Chapter Text
ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴘᴀʀᴛ
꧁☾⸻⸻ꕥ⸻⸻☽꧂
One year later
It was warm. The sun was shining pleasantly, not too hot, down on the land and a light breeze was blowing through the green meadows of the city park. (Name) pulled the thin (favourite colour) coat she had thrown on a little tighter around her and smiled at the blue sky. It was around 5 pm and she was finally off work. In a moment she would meet Keigo, as she did every day, and go for a walk with him in the park before they slowly made their way home. It had been the same every day for months, but she never grew tired of it.
It was nice to have finally found peace. To have arrived somewhere.
Since it was autumn, a few leaves kept blowing down from the trees, which she brushed against with her shoes as she walked. The earth under her feet was unusually dry and she watched the fallen leaves with a certain nostalgia. They seemed like the feathers of birds that fell off little by little, never useful again, beautiful, yet soon forgotten.
She sighed as she shook her head. No matter how much time passed, she couldn't stop thinking about all that had happened. How she grew up, Silent Hell, the HPSC, the stay in the hospital.... she wasn't sure if she would ever forget it all. But maybe she didn't have to.
From a distance, someone called out a happy-sounding Hey to her.
(Name) looked up and saw Keigo striding towards her from a distance. He waved lazily and gave her a closed-eye grin, as he always did.
Right. She probably truly could never forget it. But she could just block it out. After all, she had him. After all, he was no different.
The woman smiled broadly and waved back. They had arrived together in a moment and, as always, they couldn't help laughing a little. It was always the same, yet so lovely. They wouldn't give it away again for anything in the world.
The young man was wearing a white T-shirt and a dark green bomber jacket over it. He had black jeans and Converse shoes on. The gold earrings in his ears kept flashing in the bright light of the sun, matching his equally golden eyes.
"Today you're especially beautiful," she let him know and immediately took his hand in hers. In a smooth transition, the two walked ahead without stopping once. Keigo intertwined his fingers with hers and gently caressed the back of her hand with his thumb.
"Says the right one," the man laughed brightly as he threw his head back. "But you look a little worn out. How was work?" His bushy eyebrows were raised, a sign that he was listening to her with interest.
" Everything's fine. I got two free tickets for Elementary if you feel like seeing it." She smiled at him a little sheepishly, as they didn't go to the cinema like that very often. But she enjoyed working at the box office and there was also something about cleaning the cinema halls afterward. (Name) was happy to see people who enjoyed immersing themselves in fictional worlds. Many worlds of them were happy ones, but there were also enough films that left people with a tear-stained face, fear, or anger in their bodies. Since Silent Hell, (Name) hasn't felt the need to enter such worlds.
"Sounds great. I'm always game, no matter what you offer me." Keigo looked ahead again and gave her hand a little squeeze. They were now walking across a slightly curved wooden bridge that crossed a small river in the park. In the water, a mother duck and her small chicks floated downstream. The woman decided to stop and released her hand from his. As comfortably as she could, she propped herself up on the railing and gazed after the animals. A certain wistfulness flashed in her eyes, but it was gone faster than anyone could have noticed.
But nothing escaped Hawks' sharp eyes.
He propped himself beside her, forearms on the railing, and looked at her with a serious expression. "You always think back to it, don't you?"
The woman swallowed as if she had already expected something like this. For a second, her eyes flitted over to his before she let her gaze wander back to the water. She took a deep breath before answering.
"I just can't help it. My head won't let me rest."
The man nodded. His blonde curls blew gently in the light breeze. If he still had his feathers on him, they would surely blow with him too. But he left them behind to be more badly recognised. After all, they had been his trademark - Hawks, the winged hero - was no longer recognisable at first glance without them. His jacket was closed at the back so that even the stumps were no longer visible. He hadn't become a new person, but a large part of what had once seemed to define him was now missing. He left them at his home, in a spacious drawer of a chest of draws, and only had a few of his feathers hidden with him for emergencies. After all, they emigrated to a country where the usage of quirks wasn't allowed. Heroes existed only to a limited extent, for the few villains who thought they could get away with something. But inequality, as it was known in Japanese society and the rest of the world, almost didn't exist here. People accepted each other as they were and didn't mind if someone looked a little different. As long as no one hurt anyone, everything was fine.
It was nice to be perceived as a human being and not as a means to an end. Hawks - Keigo - in particular had become aware of this when they set foot in this new country and slowly settled down.
It was strange to live as the person you would have become in another life if there was no such thing as a hero society.
