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The apartment was empty when Keigo got home. He let the bag from the convenience store fall at his feet, taking in the still silence. He knew something like this was coming.
He headed into the kitchen, panic rising in his chest. The egg was still there, sitting under its heating lamp exactly where he left it.
The egg itself was a… difficult thing to explain. Keigo knew he could probably look it up and find some kind of answer as to why it was here, but there was a part of him that didn’t want to know. It wasn’t something he and Touya had planned, but it was something they agreed to work together on.
But Touya wasn’t here. On the table there were two notes, one addressed to him and one addressed to the egg itself. He didn’t want to read them. Instead he scooped up the egg and held it to his chest. Touya would be back. They may not have been a couple, but he wouldn’t just walk out like this right? He isn’t that big of an ass.
He held the egg, still unsure of what he was supposed to do with it. Was he supposed to pat it for comfort or was it like a fish that didn’t like it’s container to be tapped on?
He took to the couch, ignoring the bag of stuff he bought. Touya would pick it up when he got back. Keigo pulled the blanket up, wrapping it around his chin so that it would conserve the heat from his body to keep the egg warm. He’d read somewhere that this was supposed to help them bond, maybe make this feel real.
The hours ticked down and it grew dark outside. He knew he had to put the egg back or it would get cold. But he couldn’t move. It was dark now, and he knew Touya wasn’t coming back.
He forced himself up, putting the egg back onto its pillow under the lamp. He picked up the two notes, crumpling them and tossing them into the garbage.
There was nothing he could have written in them that would make this alright.
---
A few weeks passed and Keigo was starting to worry. Two months with the egg and it still didn’t feel like his. Shouldn’t he feel some kind of paternal connection by now? He was doing everything he was supposed to, he held it often and even picked a few names that he alternated calling it to make it feel like an actual baby. What else was he supposed to do?
There was a nagging fear in the back of his mind that maybe he was just going to be a bad father. It made him scared thinking of hurting his child like his father hurt him. It made him hug the egg a little closer and hope that something would click. He didn’t know what that click was supposed to feel like, but he wanted to stop waking up and hoping the egg wouldn’t be there anymore.
He was throwing himself into work more than usual, staying late to fill out paperwork and texting Rumi to flip the egg over when his timer would go off. He knew this didn’t help, but he didn’t know what else to do. The more free time he had, the more he thought about how much he didn’t know about being a father.
“When did you actually start feeling like a parent?” He asked Eji once while they filled out paperwork. Paperwork was one of the only things the older man was good for nowadays. He was nearing 70, but looked so much older. He walked with a cane and a noticeable limp. The lines around his face were much deeper than they should have been from someone his age and he looked tired. There were days where he couldn’t stand on his own, but was still too stubborn to let Keigo help him.
He grunted. “Why do you ask?”
Keigo didn’t know why he had chosen to ask Enji at all. It’s not like he knew much of anything about being a good father. Keigo had learned far too much about his business partner, too much to look up to him like he did before. But moments like this forced him to sit at the man’s level. They were both terrible and washed up in their own right. The public wasn’t too fond of either of them anymore, Enji being a serial abuser publicly disowned by his youngest son and Keigo being the Hero Commission’s final scapegoat.
“Because I messed up.” Keigo said vaguely, signing his name at the bottom of a page.
Enji didn’t respond directly. Instead he hummed, stamping the paper he was working on. “I don’t know. I don’t think I ever counted as one.”
It was a fair answer. They didn’t talk about it anymore.
---
Keigo had bought a baby harness. One that clipped around the back of his neck and around his waist with another belt that ran down the space between his wings and connected the two for extra support. The pouch in the front was the perfect size to carry the egg against his chest while he worked on stuff around the apartment.
Sometimes he could feel the baby inside the egg moving around. It was a light feeling, barely hitting the sides of the shell. He wondered if that was normal for a four month old fetus.
It actually made him wonder what he was supposed to be expecting. Maybe it was time to actually do some research on this.
“Quirks have had some very interesting effects on human biology,” The scientist on his phone screen explained, gesturing to a chart that Keigo didn’t understand. He picked up his next dish in the sink, scrubbing it and rinsing it off quickly so as to not look away from his phone for too long in case he missed something important. “Especially those quirks that compromise the human genetics to make room for genetics from a different species. It’s not unheard of for people with animal related quirks to have offspring in a non-traditional way.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?” The interviewer asked. Keigo didn’t get why, it felt pretty self explanatory.
