Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Get back up!”

Touya lay gasping for breath on the scorched ground. Blue and red flames burned throughout the tattered room, creating a heat that Touya couldn’t stand anymore. It was becoming too much, he knew that he could endure the heat. He wanted to believe that he could.

It was all becoming too much.

With his father screaming at him to continue the fight, to keep up off the ground and fight back for once. It had been like this for years but all the quirk training was beginning to destroy the fifteen-year-old boy.

He was woken up every day at five A.M., his every movement was monitored from sunrise to sunset. He had even been forced on a strict diet and workout regime, something that he didn’t think any other normal teen was doing. It wasn’t as though he knew any other normal teenagers though.

Touya’s social life was also at the whims of Endeavor.

He had met one boy from the hero commission, he was deemed worthy because he too was going through strenuous training. Keigo. That’s why he had to get through this. If Keigo could get through his hero training then Touya would too, he just needed to get up.

“Do you think any villain is going to let you lay around!”

Touya couldn’t get up though, his muscles felt like they were on fire much like the room around him. He didn’t know whether or not his bones were broken but he assumed that some of them were from the odd shapes his limbs seemed to be making. His skin was blistering and peeling, looking down at his arms again he saw that the skin had begun to peel away in some places, the sight made him retch.

What was his father doing, didn’t he know that if he kept this up he wouldn’t make it? Touya wanted to give up, he wanted to get out of the room and run. He knew that it was his best option as there was no possible way he was going to survive this fight. But could he stand leaving his siblings with Endeavor?

Touya had seen what Endeavor was planning with Shoto, Shoto was going to be his protege because he couldn’t bear to waste any more of his time on Touya. He was the mistake, the one that could get burned up from his quirk. Shoto was six and he had already had to deal with training, it was only going to get worse over the years, just like it had with Touya.

But as the flames licked up his arms and legs, burning his shirt and pants to a crisp, running away seemed like that better option.

The room continued to burn and more flames were added as Endeavor began his onslaught once more. Touya tried his hardest to fight back, but as his consciousness was slipping his concentration was getting sloppy and his palms began to burn.

His quirk was going to be his demise.

Then it stopped. Endeavor stopped his slaughter and Touya looked around the room only to see more and more flames destroying the room.

He had an out and by all the gods was he going to take it. With Endeavor unable to focus because of the smoke and soot, Touya crawled his way over to the window that was on the other side of the room.

Each time he moved his arms pain surged through his entire body but he couldn’t stop. If he stopped Endeavor was going to kill him. That’s exactly what he wanted him to
think.

Let them all think Touya Todoroki was dead so that he could finally have some peace. No worrying about whether or not his father thought he was going to be a good hero. No more training sessions that left him with more scars than he could count.

No more pain, no more nothing. He’d find somewhere where none of those things mattered. A place that didn’t care about Touya Todoroki, where he could just forget about everything.

He ran further and further away, leaving everything behind. His family, his life, he even left behind Keigo.

“I’m so sorry.”

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Dabi walked down the side of the street, masked covering his lower face and his jacket collar popped to hide the enormous scar that spanned the entirety of his neck. His eyes were also covered by thick black sunglasses even though it was nearing midnight. The moon shone brightly in the sky and the stars twinkled.

He would have stopped to look at them if he weren’t running late to a meeting.

The Number Two Hero Hawks was trying to weave his way into the League of Villains. Now Dabi wasn’t stupid, he knew that allowing a hero into the League was a terrible idea, especially one with such high standing. Hawks was up to no good.

If only he could get his brain to agree with his heart. Dabi was also well aware that Hawks was Keigo Takami, there weren’t many heroes walking around with bright red wings.
There raised an issue though, Keigo was not aware that Dabi was Touya. A part of Dabi desperately wanted to tell him, maybe that way he could break through to Keigo’s heart and protect him. Getting involved with the League meant bad news and Dabi knew that. Had he not run away he would have never even joined the League. Maybe it was a part of him that just wanted to make Endeavor angry, he had long ago refused to call that monster his father.

Call him petty if you wanted but Dabi did whatever he wanted, and that just so happened to be joining the League of Villains. In the beginning, none of them had done terrible things, besides the occasional murder but that was that. It was more a group filled with petty criminals. Each and every one of them had some problems and maybe that was the true reason that Dabi stayed with them.

It was like the family that he always wanted, albeit a psychotic family but it was better than sticking with Endeavor. Dabi didn’t believe that he would have been able to survive the nine past years with him.

In those nine years, he had become a completely different person, besides the scars he had done nearly all the things that Endeavor refused to let him do. He had dyed his hair, even though it was a pain to keep up with, having the same cursed fiery red hair as Endeavor was disgusting so he had decided that black would be the way to go. He had got multiple piercings all across his body. Dabi was also planning to get some tattoos in the future but it was a challenge to find someone that wouldn’t ask questions and would let him pay in cash.

Dabi was not Touya anymore, at least that’s what he kept telling himself. As much as he tried, and he pushed the fact that he was trying, he couldn’t let his siblings go.
He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t actively pursuing them, he knew that Fuyumi had become a kindergarten teacher and he couldn’t be prouder of her for pursuing her dream. Natsuo had gotten into his dream college and was doing pretty well.

Then there was Shoto. Dabi had witnessed the U.A. sports festival and seen exactly what his youngest brother was possible of now. He was able to use both sides of his body together now, which was something that Endeavor had tried to force him to do at a very young age. The control that Shoto had was impressive, but he too seemed to resent Endeavor, which Dabi was also very proud of. He would never believe that anyone would stand by Endeavor if they knew what he had done.

Back to the subject of Keigo though, the man that Dabi was about to meet within a very short amount of time. He was nearing the spot that they had agreed to meet up at and exchange information. Most of the information that Dabi gave Keigo was pretty low-level stuff, even if he was leaning towards Keigo’s side he wasn’t a snitch. Both of them were playing double-agent in their own messed up ways.

As he rounded the corner into the alley he called out for the hero, “Hey little bird.” He was expecting the usual, ‘hey yourself hotstuff’, but there was nothing. That was odd, Keigo was almost always the first one at their meeting spots, probably something that the idiotic Hero Commission had forced down his throat at a young age.

What was unexpected was seeing a passed out hero before him, blood seeping onto the dirty concrete. Dabi stood for a second in shock, Keigo was lying severely injured with no sign of who had hurt him. The first instinct was to walk away, he shouldn’t care about some hero, he should leave him to die.

‘But it’s Keigo’ a voice whispered in the back of his mind. He bit down on his scarred bottom lip, there was no way that he was going to get away with this.

He walked over to the passed out hero and pulled him up, his beige jacket was soaked with blood which made Dabi wince, there were a few rips and tears in Keigo’s black shirt, because of the fact that it was skin tight his torso was also torn to shreds.

As he lifted his, no not his, the hero onto his back he sighed.

He was going to regret this later.

Dabi took every possible precaution that he could and took every back alley and more secret passages. It wasn’t going to be good if the Number Two Hero was seen with a very much wanted villain.

The trip to Dabi’s apartment seemed to take hours, and maybe it did, but when Dabi finally opened the door to his apartment all he wanted to do was flop onto his terrible mattress and sleep for days.

But there was an injured hero that he had to take care of, all because he couldn’t stand to leave Keigo to fend for himself.

So instead of Dabi on the mattress, it was Keigo, who was still unconscious. That was going to need to change soon. Dabi hated not knowing what was going on, and right now he was completely in the dark.

He compiled all the bandages and medical supplies that he had, when you had scars as terrible as Dabi you always had a surplus of medical supplies on hand.

Waltzing back into the bedroom he immediately realized that Keigo was awake, he had almost dropped everything that he was holding in surprise. He knew that he had a facade that he needed to uphold though so he kept his composure.

He walked over to the bed and set down the supplies, “So what happened to you little bird?”

Keigo looked up to see who was talking as he was still pretty out of it, as soon as he realized who it was though he faltered a little, “W-why are you here.”

Dabi let out a half-hearted laugh, “That would be because this is my apartment hero.”

That statement caused Keigo to attempt to sit up, attempt being the keyword there, his injuries brought him right back down onto the bed.

“What did you do to me?” There was little venom behind the words because as much as Keigo didn’t want to admit it he knew that Dabi wouldn’t hurt him.

Dabi glared down at the hero as he leaned back from trying to take off the hero’s jacket, “You think I did this! Why would I do that.”

Keigo scoffed, “I love how you say that if you aren’t a villain.”

Dabi only focused on the part of Keigo’s statement where he said ‘I love’. His heart skipped a beat and his face flushed a little. He really really needed to keep himself in check.

“Shut up, I didn’t hurt you. I found you like this,” Dabi looked up to meet Keigo’s gaze, “Do you not remember what happened?” Besides the fact that Keigo was already messed up, not beyond repair because Dabi knew that he could fix this, he also couldn’t remember what happened. Now that was concerning. “Nothing?”

Keigo shook his head, “Honestly anything that happened in the last twenty-four hours is a blur.”

That was even more concerning, Keigo couldn’t remember the last day, which meant that anything that happened to him was blurry. It made Dabi furious, whoever had done this to ̶h̶i̶s̶ Keigo was dead, he was going to cremate them alive.

“Do you remember what happened before then?” His facade was dropping more every second but Dabi couldn’t seem to care, someone hurting Keigo was something that he had to deal with. After Keigo unofficially joined the League the two and struck an unlikely friendship, Dabi knew that if he told the other man who he was then everything would break loose.

So he couldn’t ever tell him.

He knew that the commission had taken Keigo in early, they weren’t as physically abusive as Endeavor but they decided to break their ‘soldiers’ down more with a terrible game of mental gymnastics.

In all honesty, it made Dabi sick to his stomach.

“I was going back to the Commission to file away some paperwork and I can’t remember much after that. I don’t even know how I got to our meet up spot.”

He hated how out of it Keigo seemed, how okay he seemed with everything that was happening and what had happened. Did it not occur to the bird brain that he was left bleeding to death in an alley?

