Author's note: Thank you for the reviews! May have found a Beta reader so some of my grammar might finally be better. Don't forget this an AU so while it follows some of the Manga and Anime it deviates. As always. I write what I want to read over and over again. Also keeping an eye on those visitors/views and we are close! I am so doing some time skipping to keep the story going.
Disclaimer: I don't own MHA but the Original characters are mine. This story does have spoilers for the Manga and Anime. It's rated for content that is sensitive to some and trigger inducing to others including but not limited to rape, assault, abuse, torture, manipulation, child abuse, drugs and more.
Chapter 24 - Changes in Life
Keigo's second year with the Commission was full of changes that he enjoyed and were hard for him. Azumi stayed in the hospital doing corrective therapy until Spring. She didn't have any memory issues and her quirk was working just fine considering how sparingly she had used it before the surgery. Soji and Keigo took the weekends to repaint the new apartment and Soji had Keigo help him pick out furniture for the small apartment so Azumi could come home to a real table and chairs in the kitchen at the very least. Keigo got a desk and a real bed for his room so the top bunk could be returned to Jin. He loved how Soji helped him to add posters and shelves to make his bedroom the way he wanted it. His new father wasn't even phased when Keigo had asked for a raised bed so he could nest it when he needed to.
When the contract came for renewal, the Commission didn't argue any of the changes, even going the extra mile and allowing Soji to come view the dorms for Keigo during the week. Soji was impressed, especially when he learned the dorms were separated by rank of quirk, not age or grade. It prevented jealousy over age and talent. Keigo was going to be in a dorm with 5 other boys who had A-S rank quirks. Keigo also seemed happy with them, noting the 5 other young boys staying in the same dorm. A pair of twins who seemed to move in tandem, a tall skinny boy with blue hair, an average looking boy with alert green eyes and brown hair and the tall red head with the bright turquoise eyes he had met before.
His training was stepped up and as he wanted, he was able to focus more on his education, physical training and hero training with the extra time in the morning and evening. The biggest changes of the year came in Spring, and Winter for him.
Spring -
It was after dinner on a Thursday night, and Keigo was laying on his bunk with a book about old world mathematics. His teacher had pressed that it could help him with his aerodynamics while flying so he was giving it a read while he had free time until lights out. The dorms were a new living experience for Keigo, which he adapted to as quickly as possible. He was given the bottom bunk with the red haired boy from the gym,named Toya on the top bunk. Each bunk had a locker on either side of the beds for storing clothes and books and Keigo had decorated his with a picture of him, Azumi and Soji on the inside door. He didn't take Azumi's pillow with him because he didn't want to be picked on for it, choosing to try and fight through his nightmares on his own.
His reading light was blocked and he looked up to see Toya hanging over the bunk looking at Keigo. His eyes caught the light of the room and glowed faintly as Keigo saw Toya grinning maniacally at him. None of the other kids wanted anything to do with Toya which is why they left his bottom bunk open. Making sure to slide his bookmark onto the page he was at, Keigo blinked at Toya. "Something you need?" Toya shook his head, still grinning. "Just watching you read, birdy." Keigo sighed and failed at keeping his feathers from shuffling in annoyance. "My name is Keigo, not birdy."
His response seemed to be what Toya had been looking for as an invitation to bother him. The tall skinny kid dropped down onto his bed and sat cross legged as he folded his arms. They were covered in bandages from wrist up to his shoulders under his tee-shirt. Toya cocked his head and looked down his nose at Keigo. "I'm Toya. Nice to remeet you. You don't remember the last time we really spoke do you?" Keigo frowned. "I do. You patted my head and said you would make sure that guy didn't hurt me and then you roasted him." The redhead smiled and this time closed his eyes as if proud of that moment. "He was a bully. I hate bullies. I try to fight them whenever I can, including my dad. He's the worse one."
Now Keigo was curious. The room chatter got softer, apparently everyone else in the room was curious as well. "Your dad is a bully?" Toya nodded. "That's why I'm here. I need to get stronger and learn to use my quirk better to protect my siblings. He trains them too hard and treats them like machines or lab rats." Toya frowned and let his hands drol in his lap. "I'm not sure why I'm telling you this stuff. Surprised you listened." Keigo bit his lip, unsure how to reply to that. "My mom says when people just open up, it's because they need to so it's only fair to listen." The room chatter got louder as the other four boys decided the conversation wasn't interesting. They were all playing a boardgame on one of the desks dragged between the other two bunks.
