Author's Note: This will be rough. You have been warned. I try to have a disclaimer on most of my stories that are rough or give everyone a heads up. So here it is. Also thank you for the kudos and comments.
Disclaimer: This story contains spoilers for the manga and anime even as an AU. It's also rated for content and mentions of subject material that is sensitive in nature. Topics like rape, assault, child abuse, drugs and more.
Chapter 41 - Bonding Instincts
The Nakamura brothers were almost a decade apart from each other. Their quirks were all extensions of sensory powers as their father and uncles had. Despite this, they looked like they could have been triplets if it weren't for their eyes. Akina was the eldest, with silver hair and bright green eyes. He could remember anything he heard with perfect accuracy, even in passing or amidst a large crowd. Soji was the middle brother, also with silver hair and bright blue eyes. He could remember anything he saw with perfect recollection. Even at a glance. Nero was the youngest, with silver hair and hazel, almost honey colored eyes. He had the closest to their father's quirk.
The ability to touch a person and see their memories and experiences. Unlike his father and brothers, he did not have perfect recollection of what he saw or heard, limited by his natural senses. As with their father and his brothers, they were all lawyers at Nakamura Associated, with Nero's wife Rubi working as the front secretary. When Soji married Azumi, the family was elated that both Azumi and Keigo were becoming part of their large, well connected family. After the second year at the Commission, Akina took over as Keigo's legal representative. For Soji to continue doing so as his legal father could be seen as a conflict of interest.
During the holidays and twice a year, the family got together, and Keigo flourished in a large loving family that was more than just Azumi and Soji. He loved his Uncles and Aunt Rubi. His cousins Toro and Tina, which were Nero and Rubi's twins, were always cheering him on when he flew them around the yard during family time. Keigo learned the familial bonds were strong, and all three Nakamura brothers could often be found with each other at the law offices, or at one of their homes. It was rare for them to be too far from one another.
So when Soji called Akina that Friday night, he was in the office with Nero going over employee files for interns and legal aids. Both men listened on a speaker system as Soji made his request for help. Nero leaned towards the speaker on the table that was wirelessly connected to the office phone. "Soji, is he acting obviously different than normal? Well, as normal as a sixteen year old teenage hero in training can act?" There was a brief pause before Soji replied. "No. Mostly he is repeating the same words and tone like a programmed response when we ask how his week was, and his bird traits seem to have been suppressed completely. No noises or wing movements that we can determine. But other than those two things he seems to be acting like a normal teenager."
Akina scanned a copy of the contract before sliding it into an envelope and handing it off to Nero. The younger brother nodded as he left the office to get his coat. Akina took over the conversation on the phone, folding his hands as he spoke. "Nero is heading over to your place now with an extra copy. I will check through previous copies for anything. Just off the top of my head, I don't believe there is anything stopping them from using mind quirks for Keigo's training and development. It's never been an idea that we had to entertain or watch out for. Unless they are harming him with it, it's a pretty big loophole we didn't account for. I mean seriously, who does that? If they did do something as part of his training and it is harming him bird responses, we can go after that. Either way, let me know if you need me to file anything and please update me on how this goes with Nero."
Soji thanked his brother and hung up. Moving his paperwork away from the table, he gave Azumi a kiss on the cheek before setting the table. They acted like nothing was wrong as Keigo came back to the kitchen wearing a long sleeve shirt and pajama bottoms. His wings poking through a hole cut into the back as he sat down to eat with them. They tried to act normal, but the lack of chirps and noises as Azumi ran her fingers through his hair was unsettling to her. She tried to ask what he learned this week, what simulations he did, if he got hurt. Keigo didn't seem able to answer anything more than he learned a lot, and Azumi didn't want to push it. Her concern was visible enough for Keigo to ask her if everything was alright, but she just smiled and told him not to worry, it would all be fine.
After dinner, Soji asked if Keigo wanted to play chess, and Azumi went to the bedroom to fold laundry. This was something they had started doing on Friday nights when he came home so Keigo could ask Soji legal questions or about anything he needed explained better from the week. Tonight, he only wanted to talk about the chess game, seemingly unable to recount anything about his week when asked. Even as Soji mentioned things from his week as a way to open the door for Keigo to add to the conversation, he seemed more focused on the chess game. As she listened to the calm banter between them Azumi squeezed her eyes shut and gripped the locket around her neck.
