Chapter Text

Spreading His Wings Again

  After the war (cause that`s what it was, no matter what others called it) The HPSC was disbanded due to some (a lot of) very shady details coming to light, and as the new generation of heroes began their careers. Hawks, well he was found to be lacking and not trustworthy enough to continue his work as a hero, so he was given the choice to either bow out gracefully, an honorable discharge so to speak, or continue as he was after he gained control of his wings once again.

 Surprisingly (to them) Hawks took their deal, and resigned. Even if he managed to get his wings and feathers to work as they had (which after almost a year of physical therapy, to have less control than when he was four wasn't looking good) and he still kept his work, the number of suspicious stared stabbing at his back were unlikely to decrease. So Hawks resigned, and soon Keigo Takami was moving into a much smaller apartment in a quiet part of the city.

  But after being Hawks for so long, he barely knew how to be Keigo. He grew restless inside his apartment, the enclosed space bringing long forgotten memories of his childhood, that clashed with his recent dislike of being noticed due to the two giant wings on his back, said wings still in the process of healing and completely useless. He could only keep them as decorations on his back since it was hard to even get them to twitch let alone control each other feather individually. So he developed a routine. Hole himself indoors during the day and go out to stretch his wings out at night.

He kept the routine and one night he met his neighbor, the only other person renting on the building floor. She was a tiny thing with a slight build and lovely caramel skin complementing her dark chocolate hair. Her single eye-catching feature were her eyes, they were a very peculiar color and had a familiar fatigue in them. He doesn't know what compelled him to introduce himself, but he did end up learning the nearby konbini with his groceries and her name...Yuka Mari. That night he found what her eyes reminded him of on the Internet, Ethiopian Opals.

Over the next few months, they`d keep meeting late at night she was just arriving from work, and he was heading out and they began to strike conversations more and more often. He learned she was a paper-pusher in a large corporation, has been for several years, starting as a part-timer to earn some money while in college and kept working full time after graduation until now. She learned that he was a casualty during the Paranormal Liberation Front Battle. Eventually she put two and two together and asked him about it one evening while they were in her apartment. By this time he grew to trust her enough to just nod in confirmation, which was enough for Mari.

And so the winter passed, he turned 24 and Mari had begun to look even more exhausted when coming home from work, which at first she chalked up to winter weather, but as spring started to ebb closer her tiredness only grew. Finally in a rare proactive act, Keigo sat down to hear what had her coming home so fatigued. Hearing her describe her workplace cubicle brought a slight chill up his spine.

Flashbacks of dilapidated walls boxing him in. It took him to visibly shake his head to get rid of, before brushing away her concerns. The next day was a Friday, which meant Mari had the next two days off, meaning more hanging out (god was he pathetic). Except today, Mari didn`t come home tired or late due to working overtime. Mari got home early, waking him up from his nap by knocking on his apartment door.

"Mari? You`re back early." He opened the door, sleep still clouding his senses, missing the sight bouncing on her toes she did when nervous.
"I quit my job." Mari blurted out before he could invite her inside and all he could do (besides gape like a fish) was to step aside for her to enter.
Once they were seated on his sofa, and had a mug of coffee, Keigo asked: "What happened at work today?" Mari settled in her spot, a cup of milk and sugar latte in her hands, took a sip before beginning:
"It was just, you know another day, within grey cubicle walls. I was in numbers for a file whose name I do not remember. And I had a headache buildup, so while trying to find another file I`d placed somewhere on my desk. I opened my bottom drawer and there it was."

She pulled out a envelope, yellowed with age, bearing a wax seal wit the initials PT in calligraphy.
"It`s a letter my grandpa gave to me when I was ten, a few years before he passes. It`s a....for...Here, you read it. He told me to open it when I felt crushed by city life. It`ll explain everything" Handing him the yellowed paper. Keigo opened the letter gently, the seal already broken and unfolded the single sheet of paper to read its contents.

Dear Mari

If you are reading this you must be in dire need of a change. The same thing happened t me , long ago. I`d lost sight of what mattered most in life...real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong. I`ve enclosed the deed to that place , my pride and joy: Wilderness Farm. It`s located in Stardew Valley on the southern coast. It`s the perfect place to start your new life. This was my most precious gift of all, and now it`s yours. I know you`ll honor the family name my dear.

