Chapter Text
"Keigo! Come here!"
It is 8 degrees Celsius in the middle of the night. The moon is almost full; unobstructed by the few little clouds wandering lazily through the starry sky, it casts a soft and calming light over the big city of Tokyo. But being finally outside and seeing such scenery only brings Keigo very little comfort, as his father calls his name in such a toxic tone...
Keigo is 7 years old and he understands very well that his father hates him. There are oh so many times that he told Keigo just how much he despises him, how much his pure existence makes him angry, straight to his face before he kicked him and inflicted him pain in various ways.
Yes, Keigo's father is not a good person, but he is all he has left. Somehow his mother, who was somewhat nice to him, abruptly disappeared 3 days ago. Even though she had promised Keigo that they would run away together, even though she had packed his clothes in the bag she secretly prepared. Did she leave? Did she abandon him? His own mother…
"KEIGO! I said come here!"
Keigo gasps and almost chokes on the smell of rotten garbage. He is hiding behind a trashcan in the alley somewhere far deep in the east side of Tokyo. His father said to stay here until he comes back to get him, so he obeyed and did as told. But that was an hour ago and it is really cold. Keigo does not own warm clothes, or even shoes; he is barefoot, his frayed shorts drop over his knees and his shirt cannot keep him warm with its many holes and poorly sewed tears on his shoulders. The crimson wings on his back can barely provide Keigo with warmth, for they are badly taken care of; they are quite small, sickly-looking and bare where the plucked feathers are slow to grow back. Keigo is dirty all over, his battered body covered with bruises where his own father landed his punches. For a child, he paints a pitiful saddening picture. At the sound of his father's voice, Keigo quickly lurks around his hiding place. As he spots the familiar blond hair of his father, he hops on his feet and runs to him. "Sorry," Keigo quietly says in a sheepish tone, hoping he did not anger the man. He wishes he could hold his Endeavor plush right now, unfortunately his father took it away from him to insure his full cooperation.
However his father is not alone, he has 2 other people with him. One of his accomplices is a lady who's arms resemble the tentacles of an octopus. She is quite tall, her cheeks are all puffy and her locks are curled in a crazy purple hairstyle. The other accomplice is an even taller guy who looks… quite normal in comparison. He is rough in appearance, with a blank stare and hair buzzed so short he almost looks bald. What makes him slightly stand out is his being quite muscular and his hands shining slightly whenever he clenched them into fists.
Keigo knew from his mother that he was not the only one who's quirk manifested apparently, but it made him all the more curious about seemingly normal people.
"We secured the place. Now we need you to do your part Keigo. And you want your Endeavor plush back, don't you? You don't want to make me angry again, right," his father asks. His voice, falsely sweet yet hinged with bitterness, never fails to intimidate little Keigo every time. Whenever he uses that tone with Keigo, he is about to do something Keigo will not like. Without waiting for an answer, his father takes him by his wrist and pulls him along. Followed by the associates, they walk into a direction until they are standing right before a huge building. It is a museum, Togoa tells his son, a museum full of antique and valuable stuff like vases and teapots from over 400 years ago. Then he drags Keigo around the museum to hide in the shadows, before he finally lets go of Keigo's sore wrist and kneels down to face him.
"Now, Keigo," he begins, pointing at the building with a stern expression, "do you remember what you have to do? You must use your wings to fly all the way up there, slip through the window on top of the roof, then you will open the door from inside and let us in. Do you understand that?" Keigo looks up with big golden eyes at his father, who stares back at him with forced friendliness. As much as he despises his own son, he needs him for this job. Else he would need to hire someone with a wing quirk, and those are hella expensive when it comes to sharing loot. The two goons he teamed with have the merit of being quite cheap, but why trouble himself when he has free child labor? So with convincing 'arguments', he managed to enrol his reluctant son with no regards to his wishes. Keigo is intimidated and distraught by the thought of breaking into this place. Isn't that forbidden? Does that mean his father is going to steal or destroy something? He cannot help but turn his eyes away from the man. "Isn't.. isn't that dangerous? I-Isn't that.. bad,” he asks with a tiny voice, fiddling with his fingers.