She had known the Commission was questionable, and up until now they had never done anything to Keigo that raised flags like this. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down in case she needed to use her own quirk on Keigo. He was 16, almost 17, and it had been quite a while since she had had to use it on him for any reason. Peeking into the living room, she saw Soji and Keigo looking thoughtfully at the chessboard thinking about their moves. Her husband and her son. The two most important people in her life. The two people she would do anything to keep safe and unharmed. Both had saved her in many different ways, and she was not going to allow the Commission to ruin her family.
The familiarity brought a smile to her face as Keigo made a move with a knight and grinned at Soji, his wings resting on his back patiently. That was another sign that something was wrong for her. Keigo's wings had always been tied to his emotions, fluttering and puffing up with his mood. There had been a joke that he couldn't play any games where he needed to bluff unless his feathers were all gone and his wings were under his jacket. Watching for a bit longer, she moved to start folding laundry when a knock came to the door.
Soji glanced up from the chessboard and Keigo jumped up to get the door, a smile on his face. "I'll get it!" He peeked out the peep hole and seemed to perk up seeing his Uncle Nero outside. "It's Uncle Nero!" He opened the door and got a smile with a wave. "Hey, Kei, you are definitely getting taller every time I see you! Your dad left a file at the office, I figured I would drop it off. Can I come in for a bit?" Soji stood up and waved his brother in as Keigo opened the door all the way, eyes on the yellow envelope that Nero passed to Soji. "Is it a criminal case, Uncle Nero?" The door was closed behind them as Soji peaked into the envelope and carried it over to the paperwork he had been looking at earlier.
Nero looked from Soji to Keigo to the chessboard and smiled. "Maybe. I didn't look due to attorney client confidentiality. That applies to us when we don't all share the same clients. Looks like you two are playing a game. Should I wait to play the winner? Or just take over for your dad?" The teenager nodded and moved to sit on the floor by the table, excited to spend time with one of his Uncles. "Sure if dad's ok with it! It's his move right now, Mom is in the other room folding laundry." The youngest Nakamura brother ruffled the hair on Keigo's head as he moved to walk around the center table and sat where Soji had been sitting on the floor.
Soji simply grunted an agreement to whatever they decided as Nero looked at the layout. He made a move before looking up at Keigo, hazel eyes intently watching the winged teenager. Azumi walked from the bedroom to say hello, an arm full of towels that she put away in the closet as she watched them both playing. As Keigo made a move with one of his pawns, Nero quickly made a move in response as if he knew how the game was going to play and end. It seemed to throw off Keigo who tilted his head curiously as his wings twitched. It was as if he was restraining whatever reaction he would have made.
Nero kept his posture relaxed as he looked at Keigo, his head tilted curiously. "Everything ok?" There was a tense moment before Keigo looked confused and shook his head slightly as if shaking away a thought. "Yeah, I wasn't expecting that move, that's all." Nero smiled and their game continued. The more moves Nero made, the more flustered Keigo became. Despite the confusion on his part, Keigo didn't chirp or make a single wing reaction throughout the entire game. Azumi had moved to the couch to sit and watch, uncertain what Nero was doing. He continued to watch Keigo as the teenager played chess, to the best of his abilities. Every time he made a long thought out move, Nero made a quick one that seemed to block even the most elaborate strategies Keigo came up with. As if he knew what Keigo had planned.
"Have I ever told you my quirk, Kei?" Keigo looked up at his Uncle and noticed that Nero's eyes seemed much darker than before. They were dark brown now, no longer the light hazel color of honey that they had been. The blonde looked at the chessboard quickly, trying to find a move out of the near checkmate that was building up. "Uh, no. I don't think it's ever come up Uncle Nero." The older man nodded, waiting patiently as he kept his gaze on the young man. "Your dad can recall anything he sees in an instant, as Akina can remember anything he hears even in passing. Mine is a bit more situational. I can see memories of anyone I've touched. Even memories they have blocked out themselves from fear or trauma."
Keigo got very still, his eyes staring at the pieces as he listened. Nero continued as if he didn't care about the teenager staring, as if he was used to this reaction. "So it's very useful to see what someone was thinking or feeling when they do something like a plan, or helping to figure out when a client knows something but just can't remember. It's also handy because I can tell if someone else used a quirk to block those memories against that person's will so they could harm someone. In your case, it would help you to know where those bruises on your wrists and ankles came from." Azumi looked between the two as Keigo seemed to shrink into himself a bit. His wings came around to shield him slightly as his eyes looked up at his Uncle, almost pleading with him to either stop talking or tell him everything. When the silence got too heavy, Soji walked over to the sofa as Azumi leaned forward and held out her hands to Keigo. Her purple eyes watched him with concern.