“Well, it’s like any type of non-mammal quirk has the potential to lead to a non-mammal birth. It’s rare but not impossible.” The scientist elaborated. “For example, a reptile-like quirk could result in a soft shelled egg, an amphibian quirk could result in a tadpole, or an avian quirk could involve an egg with a hard outer shell.”
Keigo looked down at his own little abomination against nature. “That’s you!”
He didn’t know if the kid could hear him, but they kicked around as if responding. The interview ended as Keigo put the last dish in the dish drainer, wiping his hands off on a towel while the next video played.
“Egg ultrasounds are expensive and often time consuming, making them an impractical way of checking on your baby’s growth.” The voice over said, showing various pictures of what Keigo assumed was the inside of an egg. There was a baby there, with small wings tucked in at its back. It looked kind of like a regular ultrasound, except the sides of it weren’t as dark as most of the ones he’d seen on the internet.
“Great.” He muttered to himself, looking back down at his own egg baby. “Why did you have to be the expensive kind of accident kid?”
There was no kicking in response to that. The silent treatment from a fetus. Now that’s harsh.
“A cheaper alternative,” Keigo whipped his head back up, drawn back in by the word “cheaper”. “Is to backlight the egg and compare the outline. While it won’t be able to help notice any details it will help you track your baby’s growth-”
The voice continued to speak, but Keigo wasn’t paying attention. He was looking over at the heating lamp, then back down at his egg nestled against his chest.
He quickly turned off all the lights in the apartment, drawing the curtain so that the only light was coming from the heat lamp. He set his egg on the table, adjusting the lamp so that the light hit the side directly.
Keigo took a deep breath before looking at his baby for the first time. That’s when he finally felt the last piece fall into place.
The baby was a bit bigger than the projected size for a four month old fetus, a little longer than a banana. It made Keigo’s heart swell up with pride, though he didn’t know why his kid being longer than other people’s kid made him feel like that. He smiled, putting his finger over the shadow of the baby’s hand.
They kicked their short legs a little bit, moving their tiny hand over.
Hawks felt something warm on his cheeks as he smiled, replacing his finger with his entire hand.
He felt the click that he had been waiting for. This was his baby.
---
He had been showing the pediatrician pictures of his egg rather than bringing it to the hospital. Mainly the backlit photos that showed the baby’s growth, all organized on his folder by month. He didn’t want to risk bringing the egg and having something happen to it.
He opened up the folder labeled “Month Seven”, scrolling to show the egg backlit and next to several household objects for scale. He was beaming, very proud that his kid was in fact ahead of schedule on their growth.
The doctor however did not seem as impressed. “Developmentally, they seem to be doing well. But I am concerned about one thing.”
“What is it?” Keigo asked, looking back at the picture. From what he could tell his kid was doing great. They moved around alot and responded to sounds. They even knew the difference between his and Rumi’s voices (they liked his better, he could tell). There didn’t seem to be any cause for concern.
“Well, when unconventional births occur due to non-mammal genetics in quirks, it's normally a sign that the child is going to inherit the animal-like quirk from the parent who made the birth unconventional in the first place. In your case that would be your wings.”
“Yeah, why’s that an issue though?” Keigo asked, feeling nervous. Was there something wrong?
The doctor blinked. “Mr. Takami, surely you’ve noticed the issue with that by now.”
“No doc, I actually haven’t.” Keig responded, annoyed. “Please enlighten me.”
“... Mr. Takami, look at the pictures you brought with you.” The doctor gestured to the phone in Keigo’s hand.
Keigo opened it, looking at the outline of the baby. It was a little bigger than the head of cauliflower next to it. It looked like a normal baby, reaching the end of term faster than Keigo felt was real.
“I still don’t understand.” Keigo looked up at the doctor, wondering what the problem was.
“Think about what I said,” The doctor urged. “What do you have that the baby doesn’t?”
Keigo looked, suddenly feeling stupid. He stared at his child’s back, watching the spine arch without interruption. “... Wings. They don’t have wings.”
The doctor didn’t respond. Instead, he continued on. “Do you know any details about the other parent’s quirk? I know you said it wasn’t someone you knew very well.”
Keigo nodded as the doctor repeated the lie he told him. “Not too much, I know it was a fire type quirk but I don’t know exactly how it works.”