Good Luck
Love Grandpa
P.S. If Lewis is still alive, say hi to the old guy for me will ya?

Looking up from the letter in his hand (that was shaking) Keigo spoke up:
"You wanna leave to go to your grandpas farm?" These words felt like barbs leaving his mouth. She wanted to leave (him).
"Come with me." Her voice suddenly pulled him out of his spiraling thoughts.
"What?" Keigo croaked out, his throat feeling like it had an unmovable rock wedged inside. Did she just?
"Come with me to the farm Keigo. I'm not the only one that needs to get away from the city, for a while at least. My apartments lease is ending next months and if something makes me stay at the farm, there`ll be no extra money to waste for rent. Please come with me for at least a few months?" She wasn't leaving (him), she wanted him to come with.

A weight that he didn't know he had settled on his chest was suddenly lifted. With the thought of her wanting him there in a new place away from the city that left her so tired, the allure to leaving said city drastically increased the appeal of the farm.
Keigo looked around the bare walls of his apartment, they haven changed since he first moved in. What the hell, he could use a getaway for a while, fresh air and open skies (what`s the point, he couldn't move his wings, let alone fly).
"Sure kid, I could use a distraction." He gave her a grin as she looked up at him in surprise, as if she was waiting for him to refuse (as if he would say no to one of his only real friends).
"Gr-great! Um, we should probably pack up some essentials for our stay there. I need to call my landlord and inform him that I won't renew the lease, pack up what I don`t plan on bringing yet, and send it to a storage unit." Mari began to mumble, similar to a certain broccoli boi he knew of.
"Whoa whoa, kid breathe. first you need to call where the farm is to call so they can hook it up to utilities. Then we can pack."
"Right, thank you Keigo."Mari said giving him a quick hug before rushing back into her apartment. He watched her go. reaching for his own phone to call the landlord.

 His lease, unlike Mari, didn't end soon and he was willing to pay the two months rent severance fee. He also looked up a good mover company with storage, since they were only bringing essentials at first.

 A whirlwind of events happened, and two days later they left their emptied out apartments, having had a moving company put their boxed up belongings in a storage unit until they ask to ship them. They took an express train out of Tokyo to catch a ferry that would take them to the small Island of Ferngill Republic, a nation that kept a neutral yet distant relations with all it`s neighbors, except for the Gotoro Empire.

Amazingly, he remembered being lectured by the HPSC that the two countries were odd in that they had very weak quirk factor, resulting in no hero/villain scenarios. After riding the ferry, the two of just got onto a bus headed for Stardew Valley. Watching as countless of green hills pass by, Keigo felt his wings quiver (what would it be like if he could fly there.)
Soon after several hours of driving, a sign Stardew Valley 0,5 Miles appeared, making the blond sigh in relief, earning a chuckle form Mari.
"You feeling sore?" HE grinned at the teasing barb.
"We'll be there soon and I'll get to stretch, don't worry kid." He assured her.

True enough they arrived, and once their bags were in their hands, an older ginger haired woman approached them with a smile.
"Hello! You must be Mari and her friend that is staying with her! I`m Robin, the resident carpenter in our community. Everyone in town is excited to meet you!"
"Well thank you! Yes, I am Yuka Mari, and this is my friend Keigo. Thank you for greeting us here." His friend gave a polite bow, whilst Keigo only nodded at the carpenter.
"Oh it was nothing. I just finished restoring water and electricity to the cottage, so I had time to spare. Lets head over to Wilderness Farm so I can show you." The two of them gave a nod to the smiling woman, following her down the path and then turning right to come to a small traditional minka house, on a small wooden platform with a tiny tea table on the side.

