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Keigo doesn't remember much.
But he remembers a time when the heat of the fire brought comfort. But now as he stands beside the man who somehow both saved him and tortured his own family, he feels nothing but disgust.
At first he wanted to deny it. Wanted to mark it off as more villain trickery. But the evidence was there. There in the way the youngest Todoroki made sure his back was never turned towards his father. In the way Shouto kept that perfectly constructed barrier between him and the rest of the world -Keigo had seen that look before, hell, he'd done it all his life. So much so undeniably there in the way the rest of the family flinches ever so slightly when the man gestures too harshly; raises his voice just an octave too high.
Keigo honestly doesn't know how he didn't see it before. Or maybe he did, it's not like he remembers anyway.
And now Keigo has to stand right beside the very man he had wanted to be like-
Younger him would've been fucking elated.
Younger him was a fucking fool.-
And try his damn hardest -he barely manages to suppress a flinch every time their arms graze one another- to act like everything is all fine and dandy. To stand here at this godforsaken press conference to reassure and apologize to the public for something he doesn't even regret -he does, he regrets it so, so much, it hurts, it hurts. God, why does it hurt so fucking much- Something he never even gave a second thought to.
But eventually the event is over and Keigo is released from the confines of being stuck beside that absolute menace. Endeavor even has the nerve to side eye him, as if he's the one who just got his whole world thrown upside down.
When he passes through the crowd he spots the youngest Todoroki lingering at the edge, staring into what appears to be nothing at all. Keigo stops briefly beside the kid and lays, what he hopes is, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The interaction is short and he gives him an understanding nod -he doesn't smile, doesn't think he could make it look as genuine as he feels- and then he leaves.
He doesn't stick around to see anyone's reaction. He hopes no one but the kid bore witness to that minor interaction, hopes the press was too distracted by the current no. 1 to see the slip up. Keigo doesn't think the bastard deserves that title anymore; doesn't understand how the public can just ignore what he did.
He gets out before anyone has a chance to notice his absence from the main group. He can't stand being near someone who's just like him. How ironic is it that the man who saved him from him is just like him?
When he gets to his apartment it's too dark, and he can't breathe. He claws at the tie around his throat hoping that would relieve some of the pressure. It doesn't.
Even in the dark Keigo can see those four walls closing in on him, suffocating him. He tries to gasp out something, anything,-he doesn't know who he's thinking will come to rescue him, he lives alone and his hero is a fraud-, but not a sound comes out.
He's choking, and he can't breathe, and it's dark, and he can't see- please just let him out, he doesn't care if they hurt him, just please someone, anyone! Why can't anyone hear him??-
Keigo wakes up the next morning with aching limbs and not a clue as to how he ended up curled in the corner of his living room.
He does, however, sport some fresh scrapes on his neck and jaw. It looks like he got into a fight with a feral cat; he doesn't even know how it happened.
-
Keigo likes to pride himself in the fact that nothing really surprises him anymore. Well, that was until he had a soaking wet teenager standing at his front door at three-fucking-am. How did the kid even get here? How did he know where he lived??
"Hey, kid," His tone comes out more strained than he would've liked, because what the actual hell. There is a literal child on his doorstep at three in the morning. "You alright there?"
Todoroki doesn't say anything, just stares at him. And if Keigo's being honest, it's low-key freaking him out now. After a few more seconds the little- well, he is taller than Keigo, technicalities- spawn puts his hand on his shoulder and fucking nods.
Keigo, and rightfully so, remains unmoving for the entire duration of the split second interaction. And then the little shit just walks away. By the time his brain finally catches up Todoroki is far out of yelling distance and there's a small puddle in his doorway. What the everloving fuck-
It's not until well into the afternoon, mid villain attack does he connect the dots. Todoroki was just returning the gesture. Why the child decided to do it well past midnight and in the freezing rain is beyond him.
The revelation is just so profound Keigo mutters out an audible 'ah' while tying up the convict which earns him a few concerned looks.
Welp, at least the kid got the memo.
Keigo is really not in the mood to deal with this right now. His brain is all muddy and he's still reeling from having a little demon spawn on his doorstep this morning, so forgive him if he's a little tired. If he's a little under the weather.