The doctor huffed. “So it was an emitter type quirk? Not a mutation like yours?”
“No, it wasn’t a mutation.” Keigo confirmed. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“Well… most medical professionals warn against combining an emitter quirk and a mutation.” The doctor explained it like it was common knowledge. “Especially when one is animal related. You’re lucky, with a fire quirk added in it could have been much worse. But once the egg starts to hatch you might require medical assistance. Your next appointment will probably be the last one with the actual egg, so we’ll see how it goes then.”
Keigo nodded, looking at the pictures still. “Will they be ok?”
“They’ll be fine if you follow my instructions.” The doctor said, which didn’t comfort Keigo at all. “I’ll see you in a few weeks, Mr. Takami.”
---
“So what names are you thinking of?” Rumi asked, cuddling the egg that she had wrapped up in a little blanket.
“Chijiiru.” Keigo said, pulling the pan of chicken nuggets out of the oven.
Rumi stopped rocking the egg. “... Anything else? Literally anything else?”
“What’s wrong with it? I think Chijiiru Takami has a nice ring to it.” Keigo said defensively.
“It means curly fry! You can’t name godchild curly fry!” Rumi insisted, muttering something to the egg.
“Ok that’s it, if you;re going to bully their name then you lose baby holding privileges!” Keigo walked over and scooped his egg out of Rumi’s arms. “And who said I’m letting you be the godmother?”
“What other options do you have? The human torch? Great, now your kid’s gonna be named curly fry and have trauma!” Rumi gave the egg a kiss. “Don’t worry, Aunt Rumi won’t let him give you to that mean man.”
“Stop talking to the baby! Only I can talk to the baby!” He said, putting the egg into their pouch. He could feel them kicking around at the sound of his voice. “Besides, they don’t need a godparent.”
“Why not?” Rumi asked, taking a chicken nugget from the tray.
Hawks put a protective hand over the top of the egg, feeling the way it moved. “Because I’m not going to leave them.”
---
It happened suddenly in the middle of the night. Keigo heard a sudden movement on the table behind the couch he had fallen asleep on.
He’d never stood up so quickly, seeing his egg moving from side to side with a scratching sound coming from beneath the shell.
There was a cry, muffled by the shell and gargled as if it were underwater. Keigo started panicking, realizing that the egg was filled with fluid.
His child couldn’t breathe.
He immediately grabbed the egg, but pulled his hand away with a yelp of pain. The egg itself was hot to the touch, making his hand blister after the slightest contact. There was another pained, watery cry from the egg that pulled Keigo away from his own burnt hand. He grabbed the hammer and an oven mit, using the mit to hold the egg steady as he gently tapped away at the side of the egg.
Once the shell was cracked, Hawks used his already burnt hand to push the broken egg shell away. But this side of the egg wasn’t as hot as the other, He was able to make a hole in the shell around the size of a grapefruit, turning the egg quickly so that the fluid drained onto the wooden floor. He could worry about that later, right now he was listening for any sign of life.
For a few seconds there was only silence and Keigo’s heart nearly stopped. He felt tears welling in the corners of his eyes and his own breathing stopped.
Then there was a weak cough, followed by a shrill cry and Keigo gave a shaken sigh of relief. There was clearly still something wrong, but he knew that Chijiiru was ok.
He wasted no time using the oven mit to move Chijiiru from the table into the harness, throwing open the sliding door to his balcony and taking off.
He tried to comfort his child as he flew, feeling the heat from the egg on his chest. It hurt, but he couldn’t stop until they made it to the hospital. The August air was thick and there was rain pounding on his back in thick droplets. Every drop of rain that hit the egg sizzled away, creating a layer of steam that clouded his flying goggles as he sped through the storm.
Keigo burst through the emergency room doors, not having time to sign in at the desk.
“Sir, you need to-” The nurse started to say, until she saw the steaming egg strapped to his chest with a little hand poking out of it, desperately trying to claw its way out.
She gestured to another nurse to come help her as Keigo handed her the egg, harness and all. He followed the two nurses as they ran Chijiiru directly to the operating room, contacting their pediatrician.
Keigo was told to wait outside, watching the process through a window. He couldn’t see everything that was happening, and that’s what bothered him the most.
“Sir, you’re hurt.” Another nurse said, gesturing to Keigo’s burnt hand.
Keigo brushed him off, shaking his head. “I’m fine.”
