Feather Bound

Chapter 51

He groaned, the sound of his ringtone filling the air once again. Hoping to prolong his stay in bed, he initially ignored it. The blanket was tucked around them just right, his wings folded in a comfortable position he knew he couldn't replicate again if he tried. Perfectly warm and cozied up with his girlfriend in his little nest, he had no desire to get up if it could be avoided.

"Keigs, your phone," she grumbled, shifting away from him. He whined at the loss of warmth before letting out a sigh of defeat. Whoever was calling him better be worth the effort, or he was going to be seriously annoyed. He reluctantly removed his arms from around her and stretched, feeling his legs and wings shake from the effort. Rolling over, he grabbed the device from the nightstand before it could disturb Y/N any further.

Squinting at the caller ID and glancing at the time, he realized he wasn't due into work for at least four more hours. Something big must be happening for the Vice President to be calling him now.

"Hello?" he whispered into the phone, easing himself up as quietly as possible to avoid waking Y/N again, who had thankfully fallen asleep again next to him, rewrapping herself into the blankets.

"Hawks," Jiro replied, but there was something in the way he said his name that caused Keigo's blood to run cold. "You need to come in for a meeting. Now."

His stomach twisted sickly as he tried to catch his breath. Something wasn't right, but what the hell was happening? Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when they left the office for the holiday. He was off, so he hadn't missed a patrol, had checked his emails, went out on that last-minute mission, and kept up on the things he was supposed to while on break.

"I've got a personal matter I've got to attend to this morning before I go into the office. The President approved my leave slip; I can send you the email," he responded, trying to keep himself calm. Maybe he was just reading into things too heavily. He had a habit of doing that sometimes; that's what this was. It had to be.

"No, your leave slip has been revoked. Your ass, in my office in the next fifteen minutes or you'll fucking regret it." He snapped, and before Keigo could even respond, the line went dead.

He stared at the wall, the phone still pressed to his ear as he swallowed hard. Whatever was happening, it wasn't good, and his ass was in trouble for sure. He took a moment to catch his breath before basically flying out of bed. Quickly donning his hero outfit, he was about to leave when he glanced back at the bed with a sigh. He would have to text her during his flight to the Commission; hopefully, she would be okay at the lawyer's by herself. He would just have to meet Himari when he got home. At least it gave him something to look forward to. Perhaps he could stop somewhere and buy her some flowers, making her feel as special as she truly was.

"I love you," he whispered softly into the darkness of the room before turning and heading towards the balcony door.

The flight to the Commission took only minutes, his anxiety pushing him faster than he normally would have bothered, especially given the cold. He'd tried calling Haruki on the way, hoping she would have some kind of information on what was happening, but her phone had gone straight to voicemail. That was concerning him too; she hadn't called him back yesterday either after hanging up on him. He landed outside, the pavement slick from ice as he stared at the building before him. He shivered, his wings fluffing up as he steeled himself for whatever the hell was waiting for him inside.

He walked in without even bothering to say hello to anyone, his throat feeling impossibly tight as he entered the steel doors of the elevator. He pressed the button to the second-to-top floor, trying to even his breathing before he got there. Sadly, the elevator ride wasn't nearly enough time, the doors opened with a quiet ding, and he walked out, down the hallway, and into Jiro's office.