Chapter 3: Welcome to Verity, welcome home

"Tell the world I'm coming home. Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday."

'Coming Home' by Dirty Money

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Even though he, Touya and Hinode practically grew up together, they actually hadn't seen each other in a very long time.

Not that Keigo ever forgot about them. They were his first friends, after all.

See, he didn't exactly have the privilege of 'friends' when he was still living with his mother. It was more of an 'if food is in my stomach, I'm not complaining' kind of deal.

Then, when he was sold to the Commission, the first year was filled with tests. Examinations after a series of tests after even more tests. How high can you fly? What can you sense? Can you make your feathers more fire-resistant? It almost felt never-ending.

But then, almost a year after of white walls and notes on clipboards and a room too big and too bare for a child, his cooperativeness was rewarded.

He was eight years old when he met the other children of the Breeding Program. At first, it was overwhelming, to be in such proximity with other actual humans his age after being in isolation all his life.

The first time he met the others were… strange. There wasn't exactly a set term to describe it.

He didn't have many friends that year, but just being able to socialize with other people his age was a gift.

Then he met Hinode.

He was ten years old, and his first impression of the girl was 'scary'.

So of course he asked to be her friend.

Hinode was … different from the other kids. She was confident. But most importantly, she understood when Keigo told her about the gripping feeling in his chest, threatening to consume him.

It went on like that, with Keigo and Hinode, Hinode and Keigo.

Or as the commission called the two, Agents Hawks and Agent Evanescence.

But then. Things got even better.

When they were thirteen years old, they met a boy named Touya.

Touya, with his blue-green eyes and red hair. Touya, with this fierce protectiveness hidden under layers of barbed wire. Touya, with his fire that always burned so, so bright.

Touya.

Touya, Touya, Touya.

And Touya fit just perfectly with them, and they went from Keigo and Hinode to Keigo and Touya and Hinode.

It was Keigo and Touya and Hinode, Hinode and Touya and Keigo.

Everything felt so right, those few years. It was possibly the happiest in Keigo's life.

Of course, they didn't last.

(It was stupid of him, to think it would. Keigo should know by now, that good things never lasted .)

But the bottom line was, they hadn't seen each other in a very, very long time.

Keigo knew the decision was not by choice. With him being the Commission's prodigy and still puppeted by the organization, Hinode who was technically a sleeper agent that decided to screw the Commission and apprentice under a woman who ran a borderline illegal underground empire/orphanage, and Touya who was technically another sleeper agent that the Commission wanted to get rid off (read, kill) and had a psychotic break because it was all too much, and can anyone really blame him, as well as semi accidentally joining the League of Villains (particularly on a whim) in the process… eh, yeah.

A reunion was definitely long overdue.

But the brighter side, Touya's mental health was better now!

(Honestly, that was all thanks to Hinode finding him in the nick of time, or else he would probably be much worse.)

(And Keigo had first-hand experience of exactly how bad his friend's mental stability was. It wasn't something he liked to remember.)

Right at that moment though, they were heading towards Verity. Or at least, making their way through another one of Verity's ridiculously complicated security measures.

Ridiculously complicated, but depressingly necessary.

Honestly, UA should be taking some notes.

Touya wasn't kidding when he said that Kiyashi Ward was only the entrance. After the two brothers brought him to the Mall's underground storage room via a voice activation device and an elevator, Keigo was 87% sure they were trespassing the storage room. Then, Touya proceeded to do some weird code thing with the keypad and then a hole appeared in the wall.

Well, okay, 'appeared' was a strong word. It was more like a portion of the concrete wall moved to reveal a hidden tunnel.

But still.

A hole appeared in the wall.

Like, what.

That … wasn't something Keigo was likely to forget. But knowing both Touya and Hinode for so long, he wasn't all that surprised.

Then the hole in the wall proceeded to lead to an entire underground maze.

Natsu had only laughed at the face he was making.

After an entire 15 minutes of Touya and Natsu leading him through an underground maze, Keigo had already completely lost track of all sense of direction. If not for almost all his feathers being burned to a crisp a few hours earlier, he would have spread them out to get a feel of the landscape.

Also, did he mention the tunnels were completely dark? The only light anywhere was the tiny blue flame resting in Touya's palm.