His father has to keep his cool not to hit the living hell out of his son again; he really needs his wings on this one. He raises his hand and Keigo flinches hard. But instead of the punch or the slap he expects, he receives instead a small pat on his messy and dirty hair. “You want to see Momma again, right,” he murmurs softly, “I will bring you to her and your Endeavor plush after you do me that favour alright?” Keigo's eyes go wide. His father knows where his mother went? Didn’t she run away? Or is she somewhere safe?This sparks an inner conflict in his soul. On one hand he does not want to do bad things, on the other he misses his mother and really wants his plush back; it was a present from her after all, it brings him much comfort.Keigo looks at his father, then at the building that is really tall from up close. “I… I don’t know if I can make that height. I can’t really fly, my wings can not really push me up,” he winces, flapping in a pathetic way. As if to underline their inability, his wings lose a few feathers with the motion.
“By the love of whatever god we have, just go up the building already,” the buff guy suddenly growls, losing his patience faster than Keigo's father. Without a warning he grabs Keigo by the collar and chucks him right up the building. Keigo does not really have the time to process what just happened, as he can see he is over the building and about to land directly on the roof. He flaps his wings with all the might he has, hoping he will not crash like a dead bug on the incoming surface. His efforts do count, for the landing is not lethal. It sure is rough though, for he falls flat on his face with a squeaky sound. He stays still for a moment, then stands laboriously. He feels dizzy, he is even dirtier than before and his hands and knees are bleeding. The world spins for a bit… then his senses slowly come back.
Right, he has a job to do.
Keigo repeats this line over and over in his head as he crawls over to the window and carefully pries it open with his weak hands. Thankfully the panel gives sufficiently to grant him an entrance from above.
Now Keigo just needs to glide down into the museum. He may be bad at holding himself up or even take flight, he can drop down from a certain height and slow his fall with his wings if he forces his full concentration on it. Keigo looks down; there are no lights on, but with the moon shining above him he can see enough to estimate how long the fall might be. “Come on now, you can do it Keigo,” he tells himself, hoping the self pep talk will give him the spirit he needs to achieve his goal. With his wings spread he slips through the gap, holding his breath like if he is about to dive in water, and falls down slowly into the entrails of the building.
The moment his feet touch the cold marble ground, Keigo gasps for air and thanks his wings for not failing him. Looking left and right, Keigo realises that this museum is as big inside as it seems outside; it actually feels like the inside of a big dragon's belly. Everything he stares at is… so new. The smell, the weird pounding, the sensations.. is that adrenaline? He can hear a loud beat sound so close to his ear, what is that? Keigo turns around confused, until he figures out that the sound is just his own heart hammering against his ribcage. He presses his little hands against his chest, trying to calm himself down. He needs to continue, or else he will ruin everything. He is already inside, he cannot come out the way he came in. So all he can do now is to just… keep going.
Keigo's small feet pat over the impeccable cold ground. Just to be safe he constantly checks his surroundings, wary for any kind of danger. Somehow Keigo can sense things with his feathers; clothes rustling, breaths, screams from far away, beeping sounds… his feathers can catch the slightest sound and deliver him the information he needs to know. Everything is silent though, except for a few clicks and beeps from time to time. Cameras, they are everywhere. Keigo has to completely rely on his instinct to get through the corridors without triggering any shrilling alarm. Shifting from one dark spot to another, he reaches the guard's office and spots keys hanging on a wall. However he cannot reach them, for he is much too short. So, he decides to use his feathers… which he can barely direct. It is all gut feeling, Keigo has no control over them yet. A few of his feathers bristle up, detach from his wings and start to levitate around. But when Keigo tries to get them to move, they just drop to the ground.
“Again Keigo,” he huffs to himself, as he focus all of his concentration on one single feather. It starts to follow his will, floating all the way up to the keys. It slips around them, pulls them off the hook and eventually they fall right in his outreaching hands. Keigo exhales the breath he was holding in, relieved. Then he makes his way to the door, quickly yet cautiously.
