The following morning, Keigo groaned as the sun shone through the curtains of his apartment. He turned away from the sunlight, pulling a pillow over his head but as he settled back down to fall asleep once more, someone knocked on his door. He tried to ignore it, but the knocking came again and again. Groaning with more umph, he forced himself out of bed and mosied on over to the door.

"What?"

"G-Good morning, sir."

Keigo looked down sleepily to find a worried Hanako standing at his door. "Miss Itami? What are you doing here? When did you get discharged from the hospital?"

Hanako blushed a bit, seeing her boss in nothing more than a pair of pajama pants. "Um, yesterday morning, sir." she cleared her throat and tried to keep her attention on his face. "R-Ryushi said that you weren't picking up when he tried calling you earlier and he's swamped at the office, so he asked me to come and check on you."

Keigo rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Nah, it's fine, I was already awake," Keigo stood aside and held the door open for her. "Come on in."

Hanako hesitantly stepped into his apartment, mumbling a thank you as she did so. She looked around, seeing it was very much a typical bachelor pad apartment. 'So this is what a penthouse apartment looks like?' she thought to herself.

"Would you like some coffee?" Keigo asked, glancing over at her and noticing that she was lost in thought. "Miss Itami?"

Hanako turned to him, blushing a bit. "Sorry, I was just admiring your apartment. It's very nice."

"Thanks." Keigo gestured to the open cupboard. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Oh, um, sure," Hanako offered him a smile, then reached into her bag. "Here, I brought you this," She presented him with a large tub of her family's house-blended coffee. "And this," she added, setting down a smaller container. "This is the herb blend I had started drying before..."

"Well, you are a lifesaver, Miss Itami," Keigo said, beaming tiredly at her as he took the tub from her. He started up the coffee maker, loaded in the coffee grounds, then stepped back and leaned against the counter while they waited. "Your voice sounds better," he added, hoping to take her mind off of the loss of her brother- if only for a moment.

"Thanks," Hanako replied. "I still have a few more sessions with the therapist, but she's pleased with my progress."

Keigo noticed her expression change. "What is it?"

"It's just..." Hanako sighed and looked down at her hands. "I've gotten my voice back, but it's still quiet enough to where I may as well still be mute."

"It's going to take time, Miss Itami," Keigo said, moving to the fridge to grab out creamer. "Besides, it's worth the wait for the sound of something so pretty."

Hanako blushed at that and was taken a bit off guard by his compliment. "T-Thank you, sir."

Keigo chuckled and poured them each a mug of coffee, adding in the hazelnut creamer he had stocked up on before offering her one of the mugs. They sat in silence for a few moments, savoring the coffee, but then Keigo noticed her gaze had been drawn to his wings.

"Don't worry, Miss Itami, they'll grow back in a couple of days."

Hanako's blush deepened when she realized that she had been staring. "Please forgive me, sir, I didn't mean to stare."

"It's alright."

"Do... they hurt..?"

Keigo glanced back at his wings, then shrugged. "They ache a bit, but that's about it. Growing back feathers isn't exactly pain or discomfort free."

"O-Of course, my apologies."

Keigo eyed her for a moment. "I take it then you saw the fight yesterday?"

Hanako nodded. "I watched it on the news," She went silent for a moment, her brow furrowing a bit. "You could have been really hurt..."

Keigo looked at her, surprised by the worry in her tone.

Hanako sighed. "But, you are the Number Two Hero for a reason; I'm just glad that you're alright." She took another sip of coffee, then looked up at him. "Thank you, Mr. Hawks, for keeping your promise and not just because of my brother."

Keigo lowered his mug and smiled softly. "You're welcome, Miss Itami."

Hanako felt as though she could melt under that gentle gaze of his and was grateful for the distraction when her phone buzzed. "It's Ryushi."

"Tell him that I'm fine."

Hanako relayed the message, then looked up at Keigo. "Well, it sounds like he has everything covered at the office."

"What are your plans for today? I take it you'll be needing to take it easy for a bit longer?"

Hanako nodded. "Yes, sir, for at least the rest of the week." Her face fell a bit as she added, "I still need to plan Shihei's funeral."

Keigo watched her silently for a moment. "Do you need any help with the arrangements? I'd be happy to offer my assistance if you need it."