This was one of the few times that Dabi was happy that the fire from his childhood had burned away his tear ducts because if it hadn’t been for that then he would be a sobbing mess at the moment.

“I don’t know why you care so much, just give me the bandages I’ll do the rest.” Keigo, slowly this time, sat up on the bed and gestured to Dabi to hand over the bandages. The other sat still on the bed holding the bandages in his scarred hands. “Dabi hand them over,” the hero said once again, this time more forcefully.

Dabi looked over at Keigo, his eyes red unable to produce any tears. “I do care about you, you idiot!” He didn’t mean to yell, to raise his voice, to act in any way that could make Keigo scared. It just happened. T-Dabi wasn’t able to keep himself in check.

Why couldn’t Keigo understand that, why couldn’t he understand that Tou-Dabi needed him. He was the last good thing that Dabi could hold onto. His siblings were galaxies away, his dad was a deadbeat, his mom never cared enough to stop Endeavor. Keigo was the one last good thing.

Keigo was dumbfounded, his eyes widened and his wings seemed to flare up behind him, anyone could figure out how surprised he was. “Wow, I...I didn’t really think you did.” He looked down at his hands that were seated on his lap. Keigo was able to cry.

“Well I do, a lot,” Dabi desperately tried to change the subject, “Look just forget about this and let me patch you up, you’re still bleeding.” While it was true that Keigo still had some open wounds, the bleeding had begun to slow. Many of the cuts weren’t very deep, there were simply a lot of them.

Keigo looked back up, “Yeah, yeah, um that. Let’s do that.”

Slowly To-Dabi made his way to help Keigo patch his wounds. Off came his jacket and his shirt, thrown haphazardly into the corner of the room. At that point Dabi could fully see what he was working with, he began to apply some ointment onto the cuts, Keigo winced, “Try not to hurt me worse hotstuff.”

Dabi laughed, at least he was still acting like himself, “Don’t worry not gonna hurt you baby bird.”

Keigo blushed at the nickname, that wasn’t normally a name that Dabi threw around. He had only heard it a handful of times and nearly every time Dabi had been at least a little tipsy. Dabi saying it, not at all intoxicated from what Keigo could tell, well that did things to him.

Dabi began wrapping the bandages around Keigo’s torso and arms, thankfully at least his lower body seemed to have walked away scot-free, even if he couldn’t really walk at the moment.

The two men stayed mostly silent, Keigo going along with whatever Dabi needed to do. When he was finished Dabi walked out of the room to put the rest of the supplies away, they would definitely be used at some point though hopefully they wouldn’t be used on Keigo. He came back into the room once more to see Keigo half asleep. He knew that Keigo was in desperate need of sleep if the dark bags under his eyes were anything to go by, and he was going to make sure that Keigo got the best sleep of his life.

Keigo rubbed his eyes, smearing his eyeliner across his face although he couldn’t seem to care at this point. “You going to shower birdbrain?”

Keigo was still covered in dried blood and dirt from the alley ground and although Dabi’s bed was a mess there was no need to make it worse than it already was.

“It’d probably help.”

“Can you walk?”

The hero nodded.

“Door right across the hallway.”

With that Keigo walked out of the room and Dabi flopped onto the bed, after peeling off the bed sheet that was, he could spend one day without them.

He was absolutely insane, there was no way that he was going to make it through the night. With Keigo staying in his apartment? He was doomed. Dabi laid there on his bed, arms on his head, his was spinning and he hated it.

He had admired Keigo when he first met him, Keigo believed that he could become a hero that everyone loved and by gods was Dabi proud of him now, although he would never say that to the other man’s face. Keigo was a high ranked hero, something Dabi knew he was supposed to hate, but he couldn’t seem to. If only Keigo could overtake Endeavor for the Number One Hero spot.

Then they had met again, even if Keigo didn’t know that he was Touya, and he fell even harder. Spending time with the other was precious and even if they only met up to exchange information sometimes Dabi wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Time passed and Dabi still laid on his bed, that was until Keigo had decided to walk into the room.

“You got any clothes I can borrow?”

Dabi looked over and standing in his messed up cargo pants, which Dabi hated beyond belief, was Keigo.

“Uh um, y-yeah I uh one sec.”

Keigo, like the little terror that he was, just leaned against the doorframe and watched as Dabi struggled to find some close that would fit the smaller hero. Keigo just smirked as he watched the scene unfold before him.

Dabi finally tossed the clothes over to Keigo, a black pair of sweatpants and a beige t-shirt. Keigo thanked him and began to walk out of the room, he didn’t miss the surprised look on Dabi’s face, “You seemed a little flustered, thought I’d give you a break hotstuff.” He called out over his shoulder.

Keigo had come back after changing, ignoring the fact that Dabi was indeed flustered, “You can take the bed.” Dabi said making his way out of the room.

Keigo caught his hand as he tried to escape, making sure not to mess with the scars that were there, “I think not, this is your bed. I’d be rude to impose.”

It was Dabi’s turn to scoff, “Do you ever stop acting like a hero? You goody two shoes.”

Keigo pulled Dabi back to the bed, “Then we share.”

Both of them lay next to each other, Dabi tried his best to put some distance between them, which was pretty difficult considering that it was a twin-sized mattress.

Dabi barely slept at first while Keigo passed out immediately.

Nobody had to look too much into that.

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Dabi immediately regretted waking up the next morning.

Sometime during the night, Keigo had decided that Dabi was going to become his personal pillow, their legs became entangled and Keigo’s head was on top of Dabi’s chest. Wow did that all feel great though.

The steady heartbeat coming from the winged man was something that he wanted to remember forever. He needed it to stay in his mind, Dabi shut his eyes to focus on it. This must have been what heaven felt like, he could get with that. His own personal heaven where Keigo stayed content cuddled up next to him.

Maybe it was the fact that he was too caught up in the fact that Keigo was cuddled up next to him, or maybe it was because it was the early morning and Dabi was still trying to wake up but it had just slipped out, “Keigo…”

Apparently, Keigo was not as asleep as Dabi thought that he was because Dabi’s personal heaven was ruined when Keigo quickly sat up. “What did you just call me?”

Oh, Dabi was dead, he was going to get killed by the man he loved all because he couldn’t filter between his brain and his mouth.

“Keigo?”

Before he knew it there was a feather to his throat, “How do you know that name?”

This is when it all came crashing down, on one hand, he could out the fact that he was Touya, or he could fight back and leave this stupid apartment. But the rent was really good.

“You’re Keigo Takami.”

The feather began to dig in a little, “Answer the question Dabi!”

“Touya! Touya Todoroki,” Touya took a deep breath, “I’m Touya.”

Keigo’s world came crashing down as the feather dropped from Da-no from Touya’s throat.

TouyaTouyaTouyaTouya.

The name flooded his thoughts. “There’s n-no way. T-Touya’s dead.”

Touya tried his best to sit up, attempting to push Keigo off his lap, which he had not noticed had happened. “I’m not dead, I ran away.”

“I went to your funeral.”

“Did you see a body?”

At that moment Keigo realized that he didn’t, it had been a closed casket, he hadn’t seen his friend at all. Endeavor had buried an empty casket.

As much as he wanted to yell and punch and scream at Touya, as much as he didn’t want to believe that Touya had become Dabi, Keigo knew that deep down it was true. From the turquoise eyes to the blue flames, Dabi was Touya Todoroki whether he liked it or not.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Keigo looked up from his hands, tears filled his eyes. Touya hated that he was the reason that Keigo was acting like this, it was all his fault that the other was experiencing this pain. Touya could only begin to imagine the moral lapse that he was going through. Trying to process that his childhood friend was a major villain who was invested in the League of Villains.

That had to be a lot to handle.

If the tables were turned, if their roles were reversed, Touya didn’t think he’d know how to process it either. How can someone that was so soft and innocent turn into such a monster?

“I’m so sorry,” he really was. The number of times that he wanted to shout it from the rooftops, the nearly domestic mornings that the two men had on occasion where all he wanted to do was tell the younger man who he really was. But wouldn’t that have ruined it all.

Touya was used to shifting into the role of Dabi, one that was devoid of almost all emotions, simply fueled by pure rage against the system. He still had that mindset but there was so much more to him.

The part that wanted to hold Keigo in his arms while they made dinner, be able to walk down the street without worry if someone would notice who he was, the eldest brother who wanted to look out for his siblings. But as Dabi, he had to leave that all behind.

He was sick of it.

Maybe this accidental outing was exactly what he needed, it wasn’t as if he was getting the confidence to say it before.

“If you're so sorry, why keep this up for so long!”

“I didn’t want to hurt you!” Both of them stopped in their tracks, the two of them surprised that they had actually screamed at each other. Touya tried to stay quiet, maybe that was because of all the screaming he had to endure when he was younger. It didn’t take Keigo long to realize that yelling seemed to trigger the other and also tried his best to limit how much he raised his voice, it was a lot harder than it seemed.

Keigo, finally realizing that he was still sitting in the older man’s lap, got up off of the bed. “And you did such a good job at that.” He made his way to the door and opened it, the man on the bed seemed to snap out of the daze that he was in.

“Where are you going? Don’t you want to talk about this?” This wasn’t supposed to happen, Keigo wasn’t supposed to leave him. They had promised that they would stick together no matter what. Nothing seemed to split them apart before, that was until Touya had ‘died’, but even that didn’t really keep them apart seeing as here they were
again.

Keigo turned around and smirked, it wasn’t as flirty as it normally would be, “Talk about what, the fact that you didn’t think once about telling me you were alive,” Dabi stood up from the bed and slowly made his way over to the blond. “How you didn’t think that I would help you. Because it seems to me like you didn’t think about me for one second, Dabi.”

The way that Keigo said the name was completely laced with venom, no flirty sneer or playful tone, it came out like a curse. As if the name itself was poison on his lips. “It’s Touya.”

“I don’t know is it,” Keigo began making his own way over to Touya, “the Touya I know wouldn’t leave his friends behind.”

