The new year started off rough.
First, it started with Keigo finally having the funeral for his parents. Not many people attended, apparently his parents didn't really associate with anyone other than themselves. It snowed that day too, a very cold and windy day.
Keigo was miserable, and Airi was too because of how hurt he was now that his anger disappeared.
It only went downhill from there.
Within the first week of the new year, Dabi started a new game. In the form of he kept sending Hawks' agency packages with items that had belonged to missing victims.
The first one having come from his parents' case.
Airi was terrified by the sight of his office when she walked into it that day to check on him. She's never seen such destruction from one man before.
After day four of that, all packages no longer reached Hawks. They went above his head to the commission, who tried tracing everything down as fast as they could to find the sick monster.
The next week started off with another villain attempting to approach her. Poor fool didn't realize that Shoto was nearby, they were immediately frozen in ice as soon as they uttered one threat.
Airi wasn't scared of them though. She's had enough training now to have faith in her own abilities.
Fortunately, Keigo had enough faith in her now too that he wasn't hounding her as much about going out alone. It felt good to not be worried about as much. He trusted her strength at last.
In the third week, Airi was surprised when Keigo had a day off. He'd been working day in day out, only seeing her when he came home at night and in the mornings before work. They spent the day lounging at home.
Home…
Airi and Keigo were almost officially living together by that point. It went back and forth between her shared flat with Kyo and his penthouse, but each night ended the same. Crawling into bed together and staying there till work the next morning.
It was nice, the pace in their relationship was nice.
But week four introduced the biggest challenge yet.
Hawks' agency received a tip on Dabi's headquarters. They finally got something to run on, and it was hours away from Fukuoka!
That also meant that he was going to be going off for a week or more to handle the job. Hopefully come home with the monster in chains.
Now how did this affect Airi? Because he was taking Phoenix as his second.
Airi didn't trust Phoenix.
That first time meeting her was simple enough. She came across as a sweet girl, a bit younger than her and Hawks. A little innocent to the world.
Yeah, Airi found out that was a mask quick in the new year.
It started in the first week, when Airi was going to the agency to bring Keigo his lunch. So, he wouldn't fill himself up with unhealthy take-out like he usually does. She made him his favorite, Chicken Yakitori.
She wasn't happy to find Phoenix beat her to the punch.
Phoenix was sitting in Hawks' office when she walked in, the two eating Yakisoba that Phoenix personally cooked and brought for the two of them.
Hawks' massive grin was like salt on an open wound. But he was oblivious, he was too kindhearted to see the smug smirk Phoenix had sent to Airi briefly before leaving his office.
Airi didn't tell him either, but that's because she didn't want to ruin his boss/subordinate relationship with one of his sidekicks.
Instead, she sat on the edge of Keigo's desk and reminded him that she could always give him dessert. Ending in a heated make-out session that was interrupted by an annoyed Taiki.
Phoenix heard about it though, so she was content for that week.
Week two started another round though.
Airi managed to bring Hawks his lunch this time, at least. But then Phoenix spited her in the form of bringing him a platter of sweets as dessert.
Phoenix had a bigger smug grin than the last time she spited her over the hero.
It grew the next day when she walked into the agency at the end of the day to find the two taking another selfie, this time Hawks giving his usual smile that he did with fans. That only made it slightly better on her ego.
Airi spited her again though. In the form of, when Phoenix left his office again, she walked behind Keigo's chair and carded her fingers through his wings. Pressed gently at base of them.
Keigo barely glanced back at her before his feathers had her pinned to his desk.
Week two ended up being her coming to his office every day for lunch and leaving with fresh hickeys and his office a mess.
Taiki banned her and Keigo from being alone in his office with the door closed until the case was finished after that. Apparently, someone told him about the noises they heard on the top floor, he wasn't amused.
Week three with Phoenix overstepping her boundaries was fine at first. Airi was quite sure she shut her down with the previous week's antics.
But the day after Hawks' day off, she was right back at it. This time in the form of being anywhere Hawks was, following him like a shadow in and out of the office.
Airi wasn't sure why Keigo didn't notice by then. How he didn't see the way Phoenix looked at her, how he didn't know that Phoenix was trying harder and harder each week to get closer and closer to him.
That was why Airi was worried at the beginning of week four. She didn't trust Phoenix around Hawks for a week or more without her there.
Of course, she trusts Keigo. She trusts him more than anyone she's ever met, except maybe Kyo. But Phoenix, not a chance. Who knows what the bird girl might do?
"Babe, can you help me in here for a sec!" Airi stood up from the couch to go help her boyfriend, finding him in a mess of clothes in his bedroom.
"What happened?" Airi asked with a small giggle, walking over to help him.
"I don't know. I think the suitcase just exploded." Keigo played it off, smirking regardless as Airi giggled at his cute struggles.