"It hasn't changed a bit since I last saw it."Keigo heard Mari sigh, a trace of wistfulness in her voice.
"Lewis and I cleaned up the backyard and constructed a pet house! This is our way of welcoming you to the valley!" Robin pointed to said yard where Keigo could see the aforementioned pet house along with a wooden table and chairs under a big tree. There was also a carved totem? Was it like the stone hokora usually devoted to the house kami? Were people in the Ferngil Republic shintoists?
"Lewis is inside the cottage, preparing some things. I`ll go get him." Robins sudden departure pulled him away from his musings, and the two friends were left out side for a quiet moment, but not long because an elderly man exited the house.
"Mari! It has been some time since I saw you! I hope the improvements we've made to your grandpas cottage will make it easier to get settled in! There was some basic furniture in there that only needed a bit of dusting. Everything is inside." As he said that Robin exited the house holding a box of cleaning supplies and tools.

Looking over at the overgrown fields Lewis spoke in a reminiscing tone:
"All these years is enough time for farmland to turn into this. You`ll need various tools to get started." And here, Robin spoke up.
"Clint, the local blacksmith made tools to help you get started on clearing away debris and trees. There's an an axe, pickaxe, hoe, scythe and watering can in the cottage."
"It`ll be a lot of work turning Wilderness Farm into what it once was, Mari. Your grandpa would be proud of you." Maris eyes misted at this, but Lewis continued.
"Tomorrow, you two should introduce yourselves to the villagers. Everyone in the valley knows you just moved in!"
"Demetrius, my husband is so excited to meet you Mari! He helped test if the stream water as consumable when I connected your house to the town main. Drop by our house in the mountains when you have a chance!"
"The other farmers are thrilled to have another cultivator in the valley. You should stop by their farms when you get a chance as well." Lewis advised.
"I`ll be sure to do that! Thank you for doing so much for me." Mari said, giving them a bow.
"Anyway, we're going to leave so you two can get settled in. If you have any questions or concerns, you know when to find us."
"If you get cold, you can use the fireplace. It works great now." Robin chimed in, picking up her tools and supplies.
"We will see you tomorrow. Get settled in you two!" The elder man finished and left down the beaten dirt path.

 Keigo looked at Mari in silence before she broke the ice.
"Shall we head in?" she motioned to the door.
"Yeah, your grandpa must have really like Japanese architecture."
"No, he built it cause of my grandma. She was Japanese and they'd met whilst he was working abroad. He built the house like this so she could have something familiar. At least that's what my dad told me."

Entering the cottage Keigo could tell it was definitely old. Walls of shoji paper except for one part where floor to ceiling glass panels showed the back yard, a flower bed and a small cobbled area. Wooden beams and a single brick wall in the center of the building held the ceiling. A small squared able was near the glass panels in the corner with two chairs. On the opposite corner in the far let a small kitchenette consisting of a counter top, stove/oven, sink and fridge with an unlit fireplace nearby. There was some free space on the far right wall where a vintage TV stood. A door that probably led to the bathroom was on their lower left. And at the single brick wall at the center of the room was...only...one bed.
"Oh boy." Keigo could see Maris' ears turning red at the situation. Giving her a small smile ( she was cute when flustered).
"It`s okay, i can sleep on the other side of the wall by the fire place kid." he placated her, immediately causing Mari to turn to him.
"No! Keigo, we are adults, and it`s still cold at night despite it being spring! We`ll share the bed and tomorrow I'll go see if we can buy another bed from Robin. She did say she's the carpenter."
"Okay," He raised his hands in surrender. "you good to get dressed and go to sleep?" he asked.
"Um, yeah. I'll go do that in the bathroom." And with that she proceeded to pullout a pair of PJs and go to the only other room before closing the door.

What followed, for Keigo, was the quickest changing session in his life (bar a few times a pro hero emergency happened) and waiting in the room. He had to admit it was getting chilly, it would have been tough to sleep. even by the fire and his increased body temperature. Mari came out of the bathroom wearing a long-sleeved fleece PJs. She lit the fireplace after putting two logs in and some kindling with matches, waited for the fire to get bigger before putting the screen mesh. Soon the air inside was cozy but still not warm enough to sleep out of the bed. Once they were under the blanket, Keigo spoke:

"Hey kid, you were right about there being enough room and about the cold. Thanks for sharing."
"Of course Keigo, you're my friend." was her sleepy response. And for the life of him he couldn`t tell if the tight feeling in his chest was relief or something else.