Things were going great, lovely even, his shift was almost over and he just picked up a nice, hot cup of sweet, sweet coffee-
Seriously, is it even really his fault?
-And then that fuck-face had to come around and ruin his mood. Listen he really hasn't been at peak performance lately-
"Hawks, there you are, I was wondering-"
So really, forgive him-
"Fuck off, Endeavor." He bites. And shit. He reeeally shouldn't have done that. Now the Commission is gonna have his ass- and it will be worth it.
Getting to see the big, tough guy gaping at him like a fish out of water makes the scolding he gets the next day completely worth it. He can even feel the urge to grin, a genuine one he thinks, coming on.
Until one of the men speaks a simple phrase, and suddenly he's nose deep in those murky waters again.
He wakes up with a pounding headache and an urge to vomit. He's drifting, and he can't stop. He can't stop when he gets a concerned call from Eraserhead of all people; he can't stop even when Rumi is in his face some days later, snapping her fingers to get his attention.
He's drowning, and he doesn't remember why. He feels… nothing. Like he's on a factory reset.
Why can't he remember anything?
He sees Endeavor, and the man seems… upset with him? He can't imagine why. Keigo thinks about asking him why, but inevitably decides against the idea. Besides, there is something, something that just feels wrong, so very wrong when the old man is in his vicinity. Something in the back of his murky bird-brain is warning against his closeness.
Keigo decides not to question it.
And then he sees the newest viral video, and he breaks. Again.
He's enjoying the few hours he has before he is needed for the ten-o-clock patrol when he turns on the TV. And there it is, loaded up and ready. The red line and replay button on display suggest Keigo had already watched it. But he has no recollection of it. At all.
Keigo opts to ignore it and to go ahead and run his routine podcast; this one he listens to while he cleans- he greatly enjoys being able to slow down once and a while, it brings him a small sense of calm. But he misclicks and now he's been thrust into the freezing waters of reality.
Endeavor, the number one hero, his savior, someone who once upon a time he wanted to be just like- is nothing but a fucking fraud. A farce. A god damn abuser.
And Keigo's whole world crumbles. Everything he looked up to, everything that inspired him to even get involved in this world -because it was definitely his choice, and no one else's- came crashing down before him.
But- but he remembers.
He remembers coming home early in the morning, it's still dark out but he's not tired. As opposed to going straight to bed he turns on his TV, hoping to find something mindless enough so he can fall easily into a dreamless sleep.
That's not what he finds. No, instead he spots the top trending video. He wants to just shrug it all off, say that it's just another lie the media made up- so he clicks.
He knows for certain now this isn't some sick play of the media's hungry hearts. Because there he is, in all his filthy glory. Dabi.
And apparently he's Endeavor's son. And Endeavor abused his son to the point he faked his own death. Keigo wants to question the authenticity of the video, and wants to pretend he didn't see it. But he can't. It's so obviously the wrong thing to do, but still he finds himself wishing he could. Because thats all he fucking does when problems arise, run the hell away-
And his breathing is all funky. Short, quick gasps of air, much too fast to do anything besides send him into even more of a panic-
He's hyperventilating, he knows that, so why can't he stop? He tries all the tricks he usually uses on civilians after a particularly rough attack; they don't work. Which he doesn't understand why, why they don't work on him. Though it probably has to do with the fact he's alone, nothing to ground him.
But fuck that, fuck that so hard. Because he's stronger than that, he doesn't need any help. He's not that weak.
The edges of his vision have dimmed and he knows he's going to pass out, and that only serves to make him freak out more-
He remembers waking up the next day not sure why he was on the floor when he distinctly remembers being on the couch. He had just shrugged off then.
Does… does that mean every time he doesn't remember something its because he had a fucking panic attack? That's not right, he's Hawks, he's the number two hero for fucks sake- this shouldn't, this doesn't happen to people like him.
It's worse than he thought. The Commission was right, he is bad. And it looks like they didn't fix him after all.
-
Keigo doesn't want to tell the Commission about his discovery. He really, really does not think it would be in his own best interest. But he has to, for the sake and safety of everyone else around him. But, hell, he desperately wishes he didn't have to.
He does.
And then… and then…
Why did he come here again?
