Work Text:
Wake up - work - drink - sleep - repeat. Day in and day out.
Keigo couldn’t think, didn’t want to. He hid behind his bottle and his work, smiling at the camera but sleep disturbed by nightmares, if he got any sleep at all. How no rumors spread about him he didn’t know, but he couldn’t care less. He wouldn’t eat if not Rumi or Tsunagu didn’t force him. After all, everything he ate tasted like cardboard. Not even the raw meat tasted good. He was no longer active on social media, his PR team doing it for him so his fans wouldn’t notice. The only time he touched his phone was to read through the conversations he had with Touya, saved under a blue heart, but in the end he stopped doing that too. And maybe that was why he never saw the alert.
It had been an usual Tuesday night and the hero had ended a calm shift patrolling the streets by visiting the bar close to his apartment. He had become a regular and the bartenders always expected him when they knew he wasn’t working night. He never picked any fights and he tipped well, so they never threw him out, even when he had drunk a little too much. And it helped keep the calmness in the bar so he had quickly become a favorite.
The bartender, a woman with hair made of ice named Sully, greeted him with a smile and sat his usual whiskey down in front of him. She was a pretty woman, and a year back he had probably flirted with her. But that was before- No he was here to forget, not to remember.
“A lot to do today?” Even with her quirk her voice was always friendly.
“Nah, it seems like the villains are staying low.” He never minded the small talk with the people working at this bar, they always noticed pretty quickly if he wasn’t in the mood for talking and would leave him alone.
“They better keep doing that, I really don’t feel like seeing our favorite hero getting hurt.”
“Who said I would get hurt?”
“Who said I was talking about you?” Keigo playfully glared at her and she laughed as she slid a plate of nuts towards him before she left to serve someone else. Keigo never knew why but they always added some kind of food for him, mostly nuts or chips, and they never charged him for it. If the plate turned empty they would refill it, and it was probably the only reason he wasn’t dead yet. The people working here really needed a pay raise.
Keigo finished his glass and Sully refilled it which he downed before mentioning for her to fill it again. She rolled her eyes and pushed the plate slightly closer. Keigo ate enough nuts for her to be happy and she filled the glass again before leaving him to his own device.
Two hours in and a feeling of being watched slowly crept up on him. It wasn’t unusual, with him being a public figure and all, but this time he got an eerie feeling about it. He looked over his shoulder to see if he could find the culprit but no one met his gaze and no one looked suspicious. So the hero ignored the feeling and turned back to his glass, nibbling on a nut as he did.
Three more hours and seven glasses later he paid his bill and stepped out of the bar, cursing his metabolism for not being as drunk as he wished. He let the door slam behind him and began his short journey home, missing the news report on the bar’s tv with just a moment.
The feeling of being watched just got more intense as he walked home but he never heard or saw anyone suspicious. Great, now he’s turning paranoid too. The feeling left a few streets away from his apartment and he shrugged off the eerie feeling he had as he walked the last minutes home.
Nothing looked out of place and when he checked all doors and windows were still locked, but something still felt off. Shrugging it off as the alcohol he threw himself on the couch and draped an arm over his eyes.
“You’ve lost it, Birdie.”
Keigo flew up from the couch in fear, wings sharpening, ready to attack. He looked around the room, not seeing anyone.
"I must be drunker than I thought." He sat down again and closed his eyes. He didn’t feel that drunk, but maybe he'd just gotten so used to the feeling that he no longer noticed.
Suddenly familiar fingers carefully wrapped around his throat from behind and hot air hit his left ear.
"You really must be, if you're this blind."
He couldn't move, frozen to the couch, breath stuck in his throat. He couldn't be imagining this, it was too real. A quiet chuckle was heard before the hand disappeared. This time he heard the steps as the other stepped around the couch and in his view.
Dark hair was no longer dark, but white, scars darker and spread over more of the body that was a lot thinner than the last time Hawks saw him. The clearly stolen clothes were way too big, making the other look even skinnier. Blue eyes filled with pain, but still had the glint of life and will to survive. Keigo couldn't do more than stare, jaw open and no head filled with so many questions.
"Wha- you- how?" The fire user chuckled as he stepped closer, stopping in front of the younger.
"Nice to see you too, Birdie."
Keigo wasn't dreaming, he wasn't hallucinating. Slowly he reached out and poked the other's arm, just to confirm to himself that he actually stood there.
"Touya." It came out as a broken whisper and tears filled his eyes. It was real. The fire user smiled sadly and then Keigo got control of his limbs qgainm. He flew the short distance and gathered him in his arms, hugging him tight.
"Hi Kei." Touya’s voice was soft as he hugged him just as tight. They stood like that for a while, just enjoying being in each other's presence again. Keigo didn't know when they moved but they ended up on the couch, Touya with his head on Keigo’s chest and Keigo playing with his hair.
"How are you here?"
"I broke out, duh." Keigo couldn't help but to roll his eyes at the other as the oldest chuckled.
"But how?"
"They turned sloppy, didn't realize as I stole the keys to the quirk canceling cuffs, it was easy from there. I got Kurogiri and Compress out too and we will get the others." Keigo knew he should probably be worried about that, should probably tell the commission, but instead he was filled with relief.
"Is everyone still… alive?" He could feel Touya tense before slowly sitting up, and that scared the hero, terrified of the answer.
"Birdie, didn't they tell you anything about us?" He had tried to find out the first month's, but they had locked him out of all documents and no one would tell him when he asked. Touya must have realized his distress because he quickly kept going.
"Everyone's alive, for now, but we need to get everyone out before that change." Thank the gods for that. Keigo didn't know what he would have done if someone had actually gotten killed. But Touya was right, with three missing that could change any moment.
"What do you need me to do?" Surprise filled the fire user's eyes.
"You're helping us?"
"I shouldn't have let you get caught. Now when I have a chance to get you all back I'm not going to let it go." Touya stared at him for a moment before he leaned down. Keigo met him halfway and they kissed for the first time in many many months.
He hadn't been lying. He was going to get his family back, if that was the last thing he did. Commission and hero work be damned, he wasn't going to back down. He left them to suffer and he would put a stop to that. And he would never, ever let go of Touya again, which he told the other.
"Missed me that much?" Touya smiled against his lips and Keigo kissed him again.
"Everyday."