Touya placed his head in his hands, “People change, and do you honestly believe that I didn’t think about finding you,” now it was Touya’s turn to lay it all out. Tell Keigo how much of an idiot he was for not just listening for once in his life. “I wasn’t off having the time of my life for the past nine years Hawks. I was sleeping on the streets and struggling, actually struggling. How could you have helped me when you were stuck with the Hero Commission!”

Touya knew that he had to keep himself in check if he let his emotions run any higher then the flames would start forming and when that happened there would be no going back.

Keigo got closer, there were less than two feet between them now, “You could have joined the Commission.”

“The Commission, join them! Are you listening to yourself right now, the same Hero Commission that almost killed you.”

The Commission was corrupt and both of the men knew it, they took kids away from their parents and forced them to train as if they were pros, Keigo was seven when it started. Once you joined the Commission it was nearly impossible to leave, you were basically a part of it for life. Keigo was still under their control, and Touya hated to think about it.

One foot apart, “At least I would have known you were alive.”

One step closer, “I was trying to protect you.”

Inches apart, “Why would that be Dabi?”

Face to face now, “Because I love you, you idiot!”

Now Touya would have loved to tell everyone that their first kiss was soft and more of a peck on the lips, that it was delicate and everything that he could have ever hoped for.
He would be lying if he said that.

It was violent and rough, clashing and fighting, much like the two men themselves. It was nothing like how he expected it to be but it was also so much better. After a few minutes, they finally had to pull apart for air.

They stood in Touya’s dingy room, just holding each other and staring into the other’s eyes, that didn’t last long though. Keigo pushed Touya away from him, wiping his lips as he turned away to look at the ground. “What was that for!”

Touya stood awestruck for a second, “As if you weren’t kissing back!”

The blush returned to Keigo’s face and he hated every moment of it. “Shut up. This doesn’t change anything, you’re still… you’re still a villain. I shouldn’t have let this go this far.” Once more the hero turned to leave the room, at least this time Touya was paying attention.

“Don’t you dare baby bird,” Touya was definitely going to be using that more. He grabbed onto the hero’s arm before the winged man could leave the room, “You wanted to interrogate me earlier, now it's my turn to ask the questions.”

Keigo simply huffed in response and let himself be guided back to the bed.

They sat cross-legged looking directly at each other, “What are you going to ask scarface?”

Touya put a hand on his chest in mock offense, “And here I was giving you a nice pet name,” he dropped it. “Whatever,” he thought for a moment as he really didn’t think that this moment was going to happen. “Why doesn’t this change anything.”

Keigo looked at him with a bored expression, “One kiss, really? What do you think we’re dating now or something?” That seemed to have struck a chord with Touya because the raven-haired man blushed a little. Keigo’s eyes widened, “Okay?”

Keigo would be lying if he said that he didn’t want there to be more to them, the thought of finally having Touya back, even if he was there already Keigo just being unaware, and finally being able to tell him all the things he wanted to say all those years ago it seemed like heaven. He did feel betrayed though, that his best friend didn’t think to tell him that he was alive for nine years. That really struck a chord. At the same time though Keigo didn’t really care, didn’t care that Touya had become a villain, didn’t care that he ran away from home, what mattered is that he was there now and there was nothing that could separate them again.

Unless you were Keigo and had just pulled a really stupid move.

Touya looked down to meet Keigo’s eyes, “I was kind of hoping for that from the start.”

That shut the winged man up, he was flustered beyond belief because although they were childhood best friends Keigo had also been harboring a massive crush, the Hero Commission really tried to stomp all over that one.

This was his chance to finally be with the person he loved so why was it so difficult. Things would change but wouldn’t they be for the better, he’d finally have Touya all for himself. He just needed to say the words.

“Kei, I really love you.” There was the L-word, Keigo had to bite his tongue to make sure he stayed quiet. “And I’m sorry that I didn’t try to find you, I didn’t want to put you at
risk. If Endeavor found out that you knew I was alive,” Touya looked at his feet, “I don’t even want to begin to think about what he would have done.”

Touya walked over to Keigo again, the blond had put some space between them after he shoved the other away. “I don’t expect you to forgive me right away, that’s completely fine, I just want you to know that I love you and I would never in my life try to hurt you like that.”

Touya opened his arms, Keigo was silently trying to process every word that had come out of the older man’s mouth. He wanted this, he knew that he shouldn't. They were on opposite sides of an ongoing battle, but by gods did he really want this. He walked into Touya’s open arms and placed his head on the other’s chest, wrapping his arms around the taller man’s torso.

This was good. It was going to be good.

Touya’s reassuring hand rubbed small circles on his lower back, making sure to not mess with his wings. He knew that he should be afraid that the other would pull some trick, burn up all the feathers that were right there, but he didn’t. He simply let Keigo find his ground listening to his steady heartbeat.

A few minutes passed with them just holding each other, Keigo was finally the one to pull away. “Okay,” he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Okay as in?”

“Okay as in, yes, yes to all of that. I love you too Touya, gods that’s never gonna get old. I love you and I have for a really, really long time.” He grabbed Touya’s scarred hands, “And because I love you, I want to be with you. I know it probably seems stupid, this is all a really bad idea but I just…” Keigo didn’t have time to finish his sentence as Touya cut him off with another kiss.

This one was so much softer, sweeter even. This was how Touya imagined it would be, Keigo’s lips were soft against him, and he didn’t even complain about how scarred Touya’s lips were.

It was perfect.

They finally broke apart and Keigo had a stupid grin on his face. “Now that’s a ‘we’re boyfriends’ kiss hotstuff.” Touya couldn’t agree more, finally, he had the man of his dreams and nothing was going to break them apart.

“Now I don’t know about you scarface, but I’m pretty hungry so come on.” With that, he pulled Touya with him into the kitchen. This was every stupid domestic dream that Touya had and he was going to enjoy every single moment of it.

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Life was not easy, not in the slightest. Trying to hide the fact that you were dating the son of your coworker was a lot more difficult than Keigo had signed up for. To make
matters worse that son was presumed dead, that was just the icing on the cake, wasn’t it.

Keigo was trying his hardest to not accidentally out the fact that he was dating Touya, but then again there was only so much that he could do.

It had been a couple of months, three to be exact since the pair had stopped being complete morons and gotten together. Those months were some of the hardest but Keigo wouldn’t trade them for the world. Getting to wake up and have Touya there next to him was a blessing every time. Touya had all but officially moved into Keigo’s apartment seeing as his own was in such a terrible state, it helped that the Commission basically owned the place so rent wasn’t a problem.

Back to the main point. That being that Keigo was screwed.

The amount of times that he had to physically restrain himself from saying anything about Endeavor’s not so dead son was outrageous. Ever question of, ‘what did you do over the weekend’, he couldn't really say that he was having a date night with Touya. He really wished that one day he would be able to take the other man on a real date, not one where they watched trashy movies on Keigo’s couch.

Keigo was not going to make it out of the office alive today. Ever since there had been the announcement of the annual Hero Gala he knew he was fried chicken. There was for sure going to be alcohol involved at some point during the night and for Keigo that was where the bad news started. He was never one for holding his drink and then being pressured by everyone else having a good time, he was toast.

It was coming up quickly, less than a week away, and he had yet to tell Touya anything about it. He knew that he would have to, it was only fair. It’s not as if he even wanted to go though.

Every gala was the same. You acted up for the press, tried to act as though you were really a respectable hero, then the press left. Everyone got drunk and stayed out for far too long. Every single year.

The top ten were always there, which meant that Keigo had been going for a little bit, but he hated it with a passion. There was always someone there who asked him why he didn’t come with some date. He was the hero world’s most eligible bachelor so why was he still single?

At least he wasn’t actually single this time. It's just that his boyfriend couldn’t go with him, which only added to Keigo’s level of not wanting to go. Then there was the alcohol and Keigo’s loose lips, he was not going to make it out of that gala alive.

He took out the keys to his, no not anymore, his and Touya’s apartment. That thought alone made him the happiest person alive. He opened the door with a smile and shut it behind him. Either Touya would be on the couch or at some meeting with the League, seeing as there was no warning that there would be a meeting Keigo knew that he was going to have to share the ‘good’ news.

And there he was, draped over the couch scrolling through his phone with something or another playing on the tv for background noise. Keigo really didn’t know if he had the guts to say it at this point, now that he was actually looking at Touya, he sort of just wanted to run out the door.

You’d think that being a pro-hero for so long he would be able to at least do this one thing, but it was going to be a lot harder than he could have ever expected.

Touya was not as oblivious as his boyfriend thought that he was so he was well aware of the fact that not only was there something up with his boyfriend but also that he had traipsed in through the door and was now standing there like an idiot.

“So are you just going to stand there all night,” he peered over his shoulder to look at Keigo who was shifting on his feet.

“No of course not hotstuff just thinking about some stuff...,” he finally made his way over to the couch and leaned over the armrest to kiss Touya on his scarred cheek. It seemed to be that these domestic moments were getting more and more, just last week the two had been cooking dinner and cleaning dishes together. It seemed as though the pair worked together better than anyone could have ever imagined.

“What stuff?” Touya sat up.

Keigo took a deep breath, sat next to the other man, and decided to bite the bullet. There was no time like the present after all. “I have to go to the Hero Gala this weekend.” There now it was out in the open and Keigo could pretend like none of this was happening.

Touya quirked his eyebrow, “Huh, should have expected that. You heroes just have to have the spotlight no matter what.”

Keigo huffed and leaned onto the taller man’s shoulder, “You know that I would much rather stay here with you.” He looked into Touya’s turquoise eyes, those of which looked like ice, he could get lost in them forever.

“Whatever baby bird,” Touya leaned down to place a quick peck on the blond’s lips. It made Keigo’s heart swell with happiness, every moment he had with Touya felt like a dream come true.

If you would have told him nine years ago, before he believed that the raven-haired man had died of course, that he would be living with Touya, that he would be able to wake up every morning and see the man before him, that the two of them were finally together, Keigo probably wouldn’t have believed a word. It all seemed too good to be true, but here he was living in this amazing reality that was set before him.

