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At 6 years old, Keigo snuck out, again.
He'll be so angry, something whispered in the back on his mind. Go home.
No, his wings itched.
He needed to.
He's trying not to think about his father as he walks through town, his wings wrapped around himself protectively as he tries to keep away from too many people.
No one can see him, he reminds himself.
No one can recognize his father's crimes on him.
Keigo peers into a few shops every now and again, looking at whatever they had on display with that rare glimmer in his eyes.
He liked seeing what stores had to offer, given how rarely he could actually go outside.
While he stared at a small cat statue, golden and shiny, a boy gasped from behind him
“Woah, your wings are really cool!”
Keigo whipped around with wide eyes to see a boy, around his age— maybe a year older– standing there with a bright smile.
He had striking blue eyes and almost completely white hair, aside from a few red streaks.
Keigo pressed his lips together in a line, finding it hard to suddenly speak.
“Can you fly?! Or are they too small— woah, you also have little eye markings! Cool! Those must be your quirk, right? Mine have to do with flames, like my dad's!” The boy rambled, before remembering himself and smiled sheepishly.
“Uhm, no, not yet, I can when I get older, though...” Keigo explains, wrapping his arms around himself in a way to sort of ground himself.
“Cool!”
“You have flames...?” He asked, his voice quiet and reserved.
“Yeah, my dad's teaching me how to use them!”
Keigo nods, and the boy goes silent for just a moment before perking up.
“My name is Touya! What's yours?”
“Keigo.”
“It's nice to meet you, we should be friends!”
“Oh, uhm,” was Keigo allowed friends? No, he wasn't allowed outside. Friends meant the discovery of his father.
But, maybe, if his dad didn't find out...
“Okay. I wanna.” He answered with a small smile, the action awkward with misuse.
“C'mon, we can go and shop with my mom! Hey, where are your parents?”
Keigo froze up. “...Uhm—”
Just then, a woman with white hair and grey eyes sprinted towards them with worry laced all over her expression. “Touya! What did I tell you about running off?!” She grabbed his hand gently. “Mom!” Touya mithered, trying to pull away, looking embarrassed to be scolded by his mother in front of his friend.
“You're gonna get yourself hurt, or worse!”
“Okay, okay! I get it, I'm sorry! But I made a new friend!”
Touya's mother looked confused, before her eyes flickered towards little Keigo. Her eyes looked tired.
He recognized it in his own.
“Hi there, sweetie, what's your name?” Her voice was soft and gentle, dripping with saccharine as she knelt to Keigo's height, abandoning her son's hand.
Before he could answer, Touya answered for him. “His name is Keigo!” Clearly, he was excited. Very talkative too, Keigo noted.
“Touya, honey.” She lightly scolded, an exhausted smile on her face.
Keigo shifted, closing in on himself.
“It's nice to meet you, my name is Rei. Good to see that Touya is making more friends. Where are your parents?” Rei asked, while her eyes darted through the shopping center, no doubt scanning for people he shared any sort of resemblance with, or at least for an adult that seemed to be watching over him.
“Uhm... they're shopping,” he lied. “They said it was okay if I was on my own for a while.” Another lie. But the two mostly believed it, Touya more than Rei, who had a gleam Keigo couldn't quite place in her eyes.
“Hey, mom, can he shop with us?” Touya suddenly asked, looking up at Rei who stood back up with a grunt. His eyes were big and pleading.
“His parents might not be okay with that, honey.”
Keigo looked down and frowned lightly. “I actually, uhm, need to go. They're probably done, so we need to get home...” He didn't want to yet, but he knew he had to. It was too risky to stay any longer than he already was. He didn't want to deal with his father's anger.
Touya deflated, a slight pout pulling at his lips while his eyes glinted in disappointment. “Do you think you can shop with us another day? Or we can play? We can come here again tomorrow!”
He wanted to hang out. For some reason, he was shocked, his feathery eyebrows raising in surprise, but he nodded quickly in agreement.
“...Okay.”
“What time?”
“This time is okay.” His father napped from one to four every single day. Usually because of his drinking.
The older boy lit up, positively beaming at the other boy with a wide smile. “Okay! I'll see you later then, Kei! Bye!” Touya waved his good-bye, clearly excited for tomorrow.
Kei. He's never had a nickname before.
Keigo waved a good-bye back and turned reluctantly on his heels to start his way back to the essentially bunker he lived in.
A smile pulled at his lips.
He made a friend.
Even though Touya had to be a secret, he'd cherish him and the nickname he gave him all the same.