-
Shouto doesn't know what he's doing at Bakugou's door at four a.m on a school night. Or, well, morning, he guesses.
Hell, he wouldn't even be here if he hadn't passed by the winged-hero a few days ago only for him to not recognize him. He seemed surprised Shouto was even talking to him, it was a very awkward encounter.
He isn't even sure if anything is wrong, but something prodding at the back of his mind says otherwise.
And Bakugou is interning with Best Jeanist again and Shouto has some concerns. Against his own sense of self preservation- he knocks. Only a couple times, in quick succession, this is an urgent matter.
"What the fuck are you doing, Icyhot?" A more mellow response than he was expecting, if he's being honest. Though it probably has to do with the fact its-
"-four-fucking-a.m!" The blond whisper-yells. Shouto doesn't appear to have the best of timings when it comes to telling people things. But this is important, he tells Bakugou this.
"And it couldn't have waited until, I don't know, the fucking day started!?"
Shouto wants to tell him that, well, technically the day has already started; then decides he really, probably shouldn't test his luck. This is already more progress than Shouto was expecting.
"No." He tells him. Because while, yes, in the bigger picture of things, this could easily wait for the sun to rise. They are nothing but a single inkblot on the expansive timeline of the universe- but that's really not the point here.
"Well then, spit it out already, you candy cane lookin' fuck-"
"It's about your internship."
A pause.
Bakugou's eye twitches. "That's it!!??" His voice raises slightly, still whisper-shouting. "And you're damn sure this couldn't wait until class started!? Because to me it sounds like-"
"What's your relationship like with Best Jeanist?"
"Heh?"
"What's your-"
"Don't just repeat the damn question, dipshit!"
"But you ask-"
Bakugou let out a deep sigh, "Is that really all you wanted to know?"
"Yes."
"For?"
"Well," Now Shouto was starting to doubt his choices, he wasn't even sure if it would work. Oh well, it was worth a try. "I wanted to propose something."
"Uh huh, what's in it for me?"
Shouto frowned slightly, he really didn't think he'd get this far.
"I don't-uh, what is it that you want?"
"Hm, that's for me to decide, no take backs." Bakugou seems to consider it for a moment before nodding, "I'll do it, whatever it is."
-
Tsunagu is more than mildly surprised when his intern approaches him for something at the end of their shift, rather hesitantly he might add.
"Why do you want to know about Hawks?" If he was being honest, he didn't have much on the hero. The newbie, the young man had only been in the scene a few years now, was very recluse in the sense that though he appeared very cocky and social to the public- the kid himself kept to himself when it came to other heroes.
"I-I don't want to know shit about the winged bastard," He grumbles a bit, and through clenched teeth he admits- "I want… wanted to know if he was doing okay."
Tsunagu's eyes widened slightly. He was not expecting that at all. An analysis, maybe, to gauge the stats of the young hero. Not- not if he was doing okay.
"And you want this information why?"
"I-" Bakugou shut and opened his mouth a few times, trying to find the correct words. "I'm doing a favor for… a friend of mine, they asked me to ask you. Thought you'd know or some shit."
Tsunagu took a moment to process this strange request. Furrowing his brows as he thought. Like he said, he doesn't have much on the hero. But he guesses you could say Hawks's been a little… off.
Maybe he should ask Mirko, he thinks she knows more about him than he does.
"A 'friend', hmm?" He teases, grinning at the way the blond splutters and grits out a rushed 'shut up'.
"I can't say I know him well enough to give a reliable answer," Bakugou's shoulders sag slightly. "But," he perks up again. "I do know another hero who may know more about him, I'll ask her when we finish up."
"Great, lemme know when you do."
-
"Keigoo, darling," Rumi sing-songs as she bounds over to him, a slight hop in her step.
"Hm?" He definitely has not been avoiding her all day. Nope, not at all. Okay… maybe a little bit. Only now she had him cornered. He was finishing up in his office before he flew back to his apartment. He had no feasible escape- dammit.
She walks over a lot calmer now, like she is tip-toeing around eggshells. He likes her well enough, but come on. He's perfectly fine!
This treading lightly bullcrap is starting to piss him off.
"What is it, Rumi?" He sighs.