The nurse looked through the window as well, watching as another bit of the shell was tossed aside. The inside was scorched, the inner layer turned almost entirely to ash.
“They’ll be ok.” The young man insisted. “But we should bandage your hand before the blisters pop.”
Keigo stared at the burnt shell in horror, slowly nodding his head. He probably shouldn’t be watching this. But he had an awful feeling as he watched the doctor’s once frantic hands start to slow. He was glad he couldn’t hear what was happening inside.
He allowed the nurse to lead him down the hall, bandaging his burnt hand while Keigo stared numbly at his socks. He hadn’t even put on shoes in the rush to get to the hospital.
He went back to the operating room, seeing that the curtains were now drawn. He took a seat in the chair under the window, staring at the ground as other people shuttled in and out of the hospital room. He didn’t pay attention to who they were or what they were doing, just letting the minutes pass by.
Finally, about an hour later, Chijiiru’s pediatrician was standing in front of him. He looked up, tears streaming down his face.
“Mr. Takami.” He said sympathetically. “Why don’t we take a walk?”
Keigo got up, shuffling behind the doctor and listening for those four, earth shattering words.
“My concerns were not baseless,” He began, seemingly uninterested in ripping off the bandaid as he led Keigo down the winding hospital hallways. “Your child was born with a mutation type quirk that manifested in blue fire that shot out of their back, similar to your wings.”
Keigo nodded, not daring to speak.
The doctor continued. “Unlike most fire type quirks, your child’s body didn’t seem able to properly handle the heat from this mutation. The egg didn’t hold up well against it either. It seems like the mutation coming in late caused the hatching to occur prematurely. The inside of the egg was turned entirely to ash and most of the fluid that was left had boiled away-”
“Will you please just say it!” Keigo begged, his voice cracking with a sob. “Stop beating around the bush and just say it!”
The doctor’s facial expression shifted and he blinked. He smiled and Keigo almost punched him. “Mr. Takami, your child is fine.”
Keigo let in a staggered breath, letting the words wash over him. Slowly, he felt the world come back to him, hearing the sound of other infants crying and nurses shuffling around him. He turned his head, seeing other tired parents looking through the window of the nursery and pointing out their own babies.
“I…” Keigo took a deep breath. “How?”
The doctor looked pleased, gesturing for him to follow him further down the hall. “We were able to give them a quirk suppressant. It didn’t do much to break the fever, but it did stop your child’s quirk from burning them alive. They’re going to be ok, but I’m prescribing them quirk suppressants until we can figure out what to do. If it becomes a concern for their safety, I will not hesitate to remove their quirk entirely.”
“But they’re alive? They’re going to be ok?” Keigo asked desperately.
“Yes. Once again, you’re lucky a few minutes more and…” The doctor stopped talking. “Well, that’s not important. Everything is going to be ok.”
He stopped in front of a door, looking back at Keigo. “We didn’t know what effects the suppressant would have on their immune system, so we decided to put them in here instead of the nursery. Now… I’m going to warn you that it looks much worse than it is. Rest assured, they will be fine. Though no one really got a uh… good look at them before we wheeled them off here. If you know what I am implying. That part of the birth certificate hasn’t been filled out yet.”
Keigo didn’t care. His child was ok, that’s all that mattered. “Thank you… He said, his voice hoarse. He looked at the door, wondering if it was ok for him to go in yet.
The doctor smiled at him again. “Congratulations, Mr. Takami. You’re a father.”
He gave him a nod of approval, telling Keigo it was alright to open the door. So he did.
The doctor wasn’t joking, it did look much scarier than it was. His child was dressed in a diaper and what looked like an entire cupboard of bandages. There were tubes in their tiny arms and something that looked like it was helping them breathe.
Despite everything, Chijiiru looked calm. They wiggled their little fingers and kicked their feet against the sides of their plastic container.
“More legroom than you’re used to?” Keigo joked, walking up to take a better look at them. They looked right back at him, with big yellow eyes that looked just like his own. They didn’t have much hair on their head, but what was there was either white or blonde and stuck straight up from the static of the plastic mattress.
Keigo laughed, wiping a tear and putting his hand on Chijiiru’s little stomach. The tears kept falling as he suddenly felt like this was all finally real. “Oh my god, I’m a dad.”
Chijiiru made a noise and kicked their legs, making him cry harder. “Hello to you too!”
Despite the chaos of that rainy early August morning, everything now was calm.