Outcast

In Which Keigo Comes to a Very Strong Conclusion About You

A Hawks-centric Chapter

The next morning, you were out the door before Keigo could even say "Good morning" to you. He sighed, watching the front door of the appartment slam shut behind you. You'd only stuck around long enough to grab a juice from the fridge and a piece of toast before rushing out. The same empty feeling he felt every time he was away from you filled him. On one hand, he was glad you'd been successful in finding a job. It had been one of your biggest stressors in the last few months. And he'd hated seeing the soul-crushing despair that filled you every time a potential employer called only to reject your application. But there was also the part of him that didn't want you to leave him, at all. He had gotten used to having your presence around, the feeling of your small body pressed against his as he did everything he could to calm you down from an emotional break.

He shook the thought from his head. He needed a clear mind if he was going to get anything done at work today. Speaking of, he checked his phone, confirming his task for the day:

~10:30 - 1:45: Meet up with Mirko for patrol
~1:50 - 3:00: Return to agency for lunch and paperwork
~5:27: Meeting w/ Commission bigwigs

It wasn't the longest to-do list in the world, but as a pro hero, it was still a lot for him to do. He sighed and looked at the time. 10:07. And he still had to get changed into his hero outfit. Setting his coffee and breakfast aside, he went and did that real quick. He returned to the kitchen and finished his breakfast before heading out to get to work. He found Mirko waiting for him in their usual meeting spot.

"There you are, bird brain," She greeted with a grin.

Keigo looked at his phone. 10:26.

"It's not like I'm late."

"No. In fact, I'm kind of surprised that you're early, for once."

"Didn't feel like hanging around the apartment for too long this morning. (Y/N) left in a bit of a rush shortly before I left."

Mirko noticed he seemed a bit glum about that, which was seriously out of character for him. They began to walk down the street together.

"Speaking of, how's things going with her new job? I've been meaning to call her myself, but..." She gave a shrug.

"Her first day was yesterday. And let me tell you, she came back early with quite the story."

Keigo recounted everything you'd told him yesterday to his friend. He didn't even realize how much he was praising you and your actions in the situation as he retold the tale to his best abilities. To him, speaking highly of you had become as normal as any other kind of conversation. But to Mirko, it was pretty obvious how he felt about you. As they walked and he talked, she took note of the way his eyes lit up everytime he spoke your name. He left out the part about Eraserhead, feeling his blood begining to boil even just thinking about another man protecting you. He wished it had been him.

The one-sided conversation had to be stopped, though, as they both recieved alerts of a villian incident a few streets over, calling for any and all nearby heros to action. The two pros rushed over to assist in the incident. The villian had a particularly nasty quirk that had already resulted in a few casualties by the time the pair showed up. But with their help, already present group of heros were able to take down the villian with minimal more casualties. By the time the cops finished their part of the work, it was almost time for Keigo to get to his office. He frowned; paperwork was his least favorite part of his job. Mirko stopped his before he could take off, though.

"Hey, you got time for one more quick chat?"

"Yeah, I guess. What's up, Rumi?"

"I wanna discuss the conversation from earlier. Specificaly, do you realize how you look when you're talking about (Y/N)?"