With his wings pressed tightly against his back, Keigo shifts from one corner to the next one until he reaches the door he is supposed to open. He inserts the key, tries around a bit to find the correct way to turn it to and eventually, the clicking of the lock tells him he did it. The door opens and the fresh soft wind caress his cheeks. Almost immediately his father walks in, quite satisfied that his son did something worthy for once. “Good job Keigo,” he chuckles in a low tone, waving at his comrades to join him inside the building. Somehow, even though this has to be the first praise he has ever received from his father, Keigo takes no pride in it whatsoever.
Dejected, he watches the group enter and proceed into killing off security. They do so with such ease, it is obviously not their first time breaking in. They check into the system to see where the most valuable stuff is stashed. As the buff guy starts to complain about the complexity of the building, Keigo's father starts to shout at him for being too loud. After this conversation is done and the two associates get to work, he orders Keigo to stay under a table so he will not cause any trouble or stand in their way. His one job was to open the door and that is it.
As Keigo decides to cover himself with his wings and roll up into a small bird burrito, he cannot shake off his conflicted feelings. Was it really the right decision to obey his father and let them into the museum? If he had not, he sure would have been kicked again or hurt in some other cruel way. Moreover his father has his Endeavor plushy… and he seems to know where his mother went.
“Papa,” Keigo dares as his father walks past the table he is laying under for protection, “can I have my plushy back now?”
A harsh knock on the table startles Keigo. “When we are home. Right now I am a little busy so be a good boy and stay quiet,” his father hisses.
“But.. o-okay. Sorry,” Keigo adds quickly, just in case his father gets mad enough to kick him. Thankfully he is truly too busy right now, as he carries expensive stuff out of the museum. They will make a fortune on the black market.
Being curled up as the ball of feathers, Keigo slowly closes his eyes. He is still freezing; now that his job is done, the adrenaline dies down and he starts to feel the cold even more acutely on top of his scraps. He can sense the excitement of the adults walking from one room to another and discussing their approach for certain parts of the operation. He can especially hear the octopus lady, who has the strongest voice much to Keigo’s surprise.
The longer he keeps his eyes closed, the better he can make a picture of his surroundings in his mind, predicting their next movements each time more precisely then the last. Suddenly Keigo's feathers bristle. What is this odd sensation? It is different… He can hear footsteps in the building, footsteps that do not belong to any of the criminals. He opens his eyes and slightly sits up under the table, shocked. There is someone else in the building and they are coming right toward the group.
His heart starts to beat fast again and his feathers bristle harder. Deep down he just knows this will end badly… Without a sound Keigo stands up and quickly waddles over to hide behind a corner in the shadows. Whatever is about to happen, he does not feel safe under the table anymore.
In the dark hallway of the museum, Keigo can see a shape forming together. A man in a guard uniform approaches, a flashlight in his hand. His hair is short and black, his eyes green and shiny like those of a cat. He walks right past Keigo and stops before the open door, perplexed. “Uh… That's odd. Did I let the door open,” he wonders, huffing a bit as he grabs the keys on his belt. He tightly locks the door again, Keigo watching powerless from his corner. Then the guard turns and his flashlight immediately uncovers Keigo. Both of them look at each other, mute and still. The flabbergasted guard blinks at the young boy, while Keigo is unable to move like a deer caught in headlights. But the moment that the guard tries to approach him, Keigo breaks out of his paralysis and covers his face with his arms in a defensive way. His eyes shut tightly and his wings barely able to hide him from him he held his breath, hoping it would turn him invisible somehow. He cannot even think of running away, just protect himself from whatever hit might come.
But he never received a harsh punch, instead he is spoken to. “Are you seeking cover from the cold little man,” the guard inquires in a soft and reassuring tone
It takes Keigo a short moment to process what he just heard. Slowly he opens his eyes and meets the guard's. “It is quite cold tonight, isn’t it? I don’t know how you got inside here, but it’s better that way then staying outside,” the guard continues with the same gentle voice.
“Are you… aren't you mad at me,” Keigo asks in a tiny, barely audible voice.
“Me? Mad? At who, you? Why should I,” the nice guard chuckles in a friendly tone, kneeling down to be at the same level of his surprised visitor, “where are your parents? Did you get lost little buddy?”