"Your mom sounds nice." Toya broke through Keigo's thoughts, realizing he had set his book down and had been watching the other kids playing. Now looking at Toya, the lanky boy seemed sad or resigned about something. "You can go join them. I don't care." Toya moved to stand and climb back up to his bunk as Keigo made an almost panic'd chirp and grabbed Toya's shirt to avoid his arm. "Hey wait…." Toya was suddenly back on Keigo's bed peering closely at Keigo's face to the point that Keigo had to lean back and bring his wings up to his sides protectively. Toya's eyes were wide with an amused smirk on his face as he spoke gently.
"Did you just chirp, birdy?" Keigo felt his face going red from embarrassment. "Well um- I do have a bird quirk." His wings curled closer around him and Toya looked at his wings, gently sitting back to give Keigo some space. "Your wings are cool. I haven't had the chance to say it yet, but they seem super useful and they look soft and warm." Keigo grabbed his left wing, holding it in front of him a bit as he felt the feathers along the top. "If you promise to be gentle you can feel them. I won't sharpen them." Toya looked like he'd been told he could have Keigo's desert for the year and gently ran a finger along part of Keigo's wings. They were both quiet as Toya felt the soft red feathers of Keigo's wing and slowly moved his eyes up to look into Keigo's golden gaze.
"They're soft like a feather pillow." Toya muttered as he kept gently stroking the different feathers. For Keigo, his wings were one of the most precious things in his life. He only let Azumi and sometimes Soji play with them. It took a long time to let Jin touch them as Jin was his best friend. He wasn't certain why he let Toya touch them so soon after they officially met, or why he'd listened to Toya's earlier talk about bullies and his dad. He felt like Toya needed a friend, because none of the other boys wanted anything to do with him. Keigo could relate to that and in a way wanted to give as good as he had been given.
The lights dimmed letting the boys know it nearing bedtime. They all hurried to the bathrooms on either side of the room. Each one had three showers, and three sinks, Toya making sure to stick near Keigo as they got ready for bed. About 30 minutes later the lights in the dorm went out and everyone went to their bunks. The twins whispered back and forth from top to bottom bunk in some weird language only they knew that involved the names of states. Toya was still and silent on the bunk above Keigo, and the small winged boy curled up on himself as he closed his eyes trying to sleep.
It was well after midnight when Keigo's nightmare began. He twitched, his feathers rustling and wings flapping in the still silence of the room. In his dream, his real parents were out of jail. They had killed Azumi and Soji and were his legal guardians now. He had been taken away from his hero training, his friend Jin, everything he knew. They kept him in a closet and suddenly he was back at his old house, being held to the kitchen table while his father took kitchen scissors to his wings. They were clipping his feathers! He needed those to fly away from this horrible place. He tried to struggle against his mother's hold as she held him firmly to the table. His father yelled with each snip as he felt the feathers disappearing from his sensory. "You're a bad birdy! Bad birdy! Bad BIRDY!" Heat started creeping up one of his arms and he grabbed for it, any pain better than his feathers being cut.
A yelp caused his eyes to snap open and lock onto glowing turquoise blue ones. His right hand that Toya had started shaking was now gripping the older boy's arm in a vice grip as Keigo chirped in a panic. Toya didn't look angry, eyes wide as he stared at the water filled golden eyes that stare in panic back at him. The other kids in the room were whispering angrily. "Shut him up!" The twins had moved to be in the same bottom bunk cuddled together and were separating back to their own beds. Toya turned his head to respond in an angry whisper, his eyes staying on Keigo's as the scared boy kept his grip on Toya's arm. "I'm handling it dumbasses. Go back to bed."
Toya didn't try to pry Keigo's hand off his arm, he even took a deep breath to try and keep his body temperature down a bit since he knew he ran hot. Keigo was blinking now, tears streaming down his face as he seemed to be grounding himself with Toya's eyes. "That's it birdy. Look at me and breath. You are at the dorms with Toya. I'm not going anywhere." Keigo blinked as he nodded and took breaths to match Toya's, slowly sitting up, his hand remained locked in a grip. "I'm sorry. I can't let go." Keigo choked as he tried to explain his problem. The redhead shrugged and moved to make himself comfortable sitting on the bed like earlier that night. "I haven't asked you to let go, Birdy."
