Chapter 1
The cold was an unwelcome friend. It constantly came and went.
No matter the time.
No matter the day.
No matter the season.
The cold was never welcomed. It crept through every crack in the wall, nook in the room, and cranny in the lone window and seeped into flesh and bones sending chills throughout every nerve ending.
It came in many forms. For some it was the feeling of the change in the weather. Some, it was the loss of a loved one. The feeling of fear sending a chill down their spine. The feeling of a home. The feeling of being alone. For others, it was as simple as leaving their warm bed.
For one, it was the lack of heat in the apartment due to the broken heater mixed with the winter air coming from outside. The little boy sat on a bed, blanket wrapped around his shivering body. It barely did anything for him as the blanket was mostly tattered and fraying at the ends. Holes scattered the fabric causing the chilled air to reach his skin. He huddled into himself as a pair of bright red wings protruding from his back wrapped around him, trying to help warm him up. Lowering his head against his chest, strands of his messy ash blonde hair fell against his forehead.
As the young boy tried his best to stay warm in the small room, voices carried through the walls making him whip his head around to look at the door. His lip trembled as he heard a males voice raising in volume gradually as a woman's voice followed, trying to be heard over the male's.
"What makes you think we can afford Christmas presents? We barely have the money to fix this goddamn heater!" the male shouted.
"Maybe if you didn't spend your time drinking away our money, we'd have enough money to fix the heater and get presents for our son for Chriistmas and his birthday! Keigo is turning six and we can't even get him a birthday present!" countered the woman.
She was putting so much emphasis on the word son that it caused the little boy, Keigo, to cower further into his blanket, tears welling in his eyes. Yellow irises shining through the dark as the moon light creeping through the mangled blinds on the single window in the room. He tried to hold back a sob that was threatening to crawl its way out of his throat, but ultimately failed as he hiccuped and sniffled.
Earlier Keigo had tried to stop them from fighting. He had been watching TV (for the small amount of time he possibly could) before his dad came stomping into the small kitchen/living room area of the tiny apartment, screaming about wasting electricity watching nonsense.
But it wasn't nonsense to Keigo. In the fraction of time he had gotten to view what was on the TV he got to see a clip from the news.
A villain had been causing mayhem in the streets of Kyoto, tearing up streets and buildings. The once nice clean streets of Kyoto were now torn up. It was complete and utter chaos. The villain had an acidic saliva quirk, using it to destroy the streets, buildings, cars, anything in his path. He was on a rampage.
People were seen screaming and running away on the news camera's footage, showing off the mass hysteria that was happening in the city. But then a little less than five minutes after the villain had started his attack, fire erupted around him, blocking his path and preventing him from causing any more damage. On the screen showed the #2 hero, Endeavor, fire swirling around his face, creating his trademark mask and beard of flames. Fire enveloped his hand as he glared at the enemy. The flame hero had a look of anger on his face as he stared down the villain in front of him.
The little boy stared in wonder and awe as the hero fought the villain. The red feathers on his wings ruffled in excitement and he toppled over as he couldn't contain himself anymore.
"Endeavor is going to win!" he cheered in a squeaky voice that only boys could possess at such a young age.
That moment of awe and happiness lasted only ten minutes before his dad burst through the front door. His sharp eyes narrowed in on the fear stricken face of his son and then shifted over to the TV that was softly humming and the sound of screaming people coming from the screen. A snarl formed on the older man's face, his sharp, gold eyes narrowing in on Keigo.
At this present time, the five year old wished he had the courage Endeavor had to stand up to his parents like the hero did with the villain, and tell them to stop fighting. That's all he wanted. If he could have anything his heart desired this Christmas, he'd ask for his parents to stop fighting and love each other like any parents should. But instead he was met with arguing and screaming practically every night.
There had been a time - last year - where he had tried to get his parents to stop fighting. Telling them "I won't ask anything for Christmas, I don't want any toys. I just want you two to stop fighting, please!" Tears were rolling down his cheeks by the end of it. Sadly it didn't seem to phase his parents. At least his dad. His dad just stared at him in disgust while his mother closed her eyes and tried to look away to avoid looking at him in shame. But he had seen it. Keigo had seen the way his mother looked at him, wishing she could do more, even though she barely could do anything let alone stand up to her husband.
That's when he had run to his room and stayed holed up there, huddled into his blanket and wings.
Keigo sniffled, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand before another hiccup escaped him. "I just want them to stop fighting," he sobbed, pushing the palms of his hands into his eyes.
He continued like this before the sound of faint tapping could be heard in the empty room. The young boy didn't hear the tapping right away over the sound of his sobs, but as the sobbing slowly quieted down he could hear it.
Turning his head towards his window he blinked a couple times before a smile slowly spread across his cheek. He hiccuped a giggle as he crawled off his bed, shivering as his bare feet touched the cold floor, tattered blanket clutched in his hands as he padded over to the window. Once at the window he pulled the string on the side and drew the blinds up. Outside on the small fire escape, sitting in the dark was a little girl, smiling brightly at him.
The little girl waved energetically at him and tapped the window two times in quick succession. "Let me in." Her voice was muffled coming through the closed window.
Nodding quickly, the little boy dropped the blanket and grasped the window, yanking as hard as he could before finally it popped open. A giant gust of cold air shot through the opening and blasted him with the winter night air, immediately making his teeth chatter.
Seeing this, the little girl quickly clambered in and immediately shut the window once inside the room. "Sorry," she said. She grasped the hat on her head and pulled it off, revealing purple hair pulled into a bun. "Here!" Shrugging off the coat she handed it to him. The little boy stared at the item, golden eyes wide and unsure. "I'm not taking no for an answer!" she stated with a huff before pushing the clothing into his hands.
