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It was too easy. The guy hadn’t even blinked as a feather snatched the wallet out of his back pocket. He could tell the guy had money to spare just from the way he dressed. Sparkling white boots that had probably never seen the light of day before and headphones that Keigo couldn’t even afford to look at. This would be nothing but a small annoyance for him.
It was always easy pickings in this park. The area had a low crime rate and everyone was just so relaxed all the time. Nobody would glance twice as long as you dressed the part. Keigo went along his business nicking whatever caught his eye as he made laps along the trail.
His feathers were hidden in a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. The leftover wings were small enough to fit under a hoodie and he had sunglasses on to conceal his eye markings. His talons were trimmed short and any extra feathers were plucked clean off. His father had grown a reputation in recent years, and his wanted poster was slapped across every available surface in downtown Tokyo. Everyone knew his face.
The Takami thief made a bad name for heteromorphs everywhere. Hate crimes grew with each heist and subsequent attack. People were terrified and were ready to blame an entire population for the crimes of one. Even the Creature Rejection Clan was gaining traction with the mainstream public. Words like ‘feral’ and ’savage’ were thrown around like they were wild animals. It wasn’t safe to show any heteromorphic features in public anymore.
Keigo grit his teeth as he thought about the Hero Public Safety Commission’s new proposal; a registry to keep track of those that were deemed “untamed”. His wings bristled under the hoodie and took a deep breath and forced them to lay back flat.
He flipped the wallet in the air and slid it back into his pocket without a glance. He could hear his father’s words ‘The world has already decided what we are: thieves, criminals, villains. So why bother being anything else.’
“Shit- I’m sorry Sho.”
Keigo glanced up to find the same guy from earlier. He was frantically patting down his pants searching for the wallet in Keigo’s pocket. There was a kid next to him clutching at a small doll of All Might. They must be family with how similar they looked.
The guy ran a hand through his thick white hair and said an apology to the man running the mochi ice cream stand. The kid was silent with a small pout, confusion written across his face. His bottom lip wobbled back and forth as he kept taking in little gasps of air.
“Was I bad?”
“Fuck- no, you’re fine. It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”
Keigo’s heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. He quite literally stole ice cream from a child. The guy quickly scooped up the kid, and started to make his leave from the stand.
Without thinking Keigo ran up holding the wallet out to him. “Hey! Hey, I think you dropped this.”
The kid was slumped against the guy’s shoulder with two different colored eyes pinned on Keigo as he approached. The guy turned on his heel spinning the kid away as he tried to figure out what was happening.
He had a set of shocking blue eyes that melted into a puddle of relief at the sight of his wallet. The guy jostled his brother into one arm as he reached out to grab it. “Shit, thank you.”
The kid was now shifted onto the guy’s hip and he tucked his little head against the guy’s chest.
“Yeah, it’s no problem.” Keigo leaned forward slightly to get on eye level with the kid. “Hi, I’m Keigo.”
“I’m Touya, and this is my little brother, Shoto.” Keigo gave a hum in response and gave a small smile when one of the eyes poked out of their hiding place and immediately turned away again. “Don’t mind him. He’s shy.” Touya adjusted the kid on his hip once more. “Sho, let’s say thank you. We can get that ice cream now.”
The kid just pressed his face tighter against his chest. Touya laughed and gave Keigo a small bow in thanks. “Hey, do you want some? Least I can do after you saved my ass.”
“Oh, uh-,” Keigo trailed off glancing at his phone. It was getting late, and he still needed to plant some feathers inside the bank before they closed.
“It’s okay if you don’t have the time. Maybe another time.” Touya said.
“How does tomorrow look for you?” The words poured out of his mouth faster than he could think.
“Uh, I’ve got this event in the evening, but maybe we could grab a morning coffee?” Touya asked hopefully.
Keigo’s heart was doing somersaults. “Yeah, yeah that would be great. What time?”
“I can drop him off at seven,” Touya nodded down to his younger brother still plastered against his chest. “So I can meet you at that coffee place just around the corner after that.” Pointing over his shoulder to the small alcove of shops on the far side of the park.
“Perfect, I’ll see you there.” Keigo couldn’t hold back a smile that was all teeth.
Touya hummed an affirmation and gave him a glance that was not subtle. “Don’t be late.”
Keigo’s heart fluttered once more before his feet fell into skip as he made his way to the bank.