Now here he was, leaning up against Touya’s still too bony shoulder, and watching whatever trashy sitcom was playing on tv. It was perfect. What wasn’t perfect was the fact that, unbeknownst to himself at that point, he was about to let the cat out of the bag about his and Touya’s highly secretive operation.

Like before Keigo was worried about the gala, last time he got pretty smashed on champagne and whatever else Rumi had been giving him. It was a night that he wished everyone would stop bringing up, the things that came out of his mouth were unforgettable, to say the least.

No one was prepared for what he could say this year.

What if he told Endeavor that he was dating his son, that would probably cause confusion. Nastuo was a great guy but the wrong son. It wasn’t every day that someone that everyone that was dead just so happens to not be. Throw that on top of Keigo still harboring a childhood crush and there’s a recipe for the perfect disaster.

There was no way that the gala was going to go well.

And Keigo was absolutely right.

After half a week of getting to bask in the glory that was living with Touya last name redacted, he had come to realize that the gala was, in fact, going to happen and he was, in fact, going to have to show up.

The unexpected bit, there was bound to be more but this was the first, was Rumi deciding to show up at Keigo’s apartment and break in. This wasn’t the first time just the first time that Keigo and Touya happened to be together. Normally Touya was off doing villain stuff, he was beginning to downplay a lot of that though because plea deals were a thing and he very much enjoyed living with Keigo.

It just so happened that when Rumi decided to break through the door Touya was there.

Keigo was straddling Touya's lap, knees on either side of the other's thighs. Keigo was enjoying that moment with his entire being, his boyfriend's lips felt amazing, even if the bottom was one a little charred.

“Come on Kei! OH GOD!”

Keigo looked over to Rumi with a blank expression, “Not now, come on let’s go.” He got off of the couch and walked over to the doorway, straightening his tie as he went.

“Are you not going to explain?”

Keigo guided the women out the door and called out to Touya as he shut the door, “See you later tonight!”

“Don’t die.”

Keigo closed the door behind them and started his way down the hallway to the elevator. He really regretted every decision as the elevator made its slow descent down to the ground floor. He realized that he was going to have to explain to Rumi about what she had just witnessed but he could do that after he got a couple of drinks in him.

If he thought that the elevator ride was awkward he was absolutely not prepared for the car ride.

Finally arriving at the gala was quite the experience, like always there were reporters everywhere that the eye could see. Cameras were constantly flashing in his face and none of the reporters would stop asking questions.

He had gotten pretty good at avoiding them if he did say so himself, which he did, and this should have been a walk in the park. Walking up the stairs with Rumi, who had finally decided to drop the questions about Touya, the reporters were doing their normal shtick.

Asking the two heroes if they were romantically involved, which had always made him a little sick. Rumi was his best friend and like his sister, he couldn’t see her like that if he tried. That and the fact that women, in general, were off the table for him.

This time the reporters seemed to be getting to him even more, all he wanted to do was turn around and head right back home to have a night in with his boyfriend. Was that too much to ask?

“Pro Hero Hawks,” could they just shut up for once, “is it true that you and Pro Hero Mirko are planning an engagement?” Where had they even pulled that one from?

Keigo bit his tongue and walked away, he wouldn’t say a word. They kept following him, what was so difficult about learning when to stop. He kept walking.

A camera was shoved in his face. He kept walking. A hand touched his shoulder. He kept walking. Someone grasped at his shoulder. He kept walking.

A hand pulled on his feathers.

Keigo whipped around just for another camera to be shoved in his face, “Pro Hero Hawks could you please answer the question.”

Keigo hated how upfront all of the reporters were, he absolutely despised how they acted like they deserved to hear about his personal life just because he was some sort of celebrity. It was appalling. His nerves were getting to him and he was well aware that this was one of those moments where it was better to just walk away.

But he couldn’t, he stayed planted right there with a newscaster recording his every word. “You want to know the truth?” he said, egging them on.

“Yes.”

Couldn’t even say please could they, “Well the truth is Mirko and I aren’t together and never have been! The lies that all of you make up about us heroes are disgusting. In fact, I have a boyfriend sitting at home who’s probably watching your trashy newscast and is disgusted by how you are acting right now. Get out of my personal life, out of all of our personal lives, we are people not some toy you can make dance whenever you want.” Keigo huffed and sauntered away, bringing with him a very shocked Rumi.

The reality of what he had just said hit him as he was walking through the grand front doors and entered the lobby. He had really just dropped that he had a boyfriend on national television, he had outed himself.

He was going to be sick.

This was the second unexpected part of the night, and it would not be the last. “So that guy is your boyfriend, Kei do you realize that he is a villain and a very wanted villain at that!”

Keigo put his hand over Rumi’s mouth, “We are in a room full of pro heroes, we cannot talk about this here.”

Rumi glared at him a little as he retracted his hand, “First of all rude, secondly you better tell me what’s going on.”

“I guess I have a lot of explaining to do.” At that moment Keigo’s phone went off, and as he expected it was Touya.

Touya <3- what do you think you just did birdbrain

Touya<3- do you realize how much trouble you just got yourself in

Me- yeah yeah whatever, it’ll blow over it always does

“Don’t tell me that’s who I think it is.”

“Shush, now come on let’s go find some seats.”

The dinner went as it normally did, having to talk to other pros that he could really care less about pleasing. It was kind of difficult being the Number Two Hero and being so young. Everyone talked down to him and treated him like he was some sort of kid just because he was a few years younger. Rumi was only four years older than him and she was treated like a goddess (which she should be but that’s beside the point).

Keigo was already mad about having to show up to the stupid gala in the first place and now with everyone treating him like shit, he couldn’t take it anymore.

When was the alcohol going to show up? At least then he could drink his sorrows away and pretend like he was having the time of his life.

A few hours later the alcohol did come out and Keigo regretted ever wanting it in the first place. With barely anyone to really talk to besides Rumi, he was stuck with nothing more to do than down glass after glass of champagne. Mistake number one.

Mistake number two, making a half-drunken conversation with Endeavor.

Mistake number three, continuing that conversation even after Shoto showed up.

Keigo was smart, in every situation that he wasn’t intoxicated. He had been talking to Endeavor like normal, the same witty banter as always, but that was getting really hard because Touya had told him a lot about what his father had done to not only him but the rest of his family too.

Keigo knew that he was going to slip up and say something that he wasn’t going to be able to take back and it was only a matter of time before that happened.

Shoto stood silently and obediently at his father’s side, he didn’t want to think about why the boy’s father had even dragged him to the stupid gala. Probably some stupid ‘training’ as Touya had put it.

“Are you planning on settling down anytime soon Hawks? It would be beneficial.” Shoto looked at his father with a surprised expression, although it still looked like his normal expression.

“Settling down....” Keigo’s drunken mind tried to process what he was just told. “Well, well, well, does letting your boyfriend move in with you count as settling down?”

If Shoto didn’t look surprised before he was definitely looking surprised now, that and there was a slight blush across his cheeks.

Endeavor was also looking pretty surprised and he was not opposed to showing it either, “I was not aware that you lived that way.”

Keigo’s drunken mind was angry, confused, and not going to like itself tomorrow morning. “Not aware! Have you looked at me, you saw me and said ‘that man’s straight’, really?”

Shoto’s eyes seemed to be as wide as they could as he stared at the pro hero, he did not just say that. “Dad I think we should go.” He said as he tugged at his father’s sleeve. It seemed as though Shoto had realized that Keigo was not in the best state of mind, he really hoped that he would have the chance to talk to the pro hero alone. Outing himself to Endeavor was probably one of the worst things that he could do.

The rest of the night had gone by pretty quickly, which could mostly be attributed to Keigo being absolutely hammered for the better half of it. As the very early hours of the morning came rolling in Rumi had had to physically drag Keigo to his apartment, where she could have a word with the villain that had been situated in Keigo’s living room.

The blond had nearly passed out on the cab drive back to his apartment, only being fully awoken by Rumi who refused to carry him up the stairs. “Get up,”

Keigo rubbed at his eyes, the alcohol seemed to be wearing off a little and his head had begun pounding, all he wanted was an Advil or something to stop the constant pressure in his skull.

Keigo dragged himself up the steps to the building and into the elevator, Rumi following close behind to make sure that he actually ended up in his apartment.

Keigo hadn’t been able to talk to the bunny hero about what she had seen earlier that night, probably because he tried to get drunk as quickly as possible. He already knew that he would have to deal with that in the morning but that was tomorrow Keigo’s problem. All he had to do now was cuddle up in bed with his boyfriend and attempt to ward off the impending hangover.

That was going to be great, especially with him having to patrol the next day. He hadn’t really thought about that one.

He fumbled around with the key that was in his pocket, finally fishing it out and struggling to get the key into the lock. After a few minutes of struggling he decided to just bang on the door, Touya could be home and he’d rather just have him open the door because it was very embarrassing that he couldn’t open a door and Rumi was standing not even a foot away from him.

He wasn’t living this night down ever.

Touya finally unlocked the door from the inside and was greeted with a still very intoxicated Keigo Takami who all but fell into the taller man’s arms.

Rumi looked at the pair and sighed, “Make sure he wakes up in time for his patrol tomorrow.” She walked away and Touya shut the door as she went.

Keigo’s breath was shifting into a steady pace as he stood, half asleep, against the villain. Touya tried his best to pick the man up, which was a lot harder than it seemed. Touya was more of a long-range combat kind of guy so bulking up wasn’t on the top of his to-do list. Nevertheless, he pulled the blond into his arms and walked the two of them into Keigo’s bedroom.

He placed the hero down on the bed and helped him change into something that wasn’t a full-on suit. Again that was pretty difficult. He continued until Keigo was in a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. Touya was exhausted, it was way too late (or early) to be up, all he wanted to do was crawl into bed with Keigo, so that’s exactly what he did. Laying down onto the bed and draping the blanket over the two of them, pulling Keigo into his arms and falling asleep to his steady breathing.

The next morning Keigo woke with an even worse headache than he had the night before. He completely regretted everything that he did the night before. The alcohol for starters, and of course, he was the biggest idiot in the world and outed himself to his colleague.

Fuck.