"Just bring a few of your costumes. You're going to be on duty basically the whole time, after all. Not like you'll have much time to be a civilian like me." Airi reminded as she walked over to his closet to find his extra costumes.
As she was wrinkling her nose at some of his less than clean costumes that somehow ended up in the closet, he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Kissing her temple before resting his chin on her shoulder.
"I'm gonna miss you. I wish it were safe for you to come." Keigo purred quietly, Airi leaning back into his embrace.
"Just handle it at your trademark top speed. Then get home, okay?" Airi offered, doing her best to hide the nerves she held over him leaving for his mission.
Keigo chuckled briefly before kissing her cheek. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine and get home as soon as I can. Then we can take a day off to celebrate and maybe go hit that spa up from months ago." Keigo offered in return, Airi humming happily at the idea.
"I like your idea."
"Yeah?"
"Just you and I. No one else." Airi purred, running one of her hands through his hair before dragging her fingers down the side of his face towards his jawline.
"I'm more than happy to agree to that, my love." Keigo agreed, taking her hand into his own and holding it against his cheek.
These were the moments she treasured most. Just holding one another, making promises and stealing kisses. The intimacy of it more than enough to steady her nerves.
"I do have a bit of bad news for you though, for while I'm gone." Keigo admitted as she tossed him a few of his costumes to pack.
"What?" What could be worse than Phoenix being with him for his entire mission?
"Since I can't be here to protect you, I may have put in a request from Endeavor." Keigo advised, Airi narrowing her eyes at him from where she stood in the closet.
"What do you mean you put in a request? Kei, I can handle myself." Airi reminded him, still more than proud of herself for their last fight against one another.
Keigo was testing her abilities, all he wanted her to do is steal one of his feathers. Then he would acknowledge her as the winner.
It took her about twenty minutes, but she managed. So Keigo agreed that she was strong enough to fight for herself, most of the time as she's now seeing by his sneaky actions.
"Yeah, I know. My girlfriend is a badass who can put anyone in their place if she wants. But I want to be extra safe, just in case Dabi acts while I'm gone. That's why Shoto is going to be watching over you, since Endeavor is going with me on the mission." Keigo admitted, Airi not surprised Endeavor would go to apprehend his own son.
"Kei- "
Keigo was behind her when she turned around to toss him a pair of boxers, the hero taking the clothing and tossing it somewhere before lifting her up in his arms like she weighed nothing. "Humor me, babe. It'll help me feel better to know someone's watching out for you." Keigo bargained, carrying her towards his bed and swiping the costumes he had just folded off before dropping her on it.
"Keigo!" Airi tried to pull away to grab his stuff that he just haphazardly knocked around, but he was a stubborn man. He caged her against the bed with his wings.
"I'm gonna be back in time for Valentine's, so if you agree to this, I'll let you plan the whole day." Keigo continued trying to bargain with her.
"Keigo, you'll be back with almost a week before Valentine's, don't try using that as a bargaining chip." Airi countered him, the hero smirking deviously down at her in response.
"Okay… how's about this then. I'll video chat you every day. Maybe throw in some saucy snaps too. Sound good?" Keigo offered, voice low and flirty as he ran a hand down her thigh.
Hmm… that could keep Phoenix at bay easier. Seeing her boss, who she's obviously trying to bend over for, video chatting his girlfriend and sending her snaps. Something she could also throw back to remind him she's his and he hers?
Keigo's a genius, even if he doesn't realize his subordinate is trying to seduce him
In response to his offer, Airi carded her fingers towards the hairs at the back of his neck and pulled him down to kiss her.
What Keigo failed to tell her before he left on Monday was that Shoto was going to be sneaky about it at times.
Airi didn't see him the entire day Monday. She even texted him to ask if he was nearby, and he answered with a simple yes and left it at that. She's a little concerned by how sneaky he can be…
Keigo still left a feather with her though, a tiny one that usually grew near the base of his wings. Something that won't hinder him if he doesn't have it.
Airi wasn't sure if he could use it with how far he would be, but it comforted her to know he was always near in a sense.
Day one without him was hard though. The daytime was easy, trying to fall asleep at night without him at her side was nearly impossible.
Airi didn't realize until then how much she treasured him sleeping next to her each night. She wondered if he felt the same way too.
Her wonders were answered in the middle of the night, her phone waking her from a restless sleep.
"Babe…" Airi was greeted by his whining tone. "I can't sleep without you up against me." Airi couldn't help laughing tiredly at how obviously exhausted he sounded.
Reaching for her charger plugged in behind the bed, she plugged her phone in before hanging up and calling him back on video call.
They fell asleep to one another that way. It helped.
Day two was the same. The only real difference was another villain tried again. He barely got out the words that his payment for delivering her would be awesome.
Before he was slammed into a brick wall by her and Shoto.