By the mention of his parents, Keigo subtly looks around. Where are his father and his comrades? It is like he was completely left alone with this stranger… who is nice to him at least. Maybe he will be fine if he tells them the truth.
As Keigo wants to speak up, 2 large octopus arms spring from the darkness and swiftly wrap around the men’s body, keeping him from making any movement. The flashlight drops on the marble floor with a loud cracking sound and the light goes out immediately. The guard tries to shout, but Keigo’s father immediately covered his mouth with his hand and holds a knife to his throat. “Now, now, now… we don’t wanna do something that we might regret right? If you start to scream, I will attack this child. It’s all in your hands now, little buddy!” The guard does not need to be told twice; he nods and Keigo's father slowly removes his hand. “Nice. Now, you are the night guard right? You're actually right on time because we are looking for the money. You can’t fool us by saying that there is nothing here, you must have some cash from the gift shop or whatever… and you will show us where it is!”
Before the guard's eyes Keigo’s father suddenly approaches his son, lifts his foot up and straight up stomps his own son on the ground. Keigo gasps voicelessly, falling on the side and covers his face with his weak and thin arms. The night guard cannot believe what is happening, how this senseless man brutally attacked that child. That was a show of power, to ascertain that he is not joking about hurting that poor kid.
“Okay okay! Stop! Please… I will show you where they store the money, just.. leave the young boy out of this, okay? I won’t resist, I promise,” the guard whispers desperately, “I don’t even have a weapon with me, just my phone and my flashlight!”
The buff criminal approaches him and gives him a thorough pat down; indeed the guard has nothing to protect himself, only the phone he mentioned. “Do you have a quirk,” the buff man grunts lowly, dangerously cracking his luminous knuckles.
“I- I can see in the dark,” the guard murmurs, sweating as he is released. He stares at the poor beaten up Keigo, still lying on the ground. “That’s it… that’s all I can do. I swear! I can show you where the treasury is, but I don’t have the keys to get it open!”
“That’s fine by me, that’s why we have our buff guy,” Keigo’s father says pretty nonchalantly, not at all affected about hurting his son to pressure the guard to cooperate. As Keigo looks up to the guard, their eyes meet and he… winks at him, with a quick smile. It is gone in the blink of an eye though, his face pulled by a stern expression. Then he is shoved by the lady of the group. “All right then, go,” she barks, pushing him forward again.
Keigo lays still on the ground, hugging his shoulders as he tries his best not to cry. That was a terrifying moment, even for him who has been tormented by his father so often in his life. His body shivers, his clothes now have fresh shoe prints and he feels horrible. Everyone can see this abuse, yet nobody seemed to care… except that nice guard, who looked utterly distressed to be a powerless witness of this abuse.
Pushed by the encouraging thought, Keigo decides to be brave for this kind man and slowly sits up. Will he be hurt by the good guys if they come? He hopes not, for he was so nice to the guard. His feathers itch, he can feel the man is in great need of help and this thought drives him up enough to slowly catch up on the group.
Just the moment Keigo thinks he can see them, a powerful light flashes out of nowhere. Suddenly everything is white and everything is shaking, as if lightening struck right here. The momentum is so strong Keigo falls back on his side, squeaking loudly under the pain. He cannot see anything, his eyes hurt a lot and tears start pouring down his face. He wishes he could open his eyes but he does not dare; instead he tries his best to get on all four and blindly feel his way to safety.As Keigo is patting around, for seconds that feel like an eternity, he knocks something smooth over. It lands heavily on the ground next to him, big and round. Keigo dares open his eyes a little, blinking hard against his tears to make out his surroundings. His mystery obstacle turns out to be a big vase, luckily intact. The opening is wide and it is twice Keigo's size; he could easily go in it and use it as a shelter from the chaos wrecking the museum.
Heavily breathing, Keigo manages to crawl inside the vase. Hidden away from the world, he curls up into a small feathery ball, pressing his hands over his head and keeping his eyes tightly shut. His heartbeat is racing like crazy and his breathing is shallow and fast, making it hard for him to calm down from all this fright and confusion. Eventually his hands slip over his ears, because the noises are getting too loud outside, and he desperately wishes he could fall sleep and wake up back at home.