"Just wanted to walk you home is all~" She grinned, but there was something slightly off about it. "We haven't done that in a while."
Keigo groans in defeat; oh what the hell, it's not like he has anything better to do.
"Fine, lemme finish up here."
Rumi continues to wait patiently in the chair parallel to his desk while he works. He's done pretty fast and soon enough they're on one of the lesser traveled sidewalks dressed in their civilian clothes.
"Sooo, Keigo," Rumi drawled. "You alright there? You seem a little tense~"
He's not tense, not at all! His wings are definitely not curled protectively around him, shoulders slightly hunched, and hands stuffed in pockets. He's totally fine.
"Peachy." He grunts.
"Right, because you've been a little off lately-"
Keigo's wings puff up as he gruffs, "Oh, come on, I'm fan-fucking-tastic. What makes you think something's wrong?"
"Well, Jeanist said-"
"Really," he groans. "That guy? You're listening to him of all people?"
"Hey," She frowns. "What's wrong with Jeanist? You seemed pretty okay with him last time we spoke-"
"What's wrong? What isn't wrong with him?" The words feel like lead as he speaks them. "He's always nitpicking at the HPSC, droning on and on about how shitty and controlling they are. It's just not right." They've done so much for him, for everyone, it felt wrong to hear someone talk badly about the organization.
Rumi looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Are you kidding me?"
"Don't look at me like that."
Her next words left an uncomfortable weight in the pit of his stomach. "Keigo, hun, what the actual fuck- you were literally talking shit about them last fucking week."
"What."
"No, I-" What. That's not possible. It's just not. He owes them his life, there's no way he'd dishonor them like that. Last week he… he doesn't remember last week, but that's fine! He's fine. He doesn't remember much of anything, really, this isn't so different!
"Are you pulling my leg here, Mirko? 'Cause what the hell are you implying??"
She shoots him a look. "Harsh," she tuts.
"And no, I'm not. You were literally calling them out on their bullshit last week. 'Bout how you can't believe they would just bury all the crap Endeavor did, yadda yadda."
This was most certainly news to him. Endeavor? What did he do? As far as Keigo knows he doesn't have anything bad on him.
"What did Endeavor do?" He asks, raising a brow.
"What did he do? What did he do? Keigo- I -I don't even know what to say! You literally hated his guts last week, and," she gestures wildly at him, "you disappear for a few days, and now suddenly you're all buddy buddy again?"
"Rumi, you're not making any sense."
"You literally cussed him out last week! I saw you do it!" Her ears pull back as she swings her arm outwardly. "I was right there."
Keigo tugs his hands out of his pockets and wraps his arms firmly around his chest. "This doesn't make any sense, Endeavor is my idol, Rumi, I wouldn't just cuss him out like that." Not without good reason.
"But you did! He went to ask you something- don't ask what, he didn't get to finish- and you go all-" She deepens her voice in a poor effort to mimic him. "'Fuck off, Endeavor-"
Keigo's heart stutters as flashes of memories ram through his mind. Things like the video, the panic attacks, Todoroki, Endeavor- all of it.
And he gasps, clutching at his head as a sharp pounding begins across his temporal lobe. Fuck, it hurts-
And someone's speaking to him, telling him- telling him down, down Keigo, like he's some fucking mutt. Like he's just a fucking toy, a puppet.
"Kei-?"
He grits his teeth as more pictures fly by, days, weeks, months, years worth of memories flooding back. The last thing being… being a sharpened red feather, plumes sticking out of a friend's back, through their heart.
"Keigo-!"
It hurts- fuck why does it hurt so much??
He's burning, oh god, he's burning- and it hurts-
It hurts so fucking much-
"Keigo!"
He snaps awake, panting. He's hunched over on the sidewalk- which is clear, thankfully. No one needs to see the idiot bird losing control again.- hands rooted deeply in his own hair as his wings shield him from the rest of the world. The only other thing being someone kneeled down in front of him, eyes wide in panic, an unsure hand hovering near him.
He flinches away, fear gripping at his heart. "Don't-" he almost whimpers.
"Hey~" the person coos, retracting their hand, but still in view; palms out. "It's okay, you're okay~"
And he whines, shrinking more into himself.
