Missing Baby Bird

The Shower

  My eyes traveled over the pictures hung up on the wall. Me and Keigo together, our friends, our family. Every moment that we were ever lucky enough to capture, my eyes slowly took in as Keigo carried me to the bathroom.
  We walked in and he gently set me down on the sink. I did my best to ignore the sting in my body, and the almost instant cold that filled me once his arms left me. He reached over to turn on the water, followed by him slipping his shirt over his head. My eyes roamed shamelessly over his back, moving across his beautiful wings, up to his messy, golden hair, down to his waist and the dark jeans that hung low on his hips...
Before my thoughts could go any further, he turned back to face me. Once he saw the wanting look in my eyes, he winked and gently nudged my legs apart with his knee. He gently fit himself between my thighs, wrapping his arms around my waist as he looked down at me with a smug smile.
"God...beaten, bloody, bruised...And yet you still have the mind to ogle me and my body. You really are insatiable."
The giggle that left me was the first genuine laugh I'd had in days, and I saw his eyes melt as it passed my lips. He leaned forward, gently touching his forehead to mine, as both of our eyes closed. We didn't say anything. We didn't need to. We were home, and we were there together. The only sound was our soft breathing and the gentle splashing of the water.
  After a few minutes like that, he pulled away, gently taking the bottom of my shirt. "Is it okay, Kid?"
  I nodded once. He nodded back in affirmation, and gingerly slipped my shirt up to my head. I tried to raise my arms, until a stabbing pain ripped through my shoulders, causing me to cry out.
  Before I could move them any further, his hands were on my wrists, slowly pulling my arms back down.
"Take it easy, Kid. I got this, okay?"
Nodding, I slowly exhaled through my nose. If my mouth opened, I was gonna start sobbing from the pain.
  He slowly and surely bent my arm, slipping my arm through my sleeve, before pulling it over my head, slipping it down my other arm, dropping it to the floor. Before I could ask about my pants, his hands were under my thighs, pulling me from the sink and setting my feet on the floor.
  Keigo knelt down, taking my fingers and resting them on his broad shoulders.
"Hold on to me, Songbird."
I watched in adoration as he undid my ripped and bloody pants, sliding them down my legs and helping me step out, taking extra care not to brush against my burns or cuts. He stood back up, looking at me, naked as the day I was born. A thought struck me and I began to turn back to the full length mirror we had. I hadn't turned fully before I felt Keigo's fingers under my chin, turning my head back to him.
"...Songbird...Are you really ready to see what they did ?"
Taking a steadying breath, I said the first words since we got to the bathroom.
"...I am."
  The doubting look never left his eyes, yet he let me go. My eyes closed as I turned around, before nervously opening to see myself.
  My jaw dropped as a horrified gasp flew from my mouth.
  My hair was almost up to my ears, and the ends were charred black. What wasn't burned was matted, bloody, and filthy. My right shoulder was angrily red with flaking skin, and I could just make out a charred handprint that was in the middle of all of it. My eyes moved down my body in horror struck silence, taking in the black dots that littered my body from Dabi's cigarettes. My hand shakily covered my mouth as my gaze finally landed on my lower stomach, a jagged, barbed abbreviation sliced into my skin.