Something must have been completely wrong with him, somebody must have slipped something into his drink because there was no way that he had said those things to Endeavor.

He had acted as though nothing was wrong, he knew what Endeavor did to his kids and it was surprising that Keigo hadn’t slipped and said something about that.

But he had slipped something even worse. He sat up on the bed and wiped his face with his hands, He had told Endeavor that he had a boyfriend and that they were living together.

Then the reality of the situation really hit him. He had told the entire world he had a boyfriend.

Before now he had only been focusing on what had happened at the gala itself and was completely glossing over the fact that he had answered that stupid question before the event. He told every person that was watching the news that night that he, Pro Hero Hawks, was gay.

And that terrified him.

Sure he had wanted to come out at some point, he wasn’t going to hide in the closet forever, but this was not the way that he wanted to do it. Keigo didn’t want to come out in a half-hearted answer that was mostly fueled by pure anger at the press.

He looked at the man lying next to him, Touya was still peacefully asleep, he pushed back Touya’s dark bangs and pressed a kiss to his forehead. As the hair fell back into place he saw that Touya’s roots had begun growing in, the red contrasted quite beautifully with the black. Keigo hoped that he would grow his hair out, the color looked nice on him.

Keigo stood up from the bed and started his routine to get ready, he also decided to down a few painkillers because there was no way that he would be able to focus during patrol with his killer headache.

He wasn’t ready when he finally walked out the door, he knew physically that he was as he went through his entire routine, but mentally? He was in no shape to go save people.
He really wished that he could just stay home and lounge around all day with Touya, he was really looking forward to his next day off.

He locked the door behind him and tried to shake the intrusive thoughts from his mind.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, Hawks!”

He spun around to see Rumi walking up behind him. “Oh hey Miruko,” He wouldn’t admit it but the shouting still made his head pound.

“Now yesterday you didn’t get to explain everything to me, sooooo, I think that we should go get lunch and you can explain who that guy was that I saw last night.” Keigo hated how right she was, he had promised that he would tell her about Touya but then he had gotten sloshed and couldn’t focus to save his life.

The two walked to a secluded café, making small talk along the way, Keigo was ready to bolt away though as they took their seats.

“So, you care to explain why Dabi was in your apartment?”

Keigo looked out the window, “Not really Dabi.”

Rumi looked shocked, there was no way Keigo was that blind, “Really?! So the villain you were sucking face with just so happened to look exactly like Dabi?”

Keigo took a deep breath, he was really going to go through with this, “He’s not really Dabi, that’s not his real name. He’s Touya, Touya Todoroki.”

Rumi went quiet, trying to process what she had just heard, “T-Todoroki?”

“Yep, not so dead Todoroki kid.” Keigo was just bored at this point, Rumi wasn’t yelling at him for getting with a villain like he expected, ‘Guess she really does just want me to be happy’ he thought to himself. Rumi was the best.

“I thought Touya died when he was a kid, it was some accident with his quirk. He couldn’t control it or something like that.”

Keigo tried to ground himself for what he was about to say. On one hand, Rumi could believe him and every word that came out of his mouth. On the other, she could completely believe that he was lying and then go running off to the Hero Commission to report him.

“Touya, it wasn’t an accident. He told me...he told me that his dad made him go through some intensive training. One day he made Touya fight too hard and Touya got real messed up. Then I guess as a latch ditch effort he ran.” Keigo tried to fight back from screaming about how much of an abusive idiot Endeavor was, but he bit his tongue.

“How bad was training?” That would become a question that Rumi would regret asking.

“Touya hasn’t really told me the full extent of it. I know that he would make Touya overexert himself all the time, he’d burn him, and physically harm him constantly. I don’t get it. He looked like this great hero, I looked up to him for so long, and this entire time he’s abusing his entire family and I never saw any of the signs. I never saw anything.”

Keigo struggled to hold up his head as he fought back angry tears. He was completely livid, whenever Endeavor was brought up it was the only emotion he could feel. He tried his best to put on a happy face and pretend that everything was exactly how it was before Touya had told him what Endeavor had done to him.

“Oh gods,” Rumi didn’t know what to say anymore, how could Endeavor be like that behind closed doors? Her phone went off, signaling that it was time to get back to patrol. Keigo looked up too, he saw the time and sighed.

“Guess it's time to forget about this?”

“Not a chance Hawks. I’m in on this now too, I’ll help you two if you guys need it.”

Keigo was surprised and went to ask a question, “You aren’t…”

“I won’t tell anyone, but if he does something to you I swear I’ll go after that man.”

Keigo chuckled a bit and started to get up from the café chair, “I don’t think he’ll do anything too drastic. He really is a good person deep down.” Rumi gave him a side glance, “He’s doing better I promise! He’s not as involved with the League and he’s cutting down on hard crime. I think that’s a step in the right direction.”

The two exited the café and said their goodbyes. Keigo was falling right back into his pro hero persona, the happy go lucky guy that everyone saw him as. They didn’t know that he was worried about whether or not he’d have to see Endeavor, or if the Commission pulled one of their stunts again. Knowing what he’d said last night it was really only a matter of time before the Commission got a hold of him and made him go to some interview where he would be told to deny everything that he said.

Be told to say that he was drunk and it was something that was only supposed to be a joke. Everything was just a joke to them.

Keigo tried his hardest to push the thought to the back of his mind, he just needed to focus on the task at hand. Saving people and acting like a happy human being. All's fair in love and trauma ain’t it?

Although crime had increased a bit since quirks started to show up, there were still slow days. It wasn’t every day that a major villain showed up and wreaked havoc. That only happened about once a week.

So sue him if the day was a bit boring, the only thing that had happened was a petty robbery. They didn’t really teach this part in hero schools, not like Keigo knew what a hero school looked like since he was raised by the commission. He assumed that they didn’t teach the fact that there was a lot more to hero work than just fighting villains, the public image being one.

Usually, Keigo’s image was fine but after last night, ehhhh, not so much.

The first encounter with someone who had seen the interview, if you could even call it that, was not so great. If anything it could be described as a dumpster fire.

“Hey! Hey!” Keigo turned around to see who was yelling at him. Who he saw was a man, not much taller than himself, but definitely looked much older than himself. He was very confused, all he had been doing was walking down the street. What problem could this guy have?

The guy looked mad too, which only furthered Keigo’s confusion, “Yeah?”

“Those things you said in that interview last night, were they true?”

Keigo gulped, he had already outed himself so what was the real harm in confirming it, you only live once after all. “Uh yeah, yeah all those things, one hundred percent true.” He tried his best to put on a brave face and smile as he walked away, that was difficult.

“Where do you think you’re going? Come back here I haven’t finished!” Keigo stopped in his tracks and turned around once more, this man really wasn’t going to shut up.

“What would you like to say, sir?” He gritted through his teeth.

“People like you shouldn’t be heroes! You disgusting filth, can’t even save yourself how are you supposed to save the rest of us.” That struck a chord deep within Keigo, he knew that he had to keep his composure and make sure that he didn’t do something that he would regret later. But it would be so easy to just let go and tell this man what he really thought.

“Sir I have been trained by the Hero Commission, I believe that I am perfectly capable of doing my job. I wouldn’t have been able to get my hero license if I wasn’t able to.”
He made a silent promise to himself that that was all that he was going to say, he was going to walk away and pretend like this didn’t even happen. He’d go back to his apartment and have a nice night in, yeah that’s all he needed right now. A few more hours and he’d be free.

“I bet that boyfriend of yours is only using you for your fame!”

Keigo just laughed it off, if only he knew, there was no way Touya was using him for fame when no one even knew Touya was alive. “I can assure you that he’s not. Have a nice day sir.”

He walked away down the street, hoping that this would be the only bad encounter of the day.

He was very wrong.

There were more people, none very original in what they had to say to the hero, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt. He really expected more from people. He put his life on the line every day to protect them and they had the audacity to hate him for who he loved? Who cared if he was gay, who cared if he had a boyfriend, none of that should matter.

At the end of the day, the only thing that mattered was that he was a good hero, he was a good person.

Keigo hated that he had to remind himself that he was good and it was the people that were wrong, it shouldn’t matter what gender anyone loved. That day felt like an eternity.
What made it worse was that the Hero Commission did decide to call him, a quick ‘hey you messed up big time’ and a time he’d have to be at the office.

He tried his hardest to be at the office as little as possible. Maybe it was because he felt the constant need to stretch his wings, or maybe it was because he just wanted to be as far away from his handlers as humanly possible. No matter the reason, Keigo did not like going to the office.

When he was younger, much younger, getting called in only meant trouble. It meant that he had messed up severely and that proper punishment would be dealt. The older he got the less severe the physical stuff got, so they ramped up on breaking him mentally.

Keigo was barely going by this point, how he was able to seem as though he was completely put together was astonishing.

When he stepped foot into the Hero Commission Office you’d think he was a completely different person. He reeled himself back a lot, the flirty go lucky attitude gone, replaced with one that was meek and obedient. He could do this, that saying replayed like a mantra in his head. He just had to get through this meeting and then he could go home.

It's crazy how in such a short amount of time the definition of home had changed for him.

It used to just be the place that he went to sleep, the place he was at when he was off duty. Now it had Touya, it was Touya. Keigo just wanted to be wherever Touya was, that would be home for him.

But he couldn’t think about that right now, he had to think about making sure that he didn’t do anything to set his handlers off. He just had to be the perfect little hero for them and it would all be fine.

Then again Keigo’s day hadn’t been going so well.

“Do you care to explain why you said those things last night Hawks?” His handlers never referred to him by his given name, only ever by Hawks. Had they taken him in a little younger he may have completely forgotten what his real name was.

“It was a heat of the moment kind of thing. Had I thought about it I… I wouldn’t have said any of it.” Was that even the truth? He was so sick and tired of hiding, even if coming out was the most difficult thing that he had to do, especially when he was such a public figure.

“Why didn’t you think through your words? You are a hero Hawks and you must think through every one of your actions.” The words came out like acid, a dagger piercing at Keigo’s heart. He didn’t think he could handle this conversation anymore, he just needed to get out. His breath was picking up and he was fighting back the urge to claw at his skin.