(The next day)
Keigo had placed a dozen feathers in the bank. Some held latches to keep the doors unlocked and others blocked out the security feed with shades of red. He kept double checking the time. His father said they would raid the place before any employees got there, but he knew how much he loved to make a spectacle.
His suspicions were confirmed once the clock struck seven. One of his feathers hidden along the back entrance picked up a conversation. Something about being stuck on the opening shift for the next month. Keigo didn’t know why he bothered to do any prep work if his father wasn’t even going to use it. Obviously he wasn’t needed for this mission. Besides, he had a pretty boy to meet up with.
He was sitting by himself on a bench outside the designated coffee shop. Fingers tapping against his leg as he stretched his neck around trying to find that familiar face. Touya said he would be there shortly after seven. He just needed to be patient.
A few more minutes passed and there was still no sign of him. Keigo checked through the window to make sure he wasn’t waiting inside for him.
“Keigo?” He jumped out of his skin as he turned around to find Touya right behind him. “Shit- sorry.” Touya snorted at him.
Keigo shook his head and pulled the door open for the other. He hoped the frame would hide the blush making its home on his face. “Morning.”
“Morning to you too.” Touya laughed, leading them to the crowd in front of the counter. He wore a thin white shirt that left little to the imagination and a black leather jacket overtop. His black skinny jeans were impossibly tight and hugged his ass perfectly. Then he topped it all off with those pristine white boots of his. “Whatever you want is on me.”
Panic took over his heart. When had they gotten to the front of the line? He hadn’t even glanced at the menu. Before he could think twice he started rattling off random words he found. “A large, oatmilk, iced... flat white with 2 pumps of caramel.”
The barista and Touya both gave him the most incredulous looks. He knew he fucked up something.
“Or whatever you recommend.” Keigo tried to recover. He motioned for Touya to step forward, but those blue eyes just kept trying to make sense of him.
With a small sigh Touya finally relinquished his gaze and ordered a small dark roast coffee and two cinnamon coffee cakes.
He ushered them to a table as they waited for their order. “You know you could have said something if you don’t drink coffee.” Touya said.
“Oh no, no I love coffee.” Touya gave him a skeptical look. “I’m just more of a canned coffee guy.” Keigo waved his hands around like that would be reason enough.
“Oh, so you’re one of those people.” Touya chided.
“Hey, it’s convenient.” He smirked back. “I may not be a fancy coffee expert, but I’ll make up for it with my great personality.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Of course,” Keigo insisted. Before he could continue a tall figure walked in and slammed his hands against the front counter.
The man started ranting about his online order not going through and berating the staff for not having his order ready. The poor barista held her ground but he started demanding to speak with a manager and that he deserved a free drink for his trouble.
He noticed the way Touya clenched his fists on the table, lips pursed tight at the man’s tantrum. Keigo popped out of his seat with a nod to Touya as he made his way to the other counter with the ready orders.
Another worker set their order down and the man came charging over, but Keigo was faster. He whipped the two drinks and cakes out of thin air and left the man looking exasperated. His anger immediately turned to the man behind the counter. He reached out a hand out grabbing the worker’s apron right as Keigo dumped his drink down the guy’s pants. The man stood there dumbfounded and lost his grip on the worker.
It had splattered all across the floor and soaked the guy’s shoes. “Oops, so sorry man. Always been a little accident prone.” Keigo ducked under a swipe and brought the fully intact dark roast coffee and cakes over to Touya with a proud smile.
Touya let out the ugliest snort he had ever heard. He was covering his face and pushing back tears. “You are so fucking lucky you ordered that iced or you would be facing charges.” Shaking his head back and forth he pulled him into the booth beside him.
The guy was still standing at the side counter furiously grabbing an entire stack of napkins before rushing out of the building screaming that he would never take his business there again.
A barista plopped out a wet floor sign and brought a new drink over to Keigo. He thanked him for intervening, called him a hero, and even gave him a reward card for a free drink in the future. Touya just smiled at him and the warmth in his chest just kept growing.
He knew this feeling was dangerous, but it felt so good. Maybe his father was wrong; maybe he could be more.
The two of them ended up sitting there for hours talking about nothing and everything at the same time. Keigo asked about Touya’s siblings and learnt how much they meant to him. Touya told him about his new job and how he would be able to afford the deposit on an apartment soon. Keigo kept his own answers vague and steered conversation away from himself, but followed up with every piece of information Touya gave him.
Eventually, Touya had to bring their time to a close. He complained about some fancy event he had to attend that evening because of his father and how he needed to get his siblings ready. They parted ways with the promise to see each other the next morning.
