flinches back at the nickname, looking down to the floor.

“My name’s Keigo, Toga.”

“Oh, sorry.” He believes her apology. Turning to a very confused and pale Haru, Keigo gives the teen a pained smile.

“Sorry about that. I’ll get, uh, large black coffee and three of the chocolate chip bagels with cream cheese.” He’s pretty sure he’s had that before at Rumi’s. “And could I get the fourth in one of those nifty bags?” Haru slips away as quick as possible once Keigo pays, glancing nervously at Toga as he goes.

“So,” the teen prompts once Haru’s out of sight. “If I get to call you by your first name, then you’d better start calling me Himiko!” She latches onto his arm, smiling up at him with that smile that doesn’t fit the form she’s taken. “Also feel free to stop in at the shop anytime.” Yeah, that’s a no. Her smile has twisted to a slightly more manic grin, which means trouble.

“I will,” he lies, patting her hand where it’s gripping his sleeve.

“Ok! Well, I need to go before the coffee gets cold.” Her nose wrinkles. “’Giri’s always so cranky when the coffee gets cold. And I tell him that if he wants to make sure the coffee is warm then he ought to get it himself, but no, I always get stuck on the coffee run.” Her grumbling cuts off as a feather opens the door for her. “Ooh, thanks Keigo! You’re the best. See you around~!” Toga skips out the door, the hot drinks sloshing along precariously as she goes.

“Bye Toga.”

A few minutes pass before Haru peaks out from the back room.

“Oh, thank God she’s gone.” The teen sighs in relief as he bumps the door open with his hip, carrying out Keigo’s breakfast. “I thought she was trying to kill me!” The teen laughs, so Keigo doesn’t point out that she was and almost succeeded, and fakes a laugh to join in.

“Yeah, sorry about her. She’s a little… eccentric in some of her habits.” Haru snorts, muttering something about that being an understatement as he hands over Keigo’s food. His bagels, despite there being three of them, are gone far too quickly. What a shame.

It’s hardly half past seven by the time he arrives at the library, knocking on the glass door once out of politeness before pushing it open.

“Morning Fai,” he calls out. “I brought you food.” The older lady is turning on the computer and smiles at him.

“Good morning dear. Oh, thank you.” He hands over the bag with the fourth and final bagel. “Would you mind doing this morning’s paperwork?”

“Sure.” He hops the counter and grabs the papers from her desk, feather fetching him a pen.

And so the library day beings.

Keigo spends the day helping people find the media they’re looking for, and every single one leaves with a smile. Sure, it’s not saving their lives, but it’s helping people in a different way. And he kind of loves it. Maybe he will stick with it a tad longer.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all fly by in a similar manner. He sleeps on the floor, wakes up stiff and sore, tries to wash himself as best as he can in the sink, gets breakfast from the café, avoids Toga whenever he sees her transformed form, and spends the day at the library. Nights are slow and boring as he lies on the floor with his blanket and Mr. Chicken, watching whatever movie he clicks on. He eats through more of the pre-made meals, and since he's always returning at the end of a day having forgotten to buy a garbage bin, the empty boxes keep piling in a growing stack by the door.

Yet it seems like hardly any time has gone by before it’s Friday and Fai is handing him the keys to the library and the loft above, a warm smile on her wrinkled face.

“I’m serious,” Keigo protests once more. “I can buy it off you, you don’t need to just give it to me.”

“Oh, nonsense dear. The man running this old place before me gave it to me for free, so it only makes sense I continue that tradition. Now, you’ve got my number, so call if you stumble across anything that’s giving you some troubles.”

“I will, thanks Fai.” The woman pulls him into a hug, arms squeezing tight before she steps back.

“Be good, and don’t forget to live your life outside of here too.” With those parting words Fai joins Gale in his truck, the back of it packed full of her things. Keigo waves to the two of them as they head off for that summer home on the coast Fai mentioned. He decided to not point out to either that people usually go to summer homes in the summer, not the cusp of winter. They were both far too excited at the prospect for him to ruin their fun.

Once the truck is out of sight, Keigo makes sure the library doors are locked then heads back to his apartment. Considering most of the stuff he bought is still in bags, it’s quick work to collect everything. After giving the now empty space a once-over and determining there’s nothing left behind, Keigo drops his key off at the empty front desk alongside a note detailing that he’s moving out. Hopefully someone finds it there.

Feathers bearing plastic bags full of his things float along after him as Keigo heads back to the library. Letting himself in, Keigo relocks the doors and heads through the doorway in the far-left corner of the room. A single flight of stairs brings him to the loft above the library. It’s a much nicer space than he anticipates. One wall that overlooks the entryway of the library is all windows, letting sunlight warm the place. An aged rocking chair is tilted to face the windows, the cushions padding the wooden chair plush and squishy as he pokes one. The floors are a deep brown carpet, offsetting the mid-tone grey walls. A twin mattress is in the far-right corner, tucked in between the sliver of space between where the windows end and the adjacent wall. A dresser is lined up on the same wall, the indigo paint flaking off the wood. There’s no closet, but Keigo is certain all his clothes can fit in the dresser.

Taking up half the left of the room is the kitchen space. There’s a refrigerator, microwave, and even an oven with burners set in the top. A circular oak table is set in that area, with the matching two high-backed chairs facing each other. A cupboard is set into the wall, the white of the door matching with the rest of the appliances.

The other half of that same side is the bathroom. A quick glance through the doorway shows that it does have a shower – thankfully one big enough he’ll be able to keep his feathers on. He won’t be able to spread his wings out, but so long as they’re pulled tight to his back he’ll fit and be able to rinse them too. There’s a nice sink, rectangular mirror, and a toilet there too.

Getting his feathers to set down whatever it is they’re carrying, Keigo strips out of his clothes and steps into the shower, sighing contently as the warm water glides over his body for the first time in a week.

That done, Keigo dries off as best he can and sets to unpacking his stuff. Clothes are folded and set in the drawers of the dresser, his stock of pre-made meals are sent into the cupboard, Mr. Chicken and the blanket are placed on the bed, and his phone, headphones, wallet, and key ring find a place on the kitchen table.

Pulling on a clean pair of boxers and an extra-large t-shirt he’s going to dedicate to sleeping in, Keigo hops onto the bed. The mattress boings under his weight, taking a moment for the springs to adjust to the weight of a new person. Sitting there, looking around the room of the place that’s his new home, Keigo’s really glad he decided to retire. Despite the lack of personal touches, this place already feels more like a home than anywhere else he’s lived.

Keigo lies down, back singing it’s joy at having a non-floor surface to sleep on and sends feathers for his phone and headphones. He found a bunch of movies about car racing that he wants to try tonight.

Come morning, Keigo has a far bit further a walk to go to reach the café given his new living quarters. Considering the size of the town it’s still not that far, but it’s far enough he’s going to need to pick someplace else once winter fully kicks in. As one who hates winter and it’s cold weather passionately, he’s not keen on going outside at all once it starts snowing.

However, it’s still fall, so he’s got time before hell comes around.

“Morning Haru!” Keigo greets the teen, with a smile that morphs into a yawn. He gets laughed at for that.

“Long night?” An amused green eyebrow quirks up. Keigo groans, smacking his credit card on the counter so the kid knows to get him his coffee.

“Apparently. I swear there are too many movies in the world. I ended up watching four before falling asleep for like three hours. Now I’m here. Coffee please.” There’s another amused snort, but moments later there’s warm coffee in his hands so he can forgive that.

“Anything to eat today?” Keigo just shrugs, sipping his black coffee.

“You pick something.” Haru nods, tapping a few button on the cash register before swiping Keigo’s card and handing it back.

“You might want to sit down before you collapse, man.” That’s probably good advice, even if his legs aren’t tired. Keigo slides into a chair, cursing under his breath as his wings smack into the back rest painfully. He forgot to turn it sideways first.

He’s halfway through his coffee by the time Haru brings him out some sort of egg-vegetable mix and a couple cranberry muffins. He shoots the teen a thumbs-up in thanks before diving in. The warm food helps wake him up, and by the time he’s done eating the yawns and sleepy pull of his eyes has abated.

“Thanks Haru, see you tomorrow.” The teen waves at him without looking, and Keigo slips out of the shop. The walk back to the library is much quicker paced now that he’s got some food in him. Upon arriving, he unlocks the door and leaves it open – sure he’s supposed to open at nine, but he doesn’t mind if a few people come early before work. Despite that, most people try to abide by the times listed and don’t come in until nine, so he’s got nearly an hour before anyone shows up.

Now that he’s had some practice with it, the paperwork takes hardly five minutes to complete. Finding the books to send out to other libraries takes a bit longer, but with the assistance of his feathers it goes by like there’s four people packing things up.

With all the morning things out of the way, Keigo sits in the chair behind Fai’s- his desk, twirling around like a little kid. It’s a really fun spinning chair, and he now understands why he wasn’t allowed one at his hero agency.

The door opens, signaling the arrival of his first patron of the day.

He doesn’t recognize them as they lumber in, dressed head to toe in black, hood pulled up, and head tilted down and away from him. They’re the kind of person he’s suspicious of as a retired pro hero, but he shoves that aside. Librarians don’t care about someone’s sketchiness levels.

“Hi!” Keigo greets cheerfully, stopping his spinning and standing to greet them. “How are you this fine Saturday morning?” The person freezes, and Keigo internally panics. There’s no way he’s already screwed up his first day without Fai here to guide him. But then the person looks at him and Keigo freezes up too.

He knows those turquoise eyes.

“Hawks?!” He knows that raspy voice. What the fuck are the odds.

“Dabi,” Keigo hisses, eyes wide. He prepares to jump the counter and attack, then stops. He’s not a hero. He can’t legally attack someone anymore, even if that person is a wanted villain. So, he forces his wings back to flat, feathers bristling, and smiles the brightest smile he can with the circumstances. “Anything I can help you find today?” His voice is forcibly pleasant and has clearly thrown the villain (ex-villain?) through a loop.

“Uh. I have some books to return, and I’m supposed to pick up a couple fashion magazines Himi- someone ordered in.” The man cautiously shuffles up to the counter, pausing a moment before he hefts a bagful of books onto it. As Dabi pulls them out of the bag, Keigo notes the thin gloves he’s got on. They’re the same ones Keigo is currently wearing and are probably to hide the telling scars and accompanying line of staples on the man’s wrists.

Dabi hesitantly moves over to the holds pick-up table while glancing back warily a few times. He finds the magazines he’s looking for with an ease that tells Keigo this is not his first time coming here, which begs the question how long have the League of Villains been here for?

The man returns to the counter and sets them down, pulling a worn library card from his coat pocket. Keigo, still a little frazzled by this whole thing, scans the card then the barcodes for each of the four fashion magazines and three large-print mystery novels, reciting the due date automatically. Dabi takes them, packing them into his bag, and then pauses, the air growing tense between ex-hero and ex-villain.

“So, are you not going to arrest me?” Dabi questions, rough voice very confused.

“I can’t,” Keigo sighs, backing away from the counter and hopping up to sit on his desk, legs swinging freely. “Not a hero anymore. Didn’t Toga tell you?” Dabi shakes his head, a small frown pulling at scarred lips.

“You saw Toga? Why the fuck didn’t she say anything?” Dabi scowls and Keigo almost feels bad for throwing the teen under the bus. “Well,” turquoise eyes meet his own, and they’re a heck of a lot softer than he figures they should be. “Guess I’ll see you around.” Dabi slips out the door, leaving Keigo to stare at the spot he stood.

Given he and Dabi’s weird relationship Keigo isn’t quite sure where they stand right now. When Keigo first joined the League as a double agent he knew Dabi was looking for a reason to kill him. However, as time went on, he was tempted to call them friends. They chatted about non-mission things, ate food together, and on one rare occasion Dabi had even let Keigo fall asleep leaning on his shoulder during mandatory League movie night.

But then the war happened. Keigo was outed as a spy when he gave a half-assed attempt at killing Jin, and Dabi fought him. War changes people, he knows that, yet when it came down to it Dabi didn’t take Hawks out of the fight like he should have. He spared Keigo’s wings, and they never faced each other on the battlefield after that.

Yet there’s no war now. They’re both retired and are technically regular civilians. Given the lack of flames and the fact the library isn’t burning down around him, he doesn’t think Dabi holds a grudge against him for the whole spy thing.

And he doesn’t think he holds a grudge against Dabi for the whole trying to destroy society thing, either. He would certainly like to know why the man thought he needed to do that, but he’s not mad about it. They won, it’s over. There’s no point dwelling on it now.

Keigo sighs, running his fingers through his hair. Honestly, given he talked with Toga, he really should have thought to mentally prepare to encounter other members of the League.

Given it’s a Saturday and that’s the short day, it passes quickly and easily.

A handful of other patrons come in and he greets most cheerfully by name. In such a small town it’s hard to not know names quickly. Of course, there are the few that just grunt grumpily at his greetings. He tries not to take those too personally.

But overall, it is pretty fun and a successful first day by himself.

After locking the doors once his phone tells him it’s after two, he spends an hour or so shelving the items people brought back. It’s a fun part of the job. He gets to go around with the cart packed full of returns and place them back in their proper spot on the shelves. Granted, nothing stays in the right spot long due to people taking things off the shelves then putting them back in the wrong place, so he often needs to rearrange ones that are already on the shelves too. But it is a pleasing activity. Everything has it’s own spot and the shelves look so good all organized and proper.

That done, Keigo shuts down the computer and heads outside. He’s determined to find a laptop and laundry hamper today. Laptop because his eyes hurt from staring at his small phone screen for hours on end at night, and the laundry hamper since tossing the things he’s worn and that need to be washed on the floor isn’t a great long-term plan. It makes the loft look messy, like he’s a teenager whose parents need to yell at him to pick his clothes up off the floor and not a semi-competent twenty-four-year-old.

Walking over to the mart where he met Cian and Akasuki, Keigo takes one look at it and decides to forgo a wheeled cart today. There’s just something about it that warns him trying to fight with one today will be a bad idea.

He wanders about the store, brain pulling up a mental map of where he went last time to find his way over to the electronics section. There’s a whole bunch of laptops, and considering he knows nothing about them, he picks one with keys that light up red cause it looks the coolest. From there he heads over to the section for clothes and shoes, correct in a assuming he can find a laundry hamper there. The first one he spies is a black rectangular shape with white kanji spelling ‘laundry’ up the side. There are a few other options, but he honestly doesn’t care enough to look at them and weigh out which one is the best.

On his way to the checkout, Keigo spots a table of discounted jigsaw puzzles. Impulsively, he grabs one. Turning it over in his hands, he finds it’s a close-up image of an orange kitten playing with a ball of blue yarn, the background green with tuffs of grass and a splattering of blue sky behind the kitten’s ears. It’s cute. He tucks it under his arm and continues along his way to the check out.

An hour later he’s at his desk in the library – having figured there’s more space here then on the kitchen table upstairs – new laptop set out in front of him. He’s trying and failing to set it up. It keeps asking him to do the same thing over and over, no matter how many times he follows the instructions. Scowling and beyond frustrated, Keigo is almost glad when someone pushes the door open.

Almost because it’s nearly five and he’s long since closed the library. Though he apparently forgot to relock the doors after returning from the store.

A man dressed in all black like he saw a few nights ago, ski mask included, stomps up to the counter and slams an empty duffle bag down on the smoothed wood.

“You know the drill, Lady,” the man grunts without even looking at Keigo. The ex-hero blinks at the guy in confusion. What the hell is he supposed to do with an empty duffle bag?

He stares at it, unmoving. After a few minutes of him staring at the bag and the ski-mask guy impatiently staring at the door, he finally looks at Keigo.

“You ain’t the Ol’ Lady. The fuck are you, some sort of bird-man?” Keigo snorts. Yeah he definitely hadn’t heard that one before. C’mon dude, at least try to be original with the insults.

“I’m Keigo. Today’s my first official day!” He grins brightly at the man in the ski mask, hopping to his feet and sliding around the desk to approach the counter where the bag rests. “I’ve got to admit, you have me stumped here, man. What is it you want me to do with the bag?” The guy looks at him and Keigo suddenly feels like a moron. He has a feeling whatever he is supposed to do is really obvious.

“Money. You put the money in the bag. You know, the monthly fee my gang collects in return for keeping this place under our protection?” Keigo blinks slowly. Fai never mentioned anything about either a gang or fees.

“Uh,” Keigo pulls out his phone and navigates to Fai’s contact. “Let me call her real quick, I’m sure we can get this all sorted out.” Before he can finish typing in all the numbers, a loud click sounds, drawing his attention up, so he’s looking down the barrel of a gun.

The gun protrudes from the man’s arm – clearly his quirk.

“Put the phone down,” the man growls. Keigo stares, trying to shut off his racing mind. Not panicking, no: analyzing, planning, and strategizing. But he isn’t a hero. He can’t attack someone-

The man clicks off the safety on his weapon.

Hawks moves.

Faster than an eye can blink a sharpened feather cuts clean through the gun, rendering it useless. He leaps over the counter, red wings flaring wide behind him, and two primaries slide into his hands in practised movements. One sharpens, and he uses the flat of it to swipe the man’s feet from underneath him. The other finds it’s way to the man’s throat the second his back slams into the ground.

Fear drifts up off the downed gang member, his breaths coming in quick stuttering pants. Keigo blinks, reeling himself back, feathers reattaching to wings.

“Ah shit. My bad, dude. Sorry,” he holds out a hand to help the guy stand up, but the man scrambles backwards, shaking.

“Who the hell are you?!” He shouts, his fear still permeating the air. Keigo sighs, wings drooping a little.

“I’m Keigo,” he repeats his words from earlier, “I’m the new librarian.” The guy pushes up to his feet, still backing away from Keigo, and scrambles out the door without looking back. Guess he doesn’t need that money after all. Or the duffle bag, for that matter.

Keigo sighs, walking back around the counter to flop into his spinning desk chair, suddenly exhausted. He just hopes the guy doesn’t press charges. He did attack the man with his quirk. It would be awkward if someone went looking for his non-existent record given the only copy is sealed up deep within Commission files. He doesn’t want to deal with someone poking around and alerting the Commission to his whereabouts. Sighing anew, Keigo stands back up and locks the doors before turning the laptop off to deal with it later. He’s no longer in the mood to fight technology and is willing to take the loss today. He’ll just watch TV on his phone for one more night.

Chapter Text

Waking up in the morning, Keigo is shocked to see his phone tell him it’s nearly seven. Wow, he actually slept in today. Clearly his weekly day off is already off to a great start.

Yawning, Keigo kicks off the black blanket and rolls out of bed. He stretches out his wings then refolds them along his back and shakes out his arms as he stands. He takes his time showering, scrubbing the green-apple scented shampoo firmly into the roots of his hair and debating whether or not it would be bad to put the stuff on his feathers. He decides not to, just in case.

Once he gets out and dries off – with a t-shirt he should wash soon cause he still hasn’t gotten around to buying towels – Keigo decides to go for it and grabs the black yoga pants. This turns out to be a mistake, given how he spends the next six minutes struggling to get them on over his boxers when the fabric tries to cling to his still-damp legs, but he succeeds in the end. As expected, they are pretty comfy. The fabric is soft, stretchy, hugs his legs as he moves, and the band is low enough it doesn’t press on his tail.

Though he isn’t quite sure what to do about said tail. There is no way he can shove the feathers down his pant leg without it looking weird, but also doesn’t want to take the pants off now that he managed to get them on. His fingers card through his tail feathers as he thinks, smoothing down fluffy red barbs.

“Well, I’m not changing now,” he huffs under his breath, letting the feathers slip from his fingers to dangle freely. They’re long enough now for the longest ruby feathers to brush the backs of his knees. “Fuck it, I guess.” With that he finds a deep violet hoodie that is definitely one of the biggest ones he bought, slices slits in the back, and wiggles his way into the shirt. Spotting the tiny green alien spaceship resting over his heart, he pokes the print, humming contently.

Dressed and ready for the day, Keigo eats through one of the pre-made meals in rapid time before heading out. The walk down the flight of stairs to reach the library is short, and he’s glad he doesn’t need to go outside to reach the interior of the library. That will be more than nice by the time the colder days of winter roll around. Keigo looks around the quiet, closed, library to make sure he isn’t forgetting anything, then heads out onto the street and locks the doors behind him. Though he shoves the keys into the big front pocket of the hoodie to rest with his phone and wallet, Keigo really isn’t sure how confident he is they’ll actually stay there. Hopefully. It wound suck to have his phone fall out and crack already.

He makes it three steps before self-consciously flipping his purple hood up and letting his wings simultaneously curl sightly around his shoulders and stretch to cover his tail as much as possible.

“No one cares,” Keigo firmly reminds himself, fingers clenching and relaxing, the cheap leather of the gloves he almost went without creaking with the motions. “No one is even looking.”

Despite his attempts to talk himself down, his feathers still go blade-sharp every time someone looks his way.

After twenty long minutes of walking along the sidewalk, Keigo finds a park entrance and eagerly slips inside. Picking one at random, he sets to walking along a gravel trail, eyes wide as he stares up at the trees above him. Given it’s October and thus mid-fall, the leaves are a rainbow of colors. Reds, oranges, yellows, browns, and even a few he’s tempted to call pink spot the trees lining the pathway. The pretty trees and fall colors immediately calm him, and he starts to wish he thought to bring his headphones. Music would go great with this type of stroll.

Gradually his wings and shoulders start to relax, and it gets easier to breathe.

It was quiet at first, but now that they’ve gotten used to the new predator in the area, the birds begin chirping again. One little one with a speck of red along its head flaps over to perch on a branch right near Keigo’s face. He pauses, and they watch each other a long moment. Then the little bird chirps, cocking it’s head and flapping it’s wings. Keigo glances around, ensuring there is no one there, then quietly chirps and flutters his feathers back. A wide grin breaks out across his lips as the bird chirps a few more times at him before spreading its wings and returning to the sky.

He stands there a while, golden eyes staring up at the birds darting between trees like he used to navigate skyscrapers. Then Keigo shakes his head, scoffing at himself. There’s nothing to miss; he can go flying around here whenever he wants to and there’s no stupid billboards to run into.

Keigo wanders around the park trail for maybe another hour before stumbling across a clearing. Soft grass being warmed by the sun rays poking in through the trees towering up above and no one in sight. Well, he can hardly pass up such an opportune nap spot. He makes sure to look around one more time to ensure no one is going to be mad at him for laying down, then settles down on the sunniest patch of the grass. Keigo flexes his wings, debating whether he can lay on his back or not. Deciding nah, he flops face-first into the warmth of the sun-hot grass and spreads out all six of his limbs as much as possible. His keys, phone, and wallet dig into his stomach a bit, but not enough to warrant moving and fixing that.

He’s asleep within moments.

Waking up is not a long, lazy, process like Keigo would have liked. Rather, he wakes up to being rudely jabbed between the shoulder blades. His wings snap open, and someone yelps as he accidentally smacks them.

“Fuck! Don’t shish kabab me! I was only checking to see if you were dead!” Keigo yawns as he sits up, absentmindedly flicking his tail feathers back so he’s not squashing them.

“Oh, hey. It’s you.” He gives a small wave to Spinner, who seems oddly freaked out, then arches his back in a long stretch. He and Spinner, despite both being heteromorph quirk-ers, never really interacted much in either the PLF or the League. “What are you doing out here?” Considering he already saw both Toga and Dabi here it isn’t that much a stretch to assume the rest of the disbanded League is too.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

Keigo raises an eyebrow at the question. “Well, I was having a nice nap. Until someone rudely woke me.” He shoots a playful glare at Spinner, who clearly has gone far past confused.

“…Right. Well, uh, I guess I’ll just go?” Spinner hedges a step back right as Keigo bounces to his feet, wings stretching wide before refolding along his back.

“I’ll walk with you! I should probably go find food anyways,” the sun is far into its descent, so he’s guessing it’s close to dinnertime, “want to come with? I dunno what you like, but I’m sure we could find a place.”

“Uh sure, I guess.”

“Cool.” Keigo walks alongside Spinner for a long, silent, awkward moment before the other man clears his throat and offers Keigo a wireless earbud. “Thanks,” he replies on instinct, popping it into his left ear. Spinner hums an acknowledgement, and they descend into silence as the podcast on fish Spinner has already started speaks up.

The podcast only lasts another twenty minutes then leaves them in silence. It was shockingly interesting. But with that distraction gone, Keigo really isn’t sure what to say to the guy. He’s sure Spinner feels the same way.

“So, um, just to get it out there, I’d appreciate it if you called me Keigo now that I’m retired and all.” Spinner gives a little jump as Keigo breaks the silence.

“Oh, yeah sure man, ok. Uh, that’s your first name right?” Keigo gives a nod. “Then I guess it’s only fair you can call me Suuichi, if you want.”

Thanks,” Keigo murmurs. And they’re back to silence. Great. “Got any more podcasts? That one was cool.” Spinner digs his phone out of his zip-up jacket pocket, and thumbs over on the screen until he reaches the page he wants.

“Yep. Would you rather sharks, penguins, or whales?”

Keigo considers the choices a moment. “I guess sharks? Unless you’d rather a different one,” he quickly backtracks, suddenly oddly nervous.

“Nah,” Spinner sends him a tiny, hesitant, grin. “Sharks are cool. Just wait till you learn about the Epaulette shark. It’s fins can serve as feet and it can survive without oxygen for a while, so basically if it needs to it can walk across land to re-enter the water if it gets beached. Super cool, right?” Keigo nods along eagerly.

“Dude that’s actually really neat. What else you got?”

The ex-villain’s pink eyes light up, but he clears his throat and ducks his head, hand rubbing the back of his neck. “Ah, are you sure you want to know? According to certain others. I ramble a lot when talking about animals, and sharks are some of my favourites. But come on, Shark Week wouldn’t still be running if other people didn’t like it too!” He huffs at the end of his little spiel, the earlier momentary shyness evaporated.

“Hold up,” Keigo cocks his head to the side, frowning. “They’ve got a whole week dedicated to sharks?” Suuichi gapes at him.

“What. You- you haven’t seen Shark Week before?! Oh God.” He holds his hands in front of him like he’s praying for strength. “Ok. We can fix this. Earbud.” Keigo wordlessly drops the earbud into the green-scaled hand extended towards him. He has no idea what he just walked into, but it’s better than the awkward silence, so oh well.

“Alright,” Suuichi declares once he fits the earbuds back into their little case and that joins his phone in a secure pocket. “So. There are like over a hundred and twenty species of sharks, and they’re all different and cool. There’s small ones, big ones, and huge ones – the whale shark gets up to like sixty feet long or something crazy. They eat any fish smaller than them, seals, sea lions, that kind of stuff. They rarely ever go after humans, which is a common misconception. They only do when they think the human is something else. The most common example here is when someone is surfing, because from below they appear nearly identical to a seal, so really, it’s hardly the shark’s fault for going after them. Now, Shark Week runs on TV and is dedicated to having a whole week’s worth of shark-based movies and scientific shows and stuff to teach viewers about the cool sea beasts. It started way back in the late 1980’s-”

Keigo listens along to Suuichi’s spiel with apt attention. The guy is shockingly good at explaining things, especially considering Keigo’s limited knowledge on the subject. Learning about sea animals he was not likely to encounter in battle was far from on the Commission’s curriculum.

Still, Keigo nods along, asks questions, and does his best to soak up everything Suuichi is willing to share with him. It seems like hardly any time has gone by before they’re reaching the park entrance.

“Ok,” Suuichi cuts himself off in the midst of talking about white-tipped reef sharks, “what’d you want for food? I know a good restaurant that caters to different diets, if you want. I’m gonna be honest here man, I really don’t remember what you eat.”

“Ah, no worries there at all! We never really talked much before today. I’ll eat pretty much anything and considering the amount of pasty protein bars I made due with for like forever, I’ll gladly try new things.”

Suuichi nods, motioning for Keigo to follow him as he turns right and continues along the sidewalk. “Alright, cool. Let’s do Amalee’s then. It’s not too far from here either.”

“Sure, sounds good to me.” Keigo trails along after the other man as Suuichi picks up his earlier dialogue about the reef shark.

Maybe eight or so minutes later finds the pair of them outside of a wide two-story building. The front is inlaid with windows, allowing Keigo to look in and see matching red booths, tables, and even a bar in the back. Maybe half the seats are full of people eating food that looks really good from out here. His stomach rumbles. Suuichi snorts at him, but a moment later the guy’s stomach rumbles too. Keigo looks at him, then they burst out laughing at the same time.

“C’mon, food time!” Keigo yanks the glass door open and eagerly bounds inside, where the food seems even better because now he can smell it too. He licks his lips, already imagining the tasty, non-pre-packaged meal.

“Alright,” he spins around to face Suuichi. “How does this work?” He earns a long, slow blink for that.

“Uh, what?”

Keigo sighs, feathers ruffling, but refuses to show his embarrassment any further than that. “I haven’t done the whole restaurant thing before. I always had a reserved table someone just took me too for galas and stuff, and cafes I just show up and they give me coffee. So what’s the procedure here?”

“Oh. Oh, ok, yeah. No stress, man. It’s easy. We wait here until one of the waiters tells us where to sit, they’ll give us menus, we get food, we eat food, we pay for food, then clean up as best we can before leaving.” Keigo nods. His feathers ruffle again as he looks around the area, but everyone is so immersed in their own meal or conversation that no one is looking their way. He relaxes a bit after realizing that.

“Ok.”

They don’t need to wait long before a waiter comes over, a pair of menus tucked under his arm. The guy’s skin is solid black and his hair and eyes are pure white, kind of reminding Keigo of that one kid Tokoyami always complained about in class B. “Hey, I’m Ryo, and I’ll be your waiter for the night. Would you prefer a booth or a table? Or bar side too, I guess.” Keigo just stares at Suuichi until the guy realizes he should answer for them because Keigo has no idea what to say.

“Oh. Uh,” pink eyes flicker over to Keigo’s wings and tail – which instills another layer of tension over his muscle fibers – before Suuichi replies. “I think we’ll take a table, please. And as far from other people as you can manage, if that’s alright.”

“Sure man. Right this way.” Keigo trails after Suuichi as the other man follows the waiter. They walk in the space between booths shoved against the walls and tables more centered, and Keigo finds himself muttering apologies every few seconds as his wings – despite being pulled as tight to his back as he can get them – continue accidentally brushing up against someone’s stray limb. They make a small turn to head deeper into the restaurant and Keigo nearly smacks a kid in the head. It’s only his quick detachment of half his left wing that saves him from bowling the kid over. Instead, the kid gapes as red feathers swoop over their head before resettling in their proper place in his wing. Keigo is quick to burrow as far back into the hood of his purple hoodie as he can, hoping his embarrassment isn’t too blatantly obvious.

They finally come to a halt in the very back of the room. Keigo is fairly certain this is the closest spot to the kitchen, given the swinging doors in view and the waiters slipping in and out. He can pick up the faint clanging of pans, but it’s not loud enough to be a bother. However, there is significantly less people here than there was at the front of the place.

“Sir would you like a stool?”

Keigo jolts as the waiter addresses him. “Um, that’s an option?” The waiter nods, a patient white smile creepily laid into his void of a face. “Yes please.” The man slips through the double doors Keigo is pretty sure leads to the kitchen and returns only a moment later with a wooden stool. Given it’s similar structure, it’s probably a back-up for the bar.

“Thanks,” he gets out as the waiter swaps a tall-backed chair with the stool he just brought out.

“You’re welcome. Can I start you off with some drinks?” The waiter grabs a notepad from his apron-thing and flips it open, staring at them as they take their seats. Keigo pretends to be busy figuring out the most comfortable position for his tail and wings with the stool to make it less obvious he’s waiting to see what Suuichi does.

“Sure. I’ll just have water, and do you have any flies today?” Keigo jolts at the casual mention of the insects. That can’t be a normal thing to order.

“Yep, I’ll bring some out for you along with the drinks. And for you, sir?” Keigo stares blankly back at the waiter as his mind goes completely empty. He knows opening his mouth will just make him look like a fool because there are no words ready to come out. Goddammit, he was trained to be a professional public speaker; this shouldn’t be difficult in the slightest!

“He’ll have water too.” Suuichi chimes in once it’s clear Keigo isn’t going to answer. The waiter nods, jots something down on his notepad, then heads over to another table.

As soon as he’s out of earshot, Keigo lets his forehead thump to the tabletop and groans. “Fuck, that was so bad. I’m sorry, this is probably embarrassing for you now, too.” Suuichi chuckles, waving that statement off.

“Oh not at all. If you think blanking on what to say makes a dinner out embarrassing, then you don’t want to experience a dinner with the rest of them.” There’s no need for Suuichi to clarify who ‘them’ is. “Himi tries to stab everyone at least once, Dabs usually doesn’t eat anything and gets almost-stabbed more for that, Giri is so polite it freaks out the waiters, Compress looks so oddly normal compared to the rest of us that he gets asked if we kidnapped him like every time, and Jin usually ends up either hiding under the table or dancing on top of it.” Suuichi gives an amused snort. “They’re such a disaster it’s hilarious. So, don’t worry, alright Keigo? You’re doing great so far.”

The man holds his fist out across the table and Keigo stares at it. “Dude, fist bump.” Keigo gives looks from the guy’s knuckles to his confused face and raises an eyebrow.

“You want me to,” he reaches over to tap his cheap leather-covered knuckles against Suuichi’s scaled ones, “like that?”

“Yeah, just like that.” Suuichi grins at him and Keigo finds his feathers puffing up with sudden pride.

He’s saved from having to think about it further when the waiter comes back, two glasses of water in hand alongside a bowl. He places a water glass in front of either of them and the bowl in the center of the table. “Are you ready to order or would you like a few more minutes?”

“We’ll need a few more minutes, please.” Suuichi answers immediately, saving Keigo from needing to fail at speech again.

Keigo leans forwards to inspect the bowl Suuichi reaches into. Apparently he did not hear wrong earlier: Suuichi really did order flies. The flies are just kind of… there. They’re obviously dead given how they’re not flying away and appear to be wrinkly.

“Want one?” Suuichi pushes the bowl closer to Keigo, and he jolts back, nearly toppling off his stool. “They’re sun-dried and a really good source of protein.” Keigo stares. His feathers quiver and is tail swishes side to side nervously as his fingers clench into tight fists. Cheap leather crunches as his talons punch through the fingertips of his gloves, making him bite back a curse. Well, the pair lasted longer than he figured they were going to.

“Hey, dude, it’s all good. You can say no. I’m not gonna be offended or anything.” Keigo flickers his gaze up from the bowl to Suuichi, whose pink eyes are crinkled in concern.

“Thanks,” he finally gets out after an awkwardly long pause, “but I kind of do want to try one if that’s ok.”

“Yeah, for sure.” The bowl is pushed a tad closer to him. He swallows thickly, then reaches over and plucks one from the dish and pops it in his mouth before he can change his mind. He crunches the small insect once and immediately chokes back a gag. It’s crunchy, but sharp and bitter and overwhelmingly potent in taste. Who would have though such a small little bug could taste so powerful?

Suuichi laughs as Keigo grabs his water glass and chugs half of it in his efforts to rid his mouth from the taste. “Yeah, that’s how Himiko and Jin reacted too. Dabi ate one with a straight face, but never did went for it again so I’m not sure if that means he doesn’t like it or just doesn’t care enough to eat one again, you know?” Keigo nods along.

“Oh yeah, I get that. I swear, the only time I saw him eat was when I brought him food and forced him to.” Keigo shakes his head with an exaggerated sigh. “I don’t know what it is about Dabi, but every time I see the guy I want to bundle him in blankets and shove food at him. Is that weird?”

“Nah man,” Suuichi snorts and takes a moment to toss another fly in his mouth. “I mean you two were a thing, right? I’m pretty sure relationships entail wanting to look after each other.”

Keigo chokes on air as his cheeks heat up. “What? You thought Dabi and I…?” He trails off, unsure how to even finish that sentence.

“Wait. Wait what? You and Dabi weren’t banging the whole time you were with the League?” The worst part is Suuichi sounds genuinely surprised.

“NO!” Keigo yelps, waving his hands frantically to dismiss the notion. “No no no, Dabi and I never… we didn’t…” Keigo groans and lets his forehead thump to the table for a second time.

“Uh, sorry man, I guess I really did just assume. I mean you guys hung out, and Dabi doesn’t really hang out much in general, and he actually made efforts to talk to you, so yeah. I dunno. Sorry.”

“Wait.” Keigo snaps upright, face going pale at a sudden thought. “Fuck, did everyone think that? Please tell me it was only you.” He whimpers at the pained look on Suuichi’s face. “This is an utter disaster.”

Suuichi clears his throat. “To be fair, I’m pretty sure it was just the og League members who thought it. No one else in the Paranormal Liberation Front would have known Dabi well enough to tell the difference.”

“I blame Toga,” Keigo groans, now utterly certain why she kept telling people he was taken.

“Honesty dude, yeah. That’s fair. She ships you two so hard it’s not even funny anymore. Like seriously, Dabs has burnt down more temporary bases from Himiko’s teasing than anything else.”

Keigo whimpers again, wings hanging limply in defeat. “Can we change the subject now, please?” He doesn’t quite beg, but it is a darn close thing.

“Bro I completely agree. Uh, food. Here.” Suuichi shoves a menu he completely forgot was there at him.

“Right.” Keigo clears his throat a couple times and shakes out his wings to rid them of floor dirt. “Food. Ok, so like what am I allowed to pick?” Suuichi looks at him a moment before seeming to decide he’s not going to question Keigo’s lack of knowledge about something simple like this.

“Anything that’s listed is fair game, and if there’s something you want that’s similar to one that’s listed, then you can ask for that and they’ll make it. They’re pretty chill here and the chefs are amazing.

“Anything?” He murmurs, flipping the menu open and scanning the interior eagerly. There is a whole list for starters, basic meals like sandwiches or soups or pastas, and an entire page for quirk-specific foods like the flies Suuichi ordered. He skips over that section to look at the regular stuff again, then pauses. Suuichi is munching on flies, and no one (of the few nearby who could possible see) is giving him a second look.

Keigo lets his eyes slide back over to that page.

He finds that one traitorous word and stares at the listings under the carnivore column. It disgusts him how badly he wants to order something from there. It’s weird and wrong, and inhumane, he knows all this and has for years.

Their waiter, Ryo, returns with his notepad. “Alright, are you two ready to order?”

Suuichi looks to Keigo, who nods, before replying. “Yep! I’ll have the vegetarian chilli, please.”

The waiter notes that down before turning to Keigo. “And for you?”

Sandwich. He’s going to get a plain, boring, BLT and be happy about it. “Steak, uh, relatively raw, please.” Self, what the fuck?

“Sure thing. It’ll be a few minutes.” The waiter slips off again, and Keigo buries his fingers in his hair as he groans.

“Fuck. Why am I such a moron?”

“Dude, what are you on about? You did good; you didn’t freeze up that time!” Suuichi watches him cautiously as Keigo lets his wings slump anew and sighs.

“I wasn’t planning on ordering steak. I have literally no idea why I said that.”

“Well, I can call him back-”

Keigo plows on before Suuichi can get more than a few words in. “Like I’ve only eaten raw meat the one time because I didn’t have time to cook the chicken I bought and needed to go. Sure, it was delicious and probably the best thing I’ve ever eaten, but still. God, what the fuck is wrong with me?”

Suuichi reaches over to grab onto Keigo’s right shoulder firmly. Not tight, but a solid presence. “Hey, none of that, alright? There’s nothing wrong with you. Do you think there’s something wrong with me because I like eating flies and really didn’t mind the worm Dabi dared me to eat that one time?”

“Well, no,” Keigo hedges, uncertain where Suuichi is going.

“Exactly. So why would that be any different for you?” The words he wants to respond with are stuck in his throat.

Because I’m a hero and heroes can’t be acting like animals.

Because I know it’s wrong for a hero to been seen as anything other than perfect and normal.

Because-

…But he’s not a hero anymore.

“Huh.” All the lessons the Commission drilled into him are tailored to heroes, not to him specifically. So, since he’s not a hero anymore, maybe that does mean that some of them don’t really apply anymore.

“That’s a thinking face if I’ve ever seen one. What’s on your mind, Keigo?” Suuichi pops a few more flies in his mouth as he leans back in the chair, giving Keigo his full attention. He opens his mouth, the closes it again.

“Just a few things,” he finally replies. “Just realizing some stuff I haven’t thought of before.” Suuichi nods and doesn’t pry further when it’s clear Keigo is not offering any further insight.

The other man lets them sit in silence until Ryo returns with their food, allowing Keigo to mull over his discovery.

The moment the plate of thick, red, juicy steak is placed before him, there’s a line of drool rolling down his chin. Thankfully neither Suuichi nor the waiter point it out as he quickly wipes it away with the back of his hand, wings curling around his shoulders as his face heats up. There are a couple slices of what smells like fresh bread on the side of his plate, but his eyes only glance at that before returning to the meat.

The waiter refills their water glasses with the pitcher he brought over before marching back into the kitchen.

“Uh,” Suuichi starts as he realizes Keigo hasn’t moved from staring at the meat on his plate. “Are you going to eat it?” Keigo jolts at that, blinking furiously as if that can save him from having already spent a few minutes staring at the bloody steak.

“Right! Ha,” he trails off, not sure what else to say. Suuichi starts in on his chilli while Keigo slowly reaches over to grab the steak knife resting next to his plate. His left hand picks up his fork, and his mind goes numb as he starts cutting into it. Red juice seeps out with every slide of the knife, quickly coating the bottom of the plate. The slices of bread are quick to soak it up, turning pink.

It looks unfairly delicious.

He blinks and the whole chunk of meat is cut into neat bite-sized cubes. Right then. Nothing else to do now but eat it – an action that would be a lot easier if his stomach wasn’t in knots.

Keigo lets out a long sigh. He sets down the steak knife and fork, then takes up the chopsticks waiting for him to break them apart. Doing so takes only a split second, the snap as they come apart barely audible thanks to his racing heartbeat pounding loud enough it echoes through his head.

Swallowing pre-emptively in an attempt to clear the tightness of his throat and thickness of his tongue, Keigo picks up one of the small cubes.

“You good man? You just went pale.” Keigo nods without looking up to meet Suuichi’s eyes. He has to do this. Not for anyone else, but to prove to himself that he can, that he’s allowed to, that it’s ok.

The piece of steak is warm as he places it on his tongue. He bites down and his eyelids flutter shut as that red juice explodes from the meat. It takes a few more chews before he swallows it. The meat burns a path down his throat, his previously tight esophagus loosening to greedily swallow it down.

It really is the best thing he’s ever eaten – maybe even better than chicken.

There’s no hesitation as he eagerly picks up the next piece and pops it into his mouth, nearly moaning at that first bite as the flavour hits his tongue anew.

They eat in silence until Suuichi finishes his chilli. At that point the guy takes up his shark narrative again, going on to describe Hammerhead sharks, and how apparently there are multiple different subspecies of Hammerheads. Keigo nods along to show he’s listening but doesn’t voice any thoughts or questions as that would inevitably end with him dribbling meat juice all over himself.

“Well, damn.” He sighs as he finishes the last of his meat and picks up one of the soaked pieces of bread. “That was really good.” Keigo glances up, only slightly worried he’ll find Suuichi judging him for that comment, but the guy merely grins at him.

“I’m glad you liked it. Think you’d want to come back sometime?”

“Oh absolutely.” There is no hesitation in his response.

Suuichi sighs in relief. “Phew. Here,” he pulls his phone out of a pocket and hands it over to Keigo. “Add yourself. I need friends who aren’t certified nutjobs.” Keigo gives a small laugh at that but does go ahead and input his name and number into a new contact on Suuichi’s phone. Then, before handing it back, he does as Rumi showed him and sends himself a message.

“There.” He hands the phone back and takes his out of his hoodie pocket, opening it and saving Suuichi’s number as a new contact under the name Animal Nerd. After a moment’s deliberation, he puts a shark emoji next to it. Considering for a moment, Keigo decides to go for it and flips his phone around so Suuichi can squint at the screen and see the nickname Keigo set in for him. The man sighs in defeat but nods.

“Well I suppose I can’t argue with that.” They share a grin but before Keigo can go about teasing the guy, their waiter returns.

“Would either of you like dessert today?” A yes or no question, thank God. He shakes his head while Suuichi replies verbally in the negative. “Alright, I guessed that, so here’s your bill.” The waiter hands a slip of paper to Suuichi, whose facial scales tint a tad darker.

