It's late at night. Keigo and I are standing some yards away from a warehouse, peering around a corner of a wall. There are men hauling wooden crates into freight trucks. I see an open crate with firearms and ammo inside before a man closes it shut.

"There's no doubt this is an illegal firearm dealer," Keigo says.

"Mm hm," I nod.

"We've got eyes on the dealer," Keigo speaks into his ear piece. "We'll be moving in to infiltrate. Don't engage until they meet the buying party. Stay on our tail. Hawks and Nova out."

We continue to watch the group of men load four freight trucks.

"The fact that law enforcement requested our assistance shows this group is dangerous," Keigo says. "We can't be too careful. That's a lot of guns."

One of the freight trucks is driven out of the warehouse and parked nearby. The driver gets out and heads back into the warehouse for more crates. The back door open of the freight truck is our chance to move in. Keigo swiftly hovers over with me right after him. We duck behind the freight truck, peering from behind it into the warehouse. The men are busy loading the other three freight trucks inside.

"I'm gonna snap some photos for further evidence," Keigo whispers.

I nod and stay on the lookout. Keigo snaps photos with a slim camera of the crates with firearms and ammo in the back of the freight truck.

"This would be more than enough to arrest these guys," Keigo whispers. "But we've gotta find the people making the purchase… This big of a sale means there's trouble in store for the city if we don't put a stop to it."

As Keigo continues to take photos, I see a few men heading back to the freight truck from both sides carrying some boxes. Seeing as there's nowhere else to escape to, I grab Keigo by the shoulders from behind, push him onto the bed of the truck, and roll him into one of the crates against the truck's wall. I swiftly roll inside the crate after, having to get on top of Keigo as he lays on his back. I shut the crate cover closed to my left, cramping us more inside this dark crate.

"These are the last crates!" one of the men says. "Let's head out!"

The sound of boxes sliding into the freight truck and the back door closing confirms they didn't notice us. The men climb inside the truck's cab and the engine roars to life. In the pitch blackness inside the crate, I'm on top of Keigo as he lays on his back. My knees are resting at the sides of his hips while my hands rest on his shoulders. His wings are also cramped, taking up more space and bringing us closer. The crate has a low ceiling, so I can't lift myself up any further, my chest pressing up against Keigo's.

"This is one way to infiltrate…" Keigo grunts.

"I'm gonna make a hole for some air and visuals," I say.

I concentrate energy at the tip of my right index finger, burning a hole through the wooden crate and metal wall. The hole is big enough for air to seep in and for me to peer out and go unnoticed.

"Looks like we're heading for the highway," I peer through the hole.

"The highway?" Keigo sounds nervous.

"We're gonna be going pretty fast."

"Fast, huh…" Keigo mutters.

"You don't get motion sickness."

"That's not what I'm worried about…"

The freight truck's engine roars louder as it picks up speed. I peer out the hole and spot one of the freight trucks driving next to us.

"Confirming visual on one of the other freights," I say.

"Copy that…" Keigo mutters.

As I'm trying to peer through the hole to see another freight truck, we hit a pothole at highway speed. The bounce of the freight truck causes me to bounce up into the top of the wooden crate. I let out a slight groan at the hard hit to the back of my head.

"Damn it," I grit my teeth.

The freight truck hits another bump, but I feel Keigo's hands pin my hips down against his.

"Hold me steady," I return to peering out the hole.

"S-Sure…" Keigo mutters.

With another bump on the road, Keigo keeps me steady by pinning me down against him. My hands slip under his jacket as I hold myself up by his firm shoulders. Peering out the hole, I spot another freight truck driving near us.

"Another freight spotted," I say.

The truck hits another bump, hard enough to hit the back of my head again against the crate. I let out a yelp and gasp because of the hit to my head and Keigo bumping in between my legs against my crotch. Keigo pulls my head closer to his to prevent me from hitting my head again while his other hand keeps me pinned down to him. I groan into Keigo's right ear with a grimace.

"A-Are you okay?" Keigo says into my ear.

"Mm hm," I manage to moan.

Keigo groans a bit in response as our bodies bump against one another again in the pitch dark.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm uh… tryin to keep my mind distracted…" Keigo grunts.

"Focus on the mission."

"Kinda hard right now…Uh! Not like that!"