They sat in silence as Keigo slowly got himself under control enough to let go of Toya's arm. Keigo curled his hand into himself from the pain of gripping so long and Toya peered at the bandages on his arm to see if there was any damage. "Lucky for you, Birdy, my nerves in my forearms are shot. I didn't feel anything but a slight pressure." Toya smiled with a smile so wide his eyes were closed, giving the younger boy a moment of comfort. "So you want to talk about it?" He opened his bright eyes to look at Keigo and wasn't surprised to see the young boy shake his head no looking down. Shrugging, Toya looked at him with a serious look on his face. "Whenever you want to talk, I'll be next door." Another grin as he pointed upwards before standing to climb back to his bunk.
"Toya?" Keigo whispered, causing the redhead to peer down at him. "Yeah?" Keigo smiled a little, looking much more calm than before. "Thanks." Toya grinned and gave him a thumbs up before climbing up onto his bed.
/
Winter -
Keigo was tired from all of his training that day. He was sitting in the back of the car being driven back to the apartments for the weekend. Agent Bend wasn't kidding when she said the more time he spent at the Commission, the more he would learn. He had been working on rescue training which required him to use his feathers to sense victims and survivors from various accidents. The Commission had entire crews of people from (Help Us Company) who had quirks that enabled them to be trapped in rubble and accidents. They were set up all over the disaster area and Keigo was blindfolded, told to find how many victims were in the debris, how injured and where they were.
While he had performed high in this field, his performance with other students during training had gotten complicated in the last few months. Because he was so good, the other students during hero training had tried to sabotage or cause problems for him during training. Toya had tried to be helpful and back him up, but they were only training together twice a week. Despite that, they were becoming good friends in the dorms. Keigo was becoming an expert at treating Toya's burns and sharing comics with him. Toya was also always there to wake up or be with Keigo during his nightmares. The two became close and Keigo started noticing Toya rarely went home on the weekends like everyone else.
"Why don't you want to go home? Don't you want to see your family?" Toya shrugged from where he was lounging on his bed. Keigo had packed his bag and was waiting for Agent Bend. "My mom is busy with my baby brother and my dad is always too busy to do anything with us. My other two siblings do their own thing. Besides I fight with my old man a lot when I'm home. It's not good for the atmosphere." Keigo's feathers fluttered and his wings shook as he bounced with an idea. "Why don't you come to my house one of these weekends? You can meet Jin and my mom and dad." Toya looked hesitant before glancing over.
"They'd let me do that?" Keigo shrugged feeling the aches from training. "I'll ask this weekend when I get home. Let you know Monday. Would you come if they said it was ok?" Toya grinned with a gleam in his turquoise eyes. "Sure. If they say I can I will."
Now Keigo was trying not to fall asleep from exhaustion in the car while he thought about how to ask if a new friend could come over. He also wanted to let Jin know he had a new friend who could join them for outdoor play. The car stopped outside his building and Keigo smiled seeing Azumi outside waiting for him. He was alert and awake immediately, excited to see her. Even with Recovery Girl's help the recovery was taking a while. Her blue hair was growing back and was just at her ears. She had small scars on her left temple and forehead, and looked a bit pale as Guen held the car door for Keigo.
Running up to her, Keigo gave her a quick hug as he called a thank you to Guen. Azumi hugged him back and grinned, waving to Guen as he drove away. Keigo grabbed one of her hands and chirped as he walked with her inside. "Mama I have a new friend from the Commission! He's really nice and fun and he helps me when I have nightmares. But he never goes home and I feel bad he's all alone. Can he come over one weekend?" Azumi moved to pick him up and Keigo made a surprised noise. "We'll check with Soji but I don't have a problem with it."
"Be careful, Mama! Don't hurt yourself." He tried to wriggle out of her arms and was surprised to see she held him tighter. "Aw, Keigo. I wanted to carry you today. I'm feeling so much better." She opened the apartment door and walked in setting him down. The house smelled like Udon and Soji was at the stove in the kitchen. Keigo kicked his boots off and set up his backpack before running into the kitchen. "Dad! Can I have a new friend over next weekend?" Soji looked at him and gently put a hand on his head, ruffling his blonde hair. "Of course. I'd love to meet another friend of yours. Is Jin coming?" Keigo thought about that and nodded.
"It's my turn to go to his place so yeah, he'd be here with Toya." Soji tilted his head. "His name is Toya? Todaroki?" Keigo blinked and tilted his head curiously. "He never said his last name but he's been my friend since Spring when I started staying during the week." Azumi walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Keigo walked over and climbed into her lap as she put her arms around him. "Tell us about your friend."
