Chapter Text
For the rest of the war the blonde man had to push down the feeling of dread, bile on his tongue whenever his eyes laid on a certain red haired hero. Since his past had been revealed Keigo felt like his whole world had been shattered into pieces that seem unable to be put back into place.
The man who had seemed like his salvation, his savior and inspiration only turned out to be exactly like that thing he had saved him from.
In his head it didn’t make sense. How was it possible that someone who was shining so bright turned out to be..like that?
But he himself wasn’t better, was he? When he stared into the mirror he saw a murderer and traitor. The scar along his cheek was a forever reminder of that. For the greater good? Who was he even kidding?
For an hour he simply stared at the little toy lying on his bed resembling the flaming hero. For a while he contemplated throwing it out of the wide window of his penthouse apartment. Memories of a smaller version of himself played in front of his eyes. He laid on the ground, his body trembling and wings folded close to his back in fear of his father stepping on them again, sending electric waves of pain through his whole being yet again.
He couldn’t remember the words he had spit at him but knew they were filled with venom, a wish for the boy to have never been born.
Was his one and true hero really like that? For the last few months he had built something like companionship with the older man, the younger version of the winged hero had done a flip at their dreams coming true even if it was all because of the bastards of the commission. When Keigo glanced at his phone earlier he was even able to see some messages from him as he had been discharged from the hospital this morning but the blonde couldn’t bring himself to answer Endeavor yet now that they didn’t necessarily need to be in contact.
With a sigh he pushed a hand through his unruly locks. Endeavor wasn’t like his father, Keigo tried to tell himself. He made amends, didn’t he? Tried to fix his mistakes or at least be a better man. His own father could never.
Keigo never anticipated for those old emotions to resurface again after the commission was so successful in deleting his existence before he had been discovered.
It’s just that so much has happened. The revelation about Endeavor, his mother leaving him with a simple note and..his own wrong doings. He still couldn’t shake off the look of a damaged man with tears in his eyes that he couldn’t see because he had stabbed him from behind.
Shit, he thought. All this training to disassociate in cases like this went flying out the window as soon as he was discharged from his duties. The stumps on his back itched. Lingering pain and restlessness forced him to do something. Just anything to stop the uncomfortable journey his mind took him on.
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“Name?”
He couldn’t help but raise a brow but at the bored stare of the man behind the glass, he shook of that little bit of his pride that could possibly be hurt.
“Takami Keigo.” He answered after a few seconds. Saying his own name after so long feels foreign. The last time he even heard it after years still shocked him. How did he know?
The man noted down his name, not looking up.
“Who are you here for?”
Now though Keigo rolled his eyes and couldn’t hide the slight annoyance in his tone despite the anxious flutter in his chest. Maybe that is exactly what made him uncharacteristically impatient with this man.
“Look at my name, what do you think?” He snapped back which only earned him another bored glare before the older man noted that down as well before pushing a button on his desk which opened a door on his right with a loud beeping noise.
“On the right side in the waiting room, a guard will take you to him once he’s ready.”
“Thanks..” Keigo gritted out and stepped through the door, hearing it click shut behind him again to which he had to suppress a flinch. What could he say? He was a bird not meant to be trapped, always feeling uncomfortable without a direct possibility of escape. Not that he could fly away as of now anyways.
This prison had luckily only been half affected by the casualties of the war, the criminals here too small and unimportant to be of interest to the league and only had been destroyed for parts as the disaster hadn’t reached this part of the country that much.
Nervously Keigo sat in the waiting area, his leg bouncing at high speed as he tried not to think about anything.
Luckily (or not) he didn’t have to wait too long as a guard appeared in the doorway that looked equally annoyed as the one from the front desk. Guess they weren’t used to visitors, huh?
“For Takami.” The man called out even though Keigo was the only one there anyways. Either way he willed his bouncing leg to stop and stood up with a nod and followed behind the man leading him through the prison halls. Every step made his lungs feel tighter and his scars itched. With every Fiber of his body he willed his hands to not scratch wildly at his face or featherless stumps.
You’re not that kid anymore, he tried to remind himself, you’re a hero!
Was he really though?
You helped save Japan, without your intel it all would have ended so much worse.
But wasn’t it already bad enough?
You won though, didn’t you?
Keigo sighed at himself, earning himself a raised brow from the guard who stood in front of a door, waiting for the blonde to get his shit together.
He smiled apologetically and nodded to signal that he was ready.
“30 minutes.” The guard said and geez the people here really didn’t like their job, did they? But who was he to blame them, he wasn’t even sure if he liked his own anymore..
He nodded yet again and the doors opened.
His eyes trailed over the interior of the room, seemingly a private visiting room with nothing but a table and two chairs in the middle of the small space. The figure sitting there was chained with cuffs on a hook on the table was unrecognizable for the winged hero. He was older, that much was a given. Beard and hair longer and unkempt and streaks of grey visible, form sagged and thin, wrinkles and scars settled deep in his face, around those golden eyes he always saw when Keigo himself looked into the mirror.