God, this is so fucking pathetic.
But- but he can't help it, he's scared. Downright terrified. And he can't do anything about it. Which he hates even more.
"I-I-" his voice shakes.
"Kei, hun, look at me~" The voice prods.
His vision finally begins to clear, the fog blowing away as he comes back up for air.
Before him is the person, his friend, Rumi, a comforting smile displayed on her features.
He jolts right up, catching himself when a slight rush of dizziness whites out his sight for a mere second. He hugs himself tightly and grits his teeth, "Shut up."
"I didn't say- alright." Rumi backs off.
Keigo would absolutely, love, love, if they could just pretend nothing happened. As if he wasn't just a whimpering mess on the dirty concrete a minute ago; his heart is still racing.
But, of course, the universe hates him and his cursed friend has to care. Truly, the audacity of her, how dare she.
"You okay?"
He's fine, he's strong and he's okay, and he doesn't need anyone's help.
"What was that back there? I've never seen you do something like that before-"
"I'm fucking fine." He practically growls, curling in on himself.
"Does this kinda thing happen often? Or is this a recent development?"
He hates how professional she sounds. Because he is fine. He is okay. He doesn't need her help. Doesn't need anyone to hold his hand.
…he doesn't have to tell her… he doesn't need to tell Rumi the truth. Something tugs at him, telling him it's wrong to lie to her, but he ignores it.
She doesn't need to know. No one needs to know.
"It's nothing." She goes to speak again but he cuts her off. "We're here, you can go now."
He doesn't wait for her response as he leaves her to fly up to his apartment, sliding through the window.
And he breathes. Just stands there and takes deep, full breaths.
-
A few weeks pass without further incident and for that Keigo is grateful.
And then, of course, he reiterates once again- the universe hates him.
Because here Jeanist is, eyebrows pulled into a concerned frown.
"Oh, god, not you too." Are the first words out of his mouth and he mentally slaps himself- really? This is so out of character for him.
"I wanted to ask something, if you don't mind that is." Of course he minds, dammit!
"Sure," He mutters.
"Could you assist me real quick? I have a major errand to run and I really don't want to leave my intern unsupervised."
Oh. Keigo's brain stutters for a second, he was not expecting that.
"Right, yessir!" He salutes sarcastically with a cocky grin. "Where're they?"
Jeanist nods then calls his intern in- and it's the kid who got kidnapped! The festival kid!
"He's a little… rambunctious," The kid scoffs. "But I'm sure you can handle him just fine."
"Of course," He brightens his appearance. "Hey, kid, what's your name?"
"His name is Bakugou-"
"I can introduce myself, dammit!"
"hero name Dynamight, call me if he gets into any trouble." With that, Best Jeanist is off. And now Keigo's got himself stuck babysitting a child.
"Tch," He frowns, looking at Keigo weirdly. "You doing alright?"
His brain short-circuits. What. The. Fuck. Rumi, he expected, maybe Jeanist too. But this kid?
It takes him a millisecond to put his perfectly crafted image back together.
"I am a-okay, kiddo!"
"Don't call me that. I'm not a kid." He spits.
"How old are you again?"
"Sixteen."
"Right, a child, a little demon spawn, a gremlin," he grins, "a kid."
"That's it, you sentient chicken bastard-"
-
As it turns out, the Bakugou kid is pretty easy to watch over. So easy Keigo got bored and figured he might as well take him on his afternoon patrol, hovering above the concrete sidewalk as they strolled along, side by side.
He's actually pretty calm when no one's pushing his buttons. But it is honestly quite entertaining to tease the hell out of the little shit.
Like right now, for example;
"Fucking hell, you feathery bastard," He groans, "for the last time, me and that knock-off pokéball fucker are purely platonic- nothing else."
"Mhm," Keigo found it hard to keep the smile out of his voice. "Suuure, and for some unknown reason, out of all his friends, he chose the most prickly gremlin to confide in?"
Bakugou shoots him a glare, "We're not even friends, and he trauma dumps on everyone. It's like," he gestures out with a gloved hand. "His 'thing' or whatever."
"Fair,"
"But~"
"No!" The kid protests. "No 'but's, it's not like that!"
