Birds of a Feather Collection

With No Wings to Fly

— The battle between heroes and villains ensues around you, but all you care about is saving the one person that matters to you.

Crimson.

You had always loved the vibrant color. To you, it was the color of the most beautiful tulips, or gorgeous sunsets, of the precious thing you called life.

And most dearly to you, it was the color of those wonderful wings on your beloved's back. A man you met as Hawks, the No.2 hero of Tokyo. A man who became known to you as Keigo, the man you loved with every fiber of your being.

But now…now you couldn't take the horrid sight of red out of your head. The sight of those gorgeous wings–wings that had saved you, saved so many people so many times over the years–gone.

It all happened too fast. That man's deadly touch brushing against his wings, his powers spreading too quickly for you to see. But not for him.

And now they were conpletely gone.

Ripped from Keigo's back mercilessly by his own hand with one last feather before they could completely disintegrate him whole.

The warmth of his blood spilled through your fingers as you struggled to haul him through the villains' liar, your hand splayed across his now bare back on the open wounds left behind by his wings.

Lighter…but so, so much heavier.

You didn't know who was on your back, but that mattered very little. You just knew you had to run. The cacophony of all the fighting was still bouncing through the place. Heroes vs villains, the former outnumbering the latter, and the situation was looking grimmer by the minute. Casualties were cropping up all over the place, and Keigo almost joined them. The thought alone made your blood run cold almost as horridly as another thought did.

The No.2 hero–the Winged Hero had fallen.

A sudden yelp escaped you when suddenly your foot got caught on an uneven edge, your leg buckling underneath you from the imbalance and added weight on your shoulders. You fell to one knee, grunting as you went down, but held tight to Keigo as he barely held onto his consciousness.

He shuffled over you, his amber eyes dull and dazed over as they looked over to you.

"Leave, y/n…" His voice was raspy and weak, but it was there. He was still there. He's alive.

"Shut up, please," you replied. You wanted for it to sound stern, but you were too panicked by his injuries and the feud happening behind you for it to come out as anything other than shaky.

All those things finally gave you the strength to pull yourself up and keep dragging yourselves along the path ahead, regardless of where it took you. So long as it was away from the fighting and to safety, to somewhere you could treat his bleeding wounds.

"Where do you think you're going with him, princess?"

The scorching azure flames entered your vision as they ran by your side, leaping bounds in circles to surround you. To encage you in a prison of fire.

Somewhere in him Keigo found the strength to push you behind him, but you couldn't keep from noticing how his back tensed noticeably. If to brace himself to protect you or in a innate reflex to brace his missings wings, you weren't sure.

Vibrant, turquoise eyes shone in the dark menacingly, his aloof stare seemingly nonchalant as he met eyes with you, but you could see deep in those eyes the thick sense of danger and raw killing intent.

Dabi wanted your heads.

Keigo somehow cracked a smug grin, part of his lips upturned despite the cuts and bruises marring his face.

"Your fight's with me."

"Not anymore." He nodded your way, that death stare pinning you in place a d making you jump in your skin. "Princess over here interfered just like you did. And well, after all that's happened, I'm taking this personal now." His hand set abalzed, Dabi sent a pillar of blue flames your way.

You didn't know what came over you. All you knew was that you couldn't let him die. You couldn't let Keigo do what he always did: martyr himself. Before you knew what happened, your Quirk came to life–

And all stopped.

The flames that shot your way flickered and stilled feet from your faces. The rumbling and screaming from outside quieted. All but what you touched stopped in its tracks. Keigo couldn't help but stare dumbfounded at what you'd done, something you never had before.

You urged him to move between bated breaths. This wouldn't last and you knew it. Renewed with strength from adrenaline, Keigo drew you by the hand as far away as possible as you helped him balance himself. A tiny timer in your head ticked, ticked, ticked the more time passed until it finally stopped d you felt your body exhaust itself.

Unable to carry both of you, you turned a corner and into the nearest room. Once inside you lowered him to the ground and searched for a a hiding spot, finding one in the small study connected to the room. Hauling him over, you carefully sat him against the wall, red painting the back as it slowly rolled down the wall. Your tears choked you at the sight of his missing wings, but you wiped away at them not wanting for him to see. Just as you did though, his hand reached up and cradled your cheek in it.

The gesture made you look up and meet his amber gaze that, despite all his injuries and massive wound, smiled at you along with his lips.

"You never told me you had such an amazing Quirk."

"It's not," you wept, unable to contain it anymore. "I can only stop time. I can't turn it back."

I can't change the past.

Keigo chuckled lightly but groaned when thatwracked pain across his back. Wanting to soothe him, you scooted closer to him to embrace him and hide the tears that rolled down your cheeks now. Keigo held you close, relishing on the sensation of having you in his arms to keep from his mind what he'd lost.

"Y'know, I never gave much thought to the future, not until I met you," he said quietly. "And recently, I'd been thinking of how I wanted to get a little house back in Fukuoka. A nice place where we'd move in together, maybe even after getting married. Somewhere we could be in peace with a kid or two running around."

Your tears stopped as you listened to him talk. Taken a ack by his words, you tried to get up to see him but he held you tightly in place.

"Kei, what are you–"

"It would've been nice. I think that's the kind of life that…would've suited me…"

His voice was weaker and quieter now and your heart almost stopped as it trailed off at the end. Pulling away now without much effort, you held his head close to your chest, dreading how slow and shallow his breathing was turning.

"We'll get a house there," you whisper back, brushing your fingers through his blonde windstruck tresses. "And we'll go live there and marry and have as many kids as you want but please, please, you've gotta stay with me, Keigo."

"Whatever happens to me is fine," he said, one of hands weakly rubbing your arm. "So long as your safe."

All above you the place shook as whatever was happening came to an abrupt end. Dust fell from cracks on the cieling but the underground room stayed. Now eerie silence took over and left the two of you in that dark room. You held your breath though as quiet voices managed to somehow ring throught he corridos. They were indistinguishable but they were there–and they were closing in.

Holding Keigo tighter than before, you whispered prayers to yourself, wanting nothing more than to come out alive.

Closer and closer the noises became and you held tighter not knowing what else to do. You were too exhausted from your Quirk, from watching you beloved so defeated, and from this entire situation that had put him in harm's way because of what others wanted.

It had never been a choice. Not for him. And it cost him everything.

Tears finally sprang from your eyes as the door to the room you were opened. The light spilled through as you hid in your corner, a d becuase of its incandescence, it was hard to see. Waiting with bated breath, you aimply looked down at Keigo wishing that if anything, he'd be the one to get out alive.

"Hawks?"

Never in your life were you happier to hear Enveador's voice calling out. Your voice barely came ove a whisper but you did your best to shout out for them to find you. Just then you turned down your head to assure him in quiet whispers that everything was fine, it'd all be alright now that the others were here.

But he didn't answer. His breathing was barely there. His chest was barely moving anymore.

All that was left was the tight grip he had of you.

This time when you screamed, it snuffed out with the light that you loved so much.

The one that with no more wings had fallen.