"But you're happy here, aren't you?" The man gave her an uncertain look. He also let his eyes wander to the shallow water and clutched the scaffolding tightly with his hands. His knuckles turned white as he gave a little more pressure.
"Of course, I am." Her voice was resolute but gentle. "It's just all so hard to forget." (Name) shook her head and turned, leaning back against the railing. She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed the indentations in the wooden bridge floor.
She would never forget how horrified Madam President had looked at her when they announced they no longer wanted to work for this system. The HPSC had threatened to make them do forced labour, they had, after all, signed a contract. But this contract had been made at a time when they were too small to even comprehend what was about to happen.
They had grown up. Physically and mentally.
Their trip to Silent Hell had only added to that.
The woman looked up at the sky, towards the passing clouds. She let out a long breath and closed her eyes.
It truly hadn't been easy to leave everything behind. They had created a letter of retirements signed by Hawks for the public and the two had disappeared from sight as quickly as they could. It was hard to trace them, so this independent, free country they fled to had become a kind of refuge for cases like them. The occasional person on the street gave Hawks a wary look, scrutinising his angelic face, but looked away again as quickly as they could. Even if they recognised him - here, he had become nothing other than them. Even if there was speculation in Japan about what had become of the Number Two hero who had risen so quickly, they no longer cared here.
They were free.
Keigo snapped her out of her thoughts as he gently put his hand on her cheek and stroked it with his thumb. "Hey," he whispered, kissing her cheek tenderly. A slight smile flitted across her lips and she leaned towards him. The woman slowly put her arms around him and hugged him, leaning her chin on his shoulder.
"I love you," she whispered in his ear. She put a hand on his head and ran it through his hair.
"Love you as well, my dear," the man returned nonchalantly, patting her back. He quickly released his hold on her and gave her a big, wide grin. "Time to go home?"
(Name) considered for a moment, pursing her lips. But when she couldn't think of anything else they could do, she nodded. It was finally the weekend and she was looking forward to falling asleep in his arms and being able to lie with him for as long as she wanted in the morning.
✧ ✧* . . ✧ *✧ ✧
On the way home, they had stopped at a bakery, so it was already dark. Keigo had the paper bag with fresh bread rolls tucked under his arm and (Name) was holding a small bag of donuts in her hand, which they could eat together at home. The sweet smell of the pastry already rose to her nose through the bag and the joy she felt in her body grew with every step they took towards the apartment complex.
They had to settle for something clearly smaller than their respective overly huge flats, but they didn't care. After this year, they had already become so familiar with their new, shared home that relegating themselves to something smaller wasn't an evil.
But a home was always just something that was called that, not necessarily a place. Home, that's what they were when they were together.
The two of them climbed the stairs to the second floor and (Name) pulled the coat, which she had meanwhile zipped up, tighter around her. They were almost there, but the fresh wind that blew in the night gave her goosebumps.
Keigo threw her an honest smile when he saw her shiver. "Not far now, and you can snuggle under your blanket."
She snorted through her nose and smiled too. "I look forward to nothing more than that." She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, apart from the donuts."
The young man laughed and stopped at the front door, the rattling key already drawn.
As Keigo turned the key to the flat in the hole, a soft sobbing sound was heard simultaneously with the clicking sound of the door. (Name) turned around quickly - it sounded like the whimpering of an injured dog.
As she looked down at the street, her eyes widened. In the bright white glow of the lantern, she saw a strangely shaped creature standing there, with a body that looked as if it was melting. The something stood crookedly on its wobbly legs and looked up at the two with its eyeless, tarry head as if it wanted to say something.
(Name) opened her mouth in horror and turned back to Keigo, who gave her a puzzled look with raised eyebrows.
"Something wrong?" He had his hand around the doorknob and was looking at her with a tilted head.
The woman swallowed and looked back down to the street, but there was nothing there. As if the thing had never been here.
...
"Oh, ... it's nothing." Tensely, she raised an eyebrow as she scanned the street wildly with her eyes. She could no longer make out anything. Smiling wearily, she turned and patted Keigo on the back. She lingered with her hand on his hip and gently led him inside. "I guess I'm just tired from the day's work."
* . . ✧ *
The two went to bed together. (Name) had her hand on Keigo's chest, who was already asleep, rising evenly with each breath. She kissed the tip of his nose one last time before she too slowly entered the realm of dreams. The last thing she was aware of was his heartbeat, always calming her, right at her pulse.
She had long forgotten about the creature from the street.
Sweet dreams.
꧁☾⸻⸻ꕥ⸻⸻☽꧂