With his arms prodded on the table he saw the few brownish feathers adorning the back of his arms.
For a while Keigo stood frozen there as the door closed behind him with a click , the guard standing outside, keeping watch from the small window in the door. There was also a camera blinking a small red light focused on the chained person.
Keigo would have thought that once he saw this man memories would pop up again similar to those he suffered from at home. But there was none of that. Instead of the petty figure of a father in front of him sat a pathetic excuse of a human being.
The silence stretched between them. Keigo saw Takami’s eyes widen slightly once he recognized his son, chapped lips parted slightly before closing again.
His eyes trailed over him as well and once they settled onto where there were supposed to spread red wide wings from his back, the old man burst into a loud ugly laughter, bending forward so that his face was hidden behind long strands.
The sound made his gaze harden and clench his hands, glad for not forgetting his gloves or else his talons would draw blood from how tightly he held onto nothing.
The old man kept wheezing, until he spoke up, voice rough and there it was, the venom, that seeped under the blonde’s skin which he could remember all too perfectly.
“Would you look at that. Someone finally clipped your wings, son ?” He spat out in between manic giggles.
“Now you look just as deranged as me! What a feast!”
Keigo stayed quiet save for a few deep breaths he forced himself to take through the invisible grip around his throat. Why did he come here again?
You need proof , he told himself, proof that Endeavor isn’t like him, that you’re not like him.
Keigo wet his lips before he let them into a trained smile which felt more strained than ever before. The same smile which had been plastered over various magazines and billboards, promoting a mur- a hero.
“You seem rather chipper.” The blonde finally said, cocking his head to the side slightly as he took a few steps closer towards the table.
The man in front of him hiccuped.
“Oh yes! I am just..hah so proud of you!”
That..he didn’t anticipate and Keigo couldn’t help the surprised raise of his brows. He did not need to say anything for the criminal to continue. The man wanted to raise his hands and the shackles clinked as they moved against the hoop on the table.
“Yes! Don’t think I’d miss your huge achievements! Number two hero! Pretty little prodigy only to end up as an exposed murderer, just like your old man! So so proud!” The man hollered, thick accent noticeable with every new word spoken and gods above Keigo was glad that he wasn’t able to call upon his feathers right now or else one would probably be stuck in this old man’s throat by now.
His eyes momentarily widened at that thought. What the hell?! I am not like that!
Quickly he schooled his expression again, a smile growing back on his lips slightly and he willed his posture to relax.
Back on track, Keigo.
“So…I assume that you do not regret what you did in your past?” He asked.
Takami was now the one to raise a brow.
“Hah? What’s this? Interview for rehabilitation?” his father asked, so Keigo continued.
“I assume you do not regret the way you treated mother and me?”
A scoff was his reply.
“You do not regret stealing and killing?” He prodded again.
“Why the fuck would I?”
With that some of the tension left Keigo’s bones and a breath of relief flooded between his lips.
At least Endeavor regrets and tries…
Keigo raises his head again and keeps on smiling.
“Thank you for your time.” He simply said before turning to knock on the door so he could signal the guard that he was done with the visit.
Behind him his father said something, but Keigo had already stopped listening.
And as he left the prison building and headed for his motorcycle the blonde muttered to himself.
“At least I regret…” as he recalled the pile of blonde underneath a black clad figure with a ripped mask.
He gave the prison one last glance after securing the helmet atop of his head before he drove off, enjoying the wind passing his limbs and missing the wind passing through his feathers.
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Once he was back in his apartment Keigo discarded his gloves and threw himself onto his sofa suddenly too exhausted and still he dared to take a look back at his phone to ponder over the messages.
There was Mirko who had sent him a photo of her new prosthetic to which he naturally replied with a simple “ Hot hot hoooot cyber bunny”. It was easy for him with Mirko. She was just as wounded as he was and just as keen on pretending to not be. Still, there was guilt seeping through him. If only he’d had more information on this damn place, those Nomus never would have taken her limbs from her.
There were also messages from various other colleagues but he only shoots a quick thumbs up to Tsunagu who asked if he was okay only because he knew if he kept too long to himself the other would hunt him down. He smiled bitterly at the thought of his friend.
The messages from Tokoyami went skillfully ignored, not able to indulge too much in the guilt that accompanied his thoughts of this too kind student.
And then finally he clicked on his chat with Endeavor to fully read it.
“Hello Hawks. I got discharged today and I heard you did too the other day. Can we talk?”
There was this taste of bile on his tongue again. Where once he’d jumped out and would have already taken off to meet the older man he was now still contemplating, feeling the uncomfortable flutter in his stomach.
He’s not like your father , he reasons again. He was but not anymore .
And Keigo himself had seen the man break down from his past catching up to him.
Get your shit together.
“ Sure thing, gimme time and day and I’m there.” he typed his reply, thumb hovering only seconds before hitting send.
His scar started itching again as he stared at his hands.