Five more minutes, he knew there would definitely be more time but if he kept lying to himself, and maybe it would come true.

The minutes continued and so did the berating.

He would have to go on Present Mic’s radio show and clear it all up, crawl back into the closet that he just jumped from. Was there no escaping? Did he even want to ‘fix’ it, couldn’t he just pretend like he was going to and then just further confirm it.

The thought was like an itch that he couldn’t get out of his head, sticking there and refusing to leave. He knew that it was a really dumb idea, that would only mean that there would be another meeting with his handlers, and possibly an even worse punishment.

It would be fine, everything was going to be fine.

Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine.

Keigo stumbled into his and Touya’s apartment. Everything was fine. His keys were shaking in his hands, he almost dropped them as he took them out of the lock. His claws had tried to begin their onslaught on his skin, thankfully his jacket was stopping him from doing any real damage.

He knew that he had to stop before Touya saw. That man had gone through worse, Keigo had no right to feel like this.

He was fine, he just had a bad day like everybody else. He was fine.

“Hey Kei how….Hey,” Keigo was unresponsive, “Hey! Kei what’s going on.” Touya was trying his best to work out what was happening with his boyfriend.

He looked from his eyes, which were glassy, to his fingers that were moving frantically across his jacket sleeves. That’s when it hit him.

“Keigo come on, focus on my voice. Don’t worry, can you breathe with me?” Keigo didn’t respond, his ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton. His brain seemed as though it was submerged in water. Why was this happening, how could he stop it?

His handlers never helped him through his panic attacks before, anytime one came he was forced to go through it alone. He didn’t know what it felt like for someone to help him for once.

Keigo couldn’t even process that someone was trying to help him.

Touya didn’t know if he should touch Keigo, would that set him off even more. The last thing he wanted to do was trigger the other man, he hesitantly reached out.

There was on flinching, that had to be a good sign. He slowly brought the smaller man into his arms, Keigo buried his head into the chest of the scarred man. It almost caught Touya off guard.

There were small gasps and shuddering breaths, there was no way that he was getting enough oxygen.

Touya put a hesitant hand on the back of Keigo’s head and threaded his fingers through the blond hair.

“Come on Kei,” his words were but a whisper, “try to breathe alright.” His heartbeat was racing, he knew he had to get it to stop. Working himself into a panic wouldn’t help in this situation.

He tried to steady his heartbeat, something he could focus on. As Touya’s heartbeat slowed Keigo began taking deeper breaths, which was a nice surprise.

“You’re doing a great job.” Touya began to move his hand that was on the back of the blond’s head, slowly rubbing at his scalp.

They stood for what seemed like an eternity, it was in no way actually comfortable but dang was it comforting. Keigo’s head buried in Touya’s chest, his head tucked under the other’s chin. Nobody had held him like this before, not his parents, not anyone at the Commission, only Touya. It was only ever Touya.

He took a deep breath, it was still a bit shaky but at least he could process what was happening now. Keigo slowly looked up and locked eyes with the dark-haired man that he was leaning against.

A blush spread across his cheeks, “Oh uh, I’m uh I’m sorry about that. Probably freaked you out some. I’ll just go…” He tried to walk away but was pulled back from his arm. Touya had a firm grasp on his jacket and wasn’t going to let go.

“Baby bird, you really think I’m going to let you go.” Keigo looked down at his shoes, embarrassed.

“Was kinda hoping so,” Touya just chuckled a little and pulled Keigo back into his arms. He wrapped the shorter man in his arms and held on tight.

“I know it might be hard, but do you want to tell me what happened?” He asked in the most gentle way possible.

Keigo just sighed, “Had a bad day.”

“Seemed like it was a little more than just a bad day.”

Keigo looked up to meet Touya’s gaze once more, “Fine, it was.”

Touya realized that he wasn’t going to get more than that, at least not now. “Well, you look like trash right now so come on.” Touya picked up Keigo, a little alarmed at how easy it was to do so.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing Tou?!”

“You’re coming with me.” Keigo only fought for a little bit before finally losing his energy and giving up, letting himself be carried off to who knows where.

Since Touya had been living with Keigo for a while he was well versed in the floor plan of the apartment, and it wasn’t that large, to begin with. He carried the worn-out blond into the bathroom and turned on the bath.

Keigo looked at him confused. “You’re worn out, take a bath and chill out for a bit.”

Keigo bit his bottom lip, something weird was going on in his brain and he didn’t know why or what it was. He was so tired, a warm bath couldn’t hurt, right?
Touya took that as his leave, letting Keigo wash himself up.

Keigo sat in the warm water, he hadn’t had time to do this in what felt like forever. He finally was able to just let go and forget about everything for a while. His wings were precariously spread out behind his so they would not get wet, getting his wings was something that he was not as keen on.

Finally, after about half an hour of soaking in the warm water, which had slowly been getting colder and colder as time progressed, Keigo finally got out. On the counter, he saw a fresh pair of clothes that brought a small smile to his face.

He still felt a bit out of it though, not in the same way as before though when anxiety was wracking his brain, this was something different. Not bad but not completely good either, he wasn’t sure if he liked it or not.

He walked out in a pair of basketball shorts and a sweatshirt that was definitely not his. It was way too big on him, falling down to his mid-thigh. It must have belonged to Touya who always bought things that were a size too big for the taller man, which had always confused the hero.

It didn’t matter now though because he was wrapped up in a sweatshirt that smelled like his boyfriend and he couldn’t ask for anything more, and it was also a plus that the sweatshirt was super soft.

He left the bathroom and walked out into the main room, Touya had some takeout laid out on the table in front of him and was watching some show. As he realized that Keigo had padded into the room he motioned the other to come over to him.

Keigo slowly walked over, the feeling of not being completely there heightened a bit. “Come on baby bird,” that sped him up a bit.

Keigo plopped down on the couch next to Touya and was wrapped in a blanket that Touya had brought with him. “Tou what’s this all about?”

Touya ruffled his hair, “You had a rough day so, as your boyfriend, it's my responsibility to take care of you.”

“Don’t you have anything to do with the League?” Keigo asked in an almost childlike manner.

“What part of ‘distancing myself’ do you not understand? Besides you’re more important than those idiots.”

Keigo chuckled, “It's not nice to call your friends' idiots Touya.”

The way that Keigo said his name sent him for a loop, the winged hero was acting sort of different than normal. Touya decided to leave it be for now. They ate their dinner together in mostly silence, but not the stuffy awkward kind, it was almost calming.

After that they cuddled together on Keigo’s too small couch, it should have been uncomfortable, the out of it feeling seemed to make everything seem amazing though. Almost everything that is.

The longer he stayed wrapped in a blanket, tucked into Touya’s side, the more the feeling overwhelmed him. He didn’t know what was happening anymore, the feelings kept increasing but he didn’t seem to mind.

As wrong as it was, Touya sitting beside him made him feel safe. Safer than he had felt in years. Thanks to Touya’s quirk the man always ran hot, the warmth today though was more welcomed than it usually was. It was all-encompassing and just so comforting.

Keigo drifted in and out of consciousness on the raven-haired man’s shoulder. He could stay like this forever, in this dream like trance, the world felt bubbly and perfect. He could forget all about the gala, the Commission, the terrible people that had harassed him on the streets.

None of that mattered because Touya was stroking the base of his wings and lulling him into a dreamless sleep. Touya saw that Keigo’s eyes had begun to glass over again, but there was no sign of panic in the blond’s demeanor, he had had his suspicions about the hero and they were beginning to be confirmed little by little.

Maybe he would be able to get the answers out of his stubborn boyfriend now.

“Hey baby bird, you still with me?” Touya tried to ask in his most gentle voice.

“Mhmm,” Keigo really must have been in some sort of weird headspace.

“You want to tell me what happened earlier?” Keigo snuggled into Touya’s neck, hiding his face from the other man, “It’s alright, just tell me when you’re ready alright baby bird.” Touya knew that the nickname would get to him at some point, he was going to use that to his full advantage. Keigo sat tucked in Touya’s side, “Bad day.”

Touya sighed a little, “I know hun, but I need to know a little more than that. How else am I supposed to help?”

Keigo shrugged, “People are mean.”

“Why were the people mean Kei?”

Touya could see how Kego tensed through his ruffled feathers, “They said rude ass things about you. They didn’t like what I said on tv.”

The way that Keigo said it was so… small. Like he was a completely different person not processing what he was really saying. Touya had seen Keigo’s little stunt on the news, and as much as it was a real crazy move he was proud of the hero. Being in the limelight was wild enough already, to throw being a queer person on top of that was just insane.

“What did they say baby bird?” He knew that he was beginning to press too much but he really wanted to know what these people had said to his baby bird.

“Said you were using me, wanted to be famous too. They said bad words.” Keigo was acting so, so different. Never in a million years had Touya heard him talk like that.

The scarred man wrapped Keigo in his arms and held on tight, hoping that he would be able to block out the thoughts that those people had instilled into his head. “Don’t listen to them,” he threaded his fingers through the golden strands, “Don’t even listen to them. They have no clue what they’re talking about.”

He could hear Keigo whine a little, he didn’t care that Keigo was acting differently than normal, he just needed to make sure that the hero was okay. Staying there, cuddling him and stroking his scalp, whatever he needed to do to make Keigo feel loved.

He needed to know that it was okay to be vulnerable, that it was okay to be happy, to feel loved and cherished. Keigo was everything to Touya and he just wished that the blond could see that.

“You are wonderful, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If you need help fixing this I will always be here for you. I am here to protect you, from civilians, the Commission, hell even from yourself if I need to. But no matter what I am here, and I love you so much Keigo.”

Touya could feel the skin near his neck getting damp, tears had begun to spill from Keigo’s eyes. The tears made Touya’s heart hurt, he hoped that all the man needed was a good cry.

Keigo didn’t really cry that much, when he did it was bad. It was as if the tears continued to build up, the emotions ran high until something made the dam break. Today was the dam breaking.