"Like what?"

The truck bounces us again, causing us to groan together. My chest rubs against Keigo's as our crotches grind against each other's.

"I did not have this in mind for infiltrating…" Keigo mutters.

"Well, we had to come together," I reply.

"What?"

"How else were you thinking of coming with me?"

"I think we should stop talking…"

"We're going fast. They won't hear us. We can keep going."

"Damn it…" Keigo grunts.

As I'm resting my head against Keigo's, I feel how warm he is. He must be overheating in this confined space with his jacket on.

"You're hot," I whisper.

"Huh?" Keigo sounds confused.

"You're body…it's hot," I slip my right hand from his shoulder to his neck.

"Ya really think so?"

"Do you want me to open another hole?" I slip the top of his jacket off his shoulders.

"Shit…" Keigo clenches his jaw.

"And you're sweating," my hand wipes across his drenched forehead. "At this rate, you'll be getting me all wet."

"We should definitely stop talking…"

"You're so stiff," I notice how tense his body feels.

"I'm trying not to be…"

"What can I do to help you?"

"Put my headphones over my ears, please."

I'm confused, but I feel up his neck to the sides of his head to slip his headphones over his ears.

"Now to just let my mind wander off…" Keigo says.

"The truck must be too loud…" I figure.

"I can't hear you, but just try not to move so much, please…"

"Huh?" I'm confused.

The truck ride continues for a while longer before I notice the engine slowing down.

"We're slowing down," I lift one of Keigo's headphones and whisper into his ear.

"I'm both relieved and disappointed at hearing that," Keigo replies. "Should be over soon."

Just then, the road suddenly gets continuously bumpy.

"Spoke too soon…" Keigo mutters.

"We're driving on a dirt road," I peer out the hole.

"Just my luck…" he groans.

"I see some sort of camp…We should be arriving soon," I say before covering Keigo's ear with his headphone again.

"Focus…focus…" Keigo breathes.

The freight truck's brakes gradually screech to a halt.

"Hawks, Nova, copy," our earpieces signal.

"C-Copy…" Keigo weakly responds as he slips his headphones off.

"We've got your GPS location. Just give us the signal to move in."

"Copy that…"

I continue to peer out the hole and see the other freight trucks park nearby. The dealer meets with a group of men from the camp.

"Visual on the purchasing party," I speak to the ear piece.

"How soon should we come?" an officer replies.

"Please don't answer that…" Keigo quietly pleads.

"We don't wanna make a mess," I respond to the officer. "Let's take it slow at the end. Makes for an easier clean up."

"Seriously?" Keigo whispers.

"Come now," I give the order.

Keigo lets out one last groan. Within a few seconds, the sound of helicopters and sirens approach. I peer out the hole and see the camp surrounded by dozens of law enforcement officers.

"Mission accomplished," I'm relieved.

I use a bit of energy at my hands and blast off the latches to my left, elbowing the crate cover off. Keeping the glowing energy at my hand, I look down at Keigo. His face is illuminated, and I can see a drip of blood at his nose as he lays exhausted, his face red and full of sweat.

"We made it!" I smile down at him.

Keigo lets out a groan as his eyes are blank and his mouth agape.

"Keigo?" I blink.

"That…was the longest ride of my life…" he weakly responds.

"We gotta get you cooled off," I place my hand on the side of his face.

"You've done enough," he holds my hand.

Keigo grabs me by the sides and rolls us out of the crate. After a few rolls, we stop with Keigo now on top of me with him between my legs. He holds himself up by his hands at the sides of my head, both of us gazing at each other in surprise through the dimly lit truck.

"I woulda preferred this position…" Keigo says.

I blink up at him a few times as he keeps his deep gaze down at me.

"You're right," I say with a nod. "Me too."

"Huh?" Keigo's face turns red.

"You would've had a better visual through the hole with your keen eyesight."

Keigo stares down at me for a moment before bursting out into laughter.

"You're dense, ya know that?" he chuckles.

"Huh?" I give him a blank stare.

Keigo shakes his head with a chuckle as he gets to his feet and helps me up. The back door of the freight truck slides open, revealing law enforcement personnel.

"Hawks and Nova have been located," an officer says into his radio. "Mission success."