Keigo knew from years ago that it was only Touya's hands that were fireproof. The further up his arms, the less fireproof his body became and more ice-proof. He also knew his friend's body was physically weak, from years of malnourishment, abuse, mental health issues, and overall having a quirk ill-suited to his body.

But Touya more than made up for his physical weakness with his mind.

Back when they were all still within the Commission's walls, any plan to sneak out or steal any extra food was forged and handmade by Touya. And if he didn't originally make the plans, he sure the hell contributed a whole lot to them.

(And a lot was due to experience. Touya had experience sneaking out, and Hinode had experience sneaking in. Keigo had experience playing distraction, and was proud to say he was pretty good at it.)

Yeah. Touya was the mastermind behind the plans, the secret weapon no one ever expected.

But back to now.

Even though the first few walls of the maze were made of concrete, they eventually lead to hard-packed dirt.

Keigo supposed it was to prevent people who didn't know the maze from navigating it. If the maze was entirely made of concrete, all any outsider needed was someone who could manipulate concrete. But if the maze was made of concrete, earth, wood and -

Wait a second, was that plastic?

Keigo's eyebrows shot up, rushing forwards to press a hand against a section of the wall. Their little gang had left the earthen dividers behind just a few moments ago, and wow, why was this section made of plastic?!

His line of thought was interrupted with a quiet laugh. Touya.

( He could recognize Touya's laughs anywhere-)

"Yep, your eyes aren't deceiving you," Touya said, eyes amused. "It's plastic. Though this is the best stuff you can get. Three times as hard as normal plastic and specially quirk made."

"Wait until later!" Natsu put in. "There's an entire section made of metal!"

"Wow," was Keigo's reply. "Verity does overdo things, don't they?"

"Honestly," Touya drawled out. "It was more like, the kids were bored, so Hinode made them put their minds to use."

Keigo snorted. "Of course the kids were the ones to design this."

"Well, a good chunk of the children were once of the Commission, so that already speaks volumes."

"They wouldn't 'recruit' a child with no potential whatsoever."

"Yes, but when there is an insanely powerful six-year-old teleporter who doesn't like listening to anyone and enjoys wreaking havoc running around, you start questioning how the Commission kept him in check."

"I-" Keigo paused, brain processing. "What."

Touya nodded, sage-like. "His name is Ren. He doesn't listen to anyone."

"Except for two individuals," Natsu reminded, speaking up.

"Except for two," Touya confirmed. "One of them is a teenage girl named Naoka. Or her code name, Serena."

"Not of the Commission, but she's got street smarts."

"With a protective streak a mile wide."

"And much too much recklessness for her own good."

"Actually, she reminds me a bit of you, Kei," Touya finished.

A thoughtful pause from Keigo. Then, ignoring the obvious implications, he nodded. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."

His remark earned him an eye roll from Touya and badly muffled snickers from Natsu.

"Bottom line, I'm just surprised Verity is still standing."

"I'm just surprised that you managed to not mess up the eggs last week-"

"Natsu!"

Yes, Keigo thought, letting a smile grow on his face. Yes, this is what happiness feels like.

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By the time the trio finally arrived at Verity's front doors, it had already been several hours after the initial High End Incident.

("That took so long…" Keigo had whined. "Is it always this long?"

Smirking, Touya turned to him. "Nope."

Caught by surprise, the golden-eyed man paused. "Huh?" He questioned, swivelling his head to look at the two brothers. "What...do you mean?"

Natsu, wearing an identical expression to his brother was the one that answered. "Verity has many entrances. The one we just took you though is the longest, as well as the most unnecessary. It's the one we go through for new members. And if you hadn't noticed yet, we looped around the maze at least four times."

At this point, Keigo was sure his face was comical. "...What," was what he managed out at last.

Touya nodded in agreement. "For the #2 Hero, Birdie, you sure are bad at navigation."

"Hey!" Keigo exclaimed. "I usually use my feathers, but most are burnt, you know? And this maze is pitch black dark and not to mention soundproof! Like, how did you people make it soundproof ?!"

Natsu had gasped overdramatically. "Even I, a quirkless civilian, manages to navigate Verity's maze better than the #2 Hero? Oh my, what has the world come to?"

Keigo's cheeks flushed in open embarrassment.

Touya, the ever responsible older brother, not so discreetly jabbed the younger in the ribs. "You can't talk, Natsu. You were in Kei's exact position when you were first introduced to Verity. "

At this, Natsu's shoulders stilled, then slumped. " Touya-nii," he whined, like the 3-year-old he shouldn't be. "Why you gotta throw me under the bus, huh?"

