Just Say No

Fly away

   It was late the next night by the time that Keigo arrived back home. The very moment that he stepped through the door, Dabi had picked him up, holding him tight in his arms. 

  "You're okay... You're actually okay... You have no idea how worried I've been. After I saw Endeavor on the street and he told me about you being in the hospital I- Why didn't you call me when you started feeling like that? You said that you would let me help you..." Dabi said softly, gently stroking his lover's cheek, Keigo leaned into the touch, sighing softly as he closed his eyes.  He rested a hand on top of Dabi's. 

  "Can we... not talk about that now, please? I just want to be here with you... I don't want to have to worry about what happened before or where I've been. I just...Please Dabi..." His voice broke as tears dripped down, dampening their hands. Dabi sighed softly and nodded, letting go of Keigo's face so that he could scoop him up into his arms, and carry him over to their bed. 

   "Do you want me to set up all the pillows and blankets so that it's like a nest all around you?" Dabi asked. He gently laid Keigo in the middle of the huge round bed and moved some hair out of his face. Keigo hesitated before nodding a bit. He was picking at his arm while letting out sad little chirps under his breath. Dabi sighed and carefully arranged all of the pillows and blankets around the bed till it was like a nest and climbed in beside Keigo, wrapping his arms around him. He could feel how Keigo's heart was hammering in his chest. 

   "I didn't mean to worry you or Endeavor-san, y'know... I wasn't thinking. Everything just hurt so much, and I-"

"Shhh... it's okay, Keigo. You asked that we not talk about that, so we're not gonna talk about it, okay? You were hurting, and I get that. I'm not saying that what you did was okay, but... I'm not mad," He stopped playing with Keigo's hair to look into his eyes. He was met with empty golden orbs where life had once shone so brightly. "More than anything, it breaks my heart to see you like this... This isn't you, Keigo. You could have called us. Hell, I wouldn't even have been mad if you'd called Endeavor. I just- Fuck..." Blood began to pool at the edges of his eye wounds, dripping slowly from the stitches. Keigo saw the blood dripping down onto his hand, and his heart clenched. 

   "Please don't cry, love... It doesn't matter anymore... I'm still here. I'm right here... I'm the number two hero, it takes more than a few little cuts to kill me, y'know... It didn't kill me when I was a teenager, and it won't kill me now," He said. He tried to lift the mood in the room with a little smile. Dabi tried to dry the blood from his face, not wanting his crying to upset his lover. 

   "The fact that you say that scares me... Knowing that you've done this before... Does Rumi know? How about Tokoyami? What about all the kids that you met at UA, huh?" 

  "I don't want them to know, okay?... They all have their own lives, they don't have to worry about me... I wish you didn't have to worry about me. The last time that I hurt myself with the intent to kill was seven years ago... It was when I had lost... my first love... forever. They took him away from me, and it was all my fault. She put him with some whore just so that they could have some perfect little kid with a super-strong quirk. I mean... it hurt seeing him marry someone else, of course, it did... but what no one knew till it was too late was that his wife was abusive... After a few months, he couldn't take it... We were supposed to go merch shopping. I went to his house... and I found him. He looked like he was sleeping till I felt how cold he was, and I-I knew. I didn't wanna believe it, but I-I-I-" Keigo was starting to hyperventilate. Dabi wrapped his arms even tighter around him.

   "Shhh, it's okay. You don't have to tell me if it's still too painful for you, Kei," Dabi cooed, stroking his hair. In the corner of the room, Keigo could see the shadow creature forming, but every time it tried to come near, it shrieked and backed away.

  "I'm fine, Dabs... I want you to know more about me. I want you to know about my pains, my past, everything... and I want you to be my future," Keigo whispered. Dabi nodded a bit. He kept on petting Keigo's hair and wings, keeping him as calm as possible. 

  "Tell me more than. So you collected merch even back then? Tell me more,"

   "You've seen the Endeavor merch I have... So much... um... well. A lot of the older stuff was from Eito."

"Was that his name, sweetheart? Eito?"

"Y-yeah... yeah it was," Keigo took a shaky breath, closing his eyes, "His name was Eito Gaelen, and he was my best friend... and more. We did everything together... He got me my first binder that actually fit me properly. It was a goofy one that he'd found at some roadside shop. It was Endeavor-themed. I remember... Smiling so brightly on the day that I got it... but that was also the day that the President first took him away from me... I should have fought back. I should have been strong enough to-"

  "None of that, baby bird. I don't want to hear you blame yourself for anything that happened to someone else, okay? You were still practically a kid. I can't blame you for not fighting back."

  "They took everything from me... The only reason that I ever got my merch back was that I did what everyone else in my garrison never did. I survived. That was proof enough to the commission that I was a success. My handler Ms. Gaelen got promoted. I became a pro. It didn't matter to me, though. They'd still taken everything that I loved... and now, they're going to do it again if I fail my new mission..." Keigo started to shake. Dabi's expression hardened as he took his hands. Those words were enough for Dabi to know that Keigo really was selling their information to the commission. That didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that his birdie was in danger.

"Runaway with me." 

"W-what?..." Keigo looked up at his boyfriend who had a distinct fire in his eyes. 

  "You heard me, Keigo. Runaway with me. Our information is nothing as long as they don't have us. I won't let them take anything else from you. We can do this. Together, just... I'm begging you. Run away with me before the commission even has the chance to take us away from each other," Dabi's voice was full of agency. Keigo looked up at him, about to agree. 

  Suddenly, the image of the phantom creature from the chamber flashed before his eyes, and he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. The shadow monster loomed behind Dabi, its smile growing hauntingly larger and larger. Hawks went quiet for a moment. The shadow inched forward, wrapping itself firmly around Keigo's neck like a dark noose. He wanted to cry, but he found his tear ducts unable to work anymore. In his mind's eye, he saw himself flying away with Dabi. While the two of them were off somewhere living an apple pie life, The commission was killing and torturing their friends. He took a breath, steeling himself.

  "Dabi, I love you... more than anything else... but I can't."