Airi wonders if they're going to keep trying, since it's obvious she's quite capable of defending herself as well as has a bodyguard.
Airi was amazed when she managed to get Shoto to break his neutral character and high-five her. She earned a swat to the back of the head when she took a selfie with him near their conquest.
It was worth it.
Pissing Phoenix off went well too.
Airi had sent Keigo a snap of some new clothes she had bought after her and Shoto walked away from the restrained villain. Keigo loved it, a lot.
When the hero video called her during a brief fifteen-minute break, she barely caught Phoenix's pissed off face as she flew past him. It almost made her laugh, but she hid it behind a real laugh at her boyfriend trying to ask her to show him the clothes over call.
Day two was fun.
Day three was a bit annoying.
Shoto told Keigo about the villain. Keigo told Taiki. Taiki took it onto himself to come watch her as well now.
So, now she always has two people watching her specifically. Even though Airi told Taiki to take the chance to spend a week at home with his kids, he assured her that her safety was important too.
Airi didn't even know how much help he'd be against a villain. She's never seen him use a quirk before.
Either way, she tried her best to ignore the fact that now she's being babysat by two people who really don't need to be watching her.
The next day, day four, made her livid, however.
Airi had been out with Shoto doing some brief training when her twitter started to blow up her phone. She wasn't sure what it was about, but Shoto agreed to let her look and see what was so important.
She kind of wished he hadn't agreed.
Phoenix posted a video of her and Hawks, her hugging onto the heroes back from between his wings.
They were standing over a pair of villains, both looking a little worse for wear. But obviously the fight went alright.
What pissed her off was what Phoenix did next.
They both flexed their wings cockily after Phoenix hopped off his back, and she made her boldest move yet.
Phoenix leaned over and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. Right where Airi would every time she visits him at the agency.
What pissed her off is how Keigo didn't chastise her, how he just seemed to ignore it and instead moved to carry off the downed enemies.
When he tried calling her an hour later, she made up an excuse of being busy training with Shoto. They were done training, but she still had to fight down her anger.
Her social media was blowing up. Lots of fans were floored by the gall of the sidekick. Lots were fuming, just like her. She was proud of those fans for their loyalty.
Then there were the fans of Phoenix, who were shipping the two birds as a couple.
Shoto finally told her to silence notifications from Twitter and leave it for another day.
Airi agreed, not wanting to spend her week without Keigo angry the whole time.
The fact that Keigo didn't video call her that night for bed like they'd been doing really made it hard to forget the anger though.
The next day, Airi managed to sneak away from Shoto.
Airi was proud of herself, honestly. She used her quirk as a distraction, causing a bit of havoc down the street just long enough for her to fly off with a pair of rocket boots.
All she wanted was a day to herself. Without Shoto over her shoulder or Taiki breathing down her back.
Airi went out of town a little bit, heading to the movies to catch a film alone. It was a little hard to see all the couples out at the movies on a Friday while her other half was hours away with his job and a girl who overstepped boundaries.
Airi just focused on the movie, ignoring all the cutesy couples.
After catching a second movie too, she left to go to the store before heading home.
She was craving something sweet, and nothing at the movies seemed good enough to her. What should she make tonight? Dessert seemed more appealing before dinner actually…
Airi nearly screamed when she walked out of the store to have her wrist grabbed, almost punching whoever did it in the nose before recognizing the large man.
"Taiki! Don't do that, you could have given me a heart attack!" Airi chastised, holding her hand to her chest after he released her wrist.
"At what point did we lead you to believe that using your quirk to sneak off for the day was acceptable?" Taiki questioned right away, straight to business.
Airi's shoulders deflated, she should have seen this coming.
"Hawks is pissed too, since Shoto told him about your disappearance. But I was smart enough to put a bug on that feather of yours." Taiki revealed, Airi's eyes widening before plucking the feather out of her shirt.
It shuddered once when she checked it over, before finding the tiny electronic on its barbs. So small she wouldn't have noticed had Taiki not said anything.
"You've been tracking me?!" Airi wasn't happy to know just how invasive the men were being, having thought she could be free for at least a day.
The fact that Keigo would agree to something so sneaky, instead of just ask her, was what pissed her off the most.
"We have to ensure you are kept safe. Considering you're the target of a violent criminal, having a tracker on your person is a worthy trade off for your anger." Taiki explained, but she was still pissed.
"I thought he finally trusted me!"
"He does trust your abilities. It's the villains with their tricks he doesn't trust." Taiki argued back, but she didn't care about his excuse.
Airi flicked the feather at him before stalking away with her groceries, tired of the excuses.
"Airi!"
"Leave me alone!"
Airi kept walking, ignoring the large man behind him as she let her anger over the situation and the last two days pool in her stomach bitterly.