(Later that evening)
“Look, Touya!” A small hand reached forward between the seats and yanked at his suit jacket. “There’s a bird.”
“Shoto, you need to sit back. That’s dangerous.” Fuyumi pestered him back into his carseat. Natsuo was too wrapped up in his handheld game to give any comment.
Touya was fighting for his life against his motion sickness and his travel bands weren’t doing anything to help the matter. He felt another insistent tug at his elbow, but he knew he couldn’t look back without making it worse. So his eyes stayed pinned to the road. “That’s nice, Sho.”
The driver gave Touya a sympathetic look before switching on the radio. “A distraction will help.” She insisted. He gave her a quick glare that said nothing would help while he was trapped in this car.
Fuck Enji. Fuck this stupid event. The man just kept finding new ways to make his life a living hell.
[Tokyo News Radio brings you the news you need from the brand you trust. Breaking news, continuous coverage, and round-the-clock reporting.
In hero news, the Flame Hero: Endeavor arrested Tomie Takami and four others in a bank robbery today. They are listed as accomplices to the Takami Thief.
According to a report from the Tokyo Police Department, the attack happened around 7:30 a.m.
Six of the bank’s employees are in critical condition and were taken to area hospitals. Three of the villains sustained non-life threatening injuries per police chief Tanaka.
The HPSC urges you to stay aware and stay vigilant. The Takami thief is still at large. He fled the scene wearing…]
The flaming sidekick was driving them to some kind of fucking hero gala. All of the top ten were invited to the event. His father’s publicist insisted the entire family had to make a guest appearance, to show his strong ‘family values’ to the public. Touya had laughed knowing that nothing would get Enji a better approval rating. Not when he was the flaming beacon of shitty rescue stats and collateral damage.
Things had been tense in the Todoroki home ever since Enji sent their mom away. Touya had taken over caring for his siblings. He ensured that his father barely interacted with them and stopped Shoto’s training altogether. Enji had thrown a raging fit, but threats of his mom’s condition going public stopped him.
He wanted to report the abuse back at the start, but he knew how it would work; assuming someone even believed them, assuming they could get around Enji’s lawyers. The Todoroki children would be separated. Nobody would take in all four of them at once, and Shoto had already been alone for too long. It wasn’t worth the risk. Touya was doing research on how to fight for them in a custody battle, but he didn’t even have a place for them to live, let alone the money to raise his siblings. So they were stuck here until he could figure things out. But just the day before he heard his application to work the front desk at a tattoo parlor was accepted, so maybe things were finally looking up.
Nobody wanted to go to this event, but if he wanted to keep the fragile peace with his father they had to play his game for a little while longer.
It didn’t take much to convince Fuyumi to dress up but his brothers were another issue. Touya was able to bribe Natsuo into the suit by promising he could take his video game along, but Shoto fought against his elastic tie with the passion of a thousand suns and not even candy was a decent bargaining chip for him. So Touya forfeited the tie and left the kid’s collar unbuttoned. It wasn’t worth it to make him cry right before they left. His father would be more upset if he was throwing a fit, so he could deal with the lesser of two evils. At least this way he could make it his fault and not Shoto’s.
“No, look Touya! He-,” Shoto’s statement was cut off by Fuyumi’s scream as a large crash landed against the side of the vehicle, sending it spinning out onto the curb. The airbags went off as the passenger door was crushed in against a light pole. The window cracked and splintered, raining glass down on Touya. He clutched his mouth trying not to puke as he pushed the airbag away from himself.
Then the driver’s door clicked open.
He couldn’t see his face, but those wings told him everything he needed to know. Fuck. The Takami thief was here. The man was a notorious villain originally from Kyushu before he made his mark in Tokyo. He had tawny brown feathers that grew up both his arms and onto his shoulders before joining into the plumage of his massive wings. Takami’s hair was pulled back and there was a manic grin stretched across his face as he leaned forward. A talon swiped against the sidekick’s seatbelt and it whipped back into the car’s frame. Takami reached out to the lapels of her jacket and yanked her out of the seat to join him.
Touya could hear a fight taking place but he was too busy frantically hitting the button to release his own seat belt to look. He turned around to find all his siblings sitting shocked-still in terror, Fuyumi screaming and Shoto crying. Touya snapped a hand in front of them yelling, “Fucking get out! Run!”