"Way to go, Hawks and Nova!" Yamato exclaims. "You both busted a huge illegal ammunition sale last night!"

"All in a night's work, I guess," Keigo shrugs.

I'm sitting next to Keigo on one of the sofas at his agency. The rest of the sidekicks gather around to congratulate us this morning.

"I heard it was an easy clean up," Minoru says.

"No casualties. Although the ride we hitched was rather interesting…" Keigo rubs the back of his neck as he glances back at me.

"How so?" Hiroshi asks.

"Let's just say it was a bumpy ride!" Keigo smiles with a sweatdrop as he rubs his neck.

"Welp! We gotta continue the streak for Hawks' Agency!" Yamato exclaims. "Let's head out on patrol and make a difference!"

The gang cheers and begins to head out of the office. I'm about to follow the group when Keigo holds me back by the arm.

"Can we talk for a sec?" Keigo asks.

"Sure," I nod.

We wait for everyone to leave before I follow Keigo into his office. He pulls his office chair out for me to sit while he remains standing, gazing out the window with a hand over his mouth. Recognizing this stance of his, I know he's awfully pensive as he remains quiet in thought.

"Is everything okay?" I ask.

"To be honest…I'm not too sure…" Keigo responds.

I sit patiently awaiting Keigo's response. After some time, he finally turns around and walks over to me.

"Listen…" Keigo begins. "I wanna apologize…"

"For what?" I ask.

"For last night…inside the crate…"

"What's there to apologize for? We completed the mission."

"I'm not talking about the mission…" Keigo sighs. "You and I…were crammed into that crate…with very little space…"

I sit with a blank stare up at him.

"I just wanna make sure you didn't feel uncomfortable," Keigo kneels in front of me.

"I'm comfortable with you," I reply.

"Huh?"

"I didn't feel uncomfortable at all."

"You didn't mind…how close we were and all?"

"Didn't think much of it," I shrug.

Keigo stares at me for a moment, trying to process what I've just said. I notice he might've expected a different answer, but I'm not sure exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Are…you okay?" I blink.

"I should be…" Keigo lets out a deep sigh.

I sit with a blank face as Keigo stands up straight.

"Despite all this misunderstanding…" Keigo rubs his neck. "You wanna come by my place tonight to watch a movie?"

"Oh, sure," I nod.

"I'll make ya some dango and kushiage as an apology."

"Once again, I'm not sure exactly what you're apologizing for, but I'll accept the dango."

Keigo chuckles with a shake of his head.

"Great job stopping that gang of robbers!" Minoru says to Yamato.

"I heard about you saving people from a car accident," Yamato compliments.

I'm finishing up some paperwork with the gang after ending our shift this evening. We're gathered at the office on the sofas. Keigo sits to my left on one of them.

"And Hiroshi saved a child from a burning house!" Minoru says.

"It was a great day!" Yamato cheers.

"Great job, everyone!" Keigo compliments. "Now let's finish up the paperwork to end the night."

Everyone continues working. I examine some reports as I file them in folders.

"Akira," Keigo turns to me. "Can you please bring me some more paper clips from my desk?"

"Sure," I nod.

I walk off to Keigo's office. After entering, I scan the top of his desk for any paper clips. Not seeing any, I open the top drawer. To my surprise, I spot a couple of books inside.

"Books on childhood neglect and effects on adulthood…" I read the titles.

Opening the books, I see many sticky notes and writing along the margins. Many excerpts are also highlighted throughout. One thing that stands out to me is my name written in some of these excerpts along with Keigo referring to himself in others.

'What's Keigo reading these for?' I think to myself.

"Akira," Keigo calls out.

My surprised gaze meets Keigo's as he stands at the office door. He sees the book in my hand as we're both looking at each other.

"What are these books?" I curiously ask.

"They're uh…for research purposes," Keigo replies.

"For what?" I glance down at the sticky notes. "And why do I see my name written throughout along with you referring to yourself?"

Keigo lets out a sigh as he closes the office door behind him.

"The books are for learning more about us," Keigo replies. "To learn about how our childhood trauma affects us now as adults."

I blink at him, unsure of what to think.

"But mostly…" Keigo gazes down. "I wanna learn more about you."

I'm confused at what he's saying.