Keigo explained everything he could about Toya, from his amazing blue flames to his playful attitude. He admitted that Toya got into trouble a lot and wasn't keen on going home. Soji remained quiet about the last part, thinking about a claim he'd seen a while back regarding the Todaroki family. When Keigo ran out of things to say about Toya, he started talking about his training as Azumi gently worked on his wings. Preening and turning them to straighten them out. Keigo gave in and finally went quiet, chirping softly as he closed his eyes to lean on the table. It felt so good.
"Well, I think it's fine for your friend to come over next weekend. Just make sure you talk to Jin so he knows your attention will be split." Azumi spoke softly. She was working with Keigo in his animal side of his quirk. They had gotten a report from the Commission claiming Keigo's bird noises and tendencies were a distraction. Azumi had stated she would handle it and refused to allow them to start behavior training. Her current plan was to make Keigo aware of the quirks and give him time for them so they weren't a constant.
Keigo nodded from his puddle on the table as Soji began setting out dinner. "Dinner time, and then I think you were going to Jin's." There was thanks for the food given and a good meal eaten as a family before Keigo went to his room to pack. He had his backpack on and headed to the living room seeing Azumi concentrating on doing a wooden block puzzle with Soji as part of her on-going therapy. Keigo watched them both for a moment, seeing the encouraging look in Soji's eyes and how supportive he was to help Azumi. Keigo loved Azumi and Soji as his parents. As much as he knew life would always be changing, he was grateful every time he saw them that they were part of his family.
"I'm going to Jin's!" He smiled as Azumi stopped her puzzle to stand and give him a hug. "Have fun and we'll see you in the morning." He hugged her back with a quick chirp and hurried out the door, running down the hall. He knocked on Jin's door and had just pulled his hand away when the door opened and his backpack strap was grabbed by Jin, yanking the 7 year old into the apartment. "We need to talk." Keigo blinked and struggled to get his boots off, squawking as he barely got a wave into Sion before Jin dragged him to his bedroom and slammed the door shut.
"My life ith over, Kei. Everything ith gonna be ruined!" Keigo set his backpack down and ruffled his feathers as he shook his wings a bit to settle them. "What do you mean?" Jin looked miserable in his thick glasses and sleeveless shirt to accommodate his bat wings. "I'm moving after Chrithmath." The younger boy blinked trying to process that. "To another building?" Jin shook his head, head down. "Another island. Dad got a job really far Eatht. Tho we have to move Eatht." Keigo looked around the room stunned. "But, your grandma?" Jin shook his head in defeat. "Grandma ith thtaying here. It'th jutht me and dad moving." Keigo hesitated a moment before stepping forward to give his friend a hug. Jin was shaking, wet tears landing on Keigo's shoulder as he wailed.
"I don't want to leave you!" Keigo bit his bottom lip and squeezed, letting Jin cry it out. That's what they taught in his hero course. When someone is distraught, you comfort them. You help them to feel better by any means. Jin cried and gripped Keigo's shirt as Keigo used his wings to hug Jin as well. "We can still call right? And write to each other if that doesn't work. It's not like we won't see each other anymore. You said you were gonna be my sidekick and I can't have just anyone else, you know?" Jin sniffled and hiccuped as he started calming down. "But I won't thee you all the time." Keigo rolled his eyes. "You don't see me all the time now. Just on the weekends."
"I won't even get that now. Daddy thaid we might be back onthe or twithe a year to thee grandma, but that'th it." Keigo grinned at him, his own eyes a bit watery. "Once or twice. Still more than never. We'll make it work, I promise." Jin tried to punch his shoulder, but a flap of his wings allowed Keigo to dodge easily. "You're slacking on your side of the training, Jin. my friend Toya could bring you down." Jin looked curious now, feeling better that he knew Keigo would help him out. "Who's Toya?"
/
Keigo spent all Friday night with Jin and told Azumi and Soji what was going on, getting permission to go back Saturday night to spend time with Jin. They have a little over a month before Jin and his father Shin would be moving. Soji and Azumi stayed up that Sunday night talking about their options. They wanted to help the boys stay in touch, especially with Keigo at the Commission five days a week.