“Ah, actually, could we get separate-”

Keigo reaches over and snatches the paper from Suuichi’s clawed hand. He looks it over to make sure it’s correct, then pulls out his wallet and forks out enough cash to cover the meal and a decent tip. “Here.” He averts his eyes as the waiter takes the money, counts it, then gives them a small, polite bow, in thanks.

“Have a good evening.” The waiter tucks the money into a pocket, expertly stacks all their dishes, and retreats to the kitchen again.

When Keigo looks over to the other guy, Suuichi is frowning at him.

“What?”

“You didn’t need to do that; I could have paid for my food.”

Keigo just shrugs. “I mean it’s just a meal, it’s no big deal.”

“Still,” Suuichi protests, “I feel kind of bad making you pay for it. Let me pay you back.”

“Well, you didn’t make me because I offered. And it’s hardly enough for you to worry about paying me back.” It’s not like one meal is going to mean the guy owes him or anything. Keigo rolls his eyes as Suuichi opens his mouth to argue more. “Look, if it means that much to you then you can pay next time, and we’ll be even then.” He gets a squinted look for that, but Suuichi finally nods an agreement.

“Alright, fine.” They elapse into silence, neither knowing what else to talk about. Keigo checks the time on his phone, frowning when he realizes it’s just past seven. He’s still got a good couple hours to kill before trying to go to sleep.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Suuichi drops the napkin he was fiddling with.

“Huh?”

“Movie? I’ve got at least six hours to kill before I can try to go to sleep, and I don’t really feel like being alone. So want to come over and watch a movie with me?”

Suuichi stares at him suspiciously. “You’re not asking me out right? Like this is still in friendly hang-out territory? Cause no offense, but you’re really not my type.”

“Oh!” Keigo’s wings puff up as he violently shakes his head. “No!” He makes a big x with his arms for extra measure. “Friendly hang out, I swear.”

“Alright, then sure. I’ve got nothing else to do, other than head back home and be bothered by someone.”

“Great!” Watching stuff with Rumi was always really fun, so hopefully Suuichi proves to be a good movie companion.

Chapter Text

“…Dude, when you said we’d watch a movie, I figured you had a TV.” Keigo winces as Suuichi looks around his loft from where they’re sitting on his bed, noting the distinct lack of a screen.

“Ha, uh yeah no. Maybe I should get one?” He shrugs, shelving that thought for later. “I bought a laptop to watch stuff on, but it’s being a pain and won’t set up. I’ve just been streaming stuff on my phone.”

Suuichi sighs like he’s in pain. “Yeah, ok no. We’re not watching movies on your phone, that’ll kill our eyes. Give me a minute.” He whips his phone out and begins tapping rapidly across the screen, then pauses once the text is sent off. Keigo waits patiently for his new friend to explain.

Just as he figures he’s waited long enough and opens his mouth to question Suuichi’s actions, a swirling portal pops up in front of them. Oh, that makes sense.

A hand with pink-coloured nails pokes out, holding a laptop. Then the rest of the arm follow, and Toga pokes her head out to glare at Suuichi.

“I don’t get why I had to be the one to do this,” she starts, only to cut herself off when she spots Keigo. “Keigo!” Given she’s her regular self and not using her quirk to look like someone else, her manic grin fits her face now. Then the light in her eyes dims down as she slides her gaze over to glare at Suuichi. “Why are you hanging out with Keigo?! You’re not allowed to like him, he’s taken!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Bye Himiko.” Suuichi yanks the laptop free from her hand and shoves her shoulder hard enough she yelps as she stumbles back. The portal closes, cutting them off from any attempts at retaliation. “See?” Suuichi grumbles, “she’s insufferable in her insistence you and Dabi are a couple.”

“Oh, I know,” Keigo sighs. “I had to stop her from murdering a teen who works at the café over that way.” He points in the general direction Haru’s café is in for good measure. “And that’s not even touching on the amount of people she stabbed when they’d come over to talk to me at the PLF. God, that made gathering intel on you guys difficult; no one would talk to me because of her!” For a split second he’s worried he screwed up by mentioning the whole spy thing, but Suuichi just laughs.

“Ha yeah, I forgot about that. She’d come report to Dabi at the end of every day and detail who she stabbed for trying to talk to you. It embarrassed him every single time, but he never told her to stop, so he must have found it a little funny. Honestly, I think he was hoping that ice guy, Geten if you remember him, was going to try so Himi would stab him.” Suuichi snorts as he boots up his laptop. “Gosh, Dabs hated that guy.” Keigo nods along, vividly recalling the angered rants about the ice-user.

“Honestly, I’m shocked Dabi was able to work with the guy. He complained about him so much and detailed how he wanted to murder the guy at least once a week.”

“You got those rants too?” Suuichi sighs at Keigo’s nod. “God, near the end there it was a fifty-fifty on whether the nightly rant was going to be Geten or Endeavor. Every single fucking night, the same complaints, the same annoying guy burning handprints into furniture in his temper tantrums.”

Keigo laughs loudly at that accurate comparison. “You know what? That sounds entirely correct. I swear Dabi is secretly a pouty child upset he didn’t get his way. Everyone who was afraid of him needs to see that video I had of Dabi drunk and almost crying over the kids’ show with the ponies.” Suuichi’s jaw drops open.

“No way. You’ve got a video of Dabi crying over fucking My Little Pony?”

“Yeah- oh. I guess I don’t anymore; I tossed my phone overboard on the flight over. Sadly, now only the fish get to see that video.” The other man’s shoulders slump in defeat.

“Damn. I would have paid so much to see that.” Keigo pats Suuichi’s green-scaled shoulder in an attempt to comfort him after this loss.

“Alright, so what do you want to watch?” Keigo indicates Suuichi’s laptop which has fully booted up and is ready to play movies. The guy navigates over to a different streaming app than what Keigo currently has, clicking on it and opening a whole screen of options, most of which are different from the ones Keigo has available. “Ooh there’s so many choices. Do you have any favourites?”

“Eh,” Suuichi scratches at his scalp. “Not really. I don’t watch many movies. Pretty sure my continue watching list is entirely anime.”

“Ani- what?” The look he gets for that is one hundred percent scandalized.

“Ok, Keigo, I’ve accepted that you don’t know some stuff, but I refuse to stand by and let you live any longer without knowing what anime is. If Tomura were here-” Suuichi cuts himself off, pink eyes clouding over with pain.

Keigo reaches a hand out to place on the guy’s shoulder, then freezes before he can make contact. Suuichi probably doesn’t want to even be near him right now, given he was a part of the effort to kill Shigaraki.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, wings drooping sadly. And shockingly, he really is genuinely sorry. While he didn’t know Shigaraki like he did Dabi or Toga or Jin, he regrets not giving him the same chance he’s giving Suuichi now. The League of Villains are still people, they’re humans with their own lives and experiences and attributes. And clearly, Shigaraki was more than just the big bad villain.

“It’s not your fault,” Suuichi chokes out, trying to subtly wipe at his eyes so the glistening tears are not as noticeable. “He was dead long before the heroes finished off his body.” Keigo reels back at that, shocked. “All for One is the one that killed Tomura when he tricked him into giving up his body for the cause. He was never the same person after that. I-” Suuichi takes a deep, steading, breath and meets Keigo’s eyes. “I’d like to imagine that if he was still in there at the end that he was thankful it was finally over.” Unsure how to respond to that, Keigo stays silent, and finally bridges that last inch to place a hand on Suuichi’s shoulder. Thankfully the guy leans into the touch and doesn’t push him off.

They sit there in silence until Suuichi clears his throat and navigates the cursor over to a title. He clicks the picture and boots up a show, turning up the volume and twisting the laptop so it faces Keigo a bit better. Taking initiative, Keigo sends a handful of feathers to grab the laptop and hold it steady out in front of them, a cheap copy of a small TV.

The show begins, introducing Keigo to cartoon-esque drawn characters. One has bright pink hair and sounds absolutely done with life and other people.

“This was one of his favourites, so we’re watching this first.” It’s not a question, but Keigo nods his agreement anyways. The pink-hair kid is kind of funny so far, in a dry-humor sort of way.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Fuck, what time is it?” Suuichi groans, rubbing at red eyes.

“I dunno,” Keigo rasps, grabbing his phone and wincing at the brightness of the screen as it flares to life. “Oh. It’s four.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Suuichi cuts himself off with a yawn. “We got through the whole first season.”

“Ugh. Ok, I’ve got work in like four hours, so I’m sleeping.” He shuts the poor almost dead laptop down and sets it on his kitchen table. The feathers that were holding it are pulled back to his wings.

“Yep. I’m down with that plan. Fair warning though, I’m a cuddler and am not moving.” Keigo bites back his retort of that being blatantly obvious given how Suuichi invaded his personal bubble of space hours ago, snuggling into Keigo’s side and latching onto his arm.

“S’ok.” He yawns, stretching out his wings, then flops down onto his mattress, pulling Suuichi along with him. The guy is out the instant they’re horizontal, snoring into Keigo’s left wing. It’s a little annoying, but not enough so it prevents him from falling asleep almost immediately.

Upon awakening in the morning, Keigo has a moment of panic when the full weight of another person numbing his left arm and wing gets registered. A feather grabs his phone and turns it on for him, letting him know it’s just after seven. He got almost three whole hours of sleep in, not too bad.

Keigo lies there a moment, wondering if he should detangle from Suuichi before the other man wakes up to find he’s sprawled over Keigo. Recalling Suuichi’s words from last night when he started to cling to Keigo after the first five episodes of that show – there’s nothing weird about bros platonically cuddling – he decides to leave the guy where he is for a few more minutes. Eventually Keigo will need to get up so he can get ready for work, but he’s still got some time before that.

He glances down and to the side and has to hold back a laugh. Who would have thought his first sleepover would be with an ex-villain?

His smile fades out at that thought. It would have been really fun to have a sleepover with Rumi. She’s asked him to stay over plenty of times in the past, all of which he had to refuse for some reason or another. Hopefully when he contacts her again – once it’s been long enough the Commission will have given up on listening in on her calls – she’ll come visit and they can have one then. Yeah, that’d be nice.

Yawning and blinking bleary eyes, Keigo sets to trying to detach Suuichi from where the guy has carved out a space in Keigo’s side. It’s a long, slow, process, but eventually Keigo manages to slip out from underneath the guy. Suuichi hardly seems to notice, rolling over to latch onto Mr. Chicken and continue snoring on.

After a moment’s deliberation, Keigo snaps a quick picture and sets that as Suuichi’s contact image.

His stomach rumbles, reminding him that he should find food before the library day starts. With that new goal in mind, he sends some feathers off to retrieve one of the pre-packaged meals sitting in his kitchen cupboard. As his feathers do that, Keigo heads in the opposite direction and picks out a fresh pair of grey sweatpants, underwear, socks, and a navy long-sleeve shirt. He really should make it a point to go find a laundromat or something soon – he's almost out of new stuff that hasn’t been worn yet.

Glancing over at Suuichi to make sure the guy isn’t looking – he’s not, his face is firmly pressed into Mr. Chicken’s plush red stomach – Keigo swaps clothes, throwing the old ones into the laundry hamper he set up next to the dresser. That done, he reluctantly eats a cold, boring, sandwich, face scrunching up at the bland taste. He already misses last night’s steak.

Moving into the bathroom, Keigo goes through his regular morning routine, taking extra care when washing his face in hopes that’ll make him look a little less zombie-like. It doesn’t really work, but hopefully today’s patrons are able to tell the redness in his eyes is from lack of sleep and don’t think he’s on drugs or something.

Keigo writes a quick note for Suuichi, letting him know Keigo is heading down to the library and that he’s welcome to eat whatever he can find, then heads out. It’s a quick walk down the stairs to the library below, but it’s still long enough for him to shake off the last of his drowsiness. Three hours is plenty of sleep, his body just needs to remember that.

Entering the library, Keigo sets into the morning tasks. He gathers the books that need to be mailed off or were put on hold by patrons, finishes off the paperwork in a matter of minutes while his feathers package books up for the weekly mail delivery, and reshelves the half-full cart he didn’t feel like doing Saturday.

Within no time he’s yawning and desperately wishing for coffee. Maybe the next thing (after a TV) that he needs to invest in is a coffee machine. Those can’t be too hard to operate. Though, at this point Keigo really wouldn’t be all that shocked if there was some sort of hidden secret to making coffee people are just supposed to instinctively know. Either way, that’ll be a problem for some other time.

Unlocking the doors even though he’s a good fifteen minutes early, Keigo settles back at his desk and stares at the laptop he left there. His eyes narrow, taking in his foe. He can sense it laughing at him. It gets shoved to the side. He’s not dealing with technology that doesn’t want to cooperate before he’s gotten caffeine.

Right at nine the door opens and the nice lady who said she worked at the bakery across the street enters alongside her kid. Keigo’s nose twitches towards the pair of steaming cups in her hands.

“Hey! Good morning, I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Lyra. You still owe me a phone number, which I’ll take in exchange for coffee I’m sure you’ll be needing.”

“Please,” Keigo whimpers, launching himself from his desk with a few flaps of his wings to lean over the counter, hand held out in preparation for the heavenly elixir. He gets a raise of a single dark eyebrow for that. “Oh right, phone.” A feather shoots off to grab his phone from his desk, and he quickly pulls up the new contact screen. “Here. Coffee me please.” The woman snorts but concedes and hands him the drink. She takes up his phone and inputs her number as Keigo takes a greedy swing of coffee. It’s black and terribly bitter, but he’s had way worse and it kicks his brain awake.

“Thanks. And hey, how’d you know I needed coffee today?”

Lyra grins at him, one hand gently shoving her kid’s shoulder to indicate he’s allowed to leave and go play with the toys in the kids’ corner. “I would like to say that it’s my quirk, but that’s a lie. It’s Monday, and while all of us parents appreciate it, I’m sure trying to wrangle them all is a tough task.”

“Huh?” Keigo takes another long sip of coffee, moving back to his desk to check the schedule. Spotting Monday, he nearly spits out his mouthful. “Oh. Oh, I get it now. Ah.” Mondays are the designated Storytime days for any kids who want to come in. Last week he chilled safely behind the counter while Fai happily took care of all that. This week he actually needs to find some picture books to read aloud and hope he manages to entertain the kids well enough no one complains.

…He should probably get on picking out some books, then, given he’s got like thirty minutes to plan this thing. A few feathers detach and select five picture books that they bring back for judgement. Shrugging, Keigo figures those’ll be good enough. It’s not like he’s read enough kid’s books to know which are good.

“Ooh, no hun.” He glances over to see Lyra staring at the selections in his hands. “Those two in the middle are good, but the other three are pretty bland. Wait here a moment, I’ll go get you some good ones.”

“You don’t have to,” Keigo tries, feathers ruffling at the idea he’s making her do his job.

“Nonsense,” Lyra waves him off, “it’ll only take a moment.” True to her word, it only takes a few seconds for her to scan the shelves and pick out three titles to replace the ones she just vetoed.

“Thanks,” Keigo intones as she hands them over.

“No problem, uh, wait sorry, but what was your name again?”

“It’s-”

“Keigo, I’m heading off.” He glances away from the woman, shocked to find Suuichi there. He figured the guy would sleep way later. “Let me know when you want to meet up again.”

“Sure thing, man.” He gives a small wave as Suuichi slips out the doors. When he turns his gaze back to Lyra, she’s smirking at him, and proceeds to wiggle her eyebrows suggestively once she notes he’s looking at her again.

“Oooh, looks like someone had a fun night.”

His face goes as red as his now-stuttering feathers. “NO! No no no, you have the wrong idea! I swear, we’re just friends.”

She glances over to the corner to make sure her kid is far enough away and not paying them any attention. “Friends that fuck?” Keigo whimpers, shaking his head in rebuttal.

“No! He’s, uh, an acquaintance from my last job and we met up yesterday by accident and ended up hanging out. Besides, he’s not my type and I’m not his, we clarified that yesterday too.” Lyra huffs, apparently dissatisfied with this information.

“Fine. Boring, but fine. Now that I’ve got your number and you’ve got mine, I fully expect to hear about terrible dates and one-night stands, you hear? I don’t have many other friends, but none of them are single, so you need to feed my desire for gossip.” She sticks a hand out. “Deal? I’ll share stuff too, obviously.” Keigo takes a moment to consider, then reaches over to grasp her hand firmly and shake it.

“Sure, why not? Deal.” Could end up being fun.

“Awesome. Well, I’ll leave you so you can read those over a couple times to prepare. Good luck.” She gives him a playful salute before heading over to play with her child.

Keigo looks down at the picture books. Well, reading them over in advance isn’t a terrible plan. He sits at his desk and opens the first one, mouthing along the words as he flips from page to page.

Over the next thirty minutes Keigo reads over each book three times and tries to not visibly deflate each time the door opens and a new parent-child combination enters. His previous experiences with children were very limited. Save for a quick autograph or photo, Keigo never interacted with them. His demographic was more focused towards young adults who thought he was hot and older ones who thought he was nice. So, while he can attempt to interact with them, he doesn’t have much of a clue what to expect here. At least when he talked to Cian, who was eight and old enough to know not to pull at his feathers, he did pretty good. Hopefully this isn’t a complete disaster.

Taking a deep breath, Keigo winces as his phone notifies him it’s nine thirty. With that, he stands from his desk, puts on his brightest smile, and heads over to the kids’ corner where all the little ones are gathered. There’s an empty spot at the front where he remembers Fai sat last week, so he settles there.

“Alright, who’s ready for some stories?” The kids cheer happily while some parents clap politely. God, he’s already doing terrible, he can just tell.

He opens the first book and gets started. Keigo makes sure to keep his voice loud and clear, reading slowly and showing the pictures for a long time before flipping the page. By the time he’s done the first one, all the kids are staring at him with rapt attention. His feathers puff up. Maybe he’s not doing too bad after all.

Just as Keigo clears his throat to start the next one, the child sitting closest to him reaches over and grabs onto a primary feather, jerking painfully. It’s second nature to conceal his wince, and Keigo quickly detaches it so that the kid can’t try to rip it out again.

Figuring that’s over with now, he tries to go back to the storybook. However, since one kid got a feather, apparently the rest of them decide they want one too. Multiple little grubby hands reach over to pull at his poor wings, making him swallow back a sharp trill.

To avoid further injury to himself – only a few ripped out before he detached them, but he’ll still need to grow new ones for those spots – Keigo detaches a good third of his feathers and sends one to each kid. He realizes immediately that in doing so he lost their attention. The worst part is he can hear the parents snickering as they take pictures of his misery.

After two un-listened to pages later, Keigo sighs and gives up. A couple feathers bring the books back to his desk – he’ll keep the ones he didn’t read for next week. Out of the corner of his eye he notes a small one crawling towards him, eyes bright and chubby hands looking to grab at Keigo’s poor feathers. Sighing, he gives in to the children and detaches every feather he can, earning multiple gasps of delight as the ruby feathers swirl in the air before settling in a pile in the center of the play area.

Then he flops backwards to prevent any infants from trying to tug at his vulnerable wing bones and closes his eyes to better control each of the feathers the kids are throwing in the air in their attempts at getting them to fly again. Some of the parents laugh, so Keigo tries for a smile in hopes they aren’t making fun of his suffering too much.

Keigo tries to force his mind blank, breathing steadily through his nose. The sensory overload from twenty or so kids playing with his feathers in almost overwhelming. He’s pretty sure he’d end up on the ground again if he tried to stand now. So, floor it is. At least the kids’ corner has play mats set down, so he’s not on the actual floor. That would be much more uncomfortable.

He feels vibrations that indicate someone is approaching where he’s lying on the mats and, assuming it’s a child looking for another feather, he sends a secondary one that way.

But the feather is plucked from the air by warm rough fingers he immediately recognizes. An equally familiar deep raspy chuckle has him snapping his eyes open.

“So, this is what you retired for?” Dabi moves slowly to crouch down next to him, wearing a baseball cap and a mask. But even with that Keigo can tell the bastard is grinning.

“Yes,” he replies, not moving from the floor. “Yes, it is.” An ugly amused snort follows that, but before the ex-villain can say anything else, the library door is slammed open. Keigo frowns at that and sits up. Slamming doors, especially library ones cause of the whole ‘silence’ thing, is rather rude.

And too loud for his aching head.

The figure in the doorway is a brute of a man: easily six feet tall, bald, and muscled in a meaty way. Coloured skull tattoos run up and down his bare arms, disappearing under his black tank top. He stalks inside, heavy black boots thumping on the ground. Upon seeing him, the children stop playing. They abandon the feathers to rush back to their parents, hiding behind their legs. The parents hold onto their children and back up, cowering from the now-sneering man.

“Which one of you is Keigo the Librarian?” He snarls out, beady eyes searching around the room. Keigo sticks his hand up and waves from where he’s sitting cross-legged on the floor.

“Hey man, what’s up? Can I help you find a book or something?” Dabi scoffs next to him.

“Really, Feathers?” Keigo choses to ignore the ex-villain and the old nickname. He keeps up his bright smile even as the brute approaches him, feet stomping with enough force that it echoes in his brain, sensory overloaded feathers shaking with the vibrations.

“I hear you’ve been challenging us,” the man growls, his fingers curling up to form fists. Keigo blinks at him, now incredibly confused.

“Uh, I think you have the wrong guy, my dude. I haven’t been challenging anyone?” He cocks his head to the side and hopes someone will fill him in, since he’s very lost.

“Well, you certainly won’t be once I’m through with you.” As the brute speaks parents cover their kids’ eyes, trying to hide the scene from them. A meaty hand darts forwards to grab at his hair. Before he even realizes he’s moving, Hawks has recalled all his feathers and is behind the guy, kicking out the backs of his knees – ow, why did he do that? Hawks can feel the blood leaking from now-split scales that still haven’t completely healed from being forced into his hero costume boots. But it’s effective; the man crumples to the ground. Hawks follows, dropping down to ground a knee into the base of the brute’s spine. A hand wraps around the back of the man’s neck, pinning him to the floor before he can recover.

Keigo blinks, and his face goes red.

“Oh man, I’m sorry,” he apologizes as he scrambles to get off the guy, putting out a hand to help him up. “Sorry, I swear that wasn’t on purpose; this happened Saturday too.” The brute bats away his hand, teeth barred in a snarl.

“I see how it is. New guy with a bit of speed thinks he’s too good for our protection, is that it? Well fine, so be it.” The man stomps out of the library and slams the door once more. Immediately the atmosphere calms, the parents relaxing now that the man is gone.

Dabi cackles, breaking the silence.

“Wow Feathers, you sure know how to pick a fight.” Keigo knows the bastard is laughing at him, but he really has got no clue why. He settles for rubbing the back of his neck as he ignored the aching in his feet.

“I just hope he doesn’t press charges. I could be in trouble if he does.” Turquoise eyes snap to him, wide with astonishment.

“Press charges…?” Dabi laughs again, standing up and clapping Keigo on the shoulder, a movement that has both of them freezing. It is an all too familiar action, one that he knows from the dark of League movie nights when he’d weasel his way to sit next to Dabi, and from late nights where it was just the two of them hanging out since neither had anything better to do. Dabi’s hand drops quickly, both of them looking away from the other. There is a moment where Keigo thinks one of them is going to say something, but then Dabi shoves his hands into his pockets and leaves without another word.

“Well, that happened. Excuse me, Keigo?” Lyra calls for his attention, her kid clutching at her pant leg. “What would you charge as a protection fee? With how often they, the Misfits, that is, ramp up their prices I won’t be able to afford it for much longer.” The question draws the attention of all others, silence falling once more as they listen for his answer. Keigo frowns, stretching his wings and blinking away stars. Dang, he really needs some quiet soon; letting his feathers be kids’ toys was not a good plan.

“Oh, uh, I’m really not looking to make money. How about next time someone is giving you trouble you just give a shout, yeah? You’re right across the road, so I’ll hear and come help out, how’s that sound?” Lyra nods quickly, bright smile on her face, as her orange eyes fill with gratitude.

“That sounds perfect. Thank you.” Then her expression shifts from thankful to playful. “So who was that guy?”

Keigo groans. “Oh come on! No! He’s, uh, also an acquaintance from my last job. Stop thinking that.” Given the number of small ears listening Keigo does not elaborate on what the ‘that’ in this case is.

“Ugh, fine. If you’re sure. In any case, I think it’s time I get Nao over to preschool. See you later, Keigo!” She waves and heads out, her kid complaining about not wanting to leave. The rest seem to take that as their awakening for being able to move once more. Kids come up to request more feathers to play with, and so Keigo forces his discomfort aside to hand a couple dozen over. Parents regroup, finding the others they were chatting with before the rude interruption of skull tattoo guy, murmuring in low voices out of respect for the library volume.

Deciding his task for the day is basically over, Keigo plants himself behind his desk to hide the rest of the feathers he didn’t sacrifice to the little devils. He glances to the side of said desk, where the laptop is waiting. Given the patrons are all amusing themselves, he figures it can’t hurt to take the time to try to get the damned thing working. He’s had caffeine now, at least.

He strongly regrets that decision twenty minutes later when the only thing stopping him from cursing at the stupid thing is the knowledge there are small children nearby. The main problem here is that this should be easy. People do it everyday, yet he can’t figure it out. It’s ridiculous. Ridiculous and frustrating and he still has a headache from the kids play with his feathers.

“Need a hand?” Keigo glances up to the person, correct in his assumption they’re speaking to him. “I’m Ren, I work in cyber security.” They’re tall and lanky, long arms drowning in swaths of forest green fabric. Tight black jeans stretch over what Keigo can see of their thighs, and they tuck a strand of ruby hair back from their pale blue eyes.

“Please,” Keigo groans, hands coming up to pull at his own hair. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. It says do this and I do it, then it doesn’t fu- work.” He grits his teeth, annoyed he almost broke down and swore aloud.

“Don’t worry, there are so many people who need help with their computers every day over much simpler things.” Keigo levels them with a glare.

“You can’t claim that; you don’t know what the problem is yet.”

A musical chuckle, and Ren moves around to join him behind the counter. “Yeah, I can. Had a lady come in last week needing help to turn hers on. She couldn’t find the power button.” Keigo snorts, shaking his head. At least he’s better than that.

“Ok, I’ll concede you’ve got a point. Have at it.” He stands from his seat, only wobbling a little bit, and offers them the chair.

“Thanks.” Ren sits, narrowing their eyes at the screen. “Ok, let’s see what we’ve got going on here.” Their fingers fly across the red-lit keyboard at a pace Keigo didn’t think was possible. Keigo only gets to watch for a handful of moments before they lean back and gesture to the screen.

Keigo blinks.

“How?” Seconds is all it took for them to get the laptop to the home screen, apparently ready to be fully operational.

Ren just grins at him. “Lots and lots of practice. And hey,” a white business card is slapped onto the desktop, “give me a call if you ever have other tech issues.”

“For sure,” Keigo agrees readily. Anyone who can fix his stupid laptop must know what they’re doing. “Thanks.” Ren gives him a smile as they stand from the desk and head back to the patron side of things, rejoining a few other parents.

Keigo sits back at his desk, closing his eyes and folding an arm along the surface of the desk so he can rest his aching head against it. Fuck, how much longer does he need to let the kids play with his feathers? He’d very much like to be done with that now.

The door opens, carrying a fresh gust of wind he grits his teeth against. Feet walk towards him, and soon enough a warm finger is poking his forehead.

“Hey Feathers, are you ok?” Keigo lets out a small groan.

“Why did you come back?” He could have sworn Dabi was going to vanish for at least a couple days after the awkwardness of earlier, not reappear less than an hour later. There’s silence as neither responds to their respective questions.

“It’s the feathers, right? Give me a sec.” Keigo’s hand snaps out to grab Dabi’s wrist before he can get more than a step away. He blinks open a single golden eye to give the man a stern look.

“Leave it alone, Dabi. It’s fine. They’re having fun.”

The look he gets in return has him feeling about three inches tall. “They are kids. They’ll play with anything if you let them. I got this.” Keigo really doesn’t believe that, but his head hurts and his wings ache, so he lets Dabi pull his wrist free from Keigo’s grasp.

“Hey, do you guys want to hear a story?” Dabi’s voice is soft and kind, a sharp contrast from normal.

“But you don’t have a storybook,” one of the kids protests. Keigo turns his head to watch through his open eye. Dabi shrugs, taking off his baseball cap. None of the kids seem to care about the dark patches of scars beneath his eyes that peak over his medical mask.

“I don’t need one. You see, this story isn’t written in a book because it’s real.” Some of Keigo’s feathers get dropped as the kids are drawn into Dabi’s distraction. “But it’s a little scary, so do you think you can handle it?” The kids nod and cheer excitedly, sitting down and awaiting Dabi’s tale eagerly. Keigo pulls all the feathers they’ve let go back to his wings as Dabi slowly lowers himself to sit in the place Keigo vacated earlier.

“Alright. Well, this story begins in a far away land where magic – not quirks, but real and true magic – runs free. There’s a princess in this land. Her name is,” Keigo’s grins a bit as Dabi stalls thinking up a name, “Princess Yumi, and she’s very loved by all her people. She’s kind and generous and always makes sure everyone has a warm bed to sleep in at night.” Against his will, Keigo finds himself drawn into Dabi’s tale. His voice is somehow perfect for storytelling, even with the raspy note to his tone.

“Princess Yumi has three brothers she loves very much and a very kind mother who rules over the land. She’s such a good ruler that no human ever feels wronged by the kind Queen Rei. But there is one who doesn’t like the royal family. This is the evil fire dragon, En- Ender.”

“Like from Minecraft?” A kid interrupts. Dabi pauses at that blinking. Keigo wants to laugh, but he’s not sure what this Minecraft is either.

“Er, sure. Now, this dragon is huge,” Dabi stretches his arms apart as far as he can, making the kids gasp and finally drop his feathers so he can pull the last few back, “and is beginning to be a big problem for the kingdom. Ender is angry with the royal family, so he starts to attack Princess Yumi’s beloved brothers and even Queen Rei too. So you know what the brave princess sets out to do?” He pauses to give the kids a chance to call out what they think is going to happen.

“No, she doesn’t kill the fire dragon or hire a knight to slay him. Instead, the brave, kind, princess sets off to become his friend. She’s got powerful ice magic so she can withstand all his angry fire attacks, and eventually the dragon realizes he likes having a friend around. She makes him food, plays games with him, talks to him, and hugs him when he’s sad and lonely. No one, especially not her brothers, could understand why the princess is going through such lengths to protect the dragon after he hurt her family, but it soon pays off.

“One night, a different dragon flies to the kingdom looking for a new place to burn down. Now, usually there’s not much someone can do against a big dragon. But this time, Ender, the biggest dragon of them all, flies out to protect the kingdom his friend loves. He fights the other dragon off, getting a few scraps himself, and returns to Princess Yumi to proudly tell her he’ll fight for her family, because they’re his family now too.

“And that is why it’s always good to make friends, no matter who they are. You never know who might be there for you when times get tough.” Dabi stands up, gives a small bow, and tries to leave only to find kids grabbing onto his legs.

“No! Don’t go! Want to hear more.” One begs, tugging at the strings on Dabi’s black combat boots.

Dabi chuckles. “Sorry guys. I’ll tell you another one next week, alright?” They pout and complain, but let Dabi leave unscathed.

“Wow,” Keigo compliments as the guy slinks over to his desk, completely ignoring the fact he’s a patron and patrons are supposed to stay on the other side of the counter. “That was actually kind of interesting. Where’d you learn to tell stories like that?” There is no way Dabi practised story telling with the League.

“Younger siblings.” Keigo jolts upright at that. “Huh, yeah I guess I never told you that, did I? I’ve got three of ‘em and used to make up stories for them all the time.” He blinks, staring at Dabi in a new light now that he’s got this information. Yeah, that does kind of make sense: Dabi always looked out for the younger members of the League, even if he did it in a rough, fiery way.

“Cool,” Keigo voices once he realizes he hasn’t said anything in response to Dabi’s revelation yet. “I always thought it would be fun to have siblings.”

Dabi hums, nodding his head as he pushes his baseball cap back over his dark hair. “Yeah, I guess. There were some good times. More bad ones though, so don’t worry, you aren’t missing out.” Keigo gives the man an unbelieving look for that one. The amount of pain in his turquoise eyes is a clear tell to how much he misses them.

“Have you thought about contacting them?” Dabi might be a recognizable wanted villain, but maybe now that he’s not actively warring against society he could reach out again.

“I think about that all the time,” Dabi admits, gaze dropping to stare at his feet. “But I can’t. Telling them I’m alive now would just make them hate me for everything I’ve done since that day. It’s better I stay gone.” Keigo wants to speak up against that decision, but there’s something that stays his tongue.

“Excuse me, son. I don’t want to interrupt your chat with your boyfriend, but I’ve got an appointment in fifteen minutes.” Keigo jumps out of his chair, face red and feathers ruffling with his embarrassment.

“Oh!” A kind older lady he vaguely recognizes is waiting with a book over by the check-out computer. “Sorry about that Ma’am. And he’s not my boyfriend, just a normal friend.” He gives the lady a cheery smile that she appears unaffected by.

“Umhum. Sure, son. That’s what Fai used to say about Gale, and now they’re running off together on a romantic vacation.” The lady sighs as she hands her book and card over for him to scan the barcodes. “He really should have married me; we would have had the most beautiful children.”

Keigo wisely chooses to not reply to that, merely bidding the lady a good day once he hands the book and card back. When he turns around to apologise to Dabi for the earlier misconception the guy is gone. Typical. Keigo retakes his desk seat and pulls the book he started a few days ago out of the top drawer. He flips it to the page he left off on and leans back in his seat as the words before him spin a world of magic and dangerously mysterious romance.

Chapter Text

The rest of his day passes quickly and without incident, and soon enough Keigo finds himself at the store, staring at the selection of food things.

“This shouldn’t be hard,” he grumbles, nibbling at his lower lip as he blanks on what he’s supposed to buy. Once again he forwent a cart, figuring that embarrassing himself while trying to fight it is just too much after everything that happened earlier. This means that whatever he buys has to be limited to what he can carry over to the check out person.

…Pre-made meals and kids’ crackers it is then.

Mind made up, he grabs his purchases and moves to the check out, earning himself a look from the cashier when he hands over five boxes of the crackers. It’s not his fault they’re animal shaped and fun.

Out of the corner of his eye he notes a selection of candy bars he didn’t see earlier. There is zero hesitation as he grabs a handful of different bars and adds those to his pile of food.

Now that he’s done it a couple times, watching the cashier scan stuff and paying them is not nearly as intimidating as he first thought it was. It’s over in a few minutes and he’s quick to escape into the street. The air in chilly tonight, warning that fall is soon going to switch to winter and continue its history of attempting to freeze him to death everyday. Rumi always made fun of him for being cold all the time, but that’s hardly his fault! It’s not like he can control that his instincts want him to fly someplace warm for the season and refusing to do so makes him shake all the time.

He winces as his feathers quiver, indicating multiple pairs of feet are racing towards him. Ugh, no. He’s not in the mood to deal with people right now; grubby kids fingers still feel like they’re ripping at his feathers and the headache that’s a product of that is only just starting to fade.

Sighing, he sets his pair of grocery bags down.

Might as well get this over with.

“Hey guys,” Keigo calls out to the darkness around him. “Anything I can help you with?” The five pairs of feet stutter and some freeze, the ambushers clearing not prepared to be called out like that. A moment, then the five of them step into view, illuminated by the streetlights. They are clad in black, as he’s starting to realize is the local gang’s go-to, each scowling and bearing some sort of bludgeoning weapon.

“Looks like the right guy,” one of them comments, swinging their baseball bat in a lazy circle. Ha, is that an attempt at intimidation? Cute.

“Yeah, Carlo said the guy had wings. It looks to me like this guy has some wings.” Another chimes in.

“If you’re wondering about library hours, they are 9am-5pm every weekday, Saturdays are open until 2pm, and it’s closed on Sundays.” Keigo pipes up cheerfully. Maybe they are here for library stuff, not gang stuff. He receives five incredulous stares. “No? Well, can you really blame a guy for trying?”

“Hey, what’s going on over here?” Keigo glances over, glad to see a man he recognizes as a police officer heading over.

“Mind your own business buddy,” one of the gang members snaps. The cop immediately ducks his head and turns away.

“Hey wait!” Keigo calls out. “You’re a cop, why are you running away?” The guy looks at him like he’s nuts.

“I’m not stupid enough to get on the wrong side of the Misfits, sorry pal.” Fine, whatever. That’s not entirely uncommon – cops aren’t given nearly enough training on how to protect themselves or others. He’s seen his fair share duck out of a confrontation because of fear.

“Ok, but quick question before you go: am I going to be arrested if I take down these guys?” The cop holds up his hands, backing away.

“Not by me, man. I don’t mess around with gang business.” Eh, Keigo can work with that. The cop flees, and Keigo grins at the five of them as they spread out to surround him.

That is their second mistake – the first being coming after him in the first place. They would have been better off grouping together and attempting to land a hit on him that way. Spread out like this they don’t have the slightest hint of a chance.

“You sure you guys aren’t just asking after library hours?” Keigo tries one more time, rolling his shoulders, bouncing on the balls of his feet, and spreading out his wings in warning.

They foolishly charge forwards anyways.

Dodging their slow uncoordinated attacks, Hawks whirls around them. He doesn’t bother calling feather swords to his hands, settling for quick strikes to pressure points instead. His five opponents are sloppy, and their movements that kind of brash overconfidence that is achieved from beating up people that don’t know how to fight back.

Unfortunately for them Hawks knows how to fight back.

They curse and try to swing their weapons with more strength seemingly not realizing that they need to hit him for that to be effective. A few try their quirks, but those make no difference in the outcome of the skirmish. His agile avian feet help him avoid all their untrained attacks, and he laughs after a particularly sloppy left hook.

Honestly, it’s not even a fight. Odds are he could have beaten these clowns when he was eight. All he has to do was wait for them to make a sloppy movement and he can slip in close, hammering them with a couple precise hits that knocks out whoever he targets.

It is over in three minutes. It only takes that long because Hawks was pitying them and hoping they would do better as time went on. Once it’s over, he ties the group of them to a streetlight using their shoelaces as a make-shift rope. Zip-ties were once been a common item in his pockets, but he figured he wouldn’t need to have stuff like that when working at a library. Maybe that needs to be re-evaluated.

Keigo leaves them there and makes his way back to the loft, whistling as he goes. Gosh, maybe a little fight was all he needed – his mind is calm, his breathing steady, and his feathers hardly ache anymore.

Really, his biggest concern is why the group was stupid enough to give themselves a dumb name like ‘The Misfits’. Honestly. ‘The League of Villains’ isn’t that much better, but it is a little classy in a strange way.

Eh, not his problem. Hopefully the gang will take the failed ambush as a sign to leave him alone and they won’t be his problem anymore.

Around noon the next morning Keigo is chilling in his spinning chair, reading a book, and thinking about his rumbling stomach. The book isn’t that good, but an older lady told him to read it so he figured he should. And even though drawn-out dramas aren’t his thing, the author did a pretty good job writing it so he can appreciate that.

A scream cuts through the silence. He’s out the door before the book hits the floor.

Keigo sprints across the street, glad there are no cars. The bakery shop door is open. Lyra is cowering behind the counter, clutching her kid to her. Terror stains the air as she trembles, an action so unlike her, unable to look away from the large man and sneering woman in the center of the shop.

“Pay up,” the man grunts, “or next time she won’t miss.” The woman lights her hand up with crackling green electricity, which no doubt to blame for the smoking hole above the baker’s head.

“Hey guys, you should know it’s not nice to hold up the line.” Keigo announces his presence, rotating his shoulders in preparation. “Can you buy your stuff so I can get a donut? Don’t want to leave the library unattended for too long, I’m sure you understand.”

“You! You’re the cocky bastard who thinks he can just roll into our town and start messing things up. Well, let me tell you something pal,” the man steps right up into his space, leering down at him. Jeez, is it too much to ask for a villain shorter than him? Just once? “That’s not how things work around here. The Misfits are in charge; got it?” Keigo holds up his hands.

“Sure man, whatever you say. You gonna leave now so I can buy a donut?” The woman glares at him, that green electricity crackling around her palm.

“You hurt my sister last night. You’ll pay for that.” He shrugs, well acquainted to people being mad at him for arresting someone they know. If this chick wants to be his sworn enemy now or whatever she’ll need to take a number and wait in line.

“Sorry, I guess. You should tell her to not attack me next time.”

A bolt of green lightning is flung at his head with a wordless shriek of rage.

Hawks ducks beneath the attack, feathers shooting out the same instant he moves. He lunges forwards and pushes of the front leg, leaping into the air. It’s muscle memory to twist in the air, rotating into a solid kick that connects with the woman’s head. She drops and does not get back up. His feathers continue to swarm the man, who swipes at them with large hands, cursing as his fingers and forearms are given a good hundred thin cuts, courtesy of the razor-sharp feathers.

Grabbing a larger primary, Hawks slams the flat of it into the side of the man’s head, sending him crashing to the ground. Hawks presses a foot down on the man’s chest, leaning more of his weight into it as the man grabs at his boot to try and throw him off.

“You’ll leave this nice woman alone now, yeah? And won’t be coming back?” The man spits a wad of saliva at him, cursing. Hawks merely grinds his boot heel into the man’s chest, knowing just a hint of more pressure will break his sternum.

“Fine!” The man hisses. “Fuck man, you win. We’ll cut her out of our protection bracket!”

“Good,” Hawks agrees, lifting his foot and backing off. “Take your friend and get out of here.” The man is quick to heft his partner over a shoulder and scamper away.

“Thank you,” Lyra gasps, orange eyes wide with the shock. Her hands are still trembling where they clutch her son to her chest.

“Hey, no worries! I was thinking about getting a donut, so what ones do you have today?” Keigo digs out his wallet, grinning. “And I’ll buy another one for the little guy too.” He winks at the little boy who is still clinging to his mother’s shirt.

“Of course you choose now to buy something,” Lyra gives a small breathless laugh, trying to reel herself in. “I’ve hardly got anything good left.”

“Eh, just pick whatever donut you think is the best of the options then.” He holds his hands out like a greedy child as she passes him one made entirely of chocolate. His wings fluff up as he bit into the sugary deliciousness.

“Oh yeah,” he groans with his mouth full, “this is the best bundle of calories I have ever eaten! Thanks Lyra, see you later.” He waves goodbye after paying, and leaves the shop, grinning as he spotted Nao munching on a sprinkle-covered donut.

He really should take the time to text her at some point, especially if she can keep supplying him with tasty things like this.

Arriving back there is only one person in the library. This person is sitting in Keigo’s spinning chair – which has been dragged out from behind the desk and to the check-out counter – shiny black boots planted up on said counter. His hood is pulled down and his normal medical mask is pocketed, showing off the black hair, purple scars, and turquoise eyes.

“Took you long enough Feathers,” Dabi comments, kicking off and spinning around. “Don’t worry; I held the fort while you were out.”

“Get out of my chair Dabi,” Keigo grumbles. He just wants to eat his donut in peace. He does not want to deal with his former-sort-of-friend-who-is-also-a-villain-but-now-isn’t. Dabi is often an exhausting character to deal with and Keigo doesn’t want to today. “Just let me sign out whatever you came for and leave. I want to eat my donut without worries of being turned into roasted chicken.” Dabi places a hand over his heart, gasping dramatically.

“Why Hawks, I would never flambé a man while he was eating a donut! I can’t believe you think me that cruel.” Despite himself, Keigo cracks a smile.

“Seriously though-”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get your tail feathers in a twist,” Dabi hops up out of his chair and comes around to the customer side of the counter. Keigo grits his teeth as his tail feathers twitch in response to the comment. No, Dabi does not know he has a tail. He’s just teasing like he always does.

There’s a neat stack on the returns side of the counter and a good half-dozen new novels ready to be checked out. Keigo scans them, glancing briefly at the titles.

“Oh ho, reading romance Dabi? I wouldn’t have pegged a guy like you for the romantic type.” Dabi rolls his eyes, scoffing.

“I’m not. I like mystery. These are for Comp- er- Sako. I’m not done the ones I checked out yet.” Keigo shrugs.

“Whatever you say. I will admit that I read this one,” he indicates the book he’s placed at the top, “and it was actually pretty good for a romance.”

