The cold breeze rushed past as you zipped through the city. The sound of Keigo's wings slicing through the air beside you was barely audible as the wind roared in your ears. Swooping over and under street lights and high-hanging signs, you had no trouble keeping up with your feathered friend. Unlike your shaky flights during training, this was quick and controlled.
"Not bad." You heard him call. "Let's see how you handle this." With a strong beat of his wings, Keigo thrust himself upward. You smirked as he zoomed ahead of you, but were quick to propel yourself as well. You caught up within seconds, feeling quite confident in your speed. As you squinted up you saw where he was headed: the top of one of the taller buildings where an antenna sat surrounded by a metal platform- presumably meant for workers. With his red wings stretched out behind him, he landed on the steel grate with a soft clank. Following suit, you aimed your feet towards your landing spot; however, in your adrenaline-filled daze, you neglected to slow your speed. The soles of your boots hit the scaffolding with a much stronger impact, causing you to stumble and the small structure to shake. Keigo gripped the guardrail in an attempt to keep his balance.
"Woah! Jeez, take it easy, Crash!"
You snickered. "Sorry, Kei. I guess I'm just a bit excited is all." You shut your eyes as you breathed in the crisp night air, its cool touch soothing the dull throb in your chest. Using your quirk for prolonged periods of time was nothing new to you, but the liberty of being able to free-fly with one of your best childhood friends had you unwittingly pushing it into overdrive. As you opened your eyes again, you were enchanted by the dim lights of the city that speckled the landscape. Though there was likely some kind of night-life in the streets below, it was quiet up on your perch. "How do you hear if there's trouble from up here?" You asked.
"My feathers are a bit more sensitive to vibrations than my ears are, so picking up sound isn't so hard even if we are fifty stories up." He said it as though it were the most simple thing in the world. You blinked at him, wondering if he heard himself talk sometimes. You let out a sigh and shook your head with a smile. "I see how you've become Japan's number two so quickly. You really are amazing, aren't you?"
Keigo shrugged. "Eh, I don't think it's all that impressive. Besides, it's just my job, right?" You couldn't quite tell if he was just being humble, or if he really didn't think so highly of himself. Facing the horizon once again, you came to a sudden realization. "We've never flown together, have we?"
"Nope. You were too busy crashing to keep up." He teased. You pouted. "We have literally spent the last hour soaring around town together without a single mishap. Seriously, Dodo, what's it gonna take for you to see I know what I'm doing now?" Honestly, you should have been used to him kidding with you by now. Perhaps it was all the time you two had spent apart or the fact that he had no viable reason for doing it anymore, but his teasing was starting to bug you a bit. Keigo didn't bother to look at you as he responded. "Beat me in a real race, then we'll talk." He glanced at you from the side with a smug grin.
'Oh, he did not just challenge me like that.' You gave him a blank glare, hoping that that would get your point across. It seemed, however, instead of taking the hint, Keigo was hell-bent on getting under your skin. He turned his eyes away from you again. "I mean, if you can manage to fly straight, that is." His subtle smile and self-satisfied demeanor made your pride feel as though it had been dragged across asphalt.
'Alright, that's it.' You hopped up onto the railing in front of you and briefly scanned the city below. Then, without warning, you jumped. Facing straight down, you allowed your body to freefall for a moment before shifting your angle up a bit and rocketing between the buildings. Using the momentum you had already built up from a fall or some other kind of accelerative action meant you didn't have to use your quirk to speed yourself up as much; however, regardless of how you achieved them, high velocities gave you less control and made last-second maneuvers slightly more difficult. Though you had learned to manage high-speed flight fairly well, you, like everyone else, were not perfect. You had to pay attention to where you were going and at the moment, you were more focused on showing off.
As you swept yourself up and tore over rooftops, you failed to notice the small, yet sturdy satellite in time. Before you could adjust your trajectory completely, your shoulder slammed into the grey disk. The sudden impact threw you off and sent you spiraling down. In a panic, you swung yourself around another building, just barely missing a flock of birds as they took off in front of your face. A sudden collision with your ribcage momentarily knocked the wind out of you as you fell. Your body twisted as you scrambled to land upright. Just as you had hoped, your feet hit the ground first. Though your boots absorbed much of the strike, you still stumbled backward, eventually coming to rest right on your rear end. You groaned in irritation. "Great." You grumbled. "Just perfect."
This was humiliating. You hadn't run into anything in years, but of course, it had to be now, when you were getting crap about your flying skills, that you rammed yourself into not one, but two structures. "Bird Boy is gonna have a field day with this one."
Speak of the devil. The sound of flapping wings followed by a rush of air cut through the stillness of the alley you had been so unceremoniously dumped in. Keigo rushed to your side once he spotted you. "My God, (Y/N), I was kidding!" Concern laced his voice as he approached. He knelt beside you, eyes trained on your shoulder. "Are you alright?"
No, you weren't alright. You were mortified; too sheepish to even look him in the face. "I- I think my pride is hurt worse than my body, to be honest." You tried to joke through shaky breaths. "It's been a while since I've had an incident like that." You admitted. Keigo reached behind you, wrapping one arm around your back and securing your forearm with the other. "Can you stand?" He asked as he tugged on you.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm not delicate." You reassured him. You reluctantly accepted his help, slowly getting to your feet. A sharp pain radiated from your ribs where the ledge had struck you. You instinctively grabbed your torso, doing your best to keep a straight face to hide your discomfort. Despite your best effort, however, your voice still came out strained. "Although, I may ask Stiller to request some protective padding on the costume next time."
"Pockets but no padding. Priorities, amirite?" Hawks sighed and shook his head, realizing you were probably fine. "I knew you'd live up to the name eventually."
