The trip back was silent; neither you nor Keigo said a word the entire way. Questions swarmed in your head as the two of you flew: Why was Keigo being so friendly with Dabi? What was it he said about trying to meet up with him? Where was Dabi headed afterward? Why didn't you try to take him in? You didn't know where to begin. You were used to having things kept from you by Stiller, but by Keigo? The thought that he didn't have enough faith in you to let you in on what was going on hurt. More than that, you felt he had acted like you were a civilian back there. To top it all off, the pain from your collision was returning. Keigo descended gradually, flapping his wings quickly to maintain stability as he landed on the sidewalk in front of the HPSC headquarters. You took your place on the ground beside him. The street here was quiet- not another person in sight. It was an unusual and uncomfortable stillness that sat between you.
"The Commission building?" You asked in an attempt to break the tension.
"Yeah." He replied. "They repurposed one of the offices to be a bedroom."
"Ah." An awkward hush fell once again. Neither of you moved as you stared directly up at the diamond emblem on the side of the building.
After a moment, Keigo sighed. "Hey… it's probably best that you don't mention what happened with Dabi tonight… or that we even saw him… to anyone."
"Why?" The word came out so quickly, you weren't entirely sure which of your "why" questions you were trying to ask. He didn't respond immediately, instead choosing to project his gaze to the ground. You grew irritated.
"I don't need protecting, you know. I've got just as much combat sense as you. Honestly, it's a little insulting." You griped about his previous insinuation that you might have needed to hide behind him earlier.
Keigo finally looked at you, his expression more tender than before.
"I know you can take care of yourself, (Y/N). I'm sorry if you think I was suggesting otherwise." He turned his whole body to face you. "And I'm sorry I can't give you the whole story right now."
Your heart sank. "Need to know, I guess…" You muttered.
"Hey, no, no… it's not like that." Keigo placed both hands on your shoulders. You furrowed your eyebrows, hoping he would elaborate. "Okay, yes, yes it is like that, but it's not that same." The messy-haired man paused as your eyes locked. "...I just need you to trust me." Perhaps if it were someone else, your confidence in them would have been broken. Though you wanted to be skeptical, you could tell his words were sincere. You managed a wisp of a smile. "Alright."
Keigo returned your smile with one of his own. "Oh, and just a tip for the future: trying to sweet-talk someone doesn't work as well when you've just shot them a death glare. Just sayin'." He ragged about your botched interaction with Dabi.
You chuckled. "People skills and de-escalation aren't my things."
"Ah, we'll have to fix that, won't we. After all, fan service is important." He said with a wink. You laughed heartily. He always did have a way of turning a gloomy situation around.
"Let's get you settled in. I'll escort you to your room." Keigo jokingly bowed and extended a hand to the building. "Right this way." You couldn't help but roll your eyes at his silly display, but thought it might be fun to play into it all the same.
"Why thank you, good sir." You said, feigning a posh accent as you walked towards the building. A few of Keigo's feathers flew ahead to open the door as you neared. The two of you passed through the dark lobby, then headed down a hallway off to the right. "It's all the way down here."
Once you reached the end of the hallway, Keigo motioned to the door on your left. "Aaand here you are. Bathrooms are down the hall. It's not a presidential suite by any means, but I hope they did ya justice."
"It's fine. Gotta be a step up from the barracks, whatever's in there." You remarked.
Keigo gestured to the other doors in the corridor. "The rest of these rooms are empty, by the way, so don't worry too much about making noise."
You beamed. You were being given privacy? Or, at least, a quiet space to be by yourself? You felt like you might be dreaming for a second. Back home, noise from the other residents would constantly penetrate your paper-thin walls, making silence a precious commodity. You hugged your friend tightly, catching him off guard. "Thank you so much, Kei."
Though initially surprised, Keigo snaked his arms around you too. His chest rumbled softly as he chuckled. "No need to thank me. I didn't set up your room."
"For dinner, then. And the flight." You claimed as you pulled away, doing your best to ignore the discomfort in your side. "Will I see you tomorrow?"
"Hard to say. I'm usually pretty busy during the day, but I could try to make time to come by. Not making any promises, though."
You nodded understandingly as you reached for the door handle. "Well, have a good night, Kei."
"Good night, Crash." He stood and watched until you shut the door behind you.
You grinned thoughtlessly at the door frame for a moment before turning towards the rest of the room. Just as Keigo had said, this had very clearly been an office. The horizontal blinds that hung atop the large window were pulled up, allowing just enough pale light into the room to see, and providing a lovely view of the landscaped garden just outside the building. Beneath the windowsill, pushed up against the wall, sat a dark oak wood table with a plush leather office chair similar to the ones in the briefing room. Judging by the indents in the carpet to your right, it was apparent the desk had been moved to better simulate a bedroom. To your left, against the adjacent wall, was a twin-sized bed on a rickety-looking metal frame. It reminded you a bit of the metal cots you'd see in prisons, only this one had a nicer mattress. On the opposite end of the room sat a wooden clothes dresser. You noted that the case for your hero costume had been set on top of it along with a few other essentials: phone charger, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, hairbrush, and even a bottle of painkillers. The lack of a couple of other necessities piqued your interest, though.
'Wait… where am I supposed to bathe?' Seeing as how you had been flying around all night (and the shoulder you had hit before was now beginning to feel tense), you thought a hot shower might be in order; however, because this was an office building, you highly doubted they would have the proper facilities.
'Seriously?! What do they expect me to do, smell like shit the whole time?'
You had to admit, you thought it was odd that the Commission was having you stay in the HQ. Then again, there probably wasn't anywhere else to put you. It's not like your old room existed anymore, and after eleven years, even if the place were still standing, it was doubtful it'd be available.