"Does he knock on everyone's door at two in the morning, or just yours?"
"I-tch-" Bakugou stutters, "I-I don't know! The fucker's just weird like that!"
Bakugou's voice is muffled as he stuffs his face into the collar of his winter costume, a slight flush on his cheeks. Keigo can't help but chuckle at his actions.
"Aw, kid," He reaches over to ruffle his hair a bit. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about!"
He slaps his hand away half-heartedly, "for the last time, I'm not a damn kid!"
"Mm, sure you aren't-" A scream cuts through the air, effectively putting an end to Keigo's relentless teasing.
His eyes narrow as he searches the crowd. Any resemblance of humor slipping away, replaced by a cold and calculated frown.
"There!" Bakugou shouts and off they go. It comes as easy as breathing for him to snap out of whatever he's doing and slide into his heroic persona.
Keigo draws two of his longer feathers when he spots the target- or targets, he supposed.
There were four, a giant mutant, two smaller, and, what he's guessing is, the leader of the little group hiding in the shadows.
The bigger of the four roars as they wreak havoc on the business street. Their assignment seemed to be set as a distraction as though they were smashing the living hell out of buildings and street lamps, they didn't appear to be actively trying to hurt anyone.
The other two though- Keigo catches the eye of one as they are carrying a crate of something into an ally. The leader looks around paranoid and Keigo knows she's up to a little more than no-good.
The leader and her company are dressed in variations of dark clothing, one has russet colored skin and horns, the other is almost translucent with iridescent scales framing the edges of their face. The leader herself sports a pair of fangs and feathers growing out of the sides of her face and ears. The largest is a greyish-blue color with spikes along their spine and across their limbs, paired with fangs and sharp claws.
Keigo hates to put the kid in this situation but he's got a pretty good quirk, and would have an easy time taking out the mutant as long as he stays out of the range of their claws.
Only a split couple of seconds have passed from when they arrived at the scene when Keigo mutters, "you take the big guy, I'll get the others."
He doesn't stick around to see the kid's reaction though he does catch the end of a confused 'hah?" before he dives into action.
Summoning a few smaller feathers he sends them after the other culprits while he tackles the leader.
She's spouting the typical villain mantra about how the heroes are all corrupt and no one truly cares about the citizens of the country, etc..
She manages to get a bloody bite or two in his arm as he quickly incapacitates her.
"You'll be picked up in a few, be kind and sit still for me, please?" He doesn't even spare her a glance as he takes off to fetch the others, leaving the stunned villain alone.
The two villains aren't difficult to find and Keigo finds it almost laughable how the one resembling that or some mere-creature pretty much gives up once she spots him hot on their tail.
The other, with some shadow-type quirk, puts up a bit of a fight but soon enough is tied up with his partner in crime.
Keigo is carrying the two back to the original scene when the tell-tale incessant yelling and crackling explosions cut off abruptly.
His heart comes to a stuttering stop. Keigo tries to reason that the silence just means the kid apprehended the large villain, but there's something so undeniably wrong about that assessment that Keigo tightens the restraints on final time and charges back to the brunt of the attack.
Once he arrives he spots his kid knocked against one of the ruined buildings, barely conscious and covered in cuts and soot.
A sudden surge of unbridled rage rushes through him and he is once again struck with a fierce urge to protect. Keigo wants nothing but to run to Bakugou's side and see if he's okay, but he has to take out the villain first.
Blindsighted by a haze of unfiltered anger he dives toward the mutant. He grits his teeth as he slashes across the back of the villain, effectively taking their attention off the boy and on him.
Keigo swerves and dodges between the unpredictable swipes of their claws, drawing more and more feathers as the others dull and bend.
He's beginning to run out of feathers that can be sharpened into weapons, his balance in the air bordering dangerous, when the mutant finally goes down. It was stronger than he expected and Keigo is overcome with a wave of guilt that he sent Bakugou to fight them.
The villain shrinks to normal size and is swiftly handcuffed when Keigo's eyes land on his kid again.
His breathing is ragged and his legs feel like jelly but that doesn't stop him from swooping to Bakugou's aid.
"Kid?" He snaches of one of his thick gloves so he can press a few fingers to Bakugou's pulse point. Sighing in slight relief when he feels his heart beating healthy and strong, though a little tired.