Natsuo finally dropped his game and pulled open his door as Fuyumi wrestled with the seatbelt around Shoto. Touya tried to pry his door open but it was stuck against the light pole and the broken window wasn’t big enough for him to get through. Fuyumi and Natsuo rushed out of the car onto the sidewalk.
He started crawling between the seats to the back of the car, pushing Shoto forward towards his sister’s waiting arms. Before he could reach the door a hand wrapped around his ankle and yanked him back. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Touya screamed as talons pierced through his calf and he was dragged back toward the driver’s seat. His sternum slammed against the center console, knocking the air out of his lungs. Nothing he grabbed would hold fast and he suddenly found himself face first with the street.
Takami flipped him over, glaring at him. “Where did the kids go?”
Touya couldn’t even give a response as his chest heaved trying to get air back into his lungs. His suit jacket scraped against the road as he was dragged by his leg to the back of the car.
“Touya?” Shoto yelled out amongst the chaos. His siblings were only a few yards away. Fuyumi was struggling to keep hold of Shoto and Natsuo was cowering behind her.
A broken cough caught his attention and he found the flaming sidekick bracing her side before stepping between his siblings and the villain. Her once white shirt was soaked through in three distinct slashes, stretching from her hip to just below her sternum. She turned toward Fuyumi, “Get them out of here. Backup is on the way.”
Takami laughed as he stomped forward, still pulling Touya along with him. His lungs could only handle small breaths, but with each lung full the world was coming back into sharper focus. He could just catch the smell of gasoline. It must have been leaking from the car. He stretched his neck and saw a puddle slowly surrounding them. Shit.
“Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do?” Takami taunted.
A few sparks shot forward from the sidekick and barely singed against his feathers. Touya knew her quirk. She was stronger than this. She was holding back. She was holding back because of him.
Touya dug a heel into the ground trying to escape Takami’s hold but his talons were still piercing through his leg. With each flail he only seemed to grip harder.
He needed to get away. He needed to keep his siblings safe. He needed his quirk. Touya ignored the warning bells ringing in his head. His suppression cuffs were trapped under two sets of sleeves. Touya pushed the suit jacket up his arms and then brought a shirt cuff to his mouth, biting down on the fabric and holding pressure with his other hand to pop the buttons off before repeating with the other. It was easier said than done as Takami was still dragging him around fighting against the sidekick. Touya finally tossed both suppressors off to the side.
Even with only having use of one arm, Takami knocked the sidekick down to the ground and proceeded to drive his boot against her chest until Touya could hear her ribs cracking under the force. He watched in terror as the sidekick rolled onto her side coughing up blood before a broken sob came out, “I’m s-sorry, Touya.”
“Oh, so you're one of Endeavor’s brats, too.” Takami folded his leg in until it was trapped against his chest and pinned his other leg down to the street under his knee. “Just do as I say and it doesn’t have to be so bad. Now why don’t you call back the little ones?”
“I won’t let you fucking touch them. Now get the fuck off of me.” He tried twisting out of the hold once more but the villain only leaned forward until they were almost nose to nose.
“Language, little Todoroki,” Takami chuckled before bringing a talon under Touya’s eye, barely scratching a line but making the threat clear, “Come on, I don’t have all day, kid.” Touya could feel something wet against his neck. The gasoline was surrounding them now. He maintained eye contact as he cupped his hand in the puddle and splashed it across the villain. “ Oh really scary, kid. ”
Touya braced his arms against the road and shot a torrent of flames up at him. Takami screamed as one of his arms lit up blue, scrambling backwards and letting go of Touya as he started to pat out the flames. “You are gonna pay for that, you little shit.”
The fire also caught the cuff of Touya’s jacket and was spreading up to his shoulder. He tried to wrestle free of the garment, but the sleeves were still bunched around his biceps. He rolled around on the ground trying to dampen the fire that consumed his arm. Fuck . What the hell was he thinking? The jacket was soaked with gasoline.
Touya brought his quirk back to life once more and burned down the seams until he was able to tear himself free of the jacket, but he was already on fire. He scrambled back from the puddle and rolled around on the ground trying to suffocate the remaining flames. Touya pushed himself up to kneel once the heat finally started to fade, but his skin was already raw and some patches on his shoulder looked charred. He knew it was bad when he couldn’t feel those spots at all.
The flaming sidekick was just a few feet away from him. Her chest dented inward, no longer moving. Shit . Her eyes were still wet with tears, blood pooling out the side of her mouth and dripping onto the street. Fucking hell.