Dabi looks at him for a long moment. Then he breaks eye contact and shoves the books back into his bag.

“Sure, whatever. Can’t say I’m surprised you enjoy reading that crap. See you later Feathers.” Dabi pulls his hood up and slumps his way out of the library.

Keigo doesn’t realize that Dabi means later that day, not later as in sometime in the future.

About a minute before five, when he closes, the door chimes as Dabi shoves his way back inside. He slumps in and hops up onto the counter, fingertips drumming along the surface.

“Uh, can I help you?” Keigo inquires, raising his eyebrow as he lowers his novel down from his face. There is no one else in the library. At this point Keigo is just waiting for the clock to tell him it’s five so he can lock the doors and go upstairs. His big exciting nighttime plans of binging a show and eating the rest of the candy bars he bought the other day are now being pushed back by Dabi’s presence.

“Yep.” There’s a long pause where Dabi refuses to elaborate and won’t meet his eyes, so Keigo prompts him to.

“With what?”

“Here,” Dabi slides a cracked phone towards him along the countertop. Keigo picks it up, eyebrow raising even higher as he notes that a contact tab labeled ‘Feathers’ is open.

“…You want my phone number?” To say he is confused would be an understatement.

“Yep.” Dabi still won’t look at him. Weird. The guy is definitely not the shy type. Keigo’s not really sure what’s going on here, but whatever. The day he figures out Dabi’s motivations for anything is not a day he imagines arriving.

“Uh, ok, sure.” Keigo taps in his cell number without further ado. He passes the phone back across the counter so Dabi can snatch it and shove it back into his coat pocket. The man hops off the counter and bolts out the door, not looking back.

Again: weird. Keigo could have sworn Dabi’s heart sounded like it was beating a little faster than normal.

Meh. He locks the doors and speed-walks up the stairs to the loft, flipping on his laptop and clicking on the first recommendation. Keigo spends the first episode trying not choke as he eats one of his microwavable meals every time he bursts out laughing mid-bite. The next episode he moves onto the candy bars and for once is incredibly thankful for his bird metabolism. Without that and with the way he’s been eating, Keigo’s sure he’d gain weight fast. As it is he’s probably lost weight in the form of muscle mass.

…herm. Maybe he should look into a gym membership. He could easily wake up in the mornings and go work out for a bit before opening the library for the day.

The clock reads nine before he remembers that he meant to go shopping again to buy real adult stuff.

With that goal in mind, Keigo heads back to the store. He glares at the carts upon entry, skittering around them cautiously, and picks up a basket he never realized was an option. That is much easier to maneuver. He heads over to the grocery aisle and stares at real people food. The cookbook he read very clearly listed ingredients that are easy to use and cook fast, so he’s going to buy the ingredients and use them to make something.

Somehow.

Without burning the loft and library down.

He sets a carton of eggs in the basket, feathers fluffing up at the small action. Wow, look at him go. He’s buying real food. Ok, some milk too. And a block of cheese, a bag of spinach, a pack of bacon because he wants it not because the cookbook recommended it, and rice. With real food in his basket, Keigo moves towards the home section. There he finds a matching set of fluffy purple bath and hand towels and adds that to his basket.

Thankfully he doesn’t need to invest in a set of cooking pans as Fai left hers behind. Thank God for that; he’d have no idea what to buy nor how to use the many different sized pots and pans anyways.

Humming happily, Keigo sets to wandering in the direction of the check out. He’s nearly there when a bright red sale sign catches his eye. Normally he’d never look twice at a set of drawing pencils, but the sale sign makes him pause. He adds a package to his basket and doubles back to go pick out a sketchbook from the selection he just passed. They’ve got all sorts of different ones with different types of paper, so Keigo just picks the one with the prettiest cover. It’s small and journal-sized with a red cover and wisping silver flames decorating the surface. The interior is made up of blank pages that feel a tad thicker than normal printer paper does, and it’s not a bad price.

He makes it a few more aisles before spotting a first aid kit. It’s in his hand before he fully thinks though the purchase. There’s something tingling in the back of his mind that screams at him to buy it, so he adds it to the cramped basket in his left hand.

With that done, he tries again to go to the check out. This time his gaze is caught by a home décor section. He pauses a moment, remembering Toga wants him to go to their shop at some point. Yeah, that’s not going to happen.

Keigo steps away, then pauses. His hand snaps out to grab the first thing it reaches – a tablecloth – and he tucks that under his arm. If he’s got a decorative thing then he can use it as an excuse to not stop by the League’s interior design store. He nods to himself. Yes, this is a smart measure to take in advance. He looks at it better once he finally reaches the checkout: it’s a red and white floral pattern which thankfully isn’t too much of an eyesore.

After paying for all his things, it’s a quiet walk back to the library. At this point it’s late enough not many people are wandering about. He spots a few young adults and older teens dressed in black and makes sure to avoid eye contact. He’s not overly inclined to get in another fight with that stupid gang.

Thankfully they leave him alone and he’s able to make it back to his loft without interruption. Once there Keigo sets to unpacking his new stuff. The tablecloth is spread over the kitchen table, the food stuffs put in the previous empty fridge, the towels and first aid kit are set in the bathroom, and the pencils and sketchbook being placed atop the new tablecloth. After a moment’s consideration, he moves the unopened jigsaw puzzle from the floor and places the box next to those. Might as well keep all his to-try things in the same spot.

Figuring that is enough adulting for the day, Keigo settles in bed and watches TV for a few more hours before deciding to try to sleep.

After a relatively peaceful morning, his Wednesday is ruined when a swarm of school children kids run through the doors just after he returns from the bakery for a quick lunch break. Lyra was more than happy to feed him and chat, extending his break from fifteen minutes to over forty. Given he had a good time he’s not going to complain.

But still. Small children are everywhere.

The tired teachers smile at him as they usher their rambunctious children into his no-longer-quiet library, guiding them to the kids’ corner. Thankfully there’s no one else in right now so the volume the kids are playing at doesn’t really matter. It’ll only bother him.

“Hi,” greets one of the teachers, “sorry about the sudden intrusion. We planned this field trip a couple weeks ago, I’m not sure if Fai warned you about it.”

“She didn’t, but no worries.” Keigo gives a strained smile, pulling his wings in as tight to his back as he can. He is not inclined to relive the sensory overload that came with letting the kids play with his feathers. One was slimy all day after the kid put it in their mouth, and the ones he had to regrow don’t want to be pulled out anew.

As such, Keigo makes the wise choice of staying behind the counter, letting it block him off from the pests. They are more than happy to scramble around the kids’ area, pulling books from the shelves at random and playing with the toys scattered about.

He gets maybe ten minutes of relative peace before a child approaches him.

“Excuse me Mister, what kind of birdie are you?” The young girl looks up at him with wide eyes hidden behind round glasses, a non-fiction book on birds clasped in her hands.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’m some sort of hawk.” He edges backwards as the girl slams her book down on the counter and flips it open.

“That was my second guess! First was a raptor, but that’s ok. Look! The feathers here on the red-tailed hawk look pretty similar to yours, Mister.” She pointed down at the picture she has flipped to, smiling a toothy grin up at him. She’s missing a canine in the top row. Keigo glances at the picture, but really does not see the resemblance outside of the red coloring. He picked a hawk since, for obvious reasons, that is the first thing that can to mind.

“Huh,” he leans over to look closer at the picture. Yep, he’s got no clue how the kid thinks their wings are the same. The feathers are all wrong. His feet, on the other hand, are not very different, but that can be said for pretty much all bird types. “I’m not sure I can see the similarities,” he admits. She pushes her glasses up her nose, tilting her head and frowning.

“Really? Oh,” oh no. Now she sounds sad. Fuck, he is so bad with kids. Please don’t cry child.

“But you’re probably right,” he adds quickly, backtracking before she can start bawling or something. “My feet look similar.” Her eyes light up.

“Can I see? Please?” Uh, he did not think this through. His feet are all kinds of nasty, despite the fact they’re less bloody and scabbed over than they used to be. Still not exactly a great thing to show a child.

“Oh, er,” he catches a teacher’s eye, trying to express his panic is his gaze. The teacher huffs and makes his way over.

“Come on,” he pats the little girl’s shoulder, “let’s go rejoin the group.” She casts one pleading glance towards Keigo, which he pretends not to see, before following along after her teacher.

Apparently not even behind the desk is safe.

He wants to go shelve the adult books – which just may happen to be the section furthest from the gremlins – but leaving the desk unmanned while there are so many kids sorting through things (consequently messing up his organized shelves) and probably seeking to sign books out is not a good plan. It is better to stay here for now, no matter the danger.

They leave the library around 3. And in the two hours they were here the kids managed to completely destroy the children’s area. Thin books are pulled out from the shelves and strewn across the floor, toys are scattered about randomly waiting for unobserving patrons to step on, and, of course, the few stuffed animals hanging around are no doubt wet and grimy from mouths gnawing on the plush fabric.

Keigo sighs and rolls up his sleeves. Time to get to work.

Two hours later Keigo is still cleaning up the area. He has taken pauses from it to help the people that came in and there are always a lot in the afternoons, so he isn’t surprised he is not quite done cleaning yet.

What is surprising is that two minutes before five Dabi strolls in. He isn’t carrying any books nor does he have his reusable bag that he brings when picking things up. Instead of his regular jacket with the hood pulled up, he’s wearing a black t-shirt with some faded logo on it and his jacket is slung over his arm. His black ripped jeans and black combat boots finish his emo (not that he’ll ever admit it) look. There is an obvious lack of hat and mask today, and oddly enough Keigo’s nose picks up traces of rose soap, like Dabi made an effort to shower before coming here.

Keigo pops up from where he is kneeling on the ground, giving a small wave. “Uh, hi?”

Dabi frowns as he takes in the scattered mess of thin children’s books Keigo still has to put away. The picture books always take forever to reshelve cause they’re too thin for his feather to handle. The man lets out a long sigh. He rounds the check-out counter, ignoring Keigo’s offended squawk, and tosses his jacket on Keigo’s desk before grabbing the cart of books he hasn’t gotten around to shelving yet.

“What are you doing?” Keigo asks as the ex-villain drags the cart squeakily along behind him heading for the adult section.

“Helping out, obviously.” Dabi does not so much as look over his shoulder, already examining the books on the shelf to determine the ordering system.

“I see that, but why? I close in, well,” he glanced at his phone, “now, so it’s not like there’s more stuff to do after. I just need to finish this mess, shelve that cart you’ve got, and make sure the computers are shut down. I don’t need help.” Dabi huffs, scanning the shelf and sliding a book back in its proper place.

“Cause the movie I want to see starts at 6, and it takes half an hour to walk to the theatre.” Keigo blinks. What?

“Then why are you here and not going to the theatre?” Dabi pauses solely to look back at him and roll his eyes.

“Because you’re coming too, Feathers.”

“I am?” Keigo stares, not sure if he heard that correctly. “Why?”

“Yup. So get a move on, I don’t like being late.” Keigo scoffs. Dabi was late to literally every one of their meet ups back when he was first trying to join the League. He shrugs and goes back to cleaning up, noticing how Dabi didn’t answer the second part of his question. It isn’t like he has any plans outside of binging TV alone in his room, so he might as well go out and do something.

Chapter Text

It takes fifteen minutes to get everything cleaned up. Keigo pulls out his keys, wings curling around his shoulders slightly as a cooler fall breeze wafts through the air. Winter is getting closer with each passing second and he hates that knowledge. Dabi, in his t-shirt, seems immune to it, continuing to tap his foot impatiently as Keigo locks the library doors.

“Alright then, let’s get going,” Dabi grumbles, frowning as he checks at the time on his cracked phone.

“I can just fly us there,” Keigo offers. An incredulous glance is shot his way.

“What?” Dabi rasps, shoulders shaking with restrained laughter. Keigo doesn’t get why it is funny.

“I said I can just fly us over. It’ll be faster.” Dabi cackles out a peel of laughter.

“Oh my God, Feathers, you know that using your quirk without a license is illegal right?” Keigo frowns. That is stupid; flying didn’t count as illegal quirk use, did it?

…That might explain all the looks he gets when flying or using his feathers to carry stuff though. Eh, oh well.

“Whatever,” he playfully shoves at Dabi’s shoulder. “Who are you to be talking about what’s legal and what’s not.” Dabi ignores his taunt, content to keep laughing at Keigo.

“You know, I used to think you were smart. But after these past few weeks I have come to the conclusion that you are a bit of a moron, Hawks.” Keigo flinches, and Dabi’s laughter dies out immediately. “Fuck, sorry. I’m just joking. I know you’re stupid smart-”

“Don’t call me that,” Keigo mutters, foot kicking a rock on the sidewalk in front of him. “My name’s Keigo.” Dabi blinks at him, mouth open in an ‘o’ shape that stretches his stapled-together seams.

“Yeah, ok. Keigo,” the ex-villain parrots back with his face tinting pink as he looks anywhere but directly at Keigo. Dabi pulls out his phone to check the time again. “Fuck, maybe you should fly us. I really do hate being late.” Keigo shrugs. He definitely doesn’t mind. Any excuse to fly is good enough for him.

“Sure man,” he holds out his arms, raising an eyebrow when Dabi goes a darker shade of pink and skitters back a few steps. “Dude, I have to hold onto you if we fly.” Keigo rolls his eyes.

“Uh, maybe we should just walk then,” Dabi stammers as he fixes his eyes on a spot on the ground.

Oh hell no. It is too late for that.

Keigo swoops over and wraps his arms around Dabi’s waist, hefting the other man with ease as he quickly takes to the sky. Dabi hardly has a second to screech and cling to Keigo’s neck before they are leveled out, gliding smoothly through the evening sky. Having heard the man complain about it, Keigo knows Dabi gets motion sick, so he tries to fly as smoothly as possible to reduce that.

“Shit. Holy motherfucking shit. Put me down.” Dabi gasps, trembling a little bit as he burrows into Keigo’s chest, squeezing tightly enough at his neck that it would seem Dabi is the one that can stress grip. “Haw- Keigo, please put me down now.”

Frowning and very concerned about Dabi’s reaction, Keigo lands on the nearest rooftop.

“Hey man, what’s going on?” He can’t help the slight edge of concern in his tone. In his experience, this is a rather unexpected reaction for a first-time flight passenger.

“Fuck,” Dabi lowers himself to the surface of the roof and pulls his knees to his chest. His fingers knot into black hair as he rocks slightly, trembling. “Fuck, you couldn’t fly lower or something?” Keigo blinks. That does not sound like motion sickness.

“Uh, Dabi, are you afraid of heights by any chance?”

“No,” Dabi snaps out. The way his fingers tightened in his hair says otherwise.

“Fuck man, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have picked you up like that.” Dabi scoffs at him.

“It’s fine Feathers. Not like you knew.” Keigo lowers himself to sit opposite the guy as Dabi keeps rocking back and forth. It’s long minutes before Dabi pulls out his phone and frowns at the time. “Well, damn. It’s quarter to six. We’re not gonna make it on time.” Keigo taps a gloves finger against the roof, humming thoughtfully.

“Actually, I think we still could. I have an idea.” Dabi raises his head from his knees to squint at Keigo.

“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

“I restate: this is a truly terrible idea.” Dabi sounds resigned to it anyways. Keigo grins.

The platform of feathers under Dabi’s feet wobble slightly as Keigo moves them up off the ground. The ones at the man’s back and arms steady him as he wobbles, lifting a mere two inches up off the ground – not nearly high enough for the guy to be bothered by.

“Alright!” Keigo cheers, jumping around excitedly. He can’t believe this is working. “Let’s go!” He takes off running down the sidewalk, wings giving tiny flaps to help propel him quicker. Dabi stays at his side, Keigo’s feathers carrying him along. He’s kind of shocked he hasn’t dropped Dabi yet. They reach the theatre with ten minutes to spare, Keigo taking in deep even breaths and just starting to work up a sweat.

“Ta-da,” Keigo sings, grinning as Dabi rolls his eyes in exasperation.

“Come on,” Dabi grumbles as Keigo’s feathers lower him to the ground and zip back to his wings. Dabi grabs Keigo’s hand in an action that makes him wish he isn’t wearing gloves. Which is a stupid thought really. Why should he care about wanting to feel Dabi’s hand against his own skin rather than the cheap leather of his glove? Ridiculous.

He’s led inside the movie theatre. It’s bright and loud and smelly, so a bit of a fight to not flinch at the sudden change in atmosphere. Dabi drags him towards the tired teenager working at the counter. Keigo zones out as Dabi buys the tickets, eyes caught on the colorful arrangement of snacks behind the teen. He has never actually been to a movie theatre before. Even in one as small as this, all the smells and sounds push in on him, forcing his feathers to clamp tight together as he tries to block out all the extra noise. Machines growling, people talking, and movies blaring thrumming noise from multiple theatres. He does not notice he’s staring at the popcorn sign, trying to ignore the blunt smell of the burnt butter and the loud chatter of a group of teenagers behind them, until Dabi’s hand waves in his face.

“Hey, Keigo?”

He blinks, plastering on a smile that’s only 60% fake. “Yeah?”

Dabi huffs at him, shoving a bag into his hands and grabbing his arm, marching him towards the theatre room they are apparently supposed to go to. Blinking, Keigo stares at the popcorn in his hands, wondering why on earth Dabi bought it. He knows the guy doesn’t eat most of the time, let alone unhealthy foods like this.

They head into their theatre, the darkness of the room a sharp contrast to the buzzing lights from outside. The lack of people in the enclosed area is nice too. While he and Dabi are not the only ones there, the fifteen or so who are seated and murmuring quietly is much less overwhelming than the many more that were milling around the counter and loitering outside while they wait for their film to start.

It's much better.

Dabi directs them over to a pair of seats near the back of the room, the tall man selecting one in the center of the row and slinking down in it as much as he can. Keigo settles in next to him, trying to figure out how on earth his wings are going to work with theatre seats. With a loud annoyed huff, he tries to crouch on the seat. Only to immediately yelps as his boots slip on the surface of the folding-down seat, planting him on his butt. His tail feathers squish and he bites back a wince as Dabi chuckles at him. He pointedly ignores that as he stifles a curse. His wings caught on the backrest in his fall, tugging at his back muscles painfully. He frees them by standing up, and glares down at the seat.

An idea hits him. Hoping Dabi can’t see them in the darkness of the room, Keigo tugs his boots and socks off, setting them on the ground next to the bag of popcorn. Flexing his toes, Keigo perches back on the chair. His three front talons curl over the edge while the back one hooks slightly into the material of the seat, holding him steadily in place. Pleased with his success, Keigo flops his wings over the back of the seat. While perched it is a good enough height that the backrest doesn’t dig into his muscles in an unpleasant manner, like a few moments prior.

“Comfy?” Dabi grins at him, the faint light glinting off his staples.

“Yep,” Keigo’s eyes latches onto the shininess of the metal, hoping he’ll be able to look away before it becomes awkward. But it isn’t a lie; he is very comfy. Sitting crouched like this feels right, in a weird way. His tail feathers twitch within the constraints of the pant leg they’re shoved down. It is odd to feel the urge to free them and let them see the light of day someplace other than the inner constraints of his loft. He’s pretty sure that one time he had to leave them visible cause of the tight nature of the yoga pants was enough to last his anxiety a while, so this feeling is extra unexpected.

Before they can talk more, the lights dim further and the people talking quickly shut up. The large screen whirs and comes to life. Keigo flinches back as noise booms out of the speakers around the room, hands gripping onto the armrests. He focuses on his breathing through the previews; this is just a bit of noise, he is fine.

Fingers ghost the back of his left hand.

“Hey Feathers, are you ok?”

“Yep.” He knows that the lie sounds strained, but he really doesn’t care. It’s too loud, the vibrations of the sound drilling into each feather painfully enough his teeth grit against it. But he’s fine. He fought a war, watching a movie is nothing in comparison-

Dabi moves and things are quieter.

Blinking, Keigo registers the heavy feeling of fabric over his wings. He peers over a shoulder to see that Dabi has draped his jacket over Keigo’s feathers. Huh.

“Thanks,” he whispers, tugging it a little more to the right. With Dabi’s jacket muffling the sounds his feathers are picking up this should be a much more enjoyable experience.

The previews finish, and Keigo remembers that there is still popcorn he can try. He has no clue if he will like it; it is yet another thing that was banned from his diet growing up. He sends a small feather to pick up the greasy bag and bring it to him, quickly hiding the feather back under the safety of the jacket.

Popping a piece in his mouth, he chews thoughtfully. It is a little saltier than anticipated, but not bad. He offered the bag to Dabi who shakes his head and gently pushes it back towards him.

The movie starts up, opening in a creepy cemetery with fog rolling ominously between the headstones. Keigo frowns.

“Are we watching a horror movie?” He whispers to Dabi, leaning into the guy’s space as to not talk too loudly and both the other viewers.

“Yes,” Dabi mutters back, eyes glued on the screen. Oh, ok then. Keigo watched a horror movie once before with Rumi and that hadn’t been too bad.

His hands keep feeding him popcorn a single kernel at a time. Each one he chews slowly, savoring the treat he is finally trying after twenty-four years. It is salty and buttery and warm, and he likes it. Sadly, even though he is eating it slowly, it’s gone after that first cemetery scene.

That is the only reason he doesn’t spill popcorn all over when the first jump scare happens five minutes later. Keigo shrieks, jolting in his seat and feeling the fabric of the chair beneath his talons tearing. He is almost embarrassed by how loud he yelps, except Dabi curses loudly enough to drown him out. Plus no one is paying them any attention as all are too wrapped up being scared themselves. He shoots the guy a glance, nearly laughing at the small blush dusting the skin above his scars.

He's absolutely teasing Dabi for that later.

He figures the first one would be the worst as he can now anticipate that it’s going to happen. He is very wrong. The next jump scare catches him completely off guard, causing the armrests beneath his hands to snap as his fingers lock in a stress grip. The other people in the theatre scream loudly at the extra noise. Flushing Keigo stares at his hands, the tips of his talons poking through his gloves. He hasn’t stress gripped in years and now he does so due to a stupid movie that isn’t nearly as scary as things he has faced in real life? That is all kinds of pathetic.

“Fuck am I glad I wasn’t holding that hand.”

“What?” Keigo snaps his head to the side and looks to Dabi with raised eyebrows. The guy doesn’t meet his gaze, seemingly content to pretend he hasn’t said anything. Eyeing the guy to let him know that his words didn’t escape Keigo’s hearing, he turns back to the movie just in time to jolt again. A louder ripping sound echoes through the room, making even more people scream, as his stress-gripped fingers tears the armrests clean from the chair.

“Dammit,” he curses under his breath, shaking his hands in an attempt to loosen his fingers and drop the chunks of plastic. A quiet huff has him side-eyeing Dabi as the guy’s lips quirk up at the edges, laughing at Keigo’s struggle. So, since he can’t flip him off, Keigo sticks his tongue out at the guy. Dabi barks another laugh.

A few minutes after Keigo has turned back to the movie, a warm hand settled over the back of his left hand, thumb rubbing softly over the glove. Keigo freezes, even his feathers stilling. Dabi runs his thumb over the back of Keigo’s hand again and his fingers spasm, the chunk of armrest clenched in it falling to the ground. His face burns so he refuses to look away from the screen. God, this is so embarrassing. He really hopes that Dabi does not know what he’s just done. Keigo does not think he has ever relaxed so quickly from a stress grip before. Fuck Dabi’s stupid warm hands.

At the very end of the movie, just when Keigo finally thinks there will not be any more jump scares, there is. Giving a small shriek and jolting, Keigo flails a little. In his movement he manages to tear through the rest of the fabric of the seat. The whole theatre screams at that, and he feels a little bad for scaring them extra bad. Given the lack of seat to grab onto, his talons clenching nothing and he’s toppling over.

Not wanting to land on the grimy floor, Keigo kicks his feet to the right and flips himself around, his wings pulling in tight in hopes of not slamming into anything. He is kind of glad he tore off the armrests now. A small oof slips from his lips as his head lands on the surface to his left: Dabi’s lap. His face burns as that realization kicks in.

Keigo freezes there a moment, unsure what the correct procedure here is. His ear is flat against Dabi’s thigh, and if he were to tilt his head to look up from Dabi’s stomach, he’s sure he’d find the other man staring down at him.

He goes for it, head cocking a little to the side so he can peek up at his companion. Even in the dim light of the theatre, Dabi’s cheeks are more flushed than Keigo’s feel, and his half-scarred his lips are slightly parted as he stares down at Keigo with wide turquoise eyes.

“Uh, hi?” Keigo offers, trying for a small laugh. Dabi just keeps staring at him, mouth open, like he is going to say something. But then the lights click on. Letting out a panicked squawk, Keigo scrambles upright and lunges for his boots. He shoves them on quickly with his toes protesting as they always do. A quick glance over his shoulder shows that Dabi is still staring down to where Keigo’s head just was. Hopefully the guy didn’t notice his feet.

“So, um, did you like the movie?” Keigo tries, amused to watch Dabi jolt out of his thoughts.

“Y-yeah, I did.” Dabi stands up and frowns down at the mess of ruined fabric and broken bits of plastic that was Keigo’s seat. “Come on,” he grabs Keigo’s hand in a manner that makes him worry that Dabi is going to cut himself on the bits of talon peeking out of the fingertips. “Let’s get out of here before they try to make us pay for that.”

“What?” Keigo frowns, digging his feet in a little. “But shouldn’t I pay for it?” Dabi snorts and shoots him a wicked grin that promises danger and adventure.

“Hell no. This place is that small-time gang of losers not-so-secret base. This way will be funnier.” And well, Keigo doesn’t really get how it will be funny, but he also doesn’t really want to give the gang that’s been pissing him off money. He lets Dabi pull him out of the theatre through the staff only door, the two of them sneaking off before anyone can see them.

As they walk aimlessly down the sidewalk, Keigo shrugs Dabi’s jacket off his wings and hands it back.

“Thanks for this Dabs. It was pretty overwhelming in there at first.”

“No problem,” Dabi reaches over and takes it back, letting their fingers brush for a brief second. “It would have sucked if you were uncomfortable the whole time.”

Keigo pulls out his phone to check the time. It’s just before eight.

“Do you want to get food?” He offers, “I’m hungry.”

“Course you are Feathers,” Dabi snorts at him, “you’re always hungry.” Keigo doesn’t bother replying to that and sticks his tongue out childishly. They both know it’s true.

Dabi grabs his hand again, tugging him across the street and around the corner.

“Where are we going?” Keigo asks once it becomes clear Dabi does indeed have a destination in mind.

“To get food,” Dabi smirks down at him, “I know a couple good places.” Considering Dabi has been living here longer than Keigo – who has visited only three or four places that serve food – that is probably true. He follows along, stomach rumbling as they go.

Dabi directs them to a small restaurant that has a few outdoor circular tables with pastel pink and blue striped umbrellas. He bypasses those without looking, confirming he’s been here before. Dabi grabs the handle and yanks the door open, waiting. Keigo blinks, realizing Dabi is holding it open for him. Muttering a quick thanks he steps inside, eyes scanning side to side to take in the place.

Like most places in this town, it is not very big. The counter in the far-right corner takes up a good portion of the space, and the few two-person tables take up the rest. The overhead lights buzz softly, the faint yellow glow they give off a comfortable brightness. A line of shelves are imbedded into the left wall and display an assortment of different types of coffees and teas.

Keigo wanders up to the counter with his mouth watering as he looks at the display set up behind the glass. Sweets of all sorts stare back at him, begging to be eaten.

“Hey Rika,” Dabi calls out. Moments later a plump middle-aged woman pokes her head out from the back room. A warm, friendly smile splits her face. She waddles out, brushing her flour-covered hands off on the blue apron around her waist.

“Dabi! Good to see you again, it’s been a nearly a week!” Keigo snickers; it seems like the grandmotherly woman is scolding the grown villain for not coming to visit.

“Yeah sorry,” Dabi rubbed the back of his neck almost sheepishly. “Been busy.” The woman hums thoughtfully, side eyeing Keigo. He gulps nervously under her gaze and shifts in place.

“So, who’s your little friend?” His feathers ruffle and puff up at her words. Lady, he is not that small, Dabi is just too tall. Them next to each other just happens to make him appear short.

“I’m not short,” Keigo protests, making sure she knows. “I’m five foot five. That’s plenty tall.” He crosses his arms over his chest and scowls as Dabi reaches over to ruffle his hair.

“Course you’re not short, Feathers.” He glares for Dabi’s words sound very condescending considering the guy is like 6’2” or something stupid. Tall people just don’t get it.

“Aw honey, I didn’t mean it that way!” The woman pouts at him. She reaches under her counter and grabs one of the tasty-looking chocolate eclairs waiting underneath. Handing to him she grins. “Here, on the house. Sorry if I offended you.” Keigo bites into it and moans.

“I think I can forgive you,” he mumbles around a mouthful of hot pastry and cream filling. Dabi snorts at him, an action he pointedly ignores.

“Anyway.” Dabi draws the lady’s attention back to him. “I know it’s late, but do you have the stuff for one of your chicken wraps?” Keigo perks up, eyes gleaming hopefully at the mention of chicken.

“I think so, let me go check, kiddo. Anything for you this time?” Keigo’s eyes narrow as Dabi shakes his head. That won’t do.

“He’ll have whatever you can cobble together that’s plain and boring.” Rika gives a boisterous belt of laughter.

“You got it,” she gives him a thumbs up and disappears into the back room.

“Keigo,” Dabi protests once the woman is out of earshot, “I’m not hungry.”

“Sure you are,” Keigo argues. “I know you haven’t eaten anything for at least three hours.” Dabi opens his mouth to argue back, so Keigo barrels on. “Plus eating by myself is boring! And I doubt you want to sit there and watch me eat. Besides, if you really aren’t hungry now then you can just eat whatever she’s making you later.” He turns his million-watt smile, the one reserved for photoshoots, on.

“Stop that,” Dabi grumbles, shoving his palm into Keigo’s face. “I hate that fake smile.”

“Agree to eat with me then,” Keigo shoots back, keeping his fake smile. A moment passes consisting of Dabi glaring down at him.

“Fucking fine!” The other man caves. “I’ll try to eat it if you stop that stupid smile.”

Ha ha, victory! He lets his smile drop into something more real, glad Dabi is agreeing to eat.

“So,” Keigo fiddles with his fingers nervously, picking at the holes at the ends of his gloves, “uh, what sort of stuff have you been up to recently?” Sue him for being nervous, but he and Dabi never really did small talk. Business, maybe-flirting, and snarky comments were all normal, but never causal talk. The only thing that might be similar was when they were alone at the base, it was late, and Dabi was drunk – drunk enough he never showed any signs of remembering it in the morning. Such as the incident with Dabi crying over the pony show Toga left on.

“Oh,” Dabi wanders over to a table for two by the window, sliding into a seat. “Not really a whole lot. Been picking up some new hobbies. Reading, Himiko and I started a small vegetable garden, Kurogiri’s teaching me how to knit, and I’ve been cooking a lot. Kurogiri and Compress run the interior design store they insisted on opening, and Himiko and Jin help there. It’s not for me, nor Spinner, so the two of us end up hanging out during the day. He’s shockingly good company. What about you?”

Keigo slides into the seat across from him, leaning forwards to rest his elbows on the table and give his wings some space.

“Yeah he is! Suuichi, I mean.” Dabi narrows his eyes at the first name use. “We hung out just a couple days ago and he was great fun. Uh, what have I been up to? Well, there’s the library,” he scratches the side of his head as an itch pops up, “and I’ve been taking the chance to explore things I haven’t gotten the chance to try before.”

“Like what?” Dabi prompts, actually looking interested.

“Uh, that was my first time in a movie theatre,” Keigo offers. “And trying popcorn. Ooh! Chocolate is good too. The bakery across the street from the library has the best chocolate donuts. Ten out of ten would recommend. I’m learning how to shop, which is really fun but really hard too. Those carts are ridiculous. And I’m in the process of decorating my place. I’m living in the loft above the library,” he adds on, not sure why he feels it's necessary to tell Dabi where he is living.

“Obviously I’ve been reading lots,” Keigo keeps going considering Dabi seems content to listen to him talk. “And I bought some stuff to try other hobbies that seemed fun. I bought this cute jigsaw puzzle and some drawing supplies to play around with. Oh, and once winter passes, I’m going to climb the mountain.” Keigo jerks a thumb in the general direction of the rocky pass.

Dabi gives a thoughtful hum.

“I would say I’d go mountain climbing with you, but I don’t think that would be a great idea.” Keigo’s mind flashes back to the panicked look that had been on Dabi’s face when flying earlier. “So instead, I will offer my meager assistance with your jigsaw, if you want. I haven’t done one in years, Fuy- er, one of the siblings I mentioned used to make me do puzzles with her all the time.”

“Sure!” Keigo replies brightly. “I’ve never done one before so it might be nice to do it with a friend.” At that moment the lady comes back out, two plates in her hands.

“Here you are kiddos! Dabi, I hope to see you again soon, you hear? None of that disappearing for a week crap.” She withholds the food, ignoring the grabby hands Keigo makes towards the smell of chicken until Dabi gives her the tiniest of nods. The plate is finally given to him, Keigo’s feathers fluffing up as he breaths in the wondrous odor of chicken.

“Thank you!” He chirps happily, picking up the wrap and taking a huge bite. Groaning, his feathers try to puff up even more. “God, this is amazing. Way better than the pre-made meals I’ve been eating.” Not as good as the raw steak, but still way up there. Keigo waits for Dabi to make fun of him for his cannibalistic act of eating chicken, but there is only silence. Keigo glances up once it’s clear Dabi isn’t following their regular pattern.

“Have you seriously only been eating pre-made meals this whole time?” Dabi’s tone is flat, the kind of slightly angry it got before he threatens to burn Keigo’s feathers. His wings sharpened as he swallows down bile, remembering how dangerously close of a call it had been during that fight.

“Well yeah,” he replies after a pause that is too long to not be noticeable. “You know I can’t cook. It was that or getting take-out every night.”

“Still,” Dabi grumbles, picking up his chopsticks and lazily picking up a single noodle out of the bowl of relatively plain pasta the woman gave him. “That’s stupid. I’m gonna make you dinner tomorrow.”

Keigo blinks, and then gives a mental shrug. It doesn’t matter Dabi is inviting himself over, it is still free food.

“Ok, thanks Dabi. Can I request chicken?” His tone is hopeful, despite the way Dabi rolls his eyes.

“You are currently eating chicken,” the other man points out, eyebrow quirked.

“Well, yeah,” Keigo admits, taking another bite of his food, “but one can never eat too much meat!”

Dabi snorts at him, mouth opening to come back with some witty retort, only for his face to go pale as his gaze locks onto something outside.

“Oh fuck,” Dabi hisses, sliding down in his seat and turning his face away in an attempt to avoid whoever he saw as if he’s not incredibly recognizable. A slam comes from behind him, so Keigo twists around in his seat. He gives a small wave to Toga as she peels her face – her regular face, that is – off the window, waving back excitedly to him. She skips inside and waves to Rika as she prances right up to their table, a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Hey Dabi,” Toga singsongs, eyes twinkling in mirth. “Hey Keigo.”

“Hi Toga,” he greeted, “nice to see you again.”

“I told you to call me Himiko!” The teen shoots him a sweet smile before turning her gaze back to Dabi. “So... Are you ready to thank me yet?” Instead of answering like Keigo figured he would, Dabi slinks further into the chair, unscarred face sections crimson as he tries to avoid looking at Toga. “Come on Dabi! My advice was great, and the plan clearly worked,” Keigo has no idea why she looks to him in that moment, “so I am ready for my thanks.”

“Go away Himiko,” Dabi mutters, still not looking at the girl.

“I’m not leaving until you thank me.” Her voice is firm, though a faint hint of laughter is obviously being repressed. Dabi finally looks at her, eyes smoldering with anger.

“Thanks. Now get the fuck out.” Somehow that is good enough. Before she leaves, Toga whips out her phone and snaps a picture of them, sliding the phone back into her pocket before Keigo processes the action. She cackles as Dabi’s face goes impossibly redder and skips out of the restaurant after waving goodbye to Rika.

“You ok there Dabs?” Keigo questions after a few minutes of silence as Dabi stares at the window, a bit of smoke drifting up from his seams.

“No,” the guy moans, sitting up in the chair and crossing his arms with a huff. “I purposely told them all to stay away tonight.” Unable to help it, Keigo laughs.

“Sorry!” He huffs at Dabi’s pout, “but it is kind of funny. Now eat your food.” Taking his own advice, Keigo takes another huge bite of his chicken wrap.

“Whatever,” Dabi grumbles as he picks up another noodle. Well, Dabi can grump and complain all he wants, but so long as Keigo feeds him it’s a victory. “Can I ask what you and Spinner talked about?” There’s a slight tint to Dabi’s words Keigo decides to just ignore.

“Sure,” Keigo replies through a mouthful. He swallows before continuing. “Well I was sleeping in the park and I think he thought I was dead.” Dabi snorts at that. “Yeah. Exactly. Either way, he woke me up and ruined my nap, so I walked with him back out of the park, and we ended up getting food. Then he came over and we watched like a whole season of an anime show – the one with the pink haired kid Shigaraki apparently liked.” Dabi scrunches his nose up at the mention of the show.

“Ugh, that one. I can confidently say that dusty ass fucker ruined any hope I had of ever enjoying anime. God he was so fucking annoying.” The words are sharp but Dabi still sounds sad.

“Sorry,” Keigo murmurs, unsure if Dabi is about to get angry with him or not.

“Nah,” apparently not. That’s good. “We all know who to blame for that death and shockingly enough it’s not the heroes, not even fucking Endeavor. God, if I could pick any two people to kill, it would be-”

“Endeavor and Geten, I know.”

“That fucking fiery trash can and that motherfucking piece of ice dung.” Yep, as expected. There’s a glint in Dabi’s eyes, so Keigo leans back and prepares to hear the complaints about those two for the kazillionth time. “Ugh, the ice bastard was at least useful in some regard. He could hold his own in a fight. But Endeavor, that old fart is entirely useless. The only thing he did was beat up people and force that poor woman to birth his children.” Keigo sits up a bit straighter. This is a different strain of complaints than normal. “God, the whole reason I joined the League was to kill that bastard, and we never even managed that! All the whole war thing ended up doing was bringing Endeavor and Sho-” Dabi cuts himself off, eyes going wide. Then he’s on his feet and out the door, disappearing into the night.

Keigo blinks.

“What the fuck was all that about?” There’s no way Dabi is embarrassed about complaining about the hero as he’s done that far too many times before and never cared. So why’d he run off? Oh well. It’s not like Keigo ever understands the guy, why would today be any different?

“Did that boy run off and leave you to pay? How inconsiderate.” Rika waggles a finger in Keigo’s face. “You make him work for the next date, you hear? Make him see that ditching you like this is a big mistake boyo.” Keigo’s feathers flutter as he splutters, attempting to deny that he and Dabi are dating with just hand motions because his words are not working. “Now, you take off. I’ll make that boy pay for this meal next time I see him. Shoo!” The woman waves him off as he tries to pay her anyways.

He still leaves a nice tip on the table before slipping out into the night.

Chapter Text

A good half an hour later finds Keigo standing in his shower. Warm water runs down over his skin in thin streaks while his hair and feathers are drenched and hanging limply. He has already cleaned himself and is now trying to muster the energy to leave the warm shower.

And despite all his efforts, his thoughts keep turning back to Dabi.

To his stupid eyes, his snarky mouth, his shiny staples. To the way he noticed Keigo’s discomfort and tossed his jacket over Keigo’s wings, to how he listened so intently when asking about Keigo’s current hobbies. How he seemed to care, like he really wanted to know and wasn’t just being polite. How he distracted the kids with a story and got Keigo’s feathers back – knowing without even having to ask that the sensory overload of that experience was hurting him.

It is ridiculous.

He and Dabi have quite the strange relationship, what with the whole ‘trying to kill each other in the past and were almost friends before that’ thing. Yet despite their pasts, ex-hero and ex-villain alike, neither holds any resentment for the attempted murder on either side. It kind of makes sense that they would get along well now that they aren’t actively attempting to end the other.

But that doesn’t explain why he can’t stop thinking about the other man.

About the way Dabi kept grabbing his hand, how one single stroke of his thumb over the back of Keigo’s hand had him releasing his stress grip. About how cute his face is when he blushes-

Keigo shakes his head, turning the water down to cold.

Again: ridiculous. Despite all the teasing and Toga’s bizarre obsession over it there is no proof Dabi is feeling the same way he is. Heck, Keigo doesn’t even know what it is he’s feeling right now. Besides, Keigo doesn’t want to mess up the potential friendship he has with the guy. Jeez, he really needs to get himself under control.

Friends. He and Dabi are friends who went to the movies to hang out, like how he and Suuichi went to dinner as bros. It’s the exact same thing and absolutely nothing to be freaking out over.

Now shivering, Keigo shuts off the water and steps out of the shower. Grabbing his fluffy purple bath towel, he scrubs it roughly through his hair, drying the blond strands. He towels off his body, taking care around the skin-colored scales of his feet as to not scrub at the healing scabs too hard and reopen them. Making his feet bleed for the rest of the night would be annoying.

Left with his dripping feathers, Keigo plugs in the blow dryer he’s pretty sure Fai left behind given he found it in the bathroom and never bought it himself. He detaches all the feathers he can to dry them easier, shivering as the thrum of the machine drills into his vanes. Given the sheer size of his wings, it takes well over an hour to get them to mostly dry. Then he takes a moment to card his fingers through his rumpled tail feathers, awkwardly preening them. After neglecting them for so long it feels both right and wrong to be caring for them now.

Keigo finishes up with that and leaves the bathroom, throwing on one of his many too big hoodies and a clean pair of black boxer shorts, the band folded down so that his tail feathers can hang freely. Going through the loft his talons sink softly into the dark brown carpet. Thank goodness the floor isn’t hardwood or something – he’d end up scratching that to hell.

Wandering to his bed and flopping down onto the cloud-like surface, a content series of chirps and trills slip from his lips.

Numbing ice floods through his veins. His eyes snap over wide. His breaths suddenly stop entering his chest, getting stuck at the lump in his throat. Bad. That is bad. Memories of pain flash through his brain at the speed of light, making them indistinguishable from each other. But that is ok. The message is always the same: bird noises like that are bad.

Clawing at his chest, desperate for air, Keigo hears a tearing sound and finally feels the pain that his mind is screeching he deserves to. He chokes, gasping as a thin strand of air makes it into his compressed lungs. Chest straining, Keigo manages to get another mouthful of air down and some of the pressure loosens.

His eyes squeeze shut, a small tear rolling out of the corner and down his right cheek. Shuddering, he forces himself to count. Count and breathe; that is what he needs to do. So, in between stuttering gasps and breathless sobs, Keigo forces air back into his lungs.

When he gets his breathing under control, he pushes himself up. With a small frown Keigo observes the damage to his comfy blue hoodie: the five long gashes clawing through both it and his chest are big enough he doubts the shirt will be repairable. Which sucks, since this is the one with the cute little cartoon chicken on it and was slowly becoming a favorite.

Since he knows better than to leave wounds open and vulnerable to bacteria, Keigo ventures into the bathroom to find that first aid kit he bought. After searching through it and cataloguing its contents, he slaps some bandages on the nearly four-inch long jagged and bleeding cuts running diagonally over his chest. Once he does that, he allows himself to pick up his cell again. He pauses, hovering over Best Jeanist’s phone number before hitting the second one below it. There’s no need to bother the older pro for something as simple as this. Holding up his destroyed hoodie, he frowns as the phone rings three times. Finally, the click that says the call went through sounds.

“What?” Dabi snaps, sounding very tired and irritated.

“Hey, Compress can sew right?” A long silent pause follows his question.

“Why?” Dabi’s voice is flat, like he is already exasperated and out of patience. Ah well, too late to take back his call now. Besides, the odds are good that Dabi is mad at the League, not him.

“Well, I may have ripped one of my favourite hoodies and I want to know if it is fixable.” Keigo crosses his fingers in hopes Dabi’s bad mood won’t make him hang up.

“Fine. Send a picture.” Mentally cheering, Keigo lies his hoodie on his bed and snaps a picture, texting it to Dabi. He expects an answer pretty much right away and is kind of confused when Dabi says nothing.

“Hey Dabi? You still there?” He hears a sharp intake of breath.