From what Keigo had told him he had really been through the wringer today, that on top of Keigo repressing his emotions for the past few months, to put it not so lightly he was due for a breakdown.

And that was okay, sometimes all you need is a good cry.

Touya let him sob on his shoulder, not caring about his shirt becoming damp with salty tears.

He let Keigo go as long as he needed before he finally fell asleep on the bony shoulder that he was crying on. Touya didn’t think that he would actually be a legitimate shoulder to cry on but it didn’t matter, anything to make sure that Keigo was okay.

Touya looked at the time and saw how late it actually was, he decided to weasel his way out from under Keigo’s grasp and clean up their dinner. Then he picked up the smaller man and carried him to their bedroom.

That felt nice, their bedroom. Getting to call things their’s was something he never thought he could get bored of. He laid the man down on the bed and crawled in next to him. Touya was going to protect Keigo no matter what.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Touya was beginning to regret helping Keigo with this problem. He did care, he really did, but going up against the Hero Commission. Well, that was a pretty big task.

The Commission had gone along and decided to schedule that interview after all, no matter how much Keigo had protested. Apparently, the Commission was very against having an out queer hero, you’d think that they would try to use Keigo as some sort of token character but that was not the case.

That had hit Touya in all the wrong ways, he, no, Keigo and him were going to get back at the Commission. Not just for this but for all the things that they had put Keigo through before. No kid deserved half of the things that Keigo had been put through, much like Touya his childhood was ripped away from him as he was forced to become a pro hero.

Keigo really wondered why he was even a hero anymore, what was the point? Sure every kid dreams of being a hero someday, every little kid said that at some point, but when you’re an adult what’s the reason.

To help people, they didn’t care about him. The money, financial gain was never really top on the list. What was the reason that he forced himself to get out of bed each morning to go out on patrol? He didn’t know anymore.

Maybe that was why he wanted to hurt the Commission, give them something to really hate him for. Kick him out of the program, that would really be a lifesaver now wouldn’t it. If he got away from the Commission he could kiss his trashy life behind, finally be able to live the life he always dreamed of with Touya.

They could run off to the countryside together and leave it all behind. No more Commission or terrible parents. No more worries about what society would think of them. It seemed like their personal heaven on Earth, how perfect.

But he couldn’t think about that now. He had to focus on his and Touya’s plan, the one that was going to be done very soon.

Since there was no getting out of the interview the two men had planned to go completely in the opposite direction of what the Commission wanted Keigo to do.

At least it was Present Mic’s radio show, and almost everyone knew that he and Eraserhead had something going on behind the scenes. Keigo would be safe with him. The radio show was happening, happening so soon that Keigo’s heart began to speed up at the thought.

It was happening tonight.

It wasn’t even as if Keigo could mentally prepare himself, he had to patrol so that meant long hours trying to put on a brave face in front of the civilians. The interview was scheduled for less than an hour after his patrol ended, which meant that he didn’t even get to stay around Touya for long before he had to go and face all his demons.

He was a dead man walking.

As he walked down the street it was all that he could think about, counting down the minutes before he would really be out. It would be going against whatever the Commission had been putting out, he had really been trying to avoid it as much as he could.

He turned off all notifications for his socials and ignored any texts that weren’t from Touya, Rumi, or his intern. It was a lot more difficult than it seemed okay.

Keigo finally made his way towards the building where it was all about to go down. He took a deep breath and was about to enter the building when his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Should I be concerned or upset that you didn’t look at who was calling?”

Keigo let out the breath he was holding, “Hey Tou,” he began to relax a little at the sound of the other man’s voice.

“Hey yourself, come around the side of the building would you?” Keigo rolled his eyes, of course, Touya would pull a stunt like this, it didn’t stop him from walking to the place that the villain had described though.

“Touya do you realize you are right next to a hero’s building, a pretty well-known one at that?!” The raven-haired man’s antics were going to get him caught at some point. “I just thought that I would give my boyfriend some extra confidence.”

“Oh really, now what does that entail?” Keigo was trying really hard to act flirty even though he was terrified of what was going to happen in the next ten minutes.
Touya closed the distance between them, even though there was barely any, and planted his lips on the other man's.

The kiss was passionate and full of love, the pressure of Touya's lips against Keigo's was perfection. The little bites that the scarred man did were amazing.

“You sure you got this baby bird?”

“Don’t have much of a choice anymore.”

Touya put one scarred hand on Keigo’s face, stroking his cheek, “I’m proud of you.”

The winged hero smirked, “I haven’t even done anything yet.”

“Doesn’t matter,” With one last small peck Keigo was off. He walked out of the alleyway and into the hell house. It was going to be a really difficult interview, probably the
hardest he ever had to do in his entire hero career.

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The interview wasn’t going so bad actually. Present Mic had yet to ask any questions about his trashy version of coming out on TV, Keigo would be lying if he said he wasn’t happy that the man was avoiding the subject like the plague.

Or at least he was before.

“So Hawks, a few weeks ago you mentioned in the broadcast before the annual Hero Gala that you had a boyfriend?”

Here it was, he knew that he was supposed to deny, deny, deny, at least that’s what the Hero Commission had drilled into his mind. His job was supposed to pretend that he was drunk before the gala and say some off-handed comment about having a girlfriend.

Keigo was never one for following rules.

“Actually yeah,” he looked down at his eyes to avoid anyone’s gaze, “Yeah I do.” He did it, he confirmed it for everyone to know. He was so screwed later.

“Oh,” It seemed as though Present Mic was actually surprised, “I hope you two are doing well. When did that happen?”

Talking with Mic was actually a lot easier than he thought it was going to be. Despite his loud personality, he was quiet and thoughtful for once. “We got together a few months ago. We’d been dancing around each other for a while and finally got our stuff together.” He knew better than to swear on a live broadcast.

“Anything else?”

Here it was, everyone listening probably wanted him to spare all the deep dark secrets about his and Touya’s relationship. He wasn’t going to do that, their private life would stay their private life.

But he could spare one certain detail, “Well as much as we are pretty private about our relationship, I would just like to say that Touya is the best man that I could ever find myself with. So I really hope that he’s listening in, I just want him to know that.” A smile crept across his face, if Touya was listening right now he was probably going to be really surprised.

There were lots of people with the name Touya out there, it's not like he dropped the fact that it was Touya Todoroki, not like anyone would believe him if he said that. Things like that are difficult when your boyfriend is legally dead.

The rest of the interview was short and was much easier than that little section. Keigo was actually very relieved that he was only asked a few questions about his relationship. As soon as he stepped out of the chair he was flooded with texts and calls from the Hero Commission. He knew that this was going to happen, he had gone against their direct order and that was something that they never liked.

The Commission could go off though because he did what he had wanted to do. Sure he still couldn’t go out with his boyfriend because Touya was still a wanted criminal but it was a step in the right direction. Now Touya just had to turn himself in at some point, pull a few strings in court, minimal sentence, life would be great after that.

He walked out of the building, turning the corner into the alley, and was immediately wrapped in Touya’s scarred arms.

“Baby bird,” he didn’t need to say any more than that because Keigo knew how proud the dark-haired man was.

They pulled apart after a few minutes, Keigo missed the warmth that Touya always had.

“Now what was that about dropping my name?”

Keigo laughed, “It’s not like anyone knows who you really are. To everyone you’re just Dabi, but to me,” he leaned in to whisper into a scarred ear, “You’re Touya.” He relished in how red the other’s face got.

The two men were so entranced by each other that they didn’t recognize the people coming up behind them.

“Pro Hero Hawks who is....”

The group of reporters saw them.

“Oh fuck.”

To say that there was a frenzy would be putting it lightly, it was a slaughter fest. At least no one actually died, although Keigo really wanted to at that moment. He knew that having Touya come to the building was a bad idea, letting him take off his mask was another bad idea. But Keigo was so high on the excitement that he couldn’t really think straight.

Since both ways of the alleyway were blocked off, one by frantic reporters and the other by a brick wall, the only option was up.

Thank the gods Keigo could fly.

He hauled himself and Touya out of there as fast as he could, trying not to look at the monstrosity that lay beneath him. He had just cleared up one bad PR stunt, now he was going to have to do it again.

Not only that but he had just defied the Commission who was only going to want his head on a stake even more after this show got on the air. Today was not Keigo’s day.
Touya wasn’t having any of it either.

It was still very obvious that he was Dabi, with his scars and outfit, his hair had started to grow out more though, the red blending with the black. It was surprising to him at first that it wasn’t growing in white as it had in his childhood after the stress that his father had bestowed upon him, he kind of liked that it was red.

It matched Keigo’s wings, although he would never admit that out loud.

Still, though, Touya was Dabi and Dabi was a wanted villain. He was not the kind of person that a pro hero wanted to be spotted with, especially in the compromising position that they had been seen in. After that interview and the cameras catching them kissing, the public would put the pieces together and realize that Hawks was with Dabi.

Wasn’t that something that would go down in history?

At least to Touya’s knowledge, no one had yet figured out that he was in fact Touya Todoroki, but with the amount of digging these crazy conspiracists did it wouldn’t surprise
him if someone found out.

Only a matter of time before another cat was let out of the bag. He didn’t want this to happen, for any of this to happen. The last thing he wanted to do was damage Keigo’s Hero career, as stupid as it sounded. He was proud of the other man, sure heroes weren’t exactly his favorite type of person but Keigo was different, maybe it was because he stayed more in the grey area when it came to morals. Never truly siding with one side.

The media wouldn’t recognize that though because Hawks was found getting quite comfortable with a villain. Wasn’t that just the icing on the cake. As soon as their lives together seem to be looking up yet another thorn is stuck in their plan. This thorn being the dozens of news outlets that would broadcast the story, some of which probably already were.

It was not going to be a good day for either of the two men. Imagine, if you will, that your deepest darkest secret had come out. The thing that you never wanted to tell anyone. Well, that’s how Keigo and Touya felt right now.

Both didn't think that they would really ever tell anyone about their relationship, sure Rumi knew but that was by pure accident. It really seemed that the only reason people were finding out was by accident.