Touya looked around wildly searching for where Takami or his siblings might have gone. Sirens were now blaring in and out of focus and he noticed the puddle of gasoline on the ground catch fire from his discarded jacket. Fucking idiot. Why did he leave it there? He stumbled back and tried to get some more distance before the car burst into flames too. His skin was screaming; the heat wasn’t helping.
There were so many shrieks from horrified onlookers as he stumbled down the street away from the scene before a hand caught itself around his waist. Touya cried as he was yanked off the ground a few yards. He twisted around, his hand already lit up blue before he was in a free fall. Takami had dropped him. He landed ass first before his head slammed against the street.
“Shame, could have done this the easy way, kid.“ Takami glanced up as the heroes started screaming for him to stand down before focusing back on him, ”Guess I’ll have to settle for just you.”
Spots littered Touya’s vision and his body refused to move; spasms kept shooting up his back. Everything was moving in slow motion as Takami stepped over him to pick him up and drape him over his shoulder. Touya laid there limp as they launched back into the sky.
Endeavor arrived at the scene a couple minutes later to find only three of his kids and a dead sidekick.
Touya woke up to cold concrete underneath him. He pushed himself up to his knees and looked at his arms. A pair of manacles secured his wrists together with a chain that connected to a metal ring dead-bolted into the floor. There was barely a couple feet of slack. He wouldn’t even be able to stand up at this rate.
Red whelps of angry flesh peaked out from under the cuffs. His face felt stiff and tight, he reached up and a small gasp escaped his lips as he found the skin under both of his eyes had blisters. It stretched across his jawline and down his neck. Fuck . Touya stopped touching the burns. His hands were filthy, it was just asking for an infection. But another part of his mind asked how else was he supposed to check the damage. He was chained to the floor without a mirror in sight.
The room appeared to be some kind of basement. There was a wall just close enough for him to scoot over and lean against without putting too much strain against his arms. Touya choked back a yell as the cool concrete made contact against his skin. His back was burned too. The remnants of his shirt provided no protection as it barely hung on to him with the edges flitting away into ash. These burns were more extensive than anything he had ever had.
He slumped forward and kicked his legs out. There was a police grade quirk dampener secured to his ankle. It was old, chunky, and weighed heavily against his tender skin. There were five puncture wounds that were already scabbed over with long dried blood on his other leg. His head was swimming and he struggled to keep upright. Touya couldn’t tell if there was a drug in his system or if it was just the shock from his own injuries.
Damn it.
His quirk apparently didn’t deter Takami in the slightest and suppression cuff just proved that he was prepared to deal with a more volatile quirk.
Chances of survival decreased drastically once you made it to a second location and that wasn’t counting on the fact that he was injured as well. Fucking hell. Dread crept in his stomach and he couldn’t stop the bile that forced its way up. Instinct turned his head to the side and he could feel the blisters around his mouth straining under the force.
Touya spent several minutes panting, his throat was burning. He attempted to slow his breathing and willed the nausea to leave. He couldn’t risk any more episodes, it would only dehydrate himself further and make everything worse. There was no telling how long he had been here or how much longer he would be trapped. He couldn’t afford to panic.
His only saving grace was that none of his siblings were down here with him. Fuyumi must have been able to get the others out of there.
Shit . Would Enji do something now that he wasn’t there? They were just finally getting back into a normal routine again. He had finally got Shoto to stop fussing when applying the ointment to his burn before bed. They were supposed to go to Fuyumi’s recital tomorrow. Today? He didn’t even know what day it was.
Touya slowly leaned his head back and winced at the knot on the back of his head. Slowly, he leaned forward until he had enough slack to wrap his arms around to feel it. He couldn’t hold back the hiss that came out, there was a cut several centimeters long being stretched out on top of a goose egg. He could hear his mom’s words: better out than in.
He took in the space around him. A set of wooden stairs with no railing lead up to the only door in the room with a half window high above the bottom of the stairs. The glass was old and dirty, but it still allowed traces of light to loom over. Across from him there were multiple shelves stretching up to the ceiling and continuing on behind the staircase. They were filled to the brim packages of nonperishables and water sitting just out of his reach. This place must be some sort of base. This level of preparation meant they were ready to hide out for a long time.
The floor’s concrete was littered with random cracks dividing the space. Perhaps it was old enough to crumble under some pressure. Touya crouched forward and wrapped the short chain between his hands and pressed a leg on either side of the ring on the floor. He pulled with everything he had but the metal wouldn’t budge.