"Oh, um, thank you sir, but I think I'll be OK," Hanako replied.

"Is there something you're worried about?"

Hanako sighed, stroking the mug in her hand with her thumb as she held it. "There's a lot I'm worried about, but it's nothing I can't handle." She took the final sip of her coffee and went to the sink to clean the now empty mug.

Keigo watched her as she washed the mug. "If you need to talk about it, Miss Itami, I'd be willing to lend an ear."

Hanako set the mug on the towel set out on the countertop and turned back to him, offering him a smile as she shook her head. "I'll be alright." She moved to collect her bag and gave him a small bow. "Thank you for the coffee, sir, but I should get going. Ryushi asked me to be on call for the remainder of the week, so if you need anything please let me know." She stopped at the door, turning to add, "For the herbs, just steep them in hot water for about five minutes or so and drink it before you go to bed. The blend should help you sleep better. Have a good day, sir."

Keigo could sense that there was something really troubling her, something she didn't want to talk about, and before he could say anything more Hanako was already out the door. He sighed and leaned back against the counter, wondering what was going on in that pretty head of hers.

Hanako returned home and sank into a chair, her head in her hands. She had barely been working for Keigo three weeks, most of that time having been spent in the hospital. Every bit of money that her brother had to his name had gone into the family's shop, but that was gone now. There was nothing in savings and Hanako wouldn't be getting her paycheck until the following week.

"What am I going to do?"

Back across town, Keigo stood out on his balcony just staring at the cityscape. He was still worried by how troubled Hanako looked, even more so by how quickly she dismissed it like it was nothing.

'Why does that bother me, though?' he wondered.

Since meeting Hanako Itami and hiring her on as his secretary, he began to see a lot of subtle changes to his day to day life becoming less subtle but couldn't figure out why that was. He had only worked with Hanako for three days before everything went down and during most of her time in the hospital, he had been so focused on finding Subaru Ejiri and Nitro that he hadn't really checked in on her- aside from the one time a week into her recovery. And now she was going to be alone as she said goodbye to her brother.

'I don't want to overstep my boundaries with her; I barely know the woman.' he thought.

He sighed and rubbed his neck, closing his eyes and listening to the wind as it cascaded down around the building.

'It was sweet of her to be so worried, though.'

It only took a couple of days for Keigo's feathers to regrow and he returned to the office a day after they were in full plumage. Ryushi had held down the fort well, taking care of every little detail and problem that arose during those few days Keigo was absent. As he stepped into his office, Keigo stopped when he saw Hanako inside and seemingly back to work.

"Miss Itami, what are you doing here? I thought you would be out for the rest of the week."

Hanako looked up when he spoke, offering him a sheepish smile. "Yes, but I needed to get back to work, sir; I needed the distraction." She noticed the worried look on his face and added, "Don't worry, sir, I promise to take it as easy I can."

Keigo watched as she tried to busy herself again, then glanced back at Ryushi who simply shrugged. "Alright, but don't push yourself."

"Of course, sir."

The day progressed as normal as any other day at the office would and Keigo was a bit relieved to have a sense of normalcy back in his life. He needed it after the debacle with Subaru Ejiri and Nitro and it was nice to see Hanako back at work, even if it did worry him. He kept a close eye on her- as much as he could with the mountains of paperwork that awaited him. When it came time for lunch, though, his worries only grew when he heard a conversation between two of his employees.

"Have you talked to Hanako today?"

"Not really, she's been pretty down in the dumps and burying herself in work."

"Can you blame her? She just pretty much lost everything: her family's shop, her brother, and now she's going to have to sell her house, too."

"What? Why?"

"I found her crying in the bathroom yesterday. She had just gotten off the phone with the bank and they had denied her the loan she had applied for. She's been worried sick about how she's going to pay for her brother's funeral and cover the rest of the debts she's responsible for now."

"That poor thing!"

"I know, it's horrible. That poor woman has been through so much lately it's amazing that she's even able to put a smile on her face."

"I wish there was something we could do..."

Keigo hadn't meant to overhear the conversation, but a part of him was glad he had. He took the opportunity while everyone was on lunch break to make a few calls, determined to help Hanako in any way that he could.