“Fuck, Feathers. That’s not a rip, that’s destroyed. Are you ok? Unless I’m seeing things there’s blood on it.” Keigo blinks, his traitorous wings fluffing up at the hint of concern in the other man’s voice. He mentally scolds himself because it is entirely normal for friends to be worried about each other.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just slapped some bandages on and called it good enough.” He figures if anyone would understand it would be the guy held together by staples. But what he gets instead is an angry shriek.

“Keigo! Are you serious? Look, obviously I don’t know the severity of your current injuries, but judging by how thoroughly that shirt is destroyed, I’m kind of assuming you’re badly hurt. It might not be a bad idea to go to the hospital.” Keigo makes a small unhappy noise deep in his throat that he quickly cuts off before it can turn into a warbled bird sound. He hates hospitals. “Look, I’ll come with you. I know you can patch yourself up, but you don’t have to anymore.”

Well Dabi does have a bit of an argument there.

“Fine, I’ll go. But I’ll just fly over so you don’t have to come.” Keigo hangs up in the middle of Dabi’s protests on why flying with injuries is bad. Yes Dabi, he knows that. But Keigo also knows it is a six-minute flight and he’ll be fine for six measly minutes.

He looks down and prods the bandages that he seems to be bleeding through. Well, maybe he’ll try to cut it down to a five-minute flight.

Apparently, the nurses working the late shift at the small hospital-clinic-thingy don’t appreciate him crashing in through the glass doors in nothing but his boxers and bloody bandages. Well, it isn’t like that was his original plan either, folks. Surprisingly enough, getting pelted with tiny shards of glass is not on his list of things to do when he set out for a hospital. And really, they should add a sign or something if they don’t want people crashing into it. Keigo didn’t see the damned glass doors until he was slamming into them.

“Heyo,” he gives a weak grin, lifting his head from where it’s being smushed to the tile floor. The tile floor that is now coated in a sparkling layer of broken glass. Maybe that is why his cheek hurts. “I scratched myself and my friend insisted I come in. I mean, it’s not even that bad, considering I’m still conscious and all. Personally, I think I’m fine to sleep it off but apparently friends are pushy.”

The closest nurse shrieks as he makes to move and get himself out of the mess of what used to be the glass door.

“Sir! Please, you’ll make it worse. Just remain still until the doctor gets here.”

“Ok, sure thing ma’am!” He smiles his fake photoshoot smile until she decides he won’t move and stops glaring at him.

The doctor shows up moments later, her white coat flaring around her as she sprints over.

“Good Lord, what happened?” She gapes at the wreckage of the glass doors and Keigo at the center of it. His vision is starting to go fuzzy around the edges.

“Crash landing,” Keigo quips, wiggling his wings for emphasis. The look he receives from the doctor is pained.

“Sir, are you saying you flew here while injured?” His brain shorts out before his mouth can answer. Didn’t Dabi say something about flying counting as illegal quirk use?

“…No?” He tries, unsure what the procedure here is. It isn’t like he’s used to hospitals given that the creepy facility under Commission HQ doesn’t count. He gets another pained look.

“Fine. Alright people! Let’s get this guy out of the glass.” The others around – nurses, maybe? Or other doctors – jolt to action at that.

It takes the six of them nearly ten minutes to carefully extract him and his bare skin from the thousands of shards that used to be their glass doors. Honestly, he still thinks it would be easier if he just stood up and flapped over it, but that suggestion earnt him another withering glare.

They make him sit in a low-backed wheelchair, which is utterly ridiculous. He is fine to walk! Just because his bandages are soaked and starting to drip red, and his bare arms and legs are sliced up from the glass doesn’t mean he is incapable of walking. He’s fought with worse injuries – wisely he keeps that part to himself. He’s got a feeling the doctor might not be overly happy to hear that. The male nurses pushing him tries to turn into a surgery room, and Keigo freezes.

White walls, sterile surgical equipment lying in wait to eagerly cut into him, and large table centered in the room with restraints on hand if they don’t feel like holding him down themselves…

It looks exactly like the room under the Commission where they put him back together and took him apart again.

In a heartbeat he is up out of the chair and halfway down the hall, leaning heavily against the wall as his vision swims. Huh, maybe they were onto something with that whole wheelchair thing.

“I’m not going in there,” he snarls, bare talons digging deep into the plaster of the wall to help hold him upright.

“Sir, please, calm yourself. You’re safe here.” The doctor comes out of the room with a surgical mask and fresh pair of blue gloves. He growls as she takes a step closer, wings flaring wide as feathers sharpen in self-defense.

“Hawks, calm down. This is for your own good.” The doctor snaps his blue gloves on, selecting the scalpel closest to him, ignoring the way the fifteen-year-old struggles against the bonds pinning him down onto the steel table.

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” He whimpers, wings trying to twist out of the metal clamps locking them in place. The doctor says nothing, merely pressing the blade deep into Hawks’s triceps and dragging it down.

He screams.

“Please!” Hawks sobs out as the man pulls the knife from his arm. “Please, what did I do wrong?!” He knows he is begging and that begging unbecoming of a hero, but he needs to know so he can learn and do better next time.

A hand touches him.

Keigo lashes out, talons swiping through air, and he crashes to the ground as he loses the bit of balance he had.

“Sir, just hold still. You’ll be ok.”

“Stop flinching Hawks! Hold still already.”

The ten-year-old whimpers as another knife is thrown at him but he clenches his fists and holds still. It cuts his cheek just enough to make it bleed.

“Again.”

Someone is holding his arm. Keigo flaps hard, tearing himself away.

“Get off of me!” He snarls, slumping to the floor and curling into a ball his sharpened feathers can encircle to protect.

“Are you serious?” He knows he isn’t supposed to hear that. “Good Lord. What the hell do we do? He’s going to bleed out!”

“Seriously, you stupid bitch? Why the fuck didn’t you just slit its throat and let it bleed out?” His father, who he is meeting for the first time, strikes his mother hard across the face and sends her sprawling to the floor. Five-year-old-Keigo tries to curl further into the space between the counter and the wall. His wings aren’t big, but they still try to wrap around him and seal him off from the arguing of his parents.

That corner is where he spends most of his time over the next three years. It is the only place his small but sharp wings can cover him well enough his father can’t latch onto a limb easily, like when he tried to hide under the couch and got dragged out by his ankle. So, no matter how much it cramps his back and no matter how much his tiny stomach growls at him, it is easier to stay here where his quivering, but sharp, feathers can protect him from his father’s heavy fists.

“Look buddy, just tell us how to help you. We can’t help if you don’t tell us what’s wrong.” The voice is exasperated.

“The fuck?” He knows that voice. “What the hell did you do?”

“What the hell are you doing?!” Dabi’s eyes are manic as blue flames blazes around them.

Hawks is ready to slit Twice’s throat.

Keigo doesn’t want to kill his friend.

His moment of indecision is all the villain needs to blast blue fire towards him, searing away most of his feathers in a single hit. He leaps away from Jin, leaving him alive, an action that will cost him dearly once he returns to the Commission for his report.

It doesn’t take long before his entire world is blue flames. His heart stops as Dabi’s hand touches that space on his spine, right between his wings, a warning that he can easily destroy Hawks right then and there.

Something soft hits the barrier of his wings. His wings, which aren’t gone. Which were never gone because Dabi didn’t go through with it. His curiosity peaked, a single feather snags the soft thing, and he opens his wings for a split second so it can zip it into his bubble of safety. He finds himself holding an extra-large baby blue hoodie with a cartoon chicken on it.

Keigo blinks, long and slow, before cracking his wings apart and peeking through.

“Hey there Feathers. You back with us?” Keigo nods to Dabi, who is crouching right in front of him. Dabi is wearing only a loose purple shirt partnered with a pair of grey sweatpants. He must’ve been trying to sleep when Keigo called. Whoops, but oh well. Too late to change anything now – besides, Dabi doesn’t seem mad. The man’s anger is always obvious in blue flames and spitting curses.

Keigo’s eyes stare at Dabi a little longer than normal. It is odd to see him in a color that isn’t black. Odd, but nice.

“You got me a new one,” he mumbles, fingers kneading into the hoodie in his grasp. His mind is fuzzy.

“Sure did. Yours was a little ripped, Kei. You gonna come out so these nice people can patch you up?” There is a strained smile on Dabi’s face, and his turquoise eyes are tight with worry. He can’t see the villain so many feared at all. Keigo nods his agreement and relaxes his wings, one hand clutching the hoodie and the other latching onto Dabi’s scarred wrist.

His fuzzing mind reminds him that hospitals are dangerous, and the doctors are not to be trusted. Yet the rest of his senses tell him that this is fine. Dabi hates the Commission and would burn them to ash before they can do anything to anyone. So, clearly, if Dabi isn’t attacking this doctor then she isn’t Commission.

“Not going in the room,” he mumbles, eyes tracing the bolded lines of the cartoon chicken’s beak.

“Yeah, ok. You don’t have to. They’ll patch you up out here.” He doesn’t look but has the feeling Dabi glares at the doctor and nurse into submission since no one refutes that idea.

The doctor comes out with a tray while the nurse gets Keigo to lie down, which he instantly hates. He never liked being stuck on his back. Keigo whines, wings slapping against the floor as the nurse tries to hold him still.

“Fuck off,” Dabi finally snaps, shoving the nurse back. The nurse rolls his eyes, professionalism snapping, and goes to help the doctor gather supplies. “Keigo, it’s ok. You’re safe here.” For some stupid reason he believes it when Dabi is the one saying it. “Here,” Dabi shifts until he is seated cross-legged on the floor. Gently he guides Keigo’s head to his lap. The angle helps to relieve a bit of the pressure that was digging into his wings. “Just close your eyes, Keigo. You’re ok.” So, he does.

Keigo keeps his eyes firmly shut even as he hears the rattling of medical instruments being brought over. When the doctor unwraps his bandages, his breathing hitches and he begins to tremble, so Dabi starts carding a warm hand through his hair. He hisses when something sharp smelling is dabbed onto the open gashes on his chest.

“Hey, want to hear a story?” Dabi’s voice is that smooth kind tone he used when storytelling for the kids just a few days ago. Keigo doesn’t want to talk, so he gives a tiny jerk of his chin to signal ‘yes’. “Alright. Let’s see. You said you like love stories, so let’s try this one.” Dabi clears his throat, his warm long fingers continuing to smooth through Keigo’s hair. It’s distracting enough he hardly notices the pinch as they start stitching the cuts on his chest shut.

“Once upon a time there was a lion. He wasn’t the biggest lion, or the bravest lion, or even the smartest lion of the pride. Heck, his mane was hardly big enough to show he was an adult and he was far from handsome. The females often scoffed at him for trying to act like a true male when he didn’t have all the qualities they were looking for. All he was good at was play-wrestling with the pride’s cubs.”

“This isn’t a very good story,” Keigo mumbles, wincing as the doctor ties off another stitch. It hurts, but he’s glad they’re not using an anesthetic. He hates the numb feeling that comes along with that. Maybe Dabi told them not to? Or maybe they don’t bother when it’s something as simple as stitches? Either way he’s glad.

“Shush, you. I’m getting there.” A finger pokes his non-bloody cheek playfully. “But one day, after another hunt where he came back empty handed, the pride male sent him off to bed with no supper. The pride male declared that until he caught something, he was not going to be allowed to eat. He had to prove his worth to the pride. So, the lion curled up on his rock and went to sleep, his stomach rumbling and heart sad because he can’t seem to do anything right. However, when he woke up in the morning there was a huge antelope waiting right there in front of him. No one knew where it came from, and considering how everyone else ate last night, he was allowed to eat as much as he wanted. Even then he only ate half of it, just enough to quell his hungry stomach, and brought the rest to the elder lions who need the extra food and energy to survive.”

Keigo hisses, wings straining against the urge to sharpen as the nurse starts tweezering the glass from his right leg. The doctor is still working on the stitches, and if he concentrates hard enough he can hear her heartbeat. Dabi’s voice starts up again after the quick pause for breath, and it’s all Keigo can focus on.

“This continued to be the trend over the next few weeks. He went out with the rest of the males to hunt and returned empty handed as always, only to awake to some delicious prey right next to him for him to eat in the morning.” Dabi’s free hand starts playing with the tiny scapular feathers along his right wing bone, immediately taking the straining tension in his almost-blade-like feathers away so they stay soft and fluffy.

“Then one day while he was sitting by himself while the rest of the pride mingled, a female approached him. He recognized her immediately as she was one of the strongest females of the pride. She came right up to him and confessed that she was the one bringing him dinner. He was rightfully shocked and asked her why.” Keigo vaguely acknowledges that the doctor finishes with the last stitch on his chest and moves onto helping the nurse pick out bits of glass from where they are embedded in his skin.

“She told him that she didn’t care how scruffy his mane was, or that he was slow and couldn’t catch any dinner, or even that he didn’t pick things up as quickly as the rest of the pride. Because what she did see was a male who took the time to play with the cubs every morning and who never finished the meals she brought for him because he wanted to share with the elder lions. He was shocked. She was strong and brave and smart and beautiful. He couldn’t understand why someone like her was even bothering to speak to a loser like him.” Keigo hisses out a long breath as they start dabbing something sharp smelling that stings his nose, probably hydrogen peroxide, over his cuts to clean them.

“But she was not deterred.” Dabi’s fingers heat up a little more – probably a by-product of his quirk – and Keigo is more than happy to focus on that rather than the pinching and sizzling of his flesh. “Over the next couple weeks she kept bringing him food and talking to him, and soon enough he realized he genuinely cared for her. She was powerful, yes, but sweet too. That side of her she never let anyone else see was playful and snarky and a little dumb, but still so kind. The rest of the males started teasing him about her, jokingly asking when they were going to have cubs of their own, and he was shocked to find he wanted that with her. No one else, just her. In that moment he realized that no one else could ever compliment him the way she does. No one could ever fill his heart like her.

“But then one day a group of nasty human hunters ventured their way. Once the gunshots went off, the pride scattered. The stronger carried the cubs off, the elders ran as best they could, and they separated to give each other more of a chance to get away.” Dabi’s voice goes softer in sorrow. “But he was always the slowest runner, and the human hunters were good at picking out the weakest link in the pride. A gunshot went off, and he knew it was the end for him. Yet the bullet never hit, for the lioness who he loved-”

“She doesn’t die,” Keigo mumbles.

“-huh?” Dabi stops. Clothes crinkle, so the villain must lean down to better hear Keigo’s whisper.

“She’s not allowed to die. I don’t like sad endings.”

“Ah, ok.” There’s a pause as Dabi rethinks his ending, and Keigo tries not to fidget too much as they start wrapping his cuts. “Alright. So, the gunshot went off, and he closed his eyes, ready for it to hit him. But the bullet never arrived. He opened his eyes as human screams echoed through the air and stared in wonder as the gorgeous lioness he so desperately wanted to call his latched her powerful jaws around the human’s throat and tore it out in a single swift move of her neck. The other hunters fled quickly, not thinking to turn their weapons on her.

“Later, when they arrived back home, he thanked her for saving his life, and vowed then and there to spend the rest of his days repaying her. It took a while, but a couple months after that night they had three cubs of their own. He stayed home with the cubs, playing with them and teaching them how to be brave and strong like their mother, and she hunted for their family. Soon enough other lionesses decided to try hunting too, and before long there were more males staying home to look after the cubs than females. But he really did not care how their society worked. All he cared about was that he was with the partner of his dreams and had a family he could call his own to love.” Dabi’s voice trails off right as a bandage is placed over the cut on Keigo’s cheek. If he guessed right, then that’s the last one.

“And they all lived happily ever after,” Keigo adds in, not sure how loud he spoke given his mind is going fuzzy again. “That’s how you got to finish a story.”

“Yes, of course you’re right. They all lived happily ever after.” Keigo nods, content now that it’s ended right.

“I guess that one wasn’t so bad.”

Dabi chuckles at that. “See? I told you it was a good love story.” There’s clattering as the nurse and doctor carry their tools away. “Oh, you can look now.” Dabi informs Keigo. Golden eyes crack open to find Dabi is smiling down at him. “Good, your eyes seem much clearer now.”

“Spend a lot of time staring at my eyes?” Keigo jokes weakly, latching onto the offered distraction.

“More than you know,” Dabi murmurs. Keigo stills. That isn’t the normal response. Where is the equally joking retort? Keigo keeps his mouth shut while his cheeks go pink with the blood he didn’t just lose.

“Hey,” he jolts as Dabi speaks up again, “want to cut holes in this?” The blue hoodie is indicated. “I’ll help you put it on. We’re walking back to your place, and I don’t want you to freeze.”

“Oh. Yeah, ok,” he answers dumbly. It takes half a thought for a feather to sharpen and slice through the back of the material. Then most of the rest drop away to leave only tiny wings behind. Keigo tries to sit up, only to wobble before he gets more than an inch off the floor.

“Oh.”

A rasping chuckle. “Feathers, you’re ridiculous. Only you would want to move again immediately after getting stitched up. No breaks for the great hero.”

“Not hero,” Keigo thinks he mumbles as hands grab at his armpits, helping him sit up. Once he’s upright, Dabi takes the hoodie from his hands to help guide it over Keigo’s head. Dabi is careful when pulling it down over his torso as to not hit the current stubby wings or press on the numerous now-bandaged wounds.

Regaining a few senses, Keigo gets his own hands through the sleeves as Dabi guides his stubby wings through the slits he’s just cut into the hoodie. With that done, Keigo recalls his feathers, letting them ruffle and move as they please, just glad they are still there.

“Sir?” The doctor gives him a tense smile. “Could you please come to the front desk? We need to discuss payment for the doors.” Oh yeah. A single feather zips out of sight to fetch his wallet. He didn’t think to bring it when flying here earlier.

Dabi waits for the doctor to leave before speaking up. “Of course it was you who broke the damn door.”

“Well yeah,” Keigo cocks his head to the side, blinking the fuzziness in his mind and edges of his vision away. “How did you think I got all that glass stuck in me?” Dabi rolls his eyes and stands up, offering Keigo a hand he grabs onto gratefully to help haul himself up, but doesn’t reply. Dabi wraps an arm around his waist, and Keigo does not protest considering he still feels a tiny bit woozy from blood loss and isn’t sure if he could walk by himself. Totally no other reason.

They make their way to the front desk slowly. With each step Keigo wobbles, and he’s not entirely sure if his stitches will hold. Hopefully they do. He doesn’t want to get blood on the new hoodie Dabi got him. Once they make it to the lobby, the receptionist and doctor murmur to each other until they reach an agreed-upon price and tell him what he has to pay for the destruction of their doors. Meh, it isn’t that bad all things considered. He pinches Dabi on a section of non-purpled skin when the guy tries to argue it.

His feather returns with his wallet, and he hands over his credit card without a word.

“Sir, we don’t mind if you need to pay it off in monthly increments, if that is more affordable for you.” The receptionist adds in timidly. Keigo just shrugs and pushes his card closer, leaning a little heavier on Dabi as his vision spins. She accepts it without another word.

After she gives him back his card and the doctor speaks words at him he doesn’t register that are probably how to take care of himself from here, they exit the building through the empty frames that used to hold doors. It’s slow moving and Keigo’s feet wobble with each step. Damn, he didn’t think he was this out of it. The only reason he’s upright now is thanks to Dabi’s arm supporting most of his weight.

“Sorry for ruining your night,” Keigo mumbles as he fumbles yet another step and nearly faceplants. Dabi’s arm curls a tad tighter around his waist.

“Ha,” Dabi snorts. “Please, if anything you saved me. Himiko wanted to have a movie marathon, and those never end well.” Keigo bobs his head in agreement, lips quirked upwards. Dabi always did hate League movie nights. Personally, he never minded them. It meant he got to take a night off and watch a movie, even if the others present were wanted murders.

His feathers pick up extra footsteps. He sighs, long and loud and absolutely done.

“Why can’t they just leave me alone?” He grumbles, all limbs going limp with defeat and lack of desire to do this right now. Dabi stumbles a bit as that shifts the rest of Keigo’s meagre weight onto him.

“What?” Dabi inquires, glancing around them once he regains his balance. Please, as if he’ll be able to spot those following them with just the streetlights’ dim brightness to chase away the shadows.

“GO AWAY!” Keigo shouts, voice cracking. All seven pairs of footsteps falter. “I’M NOT IN THE MOOD, SO COME BACK TOMORROW!” He pauses. “PLEASE!” He adds that in for good measure. Maybe they’ll listen if he’s polite.

Instead of hearing them leave, he gets multiple mocking laughs.

“Oh,” Dabi nods as if finally understanding what is going on. “These morons.”

“Yeah,” Keigo sighs, slumping further into Dabi’s hold as the feet run closer. God, why are they so obsessed with pissing him off?

“Ha, well look at this, fellas.” It is the big bald guy with the skull tattoos that rudely slammed his library door a while back. “Guess our tip was right. Poor little birdie is all banged up.” He laughs an ugly laugh that ruffles Keigo’s feathers. Its pitch is annoying.

“Guys seriously. Fuck off and bother me some other time.”

They laugh some more, and Keigo smothers down a snicker of his own as Dabi meets his gaze for the sole purpose of rolling his eyes. Then the arsonist cackles loudly enough the sound echoes along the street. Dabi’s laugh is forced, he can tell that immediately, but it is that same unhinged manic one he perfected over his stint as one of the most wanted villains in Japan. The gang members all falter at that.

“You idiots should listen.” Dabi warns them, grinning in a crazed way that tugs at the staples along the edges of his mouth. Keigo lightly swats him before Dabi lets himself start to bleed. “If you continue along this route, I’ll be the one you’re fighting. And I’m not nearly as nice.”

“Ooh,” a woman sneers at them, resting her metal baseball bat on a shoulder. “Birdie’s got an ugly boyfriend. I’m so scared.”

“Oh bitch,” Dabi smirks, “trust me: I’m much uglier on the inside.” Keigo pauses when Dabi doesn’t deny being his boyfriend. Huh, he can play along with that too then.

“Calm down, Babe.” Dabi goes rigid and steam starts rising from his skin. It’s pleasantly warm. “Let’s just go home. They aren’t worth our time.”

“Pfft. You think we’re just gonna let you leave after everything you’ve done? Oh hell no. You had this coming the second you started making moves on our turf.” Tattoo guy stalks closer, the streetlight dancing off the brass knuckles he’s fitted to his meaty fingers. The other six follow his lead, spreading out to surround them. Again with this stupid tactic. They already don’t have a chance, why lower their odds?

“Alright, fine.” Keigo snaps. “If this is what you want, then at least we’re close to the hospital.” He and Dabi exchange a glance, both nodding.

Right as Keigo blinks back the fuzzy edges of his vision and prepares to stab them with his feathers, a wide arch of blue flames shoots from Dabi’s palm, making them all leap back to escape being roasted alive. Three aren’t as agile as the others and go down with terrified screams. Fuck, guess they aren’t on the same page after all.

“What the hell?” Barks the tattoo guy, swatting away a few stray embers trying to latch onto his sleeve and staring at the smoking corpses with horror. “Who the fuck are you?”

Keigo rolls his eyes. These guys really are stupid. “Weren’t you listening earlier? He’s my boyfriend.”

The blue flames swell as Dabi chokes, heart racing twice as fast as normal.

“You good Dabs?” Keigo mutters, slightly concerned his friend is about to have a heart attack.

“Yeah, fine,” Dabi wheezes as he reigns in the wild flames. After a moment to gain his composure, Dabi sneers at the gang members. “Listen, leave now or I’ll fucking roast the lot of you.”

“He’ll do it,” Keigo adds in cheerfully, in a good mood since Dabi is using his quirk and thus making his skin warm, which in turn is making Keigo warm since he was still clinging to the taller man. God, he did miss being able to cling to Dabi like the guy was his own personal heater.

They hesitate.

That is all the time Keigo’s feathers need to sharpen and slam into heads, painfully knocking them all out in a way that will have them feeling it for days.

“That was fun. Please continue carrying me home now.” Keigo sways a bit as his blood loss reminds him of its presence and his brain doubles down on the fuzziness. Huh, maybe he’ll faint before they get back to the library. Fun. He hasn’t fainted in a while.

“Shit Feathers. It’s a good thing those hollow bones of yours don’t weigh anything.” Before Dabi’s words can be processed in Keigo’s slowing mind, he is swept off the ground by skinny yet strong arms. His arms automatically move to curl around Dabi’s neck in return, only for the cuts on his arms to twinge. Hissing, he lowers them back down and folds his hands in his lap. If he had either sense or the blood to do so, he is sure he’d be blushing furiously right about now. As it is, his head just kind of flops around, knocking into Dabi’s shoulder, as Dabi picks up the pace, cursing and grumbling in that familiar grumpy way of his.

Chapter Text

Keigo wakes to the smell of bacon.

It is only after he processes the bacon and thinks about how tasty the fatty meat is that he pauses to consider the fact that someone else is in his home cooking the meat he still hasn’t attempted to cook himself. Then last night’s events crash jarringly into his mushy brain.

Now that he has both the sense and enough blood, Keigo blushes deeply.

He called Dabi his boyfriend. Dabi carried him home. Just, fucking picked him up and jogged back to the library.

With Keigo wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a hoodie.

His mind shorts out: his tail feathers and bird feet were visible. Dabi must have seen them.

Panic sets in.

What the fuck is he supposed to do? Even when acting as a part of the League Keigo was meticulous about ensuring he never left any trace his quirk was more than just his wings. He wore his boots and gloves, tucked his tail in, and bit his tongue every time his throat wanted to vocalize some forbidden bird sound. He was so careful since he knew what would happen if someone found out: he’d lose that person forever. The Commission had taught him that long, long ago, and he tested it enough to know it was true.

…Well, Suuichi saw both his tail and him eating raw meat, but obviously that’s different. The guy has a heteromorphic quirk too, so he can understand in a way normal people can’t.

Which begs the question why on earth is Dabi cooking bacon in his kitchenette? Why hasn’t he bailed out like everyone always does? Maybe Dabi just didn’t notice?

Tentatively, he sends out a random feather from his vast collection and guides it over to where the blob of warmth that makes up Dabi is busy humming. Keigo shivers as a long, slim finger drags itself down the quill of his feather. He can feel Dabi’s breath as the other man huffs a small noise of amusement.

“You awake then, Feathers?” Keigo flushes further as Dabi turns around to face him and sends a soft smile his way. “I made breakfast. Give me five more minutes and I’ll bring it over, okay?” Keigo gives a tiny nod, his tongue thick, heavy, and warning him to not bother with words just yet. Dabi turns back to the sizzling pans before him, letting Keigo flop back and try to settle himself. Heaving a long, slow, breath, Keigo runs his fingers through his hair in an effort to quickly tame it to semi-presentable.

When Dabi marches over with the large plate Keigo does not recognize piled high with food, he momentarily forgets to be embarrassed about last night. Instead, he wiggles around in bed, trying to sit up – an action that reminds him he sliced up his arms and legs in addition to his chest as they all burn at once – and swallows back a happy chirp as Dabi sets the plate on his blanket-covered lap. Fluffy scrambled eggs dotted with green spinach, the bacon he smelt earlier, and a pile of sauced rice (does he even own sauce?) stares back at him. Keigo licks his lips as his feathers fluff up. Dabi snorts at him, and the ex-villain is ignored as Keigo snatches the chopsticks Dabi brought over and begins shoveling food into his hungry mouth.

As soon as the taste of actual, non-microwaved food bursts across his taste buds, Keigo moans. “God, Dabi,” he swallows only to fill his mouth again, “this is so good.” He would’ve snickered as the other man looks away, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times like a gaping fish, but is far too busy eating to bother.

“Just don’t choke, Feathers.” Dabi finally grumbles out. Keigo shoots him a thumbs up as his other hand navigates the chopsticks to pick up some of the eggs.

Dabi, no doubt bored of watching him eat, wanders around the loft. Keigo lets him; there’s nothing he needs to hide, nor is there anything all that interesting around. A few novels, his phone, and his purple headphones on his bedside table, his dresser of clothing, the jigsaw and art supplies he purchased are on the kitchen table, and he’s not entirely sure where his laptop is right now. Other than that, Keigo doesn’t have a lot around. His penthouse apartment was always clean to the point of him hating it, what with the Commission sending people in to snoop and berate him if it wasn’t tidy enough. He learnt fast that leaving things out was a bad idea.

And while he told Dabi he is decorating, so far all he’s done is lay out that red and white floral tablecloth he bought to ward off Toga should she try to convince him to come into their home décor shop over the scratched wood of the kitchen table. It isn’t like he has pictures to frame or any sort of taste in purchasing art to decorate the boring pale blue walls.

“This one’s good.” Keigo looks over, chopsticks shoving the last of the eggs into his mouth. Dabi is tapping the cover of the novel on the top of his to-read stack. It is the mystery one Keigo checked out to himself just a couple days ago on a whim. He is hardly twenty pages in but does not think he will be finishing it. There is a reason he stays away from mystery as a genre.

“The writing’s pretty good,” Keigo acknowledges with a nod. “And I like the characters.”

Dabi’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “There’s a ‘but’ here, isn’t there?” Keigo nods dramatically, popping the piece of bacon he saved for last into his mouth before leaning back into his stack of pillows.

“It was the dude’s cousin who killed his wife. She used garden shears alluded to in the first chapter to cut up the body and the fishing boat mentioned in chapter two to dump it in the river.”

Dabi’s head snaps up. There is a pause as they stared at each other, then he snorts a burst of laughter.

“Damn Birdie, of course you’re the guy that figures it out right away. I guess you’re just too smart for mystery.” Keigo laughs, rubbing the back of his neck and fighting down his blush. That is just a friendly compliment, no need to over think it. Friends can give each other compliments. This is totally normal. “So if mystery isn’t your thing, what is?”

“Well,” Keigo makes to get out of bed, only to freeze as Dabi glares at him.

“I hope you’re not about to try and get up. In case you forgot, the doctor prescribed you with a week of bed rest and to take it easy another week or two after that to ensure you don’t rip open any of the wounds.” Keigo slowly sinks back to his pillows, grinning sheepishly.

Then the rest of Dabi’s words click.

“Hey,” he protests, wings going ridged with his sudden panic. “I can’t be on bed rest for a week! I’ve got a library to run, I can’t just shut things down for a whole week.” Dabi gives him a look that clearly means he is not giving in to Keigo’s whining.

“You own it, right? So just close for a couple weeks. Easy.” After moving the empty plate to the bedside table, Dabi perches almost hesitantly on the edge of Keigo’s mattress. His eyes flicker to Mr. Chicken and a small smile flashes along the ex-villain’s lips.

“But I don’t want to.” Annoyed turquoise turns to glare down at stubborn gold, neither willing to break eye contact first. “Besides, this is nothing. I’ve fought with way worse injuries than this and you know it; working the library is nowhere near as extraneous as that.” Dabi clearly does not like that argument, but Keigo knows he has won when the other man’s shoulder round over and he heaves a long sigh.

“Fucking fine, Feathers. I’ll let you go back to work on one condition: I’m staying with you and doing everything that could have you ripping your stitches.” The firm way Dabi states this paired with the worry in his eyes makes Keigo hold his tongue before refusing. While he could argue and push the boundary Dabi is setting, he doesn’t. Besides, Keigo really does not think he’ll mind having someone around for a while; it does get kind of lonely once he closes the library for the night. Plus, Dabi is warm and can cook.

“Alright. But you’re not allowed to make me sit at the desk all day. I’m not useless or invalid just cause I scratched my chest a bit.” The look Dabi gives him there is one that says the jagged rips the doctor stitched up are more than scratches. And that’s not even touching on the amount of glass shards they had to extract from his limbs.

But Dabi nods. “Ok. I won’t force you to sit down all day, but we are going to have to talk about what you can manage without hurting yourself, since I think your high pain tolerance fucks that up and I don’t want to see you bleeding again just because it didn’t hurt when you tore the stitches picking up a box or something.”

Keigo shrugs. He could work with that. He holds out his hand, noticing too late that he is not wearing gloves so his sharp black talons are on full display. But before he can jerk his hand back and hide it beneath the folds of his blankets, Dabi grabs it. Keigo blinks, jaw loosening in surprise. But Dabi does not seem phased in the least as they shake hands. There is no staring or gawking or angry shouting about what a disgusting mutant he is, no one punishing him for daring to remove his gloves in another human being’s presence.

Huh.

Maybe the guy doesn’t care because he’s used to Suuichi’s claws. Interesting. Can a person become desensitized to mutations if they’re around someone with a mutation enough?

“So,” Keigo clears his throat loudly and reluctantly drops Dabi’s warm hand. “Uh, are you busy right now? Cause it’s a Thursday and I’m pretty sure it’s late enough we should go open the library.” Dabi snorts, leaning back.

“Of course you don’t want a single day off.” Keigo expects the words to be mocking or teasing, but they are strangely fond. That does things to his chest he is not ready for. Or sure what it means. “But yeah, I’m cleared. I called Kurogiri this morning and let him know what’s going on. They know not to expect me around much over the next few weeks.”

“Oh. Thank you, Dabi.” That meant that before even talking with him Dabi decided to stick around and help him out. They both know Keigo would be fine alone, his feathers act as an extra hundred hands, but Dabi is still choosing to stay with him. His feathers puff up and no amount of flustered muttered swearing (much to Dabi’s amusement) works to get them to lay flat.

“Fuck off,” Keigo grumbles when Dabi tries patting a feather flat for him. That makes the stupid thing fluff further. “It’s fine. Go dig through my stuff, I’m sure you can find something that’ll fit.” Keigo sends a feather off to the dresser, opening the drawer with his hoodies folded inside. “The purple one is the biggest I have, I think. Try that one.”

“Yeah ok.” Dabi stands from the bed and trails over, bending down to pick up the mentioned hoodie. He stares at it for a long time before finally pulling it over his own thin t-shirt. Keigo watches, a little amused, as Dabi scrunches his nose like a kitten and pokes the little alien spaceship in the upper corner of the shirt.

Dabi walks back over towards him to grab Keigo’s plate and move it over to the sink. At that Keigo gets a full back view of the guy, and realizes his hoodie is probably not the warmest thing given the two wing slits cut into the back.

“Ah, sorry about the cuts in the back. I don’t think I own any that I haven’t cut yet.”

“S’fine. I don’t mind.” Dabi shrugs it off easily and comes to sit on the edge of Keigo’s bed again.

“Oh, did you want to borrow a pair of pants too? I’ve got black jeans somewhere that are almost your style.” Dabi’s eyes are light as he smiles at Keigo who is honestly not sure what he said to get Dabi to smile at him like that. It’s almost like- No. Nope. Just a friendly smile.

“Thanks, but I think we both know there’s no way your pants would fit me. You’re too short.” Keigo gapes at the ex-villain, then regains his senses and smacks Dabi over the head with his wing repeatedly until the laughing bastard skips out of range.

“I’m not short!” Keigo’s wings spread out behind him as he crosses his arms over his chest and scowls at Dabi. “Also, I’m injured. You’re supposed to be nice to injured people.”

“Didn’t you just tell me to not treat you differently cause of your injuries?” Keigo turns his glare up a few notches and Dabi holds up his hands in a surrendering action. “Sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll try to stop teasing you about your height.” Keigo huffs at that half-assed apology, but leaves it be for now.

“Fine. Now help me up. I gotta pee.” Dabi glares at his wings suspiciously as he comes back into slapping range but still offers Keigo an arm for support. Latching onto the limb, Keigo stands on wobbly feet, his talons curling to sink into the carpet for extra support. He glances at Dabi nervously, hoping the guy doesn’t notice his feet or tail, but finds Dabi’s eyes glued to his face. Keigo looks away quickly, face burning.

Dabi walks alongside him as he slowly makes his way to the bathroom and Keigo is almost worried he’s going to have to fight to get the guy to wait outside. Thankfully it doesn’t come up. He enters and shuts the door, breathing heavily.

Moving to the mirror, he stares at himself. He’s only dressed in his boxers and his arms, legs, and chest are wrapped up in bandages. The one on his cheek sticking to his skin is larger than he figured it would be. There’s no way he doesn’t look ridiculous – like a knock-off Halloween mummy or something. Oh well. Not much he can do about it now. Dabi would probably yell at him if he tried to take his bandages off.

Sighing, he slowly goes about his business, ensuring to move carefully as to not rip any cuts or stitches open. He’s not sure if Dabi would go back on his word, but he doesn’t want to give the guy a reason to – making his wounds bleed the moment he’s upright would be a good reason to make him stay in bed.

“Ok.” He lets himself back out and begins moving towards the dresser. God, the room has never seemed so wide. Dabi hovers at his side but Keigo stubbornly refuses to hold onto him to make it easier. He can do this, he just needs to prove that. To himself and to Dabi.

Reaching his dresser, Keigo uses a feather to pull open some drawers. He’s never had a problem figuring out what to wear before, so why is the decision daunting now? He mindlessly smacks his cheeks lightly in his efforts to stop overthinking whatever this is.

“Keigo!” Dabi hisses as he does so. “What the fuck!” His nostrils flare as the coppery scent of his blood fills the air. Damn it, he forgot about the cut on his cheek.

“Ha. Whoops.” Keigo gives a weak laugh to play it off, but Dabi just glares. Dismissing the look he is well acquainted with, Keigo turns back to his dresser and finds a pair of black sweatpants and his extra-large pink hoodie. It is easy to wiggle on the sweatpants and second nature to tuck his ruby tail feathers down the left pant leg. They twitch as they rub up against the bandages but settle down quickly enough. Then, slowly, he maneuvers the pink hoodie over his head. Arms slide through the sleeves, and stubby wings thread through the wide slits in the back. His feathers reattach, the red not clashing too bad with the soft pink. He pokes the cartoon white and grey rabbit printed on the hoodie and smiles fondly.

He hasn’t dared to text Rumi yet, figuring she’ll be mad about his whole bailing-out thing. And cause the Commission is absolutely still spying on her messages. Maybe he should try soon. He does miss her.

Dabi’s hand smacks his away from his chest.

“Idiot. Are you trying to bleed? Stop poking at your injuries.”

“Sorry,” Keigo mumbles, wings wilting. Damn it, he’s so bad at this.

Dabi sighs. “Look, Feathers, I’m not mad at you, ok?” Really? Could have fooled him. “I just really don’t like seeing you get hurt. And it’s worse when you’re the one hurting yourself, even if it’s an accident. So please just try to do your best to help your body get the rest and recovery it needs?”

“Ok,” Keigo nods, meeting Dabi’s eyes to show he means it. “Ok, I’ll try.”

“That’s all I can ask.” Dabi’s hand moves from where it’s lightly resting on his elbow to cup his uninjured cheek, thumb brushing along his cheekbone. Keigo freezes as his feathers poof up. His heartbeat triples in pace as Dabi’s head tilts down, turquoise eyes flickering down to Keigo’s lips.

Then Dabi tilts his wrist, moving Keigo’s head with it, so he can look at Keigo’s injured cheek. Oh. Right. How stupid was he to think Dabi actually wanted to kiss him? Friends don’t do that. Stupid dumb bird.

“Might need to change the bandage if it keeps bleeding like this, I can see some pink coming through.”

“Right,” Keigo gets out, unable to make his voice anything but flat and dull.

Dabi pauses. “Hey, you ok?”

“Fine.” His feathers flatten into half-sharp as he jerks his chin out of Dabi’s grasp.

“Keigo, did I do som-”

“I said I’m fine.” He walks as quickly as he feels he can move away from Dabi, one feather bringing him a pair of socks as he heads over to his boots to slip those on. Another feather darts off to bring him a pair of the cheap leather gloves. He flips the hood of his shirt up, wincing as he lifts his arms too high and the action pulls at the stitches on his chest wounds.

When he turns back around to face Dabi, an apology for snapping at the guy on his lips, he finds the guy poking at the little green spaceship printed onto the purple hoodie.

Unable to help it, Keigo giggles. Dabi snaps his head towards the noise, eyes narrowing to a playful glare. God, the purple – the medium shade that it is – is just so out of the range of Dabi’s normal dark gloomy style that it is hilarious. It’s not that it looks bad – the opposite, really, in his biased opinion – but Dabi looks so disgusted with the prospect of wearing something other than his regular boring black in public that it’s hilarious.

“It looks horrible, doesn’t it?” Keigo frantically shakes his head, grinning, apologetic words on his tongue vanishing.

“No! No, really, it’s not bad, I promise.” Dabi merely raises a judgmental black eyebrow. “I’m just not used to seeing you in hoodies. You look soft. Cuddly.” The eyebrow climbs higher. “In a good way?” Keigo leaves it there, unsure what else to say that is going to get him out of that hole he is steadily burying himself in.

“Hm.” The monotone grunt of I-don’t-know-what-to-say. He can accept that.

“Ok, moving on. I’ll send a post out on the library’s Facebook page saying we’ll be open by one, so that gives us a couple hours to sort things out and eat lunch.”

“Keigo, I just fed you.” He waves a hand, dismissing Dabi’s accurate statement.

“I’ll be hungry in a couple hours. Besides, have you eaten anything today?” Dabi silence is incriminating. “Thought so. Now are you going to carry me or can I walk down the stairs myself?” Keigo means it sarcastically, which is why he squawks in a more birdlike manner than he would’ve liked in surprise as Dabi scoops him up into his arms. One arm under his knees, the other carefully below where his wings jut out from his back.

“Good idea,” Dabi drawls, a smirk clear in his tone. Keigo’s cheeks fight to match his wings in color. Dammit, Dabi needs to stop being cute. Friends aren’t allowed to look cute.

“I’m ok to walk,” Keigo squeaks out solely for the sake of saying it as Dabi shoves the loft door open with his back, cautiously guiding them through it so that Keigo’s wings do not hit the doorframe. He doesn’t actually want to be put down.

“Yeah, probably.” Dabi makes no move to set him down, nor does he elaborate further. With that Keigo cautiously moves to wrap his arms around Dabi’s neck and gives the guy a tentative smile, hoping to convey his thanks through that alone. He breaks eye contact as pink begins to nip at the non-purpled bits of Dabi’s cheeks, choosing to instead lean his hooded head into Dabi’s bony yet comfy shoulder.

They don’t speak again until Dabi is setting Keigo down behind the L shaped counter situated in the front corner of the library.

“Uh, thanks.” Given Hawks was always the carry-er and not the carry-ee, he’s unsure what else to say in this situation. Keeping it simple is probably the best plan.

Dabi hums quietly in response, taking a moment to long for it to be normal to back out of Keigo’s personal space.

“So, what do we have to do?” Dabi leans back against the counter as Keigo sits in his desk chair and turns on the computer, waited for it to load, then navigating to his work emails. He skims the subject lines quickly, clicking to open the one detailing which books he needs to mail out.

“Ok, I’ll gather these and I’ll show you how to package them for mailing.” Dabi opens his mouth, no doubt to protest Keigo being the one to fetch the books, right as some feathers drop from his wings and dart off. Fai was always shocked Keigo could find the titles they needed with just his feathers but given his memorization skills and handy quirk it’s not that big of a shock he can. As such it is a simple task to read the email list of titles and have his feathers retrieve them. That done, Keigo makes to stand from his chair, only for Dabi to scowl at him.

“Nope. You can stay seated for this. I’m confident it’s not a two-person job to package mail stuff.” Jeez, this is going to get annoying quickly.

“Fine,” Keigo huffs and rolls his eyes. He’ll pick his battles and will stay in his fun wheeled and spinnable chair for now. “I guess I can talk you through it. I’ve grouped the ones going to the same area together,” he waves to indicate the feathers that are laying stuff on the counter in piles, “so just use those black bags with the zippers there to package them. They don’t actually have like printed labels or anything, so I just use a sticky note to write where it’s supposed to go. I’ll do that.” Keigo pauses a moment, ready to argue if Dabi tries to tell him that writing is too difficult, but the man just nods and begins shoving books and movies into the long rectangular bags.

It takes Dabi three times as long as it usually takes Keigo to get through in the morning, but that is reasonable. Keigo has a system and a couple hundred feathers helping him, Dabi does not.

That done and set aside for the mail person, Kyo, who slipped in and dropped Tuesday’s delivery off without Keigo noticing their arrival, Keigo sets Dabi to finding the items people in town placed on hold. With Dabi occupied, Keigo reads the rest of his emails, deletes most, and set to zipping through the normal morning paperwork that helps keep things in order.

That kills another hour, bringing them to lunch. Good thing too, as his stomach is already rumbling again.