'I bet Stiller is set up in some nice hotel right now.' You thought venomously. 'No doubt he gets a shower, so what gives?' Feeling frustrated, you marched over to the dresser in search of a clean outfit. Thankfully, it seemed they had fully stocked your wardrobe with basic undergarments, t-shirts, tank tops, pants, and shorts for training. As you stripped yourself of your hero costume, you heard something in one of the pockets hit the carpet with a louder thud than expected.
'Oh, right, the phone.'
You quickly changed into more comfortable bed-time attire and reached down to retrieve your cell, clicking the screen on as you brought it to your face.
1 new notification: Henry Stiller
Message Hidden. Unlock to read.
His contact must have already been saved. Using your index finger, you carefully swept across the smooth screen. Of course, you had seen people use smartphones in movies and TV shows and had used a couple yourself, but since you never actually had one of your own, you realized this may require some practice.
"Great, I feel about as technologically savvy as the elderly." You groaned.
The lock-screen disappeared and you curiously took note of the different icons on the home screen.
Settings, Clock, Calendar, Phone, Contacts, Messages, Notepad, Map
'Is this really all that's on here?'
Seriously, there wasn't even an internet browser or app store on this thing. How were you supposed to get anything interesting? Though, you supposed that wasn't the point of having the phone. Feeling thoroughly underwhelmed, you tapped on the message icon to read Stiller's text.
Henry Stiller - 5:24 PM
(H/N),
This phone is yours to use for communication purposes as long as we are in Japan. Please set up a passcode and notify me of it in person. Important contacts have already been logged and daily alarms and reminders have been set; DO NOT TURN THEM OFF. There is a banking app with a credit card linked to it; use it for necessities only. Report to the HPSC training facility tomorrow at 8:30 AM. Eat beforehand.
P.S. I took the liberty of providing a couple of game apps for your entertainment.
'Oh, goodie. Now he can send me paragraphs instead of 3-sentence messages. Can't wait.'
Swiping to the next screen, you were pleasantly surprised to find a couple more applications: the camera and gallery, the previously mentioned banking app, and a folder labeled "Recreation." You had to admit, you were a little excited to use the camera, but likely not for the reasons it was intended for. Opening up the folder, you learned it contained two apps: sudoku and crossword puzzles.
"Gee, thanks, Stiller." You remarked sarcastically.
You plopped into the office chair and flicked on the desk lamp. It brightened the room a tad with a calming yellow-white glow. Slouching lazily in the plush seat, you opened up the sudoku app.
'Better than nothing, I guess.'
As you punched the numbers into their boxes, your mind wandered.
'He said to go to the training facility. Where is that? I could probably use the map feature on the phone to find it. I doubt it's in the same spot. Unless they actually took the time and money to rebuild it. No way it was structurally sound after what happened; they'd have to tear down the whole thing and build a new one.'
Your train of thought was leading you to a place you'd really rather not be. You attempted to clear your intrusive thoughts by focusing on the puzzle in your hand.
'I wonder if it's even still there. I could probably find it if- no! Stop it. Play your stupid game.'
Well, that didn't last long. You shook your head desperately. If this line of thinking continued, it would not end well.
'I never saw the ruins, but if I remember correctly, the whole place was engulfed in fire. God, Touya.'
There it was. For the third time in six hours, you were plagued by the unwelcome memory. Exasperated, you lightly chucked the phone onto the desk and leaned back to stare up at the ceiling. You covered your face with your hands as the groan you attempted came out more like a whimper. The memory of rising flames flickered in your mind like an old film reel.
'Makes sense that they never found a body.'
"Fuck!" You cried in frustration as you dropped your head nearly between your knees. You rubbed your temples and squeezed your eyes shut, hoping to will the images away. This wasn't what you needed to be focusing on right now. There were much bigger issues, of course. Your run-in with Dabi tonight, for example. Now that you were alone, you may be able to straighten out some of the unknowns in your head.
'A fire quirk, huh. It had to be fire.' This was not helping.
'I still don't understand why we didn't arrest him. He's a wanted villain, for crying out loud.' Possibilities floated around as you racked your brain. It was understood, based on what Keigo had said to you before, that you were purposely missing information. Though it was certainly annoyingly inconvenient, you figured this question may have to be put to rest until later.
'Alright, well then why didn't he attack us?'
'Idiot, he obviously knew Kei; not you. He had no idea who you were or what your powers might be.'
'He could have seen us flying, that would have given him a hint.'
'Probably not, but he definitely heard us fall.'
You groaned loudly, pulling the pillow from the bed beside you and burying your face in it. The dull ache in your ribs returned as you hunched your body over it. Another reminder of your embarrassing mishap. This was quite literally adding insult to injury.
'What the hell was he doing there, anyway?'
'Gosh, like it matters.'
'Of course, it matters! It's our job to know what villains are up to.'
This wasn't working. The more you thought about Dabi, the more your head seemed to spin. If the matter wasn't going to leave you alone naturally, then you'd do what you had always done to get rid of unpleasant thoughts: sleep.
The metal bed frame creaked as you flopped onto the mattress. You had just woken up not seven hours ago, but the stress of the day left you feeling exhausted both physically and mentally. It was strange. You weren't normally like this. In fact, you were probably one of the more thick-skinned people you knew, but something about today had gotten to you. You clutched your pillow and held it tight to your chest.
'And to top it all off, these heathens only gave me one stupid pillow.' You made a mental note to buy another one as soon as possible.
You whined into the cushion, feeling too fatigued to muster a real scream.
'It's alright.' You told yourself. What was it that Stiller used to say when you were having a bad day?
You parroted the words of your caretaker, voice muffled by fabric and fluff.
"Tomorrow is a different day."
