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Keigo reached into his pocket with a shaking hand and took out his phone. For a moment he just stared down at it, wondering if he was making a mistake. Then, he unlocked his phone and went straight to his contacts, not even having to scroll down before he found the one he was looking for.
Blue Jay 💙
He felt tears building up in his eyes, but couldn't bring himself to hold them back as he hit the 'call' button and brought his phone up to his ear.
It rang…
And rang…
And rang …
The other side connected with a quiet noise. No greeting.
Keigo could hear the other person breathing harshly, like they were angry.
They had every right to be.
"... Touya." Keigo breathed.
"Don't." Keigo flinched at his tone, "Do not call me that. You don't have the right —"
"Fuck —I'm sorry — Dabi ." Keigo corrected, choked up.
He stood silently, not wanting to continue with what he had to say. Not wanting the call to end, wanting to prolong it for as long as possible —
"... What do you want, Hawks?" Touya — no, Dabi — asked, voice now emotionless, "Haven't you done enough?"
Keigo's breath hitched. God, there were so many things he wanted to say, so many things he wanted to explain. But he didn't have the time, and Touy- Dabi likely didn't have the patience.
"I just…" Keigo exhaled shakily, "... I called to say goodbye. To… To say sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Dabi. I'm sorry I killed Twice, I'm sorry I lied to you, I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to leave them… I'm just… So sorry…" He finished in a whisper, his heart pounding as a sob got caught in his chest.
"Sorry doesn't mean a goddamn thing, Hawks. It doesn't fix what you did, it doesn't bring Twice back, and it certainly doesn't mean a single fucking thing to me. You can't do what you did and expect forgiveness. Not from me."
Keigo swallowed, "... I'm not expecting forgiveness… Just — asking if I can make an atonement."
Dabi scoffed, "Well, is that all? How about this — a life for a life — you struck down Twice with one of those wretched feathers of yours, I already took your wings, all you have to do now is take a swan dive off a roof!" He yelled, sounding equal parts hurt and enraged.
Keigo let a wobbling smile form on his tear streaked face, "I'm way ahead of you there, Dabi." He admitted quietly.
There was complete silence on the other end of the phone.
"What." Dabi asked bluntly. Stunned.
Keigo nodded with a choked off laugh even though Dabi couldn't see him, "Yep, I'm on a roof right now… I can see the stars clearly from up here. It's… it's beautiful." He whispered, looking up at the night sky.
"Hawks —"
Keigo cut him off, "I can't change the past. I can't go back and stop myself from killing Twice — but I can avenge his death… It's the least I could do. Besides," He looked down towards the ground now, so very far below him, "it would help wouldn't it? Having the Number Two Hero commit suicide will surely affect public moral... That could only help the League, right?"
"Stop it Hawks, this isn't funny —"
"I'm not joking." Keigo stated firmly, "Goodbye, Dabi." He added, his tone final.
"Wait! Keigo —"
He hung up before Dabi could finish.
Looking out over the city, Keigo took a moment to just admire the view.
Then, he spread his arms out like the wings he lost, and let himself fly.
BREAKING NEWS: NUMBER TWO HERO HAWKS DIES IN SUDDEN SUICIDE!
The young hero's body was found at the bottom of the Hero Public Safety Commission building late last night. Was the loss of his wings too much for the young man to handle?
The President of the Commission had this to say about the tragedy…
"— and in other news, a warehouse on the fringes of Fuyuoka caught fire sometime in the early morning. Those first on the scene reported that the flames were blue, leading police and heroes alike to the highly likely conclusion that the fire was caused by the villain Dabi. The only thing that goes against this theory is the fact that there were no injuries or casualties to be found at or around the scene of the fire, making some doubt that Dabi was the perpetrator —"