The room was starting to spin with his effort and a headache was growing behind his eyes. Spots danced across his vision and Touya finally sat back down. Knowing his luck he would slip in his own vomit and give himself further injuries. Perhaps he could sleep for just a moment. Get past the worst of the pain and then try again.
Nobody seemed to be nearby. Someone surely would have checked on him when he was gagging on his own fucking vomit; they obviously needed him for some shit. He resolutely decided that sleep was more important than any of his other problems. Unconsciousness took over him before he even had a chance to fully close his eyes.
Keigo got up early the next morning. He had plans to see Touya again for coffee. The other had promised to show him a better drink than the monstrosity he had ordered yesterday.
He had nabbed a nice button down shirt the day before and was attempting to smooth back his hair when he caught a noise. There was someone in the building. Keigo sent his feathers out to find the source. His father had trudged through late in the night, but he had been long gone when he actually got up this morning.
The noise was coming from the basement. Keigo snuck into his father’s office and snatched the spare key sitting on his desk. He checked to see if the coast was clear. None of his father’s usual buddies seemed to be lurking about. They didn’t have any more missions lined up from what he could remember. He unlocked the basement door.
Keigo didn’t know where anybody was. This wasn’t normal. They always brought their winnings back here after a raid.
Cracking open the door he peered through to find a guy laid passed out on the floor. His father must have dragged somebody downstairs in the middle of the night. This was the first time he had ever brought his work home. A rock formed in the pit of his stomach.
He sent a feather down to check if the guy was still alive. Keigo grimaced as he took in the large gash on the back of his head; blood staining his white hair.
A soft exhale breezed across the barbs of his feather. He didn’t know if the dude was either the luckiest or unluckiest man to have survived an encounter with his father. His breathing was too even for him to be awake, so Keigo glided down the stairs and got closer. He pushed the guy’s bangs back trying to figure out who he was. Then it hit him. This was Touya. The same Touya who he was supposed to meet up with in an hour to get coffee with.
Keigo’s heart started racing. His wings bristled against his back and went razor sharp.
Touya’s face and arms were covered in burns. The smell was almost too much for him to stomach as he turned him over. It pierced the air like something fierce. He tugged the edge of his collar over his nose without getting any relief before looking over his body. The burns wrapped all the way around him. His skin was mottled and shiny with blisters. Since when did his father burn people?
Keigo looked around wildly, waiting for his father to pop out of nowhere. This didn’t make sense. How did Touya even get on his radar? He had been so careful to hide his appearance; to make sure he wasn’t followed.
He noticed a puddle of vomit just a few feet away and rolled Touya up onto his side. There wasn’t any good position to put him in that wouldn’t put pressure on his burns, but hopefully this would at least keep him from choking.
Creak
Keigo bolted upright and dashed up the stairs. One of his feathers on the roof caught his father’s landing. He couldn’t be caught down here helping him. Luckily, he had always been faster. He was back upstairs with the door locked and the key safely deposited back on his father’s desk before he even stepped foot inside the building.
“Keigo!” His father yelled. He rushed to the bottom of the stairs, standing at attention. “Where the hell were you?”
“I-.” He took a small gulp. Memories of his morning with Touya flashing through his mind. The way he berated him for his sugar intake and his ugly snort when Keigo “spilt” his iced coffee on that asshole of a customer. “I took out the cameras like you said to do.”
A bag dropped to the floor beside them.
“Since when do you think you can just sit back and not show up?” Takami yanked him closer by his shirt collar. “That flaming bastard took them. He took your mother, you fucking brat.” His father clapped him upside the head.
Keigo ducked down out of the hold, shielding his head. His mouth hung open in shock, staring at the ground. He kept waiting for another blow as the words continued to echo in his head. He was shoved out of the way and against the wall as his father stomped over to his office. His arm was void of any feathers and he had a wrap bandage covering from wrist to bicep.
Takami was back out with the same set of keys swinging around his finger. He snatched the bag on the floor and pulled out a box. It had a picture of a video camera on it.
“Just wait till you see what I got.” Small pinpricks traveled down Keigo’s spine as he was pulled toward the basement door. “We’ll see if they won’t negotiate with us now that I’ve got the number two’s kid.”
Keigo swore his heart stopped at that moment. This was all his fault. If he hadn’t skipped the mission. If he hadn’t decided to play hooky with Touya. If he hadn’t thought he could be normal for just one day.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
This is what he got for believing he could be anything but a villain.
(To be continued in part 2)