"You shouldn't- "
"I don't care!"
Airi's wrist was seized again, but this time it wasn't by a hand.
Looking at her wrist, a white fabric wrapped tight around her skin.
Following it, her heart and anger sank when she realized it wasn't Taiki who had grabbed her.
"You should really learn to listen to authority figures, Doll face."
Dabi.
Dabi pulled on the fabric restraining her, yanking her in his direction.
"Get away from her!"
Airi fell back when the tension from the fabric cut, landing on the cold concrete as Taiki blocked the villain's path to her.
Her eyes widened when she realized his entire body was covered in metal, giving him an almost animalistic appearance. It shined brightly in the sunlight, Taiki lowering his stance as he squared off against the villain.
Dabi laughed loudly, pointing at her bodyguard. "So that's why they hired you as his keeper! Because you can wear a suit of armor against his feathers and ground him? Ha!" Dabi laughed maliciously, unimpressed while Airi was amazed by Taiki's change.
"Poke a bull and you'll get the horns, you overgrown brat!" Airi jumped back when Taiki dropped to all fours and charged like a rampaging bull, smashing into Dabi with his metal horns and taking him off down the street.
Dabi grimaced, no doubt caught off guard.
But blue flame erupted from his body, flaming out around Taiki who jumped back away from the attack. His metal armor scorched from the intensity of the flame.
"I was going to take her peacefully, considering she's no good to me dead, but if I have to fight for her then fine." Dabi growled madly, flames dying down as he stood tall.
"Miss. Kubo get away from here as fast as you can. Shoto will catch up to you." Taiki ordered her, lowering his stance back down again like he was ready to charge Dabi once more.
"Yeah, I don't think I like that idea." Dabi said before flicking his wrists.
A wall of blue flame emerged around them, circling down to wrap just barely past her. Trying to ensure she stay within range.
"You've sure got some nerve, attacking in daylight like this right after we rounded up the rest of your lackeys." Taiki roared before kicking a metal foot against the ground and charging again.
Airi ripped a pad of sticky notes out of her pocket, always prepared now thanks to the threats of the monster fighting her bodyguard.
"The rest of my lackeys? They were nothing more than pawns, expendable for me to get my own mission finished." Dabi revealed, dodging out of the way as Taiki swung at him and using the fabric he used to grab her earlier to pull himself up a streetlight when Taiki tried to smash into him.
Airi ended that dodge attempt by flying into him with her rocket boots, smashing both back down to the ground.
"Wow, my brother really did get you stronger. I'm almost proud." Dabi lamented sarcastically, Airi's eyes widening when flame licked out around his arms.
Taiki grabbed her and tossed her back, barking at her to get out of there again.
Returning the boots, she instead called up some knights in armor. Hopefully, their armor can withstand the flames of the monster Dabi.
"Are you prepared to fight not just the Raging Bull but Hawks when he gets wind of where you are?" Taiki questioned, standing taller than he already did. His metal armor glimmering in the sunlight.
"I almost killed him once, this time I'll finish the job. Imagine his face when he sees that I took out his babysitter and snatched his girlfriend?" Dabi grinned malevolently their way, Airi's heart pounding fearfully at his threat against not just Taiki but her boyfriend as well.
"You won't get the chance." Taiki squared off again, metal feet kicking at the ground hard enough to crack the asphalt.
"Won't I? It must get hot under all that metal, I wonder if you'll bake alive or your skin will melt into that metal you cherish so much, Raging Bull." Dabi coolly mused, his blue flame lashing out towards Taiki.
Taiki took a thundering step back before lowering his horns, charging forward when there was a break in the fire.
Airi sent her knights along with him, not running away. It's time to fight head on, no more being afraid!
Dabi dodged each attack with lightning speed, using Taiki's hulking size to his advantage by luring him into smashing into her knights. Using his nimble stature to his advantage.
Airi covered her mouth when he finally lured Taiki into smashing into a shopfront, shooting out blue flames into the building with him.
As the building burned under blue flame, Dabi turned to Airi with a malevolent grin. "Now it's just you and me, songbird."
And here we go, the final chapters! The big confrontation with Dabi, at last! You didn't think we'd just miss out on this or forget about a confrontation, did you? Dabi sure wasn't about to let us forget about him. Especially with his vendetta against Hawks.
We finally get to see Taiki's quirk, and his alter ego name; Raging Bull. Suits him, don't you think? He's stubborn as a bull too. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist myself. I wonder, how is his armor going to stand against Dabi's flames though? He already is setting fire to buildings around them, who knows just how intense those blue flames can get.
I was really excited for this showdown, just wait because it's only going to escalate from here. How is Airi going to stand against a villain as malicious and violent as Dabi? What's next?
Guess you'll find out next chapter. Don't forget about that bonus chapter, but I'll see yall tomorrow for now!