Strength doesn't make a hero

Chapter 2.4

A/N: Hello. I hope you like the new chapter:)
TW: slight panic attack

It was one week after the entrance exam that the letter arrived.

The moment Keigo found the letter in the stack of fan letters and invoices, he immediately dashed over to the boy's room. When he entered the room though, his bright smile faltered.

Izuku was laying on his bed, headphones over his ears, and Keigo could clearly hear the music blasting extremely loud through the speakers.

He wondered how Izuku wasn't deaf yet, especially with his enhanced hearing.

Izuku's eyes were closed, however, Keigo saw the running nose and swollen, red eyes. Izuku definitely had been crying, and Keigo felt so bad for not noticing.

He thought Izuku was getting better, but recovery was hard, especially without professional help. Izuku was a really emotional person, but at the same time he liked to ignore his feelings and suppress them. Sometimes, though, it was too much and everything came crashing down on him at once. Despite being aware of this, Keigo still forgot to consider it from time to time.

For the last month, he only thought about Dabi and his ocean blue eyes. He knew he shouldn't be so selfish. Now, Izuku was struggling, and it was his fault.

He had to cancel his date with Dabi tonight. It would be their third date and Keigo did plan something special, but that didn't matter. He had enough time for this in the future, for now Izuku was more important.

But instead of walking in and waking Izuku up, Keigo silently stepped back.

First of all, he had to cancel his date with Dabi. He knew that the other would understand, especially considering that the reason was Izuku. However, he still felt bad for dumping Dabi.

Keigo pulled out his phone and dialed his number. It took Dabi only a few seconds to pick up. "What's up, chicken nugget?"

Keigo let out a nervous chuckle. "Well, you know that I really looked forward to our date."

There was a beat of silence. "Yes..." The suspicion was clearly audible in his voice.

"Do you mind if we-" Keigo couldn't finish this sentence.

"Postpone it?" the other asked.

Keigo let out a sigh of relief. Dabi didn't seem to be mad about it. "Yes. Izuku needs me right now. He isn't doing too good and over the last month I rarely spend time with him due to hero work, the time I spent with you and his preparing for the entrance exam."

"I understand," Dabi's deep voice assured him. "Go and spend some quality time with the boy."

"Thank you so much. You are perfect." Keigo mentally cringed at his own words, so he quickly added, "in understanding people." Defeated, he let his forehead fall into his hand. This sounded even worse than before.

"Thank you I guess, but now help the little broccoli!" Dabi chuckled lightly.

"I will," Keigo chirped, happiness coloring his voice. "See you soon!"

"Bye." Without hesitation Dabi hung up on him.

"Ouch." Keigo fake pouted at the phone in his hand. Upon noticing that it didn't have a point, he stopped. After all, he should be used to it by now; Dabi didn't worry about the whole hanging-up-on-someone thing.

The next step on his to-do list was to order food, so he opened his phone once again and dialed Oikawa's number.

The phone didn't ring for too long. Not long after Keigo lifted the phone to his ear, Oikawa's voice chimed through the line. "Yahoo! I really appreciate that you call me, honestly, but you know I'm working, and I don't really have time right now. I take my job really seriously." After a few seconds of silence they both started to uncontrollably laugh. "Who am I kidding, spill the tea, Kei-chan."