"Little bird, is that true? Are you hurt somewhere and you didn't tell us?" Azumi spoke quietly, using her quirk to make sure he remained calm. Her tone was not judging him, but full of motherly concern. Keigo seemed to go on auto pilot as he slowly lifted his right hand over to her, still watching Nero. When Azumi pulled back his sleeve, a ring of harsh purple and grey bruises were around his wrist. They looked similar to the marks Azumi had when she was rescued, of restraints kept too tightly. Her fingertips gently moved over each bruise as Nero spoke quietly to Keigo.
"It's alright. You aren't in trouble, Kei. You're missing a lot of time this week that you can't account for, aren't you?" His voice smooth and nurturing as Keigo nodded, looking down. Soji went to the kitchen to get some ice from the freezer and walked back into the living room, handing it to Azumi so she could split it between both of his wrists. Soji spoke after another long silence. "Is this why you disappeared into the bathroom before dinner?" Keigo nodded again looking down. He may have been a teenager, but he felt like a kid who got caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. Ashamed for hiding this from his parents and worse, for not knowing what was missing from his memories all week. He had wanted to see the aches and pains for himself when he got home, and that was when he found the bruising around his wrists and ankles. Some red irritating marks on his temples were easily hidden by his hair and long sleeves and pants covered the bruises.
The worst part was he wanted to chirp so badly. He wanted to will his wings to fluff and react as he knew they should, but it was as if he forgot how to even be himself the more he sat there with his mother tending to his wrists. His Uncle understood, he was trying to offer help and Keigo understood that. Something in him was making it difficult to even think the way he wanted to. "I don't- I can't re- it's all blank in my h-head." Keigo suddenly grabbed Azumi's wrist with his hand in a raptor like grip from panic as he brought his wings around more. "I can't remember this week at all!" He finally blurted out with eyes squeezed shut. Even with his hawk stress grip reaction, he was unable to chirp or trill as he held his breath and held onto Azumi's arm.
She moved to sit next to him and let Keigo continue to grip her arm as she put her free arm around him in a hug. He was shaking and struggling to breath without making any noises as he buried his face in her shoulder. He felt her heartbeat through the feather in her locket, and listened to it as he took a shaky breath in. Keigo knew he needed to let go of his mother's wrist, but he couldn't. This was where he was supposed to feel safest. He was supposed to feel comforted and safe in his mother's arms. Right now, he felt scared and like his head was full of cotton. Hia instincts were fighting to react and he just couldn't make them.
A vibration made him go still as he exhaled a shaky breath. Azumi was trying to mimic the trilling and cooing noises he made when scared. He could feel them in her chest as he turned, ear to her chest and eyes looking up at her. She was looking down at him with her purple eyes that looked like they were happy just to see his own golden eyes. Her smile was soft as she kept humming and trilling, free arm wrapped around him as his wings were wrapped around her. He felt her hand gently brushing through his hair even as the wrist he had gripped was relaxed.
Strong yet gentle hands started to move through his wings. The change caused Keigo to glance back and see Soji sitting next to Azumi and moving his fingers through the ruby red wings. He was straightening feathers as he went, but mostly he was making calming and supportive gestures as he brushed his hands through the large wings. Keigo looked up at his mother to see Azumi smiling brightly down at him. The teenager closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh he hadn't known he was holding, then nuzzled her hand that was playing in his hair. His instincts were taking over, and despite the cotton in his mind, the fear of his subconscious and the twisting anxiety of his gut, Keigo let them.
Nero watched as Keigo's wings relaxed and spread out under Soji's administrations. His grip on Azumi's wrist went slack and she made no move to yank her hand free. Her other hand was still petting and playing with his hair as the teenager began to softly coo and chirp in response to Azumi's noises and affection. A tear slipped down his face now and then, but it was left alone. Nero's eyes returned to their normal light hazel color as he stood and put a reassuring pat to Soji's shoulder. He left the family to tend to their son as he slipped into the kitchen to get his phone out.
His first call was to Akina, to let him know what happened and what was going on. How severe the mind blockage was and how Nero intended to tackle it. He would let Soji and Akina handle the legal fight that was about to come at the Commission. Nero's next call was to someone who could remove the mental blocks. Someone who could be there the next day, and someone they could trust to be thorough. Because family sticks together and supports each other
That is what family was for.