You shot daggers at him. "Don't push it."
"Hush." He said.
You looked at him with a hint of disdain. "You know, making fun of me isn't the best way to-"
"Quiet."
"Keigo, I'm serious…"
Placing one hand on the back of your head, and the other firmly against your mouth, he silenced you. "Shh…" He shifted his eyes left and right, then up and down. His breathing transformed from deeper attempts to catch his breath to controlled and shallow sips of air- nearly inaudible, even from your close proximity. The feathers that adorned his wings stuck up like hairs on goosebumps, giving them a puffy, almost defensive look.
"Someone's here." You looked down the side of the T-shaped alleyway, wondering what Keigo could be picking up on. From around the corner, you could hear steady footsteps approaching. Keigo released you and spun around to face the culprit. "Act natural. You're with me." He instructed.
'Uh, I'm a hero too… did he just forget?' Though you couldn't help but feel slightly offended, you did as he said, sticking right behind him as a mysterious figure emerged from the shadowy corridor. You squinted as you tried to make out his face in the dark. The first thing you noted was his dark hair. It drooped over his face as he looked down, concealing his eyes from view. As he came closer, however, you began to recognize the gnarled texture of scorched skin around his neck. The jacket he wore now was different from the image you had seen before: the trenchcoat-like tails flowed behind him, and its shorter sleeves left more of his arms exposed, confirming your suspicions about his burned arms.
'Dabi.'
You straightened your back and placed your arms at your side. If one of Japan's most wanted villains was going to see you, it wouldn't be while you looked like a hurt puppy. Keigo flattened out his feathers, giving his wings a more natural appearance. You followed suit, faking a bored expression. Dabi's footsteps ceased. For a moment, only the sound of the wind whistled through the narrow backstreet.
"I came over because I thought I heard some commotion,..." Dabi's low voice was tinted with sarcasm. "...but I can see the heroes have already arrived." He raised his head to stare at Keigo, his eyes coming into view past his back locks. His turquoise irises almost seemed to glow in the pale moonlight. "I've got to say, you certainly do live up to your speedy reputation… Hawks."
Keigo was quick to put on a softer guise as he spoke. "Well, a good reputation is all a man has." He raised his arms in a half-hearted shrug.
"Mm…" Dabi hummed, taking another step forward. "I didn't know you worked this late. You must be very committed to your job."
"I'm just taking some personal time right now."
You were confused. 'Why is he being so friendly… to a villain? Isn't there a bounty on this dude's head?' Shouldn't the two of you, as heroes, be trying to take him in right now? A thought came across your mind and you were suddenly warier. 'Shit. Kei never told me this guy's quirk. If we're not attacking… how strong is he?' Dabi's voice broke your thoughts.
"Personal time, eh? I thought heroism was a round-the-clock thing." His gaze shifted to you. "It's pretty rare to see you with another hero." You glowered back at him, hoping the threatening aura you gave off would be enough to dissuade him from starting a fight.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call them-"
"Really? That's an interesting outfit to wear for a night on the town, don't you think?" Dabi's stare never wavered. His eyes were trained on you, flicking slightly back and forth as if scanning your every feature.
Keigo's usually-friendly demeanor vanished as he took on a serious tone. "They work with the American military. They're just visiting." You nodded. "That's right." The way Keigo spoke- the small bit of information he gave- hinted at a certain truth. Not only was Dabi not to be trusted (despite Keigo's amiable behavior), he should know you were powerful. Still, why weren't the two of you going after him?
"I've been looking everywhere for you, y'know." The winged hero said. "I keep wondering when we're going to meet up. You're not holding out on me, are ya, Dabi?"
The villain scoffed. "Nah. I just think it's safe to say I don't trust you. I mean, come on. A 'friend' from the American military? You're not fooling anyone." Dabi raised his right hand. Not a moment later, a bright blue flame engulfed his palm, painting the alley with an azure glow.
'Fire?!' It had to be fire. Perhaps some found comfort in the warmth of a controlled flame, but, due to past experiences, you never could bring yourself to enjoy them in the same way. Over the years, your training with Stiller had given you a great deal of control over thermal energy; however, your prowess with high-energy substances didn't make you feel any better at the moment.
This wasn't good, but you had to stay calm. Whatever game Keigo was playing at, he was beginning to lose. You had to back him up. "I'm not sure what it is you're referring to, but I'm sorry if I'm causing some kind of issue." You said sweetly, hoping it would be convincing enough. You forced your (E/C) eyes to look directly into his own.
"Ah, don't worry about this guy, (H/N). He's just overly-paranoid." He used your hero name. Of course he did, this was hero work; it just still sounded so foreign coming out of his mouth. A subtle change in Dabi's expression caught your attention: a flicker of… something as he eyed you. He extinguished the fire in his hand before returning it to his pocket.
"Whatever." He uttered in a gravelly voice. "I don't have time to stick around and chat- especially with a couple of heroes." He turned on his heel and began walking away.
"You're not blowing me off again, are ya?" Keigo chimed.
Dabi paused for a moment, turning his head as if to glance back. "Don't worry. I'll be back when you've proved yourself a bit more." His sharp blue irises cut through you once again as he tilted his head. "Be seeing you, (H/N)."
With that, he sauntered off. You watched until he was out of sight, but Keigo's eyes lingered for a bit longer. Once he had decided that Dabi was really gone, he opened his wings in preparation for flight.
"Come on, let's go home."
As the two of you took off, you scanned the ground for the mysterious villain. He was nowhere to be found. You wondered just how he had disappeared so fast, but more than that, you wondered why he was still being allowed to roam the streets. You looked at Keigo, but he did not turn back. He may have given you a clear understanding before, but now you had more questions than when you had first arrived.