L
O
V

Reaching down, my index finger tentatively ran down the horizontal letters. My other hand stayed firmly over my mouth. I was certain if I let go, I would be sick.
"...I want...I want to get in now..." I managed out, my voice muffled by my fingers. Despite what I said, I didn't turn back to Keigo. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the disaster that was my body.
Keigo never said a word. He reached forward and scooped me up, his arm under my knees, and behind my back.
"I ran a bath instead. You shouldn't really be standing all that long."
And with that, he set me down in the water as lightly as he could.
I threw my head back, biting my lip hard enough to draw blood. The water hurt. I felt like I was being burned alive.
  His fingers gently brushed away the mess of my hair, tucking it behind my ears.
"It'll only sting for a few minutes, Babybird, I promise...Please just hang on for me..."
Keigo's voice was the only thing holding me back from going berserk. Instead of the burn of the water, I did my best to focus on his arms still around me, holding me in the water.
Eventually, I felt my bottom touch the floor of the tub, as Keigo's arms started to withdraw. Small whimpers escaped my lips as the electric sting of the water began to become more bearable. After a few minutes, my body began to unwind, as I let out a shaky sigh. Glancing down at the water, I saw it had become filthy pretty quickly. Under the murkiness of the usually clear water, I could barely see the damage my body had endured over the last few days.
"Do you wanna wash now, Kid ? Or would you rather sit and have a soak for a while ?"
"Soak, definitely." I replied, almost desperately. He chuckled softly and nodded, resting his arms on the edge of the tub as his fingertips slowly moved up and down my arm.
I don't know how long we sat there. It didn't feel very long, yet it felt like days. It was quiet. Warm. Comfortable. The longer I sat there, the calmer I became. My knotted muscles felt amazing as the heat of the water undid them.
Eventually, I felt a chill go through me, and I knew it was time to get cleaned up. As soon as Keigo saw me shiver, he stood up and smiled down at me.
"Be right back."
I didn't even have time to respond before he was out the bathroom door.
When he returned, I saw he had one of our cups from the kitchen in his hand. My eyebrow went up warily.
"...Whatcha got there?"
His cocky, loving smirk tugged on his lips as he knelt back down to the tub.
"Don't worry about it. Just..." The smirk fell as his expression became serious. "Let me take care of you, BabyBird."
And with that, he dipped the cup under the water, ever so gently tilting my head back as he poured it over my hair. He did it a few times, making sure it was thoroughly wet, before he set it down, and reached for my shampoo. He slowly began to work his lathered fingers through the bloody strands of hair that now only barely graced my face.
His fingers worked longer than they needed to. But when he heard the sigh of relief and comfort that I let out, he kept going. Digging his fingers into my scalp, rubbing the back of my neck, and gently washing through my hair.
  Once he had done my whole head a few times, he dunked his hands under the water, before grabbing the cup and rinsing all the shampoo out. A small shiver of tickles went though me as I felt the water and soap flow down my back. It wasn't a feeling I was used to, with how long my hair was.
I sat in silence as Keigo got my soap, lathered it on my washcloth and took a deep breath.
"This is gonna burn a little bit, Kid. But I promise, I'll be as gentle as I can. It'll be over soon, I promise."
I nodded slowly as I mentally prepared myself.
You were kidnapped, beaten, burned, cut and overall tortured by villains. Soap and water is nothing to have a fit about.
He began with my face, tentatively and meticulously scrubbing my cheeks, my forehead, my nose, under my eyes. A small hiss left me as I felt him touch the swollen and bruised skin. I saw him swallow with guilt in his eyes, so I bit my tongue, doing my best to not make this harder on him. He didn't wanna hurt me.
His touch became even more gentle as the cloth went down my neck and arms. I clenched my teeth and slowly began counting, trying to stay quiet. For the most part, I succeeded.
  Until I felt the cloth go over the initials on my lower stomach.
I gasped in pain as tears immediately filled my eyes. I splashed the water, trying to smack his hand away. I knew it was Keigo, somewhere in my mind. But in that moment, I was pure instinct. I couldn't be touched there. Not now.
  Keigo reeled back so hard, he landed on his butt. He looked up at me with so much heartbreak in his eyes.
"...Okay, Songbird. We'll worry about cleaning that later."
  Once my panting had subsided, I nodded jerkily.
He sat back up, slowly moving his hand with the cloth towards my legs, moving the warm water and soap down my thighs. It still stung, but not as badly. He was done before I knew it.
  Keigo reached under the water, wrapping his arms around me, lifting me out of the water. A chill ran through my body as the air left goosebumps on my skin. Before I could think too much about it, I felt a warm towel wrap around me, as I curled up shivering into it, pressing my cheek into his chest.
He never said a word. Simply carried me back to our room, dripping wet in his strong arms. Slowly opening our bedroom door, I began to sniffle as I looked around.
Our bed. Our photos. Our clothes. Everything we owned. I never thought I'd be so happy to see it.
Keigo set me gently on the bed, going to his end of the closet and retrieving a shirt. He came back and set it down, smiling lightly at me.
"How does a dry off and a shirt from your bird man sound, Kid ?"
I couldn't help the giggle that left me as I nodded.
He took the towel from my body as he lightly patted me dry, even rustling it through my hair playfully.
"Hey..!"
He chuckled and shrugged. "What ? It made you smile. Which is my endgame right now, BabyBird."
Rolling up his shirt in his palms, he slipped it over my head, being careful to bend my elbows so I didn't have to raise my arms. I sighed as I brought the collar up to my nose, inhaling deeply. Mmm...
When I looked up, Keigo's eyebrow was to his hairline.
"...I'm literally right here, Kid. You don't need to smell my shirts."
"Mm...good point."
I held my hands out to him and he shook his head teasingly. Taking them, he scooted me over to the side of the bed, slowly and gingerly laying back with me on top of his bare chest. Being in his arms, feeling his warmth, smelling his intoxicating scent, it wasn't long until I began to rub my eyes in drowsiness.
  Keigo leaned up as his lips touched my nose.
"Get some sleep, Kid. When you wake up, I'll make your favorite chicken. But you'll have to remind me. What's the spice you usually- "
And that was the last thing I heard from him as my eyes dropped shut and I fell into slumber against him.