“Dabi!” Keigo sings, spinning around his chair because he can, “lunch time!” The ex-villain finished finding the holds books about half an hour ago and has since disappeared into the shelves. He emerges with a stack of non-fictions relating to gardening held between his arm and hip.

“I’m gonna get these at some point,” Dabi declares, setting them down next to the computer on the counter that Keigo uses to scan the books out. Keigo just shrugs, standing from his chair in a single smooth motion before Dabi can protest, thankfully pulling zero stitches.

“I vote we get lunch from across the bakery across the street.” Keigo jerks his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the place.

Dabi frowns, considering it. “I’d rather cook for you again given balanced meals are good for recovery, but you don’t have any food. I guess it’ll have to do. I’ll go get groceries later.”

Taking a step closer to the door, Keigo shrugs nonchalantly. “Sounds good to me. I like visiting the store.” Dabi scowls at him, no doubt having thought he could get away with making Keigo stay home. Ha. Jokes on him. No way is this bird staying couped up inside for long.

Until winter. Then he’ll happily stay inside where it’s warm.

He makes sure to take small steps that ensure he won’t stumble to reach the library doors. Not that he’s clumsy enough to stumble, but still. Anything is theoretically possible when blood loss is factored in.

They exit the building, Dabi locking the door behind them having apparently nabbed Keigo’s keys at some point, and slowly move the few steps over to the crosswalk. After checking to make sure one of the few cars that come this way is not about to hit him, Keigo starts to cross. He gets one step in before Dabi slides an arm around his waist. Keigo nearly trips over his own feet at the sudden contact. So much for not being clumsy.

Keigo tilts his head, only to find Dabi staring straight ahead. “Just in case,” the man mutters. Before he can stop it, Keigo’s wings fluff up yet again and he leans into the warm touch. His hands hang awkwardly at his sides, but Keigo really is not sure what to do with them. Thankfully, they reach the bakery before he can panic over it too much and Dabi’s arm drops away. The door is held open for him, so Keigo nods in thanks and slips inside, grinning and waving to Lyra.

“Good afternoon,” he greets cheerfully, practically bouncing up to the counter. “How are yo-”

“Oh thank goodness!” The woman leans over the counter to grab his hands, orange eyes wide. “They were saying you were dead! I’m so glad you’re alright.”

“Uh,” Keigo cocks his head to the side, bushy eyebrows raising. “What? Who was saying I was dead?”

The baker stares at him like he’s crazy. “The Misfits, of course. Look, there’s even this video circling around.” She fishes out her phone, quickly pulling up a grainy security camera video. Keigo winces as he watches himself crash land through the glass windows leading to the hospital. How ungraceful. His old flight trainer would’ve had him whipped for that.

“Oh,” Keigo forces a cheery laugh, “that. Yeah, no need to worry, that was nothing.” He knows Dabi is scowling at his casual brushing-off of the injury, but right now it is more important to reassure the panicked civilian.

“Really? You’re not hurt?” Her eyes search his as he carefully hides everything behind a well-practiced smile.

“Really. I’m a little sore and scratched up, but other than that I’m fine. Plus,” he jerks a thumb over his shoulder and continues in a joking tone, “I got this tough guy hanging out for a few days to make sure I’m good. You don’t need to worry.”

“Ok.” She sighs, a great deal of tension draining from her shoulders. “Ok. That’s a relief. Alright, what can I get you two?” Keigo gives a slightly more real smile, relieved to have evaded more questioning about his injury.

“I’m gonna have two croissants, a blueberry muffin, a BLT – if you even do those – a large iced coffee, and a chocolate donut. Dabs?” Dabi just shakes his head, eyes roving around the seating area and lingering on the darkened spot behind the counter from that attack Keigo interrupted. Keigo rolls his eyes. “He’ll have a plain bagel and water.”

“Wha- Keigo, no. I’m not hungry.” Keigo just clicks his tongue and hands his credit card over.

“You haven’t eaten today. You’re hungry and are eating lunch with me.” Keigo raises an eyebrow, fully planning to order more should Dabi complain. The guy must’ve read his intentions, for he sighs in defeat and stalks over to one of the little tables. Knowing his feathers can bring their food over so he doesn’t need to wait at the counter, Keigo follows. Carefully sitting in the chair across from Dabi, Keigo goes to rest an elbow on the tabletop. He gets halfway there before the action pulls his wounds enough he winces.

“Ow. That was a bad plan,” he mutters, dropping his arm back to his side.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” he waves off Dabi’s concern, pulling the neckline of his massive hoodie and checking the bandages that way. “Not bleeding, so I’m fine.”

Dabi rolls his eyes, leaning back in his seat. “Keigo, bleeding through the bandages should not be how you determine if you are injured. Does it hurt?” Keigo shrugs, pulling at the strings that make his hood scrunch up to avoid looking at the ex-villain.

“No. Not anymore, anyway. The stitches just pulled a bit as I moved my arm. If anything it’s achy? But I have to concentrate to feel it.” Thankfully the baker chooses that moment to bring their food over.

“Thank you!” Keigo grins, only for his grin to fade out when he notes the smirk on her face and the way she keeps glancing between him and Dabi. Oh, great. Not again.

“You know,” Dabi drawls once she slips out of earshot, “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you voluntarily order something that wasn’t somehow infused with chicken.”

Keigo opens his mouth to refute that, then pauses. A moment passes silently as he thinks it over, then his wings slump. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” he admits. Mentally shrugging, he picks one of the croissants up off his plate, taking a massive bite. Ooh yum, he likes these. His wings fluff up.

“Do your wings always do that when you’re happy?” Uh oh. Abort.

“Do what?” Keigo quickly forces his feathers flat, doing his best to pretend Dabi has not completely figured him out.

“You know,” Dabi waves a hand, as if that was supposed to mean something. “Go all poofy. Like they’ll be flat and shiny, then… poof.” Dabi illustrated this by bringing his fingertips together then tilting his wrists out, fingers following in some sort of mini explosion. But he seems genuinely interested in the answer. So Keigo doesn’t dodge the question like he wants to.

“Yeah. You got me. It’s actually a lot harder to control my feather’s reactions to stuff than my own facial features. Took like a whole extra year after mastering facial movements before I could control my feathers with a ninety-percent success rate. And now I don’t have to hide stuff, so I don’t bother cause it’s hard and annoying.” Upon saying that he lets his feathers ruffle, betraying his nerves. Dabi doesn’t say anything right away, so Keigo grabs his second croissant and eats that one just as quickly as the first.

“So if poofy is happy, and I’m going to guess sharp is something along the lines of scared, what’s fluttery mean?”

“Eat your bagel and I’ll tell you.” Keigo’s response is immediate and unwavering.

Dabi shoots him a glare. “That sounds an awful lot like bribery. Are you seriously trying to bribe me?”

“I dunno. Is it working?” He grins as Dabi scoffs good naturally and rips of a chunk of his boring plain bagel. Slowly, Dabi met his eyes and sticks the piece in his mouth, chewing carefully.

“So? What’s fluttery mean?”

“I still see bagel,” Keigo singsongs with a grin. He takes a long sip of his iced coffee, humming at the sugar rush it provides.

“Fuck off,” Dabi grumbles. But he keeps picking away at it, so Keigo is taking that as a win. When half the bagel is eaten, and Keigo has devoured his own sandwich, he takes pity on the ex-villain.

“When they ruffle like this,” he forces the action for good measure, “it usually means I’m nervous, anxious, stressed, embarrassed, or just plain uncomfortable. It’s a lot, but they kind of ruffle differently with each one? I’m not really sure how to explain it.”

Dabi flickers his eyes up, seemingly shocked Keigo actually told him. He gives a small nod, going back to picking at the bagel. A moment later Dabi breaks the silence. “I pick at the staples in my wrist when I’m nervous.” And like the damn annoyances they are, his wings fluff up once more. He wasn’t expecting Dabi to offer a personal fact back.

He is mostly done his muffin by the time Dabi brings up another conversation topic.

“I just remembered you didn’t answer earlier, so I’m asking again. What genre do you like to read?” Keigo pauses mid-bite, mulling it over.

“Huh.” He swallows his mouthful before replying. “I think I have to go with fantasy. I know that’s probably silly or childish or something,” his wings ruffle, “but it’s the only one I can read and just zone out to? Like crime novels just bring back things I don’t want to dwell on, mystery I solve too fast, romance I have zero experience in real life, so reading about it is confusing at times, and sci-fi is fun but there’s also a lot of big space words that I don’t want to look up. So yeah, fantasy. And I guess that magic and all that is kind of similar to quirks, but it is also different in a lot of ways. There’s limits and rules and incantations, funky creatures that seem awesome, and- oh, jeez, I’m rambling now, aren’t I? Sorry, I didn’t mean to get so caught up with all that.” Keigo laughs as blood rushes to his cheeks, rubbing the back of his neck as he dares to peek up and meet Dabi’s gaze.

But the other man doesn’t seem bothered or annoyed at his spiel. All he is doing is continuing to pick off chunks of the bagel, chewing agonizingly slowly.

Dabi shrugs. “Feathers, I don’t mind. I like listening to you talk, and I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know the answer. I don’t read fantasy stuff much, so you’ll have to pick one out for me sometime.” Keigo quickly snaps his mouth shut, hoping his gaping wasn’t too obvious. Dabi actually likes to listen to him? But he knows he gets annoying. Hell, even Rumi has told him to shut up more than once when he’s gotten swept up into some topic or another. And considering everything else Rumi has put up with, Keigo knows that means it is really annoying.

Maybe Dabi is just so used to dealing with the likes of the League of Villains that he is an outlier to the norm? That sort of makes sense and solves a lot of his current problems. He’ll go with that for now.

“Uh, yeah. Ok. I’ll find you a good one.”

Keigo gobbles down his tasty donut and finished off the last of his iced coffee rather quickly. Surprisingly, Dabi manages to finish his bagel and chews on one of the ice cubs he plucked from his empty water glass as he waits for Keigo to finish.

Lunch finished, Keigo waves to Lyra, shooting her a glare when she waggles her eyebrows purposefully at him, before he and Dabi leave to make their way across the street. This time he is more prepared as Dabi sneaks an arm around his waist. He sneakily does the same, his hand clinging to the folds of the purple hoodie to give himself the reasoning of that being a more stable hold. Thankfully Dabi doesn’t mention it, since Keigo has no reasonable explanation for why his fluffy wing decides to stretch out and curl just enough to brush Dabi’s free arm.

Chapter Text

Upon their return to the library, Keigo sends out the post on Facebook saying that they are now open.

“So, do you know her?”

“Huh?” He jolts at Dabi’s question, not really sure what the guy is talking about nor why his voice is so strained.

“The baker. I mean she’s pretty, so I guess I could see why you’d like her.”

Keigo stares at Dabi who is very purposefully examining one of the gardening books he set aside to avoid Keigo’s eyes. “Wait. You think…” Keigo burst out laughing, trying to picture it. Smoke puffs up from the seams on Dabi’s face. “Ah, I’m sorry! Please don’t burn down my library!” He takes a long breath to calm down. “But no. No way. She’s nice and all, but really not my type.” Keigo stares pointedly at Dabi to silently explain further what his type is, but the guy still hasn’t looked his way.

“Right. Ok. Uh, what do you want me to do now?” Very casual topic change there, Dabi. But fine.

“Eh, not much. We don’t have to do anything until people come in. Here, let me grab you a chair. I guess you’re allowed to sit back here with me for now.” Keigo rolls his eyes as Dabi opens his mouth to argue that. No, he’s not going to stand and physically carry a chair over. That’s obviously what his feathers are for.

Dabi’s mouth audibly clicks shut as Keigo detaches a few dozen feathers to go fetch a chair for the other guy. “Oh. Right. Somehow I always forget you can do that. Thanks.” Dabi sits once Keigo’s feathers set the chair down adjacent to his own.

They fall into an awkward silence after that.

Remembering what Dabi said earlier, Keigo sends another feather off. Dabi watches it go with a raised eyebrow, clearly curious to know what Keigo is up to. It returns promptly with a thick book bearing a beautiful forest on the cover.

“Here. This one’s been one of my favorites so far.” Dabi takes the book from the hovering feather.

“Thanks. What’s it about?”

Keigo goes to respond then pauses. “Uh, maybe you should just read the back. I don’t want to accidentally spoil anything.”

“Can’t.” Dabi shrugs as if that’s not a big deal. Keigo nods along. Then the words sink in, and he snaps his head back up to stare at the other man.

“What do you mean ‘can’t’? You said you read stuff all the time?” Then he realizes what he’s saying and how rude it sounds. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry. It’s totally normal to need novels with a bigger font or to prefer audio books or-” Dabi laughs, cutting him off.

“Chill out, Feathers. It’s fine. I need reading glasses. I can’t see stuff when it’s close and small like the words on a page. I just don’t have those with me right now, so I can’t read the back.”

“Oh,” Keigo responds weakly. “Right. Uh, do you want me to try to explain it? I’ll do my best to avoid spoilers.”

“Sure.” Dabi sets the book down on Keigo’s desk to give him his full attention.

Keigo stares back a moment before he remembers he’s supposed to be speaking. “Right! Er, ok. So, the main character is this girl who is trying to find her father. The empire kidnapped him years ago and she’s certain she can find him because she can hear ghosts, so she knows her father is still alive.”

“She should leave him to die. Fathers are just a nuisance.” Keigo huffs at that and stretches out his wing to smack Dabi’s shoulder.

“Hush. Just cause you’ve got daddy issues doesn’t mean it’s not a cute story.” Dabi gasps dramatically at that and Keigo ignores him. He’s pretty sure Dabi isn’t going to set him on fire, so it’s fine. “Anyways, she goes on this big adventure across the empire in search of her dad and makes friends and enemies along the way, explores her abilities to talk to ghosts, and.” He stops biting his lip. “Ah. Yes, ok that’s all I’m going to say. I don’t want to spoil the best part.” No way can he tell Dabi that the protagonist’s father is actually the emperor and hasn’t been able to sneak out to see her because he was forced to marry a duchess from a neighboring empire.

“Hm. What’s the ship?”

“Oh, they don’t go across any large bodies of water.”

Dabi sighs. “No Feathers. Not that kind of ship. The main romantic relationship. I don’t like books where it’s ‘girl meets boy, they fall in love at first sight, and are disgustingly attached to each other after that.’ It’s a stupid trope that’s unrealistic and boring. So if that’s in this then I won’t be able to get through it.”

“Ah, that. Nah, you’re good. I don’t think there’s any romantic relationship in it. I mean she makes a handful of friends that end up as travel companions, but doesn’t, I dunno, fuck any of them.” Dabi squints at him suspiciously and Keigo has no idea why. But the stare ends so he shrugs it off as another of Dabi’s weird acts.

“Fine. I guess I’ll give it a try then. One sec.” Dabi gets his phone out and sends off a text. Moments later a swirling Kurogiri portal opens in front of them. “I’ll be right back. Don’t do anything stupid in the minute I’m gone.” Keigo wants to scoff at that, but a whole minute is a lot of time to do stupid things, so maybe Dabi’s concern is slightly valid.

He sits at his desk impatiently, foot tapping on the floor like Rumi’s always did, staring at the portal. He kind of wants to stick his hand in it and wave. It’s a struggle to refrain from doing so – who knows if Toga is on the other side waiting to stab unsuspecting limbs.

The door opens and he perks up at the opportunity for distraction.

“Good afternoon!” He calls out, sticking a hand up in the air and waving so whoever it is can see him overtop Kurogiri’s portal. Yeah, that’s not gonna work. Grimacing, Keigo plants his hands on the desk and uses that as an anchor to lurch to his feet. He sways the moment he’s vertical, but nothing bleeds, so he grins in victory.

It’s slow going as he shuffle-walks around the portal to stand behind his check-out counter, but worth it. He gives the woman he recognizes as the girl with the cat quirk’s, Cian’s, mother a wave.

“Hey there, how’ve you been?” He gives the women a warm smile, still grateful for how she helped him during his first attempt at the store. Her eyes are wide as stares back at him and it takes her so long to respond Keigo glances down at his chest to make sure he didn’t bleed through his shirt or something. Nope, no bloodstains on this hoodie. “Um, are you ok?”

“Wh- Oh!” She jolts, wincing as she realizes he called her out on her staring. “I’m so sorry. It’s just, well, I saw the video on the town Facebook page and was so worried! Are you alright? That looked like quite the crash.” Great. Has everyone seen that damned video of him crashing through the glass doors of the clinic?

“Pfft, nah, that little fall was nothing! Trust me, I’ve had way worse.” Her eyes flicker to his hand, which she saw ungloved and scarred, and his smile dims. He clears his throat. “But enough about me, how’ve you been doing? And Cian. How’s she?”

The woman’s shoulders sag as tension drains out. “Well, she saw the video too and was worried, so she’ll be glad to know you are alright. I was going to let her skip morning classes to come visit, but then you sent out a message saying the library would only be open in the afternoon and I figured she shouldn’t miss the whole day. She did want to know if you tried the nail polish yet, so I’m sure she’ll ask you if you have next time she sees you.”

He goes to reply only for the portal behind him to close and for Dabi to emerge. Smoke escapes from the guy’s mouth as he scowls at the sight of Keigo’s empty desk, spinning around to find him. Keigo gives a tiny wave as Dabi locks his gaze onto him. The non-purple bits of Dabi’s face are noticeably redder than they were when he left.

“You stupid bird! What the hell were you thinking?” Now, Keigo knows he should be at least pretending to listen to Dabi’s snappy words, but he is very distracted right now: Dabi is wearing his reading glasses. And apparently this is a problem because they serve to round out the guy’s sharp face and make his pretty turquoise eyes bigger. It’s entirely unfair how cute Dabi looks right now with his glasses and Keigo’s purple hoodie, and even biting his lip and trying to stop it doesn’t prevent his feathers from fluffing up.

Dabi pauses in his rant about how dumb Keigo is for standing up unsupervised with his injuries. “Are you happy right now? Seriously? Does pissing me off by not taking proper care of yourself make you happy?”

Stupid, stupid feathers. “No! No, I swear! It’s something else.”

“You know what? I don’t care.” Keigo yelps as Dabi closes the distance between them and plants his hands on Keigo’s hips, lifting the shorter man straight up off the ground. “You’re going to stay at your desk for the rest of the day.”

“Hey now, come on Dabs!” He wiggles once to try to free himself as Dabi carries him back towards his desk, only for his injuries to flare up and remind him why extraneous movement is a bad idea. He meets Akasuki’s gaze over Dabi’s shoulder, only to find the woman giggling at him. His feathers ruffle. How rude.

“There.” Dabi huffs out a breath that’s mostly faint grey smoke as he sets Keigo back down onto his own two feet right next to his desk chair. Keigo pouts up at the taller man, only to receive a steely glare behind those lenses and unrelenting purse of lips.

He sits down.

Cian’s mother giggles louder, turning the sound into a full-out laugh. “Aw, you two are sweet. I’ll go browse a bit then get out of your hair.” As she said, she heads off into the rows of books making up the adult section, leaving Keigo alone with a flushed and still scowling Dabi.

“Dumbass,” Dabi mutters, taking his own seat again and picking up the book Keigo got for him and flipping it over to read the back now that he’s got his glasses. “You could’ve pulled your stitches standing up without help.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t.” Dabi takes a long deep breath and tilts his head back skywards like he’s praying for strength.

“Ok, I’m done talking about it. I’d rather not turn your whole library to cinders. Just, for the love of whatever being is up there fucking up our lives, stop doing stupid shit that could rip your stitches!”

Keigo doesn’t dignify that with a response.

Instead, he sends a feather off to grab his phone and takes a picture of Dabi before the guy can blink and ruin the image.

“What the hell are you doing?” Dabi grumbles, ducking his head a second too late. Keigo’s already got the photo of a glasses clad Dabi scowling down at him saved and sent off to Suuichi and Lyra for backups in case Dabi somehow manages to delete the original off Keigo’s phone. His phone buzzes as they respond but Keigo tucks his phone out of sight before Dabi can try to steal it. He’ll read their messages later.

“Delete that.” Dabi snaps, eyes glaring holes into Keigo’s hoodie pocket.

“No.” Keigo grins cheekily as Dabi leans over the desk to grab at Keigo’s pocket. “Ah ah,” he tuts teasingly, a feather smacking Dabi’s hand aside. “I’m injured, remember? What if you hurt me?” Keigo immediately knows that’s too far when Dabi freezes, his outstretched hand snapping to his chest and his eyes clouding over. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I’m just kidding. I know you wouldn’t, I trust you, Dabi.” Is it stupid to trust someone he really doesn’t know that well outside of villainy? Maybe. Probably. But he does, so fuck it.

“You shouldn’t. Trust me, that is.” Dabi doesn’t meet his eyes and his voice goes all quiet, like he needs to say the words but doesn’t want Keigo to hear him. Well too bad, Keigo’s got great ears. “Everyone always gets hurt around me.” The ex-villain’s eyes are locked over Keigo’s shoulder, staring at his wings. They must be thinking of the same thing right now then.

“Dabs, stop it. You haven’t hurt me.”

“But I-”

“Didn’t.” Keigo interrupts. “But you didn’t burn them off like you could have. And don’t you dare make up some bull about that being a mistake or something. We both know you chose to not hurt me like that.” Dabi still won’t meet his eyes and Keigo sighs, wings ruffling. “Hey. Come on, look at me.” That gets a single quick glance of turquoise eyes before Dabi is staring at his hands again. “Dabs, come on. Seriously, it’s ok. I don’t have any self-preservation skills and you know that, and I’m sorry I joked about it.”

“Yeah, whatever Feathers.” Dabi picks up the fantasy book Keigo gave him and peels it open. For a moment Keigo stares, unsure if his words helped at all. Then Dabi lets out a small sigh and deflates, leaning back into his chair as the light returns to his eyes. Ok. Good.

Keigo drums his fingers across the surface of his desk as he ponders his options. Dabi is reading, Akasuki is browsing, and he’s supposed to be sitting here quietly. Damn. On a normal day it’s easy to pick a book and read it, but today, with the fact that he’s not supposed to move around, he really wants to get up and move around.

Herm. What to do.

Before he can ponder it further, he notes Suki is making her way back towards the counter. He plants his palms on the desk and-

“Don’t you fucking think about it.”

-is immediately thwarted.

Dang it.

“But I need to check her books out!” Keigo tries to insist, even as Dabi sets his book face-down with the pages open, so it’ll save his spot, and stands.

“It can’t be that hard. I’ll do it.”

“But Dabi!” Keigo whines, wings flapping in a tiny tantrum just enough to stir the air around them.

“Shush, Pigeon.” Keigo squawks loudly in protest at the derogatory term – he’s far from a dirty street bird – and the noise is enough of a caw for Dabi to pause and look back at him with a questioning eyebrow. Wincing, he gives a shaky smile and proceeds to pretend nothing happened. The eyebrow raises higher, and he curls into himself. Fuck, Dabi is not going to drop it that easily.

“Hm. Well, how do I do this, Keigo?” Oh right, the books.

“Oh, give me a second and I’ll come show you.”

“Sit your ass back down.” He pouts at the words, but Dabi doesn’t bother turning around so it goes unnoticed. Well, Suki giggles at him, but that’s not the outcome he was hoping for.

But Keigo sits back down the inch he rose from his seat. “Fine. Meanie.” Dabi turns at that for the sole purpose of giving Keigo a very unimpressed look, so he sticks his tongue out to add onto the childish insult.

“…You are ridiculous.” If Keigo was crazy he’d go as far as to say those words sounded fond. “I went ahead and clicked the check out box. Now what?”

“Scan the card then the books, read off the due date, and close the page.” He recites the steps with ease, having done them hundreds of times now. Dabi follows along without issue, and soon enough he’s reciting the due date for Suki’s books in a gruff tone.

“Thanks,” Suki grins at Dabi. “And for the record, I think it’s real sweet you’re taking the time to look after your boyfriend. God knows he needs the help.”

“Wait,” Keigo protests, “we’re not-”

“Have a nice day you two!” She’s out the door before he can finish his sentence.

“Dang it. Why does everyone keep thinking we’re together?” He chuckles a bit only for Dabi to not join in. “Dabi?” The guy is actively smoking, thin grey wisps rising off his still form. Keigo sends a feather over and pokes the guy’s arm – he doesn’t even flinch. “Dabi? You alive, man?” He pokes with the feather a second time, and this time Dabi jumps, smacking the feather aside on instinct.

“What? Did you say something?” Dabi is shaking now too, his eyes wide and almost panicked. If Keigo listens in, he knows the guy’s heart will be jackrabbiting like crazy.

“It’s not important. Are you alright?”

“Yep. Fine. Why?”

Keigo frowns at the quick response. “Dabi, you’re smoking and shaking. That’s not exactly normal.” The shaking stops and the smoke thins out to a light grey then vanishes completely. Like that’s not suspicious. “You know what? Fine. I’ll let it slide as long as I’m allowed to check out the next person’s stuff.”

Dabi mulls that over a long time, debating internally. Finally, he gives the smallest jerk of his head possible. “Fine. Deal.”

Keigo grins. “No take backs.”

“Whatever.” Dabi huffs as he sits back down and picks the book back up, eyes scanning over the page rapidly as he searches for the line he left off on.

Well, Keigo might as well read too. He’s got nothing else to do. A handful of feathers sneak off to go upstairs and grab the book on the top of his to-read pile in the loft. He’s not entirely sure what this one is about, but the pages are black and the words are white so it certainly looks cool.

It’s silent save for the two of them turning their respective pages for just under an hour before Dabi slams the book down with a loud curse.

“What was that for?” Keigo gasps, offended on the book’s behalf.

“Fuck, Haw- Keigo! You said there were no romantic relationship in this!” Dabi’s glaring at him like he did something to offend the guy.

“There’s not!” He’s pretty sure there isn’t, anyways. Again, there was not a smut scene or anything like that to declare a relationship.

Dabi’s lips twist into a scowl as he clears his throat and reads from the page he’s on. “She stares into those honey-colored eyes she dreamt of getting lost in, wondering if they were supposed to look so sad. Then her traitorous eyes glanced down, tracing those soft pink lips she knows she spends too much time admiring.

“’Elena?’ She jolts as Nolan calls her out on her staring. Did it suddenly get hotter or is that just her?” Dabi gives him a pointed look. Then he rolls his eyes and keeps going when he sees Keigo’s blank stare.

“’Yes?’ She squeaks out when he moves a step closer, her own heartbeat pounding at their sudden proximity.

“’Are you alright? You are looking rather red.’ Elena nearly topples over, her knees almost giving out, as he reaches up and cups her cheek with a calloused yet soft hand. God Keigo, do I really need to keep going? She’s got the most obvious crush in the world, and the only reason he hasn’t fucked her yet is because he doesn’t think she likes him back!”

“What? No way.” Keigo shakes his head. “You are wrong. Name one instance where he did something that made you think he liked her. And what do you mean she’s crushing on him? She’s obviously just getting used to having hot guys as companions – poor girl had no interactions with anyone let alone a guy that looks like that back home.”

“Oh my God. No wonder you can’t land a girlfriend.”

“Hey now that’s uncalled for! Besides, I have no interest in girls.” Keigo stares at Dabi a moment longer than could be deemed appropriate, once more trying to silently convey where his tastes lie. Given Dabi is still scowling at him it doesn’t work.

“Yeah,” Dabi snorts out a puff of grey smoke. Gosh, maybe Keigo can convince the guy to do a dragon story sometime – the kids would love all the smoke and flames that would come with it. “I know. I know you’re married to your job. You’ve always been too busy for all that.” Was that really what Dabi thought?

“Well, I’m not sure if you are aware, but I’m retired from the job I put all my time into.” Wait what is he doing? Stupid, they’re just friends. It doesn’t matter if Dabi knows he’s open to starting a relationship now that he’s not busy with the hero job that kept him occupied at least twenty hours a day.

“What are you saying, Feathers?” That’s a damn good question.

“Just, you know.” An awkward chuckle where he tries to hide into the depths of his pink floppy hood. “If someone I liked asked me out, I’d have no reason to say no anymore.” Fucking imbecile, shut up. Shut up right now. He doesn’t like you.

“Ah.” A light flickers in turquoise eyes that’s only partially hidden by the lens settled over top. “I see.” Dabi’s voice is strained. Great. Good going Keigo, now it’s awkward.

He’s saved from having to come up with a response when the door opens and three older ladies that hold a book club together come in. He doesn’t know their names, but they always come in together and are a delight. His wings perk up as he grins and waves at them.

“Dabi, Dabi,” he pokes the guy each time he says the name for good measure, “help me up.”

“Wh- Keigo, no. You really are supposed to be taking it easy-”

“But you promised!” Keigo juts out his bottom lip and pouts as best he can. Dabi remains impassive. “Fine.” Keigo sighs. “If you won’t help me, I’ll just have to do it by myself.” He plants his palms on the desk like he’s going to stand.

“You are impossible.” Dabi growls at him, standing and extending an arm to wrap around his waist. Keigo’s skin buzzes where Dabi’s arm curls around him and he eagerly wraps his own around Dabi’s back for better stability. Together they move slowly over to the counter where the three older ladies are waiting.

“Oh, you poor dear!” The tallest exclaims. “Your poor pretty face!” For a moment Keigo thinks she’s talking to Dabi and his feathers ruffle on the other’s behalf. Then she reaches over to pinch his uninjured cheek, cooing down at him like he’s a child. “Oh, I hope it doesn’t scar, dear.” She uses her grip on his face to turn his bandaged cheek towards her. He’s close to pulling back when she finally lets him go and turns to Dabi. “Now,” she waggles a bony finger at the man, “you had best treat him nice even if his pretty face gets scarred up, you hear me boy?” The other two ladies nod along with her, shooting Dabi little glares.

“Hold on a second-” Does everyone think they’re a couple?!

“Don’t worry Ma’am, I will.” His brain short circuits when Dabi replies without hesitation, cutting Keigo’s protest off.

The lady nods in approval. “Good.” She reaches up to pinch Dabi’s cheek too, taking care to grab only healthy skin and avoid the lines of staples. Keigo’s shocked the guy lets her get away with it. “It doesn’t look like you would care much about scars, but you’d best remember to remind him how handsome he is, alright boy? We don’t want to see our poor little Librarian heartbroken.”

…Is she trying to give advice or shovel talk Dabi? Keigo is very confused with this whole interaction.

“Don’t worry Ma’am, I’ll take good care of him.” With that the ladies shuffle off to go find their next book club read.

“Dabs,” Keigo starts, wings ruffling with his nerves and uncertainty, “thanks, but you don’t need to put up with them like that. You can tell people we aren’t dating.” Dabi just shrugs, the arm around Keigo’s waist tightening a smidge.

“I know.” For the life of him Keigo isn’t sure why Dabi’s tone sounds so sad.

Given their late start to the day it seems like hardly any time has gone by before they’re locking up for the night.

“Food,” Keigo whines, wing reaching over to slap Dabi repeatedly as the guy locks the library doors with the keys he hasn’t given back.

“Fuck off,” Dabi smack at his wing with a huff. “You know you’ll need to wait, right? It takes time to cook after buying the ingredients.” Keigo whimpers, stomach rumbling. Yeah, maybe he’s being childish and complain-y or whatever, but he’s hungry and Dabi’s food is going to be really good so he doesn’t want to wait.

“So hungry… wilting away as we speak.” Keigo leans more of his weight onto Dabi, making the guy grunt.

“I swear, you are so fucking annoying sometimes. I can get groceries faster if you wait here, you know.”

Keigo shakes his head. “Nope, you’re stuck with me.” A playful urge wells up, so he reaches up to bop Dabi’s nose. “Boop.” Dabi stares at him then suddenly looks away, clears his throat, and starts to smoke. “A-anyway, I like grocery shopping!” Keigo quickly changes the conversation, his own face heating more than normal. “Though the cart is kind of my enemy.” Dabi laughs at that, a teasing grin pulling at his lips.

“Oh really? The great pro hero can’t figure out how to push a grocery cart?”

Keigo pouts, though his fluffy feathers betray him. He’s having a great time now that they’ve fallen back into the normal groove of teasing conversation. “It’s hard! I’d like to see you do it.” Keigo relaxes further into their comfortable pattern as Dabi scoffs, falling into the conversation.

“Well fine then. I will show you how to do it. In no time you’ll be eating those words, her– ex-hero.” Keigo notices the slip up, but Dabi covered it well enough he’s not going to call the guy out.

They keep bantering back and forth until they reach the store, where Keigo’s new nemesis awaits.

He scowls at them. “See Dabs? Don’t they just look evil?”

“Feathers, you’re being ridiculous. Watch, it’s easy.” Dabi slowly unravels his arm from around Keigo’s waist – which is immediately a lot colder – and yanks one of the carts free. “See?” He will admit Dabi is better at it than him. Though Keigo isn’t sure if anyone could do worse than him at this.

Then the cart jerks to a halt, a wheel getting caught in a crack in the road. Keigo’s eyes go wide the same time Dabi’s do as the guy does not stop with the cart. Instead, he gets a handlebar straight to the gut and knocks his shin against the back wheels.

“Fuck!” Dabi curses, jumping away from the damned wheeled nuisance, hands pressing against his stomach.

Keigo, the good friend that he is, laughs. “See, what did I tell you? They’re all evil!”

Dabi goes to reply, only for him to disappear. Keigo blinks, wondering if he’s seeing that wrong. Nope. He even turns in a slow circle, but there’s still no Dabi.

Weird.

Then he’s falling through cool black nothingness, and it makes sense.

Chapter Text

He lands on his feet, wheezing as all his wounds protest the landing. “Ow. Kurogiri, next time please refrain from the beneath-me portals, that hurt.” Familiar warm hands grab onto him before his legs can give out.

“Come on ‘Giri,” Dabi snaps as he leads Keigo – who is blinking away black from the edges of his vision – over to a nearby kitchen table with a fair amount of chairs. “I told you he was injured!”

“My apologies Hawks-”

“Keigo.” He and Dabi correct at the same time.

“-Keigo. It was not my goal to harm you further. Atsuhiro merely wished to invite the two of you to dinner.”

“And you didn’t think to just call me?” Dabi spits, glaring over at the man made up of black mist whose yellow eyes appear appropriately abashed.

“…Apologies. It appears I forgot that was an option.”

“No shit.” Dabi huffs, but there’s no heat behind the words. Wow, Kurogiri got forgiven quickly.

Shaking off the last of the blackness, he looks around the area, taking in what he’s going to assume in the League’s new home. Given the long table, Keigo figures they’re in the dining room. To his right is a kitchen where multiple pots are on the stovetop and the whirring of the oven fan signals something is cooking inside there too. Whatever it is, it smells amazing. To his left is an arched entrance to a hallway, where he catches glimpses of doors peppering either side of the hall. Probably bedrooms. A figure stumbles out of one of the rooms and into view.

“What’s all the commotion?” Keigo and his feathers perk up at the new voice right as Dabi helps lower him to a chair.

“Hey man!” He waves excitedly to Suuichi, who blinks back at him sleepily. “What’s up?”

“Oh. H- Keigo. Hey.” Suuichi stretches his jaw in a long yawn. “What day is it?”

“Thursday,” Dabi responds immediately, apparently used to this question. “It’s almost six pm.”

“Huh. Alright then.” The man with the lizard quirk walks straight up to Dabi – ignoring the way Dabi is glaring down at him – and wraps the guy up in a hug. Keigo grins as Dabi stands there, fists clenched at his sides, but doesn’t push the guy off of him. Suuichi turns his head so he can look at Keigo. “He’s warm. Good heater over the winter. And doesn’t get too mad if you fall asleep on him.”

“Good to know, thanks bro.” Suuichi nods sleepily, his job of sharing the valuable information with his pal complete, eyes fluttering shut. Dabi’s arms come up to grab the guy under his armpits right as Suuichi goes limp and starts to snore.

“Every fucking time,” Dabi grumbles, moving towards the hallway Suuichi just came from. “Fucking moron needs to remember to sleep over night, not just whenever he crashes.” But despite the rough words, Dabi still carries the guy down the hall and out of sight, presumably to his bed.

“So,” Keigo clears his throat, not really sure what to talk about now that he and Kurogiri are the only ones here. “How are things at that home décor shop you guys are running?” There. A basic small talk topic.

“Oh! Rather well, thank you for asking. Atsuhiro, that’s Mr. Compress’s name, has taken a real shine to it. Dear Himiko and Jin try their best too, and I think they enjoy helping out.”

“Good, that’s good.” A long awkward pause. God, he’s never had to talk one-on-one with Kurogiri before. Dabi, please come back quickly.

But while he recognizes the next person to appear from the hall, the man is not Dabi. Twice – Jin – freezes at the sight of him right as Keigo’s feathers go rigid.

“Hawks? I didn’t know you were here man!”

“What the hell are you doing here, you fuckin’ traitor?!”

Keigo flinches back, nearly toppling off his chair, as his face goes pale.

He’s strapped down on that same table below the Commission headquarters, struggling against the restraints forcing him to remain still.

“You know this is a really counterproductive decision, right?” He tries, chest heaving as he struggles to not sink into the hazy mindset panic brings.

“It is necessary, Hawks. Had the villain Dabi harmed you in the attack, by burning off a limb or something, this would not be needed.” He flinches, the wings clamped to his back going sharp and cutting into his own skin. Lines of blood run free even after he forces them soft, panting. “Pathetic,” his handler sneers down at him. “You need this, Hawks. You need us to hand out the consequences of your actions so that you can be better.”

Tweezers grab onto a single skin-colored scale and slowly lift. Hawks strains against his bonds, fists clenched and thrashing as he can’t do anything but slightly jerk his foot. With agonizing slowness, the first scale is peel off, the sound of his ripping flesh echoing out through the room. He gasps and heaves, struggling against the urge to let his feathers go sharp. All that’ll do is hurt him more – that’s why they pin his wings to his back like this. Extra efficiency in their training.

“I-” Hawks gasps, his words cutting off into a pained whimper as another scale is pulled off his foot. He can smell his own blood dribbling down between his toes.

“You failed, Hawks.” His handler tuts. “Infiltrate the League and kill Twice. Only two little things.” Another scale. “Twice is still alive, so that means you need to take responsibility for your failures, Hawks.” A larger one on the inside of his ankle is ripped off in a swift motion, making him clench his teeth to swallow back his scream. Surely the Commission realizes that hurting him badly enough he can’t stand is stupid? They’re at war! They need him to fight.

But no. The Commission will expect him to fight either way. They won’t care if he can’t stand without blood pooling in the bottoms of his boots.

“Hawks-”

“HAWKS!” Hands shake him.

He blinks, shaking his head.

His feet don’t hurt. Oh.

Jin is staring at him, their faces only inches apart. Rather than his normal mask Jin has a long piece of grey cloth wrapped around his head, covering an eye. An eyepatch, if Keigo didn’t know that it was there to help the man hold himself together. The older man quickly drops his hands from where they’re grasping at Keigo’s shoulders. “Sorry. It just looked like you were splitting.” There’s no follow up sentence this time.

“I- yeah. I guess. Thanks Jin.” He gets a nervous smile in response and a shaky nod.

“Look, Hawks,” Keigo flinches at the name and Jin panics. “Shit I’m sorry.”

“Fuck you, suck it up. It’s only words, y’a pussy.”

“I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s alright Jin,” Keigo interrupts before the man can drown further. “I’m going by Keigo now. Please don’t call me… that.”

“Yeah, sure thing.”

“Pfft, we’ll see. You tried to kill me, why should I be nice to you?”

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry.” Jin clutches at his head, shaking it side to side firmly.

Keigo shrugs, limbs drooping and heavy at his sudden exhaustion. “It’s fine. I wouldn’t blame you if you did hate me for almost killing you. I understand that that isn’t something you can move past easily.”

“Hey now, I already forgave you man! It’s not your fault.”

“Fuck you, ya filthy hero scum! I’m never forgiving you for that!” A fist is shaken in his direction before Jin grabs both sides of his head again.

“Shut up! It’s not his fault!”

“No, you shut up! He tried to kill me! He’s injured, I’m gonna finish him off!”

“Shut UP!”

“Jin,” Kurogiri places a misty hand on the man’s shoulder, “take your time. You are safe here.” The blond man whimpers, trembling like his atoms really are trying to pull apart.

“Sorry, I’m gonna go.”

“Get the fuck away from me, traitor!” Jin shoots Keigo a glare, then an apologetic wince, followed by stumbling steps away from Kurogiri that carry him back to the hallway he came from. Keigo stares after him, unsure if he could have said or done something that would help.

Kurogiri sighs. “It hit him the hardest. The whole you were a spy thing, I mean. He genuinely enjoyed spending time with you.”

“I liked hanging out with him too,” Keigo replies honestly. “He’s kind and relatively chill to be around.” The fact Twice was one of the few people he could count as a friend, no matter how fleeting that time was, is probably why Hawks couldn’t go through with the Commission’s kill order. “Hey though, I’m a little shocked Dabi wasn’t the most upset about it. I spent more time with him.”

Despite Kurogiri’s lack of facial features, those yellow eyes convey all they need to. “Oh please. We all know Dabi knew.” Keigo’s brain stops.

“What?”

“Oh, were you not aware?” Kurogiri sounds almost amused. “I thought it was blatantly obvious he was aware you were not fully on our side. He and Tomura got into their fair share of arguments over whether they should kill you or not. Dabi always managed to convince Tomura that if we kept trying we’d be able to convert you to our side for real. I do not think Tomura realized Dabi knew that was all bullshit. I was certainly aware Dabi was making no efforts to follow through on his words.”

“…He knew?” Keigo wheezes, shocked at the revelation. Damn, he really thought he got through without anyone figuring him out. “Why didn’t he fry me then? He had so many chances.”

“Oh my. Well, if you haven’t figured that one out then it’s hardly my place to say anything more.” He shoots Kurogiri a little glare for withholding information, but the man has already wandered over to their kitchen, humming as he opens the oven to check on whatever it is that’s cooking in there.

“Hey, come on Kurogiri! I, uh, I’ve got a picture of Dabi with his glasses on that I’ll trade you for whatever this information is!”

The man hesitates and Keigo thinks he won. Then Kurogiri sighs. “Ah, I truly wish I could tell you – especially given you are wagering what I’m sure is an excellent picture. But alas, if you don’t already know then I cannot in good conscious say anything.”

“Damn.” Well, he might as well share it anyways. “Hey, what’s your number? I’ll text it to you anyways.” It’s never a bad plan to get on the human portal’s good side.

Kurogiri eagerly rattles of his cell number, and by the time Dabi returns from having helped Suuichi to bed, the portaler is seated next to Keigo, both of them gushing over the photo.

“Look at his wittle frown!” Keigo coos, his wings fluffy and at ease as he pokes fun at the Dabi in the picture.

“This is truly a masterpiece, thank you Keigo. I cannot believe you got him to wear something other than black. I’m going to share this with Atsuhiro; he’ll love it.”

“Go for it.”

His phone is yanked from his hands by a glowering Dabi. “What the hell is this.” The tone is flat as he swats aside the feathers Keigo sends off to retrieve his phone from the thief’s hands.

“Nooo, Dabs come on, give it back!” He wiggles around in the chair to try and reach for it, only to hiss as the wounds stitched shut across his chest twinge. Oh yeah, he forgot about those.

“Why do you even- how do I delete this?!” Sorry Dabi, but he’s not helping with that. Keigo mimes locking his lips shut and tossing aside the key. Dabi’s glare intensifies, but the action distracts the man for the fraction of a second Keigo’s feathers need to snag the cell phone back. Victory. The photo remains undeleted.

Kurogiri’s phone rings, and a quick parental look has Keigo and Dabi shutting up so he can answer it in silence. “Hello?”

“Hey.” Keigo picks up Mr. Compress’s voice clearly on the other end. “Those gang guys are going around again. Can you please portal Himiko back? I don’t want her to stab anyone when they come asking for money. I’ll talk my way out of it again, but if she’s here she’ll stab at least two of them.”

“Of course, give me a moment.” A horizontal portal opens and one Toga Himiko tumbles through.

“Giri! I was in the middle of picking out tomorrow’s sale items!”

“Apologies, dear.” The portaler goes back to his cell phone and Toga pouts. “Atsuhiro, perhaps it would be best to pay them off this time. I do not wish to draw more attention to ourselves than we need to.”