"I've been researching how to help you more with your trauma," Keigo continues. "I wanna know more about how you perceive things… Things like…relationships and emotions."

"Is…there something wrong with me?" I ask.

"It's not like that," Keigo immediately rushes over to me.

"I know I experienced neglect as a child…but am I really that broken?" I gaze down at the book.

"Hey…" Keigo softly says as he lifts my face up to him. "I'm just…trying to understand what's goin on in that mind of yours."

I stare up at Keigo as he returns my gaze.

"You really go so far to understand me," I say.

I place the book back on the desk and embrace Keigo.

"Thank you…" I say.

Keigo returns my hug, caressing the side of my head.

"Let's finish up here at the office," Keigo says. "That way we can go watch a movie at my place. Sound like a plan?"

I gaze up at Keigo with a blink before nodding with a small smile.

Empty trays of homemade dango and kushiage are stacked on the coffee table. I'm staring up at the movie being projected onto the wall. Keigo sits next to me on my left on the sofa. The horror movie we've selected has just started not too long ago.

"Still can't believe you chose a horror movie," Keigo says.

"I like the atmosphere," I say. "It's almost comforting at night time."

"Comforting, huh?" Keigo looks intrigued.

I keep my gaze up at the screen. A scene opens where a small boy is playing with a worn out truck toy in his yard, clearly a flashback of the serial killer's childhood. The rundown home behind him in the background is no doubt abandoned. The little boy is minding his business while playing in the dirt with his worn out truck toy. A man barges through the back door, heading for the little boy. The man towers over the boy as he scowls down at him.

"The hell are you doing out here?" the disgruntled man demands.

"Playing with my truck," the little boy responds but doesn't look up at the man.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, boy!"

The man kicks the little boy's back, knocking him into the ground.

"You know better than to disrespect your father!" the man yells.

"I didn't do anything…" the little boy barely argues.

"Don't talk back, you brat!"

The father slaps the boy across the face, causing the little boy to fall forward into the dirt.

"Wasting your time playing out here instead of helping me and your mother!" the father yells. "What good are you?"

My mind snaps out of the movie, this scene sounding all too familiar to what Keigo described his childhood to be like. I turn over to Keigo and see his gaze glued to the screen. His eyes seem frozen, focusing on the little boy who's being beaten by his father. I can see Keigo's eyes glistening with the reflection of the screen.

"Keigo…" I reach for his hand.

"That's what he did to me…" he replies. "That's what my father did to me."

Keigo's eyes continue to watch the scene unfold, the little boy not even crying out in pain at the beating by his father. A clear sign of being used to it. I see a teardrop fall from Keigo's eye as he remembers his own abusive childhood. I place my hand on his cheek and turn his face to mine, his eyes glancing away as he tries to hide his emotions.

"Keigo…" I say. "It's okay…You can be vulnerable with me…You can let it out."

More tears roll down Keigo's cheeks as he plunges into me, his arms clinging to my torso. He rests the side of his head against my chest, allowing him to hear my heartbeat.

"Both my parents were broken…" Keigo mutters. "I held in my emotions…and became determined not to endure the same fate as them."

"And you didn't," I reassure him.

"I was raised being told I was a mistake."

"You are not a mistake," I hold Keigo's face up to mine.

I can see the pain in Keigo's golden eyes that hasn't fully healed, despite how jovial he carries himself. Seeing him like this causes me to tear up as he reveals the pain inside him.

"Your parents didn't realize your potential," I say. "That was their mistake - not yours."

Keigo stares up at me in thought.

"I know you're much stronger than I am…" he admits. "You were alone from the start…you were treated so harshly…yet you keep such a loving heart. You're able to face your past…unlike me."

"I'm able to because of your help…" I say. "Without you…I would've killed myself a long time ago… But you helped me realize my own potential… And that's what makes you such a beautiful human being."

Keigo's embrace tightens as he quietly sobs into my chest. I hold him close while caressing his hair and planting kisses on his head.

"Please…stay with me," Keigo quietly pleads. "I don't wanna be alone again."

"I won't leave you," I assure him.

"I'm afraid of losing you."

"You won't," I sniffle.

"I love you, Akira."

"I love you, too, Keigo."

Keigo continues to quietly sob into my chest as I hold him close in my arms while caressing him.