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You’re not going to be giving his jacket back.
It’s a spur-of-the-moment decision. One you know is totally insane, lacking an ounce of anything even resembling common sense. After all, this wasn’t the way dates were supposed to go. Definitely not dates with the number two top hero in Japan. Regardless, you don’t think you’ll be able to sleep tonight if you don’t follow through.
You aren’t even cold anymore, but you still find yourself tugging the smooth leather tighter over your shoulders.
“You’re either delusional or in denial.” You say, fumbling to find your key fob in your mess of a bag. Your cheeks hurt from the stretch of your grin, an expression you’d been sporting nearly the entire night. “To think that you’d even suggest Endeavor could beat—“
“Not beat,” Keigo interjects, “I believe my exact words were ‘give him a run for his money.’”
You scoff as you press the bit of plastic to the reader and yank open the door.
“You’re acting like All Might wouldn’t absolutely cream him one-on-one. Think about that time they did that publicity match for J-TV! Endeavor didn’t even last 30 seconds before he was knocked flat on his ass.”
Keigo has to curl his wings tight against his sides in order to fit through the doorway. “You do know those things are fake, right?”
“No! You’re telling me the channel that airs ‘Villain Babes and Baddies’ is deceiving me? Say it ain’t so!” You let out an exaggerated wail. The chuckle that your drama earns from Keigo immediately makes the noise complaint you’ll receive from your middle-aged neighbors well worth it.
“Then why’d you bring it up?” He asks.
“Because even J-TV knows that All Might would win! Aren’t you smarter than J-TV?”
“Most days.”
You stop walking and turn to face Keigo, one eyebrow quirked up high and your lips pulled off to one side.
“Some days.” He amends, the edges of his mouth curling upward as he buries his hands in his pockets. “But lapses in judgment can open doors, ya’ know. Never know when a near-collision will lead to a date instead of a lawsuit.”
“Better not talk like that in front of your legal team.”
“They’re used to it.”
You reach your apartment too quickly. You don’t want to unlock your door yet, don’t want to say ‘goodnight’ and watch Keigo walk away. There’s a tense silence as you fiddle with your keys, pretending you can’t find the right one. It’s probably not too convincing, seeing as you only have two to choose from. Still, you’re not sure what other option you have.
“So,” you drawl, lifting your eyes for only a second, still playing your imaginary game of ‘how long can I draw this out for,’ “what’s on tap for mister Wing Hero tomorrow? Anything interesting you can let slip?”
Keigo’s laugh echoes through the dimly lit hallway. Another noise complaint. “Interested in my schedule, are we? Hoping to ‘accidentally’ bump into me on one of my patrols?”
“Or maybe I’m trying to sell your location to some bad guy for a quick buck.” You roll your eyes, leaning back against the plaster wall. “But you know what they say: potato potahto.”
“Ohhhhhhh,” he groans, stretching his arms up behind his head. It’s a struggle keeping yourself from staring at them, the way the muscles tense and relax. “Man, what is it with me and falling for villains.”
You shrug. “We’re pretty charming people if you can tolerate the occasional misdemeanor.”
Another uncomfortable silence cuts into your conversation when Keigo doesn’t say anything, just looks at you with that lopsided, stupidly-handsome grin of his. You wonder if he can hear it—the way your pulse thuds in your ears. Maybe that’s why he looks so self-assured; he knows the effect that something as simple as a smile has on you. As stupid as Hawks pretends to be, you know the truth, know how he notices everything from the twitching in your fingers to the way you shift your weight from foot to foot.
You’ve ambled for too long already. With a heavy sigh, you finally unlock the door.
“Now that my master plan has been foiled, I need time to think up something new.”
“A clever person like you doesn’t have a plan B ready to go?” Keigo quips back.
You turn to face him yet again, leaving the key in the lock. “Just because I have a plan doesn’t mean it’s good. That takes time.” Resting your back on the door, you reach over and put a hand on the handle. “And sleep. As fun as tonight has been, hero, we both have work in the morning.”
“True. You know, early birds catching worms and all that fun stuff.”
Before you can get out a final goodbye though, before you can so much as blink, he takes a step forward. There’s a wicked glint in his eye as he looms over you, so close that you can count the individual strands of hair falling into his face.
“I see you’re starting early,” Keigo says, the sound crawling up from somewhere deep in his chest. He reaches up and grabs the collar of your jacket—his jacket. “Last time I checked, this is mine.”
You’ve got nowhere to run; he’s too close, and you’re not about to send yourself flying backward in a getaway attempt. You wouldn’t want to anyway. It’s all too exciting—being so close after a whole night of jokes and teasing. Playing around was fun, but the fact is you’d been eyeballing each other for hours, waiting for the moment where you could finally be alone, away from prying eyes. You both know it.
“Yeah,” you tilt your chin upward, “and what are you gonna do about it?”
Keigo hesitates.
“What do you want me to do?”
A good question. One you know the answer to, even if the knot in your stomach keeps you from verbalizing it.
Thankfully, you don’t have to. Keigo inches forward and the rest kind of happens on its own. You barely register his fingers curling around your waist or your own hand weaving its way through his hair. There’s a warmth across your face, but you can’t be sure of the cause; was it the blood boiling beneath your skin or was it his breath, warm on your cheeks? It doesn’t matter. His lips, his smile pressed against yours erases any hope of forming a coherent thought. And you don’t care. You don’t care about anything else anymore.
It’s all over too soon. He pulls back and his eyes flutter open—warm like melted caramel, a lingering sunset. You inhale shakily. Keigo does the same.
Words. This was the part where you were supposed to say something endearing. Something to make him want to keep letting you ‘steal’ his jacket, keep him laughing with you like this, wracking up noise complaints like tickets at the world’s most generous arcade.
So many different words form and die on the tip of your tongue before you finally settle on saying “never thought I’d ever let an Endeavor fanboy kiss me.”
“Those are some strong words coming from a thief.” Keigo counters, chewing on his bottom lip. You find that you can’t watch him for too long; his eyes crinkle and he’s leaning in again, forehead pressing to yours. It’d be a crime not to let your eyes drift shut, not to savor it.
“I’m no thief.” You breathe. Keigo’s nose bumps against yours. “I haven’t stolen anything yet.”
“That’s still up for debate.” He huffs, bringing his other hand up and brushing a thumb across your cheek. Then he moves in again.
Even though it isn’t the first, this kiss tastes like the beginning of something extraordinary.