There’s a long sigh on the other end. “You are probably right. But I really don’t want to pay them! Their name is ridiculous, they have no class, and they are hardly fear-worthy!”

Keigo leans closer and plucks the phone from Kurogiri’s hand, turning it to speaker with a click of a button. “Heyo. Keigo here, you’re on speaker now. Just tell them you’re under the library’s protection and they should let you off the hook.”

“Kei-? Oh, right. Apologies. Are you sure that is wise, Haw- Keigo? I would not want to put more of their attention on you, no matter how incompetent the group is.”

“It’s all good man. They already hate me. Just go for it.” They already bother him at every given opportunity, might as well get something out of it.

“Alright, if you’re sure. I’ll be home shortly.” The magician hangs up without waiting for a goodbye.

“So,” Keigo jolts as Toga appears in the chair to his left. He didn’t even hear her move. “I’ve been hearing an interesting rumor going around. About a certain librarian and a certain boyfriend. Got anything to say about that, Hawk- Keigo-Chan?”

He squints at the girl as she grins a toothy fanged grin at him. “What the fuck did you just call me?”

“Keigo-Chan! I needed a new nickname for you, obviously. So, about that rumor- ” Keigo yelps as Dabi wraps both arms around his waist and hefts his up into the air.

“I’m gonna give Keigo a tour.”

“Ooh, I’ll come too!”

“Fuck off, Himi.” Keigo gives an apologetic smile to the pouting girl who really doesn’t seem all that upset. She winks at him and grins impossibly wider. He quickly looks away. Not dealing with that today, no thank you.

He does not get a tour of the home.

Rather, Dabi carries him into the hallway and takes the third door on the right, knocking it shut behind them with a foot.

“Fucking vultures,” he grumbles as he sets Keigo down on a thin mattress. There are two blankets and a stack of pillows of various thicknesses taking up surface area on the mattress. He looks around as Dabi wanders over to the black dresser in the corner of the square room. He’s quick to swap out Keigo’s purple hoodie for a black one that’s much more his style. Strangely enough Keigo is sad to see the guy back in his trademark black. He was cute in purple. Keigo smacks both his cheeks at the not-strictly-just-friendly-thought, his injured one smarting at the light blow.

“Idiot!” Dabi hisses, suddenly kneeling right there in front of him, face too close as he gently cups Keigo’s chin to tilt his head and examine the bandaged cheek. “What the fuck was that for?!”

Well, he can’t very well say it was to stop his brain from thinking Dabi was cute, so he just stares back blankly. Wow brain. A measly week and a bit off and he can’t even manage a bad lie? Not even a word? Ok, guess sitting here with his mouth open is going be it. Pathetic.

“Fine,” Dabi huffs, letting go of Keigo’s chin and hopping up to sit next to him on the bed. “So yeah, this is my room. It’s nothing fancy, but they won’t bother me – us – in here.” Keigo lets his gaze travel around more freely now that Dabi’s practically invited him to look. A couple posters for bands he doesn’t recognize are pinned to the walls, there’s the black dresser he noted before where Dabi’s reading glasses are now settled a top, a stack of books Keigo recognizes as mystery ones next to the dresser, and a large box in the corner adjacent to the dresser and diagonal from the bed. He’s awful curious to know what’s in the box but isn’t sure how well Dabi would take to the question. Oh well. He’s here and his curiosity wants to know.

“Hey Dabs?”

“Yeah?” The ex-villain is picking at the staples around his wrist. Every few seconds he glances at Keigo out of the corner of his eye.

“Can I ask what’s in the box?” Keigo points too, just in case Dabi has like a box of weird shit under his bed or something.

“You can ask.” Keigo waits for a moment after that for Dabi to tell him, only to find the guy smirking at him.

“Oh fuck you.” He smacks Dabi upside the head with a wing. “You know that was only polite and still counts! Tell me what’s in the box. Please.” He adds that on for good measure.

Dabi rolls his eyes but stands in a single swift motion and prowls over to the corner. He glances back and raises an eyebrow, as if silently asking Keigo is he’s sure, before finally picks it up after Keigo’s enthusiastic nod.

Keigo’s feathers twitch impatiently as Dabi oh so slowly opens the box and sets the lid aside. Despite wanting to reach over and grab whatever is inside so that he can find out what it is faster, Keigo restrains himself. That’s hardly appropriate behavior. Finally, Dabi withdraws a worn rabbit plush. Its fake fur is matted and yellow or missing in places, and it is lacking a button eye. Yet with the way Dabi holds it gingerly Keigo knows it has been well taken care of.

“This was my sister’s,” Dabi starts off, voice soft and a near whisper – as if trying to keep quiet will prevent the ghosts of his past from hearing. “She always wanted a bunny, but we weren’t allowed pets. So, when Mom got me this for my sixth birthday, I kept it hidden from Fuyumi until I gave it to her for her birthday. My mom cried; I’m still not sure if she was happy that day or not.” Keigo isn’t sure what to make of that, so he keeps quiet.

Dabi sets aside the old plush and pulls out a muddy sneaker with grey duct tape wrapping around the toe. “I used to have both shoes, but I lost the second one years back tossing it at some fucker’s head when the guy came at me with a knife.” Dabi says this nonchalantly while Keigo tenses, his breath catching in his throat as he pictures a smaller Dabi – maybe even a teenager – hiding behind worn sneaker projectiles as a defense. “Anyways, I was so upset when Natsuo grew and passed my height. I’m five years older, that’s hardly fair!” Dabi chuckles. “He was so proud of himself the day I got his old shoes. He loved these old sneakers but was happy that he didn’t fit in them anymore because he wanted to share them with me.” There’s a wistful look in Dabi’s eyes, and Keigo nearly pipes up to ask why he hasn’t contacted his family when he so clearly misses them. He bits his tongue as Dabi pulls out what Keigo guesses is the last item in the box.

It's a small green teething ring. Keigo blinks to make sure he’s seeing that right and waits for the explanation.

When it doesn’t come like the others had, Keigo pokes Dabi’s thigh. “Dabs? What’s this one?” Then he looks from the ring to Dabi’s face. Dual lines of blood are rolling down the man’s face, starting from his eyes. “Oh fuck! Dabi, you’re bleeding!” Keigo’s wings flap uselessly behind him as he panics. He’s not sure where the first aid kit is, or if bleeding from one’s eyes is something it’s better to go to the hospital for, but Kurogiri would know.

He's about to send off a feather to fetch the man when Dabi sucks in a shaky breath that sounds more like a sob than anything else. The pad of his thumb carefully wipes away the trails of blood, leaving pink smears of his healthy skin and blotches of red on the wrinkled purple bits.

“It’s ok, Keigo.”

“So, is crying blood normal then?” He hedges, unsure if it’s safe to come down from panic mode.

“Yeah. For me, anyways. Burnt my tears ducts to hell just before I turned fourteen.”

“Oh,” Keigo gets out.

Dabi lifts the green teething ring, drawing Keigo’s attention back to it. “Right. I guess I kept this because it reminds me of how things were before everything went to shit. Yeah, it sucked, and my body was always sore and burnt, but it wasn’t too bad. But then Shouto grew out of toddler ages and got his quirk. I-” Dabi’s voice breaks and Keigo’s stupid heart cracks along with it “- I was twelve and could do next to nothing to stop my father from beating up my four-year-old baby brother. Every time I tried, he’d just knock me out or hurt me badly enough I physically couldn’t stand up against him. God,” Dabi growls, fists clenching as his mood swings from sorrow to anger. “He was the only one I wanted to kill! The one I needed to kill! And we couldn’t even manage that.”

Keigo swallows, mind whirring. “You’re eight years older…” Dabi meets his gaze and gives a curt nod, dropping the teething ring back into the box so he can pick at the staples around his wrist again. Dabi is still watching him as Keigo’s eyes go wide, the math done and the connection made. He’s heard the name ‘Shouto’ screamed in his ear enough times he’s shocked he didn’t see it earlier.

Scratch that, he’s shocked no one saw it earlier. It’s so blatantly clear.

“Oh,” he whispers. “Oh.” Now it makes sense why Dabi doesn’t bother trying to contact his family – he and the League tried to kill his own baby brother. And father. God, this is a whole new minefield for Keigo.

At least Dabi’s hatred for Endeavor makes a little more sense.

Dabi’s eyes are dark and lost as he waits for Keigo’s reaction. Emotional comfort is not his strong suit, so: diversion.

“Uh, hold on. This might be a stupid question, but is Geten like your cousin or something?” The Todoroki in UA has ice, Geten has ice. It’s not that far of a stretch.

Dabi just gapes at him though so clearly it is that far of a reach. Well, it seems like it’s working. “Oh, HELL no! No way am I related to that slimy motherfucking mongrel!” Then his face goes as pale as Keigo has ever seen it. “Wait. Oh shit, what if I am related to him?! I don’t know my mom’s family tree.” A hard determined edge glints in Dabi’s eyes. “One moment.” Keigo smiles to himself as Dabi jumps off the bed and races out the door. “JIN IT’S AN EMERGENCY! AM I RELATED TO GETEN?!” The most surefire way to get Dabi back on track and to prevent awkward emotional lulls: bring up Geten and let Dabi loose.

“DABI, STOP YELLING IN THE HOUSE!”

“YEAH GIRI, STOP YELLING!” A tired dad sigh and Toga’s shrieking laughter follow her shout.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, THIS IS SERIOUS!” Someone please tell Dabi ‘no’ so he can come back. Keigo didn’t think through his distraction plan and now he’s lonely.

“HOW SHOULD I REMEMBER? YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT RELATED? I DIDN’T LIKE TALKING TO HIM, HE WAS MEAN!”

“NAH YOU TOTALLY ARE! TWO PAIN IN THE ASS ELEMENTAL QUIRKERS, MAKES SENSE TO ME!”

Keigo smirks as Dabi shrieks at that, boasting some nonsensical words about how if he’s related to Geten he’s somehow cursed with terrible male family members.

He gets maybe a minute more of feeling lonely before he regrets ever thinking that. Toga pokes her head into Dabi’s room and, upon seeing the lack of Dabi, grins and slinks inside. She hops up on the bed next to Keigo, amber eyes going wide as she spots the box of Dabi’s family things out and open.

“Ooh,” she purrs, leaning in closer as if to whisper conspiratorially. Keigo doubts she knows how to whisper. “He told you, right?”

“About his family? Yeah. I’m kind of shocked he did, to be honest. Seems a little like that trust came out of nowhere.” Keigo tries to laugh it off but trails off as Toga licks her lips and cups her mouth, the classic image of someone telling a secret.

“I don’t want to ruin Dabi’s plan, but surely you’ve figured it out by now, Keigo-Chan!”

“Figured out what?”

Toga squints at him. “Hmm. Maybe you haven’t figured it out then. I thought it was obvious – everyone knows.” Keigo stares back at her blankly. “Ok!” Her hands smack together, making him jump and wince as his wounds ache at that. “Ugh your blood smells so good. Sorry, I know I shouldn’t because you’re taken, but it’s hard to refrain when someone so pretty is so close to me.” Keigo leans as far from her as he can without making it obvious and crushing her spirits. He’s injured enough; he’d rather not get stabbed too. “Anyways, new tactic. What do you think of Dabi?” His heart fumbles at the eager question.

“What do I think of Dabi?” Keigo parrots back on reflex. “Uh, I dunno. He’s fun to talk to, he’s been a lot more helpful than I expected, and is shockingly good with kids. He’s a great friend,” Keigo quickly tags on, “and has been really kind. He took me to a movie, showed up at the hospital even though I said he didn’t need to, and is dropping everything to help me out until my injures heal over. So yeah, Dabi’s a pretty great guy.”

Toga leans in to sniff him. “Oh,” her eyes narrow to playful slits as the door opens and Dabi returns. He scowls at the teenage girl on his bed.

“Leave, Himiko. You know you aren’t allowed in my room after last time.”

“Fine, going. Sorry you got stuck with such a dummy, Dabi. But don’t worry! You’re on the right track!” Toga shoots a now smoking Dabi a bright thumbs up before skipping out the door.

“Uh, any idea what that was about?” Keigo inquires.

“Ignore her,” Dabi responds without pause, as he always has whenever Toga does something weird. Dabi waves a hand around himself, dispersing the cloud of grey smoke.

“Alright.” That’s easy enough to continue doing.

“Here,” Dabi bends down and wraps an arm around Keigo’s waist, helping him to his feet. “Atsuhiro – Compress – is back and dinner is pretty much ready. We’ll need a few minutes to grab Suuichi anyways.”

“Didn’t he go to bed?” Keigo asks as he lurches to his feet, leaning into Dabi’s hold maybe a little too much.

“Yeah, but he hasn’t eaten in a while so Giri told me to wake him up. He can eat then go back to sleep.”

“Fair enough.” They leave Dabi’s room and walk at a comfortable pace to the room next to Dabi’s.

“One sec. Uh, you’ll want to wait here. Sometimes he’s not happy to be woken up.” Dabi grimaces at the thought.

“Oh hey,” Keigo pipes in, “want me to send in a few feathers? They can poke him awake.”

Dabi sags in relief. “Please do. He almost scratched my eyes out last time.” Keigo’s lips twitch in response but he swallows back his amused croon. Three feathers drop from his left wing, hover in midair a moment, then slide under the door they’re facing. Concentrating, Keigo can feel the vibrations of someone’s snoring quivering along his vanes. Following the sensation, Keigo guides his feathers over and taps the slumbering lump.

Nothing. Not even a stir.

“Hmm.” He pokes again, harder, and gets a small shift for his efforts. Well that’s not working. Taking the tiniest one – God this really is a stupid plan – Keigo sets to tickling Suuichi’s nose with it. Jin told him the guy was ticklish there a while back, and while the Commission couldn’t think of any reason why that would be useful, it clearly is helping Keigo now.

That gets a reaction. Suuichi jolts upright, gasping and hissing, hands swiping claws through the air to bat off invisible attackers. No wonder Dabi didn’t want to be in close proximity.

Keigo waves his feathers back and forth, earning Suuichi’s attention and letting the guy know what woke him. That earns a long, tired sigh, but despite the obvious reluctance, there’s movement too.

“Ok, he’s moving,” Keigo informs Dabi. “Let’s go sit down. I’ll leave a feather here to poke him if his breathing slows too dramatically.”

“That’s perfect, thanks Keigo.”

“No problem,” he answers easily as he calls back all but the last feather.

With more slow shuffling, they arrive at the dining room where Toga, Jin, and Compress are all sitting down on one side of the table. Kurogiri has clearly been busy cooking and is carrying over the last of the serving bowls, setting down the final touches to the feast. Keigo isn’t sure what’s all here, but he spots rice and lots of vegetables and can smell meat, so it’ll be delicious. Dabi lets go of him for a moment to take the empty seat on the left and turn it ninety degrees so that the backrest is facing outwards. Still not the most ideal or elegant solution, but Keigo is touched the guy thought to move the seat around for his wings.

“Thanks,” Keigo sends Dabi a soft smile to show his appreciation as the ex-villain helps him sit down.

“Of course,” Dabi murmurs in reply. He takes the seat on Keigo’s right, leaving the far one on Dabi’s own right for Suuichi as Kurogiri walks around to take the spot at the foot of the table. Keigo almost asks why they chose to leave the seat at the head open, the pauses, remembering himself. That’s absolutely where Shigaraki used to sit.

It’s quiet as they all begin passing serving bowls around and piling food on their plates. Suuichi shows up only a few minutes late, yawning and struggling to keep his heavy eyelids open. Keigo sends the guy a small grin and hopes there’s no hard feelings given the way Keigo woke him. There’s not much for a response, so Keigo decides to take that as an ‘it’s all good, bro’.

But the moment people start breaking their chopsticks apart to dig in – after numerous thank yous to Kurogiri – the conversation kicks in and Keigo just instinctively knows it’s only a matter of time now before the chaos starts up.

“Keigo,” Compress addresses him, “I must thank you for allowing me to use your library as a scapegoat earlier. It was a much easier solution than attempting to talk my way out of it once more.”

Keigo swallows his mouthful of rice. “Of course! Anytime man, I’m always happy to help.”

“I truly appreciate that.” Apparently Compress talking broke the previous silence, for Jin and Toga start trying to talk over one another. Keigo has no clue who to follow so he copies Dabi’s method and ducks his head, continuing to eat. Though where Dabi picks at the rice on his plate, Keigo actually eats. He frowns at that and snaps a feather free to poke Dabi’s shoulder blade with it half-hardened. Not enough to be sharp and cut through anything, but enough it doesn’t feel good.

“Ouch,” Dabi hisses, jerking away from the feather jabbing at him. “What the fuck, Keigo?”

“Eat,” he answers simply. “You barely had anything for lunch and had no breakfast.” Keigo takes another look at the pile of plain rice on Dabi’s plate and frowns. “Here.” He plucks some of the cubes of sauced meat and roasted vegetables from his own plate and sets them on Dabi’s. “Eat more.”

“Keigo, I’m not hungry,” Dabi tries to protest. Keigo chitters at him, annoyed, only realizing after the sound dies out what he did. He stares at Dabi a moment too long, then looks away with a flushed face when neither of them says a thing. God, he’s a mess. One day ripping his chest apart for vocalizing bird noises, the next he’s practically fucking singing for Dabi.

A slam and a yelp draw his attention back to the present. Jin is leaning back away from Toga as she tugs her switchblade from where it’s embedded in the table.

“Himiko,” Kurogiri chastises, “no knives at the table.”

“But he called my cute new skirt a tablecloth!”

“I’m sorry!”

“It’s plaid, what was I supposed to think?”

“Be nice, we have a guest,” Compress reminds them both. They pout at that, and Toga puts her knife away so that Jin can exit Compress’s space.

“Sorry,” Toga mutters, shooting Jin another glare.

It’s silent only a moment before the teenager pipes up again. “So, Dabi, Keigo-Chan. Let’s double back to that interesting rumor I heard going around town today.” The grin on her face says it does not bode well for either of them. She waits just long enough to have their attention before continuing. “Well, I heard that the resident librarian got a boyfriend.” Keigo sets his chopsticks down for the sole purpose of burying his face in his hands and groaning.

“Oh my God, not you too! I swear, everyone who came in today thought Dabi and I were together. No one believed me when I said otherwise.”

“Mhh, good. I was going to have to poke someone,” she fakes a cough, “Dabi, in the face with my knife if you two were dating and hadn’t thought to tell little old me.”

“Shut up, Himiko.” Dabi growls out. The air around Keigo is suddenly hotter; whether that’s due to the awkwardness of the situation or Dabi’s quirk, he’s unsure.

“Oh! That reminds me though.” Keigo gulps as she snaps her head around to lock eyes with him. Never has he felt more like prey then when under her gaze. “Keigo-Chan, I have a couple fashion magazines you modeled in from years ago, could you sign them for me?”

Keigo winces but is glad for the subject change. “Oh my God, you bought those? I was kind of hoping to never need to see pictures of myself again.”

“But they’re really good pictures!” A pause, then the sly “even Dabi thinks so.”

“Really?” Keigo blurts out before he can stop himself. “Er, I mean, ok.” He flicks his gaze to Dabi, who has abandoned picking at his food to glare at Toga. Keigo inches away, recognizing the murderous glare. The glare Toga is seemingly immune to. She grins at the attention. Apparently, her goal with all that was to get under Dabi’s skin. She opens her mouth and before talking Keigo places a hand on Dabi’s shoulder so he won’t jump up and attack the girl.

“Right? You love those magazines, don’t you,” a hint of evil mischief in those playful amber eyes, “Touya?”

Dabi shrieks out in rage, leaping to his feet and throwing Keigo’s hand off him. Toga cackles as she hops from her seat and bolts, barely outrunning the simmering wave of blue flames Dabi throws at her.

“Dabi!” Kurogiri and Compress snap at the same time. “No fire inside the house!”

“Fuck off! She started it, and I’ll finish it!” Keigo stares as Dabi chases after Toga, wondering if he should step in to help. Then Jin joins in, screaming as loudly as Toga, prancing around and generally just having fun getting in their way.

“Uh,” he looks over to Suuichi, who has taken the opportunity to steal some of Toga’s uneaten vegetables. “Should we help?”

“Nope,” Suuichi replies immediately. “Only those that last through the meal without violent conflict get dessert.” Well then. If that’s the case Dabi’s on his own. No matter how good a friend the guy is, Keigo can’t sacrifice dessert privileges.

He goes back to eating his meal, ignoring the screams behind him and trying to focus on the conversation regarding the new pillowcases Compress ordered in for their store.

Chapter Text

By the time Kurogiri lets them leave, Keigo is thoroughly exhausted, and Dabi has a bandage wrapped around his right bicep where Toga got him with her knife.

“Let’s never do that again,” Dabi grumbles as he helps march Keigo through the portal that takes them back to Keigo’s loft.

“I had a good time.” Keigo yawns, his feet dragging as Dabi helps him towards his bed.

“Of course, you did,” Dabi scoffs. “You and Suuichi got dessert and talked about sharks. Plus, Giri didn’t make you help clean up because you were the guest.”

Keigo just shrugs. “I had a good time,” he repeats. He even went through with it and signed Toga’s magazines. He blushed the whole time, but she promised to never show them to him again, so hopefully it’s an embarrassment that can be left in the past. Sure, the pictures weren’t… bad, but his eyes were dull and his smile fake. Keigo doesn’t want to see himself like that anymore.

The portal behind them closes.

“Oh, are you staying the night?” Keigo doesn’t mind, but he figured Dabi was heading back home after making sure Keigo got back safely and changed his bandages like the doctor told him to.

“Might as well,” Dabi grumbles. “Leaving you alone seems inefficient.” The reasoning isn’t all that sound, but he doesn’t push. It’s nice having friends over.

“Alright. I can loan you some pajamas?”

Dabi shrugs, indicating the black hoodie he swapped into a few hours earlier. “This is basically clean, I’m good.”

“Ok. Uh,” think, Keigo, think. What else do people need when sleeping over? “I think I have an unopened toothbrush somewhere you can have. And I’ll sleep on the floor.” There, the good host always offers up their bed.

“Oh no you don’t, Feathers. You’re injured, remember? I’m not letting you sleep on the floor.”

“Hang on,” Keigo protests, “you’re always injured.” He gestures to Dabi’s whole self. “You can’t sleep on the floor; you’ll get infected or something.”

Dabi shrugs. “Fine. We’ll share your bed then.”

Keigo opens his mouth to refute. “Ok.” Fuck, that’s not what he’s supposed to say! Bad, stupid, bird.

“Ok,” Dabi repeats. And that settles it. Going back now will make it weird. As Suuichi said, it’s perfectly normal for bros to platonically cuddle.

Except Keigo can’t convince himself of this as they get ready for bed. He brushes his teeth and all that then exits to bathroom so Dabi can do the same, taking the chance to swap out his hoodie and sweatpants for his regular extra-large t-shirt that he likes to sleep in. He pulls on a clean pair of boxers like every night, then hesitates. This is what he normally wears to bed. His tail is hanging freely, his feet are visible, and his blunt black talons glint uglily without his gloves to cover them. He was fine wearing this around Suuichi, who, given the scales covering his own body did not care, but it’s nerve wracking to even be considering it now.

Before he can ponder his own terrible choices longer, Dabi reenters the main room, first aid kit in hand. Keigo isn’t quite sure if it’s the same one he bought or not. This one seems bulkier.

“Shirt off,” Dabi demands. Keigo jolts but complies and takes off the t-shirt he just put on. Dabi corrals him over to sit on the bed. Once Keigo is seated with his legs dangling off the edge, Dabi nudges his knees apart so he can stand between them and starts unwrapping the heavy bandages winding around Keigo’s torso. It’s slow going and each brush of Dabi’s warm fingers against Keigo’s chest is enough he needs to force himself not to lean into the soft touch.

“Shit, sorry,” Dabi murmurs as his knuckles scrap over the bone of Keigo’s wing where it connects to his back, making him shiver and see stars.

“It’s ok,” he thinks he says in coherent words, wings going limp and fluffy. Dabi pauses in his unwinding of the bandages to do it again. Keigo bites his lip to hold back his happy chirp as those long warm fingers smooth over the tiniest little feathers that protect the seam where wing meets back.

“Want me to do it again?” Dabi’s voice is soft and his breath warm on Keigo’s ear. When did he lean in closer? Keigo tries to nod, but only manages a small dip of his head. “Hmm. I’ll finish with this first, ok?” Dabi goes back to the bandages, finally removing the old ones from Keigo’s torso. “Gosh, Feathers. You really did a number on yourself.”

Following Dabi’s gaze, Keigo dips his chin to look at his chest. There are three prominent diagonal slices in the skin, then smaller ones on either side where his thumb and pinky finger cut in shallower. All five are held together with rows of ugly black thread. The stitches look like bugs and he kind of wants to swat them off himself.

They are ugly, and – unless someone with a skin cell regeneration type of quirk steps in – they will scar. Oh well. What’s one more for the collection?

“Well, the doc gave me this.” Dabi pulls out a long tube of what Keigo figures is an antibiotic cream. "It was made with one of the nurse’s quirks and has enhanced healing.” He nods along silently as Dabi unscrews the cap and squeezes a dollop of the shimmery white cream onto the pads of his index and middle fingers. “I’ll try to be gentle,” Dabi murmurs as he carefully touches his fingers to Keigo’s wounds and smears the cream on. It tingles. It’s cold at first but it heats quickly given the temperature of Dabi’s hands.

“I’m not gonna break,” Keigo gets out after a while of Dabi touching him so cautiously he feels like a China glass. “You don’t need to be afraid to touch me; it’s fine.”

Dabi pulls back and locks their eyes, his own staring deep into Keigo’s soul as if searching for some answer to a question Keigo hasn’t yet heard. Then he shakes his head with a sigh. “You’ll kill me by saying things like that, Feathers.” Keigo keeps silent after that. He thought it was a fair thing to voice. Apparently, he was somehow mistaken.

When Dabi finishes with the cream, he brings out new bandages to re-warp Keigo’s torso with. The wrapping up goes faster than the unwrapping did; Dabi is probably more practiced at bandaging friends than he’d like to think about.

“Alright,” Dabi proclaims. “The doc only said to swap out your chest bandages. She told me to leave the little ones on your cuts from the glass on because they did a thorough job cleaning those ones or something. Must have been more worried about you bleeding out than cleaning for the chest wounds.” Dabi stands up and backs away to kick off his pants. Keigo knows he should tear his eyes away, but he can’t. He stares, cheeks pink, as Dabi shamelessly tosses his jeans aside to reveal long pale legs with purple scars and silver staples wrapping around each in various places. Thank God Dabi left his boxers on. The ex-villain plucks at the hem of his hoodie before shrugging and leaving that on too.

With that… event, over with, Dabi climbs in behind Keigo. He goes to turn around too, figuring this is the part where they go to sleep, only for the warmth of Dabi’s hands to ghost along his shoulder blades.

“Can I touch your feathers again, Keigo?” Said wings fluff up and ruffle in surprised delight.

“You want to?” He can’t help blurting out. “Sure.” He quickly tries to cover his slip up.

He’ll kick himself for this later.

“Yes, I really do.” Dabi answers his question before shifting forwards to run his fingers over Keigo’s coverts like he’s skimming the surface of water. “Have really wanted to for a long time, you know. Your wings are gorgeous, which shouldn’t be shocking considering your appearance, but they still take my breath away every time you spread them out wide.”

“I- Uh-” He can practically hear Dabi’s grin of victory at having rendered him speechless. “Well, if you wanted to touch them so badly, at least do it right.” Dabi freezes up at that, his petting fingers stilling.

“Huh?”

“Don’t just pet the surface; let your fingers dig in. It’ll actually be a big help cause I can’t reach that spot to preen them myself.”

“Ok.” Dabi’s fingers push in and drag. His wings go limp as his head flops down to his chest. “Is that right?” There’s a smirk in Dabi’s tone Keigo chooses to ignore.

“Y-yeah.” God, this is nice.

Dabi’s fingers pull out and drag down through a spot just a little to the left of where he was before. Keigo’s wings puff up as much as they can in their efforts to give Dabi access to as much of them as possible. The other man does it again and Keigo lets out a content chirp.

He freezes, eyes snapping wide open and only barely catching his wings from going sharp and cutting off Dabi’s fingers.

“Hey, calm down,” Dabi murmurs. “I think your little bird noises are cute.” Cute? Keigo sputters in response, unable to form real words. “Mhhm. Very cute. I really wouldn’t mind if you wanted to sing me some more of them.” Dabi’s tone there is a purr, a dangerous dare Hawks would never have been stupid enough to fall for.

But Keigo is a bit of a weak moron, especially of late.

So, he does. He stops biting his tongue and lets his little chirps and happy coos out as Dabi combs through his wings with heavenly warm fingers. Again, he’ll kick himself for this later.

He’s not aware of how much times passes with them sitting like that, but eventually Dabi runs out of wings to comb through. Keigo shifts, yawning, and goes to send a feather for his t-shirt so he can get that back on before bed.

Then he stills as Dabi brushes the pad of his finger along the barb of his longest tail feather.

“What about these one?” Dabi asks, letting his finger lift now that it’s clear he has Keigo’s attention. “Am I allowed to touch these too?” Not trusting his words, Keigo just gives a small nod of his head.

But after a few moments there’s nothing. He twists around to caw at Dabi and whack him in the face with a wing.

“Hey!” Dabi sputters, smacking the red feathers from his face. “What was that for?”

“Get on with it,” Keigo grumbles, flicking his tail feathers so that they’re closer to the other man. He’s quick to turn away, not wanting Dabi to see his flushed face.

“Ah, I see.” The ex-villain sounds almost amused. “I was waiting on a vocal answer, but that works too.” Those same amazing fingers set to combing through Keigo’s rumpled, ugly-compared-to-his-wings, tail feathers. He melts at the first touch and is a puddle of pliable goo by the time Dabi removes his fingers from Keigo’s tail.

“Keigo?” Dabi whispers, his breath ruffling Keigo’s hair. “Are you still awake?” Keigo mumbles something… vaguely sound-like in response and Dabi chuckles. “Got it. Alright, bedtime for us, then.” Hands help guide him onto his side so that his uninjured cheek is pressed against the pillow and his wings are somewhat comfortably folded along his back.

Once he’s settled in, Dabi climbs in bed and faces the wall, leaving his back to Keigo. Sleepily, Keigo huffs and stretches his top wing over Dabi, shifting a bit closer to do so easier.

“Uh, Keigo?” Dabi whispers, fingers prodding the wing now draped over him as if he’s not sure if he should throw it off or not. Keigo chitters at him, annoyed and sleepy and wanting Dabi to shut up now so they can fall asleep. He must get the message across because Dabi leaves the wing where it is and either falls asleep or is just really good at lying still.

…Wait, didn’t he have something he wanted to say? Earlier? Oh yeah, that’s it.

“Touya is a nice name.” Dabi freezes, and Keigo is asleep before he can hear if the other man responds.

He wakes up when it’s still dark out. A feather brings him his phone and Keigo realizes it’s not even five yet.

Sighing, he uncurls his fingers from the back of Dabi’s hoodie – haha whoops, he’s not sure when he moved closer to the taller man last night – and slowly pulls himself upright. Despite the early hour, they went to bed earlier than Keigo is used to last night so he’s not tired. He got plenty of sleep. Glancing down at his sleeping companion, Keigo’s eyes soften at the sight before him. Dabi is curled up in a little ball with his hands clutched to his chest. He’s snoring little kitten-like snores, and the usual harsh lines of his face are smooth.

Keigo takes a picture.

It’s not a great photo given the lack of visible light, but even if it’s dark and he’s not willing to use the flash in case it wakes Dabi up so no one else knows what it is, he does.

A smile plays at his lips as he sends his phone off to the table and slowly shuffles his way to the bathroom. Keigo makes sure to close the door before flipping the light on. Dabi is a notoriously light sleeper, and he doesn’t want to wake the guy before the sun is up. That’s just asking for a cranky arsonist all day.

Grabbing his purple face cloth and wetting it with warm water, Keigo – making sure to go around the bandage on his cheek – scrubs at his face. The water washes away any last dredges of sleep and helps to remove the oily sheen that covered his face beforehand.

Face clean, Keigo stares at his reflection in the mirror.

“You are a dumbass,” he informs his reflection. His reflection nods along, completely in agreement. “What the hell were you thinking, letting Dabi preen your wings like that? He’s probably weirded out now too, given you were chirping like an actual fucking bird the whole time.” He stares himself down a long moment, then sighs in defeat. Yeah, he knows all this. And yeah, he’d do it all again. God, what’s with him lately?

Keigo sighs, letting his eyes drop from the mirror.

His stomach rumbles. Oh yeah, they never did end up going shopping yesterday, did they? Kurogiri portal-snatched them before they could buy any groceries. Hmm, maybe there’s time to go before the library opens in the morning? He nods firmly to himself; yeah, that’s a good plan. That way Dabi can cook him – er, them – food.

Only problem there is that it’s still five in the morning. Dabi is still curled up in Keigo’s bed and there’s no way the store is open. So, what’s he supposed to do now? Keigo looks around his loft. There are books and – oh. Yeah. That’ll do. He sends a couple feathers to grab the unopened jigsaw puzzle box to bring that with him as he moves at a snail’s pace and heads down to the library below. His injuries ache a bit with every step, but it’s nowhere near bad enough he needs to stop.

Arriving in the library, Keigo sends feathers to flick on the lights and clear off his desk. That done, he sits down at his desk and cuts the stripes of tape holding the puzzle box lid shut with his talons before cautiously opening it. Inside is a clear bag holding all the puzzle pieces. One side of the pieces has the printed image, the other is an almost fuzzy blue-grey color.

He upends the bag and lets all the pieces spill out into a mini mountain of cardboard rectangles. Alright. That seems like the logical first step. Humming to himself, Keigo sets to using the pads of his fingers to spread the pieces out over the surface of his desk so that they’re not on top of each other. Maybe half are currently right-side up.

It takes a long time to spread out the pieces. The sun is beginning to peek in through the windows by the time he leans back, content with his current success. Well, the next step is probably to flip over all the pieces that are picture side down. It’ll probably help to be able to see all the pieces at once when he’s trying to put it together. Somehow this takes even longer than spreading them out did. He has to move slowly in general to prevent pulling on his numerous wounds, and when picking up the cardboard pieces he needs to make sure he doesn’t slice into them with his talons by mistake.

In fact, it’s slow enough progress that when he checks his phone it’s almost seven.

“Seriously?” Keigo stares at the cell phone, shocked. Almost two hours and he’s not even done flipping all the pieces over. Wow. Deciding he’s let Dabi sleep in late enough anyways, Keigo makes his retreat upstairs. He swaps out his t-shirt for another loose hoodie – this one green – and grabs yet another pair of sweatpants, quickly tucking his tail down the left pant leg. Yes, it’s basically the same thing he’s worn the past few days. Yes, he’ll keep wearing variations of it until his bandages come off and all his cuts heal up. Nothing is more annoying than wearing a shirt that rubs against healing scabs, so he’s sticking to his loose hoodies.

“Dabi?” Keigo whispers as he shuffles over to the bed. “Dabi, you up?” He gets a tiny mumble in response as Dabi tries to curl into himself more. “Dabi,” Keigo says a little louder. He knows better than to try to shake the guy awake after that one time at the League base. They needed a new couch after that, and he had to call in sick that day because Dabi roasted all his big flight feathers.

“Hhhh,” Dabi grumbles, turning his neck to nuzzle further into the pillow. Cute; very kitten-like. Keigo reaches up to pinch his uninjured cheek for that thought.

“Come on Dabs, time to get up.” That does it. Turquoise eyes blink open to squint at him.

“Am I still dreaming?” The words are slurred, but Keigo hears them well enough.

“Nope, you’re awake. Now get up; we’re going shopping cause I’m hungry.” Keigo stretches his wings out when Dabi yawns, drawing the guy’s attention back to him. “Nuh uh, you don’t get to go back to sleep. Up time, I need food and don’t know what to buy.”

“Fine.” It’s grumbled sleepily, but Keigo can see some clarity returning to Dabi’s eyes. The ex-villain always did wake up quickly. Dabi clears his throat as he rolls out of bed, toes curling inwards before his feet touch the flooring, as if anticipating the chill. They relax as they find Keigo’s carpet rather than cool tile to step on. “I’m up.”

Keigo grabs his phone, wallet, and keys before sitting at the edge of his bed to wait for Dabi as the other man stumbles around Keigo’s loft, each step surer than the last. It takes Dabi maybe five minutes before he’s wrapping an arm around Keigo’s waist to help him walk. Keigo almost adds in that he was fine walking by himself this morning, but when he opens his mouth, the words get stuck in his throat.

Instead, he just tightens his own hold, finger curling into the material of the side of Dabi’s black hoodie.

They don’t talk much on the way to the store. Dabi yawns every few minutes and the crease in his forehead warns Keigo that Dabi had a dream he wasn’t quite happy with. Given the man didn’t wake up in the middle of the night – screaming or otherwise – Keigo decides to leave it be.

Upon arrival, Keigo veers away from the carts and Dabi is more than happy to follow his lead on this.

“I think it’s you they have a problem with,” Dabi mutters, his free hand wandering to his stomach where the handlebar rammed into him yesterday.

“Basket?” Keigo suggests, pointing to the stack of plastic baskets that are available.

“Yeah,” Dabi agrees readily. “Basket.” Dabi grabs one and ignores the hand Keigo sticks out to hold it, instead carrying it with the hand not supporting Keigo’s weight.

“Hey,” Keigo protests, “but you’re picking out the food stuffs. I should carry the basket so you can grab things.”

“You’re injured.”

“Is it harder to carry one thing or continuously reach over to grab things?”

Dabi wordlessly passes the basket over. Keigo’s wings fluff up in his victory as he grabs it, making Dabi snort as the fluffy feathers brush his back.

“You’re ridiculous, Feathers.” Keigo sticks his tongue out playfully in response.

Dabi leads them up and down all the food aisles, picking things Keigo doesn’t recognize and adding them to the basket in Keigo’s hand. Things in jars, things in boxes, things in little bottles. All get added in. Then they find food Keigo does recognize, like the tomatoes and the orange pepper Dabi adds in.

“What kind of meat do you like?” Dabi asks as they round the corner and enter an aisle that is a fair amount cooler than the previous one where the vegetables were.

“Literally anything,” Keigo replies. “Obviously chicken, but beef, ham, pork, and steak too. Any others that I haven’t tried I’ll probably like. It’s meat, is it possible for it to taste bad?”

“Well, maybe if you ate it raw.” Dabi’s tone is joking, but it falls flat when Keigo doesn’t laugh, his mind flashing to the raw steak he ate when at that restaurant with Suuichi. “Er, unless you like that too? Shit, sorry. Spinner is always getting after me to be more considerate about mutation things. Sorry,” Dabi repeats.

Keigo gives a tiny shrug. “It’s ok. I suck at it too.”

“Still. Tell me if I say or do anything that’s offense or like-” He cuts himself off, face paling. “Fuck. Er, with your wings and tail last night,” said limbs in question twitch, recalling the warm fingers that carefully preened them, “was that out of line? I didn’t even think there might be some sort of bird thing that says its rude to touch someone else’s feathers.”

Keigo shakes his head but smiles at Dabi’s concern. “Nah, Dabs, you’re in the clear. As long as you ask me first it’s ok. No big deal, really.” The lie slides off his tongue easily.

Dabi relaxes at that and goes to debating over which packaged meat he should pick out. “Ok, good. That’s a relief.” He picks one and holds it up for Keigo’s inspection. Keigo just shrugs and holds out the basket so Dabi can put the meat in. It’s starting to get a little heavy, but not enough that it’s a concern.

They continue on, Dabi picking out things Keigo only sometimes recognizes, and Keigo dutifully holding the basket that is gradually filling up.

“Shit,” Dabi grumbles as they make their way to the check out, “I should have thought to bring some reusable bags. I hate having to use the plastic ones they give out.”

“Grab a few of those then.” Keigo jerks his head towards the reusable bags the store sells. “I’ve been meaning to get some anyways.”

“Alright.” Dabi picks three or four of them and tucks those under his free arm as they slide up to the next open check out station. Dabi and Keigo’s feathers help unload their basket so the cashier can scan the little barcodes. Some of the vegetables don’t have the barcode sticker though, but before Keigo can be concerned about that the cashier clicks some buttons and looks them up, checking them out that way. Once the bags are scanned, Keigo’s feathers set to loading their purchases into the bags.

“Alright,” the cashier sets aside the last box of whatever the heck baking soda is, “would you like to donate to the HPSC fund for injured pro heroes today?”

“Sure,” Dabi starts.

“No,” Keigo snaps overtop, quickly shutting that down. Dabi gives him a look he ignores. He’ll warn Dabi to not give them money once they’re outside.

The cashier gives him a look for the sharp denial, then recites their total. Dabi reaches for his pocket as if he’s going to try to pay for all the food as Keigo hands a credit card over. He’s well aware he has more money than Dabi does – than most people do – no way is he letting the other man pay for stuff that’s going in his fridge.

“So,” Dabi questions the moment they step outside, Keigo’s feathers carrying their purchases. “I honestly would have thought you’d want to give money to the hero organization. Why didn’t you?”

Keigo sighs. “Yeah. Please don’t ever give them money and tell everyone else that too.”

“But why?” Dabi prompts. “Is helping injured heroes not a good thing or something?”

“I guarantee not a single miniscule percent of that fund actually makes it to injured and recovering pro heroes.” His tone goes bitter. “It’s the same fund they used to pay for my training growing up and all the hits they need carried out off the books.”

“What.” Keigo shrugs at Dabi’s flat voice. The other man is not asking a question here, he’s stating his shock. “That’s. What? The HPSC essentially steals money from civilians who want to help injured heroes and use it to pay assassins?” There’s heavy disbelief and horror in his tone.

“Yeah. That about sums it up. So don’t give them money.”

“God.” Dabi shakes his head. “And you all wondered why we were trying to destroy the current societal structure.”

Keigo shrugs. “Hey, if you told me you were going to kill the Commission leaders instead of planning to kill everyone that got in your way, I think things would have gone differently.”

“What do you mean?” The question is wary. Keigo doesn’t blame him. They’ve done a pretty decent job so far of not talking about the war.

“Well, for starters I would have absolutely leaked the blueprints to the Commission headquarters. I hate that building and would gladly see it burn. Second, I’m mildly certain the Commission President’s favourite thing to do was ruin my day, so I wouldn’t have been overly upset had she – and a few others I would have been more than happy to point out – were murdered.”

“Oh,” Dabi replies faintly. “Yeah, that would have been a lot different.”

Keigo nods sagely, as if he knows what he’s talking about. “Honestly,” he teases, “you all spent so long hell-bent on revenge that you didn’t even go for the people at the top. No, instead you focused on the terrifying fifteen-year-olds at UA high school.”

Dabi scowls at that. “Oh, shut up. That was all on Shiggs. He had some weird-ass fixation on the broccoli kid. Never listened when we told him to go after someone who wasn’t a literal student.”

“Ok, yeah, I can see that.” Keigo nods. Shigaraki always seemed like a strange fellow. Getting stuck on trying to beat a bunch of teens oddly makes sense with what Keigo knows of the guy’s personality. “Oh jeez,” Keigo mutters as he checks his phone for the time. “It’s eight-thirty. I’ve only got half an hour till the library opens.”

“Alright.” Dabi sighs like he’s in pain. “As long as you promise to use feathers for most of the movement and fetching books and all that, I’ll leave you to get things ready and cook you breakfast. How’s that sound?”

“Perfect, thanks Dabi!” The guy grunts as Keigo tightens his arm, giving a one-armed hug in thanks. Breakfast is needed – on that note he really should stop by that café again at some point and say hi to the teen that works there. The kid was nice.

They’re quiet the rest of the walk back to the library, both lost in their own thoughts. While he has no idea what Dabi is thinking of, Keigo is drooling over mental images of different delicious chicken recipes. Granted, there’s almost no way Dabi is going to let him eat chicken for breakfast. But still, it’d be so good.

“Hey,” Dabi jostles him out of his daydreams. “Key.”

“Oh yeah.” He unlocks the doors to let them in. Dabi drops him off at his desk with a raised eyebrow at the started puzzle scattered over the varnished wooden surface. He gives a sheepish grin at that, having been caught in the act of walking around by himself. Thankfully Dabi doesn’t pry further about it.