"As the eldest, I have to keep your ego in check."

At this, Natsu pouted.

Touya smirked in victory.

Keigo could decide between snickering at the two's dynamic, or pouting for being duped.)

The house, if it could be called that, was huge. They were above ground now, exiting the underground maze some time ago.

It, Verity's base of operations or main building or whatever, was easily three whole stories, and Keigo was willing to bet there was more underground. He had the tilt his head up to even catch a glance at the top.

It was smaller than one of the apartment buildings back in the city, but it was so much bigger than an average-sized house. Plain farmland surrounded them and the house in all directions, going far beyond Keigo's line of sight.

Underneath his hoodie, Keigo's folded wings twitched, responding to his longing to fly up into the clouds and take the scenery all in.

The house? Mansion? Was built with red bricks and grey stone, with some sort of plant crawling up on the side of the structure. The entire space, farmland included, would have been something right out of the olden storybook, if not for the multiple solar panels attached to Mansion's roofs. (Keigo had caught sight of them a little while earlier.) And then there were the windmills built sparsely in the land, so that was that.

Verity must make their own electricity, Keigo thought. Smart.

But no matter how interesting it looked, it could be denied that the house was obviously different.

For one, the house didn't have any visible doors. The lack of doors was startling, but Keigo knew it was just another safety precaution.

Secondly, from the outside, it seemed like no one that even touched this place for decades. The front lawn would have once been beautiful, if not for the countless weeds and wildflowers dominating the space. There was what looked like a fallen tree, covered in moss and various other plant things, a victim to time.

"Pretty Bird," Touya's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Done admiring the house yet?"

Keigo laughed. "Oh, you know me. So, mind telling me how we're even supposed to get in?"

"We break-in," was his answer. Then, with his signature sarcasm, he added, "duh."

"Touya!" Natsu called out from his position slightly behind the duo. "Stop messing with him. Keigo, I promise you, the methods will be perfectly legal. Honest. Touya's the only one with actual access though, so we both are just going to have to follow his lead."

Touya smirked but started leading them towards the far side of the house nonetheless.

In a single-file line, Keigo was careful to step only where Touya had put his foot down prior. He noted that their little trek was carefully marked and obviously planned to avoid any disturbance of the weeds, effectively keeping the illusion of an 'abandoned house'.

Stopping short in front of a seemingly random wall, Touya then started counting bricks.

("What are you, Harry Potter?"

"Shut up, Natsu.")

… from what Keigo could see, it was 18 from the ground up, and 7 from the left.

Then, finding his random brick on his random wall, Touya firmly pressed four out of five fingers to the brick.

At the back of his mind, Keigo wondered how in the nine worlds did Verity manage to disguise a fingerprint scanner as a brick wall.

In the end, he chalked it up to the force of the genius overpowered and underage individuals.

A moment of stillness later, only after the brick (fingerprint scanner?) let out a faint click, did Touya peel his gaze away from the wall and onto the ground.

"What are you...?" Keigo asked, breaking the silence.

Instead of answering, the two brothers hurriedly shushed him.

Keigo pouted.

The blonde's questions were answered a mere moment later, when the earth a little ways from them, weeds and all, split to reveal a wooden trapdoor.

Smirking, Touya gave one glance in Keigo's direction before kneeling and wrenching open the trapdoor in one big pull. Then, without hesitation, he proceeded to jump into the newly revealed hole without another thought.

Keigo was still confused. Questions at the tip of his tongue, he had not so much as opened his mouth before Natsu's hand clamped down on his shoulder, efficiently keeping the silence and catching the blond' attention all in one.

Keigo, now facing the white-haired man, raised his hand in a ' what? Explain, please?' kind of gesture.

Natsu, not answering his question, only pressed a finger to his lips, asking for silence.

The Pro-Hero furrowed his brows, obviously not understanding the 'why', but compiling nonetheless. After all, Keigo trusted Touya, and if Touya, the paranoid of them all, trusted Natsu, Keigo decided he would trust him as well.

Eyeing the trapdoor that Touya had just disappeared into, he sent a questioning stare Natsu's way.

Should he …?

Natsu, eyes bright, gave him a single nod.