"Thank you," the boy said with a small smile as he pulled the coat on over his front. There was no way it was going to fit with his wings and he didn't want to rip the coat by attempting to. Despite it being a thin and worn out coat, it still brought warmth flooding through his body and a content smile on his face. He closed his eyes relishing in the warmth after being cold for so long.
The purple haired girl smiled brightly at him and plopped the hat on top of his ash blond hair. "You're welcome!" A shiver ran through her body now and she pursed her lips as she held her arms close to her body. "Why isn't the heater on?"
"...It broke," the boy said, adjusting the hat and tilting his head down, afraid to look at the girl.
"Really? I'm sorry, Kei," she said, a frown etching onto her face. "That happened to us yesterday." She paused, glancing around the room. It was bare with grey walls and a few cracks covering it and the ceiling here and there. It was bare and didn't leave much to be desired. She turned back to the boy. "Are your parents getting it fixed?"
The boy grimaced and lowered his head before giving a slow shake. "...'M not sure.. Dad says we don't have the money for that or for Christmas…"
"Oh...I'm sorry…" The little girl lowered her head, feeling guilty for bringing up the topic of money.
She should know first hand what it was like not knowing if you had the money to make it to the next day. Her family were barely able to scrounge up some money to fix their heater when it broke. Not to mention having the money for Christmas presents. But maybe Santa would be able to help get the two children some presents!
"Oh yeah!" the little girl exclaimed and quickly covered her mouth. The two children turned their attention to the door, holding their breath. A sigh of relief left them when they heard the raised voices of the boy's parents from the other side of the door. The little girl had a large grin on her face when she turned back to the blond boy. "I got you a Christmas and birthday present!"
"What?" the little boy gasped, eyes going wide. "Yuriko, you didn't have to get me anything!"
"Well too bad, I did and you can't take it back!" Yuriko stated matter of factly. "Reach into the coat's pocket, Keigo!"
The winged boy looked at her for a second before looking down at the coat he had on. Reaching into the pockets took a moment due to the awkward angle he had on them from wearing the coat backwards. Finally he reached into the left pocket on his right side and felt something soft and plump inside. His brow furrowed as he pulled the item out, and in a matter of a second his confused face changed to one of shock and awe. In his hand was a stuffed doll of his favorite hero, Endeavor!
"Yu-Yuriko, how did you get this?" he asked quickly, looking from the doll to his friend. His smile was growing more and more with each passing second.
Yuriko had a giant grin on her face, feeling proud of herself for bringing a smile to her friend's face. The smile suited him more than the sad expression he had when she first got to his room. "I saved up my allowance for a whole month before I was able to buy it. I knew how much you wanted it so I had to get it for your birthday and Christmas!"
Tears were stinging Keigo's eyes as he smiled at the purple haired girl in front of him. He didn't know how he could ask for a friend better than Yuriko.
"Thank you so much!" he said, his gold eyes shining bright as he reached out and hugged the girl. He gasped and slowly retracted himself from her. "But I didn't get you anything…"
"You don't have to, silly!' Yuriko giggled, shaking her head. "I don't want you to get me a present, I wanted to get you your Endeavor doll!"
Keigo giggled, hugging the doll close to his chest with a warm smile.
"I have to go now," the little girl said, reaching out and wrapping her friend in a hug. "I'll see you later!"
Eyes widening, Keigo grabbed his friend's hand. "You're going now?" His eyes shifted over to the window, staring at the darkness that enshrouded the outside. "It's late...and cold...an-and you're by yourself."
Yuriko's mouth had formed into an 'O' when the boy grabbed her hand, but it quickly changed to a soft smile. "I'm not by myself, Kei." She walked over to the window and pointed outside. "Reika and Daichi are outside waiting for me. They walked me here."
Stepping up next to the purple haired girl, Keigo peered out into the blackness, and sure enough, standing outside just barely in a street lamp's glowing light were two young people. A boy with lavender hair and a girl with violet hair smiled up at the window when they caught the two children staring down and waved up at them.
"Oh," Keigo breathed, his grip on his doll loosening slightly. "Good." Gently placing the Endeavor doll on the ground, he shrugged off the coat and pulled off the hat, causing his already messy hair to look a little crazier. "I'll see you later," he said, handing her the articles of clothing.
A shining smile adorned Yuriko's face as she took her coat and hat back. "Bye, Kei!" she said and quickly placed a peck on the boy's cheek. Slipping the coat on, she stepped through the window Keigo opened back up for her. Her head moved towards the door where the sound of Keigo's shouting parents could be heard as the volume raised. "Hopefully they'll stop sooner than last time…" The hat was pulled onto her head as she pulled her other leg out the window. "Merry Christmas and happy early birthday!" She waved before slipping through the darkness.
Keigo picked up his Endeavor doll and poked his head through the window. He watched as the little girl reunited with the other purple haired siblings. The smile on his face slowly disappeared.
As Yuriko left she took the warmth she brought with her, leaving Keigo alone in the cold dark room once more. Soon the sounds of his parents' voices filled the silence and the sharp cold stabbed at his skin now that he was back to his tattered blanket and thin clothing. The young boy gripped his doll close to him, trying to comfort himself.
The cold was an unwelcome friend.
Like everyone else, I've fallen in love with Hawks in the manga. And like everyone else I've been coming up with headcanons on how he grew up and as I did I created a childhood friend. So here's the story that I have. I have some ideas on plot, but not sure how everything will connect so let's see where this thing takes us!
Love to hear your thoughts and any critiques you have for this so please leave a review if you can!