“Please try not to do anything stupid in the time I’m upstairs.”

“I’ll try,” Keigo confirms. That doesn’t bind him to it, and Dabi sighs in defeat, acknowledging that.

“Aright. Can your feathers carry those-” a gesture at the grocery bags “-upstairs or do you want me to take them from here?”

“I got it,” Keigo waves off the offer. “They’re not very heavy. I’ll set the bags down on the kitchen table. You’ve got free rein of my kitchen, so set stuff wherever you want.”

“I will. Thanks.” With that Dabi sets off to go make Keigo food. He licks his lips and rubs his palms together in anticipation. Regular people food is good, but there was always something about the food Dabi cooks that puts his over the top. When Keigo pried about it back at the League base during his spy days Dabi would just scowl and snap at him. Now, knowing Dabi has three younger siblings, Keigo suspects the guy learned how to cook for their benefit.

Humming along with his stomach rumbling and eager for tasty food, Keigo sets to readying the library for the day. Feathers get the books on hold and that need to be mailed out while Keigo skims through his morning paperwork – after rolling his chair over to the check-out counter so that he’s not writing on top of the loose puzzle pieces. Before long the paperwork is done and filed away in his desk, and his feathers finish packing up the books to be mailed off. As today is Friday, the mail person is supposed to come by and pick up this weeks’ worth of media to be sent off. Last week they managed to duck in and out without Keigo noticing them, so he’s curious to see if that’ll be the case again today or not. Hopefully not; he’d like to say hi this time.

His phone reminds him it’s nine and time to unlock the doors for the public. A feather gets the door for him so he can keep his promise to Dabi by staying in his chair and keeping his movement as minimal as possible.

After wheeling his chair back to his desk, Keigo sets to picking away at the jigsaw puzzle until people show up. Maybe fifteen minutes later he’s done flipping over all the pieces and the door opens, his first patron of the day coming in.

“Good morning,” Keigo grins brightly at the teenager he suspects is ditching class right about now. “Can I help you find anything?” The teen shakes her head, long red hair swaying behind her. Keigo keeps his smile on until she turns around and disappears into the stacks of books, a frown taking over at her obvious limp. She’s favoring her right leg like her knee is injured – Keigo would know, given he’s fucked up his knees enough to recognize that particular brand of limp.

The girl doesn’t return from browsing the novels, so Keigo lets her be. She’s safe in here, whether she knows that or not just yet.

His head snaps to the side as the heavenly aroma of chicken makes itself known.

“Hey,” Dabi makes his way over and sets a large plate down at the edge of Keigo’s desk where there’s an obvious lack of puzzle pieces. “I wasn’t going to, but I figured I might as well throw some chicken in there for you too.”

“Thanks Dabi!” Keigo gushes, grinning down at the plate of chicken and other stuff. There’s probably a name for it, but he’s too hungry to care. “You’re the best!” His wings are ridiculously puffy the whole time he’s shoving warm food in his mouth, but at least this time is warranted.

“Oh,” He remembers himself when he’s three-quarters of the way through it. “Here, you better eat some too.”

“I’m fine,” Dabi argues, shoving Keigo’s wrist when he lifts the chopsticks towards Dabi, a piece of chicken held between them.

“Eat,” Keigo orders in his best I’m-Giving-The-Rules voice. Dabi gapes at him so he takes the chance to shove the meat into the guy’s mouth. “Now,” Keigo continues as Dabi chews, glaring at him. “Are you going to eat by yourself or am I feeding you? Either way you’re finishing the rest of this.” Keigo wins their stare-down a whole two minute later when Dabi sighs and holds out a hand for the chopsticks.

“Fine. Only because you’re going to make a big deal out of this if I don’t. This is not going to become a regular thing,” Dabi proclaims. Keigo hums at that, nodding his head and trying to determine if it’s worth it to invest in keeping a second pair of chopsticks at his desk for tomorrow.

The library doors open again, and two more teenage girls enter. Odd. He rarely gets teenagers and now there’s three in just one morning – one school morning at that. Oh dear, hopefully their parents don’t blame him for somehow making them ditch school. That could get him into a nasty predicament.

“Good morning,” he calls over to them. The shorter girl gives a polite wave back while the taller ignores him, her eyes scanning the room.

“Hey, Birdman, did you see another girl come in here?” Jeez and he thought Toga was rude.

“Sorry Miss, but I’m not at the liberty to discuss the activities of my patrons.” He gives an award-winning smile, but she scowls at him anyways. Her hand lights up gold and the nerves in his right knee cry out as they burn. He keeps his smile the whole time, despite the way she ups her quirk’s intensity.

“What the hell?” She finally blurts, letting her quirk fade out. As soon as the golden glow on her hand is gone the pain in his knee is too. “Was it not working or something? Why didn’t you cry? Everyone always cries when I use my quirk on them.”

“Ah,” Keigo nods along. “Was it some kind of nerve manipulation? You’d do wonders in any medical field with a quirk like that.”

“What are you- Yeah, it is. But it hurts people, no way would it be good for medicine.” Her dark eyebrows draw together in her befuddlement. “That’s not the point. Did you or did you not see a girl come through here?”

“I’m not gonna tell you, kid. Look, if your girlfriend is avoiding you, it’s not up to me to fix it.” Red – either embarrassment or anger or both – flushes out her cheeks.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” The teen spits out. “And you will tell me!” She finishes that by activating her quirk again. However, instead of targeting the nerves in his knee, the ones in his left wing flare up. His spine goes rigid as his feathers sharpen with a shing, the left wing shaking as his nerves heat well into the realm of painful.

“Kid, I’m only going to ask once: stop it.”

“Why aren’t you crying for mercy yet?!” Seriously? Is that why she’s set on doing this?

…Sorry Dabi.

In the blink of an eye Keigo is up out of his chair and over the counter, standing mere inches from the girl. She jolts back, her quirk fizzing out at the sudden panic.

“Think-” he emphasizes that by tapping her temple with a taloned finger “-before you pick a fight. You never know when you might stumble across someone who will actually fight back.”

The teen sputters at that. “I- I’ll tell my dad! You don’t want to mess with him; he’ll fuck you up!” Keigo rolls his eyes and grabs the hem of his hoodie, lifting it to show off the bandages winding around his torso.

“Kid I’ve had that gang everyone’s afraid of targeting me since the day I got here, and the only person who’s managed to hurt me so far is me. So,” he drops his shirt and leans closer, grinning at the shock on her face, “go call your dad. I’ll kick his ass too.”

She spins around and runs out without another word, her friend following after a second’s hesitation.

“Idiot,” Dabi snaps the moment the door clicks shut behind the two teens. “Did you pull your stitches getting up like that?” Keigo looks down at his chest and pokes it. The lines of ugly black stitches are bumpy and still present.

“Nope, I think I’m fine.” He grins back, though his smile dies out instantly at the disappointed look on Dabi’s face.

“Um, excuse me?” It’s the redhead girl from earlier Keigo suspects the other teens were looking for.

“Heyo. What’s up?” Thank God for the distraction. Dabi was absolutely going to chew him out.

She shuffles closer, eyes darting to the windows and glass door as if the other teens are going to run back in at any moment. “It’s just, how did you manage to hold out against her quirk? It hurts so much. Is there a trick or something I could learn so she’ll leave me alone?”

“Oh. Sorry kiddo, but no, there’s no trick.”

Her face falls. “But how’d you do it?” The question is desperate, and Keigo sighs at the realization he can’t avoid it any longer.

“I’m used to people using more painful quirks than that on me. It built up a tolerance.” Her eyes snap wide and Keigo can see the apology there before her lips move to form a vocal one. “It’s fine kid, chill out. Not a method I’d recommend for getting rid of your bully though. My suggestion? Try punching her in the face.” She gapes at him and Dabi laughs.

“Feathers, you moron. That’s not how you get rid of bullies.”

“Y-yeah, what he said. I can’t just punch her!”

“Hey kid, how old are you?” She’s fully ignoring him to talk to Dabi now. Alright then.

“Fifteen, Mister.”

“Yeah? Cool. What are your opinions on fashion and blood?” Oh no. Keigo knows exactly where this is going.

“Dabi, this is a terrible idea.” No one acknowledges him. Great.

“Uh, I don’t know about blood, but I like fashion. My dad is a designer.”

“Great. One sec.” Dabi brings his phone to his ear, waiting for a call to go through. “Hey Himi. Wanna come over to the library? I think I found someone you’d like to be friends with.” The redhead perks up at the mentions of friends.

Moments later, after Dabi hangs up when the excited squealing on the other end did not cease, a portal opens and Toga barrels through. She’s in the new plaid skirt she bought, a cute white blouse, and has a heart-shaped backpack slung over her shoulders. Her hair is in her typical double buns, and she’s got heart-shaped sunglasses that match her bag perched on her forehead.

“Ohmygosh, hi!” Toga squeals at the sight of the redhead teen. “Ooh, your hair is so pretty! I just love the color red!” Dabi plants his hands on Toga’s shoulders and steers her over towards the shocked redhead.

“Bully deterrent,” he declares in a drawl.

That cuts off Toga’s rant about how pretty red is. “What? Bullies? Where? Don’t worry,” she pats the redhead’s cheek, “I’ll take care of them for you! Just point me in the direction and we can watch them bleed together! It’ll be so much fun!”

“Toga,” Keigo tries. “Toga!” Great, everyone seems set to ignoring him today.

Drastic times call for drastic measures.

“Himiko!” She spins around with a delighted gasp. That got through. “No murder. If you’re going to stab someone, pick muscled areas-”

“-Like biceps and stuff.” She finishes. “Yeah I know, Keigo-Chan! Kurogiri made it a rule, and I’ll lose dessert for a whole year if I mess up and make someone bleed out, so don’t worry. I’ve been studying up and know all the right places to slice!” The redhead does not look overly happy to be next to Toga now.

“Right. Why don’t you two talk about the ugly coat Dabi used to wear?” Toga’s eyes light up as Keigo reminds her of her hate for the fashion-disaster of a coat, and the civilian cautiously converses with the older teen as the conversation is drawn back to fashion and how some clothes shatter every faucet of fashion rules.

“I liked that coat,” Dabi mutters as Toga grabs the girl by the arm and skips from the library. Hopefully they’re heading off to a clothing store or something, not to murder someone. Toga has that same shine in her eyes either way.

“No one else did,” Keigo grins back. Dabi scowls, muttering a few choice words under his breath that Keigo pretends to not be able to hear.

“Well, it’s not like your costume was any better, what with all the tan and that stupid logo on your shirt.” Dabi points a finger at him as if he’s accusing Keigo of something.

“Yeah,” Keigo nods in agreement. “That I can agree to. I fucking hated that stupid costume. Never liked it; I always wanted one that was red growing up. Like my wings. So that my wings would look huge when people saw me flying because all they could see was the red.” Keigo trails off wistfully, thinking back to the first few days he was at the Commission as a kid – back when he still thought he got a choice in any aspect of his life and future.

Well, jokes on the past decade and a half of his experience and expectations. Bet the Commission never thought he would choose to retire. Hell, he never thought he’d choose to either.

“Why’d you wear it if you hated it?” Oh, has he not mentioned that yet?

“Cause it was in the contract I signed with the Commission that I refer to their judgement for what essentially amounted to every aspect of my life as a person and a hero.”

Dabi stares at him, lips parted in shock.

“Don’t worry about it,” Keigo waves off Dabi’s look. “I’m plenty free from all that now anyways.”

“Right.” Dabi clears his throat. “Yeah, ok.”

Keigo can see Dabi searching for a new conversation topic, so he takes pity on him and points over to his puzzle. “Want to help me out with that?”

“Sure,” Dabi latches onto the new conversation route immediately, taking the seat he left next to Keigo’s desk yesterday and leaning forwards to peer down at the pieces. “Well at least you’ve flipped all the pieces over. That’s always a good first step.”

“Oh good. I really wasn’t sure how to start.” Keigo laughs nervously as he takes his own chair, wiggling it closer to the desk. He watches as Dabi picks some pieces out, cocking his head. “What are you doing?”

Dabi startles as if he forgot Keigo is there too. “Oh right. Sorry. I forgot you haven’t done one before. Fuyumi and I always used to pick out the edge pieces first – see here these ones are flat along the one edge? That means that they are going to be at the outsides. We’d build the outsides so that there’s a frame to go off for the rest of it.”

“That makes sense.” Keigo sets to copying Dabi and begins looking for the ones that are flat around one edge. They are shockingly hard to find amongst the rest of the non-flat ones. “Oh hey, is this a mistake? This one has two flat sides.”

“Nah,” Dabi chuckles at him, “that just means it’s a corner piece.”

“Oh.” Well that makes perfect sense. Now he feels dumb.

“Here.” Dabi moves some pieces around so that there’s a mostly empty spot right in front of Keigo and sets the edge pieces he’s picked out in the spot. “Why don’t you start trying to get these ones together while I find the rest of them?”

“Okay.” Divide and conquer is always a solid plan. Keigo furrows his brow as he stares down at the little not-squares. Well, all the flat edges must face outwards, so he can try to line them up so the flat parts are in the same orientation. And the colors will probably line up. With that in mind, Keigo sets to moving all the green, orange, and blue ones off into their own little sections. Once Dabi realizes what Keigo’s done, he starts adding the pieces he finds to their appropriate color pile.

Keigo draws the pile of blue – the smallest pile, he’s going to work his way up to the bigger sections – towards himself and stares at those. Nine pieces and one is a corner. This shouldn’t be difficult.

Chapter Text

Half an hour later proves that yes, this stupid jigsaw is difficult. He’s attached three pieces to the corner one. That’s it. Four measly pieces of the 1000 that came in the box.

“I should have picked a smaller puzzle,” Keigo grumbles, leaning back and blinking his eyes to give them a break from the angry staring he’s been doing.

“Honestly? Yeah, probably – if you wanted to be done it fast.” That catches his attention.

“Huh?”

“This is meant to be an activity, Feathers, not just a task you zip right through. Multiple months’ worth of fun right in a little box.”

Keigo scowls again. “Maybe I shouldn’t have bought it; I don’t think this is gonna be my type of activity.” Dabi laughs.

“Yeah, I was actually surprised when you said you had one. It doesn’t seem like a ‘you’ activity. Too still.” He wrinkles his nose at Dabi’s accurate statement.

“I’ll keep trying for a bit-” he’s already lost to the store carts; he can’t lose to a box of cardboard pieces “-but it might end up beating me in the end.” Dabi reaches over to clasp Keigo’s shoulder in a firm hold and meets his eyes.

“Suck it up.” Keigo squawks, offended. “I mean it!” Dabi laughs, “we’re going to get this thing done, but there’s no way I can do it all by myself – heck, my eyes are already telling me to stop being stubborn and to go get my glasses. So suck it up and when we’re done you can renounce puzzling after that.”

“Fine,” Keigo sighs, “I can agree to those terms. Hopefully this doesn’t take too long to finish off.”

“Hey who knows,” Dabi taps his shoulder almost playfully, “maybe this is just the type of activity you need to sit still long enough for all those injuries to heal up.”

“Shut up,” Keigo grumbles, wings fluffing up as he clicks another piece into place. Finally. “Let’s break for lunch.”

“Keigo, it’s not even eleven yet-”

“Let’s break for lunch,” he repeats, louder. He’s hungry and needs a break from the puzzle.

“Yeah, alright. Want me to make something?” Absolutely. Very yum.

“As long as you don’t mind. If not we can just go buy lunch somewhere.”

Dabi waves him off, standing and stretching his arms out over his head. “I don’t mind; I’ll cook.” Heck yeah.

“Thanks Dabs, I appreciate your food and you.” Dabi huffs at him, taking a swat at his head Keigo ducks easily.

“Glad your priorities are straight, Feathers. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” One lazy wave later and Dabi slips up the stairs to go make them food. Yay.

Keigo looks down at his desk and the puzzle pieces scattered about it, then lifts his feet and detaches some feathers so they’ll push his wheeled chair over to the check-out counter computer. At least there he can play that funky little card game that Fai must have downloaded onto the desktop.

Maybe someone else will come in to distract him as he waits for the second round of Dabi’s homecooked food.

In the end the library remains quiet and patron-less. Dabi brings down a helping and a half of some sort of pasta that’s got vegetables and meat interwoven. It’s tasty, and Keigo only needs to threaten Dabi a little bit to get the guy to eat some of it.

From there Dabi drags him back to the puzzle, he struggles to get seven more pieces connected, and right around three a portal opens in the middle of the library. Keigo watches, unphased, as Suuichi strides out with purpose, eyes latching onto Dabi.

“Dabi, Kurogiri needs to talk to you. Shouldn’t take too long; I’ll wait here with Keigo in the meantime.”

“Oh,” Dabi stands and heads over quickly. “Thanks Spinner.” He pauses to look over his shoulder at Keigo. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.” Is this really becoming a thing?

“I know.” Keigo waves him off with a roll of his eyes. “So,” Keigo voices once Dabi disappears through the portal, “what actually brings you over?”

Suuichi grins evilly as he settles in the seat Dabi just vacated. “Well, Himiko got back from hanging out with that new friend she said you guys introduced her too, so Kurogiri decided it was time to give her The Talk. I may have mentioned that there’s no way Dabi’s father ever gave him that talk, so Giri insisted on bringing him over so he could complete the milestone. Or something. I dunno, all I know is that it’s gonna be fucking hilarious, so text me later and let me know how jumpy and awkward Dabi is after he gets back.” Keigo laughs at that, readily agreeing.

“Sure thing man. You ensured I got dessert last night; I owe you one for that and I’m sure a few pictures of an embarrassed Dabi can cover that.”

Suuichi sticks his hand out solemnly that Keigo shakes, shoulders shaking as he holds in chuckles. “I can agree to those terms. Oh hey,” he points at the neat block of grass Dabi’s been working – with marginally more success than Keigo – on putting together. “Can I help?”

“Please,” Keigo sighs dramatically. “This thing is fucking impossible. We’ve been at it all morning and I’ve got,” a quick glance down, “eleven pieces together.”

“Yikes. Dude, I’m sorry, but there’s no way around it: you suck at this.” Suuichi laughs at him as Keigo ducks his chin and chitters in annoyance.

“I am well aware, thanks.” He pauses, biting his bottom lip as Suuichi rounds over his shoulders to peer closer at the puzzle pieces. “Does, ah, does Dabi ever-” he trails off as Suuichi snaps his head up, pink eyes alight with interest.

“Oh no, don’t stop there,” the guy chides. “Does Dabi ever what?”

Keigo sinks as low in his seat as his wounds allow his to go. “Well. It’s just. Last night he started talking about how much he liked my wings, and I let him preen them.” Keigo risks a glance and finds Suuichi’s jaw dropped in shock.

“Dude. What. Isn’t preening someone else’s wings like a huge deal?” And that was the crux of the issue here. Yes, preening someone else’s wings is a big deal, and no, he’s not entirely sure why he let Dabi do it.

Keigo nods miserably. “Suuichi, bro, I know we’ve only hung out a few times now, but-”

“Shush. We’re bros; you can trust me. Talk this out, I’ll listen.”

“Thanks man.” Well that is one thing down. “Alright. I dunno what the problem is, but I’m always acting stupid around Dabi. Like chirping and shit too, which I almost never do in general let alone around other people. But then next thing I know Dabi’s there preening my feathers and I can’t stop trilling at how nice it feels. He makes me food, shows up to help me out when I don’t even ask him to, and trusts me with stuff- and.” Keigo cuts himself off, panting.

“Ah,” Suuichi leans back and crosses one knee over the other. “I see.”

“What is it?” Keigo pleads. “Please tell me why I’m being all weird. That face looks like one that know the answer.”

“Yeah. I think I do, anyways. Do you really want to know?” Suuichi is clearly hesitant to say anything, but Keigo is very done feeling and acting like an imbecile for no good reason whenever Dabi is around. He nods firmly. No going back now. “Alright. Fuck it, I guess. Keigo,” he leans closer to grab Keigo’s closest hand. “You like Dabi.” Three little words. That’s it. He waits patiently for more, but that’s it.

“Yeah? I know I like him. He’s a nice guy.”

A long sigh from his friend. “No, Keigo. You like like him. You know, a crush.” Keigo just stares blankly. “Romance? Sexual interest? I dunno dude, take your pick.”

“What.”

The portal chooses then to reopen, and a steaming, red-faced Dabi scampers through it. Well, he tries to. Keigo sends feathers off that grab onto him and shove him back through it.

“Woah, hey!” Dabi shrieks at the sudden assault.

“Suuichi is staying over tonight, bye Dabi!” Keigo breaths out a sigh of relief as the portal closes. No way can he talk to Dabi now. “Ok,” he turns back to Suuichi, who is watching everything like it’s the best show he’s ever seen. “Back up. What do you mean?”

“Herm. Ok, this might be harder than I thought.” Keigo jumps up, cutting him off. “Uh, Keigo?”

“One sec. I’m closing the library up; I think I’m about to have an emotional breakdown and don’t want to be working during that. Here,” he unlocks his phone and tosses it to Suuichi. “Post on the Facebook so people know we’re closed early.”

“Uh yeah, sure man.”

It’s only then he looks over and realizes the mail to go out is all gone. Damn, he missed the mail person again. They sure are sneaky.

“Ok,” Keigo stares at Suuichi. “I’m ready.” They’re facing each other on Keigo’s bed. He’s got Mr. Chicken clutched to his chest, ready for him to bury his face into should eye-contact become beyond bearable.

“Alright. I mean, I really don’t think I’m the right person for this, but hey, I’ll try my best. Though I need to be honest bro, I’ve had a grand total of two failed relationships, so my advice might suck.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Keigo declares. “Um, can I ask who you dated? This is awkward all around, so I feel like I need to hear a bit about yours first.”

“Sure, I guess. Uh, there was a girl back in high school I went out with a couple times. She dumped me for this guy with stupid big arms, which sucked, but I got over it pretty quick. And, uh.” Suuichi averts his eyes, the green scales on his face darkening. “Shigaraki and I were technically together for like a month before we ended things.” Keigo gapes at that.

“I’m sorry, Shigaraki? Really?”

“Yeah,” Suuichi shrugs. “We called it off a couple weeks before the whole Re-Destro thing kicked in. I think the doctor told him what was going to happen and he wanted to cut things off before it wasn’t him anymore.”

“Oh.” He’s not sure what to say to that. Thankfully Suuichi doesn’t let the silence hang for long.

“Yeah, that really sucked cause we clicked well together, but it’s in the past now. Ok, let’s focus back on you and Dabi.” He squeezes Mr. Chicken tighter, face already warming. “So, uh, what do you think of him? Physically and personality, go.”

Keigo squeaks but decides to go for it. “Er, well, he’s tall.” Suuichi snorts at that. “And if you say I’m just short I will stab you with at least fifty feathers.” Suuichi’s jaw clicks shut, though mirth glimmers in his eyes. “But yeah. He’s tall, he carries me around sometimes and that’s cool, he makes me food-”

“Nope,” Suuichi interrupts making an X with his arms. “Stick to physical stuff for now. Do you like the way he looks?”

“Well, yeah. How can you not? His eyes are pretty, his staples are shiny, I like to color contrast between his skin and scars, and his hands are always warm.” His cheeks are flushed. “I just thought that was all objective, you know? Like do you not see him the same way?”

Suuichi sighs. “Keigo, my bro, I see Dabi as a patchworked space heater. He does have nice eyes though.”

“Right. Ok. Er, now what?” He peeks up from the top of Mr. Chicken’s head, hoping to suddenly realize whatever feelings he’s supposed to so this can be over.

“Personality. What sort of stuff does he do that you like?”

“Oh ok. He makes me food-” Suuichi’s lips twitch but he holds back the laugh “-he took me to a movie and noticed when it was too loud, so he tossed his coat over my feathers to help quiet everything down.” Keigo glances at his friend again, Suuichi nodding at him to continue. Maybe he’s on the right track then. “He’s easy to talk to and tease, he’s got a story-telling voice that’s all soft and nice and I could listen to it for hours, and he’s always watching out for me and making sure I don’t do something that pulls my stitches. Yeah, I dunno what else to say dude. I act stupid and apparently more bird-like whenever he’s around, and he’s good company.”

“Hmm. Alright. Now, last question: do you have any sexual attraction to him?”

Keigo blinks back at him blankly. “Huh? How do I tell?”

The scales on Suuichi’s face are dark again. “Just, you know. Do you want to, like have sex,” Suuichi chokes on the word, “with Dabi?”

“I dunno,” Keigo shrugs. “Maybe? Maybe not? I’ve never done that before and haven’t really thought about it.”

“What. Dude. How are you still a virgin?” Suuichi seems honestly shocked. “You were always voted in the top three hottest heroes every year since your debut, how have you not hooked up with someone?”

Keigo shrugs again. “I just haven’t had the time nor really cared to. Was too busy and just had no desire for one-night stands.”

“Huh, alright then. Let’s skip that for now then cause I don’t think it’s overly relevant for you then.” Suuichi’s eyes go wide. “Er, and that’s not a bad thing or an abnormal thing or anything! Lots of people are asexual or aromantic or uh, I know there’s other terms but I don’t remember them all right now, and that means that they experience relationships in different ways, so it’s perfectly reasonable to experience things in a way different from what my base line is.” Suuichi ends that with a weak thumbs up and a cautious smile. Keigo smiles back.

“Thanks man, that is good to hear. I didn’t really know that was a thing. I’ll have to look into it sometime and see if I find something that makes sense to me.”

“Sure thing. I don’t know much about the different LGBTQIA2S+ terms either, so I’ll read up on them too. Heck, maybe calling myself bi cause I’d date anyone regardless of their gender isn’t even the right label. Huh, I dunno.” He gives his head a little shake. “Either way, let me know if you do end up finding one that fits you. And if not, that’s perfectly normal too. It’s hard to figure things out when you don’t have a lot of experience. Whatever you decide in the end is right.”

“Ok.” That’s easy enough to do. Leave it for now and think about it later. He can do that. They stare at each other, neither really knowing what to say.

“Well, um, basic question time I guess: do you think you might like Dabi?” That is a darn good question.

Keigo squeezes Mr. Chicken, feathers fluttering. “I don’t know.” He bites his lip. “I guess I feel the same way I have about him that I always have? But like it’s freer now that I’ve got time to think about it and we’re not fighting each other, so maybe? He’s always been easy to talk to, we got along shockingly well, he’d make me food, let me sleep on him when there was late movie nights, and he chose to not burn my wings off in that last confrontation where I was supposed to kill Twice.”

Suuichi stares at him. “Oh. Oh,” he drawls out the second one, eyes wide. “I see now. Ok, wow. Sorry bro, but now I’m feeling bad for Dabi. Poor guy’s been pining after you for ages, and you had no clue you liked him yet.” Keigo’s wings curl around his shoulder as he shoves his face into Mr. Chicken’s red head. Suuichi pats his head, lizard claws scratching comfortably at his scalp. “It’s alright bro. No worries.”

“Wait,” Keigo chimes in, ears locking on part of the other man’s sentence. “What do you mean Dabi’s been ‘pining’ over me? There’s no way he likes me.”

Suuichi stops scratching his head. “Keigo, dude, please. He’s so obvious in his feelings. He takes literally every chance possible to talk about you – mainly to Himiko because, no offense, but everyone else is sick of hearing how pretty you are – and jumps at the chance to be around you. Why do you think he was the only one that interacted with you for information drop offs and stuff? He snapped at us and even set Jin’s chair on fire that one time Jin offered to go instead.”

“Oh,” he mumbles into Mr. Chicken’s head. The worst part is he can totally see Dabi doing that.

“Hey,” Suuichi moves to ruffle his hair again, “did you ever get a TV? I think that’s given you enough to think about so let’s watch some more anime.”

Keigo shakes his head as a handful of feathers fly off for his laptop. “No, I haven’t gotten one yet. It’s on the list though. Maybe I’ll get you to help me pick one out cause I have no clue what to buy. Got my laptop set up though, so we can watch some more of the show we started last time on there.”

“Sure man,” Suuichi agrees. “Sounds good to me. And yeah, we’ll get you set up with something good. I dunno much about TVs, but I’m sure Atsuhiro would be more than happy to tell us more than we need to know about them.”

“Alright that sounds like a plan. Here,” Keigo hands over his laptop, the keys still glowing red from him typing the password in to turn it on, “can you find it? I forget what it’s called.”

“Yeah, give it here. We’ll watch a few episodes then order some food?”

“Or…” Keigo gives a sly smile. “We get Dabi back and get him to cook.”

Suuichi considers it then nods. “That sounds like an excellent plan to me. Dabi doesn’t cook all that much back home given it’s Giri’s kitchen and everyone knows to clear out when it’s mealtime, so I miss Dabi’s food.”

“Give me a minute.” Keigo taps the contact on his phone for Dabi and holds it to his ear as it rings.

“Hey,” Keigo starts off as the call goes through. “Sorry about earlier. Suuichi and I had a few things to talk about. Wanna come back?”

“You’re calling so I cook you two dinner, aren’t you?” There’s a heavy sigh and Keigo isn’t sure if he needs to reply because they both know it’s true. “Yeah, fine. I guess if I don’t, you’ll either starve or burn the place down trying to cook.”

“That’s probably correct,” Keigo sheepishly admits. “I dunno if Suuichi can cook-” a sharp shake of the guy’s head and a panicked look shows up in pink eyes “-never mind, no he can’t either. Please feed us.” He adds a small pleading note to his tone that’ll sway Dabi.

“Fine. I’ll be there shortly. Let me see if Kurogiri is busy.”

“Thanks Dabs! See you soon!” The guy hangs up on him, but that’s hardly anything new. “He’s on his way,” Keigo informs Suuichi, who’s gotten their show loaded up onto Keigo’s laptop screen.

“Sweet. Aw,” his grin turns to a pout. “Darn, you’re hurt. I can’t cuddle.” Keigo laughs at that, feathers grabbing the laptop to hold it eyelevel in front of them.

“Here.” He curls his wing around his side. “You can lean into my wing, if you want.”

“Thanks man.”

By the time the portal opens in the center of the room and Dabi walks in, scowl on his face, Suuichi is nestled into his left wing, cheek rubbing up and down against the soft plumes as they watch the first episode of the second season. The pink-haired kid’s deadpan humor is something Keigo greatly enjoys, and he likes how dumb the best friend is.

“You two look comfy.” Dabi comments as he makes his way over to Keigo’s kitchenette. “Oh,” he sets a pot down a little too loudly, which Keigo glares at him for. “Suuichi. Fuck you.” Suuichi cackles. “Seriously, fuck you. Kurogiri was under the impression that he needed to give me – stop laughing, this was the worst moment of my life – and Himiko a sex talk.” Dabi reaches into a pocket and holds up a little square package. “He wanted to show me how to put on a condom.” Keigo joins Suuichi in his laughter. “Fuck both of you.” Dabi scowls, but his lips twitch upwards too. “Zero out of ten, would never recommend. Oh, but don’t worry – when Atsuhiro came back all pouty that he didn’t get to help, I kindly told him that you could surely use a refresher.” Dabi smirks at that, his revenge acquired.

“No, Dabi why?!” Suuichi wheezes out the words, chest still shaking with his giggles.

“Payback, obviously. Now shut up and watch your stupid show while I cook.” They stifle their laughter and do just that, Keigo glancing over to watch Dabi slice things every so often. He would offer some feathers to help cut things, but Dabi seems content as is – perhaps even a little too happy to be chopping things up with a sharp blade – so Keigo leaves him be.

Keigo wakes up in the morning to find fiery turquoise eyes staring at him. He blinks slowly, then gives Dabi a little sleepy smile. The guy grunts in return, yawning and shifting so that his forehead brushes against Keigo’s shoulder. Locks of shockingly fluffy black hair tickle his chin.

“I fucking hate Spinner,” Dabi mutters into Keigo’s skin.

Oh yeah. Keigo drags his eyes off Dabi and grins as he finds Suuichi latched onto Dabi’s back. Scaled arms and legs wind around Dabi as best they can, and the guy’s face is jammed between Dabi’s shoulder blades.

“Well, he looks comfy at least.”

“I can still hate him.” Dabi lifts his head from Keigo’s shoulder for the sole purpose of showing the pain in his eyes as Suuichi’s hand shifts, fingers digging into Dabi’s pectoral muscles. “He’s more a fucking koala or leech than a lizard.” A pause. “How mad would you be if I set him on fire?”

“Very mad. He’s a nice guy and one of my few friends.”

Dabi clicks his tongue, resting his head on Keigo again. “Fine.”

They lie there a few minutes before Keigo’s eight o’clock phone alarm goes off. Wow they slept in late – well, that’s probably somewhat due to staying up late enough they finished the second season of the anime and started the third.

Suuichi and Dabi both groan at the beeping of his alarm, so he’s quick to shut it off via a feather tapping the snooze button on the touch screen.

“’s too early,” Suuichi groans, making Dabi wheeze as he tightens his grip on the taller guy. “Back to bed.”

“Fuck off,” Dabi grumbles in response, grabbing at Suuichi’s wrists to try and remove the lizard-quirked man. He’s not successful, and Keigo chuckles at Dabi’s misfortune as he stands up and shuffles off to the bathroom.

He picks up the first hoodie he finds, cuts slits in the back for his wings, and shoves it over his head. Only then does he breathe in and realize this is not his hoodie. Whoops. Hopefully Dabi isn’t too mad Keigo cut big holes into the back of the guy’s hoodie. A quick glance back at the bed shows Dabi is still trying to remove Suuichi from his back. Well, maybe he won’t notice Keigo accidentally claimed his shirt. Besides, Dabi didn’t give back the purple one Keigo loaned him, so this is like a trade, right? Yeah. Yeah, that seems like solid reasoning.

Mind made up, Keigo finds sweatpants and socks, tugs his boots on, and feathers his phone over to him. Deciding he might as well get started on library stuff – fingers crossed Dabi takes pity on him and cooks him breakfast again today – Keigo heads downstairs. Given it’s a Saturday, it’s his short day. The library is only open for five hours rather than the regular eight, so he’s got a whole five hours to figure out what the heck to do with all that emotion/relationship stuff he and Suuichi talked about yesterday.

He's just finishing his paperwork – again on the counter because his desk is still full of puzzle pieces – when there’s a knock on the door. Keigo startles. No one shows up this early. There’s still forty-five minutes until opening time.

But when he looks over and sees who it is, a huge smile takes over his face.

“Fai, Gale, nice to see the both of you!” He greets cheerfully as his feathers unlock the door to let the couple in. “How’ve you been?”

“Oh, just lovely, thank you dear. The vacation home is very cozy, so I suspect we’ll be heading back out that way once we finish up here today.”

“Nice,” his feathers detach and fetch a couple chairs so they can come around behind the counter and sit down with him. “I’d love to hear about it, if you’ve got time.”

Fai rounds the counter, her wrinkled eyes softening as she takes in the space. Then she spots the puzzle scattered over the desk. “Oh what a good idea! Did you just start it?”

Keigo winces. “Well, we started it yesterday. I’m just really bad at it.”

Her eyes light up as she settles in the seat he brought over for her. “Oh? We?” She looks around as if searching for another person.

“Ah,” Keigo rubs the back of his neck. “He stayed over last night, so hopefully he’s upstairs making me food.” Fai laughs at that, sharing a meaningful look with Gale, who’s standing at her shoulder.

“Smart lad,” Gale nods at him. “Getting yourself a partner than can cook is the best way to do it.”

And there it is. “Oh, no,” he shakes his head to better emphasize it. “Dabi and I aren’t together. Really.”

Before anyone can go about trying to contradict him, the door opens and Suuichi stumbles out. Keigo’s a little shocked Dabi managed to pry the guy off.

“Bro, he kicked me out. Said I didn’t get breakfast cause I was clinging to him all night.” Keigo laughs at Suuichi’s pout.

“Want me to ask him to reconsider?”

Suuichi considers that before shaking his head. “Nah. You two need to talk anyways, so I might as well head home. Good luck, man.”

“Thanks, bye Suuichi.” He waves as the guy slumps his way out of the library, running into the doorframe on his way out the door.

“Oh?” Keigo groans at the look on Fai’s face. “Good for you dear. I certainly won’t judge you for having multiple partners.”

“No! Very no!” Keigo exclaims, shaking his head rapidly side to side. “Suuichi and I are just friends. He stayed over last night cause we ended up watching TV too late.”

“Hmm. Gale, honey, you might as well sit down. I was going to just invite dear Keigo to our wedding, but now I need to meet this boy of his.” Gale does as Fai suggests and sits down as Keigo gapes at them.

“No way, you two are engaged? That’s great!”

Fai laughs. “Well, it’s a little late, but we figured it’s better to be late than to never go through with it.” They share a little look Keigo doesn’t understand. “He’s been waiting for me for years, and now that my job isn’t my whole life, I can see it clearly now.”

“I’m so happy for you two,” Keigo smiles. “Be sure to let me know if I can do anything to help with the wedding, alright?”

“Of course, dear, thank you.” With that Fai launches into asking Keigo about how the library has been in the week and a bit she’s been gone. They chat about that for a good long while, long enough that he checks to make sure the door is still unlocked for patrons to come in. It’s also long enough that Dabi comes down with breakfast.

“Dabi!” Keigo cheers, cutting himself off in the middle of his spiel on how the mail person hasn’t spoken to him yet. “Ooh, thank you.”

“Morning, Feathers.” The ex-villain glances almost nervously over at Fai and Gale as he sets the breakfast platter on Keigo’s lap. Again, Keigo does not recognize what it is Dabi made, but it looks and smells good. There’s rice, eggs, vegetables, and some sort of thick honey-colored sauce. Dabi takes his own chair, finishing off their square around the desk. He digs in eagerly, feathers soft and fluffy.

“It’s really good,” Keigo mumbles around a mouthful. He swallows and looks up, realizing Dabi is shifting uncomfortably under Fai’s gaze. “Oh yeah, Dabi this is Fai and Gale, Fai this is Dabi. He’s been helping me out since my stint with the hospital.”

“Hospital?” Fai gasps. “Oh my, what happened?”

“Eh, just a few scratches,” Keigo waves off her concern. It’s been like three days; he’s basically healed by now.

“He scratched his chest and landed in a bunch of glass.” Dabi chimes in. Keigo squawks at Dabi, betrayed the guy is selling him out. “He had to get stitches.”

“Only stitches though,” Keigo protests at the disappointed look he gets from Fai. She tuts at him.

“Well,” she addresses Dabi, “at least you’re looking after him. I know from experience that us librarians are awful stubborn, so you’ll have your hands full with him.”

“Oh, I know,” Dabi grins as Keigo huffs, indignant. “It’s practically a full-time job trying to keep Keigo from doing something stupid.”

“Hey,” he protests, “now that’s just rude. I’m not that bad.” Dabi gives him a look he shrinks back from. “Ok, yeah, fine. Maybe sometimes.” Fai laughs at him, so Keigo goes back to his food as his feathers ruffle. He eats three-quarters of the food, then holds the plate and chopsticks out to Dabi.

“Keigo, no.” The ex-villain whines. “I told you this wasn’t going to become a thing!”

He shrugs. “You said that, I didn’t agree. Now eat.” Dabi tries to protest more, but Keigo already knows he is going to win. Dabi won’t want to make it a scene, so since Fai and Gale are watching, he’ll cave quickly.

“Fine, you feathered terror.” Keigo chirrups proudly as Dabi takes the food and starts picking away at it.

“Well now,” Fai stands, Gale getting to his feet and offering her an arm she can cling to for balance. “I think we had best be off. More people to go talk to and invite to our wedding – oh don’t worry, I’ll be mailing out invitations within the week. Have a good day, you two. And Keigo, don’t wait as long as I did.” The older lady slides her eyes over to Dabi, then looks back to Keigo and raises an eyebrow. He gulps. Her meaning in abundantly clear.

“Right,” he gets out weakly. “Have a good day.” He manages a little wave as the elderly couple shuffles off, then leans back in his chair with a sigh as the door clicks shut behind him. “Yikes.”

“Hmm?” Dabi looks up from the food he’s slowly picking away at.

“Don’t worry about it,” Keigo waves him off. Well, now what is he supposed to do? Everyone seems certain he and Dabi would be a good couple, but should he bother trying to do something about that? Sure, he likes being around Dabi, and the past few days where they’ve shared a bed have been nice, but isn’t a relationship about love? How is he supposed to know if he loves Dabi?

It would be much easier if there was a guidebook or something for all this that could tell him what to do.

Either way, he’s got till two to figure it out. Yes, technically he could keep thinking about it for days or weeks, but Keigo would rather get things sorted out as quickly as he can. It’ll be easier on everyone that way and give him less time to stress about it.

“Hey,” Dabi looks up at him as he speaks, “do you think you could bail out for like an hour or so? I need to talk to Toga, alone.”

Dabi squints at him. “Are you sure you want to talk to Himiko? She’s… rambunctious.”

“I know. But yeah, I think I do need to speak with her. It’s important.”

“Alright. Give me a moment and I’ll text her to come over and call Giri so he’ll portal me out.”

“Thanks Dabi.” Keigo sits at the edge of his seat, feathers fanning out and ruffling with his nerves as he waits. A portal opens almost as soon as Dabi sends the text, and with one final curious look Dabi disappears from sight. He kind of expects the portal to close, but it stays open for a few more minutes until Toga barrels through, her eyes wide and fangs gleaming as she grins at him.

Chapter Text

“Keigo-Chan! I heard you wanted to talk to me!” She’s quick to slip around behind the counter and settle into Dabi’s vacant chair.

“Hey Toga.”

“Aw!” She pouts at him. “You called me Himiko yesterday though.” Fine. He did make her come over so he could ask the teenager about his possible relationship problems.

…And isn’t that pathetic? He’s halfway through his twenties and is going to ask a teenager for help. He’s pretty sure it’s normally the other way around.

“Right. Hey Himiko.” She grins. “So. I, uh, I had a talk with Suuichi last night about Dabi and figured I should ask your opinion on a few things. You always seem to know what you’re talking about with all that.” He wrinkles his nose. This is already embarrassing.

“Oh. My. God.” Toga claps her hands together with an excited squeal. “Yes! I’ve been waiting for this day for like years!” She wiggles the chair closer and grins up at him. “So, when are you going to tell Dabi?”

“Er,” he leans back, a little concerned with her proximity. “My plan is to figure out what I want and let him know later today. The problem here is that I don’t know what I want – hence why I called you.”

“Hmm. Ok. Well, I always like talking when someone’s doing my hair, so maybe I could comb your wings while we talk it out?” His wings pull tight to his back.

“No thanks.” Her face falls. “I’ve got a thing of nail pant? You could paint my talons, if you want.”

Her hands clap together again. “Perfect! You can paint mine too, and it’ll be like a real gossip date!” Keigo isn’t quite sure what he’s getting himself into, but he sends a few feathers off for that bottle of gold paint Cian got him. They sit in an awkward silence Toga seems oblivious to as they wait for his feathers to return. A few people come in to drop things off, and Keigo can’t find it in himself to do more than offer them a pained smile.

“Alright,” Keigo hands over the little bottle as his feathers retreat to his wings. “Have at it.” The teen gladly accepts the bottle and unscrews it, pulling off the top to reveal a brush attached to it that’s covered in viscous gold paint.

“Hand,” Toga orders, reaching over and grabbing Keigo’s left hand before he can move it. “Very nice, very sharp.” She examines his blunt black talons, poking the surface. It’s a struggle to not pull his hand away. “Hmm, I think we’ll need at least two coats, but that’s ok! It’ll give us lots of time to talk. So, get started Keigo-Chan. Tell me all about Dabi.”

“Don’t you know him better than I do?”

“Not the point, get talking.”

“Ok then.” He settles back into his chair, nearly flinching at the first stroke of the paint brush against the talon on his index finger. “Well. Suuichi and I decided that I probably like like him. Now I’m just trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do with that.” He risks a glance over at the teen, but she’s nodding along, biting her bottom lip as she concentrates on the nail paint. He relaxes a tad knowing she’s not staring at him. “Cause like, relationships are all about loving someone, right?”

“Yep!”

“But how do I know if I love Dabi? I don’t want to start a relationship that strings him along if I figure out that what I do feel for him isn’t love. I haven’t had many close friendships before, and I really don’t want to screw this one up.”