Huh. Keigo thought, turning towards the trapdoor once more. Underground again it was.

A bet later, the Winged Hero jumped into the tunnel after his friend.

He knew he was as good as going in blind at this point. Feathers burnt, foreign territory… Keigo knew he should have been put on edge. Everything and anything the Commission had ever drilled into his head was pushing him to stop, analyze things, and don't trust anyone, Hawks. Trust will betray you- But.

But. This was Touya, and they've known each other for so long now. They may have been separated and torn apart, but Keigo couldn't help but just know that Touya was a part of him.

He trusted Touya with his life.

He trusted Touya to lead him when he was blind because it was Touya.

The tunnel was deep. He was falling for much longer than he anticipated.

They had told him, so long ago and yet not, to never put all your trust in one person. That's how the most glorified Heroes fall.

But Touya wasn't some insignificant anyone.

No, Touya was much, much more.

The Commission didn't exactly understand, but eh. Screw them.

So no, Keigo didn't hesitate to jump into foreign territory, underground and with close quarters, (that's one of your weaknesses, Hawks. You do understand why we train you like this, yes?) because if there was one, pure and undiluted fact in Takami Keigo's life, it was that he trusted Touya with his entire being, now and forever.

When his feet finally hit hard-packed earth, he instinctively tucked his body into a roll, ending with his feet shoulder length apart and knees slightly bent, just like how the Commission had taught him.

Blinking his eyes, he was met with Touya's half-illuminated face and a flickering blue flame sitting docility in his palm. A perfect copy of mere hours before, back in the maze.

"Sorry about the silence earlier," Touya said, voice low. He was speaking for the first time since the fingerprint scanner. "Kind of forgot to tell you about it. An intruder alarm would sound if we made too much noise. It's just so that people who aren't a part of Verity can't get in."

"Eh, I figured," Keigo replied. "But please tell me if there are more security measures I should know about?"

Touya let out a disapproving 'tsk,' but Keigo could tell he was only teasing. "What's the matter, that little stunt wore you out?"

"Are you speaking from experience?"

"Cheeky."

"Sarcastic."

"Pretty Birdie."

"Hotstuff."

"Chicken Nugget."

" Burnt Chicken Nugge-"

"Hey!" Ah look, Natsu had arrived. A glance upwards told Keigo that Natsu had shut the trapdoor behind him. "Stop flirting, lovebirds. And don't be slowpokes, hurry up!"

"We're not flirting!" and "You're not even moving!" was said at the exact same time, by Touya and Keigo respectively.

Natsu snorted, then started forwards down the underground hallway. "I am now. So hurry up!"

Exchanging a look, both the villain and Hero shrugged. Might as well, was the silent agreement.

A moment later, they were falling in step with the white-haired college student.

What exactly would Verity look like? Keigo wondered. From what Tou said, It's not the most luxurious place ever, but also not the abandoned warehouses and basements the League of Villains stay in.

The fire in Touya's palm flickered, casting shadows in the narrow hallway. This hallway was one straight path, unlike the endless twisting and turning of the maze from before.

The Commission hasn't caught wind of what exactly Verity was yet, so their online security must be pretty impressive. Didn't Tou mention a genius Hacker joining them a few months back? But Tou himself is pretty skilled with computers and codes and all that… and he said that the kid's skills were even more impressive than his. Wonder when I can meet the kid, sounds impressive...

Eventually, the trio made their way to the end of the hallway, where a simple, peephole included apartment door stood. Even with its simple design, Keigo was willing to bet that there was more to the door. After all, Verty had gone so over the top with everything else, it wouldn't make sense for it to just be a door here.

Touya was the one who knocked. Stepping up, he raped his scarred knuckles three times in rapid succession, and nothing more.

Then he stepped back, and the trio waited.

"...what do we do now?" Keigo asked.

"We wait," was Touya's answer. Natsu snickered.

"No shit, Sherlock. What are we waiting for, exactly?"

"For someone to open the door."

"...seriously?'

"In case you haven't noticed, pretty bird, but the door doesn't exactly have a doorknob."

"...now you're just messing with me."

Touya, meeting his gaze, nodded solemnly, face entirely serious.

Before anyone could say anything more, the door in front of them cracked open.

Immediately, the three's attention was locked on the door, breaths held in suspense.

A moment of nothing. Silence blanketed the group.