Bakugou groans in pain, eyes blinking up at him blearily, "heya there, kiddo, you alright?"
Keigo assists him as he heaves himself to a more seated position. He coughs a bit and Keigo thinks he might have a slight concussion; other than that he seems alright.
Once the boy is all cleaned up and checked over the press doesn't hesitate to rush towards them, microphones out and cameras shoved in their faces.
Keigo tries to direct the attention at himself, helping the poor kid out who's obviously overwhelmed under the spotlight.
Keigo ruffles the blond's hair as he answers one out of the hundreds of questions thrown their way.
"-I couldn't have done it without the help of this kiddo, though," he grins, "he stood up well against a villain nearing thirty times his size, gotta say I'm hopeful he'll make a great hero when he graduates-"
Out of the corner he sees a slight smile tug at the boy's lips, and he feels a surge of pride for him.
Eventually They make it back to his agency and Jeanist is there to pick Bakugou up, and after a few goodbyes Keigo is left on his own to wrap up the day.
He has decided to take the paperwork of today's attack to his apartment and finish it there. He works well into the night to get it done before passing out on his bed.
-
It's his day off when he gets cornered once again.
"Don't you have a patrol to be doing, Rumi?"
She plunkes herself down right beside him at the pond, head tilted slightly as she grins widely.
"Got the rest of the day after I got hit pretty good by some spiky villain." She tugs at her shirt to show him the nasty pink wound in her side.
"Shit, you okay?"
"Yup! Got hopped up on pain meds and I didn't even need the help of any healing quirks!"
"Mm, that's good," he eyes her wearily. "Is that all you came here for, or…?"
"Can't I just check in on my pal once in a while, see how my dear old friend is doing?"
He gives her a pointed look.
"Fine.. You're so boring," She picks gently at flowers by her feet, twisting them around each other. "I came here… to, uh… see how you were doing?"
He sighs in defeat, just as he expected.
"I'm fine, Rumi, nothing's wrong with me."
She gives him a flat stare. "You literally couldn't remember anything just a few weeks ago, you disappeared for four days, Kei. You're not 'fine'."
"What do you want me to say?"
"Where were you for those four days?"
"I was-" he breaks off. Where was he? He… he doesn't know. "I don't- I don't know where I was…"
Keigo stares blankly into the pond, a few fish swimming by smoothly, a far away look in his eyes.
Where was he? He doesn't… he remembers seeing the video again… then the panic attacks… it is all blank after that.
Even stranger he only doesn't remember those four days, everything else is a little hazy, sure, but at least he knows they happened. He draws completely blank on those days.
"What is the last thing you remember, Keigo?" Rumi questions softly, continuing to tie together flowers. She, thankfully, avoids looking at him directly.
"I-" He starts, "like how far back? How far do you want me to go back?"
"As far as you can, birdie."
He thinks about it. He… he remembers the Todoroki kid- no farther back. He remembers- a sharp spike of pain erupts across his skull, he thinks deeper-, he remembers the fire, the burning, even farther; those terrified grey-blue eyes, the rage, the bright red feather sticking out the unmoving body of someone he once thought of as a friend, thick blood bubbling out of the wound.
"I-I remember his fear," Keigo hesitates, he killed him. "A friend. Someone who I should never have befriended in the first place. I remember his begging, the terrified tremble in his voice, the betrayal in his eyes- I remember trying to convince him that he could be better, that we could be better-" he cuts off with a wince. God why does this still hurt so much, it shouldn't-he's just weak, yes that's it, no other hero would care this much-
"I killed him, Rumi," he stares directly at her, unseeing, "he was a good person, better than me even, and I killed him."
"You did the right thing, Kei, you-" she sighs.
Rumi takes a few minutes to process this before deciding to pocket this discussion for later.
"Is that all you- do you," she hesitates to continue, "Do you even remember your parents, Keigo?"
Keigo doesn't. Maybe a few hints here and there, nothing concrete though. Fire and sirens. He remembers it just being so much pain, and then getting saved. First by the fire, then by the cold and silent.
He furrows his brows slightly before uttering softly;
"I don't- I don't think I even want to, Rumi."