And it always had to be at the worst of times, these people didn’t know how to mind their own business.

They finally made it back to their apartment, going in through the balcony because they didn’t want to deal with seeing people on the ground floor. It was hard enough that Keigo’s neighbors were aware that they were living next to a pro hero, the whole building didn’t need to find out.

Especially after what had just happened.

The only upside is that right now it just seemed like he was dating Dabi, not everyone knew that the villain was Touya, and he was really hoping that it would stay that way. It wasn’t going to and he already was aware of that.

They just needed a little peace, to pretend that nothing was happening outside the apartment walls.

“Fuck!” Keigo tore off his jacket and threw it to the corner of the bedroom. He sat down on the bed, far too aggressively, and threaded his fingers through his hair. “Every time life’s going good I mess it up!”

He was stressed beyond belief and wanted nothing more than to just get out of his head.

Touya strode over and sat down next to the blond, he wrapped his arm around the other’s shoulder, pulling him close.

“It’s not your fault Kei, I shouldn’t have come. I’m sorry.” Keigo couldn’t even respond as his breath quickened and panic filled his body.

Touya could see what was happening and pulled the man into his lap, securing the hero’s arms around his own back so that they couldn’t mess up his arms.

He just rubbed Keigo’s scalp, something he knew calmed the hero down. “It’s okay angel, just breathe with me okay?” Touya was panicking too but Keigo didn’t need to know that. He was scared of people realizing who he was, that was the least likely thing but it could still happen, which would mean the end of everything wouldn’t it.

It was going to be rough for the both of them, wasn’t it.

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The word had gotten out, and gods had it spread like wildfire, just like they had expected. The Commission was angry once more, the public was fuming, it was all going downhill.

The League had even called up Touya to make sure that it was true. Surprisingly they didn’t really care, at least one could assume with their ragtag group they wouldn’t really put anyone down for something like that.

It was everything else that they needed to deal with.

Keigo was immediately sent into another interview, it wasn’t with Present Mic again. It seemed as though the Commission had realized that the man was a little too accepting for them. That interview was not as good, obviously.

“So recently it has come to the media’s attention that you were spotted with the villain Dabi. Would you care to comment on that? Why were you and this villain found in this ‘compromising’ position?”

Keigo was furious, but he was also terrified, every single word that came out of his mouth was being monitored strictly. They were being judged and it was horrifying, nothing was going to work out correctly.

He knew that no matter what he said, he was already doomed. He was found kissing Touya in an alley right after he had confirmed that he was in fact dating someone. Anything that came out of his mouth was a mistake.

“We-well, um, you see….” He knew he should just confirm it, if he denied it he was going to get screwed over anyway. There was video, photos, everything of their stupid little interaction, if he had just waited a few more minutes none of this would be happening.

If he was just able to control his emotions, not act on impulse all the time. If he was just able to slow down for once in his short life he and Touya would have been fine. They wouldn’t be dealing with the aftermath that was their relationship, it wasn’t as if neither of the men forgot what they were getting themselves into. A hero does not date a villain and expect to walk away safe and sound.

And now here he was dealing with the consequences of his actions.

He took a deep breath, forget what anyone thought about his and Touya’s relationship, behind their facade of hero and villain they were just two young adults who had gone through far too much in a terribly short amount of time. He knew that there was never going to be normal after this, he wouldn’t be able to walk down the street and smile at his fans when they passed him.

Hell, he probably wouldn’t even be the number two hero at this point once he confirmed it, but, by the gods was he going to take Endeavor down with him. That man was probably lounging away, watching the bird hero make a fool of himself, jokes on Enji though because Keigo knew it all. He was well aware of what went on behind the scenes in the Todoroki household.

He was going to start a fire and watch the world burn around him.

“It’s true, all of it. Dabi is my boyfriend but,” he was going to do this, Touya had said it was okay. “As you probably know that’s not the name I gave in the last interview.”

The radioman looked at him with peaked interest, most people had most likely forgotten about that small detail. Things like that tend to happen when you’re found making out with a highly wanted criminal. “Is that so, would you care to elaborate?”

He clasped his hands together, Keigo was almost sad that he was the one that was bringing down Endeavor and that it wasn’t Touya, it seemed like something that should be the older man’s job. He was the one who suffered at Endeavor’s hands after all. “Dabi isn’t his real name actually, it’s Touya. Touya Todoroki.”

With those two words, the Earth seemed to stop spinning.

Everyone listening in paused for a moment. Most of the world had forgotten about the third Todoroki son, Endeavor did a very good job of covering up his eldest son’s death. Even the man doing the interview seemed to stop in his tracks for a moment. “Todoroki?”

Keigo relaxed a little, the cat was out of the bag, he would be able to calm down a little now. He realized that he would need to deal with the aftermath of saying that he was dating a villain but it would be alright. “Yep, his dad doesn’t really like to talk about him much,” He knew he was allowed to say it but he really wished that Touya was the one letting people know this. “After Endeavor had almost burnt him alive, Touya lived on the streets for a while. And I know what everyone is probably thinking, ‘Hawks he’s a villain’, and I know that more than anyone.”

He took another deep breath, this interview was hell, “He’s trying to be better, when was the last time any of you heard the name Dabi on the news? It’s probably been a while right?” Keigo thought about what he was going to say next, if he was bringing down Endeavor might as well throw the Hero Commission in with him.

“The Commission assigned me a mission to infiltrate the League of Villains. Over the course of this assignment, I’ve learned just how terrible our system is, half of these people are only villains because society wouldn’t accept them anymore.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman walk into the studio, she brought him to a halt.

The president of the Hero Commission, he was screwed. Keigo knew that he wouldn’t have this chance again and started to say as much as he could. “The Commission has never done a single good thing. I, and many others, were forced to be child soldiers at ages as young as six. I didn’t want to be a hero, Touya didn’t want to be a villain, hero society has failed us and it keeps failing. If it doesn’t get fixed soon it's all going to start crumbling down around us.”

The woman was getting closer, he had to run, he had to get out of the building. His phone was vibrating in his pocket, Keigo really hoped that it was Touya since he wanted to make sure that the other was nowhere near the studio building this time around.

He got out of his seat and started to walk over to the door that would lead to his safety, he kept his eye on the woman the entire time. As soon as he felt the doorknob in his hands he opened the wooden door and bolted. Out of the room, around the corner, and since he had learned from the last time he had been in a studio he ran up the stairs. He was not about to trust any of the elevators, he’d get to the roof and fly off. He was nearly there until he heard shoes pounding on the ground behind him.

Looking back was a waste of time, he continued running as fast as his feet could take him up the stairs. He pulled open the door that would guarantee his freedom and slammed it shut behind him. He was safe.

Until he wasn’t.

“Hawks what have you done?!” The woman was on the roof with him, more handlers behind her.

Keigo was absolutely pissed, he was so close to freedom and there they came to collect their soldier once more. “I told the truth!”

“You wanted to be a hero.”

Keigo was trembling with fear at this point, “Every child wants to be a hero!” His breath was becoming erratic, he needed to stay in control. The phone in his pocket kept ringing but he knew that right now was not the time. “I was six, I shouldn’t have been trained like a pro!”

“That’s what it takes to be a perfect hero.”

“Fuck perfect heroes.” He was going to say something terrible he just knew, “Was Endeavor your perfect hero? You sure act like he is. Were you aware he abused each and every one of his children?”

“We did what had to be done.”

That comment stopped him, just what had they done to protect Endeavor? Keigo didn’t want to think about it. “I’m done. Take away my license, drop me from the ranks I don’t care. I’m not playing your games anymore.”

He didn’t dare stay back to see what would happen, he flew in a random direction for what seemed like miles. The ground was too risky, his apartment was a deathtrap since the Commission owned it, he decided that he would just land on the roof of a random building.

He did just that and finally pulled out his phone that hadn’t stopped ringing. It was in fact Touya, “Hey Tou.”

“Hey!? Really, Kei what the fuck did you just do?”

Keigo didn’t want to think about it, he knew that he had just ruined his entire career for forever, he was never going to be able to be the same hero ever again. “I know I went too far but I couldn’t stop, Touya I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be their pawn anymore.”

There was silence from the other end for a while, it terrified Keigo. He needed to know that Touya was still with him. “Then let’s leave.”

The response caught him off guard, “You’re serious”

“Deadly, neither of us wants to be here anymore so let’s go somewhere that people won’t know our names.”

He thought about it, it seemed like the best option. Staying away would let everything simmer out for a bit, and if they didn’t want to come back they didn’t need to. “Okay.”
They exchanged information, set up a time, and place they would meet. Keigo flew to his apartment and got his stuff collected as fast as he could, he did not need the

Commission to come bursting through his door when he was there. As much as he hated it, Keigo had stuffed all his feathers into a bag, as to not draw attention to himself,
there would already be people looking for him, having them out would just put a target on his back.

He grabbed whatever cash he had on him just in case the Commission had already frozen his credit card. With everything packed into a duffle bag, and his backpack full of feathers, he made his way to the train station.

He wore a hoodie and baseball cap but was still terrified of someone recognizing him. Touya was there, a medical mask to cover his facial scars and a turtleneck to cover the rest. Keigo wasn’t even aware he owned clothes other than band tees and the occasional white tank.

The taller man was holding two train tickets, to where Keigo had no clue, but anywhere was better than where they were. “You sure about this Kei.”

“I’ve never been more serious in my life.”

Because of their timing, the trains weren’t very packed, and very few people were heading out as far as they were. He didn’t know how far the train ride would be. Keigo thought about his life ahead of him as he leaned against Touya’s boney shoulder.

Hopefully one day they would be able to come back. Maybe he could finally see what U.A. looked like, he could meet Touya’s siblings, and the older man could finally see them again.

He shook his head, now was no time to think about the life he left behind, Keigo looked up at the dark-haired man. “I love you Touya.”

Touya smiled back at him, it was hard to tell because of his mask but his eyes had crinkled the tiniest bit. “I love you too Keigo.”

He leaned back into the other’s shoulder, with Touya with him he would be able to survive.