“Oh, Keigo-Chan! You’re being silly.” His wings puff up and ruffle at the offense. “You start a relationship with someone to figure out how well the two of you work together. Even if you have a crush on someone you can’t really love them until you’ve spent time around them and really gotten to know them. That’s why I want to be the people I like, because I can’t get any closer to them than that, and then I’ll know for sure if I love them or not.” She moves onto the next finger. Keigo glances down at his hand and is shocked to see the gold doesn’t look horrible. Different and weird, yes. But not horrible.

“Anyways, relationships aren’t always successful either. People get together and can stay together for years before they realize what they feel isn’t love and decide to try to find someone else. Sometimes they only last a handful of days – or even just hours – before realizing that all they felt was lust for the other person. Whatever the case, starting up a relationship isn’t binding you to one for the rest of your life. If you think that what you’re feeling could end up as love, then give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, then that’s ok. But if it does,” here she looks up to meet his eyes, “then it’s definitely worth trying.”

Toga is quiet as she keeps painting his nails, letting him mull that over.

It certainly sounds like decent advice – however, it is advice that very much guides him to telling Dabi he’d like to try a relationship.

“Alright,” he speaks up after she’s finished the left hand and halfway done painting his right. “I think I’ll ask him out on a real date.” Toga squeals in excitement. “Hang on, we still don’t even know if he’ll say yes. Oh great,” Keigo sighs, “if he says no then things are absolutely going to be weird. Hh, maybe I should just-”

“Nope!” Toga interrupts. “Nope, you’ve already made a decision, don’t go back on it now. I can guarantee Dabi will always say yes to you, whatever it is. He’s such a simp when it comes to you.”

Keigo’s not quite sure what that means, but Toga says it like it’s a good thing. “Thanks?”

“You’re welcome! Now, watch me do your thumb so you can paint my nails while the first coat on yours dries.”

“Ok.” Surely it can’t be that hard.

By the time Toga heads off, portal-swapping with Dabi again because no one trusts him to be alone, Keigo is pretty sure he’s mastered the art of painting nails. Granted, he did Toga’s thumb first and it wasn’t great, but he steadily improved with each nail. He did well enough with it she was genuinely shocked.

“Hey, how’d your talk with Himiko go?” Keigo holds his golden talons up in response. “Oh, those look nice, Feathers. Gold is a good color for you.”

“Thanks! I’m surprisingly happy with it. But yeah, our talk was very insightful.” Dabi raises an eyebrow, clearly curious and silently asking Keigo what he needed to talk to Toga about, but there’s not a chance he’s going to say anything about that right now. It’s almost noon, so he’s got a solid few more hours to figure out exactly what to say.

“Come on, there’s no one in right now so let’s work on the puzzle a bit before lunch.”

“Sure,” Dabi agrees easily, a glimmer of mirth in his eyes and a slight skip to his step as he comes over. Keigo narrows his eyes.

“What happened?”

Dabi scoffs as he settles in his seat. “Can’t I just be happy?” Keigo waits. “Fine,” Dabi huffs. “I got there right in time to catch the tail end of Suuichi suffering through Compress’s attempt at a sex talk. It was hilarious, and I could practically see Suuichi losing years of his life the longer the dramatic talk dragged on.”

Keigo rolls his eyes and lightly smacks Dabi’s closest shoulder. “You’re mean. Poor guy is suffering and you’re laughing at him.” He presses his lips together to hold in his own chuckles. Dabi gives him a look, and Keigo giggles. “Yeah, ok. It is kinda funny. Though, I doubt any talk can be worse than the one I got at the Commission.” His lips purse together at the thought as Dabi gapes. “Oh yeah, I got a whole three-week course on it when I was sixteen.”

“No,” Dabi shudders, a hand coming up to cover his mouth.

“Yep. Had multiple people come in to talk about different STIs and safe sex stuffs. A whole week of that was them trying to convince me it’d be good for my image if I slept with a few hot ladies.” Keigo shivers. “They were not happy when I said no to that, but I was flirty enough as Hawks they never brought it up again.” He shrugs.

“Yikes. And here I thought Giri’s thirty-minute speech was bad. That sounds like actual torture.”

“Nah,” Keigo jokes, “torture sessions were reserved for the weekends.” It falls flat when Dabi doesn’t laugh. He shifts uncomfortably. “Right! So, this puzzle. You’ve made good progress.” Dabi hums but lets the distraction happen.

“Yeah, with the green pieces I can match up the directions of the blades of grass and that helps to figure out what goes where.”

“Cool.” His patch of edge pieces is still pitiful. There’s no getting around that. “Hey, how long are puzzles supposed to take? Is it possible to fail if you take too long?”

“Nah,” Dabi snorts. “There’s no time limit. Heck, from what I know lots of people end up setting one up on a table they don’t use and just pick away at it over a span of a year or so.”

“Oh, so as long as we get it done in under a year, we win.”

Dabi sighs. “No, that’s not what I- you know what? Yeah, sure. We win if we get it done in less than a year.” Keigo nods, lips pursing together in determination as he cranes his neck down to stare at the pieces some more. He’s going to get at least two pieces together before lunch.

“Hey, Keigo?” Dabi speaks up maybe ten minutes later, breaking the silence.

“Yeah?” Keigo glances up from the blue edges he’s trying to force together to meet Dabi’s gaze. But Dabi is staring down at his own hands, fingers tugging at the staples around his wrists.

“Do you- Actually, never mind.” Dabi shakes his head, ducking his chin staring down at the puzzle as if he’s trying to work on it instead of using it to avoid looking at Keigo.

Keigo frowns. “You sure?”

“Yeah. It’s nothing that can’t wait a little while longer.” He doesn’t like the sound of that, nor the wistful note in Dabi’s tone, but he lets the topic drop from now.

“Ok.” A pause where his stomach rumbles. “So, uh, what do you want to do for lunch?” Dabi snorts at him.

“You and your stomach. I took out some chicken earlier so it could thaw out, so I’ll go cook something.”

“Thanks Dabi! You’re the best.” Dabi mutters a few words even Keigo’s sharp ears can’t catch as he heads up to the loft.

As soon as Dabi is out of sight, Keigo buries his fingers in his hair and groans. Ok. Less than two hours. That’s plenty of time to figure out what to say and how to say it.

…Only Keigo has literally no idea what a date is supposed to encompass.

He glances around at the empty library, than stands and peeks between the shelves of books at the door that leads to his loft. Closed. Half a thought has a feather slipping under the door and zipping up the stairs so it can track Dabi’s movements and warn him when the guy is coming back down. With that measure in place, he heads out of the library, locks the door behind him, and zips across the street to the bakery – zips as in shuffles as quickly as he can responsibly manage without pulling any injuries open.

“Lyra!” Keigo shouts out as he enters the shop. Her head snaps up at the call, though her smile fades at the panic on his face.

“Keigo? What’s wrong?”

“How do I plan a first date?” There’s a beat of silence, then she bursts out laughing.

“Oh, wow, I was worried something serious happened.”

“This is serious!” Keigo protests, feathers ruffling. “I’ve got less than two hours to figure it out!”

Lyra laughs again as she grabs a chocolate donut in a gloved hand and holds it out to him. “Here. Eat.” Keigo takes it and bites into the dessert automatically. Still tasty. “Alright. Well, for first dates it can be good to go someplace you are both familiar with so that no one feels out of place, and somewhere you can talk. That’s why dinner and a movie is a classic, because the theatre is familiar, and it gives you a conversation topic as you can talk about the movie at the dinner afterwards.”

Keigo shakes his head as he swallows a mouthful of chocolate pastry. “We’ve already done that though.”

Lyra blinks at him. “Ok, well if you know them well already, then how about inviting them over for a home-cooked dinner?”

“Nah. I can’t cook, he’s making me lunch right now, and has already been staying with me the past few days.” He shrugs, taking another bite of the donut.

“Oh, you sly dog.” Lyra smirks at him as Keigo chokes on the food in his mouth and blushes, coughing.

“I don’t like what you’re insinuating,” he grumbles as he gets his breath back. “I’m hurt, he’s staying over to help me out. That’s it.”

“Well,” she grins and waggles her eyebrows at him. “Maybe that’s your first move. Suck his dick.” Keigo yelps, dropping his donut and barely catching it with a couple lucky feathers.

“Lyra!” She cackles at him and the growing smear of red on his face. There’s a sharp pinch as the feather he left behind to watch Dabi is stepped on. “Oh shit. Ok, I gotta go. Thanks for being no help whatsoever.”

“Anytime!” She waves as he flips her off over his shoulder, a smile tugging at his lips. She and Rumi would get along great; they would absolutely bond over teasing him.

He scuttles across the road and into his desk chair moments before Dabi returns with a plate of food.

“Hey,” Keigo goes for casual, hoping his little stint across the street went unnoticed.

“Hey.” Dabi glances at the puzzle pieces Keigo is pushing around with a finger. “I see you made some progress.” He connected one piece in the time Dabi was gone.

“Shut up,” Keigo grumbles, slinking down in his seat. A hand musses his hair playfully as Dabi hands over the mix of chicken, egg, and rice. “Thanks, smells good.” Dabi merely hums at the thanks, the hand in Keigo’s hair lingering a moment before Dabi retakes his chair and starts clicking puzzle pieces together at an unfairly rapid pace. “Ooh yum,” Keigo hums as he swallows his first mouthful. “Hey, what is this? I like this one a lot.”

“It’s oyakodon. Usually it’s got onions in it too, but I forgot to get some when we were grocery shopping.” Dabi scowls down at the puzzle pieces, as if forgetting to pick up onions was a terrible slight.

“That’s ok,” Keigo stretches out a wing to nudge Dabi’s shoulder. “I like it like this.”

“I’m glad, Feathers.” Dabi finally looks up at him and they share a smile.

Then Keigo holds out the chopsticks towards him, and Dabi flinches back.

“No. Keigo, I made that for you, not for me.”

“Too bad.” Keigo wiggles closer, chopsticks poking at Dabi’s shut lips. “I realized it was rude to make you eat after me cause then it’s cold. So, eat.” He jabs the chopsticks at Dabi’s lips again, a grain of rice falling off. He clicks his tongue. “You’re wasting food and I’m not going to eat any more until you do.” Dabi glares at him, but reluctantly opens his mouth so Keigo can feed him. His wings fluff up as they go through the meal, Keigo eating two bites for every one Dabi has so the guy stops complaining as much. As there are a few pauses in between where Keigo greets patrons coming in and helps them find what they’re looking for, it’s one by the time they’re done eating.

Only one hour to go. Ha, and he thought fighting villains trying their best to kill him was nerve wracking.

It seems like he blinks then the clock is striking two, and Dabi is poking at his shoulder so he’ll go lock up the doors for the day.

Well. Fuck. Go time, apparently.

“Hey, Dabs, let’s go for a walk.” He gets a weird look for that one, but Dabi shrugs and stands up.

“Alright. Sure. Might as well, soon it’ll be too cold for you to want to be outside.” Keigo huffs at that, but Dabi is right. As soon as winter weather kicks in he’s not likely to ever want to leave the warmth of the indoors.

They head out, locking the doors behind them. As has become habit, Dabi wraps an arm around Keigo’s waist to help support him, and Keigo snakes his own arm around Dabi to press closer together. They walk randomly for a while, Dabi pointing things out and making casual conversation. Keigo tries his best to nod along and respond, but his thoughts are thrumming too loudly in his head for him to be great company right now.

Fine. Ok, he’s going for it.

“I, uh,” Keigo cuts Dabi off as the guy is talking about some sort of brick building, earning a curious look. “There’s actually something I want to talk to you about.” Keigo fidgets, unable to meet Dabi’s gaze. “I-” he cuts himself off, head snapping around as a twig cracks. “Someone’s following us.”

“If it’s that stupid gang again, I swear I’ll roast them all.” Keigo pokes Dabi’s shoulder for the comment.

“No murder. And yeah, it’s absolutely them.” He takes in a deep breath, then shouts at the stupid nuisances. “HEY! COME OUT AND LET’S JUST GET THIS OVER WITH!” They wait, Keigo’s wings twitching in his impatience, as a whole pile of black-clad gang members tumble into view. They make way for the biggest of them, the man’s long black ponytail brushing his butt. He’s not Endeavor or All Might sized, but he’s still a big guy. Especially compared to Keigo.

“Is this the guy?” To Keigo’s surprise, it’s a black-haired teen he recognizes who answers, not one of the goons he’s already beat up.

“Yeah Dad, that’s him. Want me to take out his knees?” Her hand lifts, the first glimmers of gold twining around her fingers before the man who’s apparently her father waves her off.

“No need, sweetheart. Let Dad take care of this. You’ve been a big help already, telling me that he’s hurt.” Oh, whoops. That was such a rookie mistake on Keigo’s part. Oh well, nothing he can do about it now.

“Listen pal, I’m kind of in the middle of something, so how about you all fuck off and come back tomorrow?” It took a lot of courage to even start to say something, and now he’s being interrupted? Fuck this.

“And give you a chance to run?” The man scoffs and jerks his head in Keigo’s direction. “No way. It’s time we finished you off once and for all and prove to the people of this town why the Misfits are in charge.”

Keigo sighs. “Fine, whatever. Dabs, this should only take a few minutes.”

“Now hold on,” Dabi protests, eyes looking down at Keigo’s chest.

“I’ll be fine. We both know I’ve fought with much worse injuries.” He pats Dabi’s cheek and gives a reassuring smile before slipping from the ex-villain’s hold and marching towards the gang. “Alright fuckers, if you don’t fancy waking up in the hospital tomorrow or the next day, then scram.”

The big boss guy laughs. “Come on, there’s almost forty of us and one of you. What are you going to do, smack us with your wings?”

“Yeah, that’s the plan. And about my odds? You should have brought more people.” Hawks grins, a pair of primaries leaping to his hands and sharpening into trusty blades. He gets a moment to enjoy the slightly concerned look on the gang leader’s face before he moves.

This time there is no hesitation or waiting around for them to do better. He weaves between targets, slamming the flat of his blades into their heads and knocking them out cold or cutting deep enough to sever Achilles tendons, preventing movement. Maybe not the nicest way to go about it, but Hawks is done playing nice.

They should have left him alone when he warned them to.

A few of them attempt to use quirks rather than regular metal weapons, so he prioritizes them, taking them down with quick merciless nerve strikes. Figuring the weapons they’ve got could become a nuisance, Hawks drops half his feathers and sets those to stealing weapons and cutting up visible flesh. The moment their companions start screaming because hundreds of razor-sharp feather blades are slicing into their skin, a third of those gathered turn tail and run. The boss guy shouts at them to come back, so Hawks uses his distraction to leap up and connect a heavy kick that drops the guy. Gosh, all his talk and he went down in one go.

There’s a flash of gold, and pain erupts in both his knees. Hawks grits his teeth and glares at the teenager responsible. She gulps. A snap of his wings brings him over, and it’s easy to chop at the pressure point on her neck, knocking her out. Hopefully she learns from this and finds a way down a different path.

“We can’t give up now, charge!” All the remaining ones scream and run at him, fists swinging and quirks cracking as they fire those up.

Hawks twists out of the way of a projectile, his chest flaring up at the sudden movement. He pushes the pain aside to deal with his current problem.

He pauses a single heartbeat to plan out his attacks, and in that moment brilliant blue flames burst to life, taking out half the remaining gang members in a single go. A grin pulls at his lips, and he zips over faster than most can follow to finish off those gaping at the destructive power of Dabi’s flames.

Dropping the last one, Keigo blinks. He looks down at his aching chest. “Oh. Whoops.”

“Whoops? What the fuck do you mean, ‘whoops’?”

He points to the red blooming across his chest where he tore through his stitches. It’s not very clear given the black of Dabi’s hoodie, but it’s wet and sticking to him unlike before. “This whoops.”

“Goddammit Keigo!” Dabi’s arms grab him as his knees go weak and his legs turn to jelly, making him crumple at the pull of gravity. “You fucking imbecile! I warned you over and over to not pull your stitches, and what do you do?”

“Pull ‘em,” he mumbles, reaching up to bat at the shiny bit at the corner of Dabi’s face. His brain is going all fuzzy again. Damn blood loss. He didn’t think it would kick in that fast. “Was gonna ask you to dinner,” Keigo gets out, blinking rapidly to clear the black spots out.

“I’ll call Giri, hold o- What?”

“Dinner,” Keigo slurs. “Date. With me.”

“I, uh, what? You wanted to go on a date with me?” Dabi sounds honestly shocked. Keigo just bobs his head as best he can, which is more a flop than anything else. “Oh.” Dabi clears his throat. “Well, you’d better pull through now. You owe me a dinner. Besides, you don’t like sad stories, remember? So, no bleeding out allowed.”

“’k.” Keigo blinks again, forcing away the black around his vision and focusing on the feel of Dabi’s scars against his cheek as the taller man lifts him up and carries him through a wet damp spot – Kurogiri’s portal then.

“Hey, keep listening to me, ok? Just like last time, I’ll tell you a story while they fix you up. HEY, I NEED HELP OVER HERE!” Guess they made it to the clinic. “Keigo? You still there?”

“Mmh.” Dabi really needs to calm down – a little blood loss isn’t going to be what finishes him off. Not after everything. “’m ok.” He tries to reach up at pat Dabi’s cheek again, but his hand only bats at air. Guess he missed.

“You’d better be fine, Feathers.” It’s clearly a nice sentiment, but given Dabi’s tone, Keigo is pretty sure it’s a threat.

“I’ll try.” He’s not sure if he says that out loud or not as the black spots he’s been blinking back takes over.

Keigo wakes up to the smooth rasp of Dabi’s storytelling voice.

“-And together they walked hand and hand into the throne room. Elena blinks back tears as she lays eyes on her father.

“’Oh, my dear girl,’ he stands, expensive silk robe fanning out around his legs.

“’Father!’ Elena cries out, lurching up the dais and stumbling into his familiar arms. ‘I found you at last!’ When he sets her down, she holds out a hand for Nolan to come up and join her. ‘Father, I’d like you to meet Nolan. He’s the only reason I made it here.’

“’It’s an honor to meet you, Your Excellence.’ Nolan bows politely, then straightens to take Elena’s hand, entwining their fingers. Elena looks between the two, then over to the rest of the crew as they stumble inside. She smiles. Her family is finally complete.” That book clicks shut as Dabi reads the last line. “Well, that was a stupid ending.” A pause. “Hey, Keigo, you awake?”

“Yep,” he rasps.

“Damn. I was hoping to lie and say I liked the ending.” Then there’s a screech as Dabi stands up, the metal chair legs dragging along the floor. “Keigo! You’re awake!”

“Yep,” he repeats, amused. “How long was I out?” Keigo yawns as he blinks his eyes to get rid of lingering sleep.

“Thankfully not too long.” Dabi checks his phone. “It’s nine in the morning now, so just over nineteen hours? Plus, a good portion of that was when they had you on anesthesia so that you’d stay out as they stitched you back up.”

“Eh, not bad then.” He sighs, relaxing into the pillows, closing his eyes.

“Keigo?” Dabi’s voice is strained.

“I’m fine. I just really hate hospitals, but maybe it’ll be better if I keep my eyes closed.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re in Kurogiri’s room.” Keigo snaps his eyes open and looks around.

“Oh.” Huh, this is not a white hospital room. There are leafy plants lining three of the walls, the sunlight streaming in through the six windows spread out over two walls feeding them generous amounts of light. Guess Kurogiri got the room right on the corner of the house.

He’s lying on a wide mattress, purple blankets pooling at waist as he sits up, Dabi grumbling but grabbing his shoulders to help guide him up while propping pillows at his lower back.

“Thanks,” Keigo yawns. “For getting me out of there.”

“Of course,” Dabi murmurs, eyes scanning over Keigo’s form to check his condition. “How are you feeling?”

“Shockingly good.” He wiggles around, lifting his wings over the pillows Dabi placed at his back and stretching them out.

“Good.” Dabi’s face shifts to something more vulnerable. “So, about that dinner you owe me.” Keigo waits for Dabi to continue, but the guy is just staring at him.

“Yeah? I tried to think of someplace to go, or something better to do for a first date, but I suck at all of this. So wanna go out with me sometime?”

Dabi’s lips part. “Are you- Really? Ok, well at least I didn’t imagine that, but first date? Have all the dates we’ve gone on not counted or something?”

Now it’s Keigo’s turn to be shocked. “Huh? When did we go on dates? I think I’d remember that.”

“Oh my God. Feathers. The movie? The multiple times we’ve gone out to eat? Literally all the time we’ve spent together the past few days? I slept in your bed, for fuck’s sake!”

Keigo squints at him. “Wait. Those were all dates? I thought we were just hanging out.” Dabi turns around and bites his thumb to stifle the sound as he screams. “Ok, but like do you wanna go out sometime or nah?”

Dabi sits back in the metal chair with a long sigh. “Obviously, yes.”

“Oh. Good.” A warm feeling spreads over his chest, so Keigo peeks down to make sure he hasn’t already torn through this batch of stitches. No blood. He’s off to a great start.

Retirement really was a good idea.

Chapter Text

Keigo chirrups proudly as he clicks the final puzzle piece into place. Months of frustrating effort, but he’s – they’ve – done it.

“Dabi! Look!” He sends a feather off to poke at the taller man’s back. Dabi wanders over from where he’s putting books back on the shelves and grins at him.

“Congrats Keigo. You finally beat the puzzle.” His feathers puff up despite knowing Dabi stopped working on it days ago just so he could feel the accomplishment of being the one to complete it.

“Thanks. I never want to do another one ever again.” Dabi laughs at him, then leans down to gently tilt his chin up and kiss his cheek.

“Alright. We’ll find you another hobby.” Keigo goes to respond but pauses, something warning him Dabi isn’t done yet. “So, I’ve been thinking.” He waits patiently for Dabi to find the words he needs. “I want to go see my mom.” It’s hardly more than a whisper, but Keigo hears it loud and clear.

“Really? That’s a great idea! Come on, we’ll leave right now!”

“Woah, wait a second Keigo, slow down. We would need to pack, and buy plane tickets, and-”

“Shush,” Keigo shoves a palm in Dabi’s face to shut him up. “Kurogiri will portal us close if I ask nicely, and I can fly us the rest of the way. I’ll bring my credit cards and we’ll find a hotel when we get there. Now let’s go!”

Dabi huffs and drags his feet the whole time as Keigo calls Kurogiri to request a portal as close to civilization as the man can manage, but Keigo knows Dabi wouldn’t have said anything if he didn’t want to be pushed into doing it.

And push Keigo does- right through a swirling vortex that drops them off in the middle of a mostly barren field. The trees and flowers are budding, but it’ll take a few more weeks before the flowers come through. Ugh, thank goodness Winter is over. His mood has soared since the weather began to warm with the first hints of Spring, allowing him to leave the library and not immediately want to scream.

Keigo proceeds to scoop Dabi into his arms, the taller man’s breath hitching as his arms latch around Keigo’s neck in an iron tight grip the moment they leave the ground. He’s careful to stay as close to the treetops as he can for Dabi’s sake. Picking up speed gradually, so it’s less noticeable and makes for a smoother ride, soon they’re zipping over the country.

It’s maybe four hours before they’re landing outside a tall building Dabi directs him to. Keigo pants and his wings tremble, but that’s the most exercise he’s gotten since recovering from his injuries and it feels great.

“Good afternoon!” Keigo grins charmingly at the receptionist as he drags Dabi inside after detaching and tucking his feathers into his jacket so he won’t be noticeable. “We’re here to visit Rei Todoroki.”

“Oh,” the lady smiles back, genuinely happy. “You just missed her. Go check the parking lot; I’m sure they haven’t gotten too far yet.”

“Thanks!” He calls out over his shoulder as he grabs Dabi’s elbow again to drag the guy back through the entryway doors.

“Kei come on; this is too much. What if she’s going for dinner with Fuyumi or something? Let’s just go find a hotel and try again tomorrow.” Keigo reaches over to lightly smack Dabi upside the head with a hand.

“Nonsense! We’re already here, so we might as well say hi.” Dabi complains more and tries to talk Keigo out of it, but he never full out stops walking so Keigo is not deterred. It’s not an actual problem, just Dabi being Dabi.

They arrive in the parking lot and Keigo immediately spies the telltale white Todoroki hair. A woman is about to get into the passenger side of a car, so Keigo calls out to her before Dabi’s mom can close the door. It would suck to come all this way and not see the person they came to visit.

“Mrs. Todoroki! Wait!”

The woman startles and straightens as she turns to him, her grey eyes soft and kind.

“Yes, dear?” Her voice is a gentle tone, one he can imagine a younger Dabi listening to for hours as his mom tells him stories before bed.

Unfortunately he didn’t plan further than that. “Uh. Here.” He spins around and shoves Dabi in the back so the guy stumbles a few steps forwards. He gets glared at for that, but Dabi’s mom’s attention is off Keigo, so he ignores it. Dabi can deal with his mother’s attention better than Keigo can.

“Anything I can help you two with?” Well, maybe that assumption was incorrect. Dabi stands there like a gaping chicken, staring dumbly at her with all the charisma of a dead fish. Ok, time to step in and give an extra hand. Keigo reaches over and grabs the guy’s hood to pull it down.

“Keigo!” Dabi hisses, panic shooting across his facial features as his scars are made visible. His eyes flicker over towards his mom and that’s enough.

“Oh my.” A delicate hand comes up to cover her mouth and her eyes shine as unfallen tears build up.

“Mom? What’s going on?” Dabi visibly flinches back as the driver’s side door opens and another woman – probably his sister then – steps out. She’s got glasses, little red flecks in her predominantly white hair, and is wearing a cardigan with pastel bunnies on it. “Oh, hi there.” She gives a small timid wave to Keigo and Dabi, who is doing his best to free his hood from one of Keigo’s smaller feathers and pull it back up.

“You know that’s not gonna work,” Keigo hisses at Dabi, reaching up to grab the guy’s hair and use that as a pivot to swivel his face towards his family. Dabi averts his eyes but Fuyumi obviously remembers his scarred face from the news. She scrambles back and yelps, then rounds the car to plant herself between her mom and them. If Dabi were attacking them, that wouldn’t do anything. Still, it’s a brave gesture.

“Get away from her, Villain!” At the shriek the doors of the car open and both of Dabi’s brothers stumble out.

Keigo leaps to the side an instant before an ice wall covers where he once stood. Dabi is not so lucky and mutters curses as he tries to free a foot from its icy encasement.

“Woah there, little guy!” He tries with a laugh. “Calm down! We’re just here to have a little chat.” But the UA kid glances at Dabi and his features twist into a hardened scowl.

“How dare you come after my mother.” Orange flames twist around the kid’s arm. Damn, maybe Dabi wasn’t over exaggerating when he said the Todorokis are notoriously dramatic. “First my classmate-” The teen cuts himself off with a thoughtful hum. “Well, at least it was only Mineta that died, but still.” Baby Todoroki shakes his head, mouth hardening into a thin line. “I cannot believe even a villain as horrible as you would sink so low as to come for my mother.”

Keigo sighs and shrugs off his jacket, calling all the feathers shoved into pockets to his wings.

“Kid, seriously, chill out.” He stretches his wings wide and gives Hawks’s trademark grin when the teen finally glances over at him. The kid looks back to Dabi almost immediately, then snaps his head back to Keigo, dual-colored eyes wide in shock.

“Hawks? What are you doing here?”

“Well,” he gives a tiny chuckle, glad to note the kid’s flames dying down, “it’s a long story. Short version is I convinced Dabs to come talk to you guys.”

“Um, is anyone else really confused right now?” That’s Dabi’s other brother, the tall blocky one. Natsuo. Before anyone can respond to that, there’s a high-pitched shriek followed by an annoyingly familiar fan-loud cry.

“HAWKS!“ Keigo looks over and his eyes go wide at the sight of a reporter scrambling his way.

“Oh, hell nope. Nope, nope, nope. I’m out. Dabi, Babe, you’ve got this.”

Dabi’s eyes go wide as he tugs at his trapped foot with renewed fever. “Wait, Keigo-”

“Don’t forget to tell them our address so they can choose to visit sometime and that you’re sorry for faking your death. Just like we practiced on the flight over.” Keigo shoots a thumbs up towards his clearly panicking partner.

“Keigo! Don’t you dare leave me alone right now.”

“Good luck! I’ll find you later, so don’t let the kid arrest you. Prison breaks aren’t my style. Later!” With that Keigo snaps his wings wide and pounds them down, launching himself into the air with only mild protests from his back muscles. He can hear the reporter calling for him to wait, but no way is he doing that. He’s been bother-free for months and is not inclined to return to doing interviews.

…He’s also absolutely getting kicked out of bed for abandoning Dabi to his family like that. Which will suck. Everywhere that isn’t clinging to Dabi throughout the night is cold.

There’s a loud shing of ice followed by a chilling gush of air. Keigo pauses to look down at the scene well below him, and his jaw drops. A massive glacier circles the five Todorokis, leaving them untouched and effectively blocking them off from any outside interference.

And given the shock on the UA kid’s face, this is not even Shouto’s doing. Golden eyes skipping between people, Keigo nearly loses his balance as Dabi’s mom exhales a long breath of icy air. Damn, that’s one strong lady.

Dabi stands there completely still as she approaches him. Keigo grins as she takes Dabi’s chin in hand, gently guiding his face up so their eyes can meet. Then tears are making her grey eyes glow and she’s throwing her arms around her eldest child, shoulder shaking as she sobs.

Yeah, Keigo is pretty sure Dabi can handle it from here.

Well, that gives him some free time. And considering it’s been long enough the Commission should have stopped watching Rumi and Jeanist’s movements for traces of him, he could pop over and say hi to the two of them. That’d be nice.

Keigo spares one more glance down at the reunited family, grins, and swivels off to go chat with his old friends. They’ll definitely love to hear what he’s gotten up to the past few months.

The moment she opens the door to see who it is, Rumi’s ears fly up in the air, rigid, and she screeches as she punches Keigo in the face. He’s not fast enough to dodge. His jaw cracks with immediate pain as her knuckles collide with enough force to break through a brick wall. Ah, how he missed his best friend.

“Alright, alright.” Dabi laughs and Keigo glares at his partner. “Leave Mr. Keigo alone, kids. He’s got an ouchie.”

“But what happened?” One of the kids seated on the matted floor questions, waving their hand in the air like they’re at school. Isn’t that supposed to work so that they stay quiet until the teacher notices their hand and calls on them? Keigo is pretty sure that sticking your hand up and yelling isn’t how it’s supposed to go.

“Yeah!” Another adds in. “My dad said Mr. Keigo is in- in- uh.” The kid looks over to the parents for help, where one man – presumably the father – is reddening quickly.

“Invincible is the word I used, Bree.” A few parents nudge the man, poking fun at him. Keigo rolls his eyes. People, they like to say the silliest things.

“Yeah! Invincable.” The kid grins, and Keigo doesn’t bother trying to correct the pronunciation. He can’t right now anyways.

“Well,” Dabi starts off, smirking at Keigo, “even really tough people can get hurt. Even if they’re ex-pro heroes.” Keigo glares extra hard for that, as that makes all the kids gasp. “Yep, you heard that right. Mr. Keigo here was a pro hero for a while, so he’s got lots of cool friends you might have heard of. One of which-”

“Sup kiddos!” The doors slam open, and Keigo glares super extra hard at Rumi. She’s wearing her hero costume and grinning like this is the greatest day of her life. Her prosthetic arm and leg are proudly on display – he’s glad to see she hasn’t lost any of her fire, but still mad at her. “Rabbit Hero Miruko, at your service! Apparently, I get to help out with story time day because I busted my buddy Hawks’s jaw, so he can’t talk for a bit.” Keigo’s eyes narrow further, promising vengeance at a later date for the name drop.

“Jeez.” The whistled note comes from the group of parents. Keigo recognizes the speaker as an ex-gang member who wisely ran during their mini fight. “I almost fought freaking Hawks? No wonder he kicked our butts.” Great. Now everyone is staring at him and probably paying extra close attention to his stupid face bandage. Dammit, he really should’ve gone to see Jeanist first. At least the older, more responsible, pro hero wouldn’t have reinjured him immediately. A broken jaw is not how he planned his visit to Rumi would go – black eye, yes, but broken bones and not being able to talk till it heals up was unexpected.

And unappreciated.

Rumi swaggers over to join Keigo and Dabi on the kids’ mat, sitting down with a thump and stretching out her long muscular legs. One kid curiously pokes at her prosthetic one, and she grins. “Yeah, that one looks a bit different, huh kiddo? Had to get a replacement leg and arm when mine fell off.” She cackles as the kids clutch at their own limbs in horror, giving small tugs to check the stability of their own limbs.

Who’s bright idea was it to let Rumi engage with children again?

Oh, right. He has only himself to blame for however this whole mess unfolds.

“Ms. Miruko is just kidding,” Dabi quickly intervenes, waving his hands around to try and settle the children. “She got hurt being a hero, so her limbs didn’t randomly fall off.” Rumi boos him, roughly shoving a hand into the man’s black hair and ruffling it. Dabi winces, trying to duck away. “How about we get to story time? Ms. Miruko has volunteered-”

“Was voluntold. Keigo is mean to me.” Bitch, who’s the one with the broken jaw right now? Keigo really hopes his glare conveys his current emotions.

“-to read the first two.” Dabi shoves two picture books at Rumi, who huffs and flicks her ears back as she takes them. The second gets dropped into her lap while she opens the first.

She clears her throat to begin, and well, there’s no other way to put it: Rumi is a terrible story book reader. Her voice is flat, she stumbles over half of the words, and more than once goes into grumbles as she squints at the page to read the words. If Keigo could talk, he’d ask her if she needs glasses. Maybe she could borrow Dabi’s reading ones to see the tiny black characters better. As it is, he reaches over to grab a long strand of white hair and pull as harshly as he can without ripping it out.

“-white, uh, something shoe- OW! Keigo, what was that for?” He points to the book and points to Dabi, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not doing that bad! Am I?” She turns to the kids, who are really only still paying some margin of attention because she’s in a hero suit and none of them have seen the heroes they, even in this little remote corner of the country, have heard about before. “Well, come on. This is my first time, gimme a break.” Keigo just points to Dabi again, eyebrow crawling higher.

“If I may.” There’s a small polite cough, and Keigo’s wings fluff up in delight as his head snaps around to the doors. The kids follow his excited gaze, and all of them gasp. Half the parents do to, awed to see the man rated as the top hero in Japan in this tiny little library. Best Jeanist actually accepted Keigo’s visit invitation? Wow, he totally figured the guy would be too busy – that’s why he invited both Rumi and Jeanist to visit this week. There were solid odds both would be too busy and neither would be able to visit. And he wanted company, so the best plan was to invite both and hope one could make it.

Yet they both came.

He grins, only to wince as the stupid wire-trap-cast thing holding his jaw shut reminds him of why it’s there. Stupid Rumi. Stupid brittle bird bones. Stupid broken jaw.

“Perhaps I can take over for Miruko?” Jeanist glides through the crowd, gracefully moving to sit cross-legged in front of the three younger adults on the kids’ mat. “I have not read a story in a long time, and I do miss it quite a lot. Forgive me if I make a few mistakes along the way.” Rumi frowns, her long ears drooping as she pouts, but she does hand the picture book she’s trying to read and the unopened one in her lap over to Jeanist. Good choice. Keigo was fully planning to keep pulling her hair until she did.

Well, she can’t complain too much. Some people are just good at reading stories – like Jeanist apparently. Damn, does the guy have kids of his own? There’s no way he’s that good at it without practicing – and some are bad. Then some are really bad, and she did worse than even those people. Maybe they can try getting her to come do an activity with kids sometime. She’d have more fun with it, and it would entertain the kids a lot more than her terrible attempt at book reading did. Maybe a yoga day? He’s pretty sure she does that. Or gardening; her vegetable garden was always super cool, even though she forced him into helping her pick weeds if he wanted any of the fresh vegetables.

Anyways. He’ll get her roped into some sort of special event for the kids. They’ve got time to figure it out.

Jeanist finishes the last page of the story books and is clearly ready to answer questions and talk with the kids. Keigo tries to grin again at the older pro’s shock as they all turn to stare at Dabi expectantly. Well, it’s routine by now, so hopefully Jeanist isn’t offended or anything.

“Oh yeah.” Dabi clears his throat, scooting forwards a tad warily to sit next to Jeanist instead of behind him. “I guess it is my turn now, isn’t it?” A few kids cheer. Rumi takes the chance to lay down, taking up the space Dabi vacated, resting her head in Keigo’s lap. He doesn’t mind, even when her ears twitch and smack into his stomach, demanding head scratches. He obliges.

“Well. I think you guys are going to like the story I have for you this week. And the best part is..?”

“It’s true!” The kids chorus, well used to Dabi’s story routine by now.

“That’s right. It’s true. Now, this story starts off in a land not dissimilar to ours. And it’s about a bird. A very pretty bird, in fact.” Keigo seriously hopes Dabi isn’t going where he thinks he is with this. “This very pretty bird is very kind, and always tries his best to help others. One day, the bird meets a really ugly rat. What do you think happens between this bird and this rat?” Dabi waits a moment for the kids to yell out answers, and Rumi gasps out a tiny ‘oh’, sitting up suddenly. Keigo shoots her a questioning look she ignores by staring at Dabi with wide eyes.

“Well, I’ll tell you guys what happens between the bird and the rat. They go through a lot, even fighting with each other at first, but eventually they fall in love.” A couple of the kids giggle at that. “I know. Silly, right? Want to know what the rat does? He waits until a moment – not a perfect moment, but a really nice one he loves – and reaches into his pocket, like this,” Keigo goes rigid as Dabi’s hand slips into his coat pocket and comes out with a tiny velvet box, “and he opens a box.” There’s a resounding click as Dabi cracks the top open. “Then he turns the box towards the bird,” Dabi twists towards him, and Keigo knows he would be blushing terribly right now if he wasn’t frozen, “and shows the bird the shiny ring inside.” His eyes dip down, and his wings fluff up at the sparkly ring. It’s silver and inlaid with an octangle ruby at the top. Swirling down the sides from that pretty ruby are ingrained silver lines that look like fire.

It's gorgeous and he loves it.

“He then says to the bird, ‘I know it’s still early. We’ve only just fallen in love. But I love you, and you love me, and that is the one thing in my life I hope remains as it is forever. So, with this ring, I promise to be yours so long as you’ll be mine.’” Tears wet his eyes. Fuck, why’d Dabi have to do this now when Keigo can’t actually answer? All he can do is meet Dabi’s eyes, smile as best he can with his jaw broken and casted, and hold out his right hand.

The ring fits perfectly as Dabi slides it on Keigo’s ring finger.

The gathered parents clap politely, and as soon as one of them murmurs to tell the kids what’s happening, they join in too.

Keigo holds his arms open and Dabi slides close, obliging and wrapping him up in a tight hug that says he’d rather be kissing Keigo right now, but that this is good too.

And it’s perfect until Rumi gasps.

“Oh my god.” Keigo spins around, worried at her panicked tone. Then his sharp wings go soft at the evil glint in her crimson eyes. Ah, it’s just normal Rumi stuff. Not an actual problem. She points an accusatory finger at Dabi. “I haven’t given you a shovel talk yet.” Keigo glances at his partner over his shoulder. Dabi is now pale, and unsubtly takes a step away from Rumi. “Y’all can’t get engaged without a shovel talk from the best friend and the parental figure! Jeanist, come; we have work to do!” Keigo knows he should try to stop her, but Rumi has already grabbed Dabi, slung him over her shoulder, and bounced out of the library. Best Jeanist shrugs and stands to follow.

“A moment, Keigo. I suppose I do have a few things I need to say to Dabi as well.”

He rolls his eyes, unable to do anything else, as Jeanist trails after Rumi.

He’ll follow in a few minutes to recuse Dabi. For now, he’s going to sit here and admire the shiny ring on his finger – the ring that is a promise. A promise that bears a future Keigo is really excited to someday see.

Bonus

Keigo fidgets nervously. His wings keep twitching, enough so Rumi reaches up to smack the back of his head.

“Stop it. You’re fine.”

“I’m panicking, Rumi, not fine.”

“Eh.” She slings an arm around his shoulders, thankfully steering clear of his recently healed jaw. “You’ll be fine. Trust me, this is not that huge of a deal anyways!” He shoots her a fierce glare that says ‘yes, this is important.’ “Bah. Whatever then. Imma go get another glass of champagne; that stuff you picked out is great!” Rumi bounds off, leaving him standing there alone.

By himself again, Keigo is more than ready to glance around nervously at the venue. Everything seems to be in place: the dusty pink camellia flowers are set as the centerpieces on the white table-clothed tables, the buffet table is lined with the correct appetizers and snacks, the sun is shining in – sparkling in a lovely manner off the crystal chandelier in the center of the venue, and the people here in the reception are all milling around, most hands holding a glass of champagne, chatting in friendly tones.

Ok.

Ok, everything is going fine. No need to freak out.

A frosty aura approaches from behind, and that ice imbeds his veins as he goes tense.

“Well.” Mrs. Rei takes a small sip from her champagne flute as she settles next to Keigo.

Fuck. Dabi, help.

“This is quite the lovely ceremony, Keigo.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

She laughs, and it’s a gentle thing. Soft and breezy. Caring. The kind of laugh a mother should have. “Oh, none of that, dear. We’re practically family.” She gives a pointed glance to the ring decorating Keigo’s right hand. He gulps, feet shuffling uneasily.

“Right.” She hums, taking another sip from her glass.

“I have to say, Keigo, I was a little disappointed when I got the invitation.” His wings pierce the air as they go sharp. “As glad as I am to be invited to visit, I was rather hoping the invitation was for your wedding to my Touya.” Keigo chokes on air. “I know,” her hand pats his shoulder, “I know you’ve only been together for a little under a year now, but still. A mother can dream.” Mrs. Rei sighs. “I’d like to see one of my children married before I die.”

Fuck, ok. Time to reply. He can totally do this.

“Mrs. Rei, you’re not old yet! There’s lots of time for Fuyumi, Natsuo, and even Shouto to find a partner.”

“True.” She shakes her head, eyes flicking across the room to where Fuyumi made Dabi go dance with her. Shouto and Natsuo are hovering at the edge of the dance floor, laughing as Shouto films. Poor Dabi. The guy can do a lot of things but coordinating his two feet into any sort of coherent dancing is not one of his talents.

Mrs. Rei sighs again, this time fondly. Her hand, small and soft, like a delicate dove, lands on his shoulder. “I have no desire to rush either of you, but if this is the wedding you put together for someone else, I can’t wait to see what your own will look like.” Keigo glances away with a small chuckle.

“I don’t know about that.” His gaze leaps from Dabi to the newly married couple, and a smile takes over. “But they do look happy.” Fai and Gale have been dancing the whole reception away, too busy staring into each other’s eyes and smiling in that secretive way only those in love can understand to bother with anything else. And that’s ok. They deserve this, and Keigo was more than happy to be enlisted as Fai’s groomsman and primary wedding planner. It was actually pretty fun putting the whole thing together.

“Hmm, you know, it would be nice if someone else got married. I did like helping get things in order, so maybe they’d let me help.” Mrs. Rei laughs. Her eyes meet his and the tension still clinging to his wings drains away. Sure, she’s still Dabi’s mom and that’s a little terrifying, but she’s not a scary person. No, the ones he really needs to watch out for are the siblings; Shouto is the one that will drop ice cubes down the back of his shirt without any warning or reason.

“Keigo, if you were to ever want another wedding to plan, I know someone who would be very happy to marry you.” He goes red and splutters immediately, stumbling over words that just twist around his tongue. Her giggle is a soft, kind thing.

When Keigo looks up from his feet and instinctively latches onto Dabi, only to find his partner gazing back at him with a gentle smile that changes the whole shape of his face into something soft and kind, his heart skips a beat. Well. Maybe Mrs. Rei’s not-so-subtle pushes to him and Dabi getting married isn’t such a horrible idea. He doesn’t want to spend his time with anyone else and given the League all showed up to personally thank him when Dabi officially moved in with him, they won’t mind either.

“Maybe…” Keigo murmurs.

“Hmm? What’s that, dear?” Grey eyes peer at him curiously over the lip of her glass.

“Oh, nothing. Just a thought.”

“Well,” Mrs. Rei turns back to overlooking her children, “I hope it was a good thought.”

“Yeah.” Keigo’s grin grows as Dabi trips over his feet again, the man grumbling good-naturedly as his siblings laugh. “Yeah, it is a good thought.”