"We need to find something to help. Jin is the first friend Keigo made here and the only one he's kept until this boy, Toya, he just mentioned." Azumi spoke softly with her teacup in one hand. Soji was sitting across the table from her, holding her other hand. "I have a thought, but it's a big responsibility and I don't know how you feel about it. Plus it would be something we need to discuss with Jin's father." Azumi tilted her head. "Phones?" Soji grinned. "Beautiful and clever. I got the jackpot marrying you." She smiled, a faint blush on her face. He still made her blush when he said things like that.
"So you think getting them both phones would be a good idea? They're only 8 years old." Soji shrugged. "And one is already in a government hero training program. I think he's responsible enough for it." Azumi nodded and looked at her teacup. "Speaking of programs, this boy Toya. You mentioned the last name Todaroki. That's Endeavor, isn't it?" Soji nodded and looked down at the table. "I saw the name on legal paperwork once. Toya Todaroki is the eldest child of Endeavor. Blue flames make sense, but the boy has gotten into some trouble. I'm not trying to dissuade Keigo from making friends. Never. But we may want to invest in some fire extinguishers before next weekend." Soji had a somber look on his face, but his eyes were laughing at his joke.
"Soji! That's not funny!" Azumi swatted at him and he laughed. "I'm sorry, I had to. I'm only sort of kidding. I'll pick them up later this week. But really, I want to be home when they're all here. You shouldn't have to manage three young boys all on your own." She smiled and traced the top of her teacup before sipping her tea. "I'm a little worried about Keigo if Jin leaves. A part of me hopes this new friend will help fill that gap, but a part of me worries the change will affect Keigo." Soji opened his mouth to respond and they both heard a muffled cry from Keigo's room. They locked eyes and Azumi stood putting her hand out to halt Soji. "Let me. Please." He nodded and sat back, eyes going towards Keigo's bedroom door as Azumi walked to it.
She knocked gently, getting no reply before she stepped on. "Keigo? It's mom." She looked around the room and her eyes widened. His feathers were sharpened into knives and had stuck all around the room on the walls and back of the door. Like he shot them out defensively. He was curled up on his bed crying and both hands were locked around the small homemade pillow she had made him. Azumi slowly walked into the room and shut the door before Soji saw all the lethal feathers. She crooned softly as she walked to the bed and sat next to him, slowly putting a hand on his head and letting her fingers run through his hair.
He opened his eyes to look at her, the pupils dilated into pinpricks leaving only gold water filled irises. "Mama?" He croaked as he blinked confused. She smiled and gently pet his head again. "Yes. I'm right here Keigo. Right here." He slowly sat up and fell into her lap hugging her tightly as he closed his eyes. She moved her other hand to pet the feathers on one of his wings as he mumbled. "Being a hero is hard." Azuni nodded and kept petting his head and wing. "I'd imagine it is my little bird. Especially being the best hero like you want to be." He shook his head and the feathers embedded in the walls seemed to soften and float back to his wings, doubling their size before settling.
"I failed my training Friday. I couldn't find everyone in the debris. And if it wasn't training people would have died." He sniffed trying not to start crying again. "I wasn't fast enough. Or good enough." Azumi moved a hand to his chin and lifted his face to look at her. "Keigo, you are giving yourself such a big goal to hit. It's ok to fail and it's ok to not be the best. Especially right now. You're learning to do these things and it takes time and practise. You'll get better, and you'll master more and more as you train. Don't think you're a failure because you couldn't do it perfectly the first time. Take that failure and learn from it. That's what learning is. Failing to get better."
He nuzzled into her hand making a soft cooing noise as she continued to stroke his wings and hair. When he spoke, she furrowed her brow in concern. "They don't tell me that at the Commission. When I fail, they tell me I need to be better. They tell me what I did wrong and they tell me I have to be better all the time. It feels hard, but they never said what you did." She hugged him and gently set him back down on his bed, moving the blankets to tuck him in. "Well, I'm your mom, and we tend to have different advice then teachers and trainers. Try not to be so hard on yourself my little bird. You're already a hero to me. Please don't forget that?" He nodded and adjusted his wings so he could be more comfortable as she kissed his forehead.
"Goodnight my handsome little boy." He smiled and closed his eyes as she stepped from the bedroom. Soji was standing in the hallway and smiled, pulling her gently into a hug. "Is he going to be alright?" She nodded and sighed. "I want him to be happy, and I thought the nightmares had gone away." Soji held her close and kissed the top of her head. "It takes time, and he's still young. We'll do everything we can for him." She hmm'd as he held her gently. A smirk played on his lips as he spoke.
"I'll grab wall putty and sealer tomorrow when I pick up the fire extinguishers."