Then, a grunt from the other side. Then, the door was forcibly shoved open, in a movement too sudden and strange to be not quirk related. (And behind the door, was yet another hallway.) And behind the door was a brown-haired girl panting, one hand holding the wall for support and the other holding her midsection.

Keigo blinked, not sure he was seeing correctly.

The girl, trying to calm her uneven breathing, smiled. "Nova–" She paused to take another breath before replying, "Winter."

Nova was Touya, Keigo knew. So Winter had to be Natsu, then.

Touya's shoulders relaxed. "Serena," He greeted.

The girl in question must have been the one they were talking about earlier, about how she was 'much too reckless for her own good.' Serena, her code name, and Naoka, her real name.

She had mousy brown hair messily thrown together in a high ponytail, and was wearing a simple t-shirt, sweatpants, and no socks. Dark brown eyes innocent and shining with barley hidden mirth.

There was nothing that stood out about her appearance, except for a few fundamental details. For one, she was skinny, with the clothes hanging off of her in a way that spoke of either malnourishment or illness. But looking at her face, he was willing to bet it was the latter. A nose cannula sat on her face, tucked behind her ears and disappearing into the messenger bag she was wearing.

"Hey, Naoka!" Natsu exclaimed. "Did you miss us?"

She snorted. "Nope. Though Kyrie missed Nova here. Your kohai found some new technique or something of the like. Better go check on him, sempai."

Touya nodded. "I'll do that. And your lungs?"

She smiled, embarrassed, waved her hand in a motion as if to brush it off. "Nothing serious, stop worrying! Lungs were just acting up again, so Evanescence made me wear the oxygen."

Evanescence, Keigo thought. That was Hinode's code name.

"So who's the mysterious friend you two found?" She continued, eyes landing on Keigo.

"My name's Takami Keigo."

"Keigo, hun? Like, the mystery Keigo?"

("That's what I said!" Natsu exclaimed.

The two high fived.)

"Wow, am I famous or something?"

"Don't get too full of yourself, Birdie," Touya butt in. "Everyone remembers you because I said you were a friend of mine."

"And Tou-nii rarely has friends!"

"Shut up, Natsu."

"So," Serena cut in, effectively pulling the two brothers' augment into the background. "What's your code name? You have one, right?"

"I do," Keigo confirmed. And, here it comes. "It's Hawks."

To give her credit, she didn't react much, only squinted her eyes and leaned forwards. "You don't happen to be the Winged Hero, Hawks?"

Keigo smiled, eyes closed. "Yep, that's me!"

But instead of freaking out or stuttering in disbelief, she only laughed. "Good luck getting the toddlers off you now," she said. "They'll want free merch!"

"You know, Natsu wanted free merch when I first told him who I was."

"Well, that's Natsu for you. He's a toddler at heart."

"Ah, that explains it."

She laughed. "Come on, Hawks. The idiots over there are busy fighting, so we can go on ahead. Bet they've already told you about how impressive Verity is, yeah?"

Keigo nodded. "They have," he said, following Serena's lead and stepping through

"Wait until you see the real thing," she practically chirped, a bounce in her step.

The hallway they were currently in was illuminated by electric lights, unlike the dark tunnel, they were in before. The hallway was small, only a few steps. Within no time, they had reached the end and came to another door.

"It's a normal door this time," she said, stepping aside so that Keigo could reach and open the door himself. "Yeah, Verity's security measures are pretty crazy."

Keigo nodded along in agreement but found that his mind was blank for words. Behind the door was Verity, the place that both his two childhood friends called home. Verity was a haven for outsiders, adults and children alike, an underground empire of networks and an orphanage for the children of the Commission all in one.

But above everything else, Touya called this place home.

Verity was a home for the children of the Commission.

Swallowing, he pushed the door open.

Surprisingly, the door swung without much effort, and-

And there was Verity.

He was on a balcony, overlooking children playing and laughter and joy and bright, high-tech lights, sloppy colours on the walls, and the smell of comfort and there was an entire library -

"Welcome," Serena said, interrupting his thoughts. "To Verity."

"Welcome to Verity, huh?" Keigo repeated softly, a smile stretching making itself known on his face.

"No," a voice cut in. Touya's. Ah, seemed like they caught up to them. "No, Kei. Not 'welcome to Verity," he said, grinning. "Welcome home ."

Keigo's grin widened.

Welcome home.