A Song to Come Home to

Chapter Nineteen

The crystalline glass fogs up as Keigo lets out the breath that he didn't even know that he was holding. He watches as the amber liquid laps like soft waves against his breath for a heartbeat before he knocks back the remaining alcohol. He feels his face heat up and Keigo runs a hand down his face. He's been drinking too much and his stomach reminds him of that fact when it twists with the telltale sickness of too much drinking and too little eating.

Looking around the silent room, the buzzing and flickering lights above swirl and melt together in a blur of dim streaks as the room spins lazily until it's all a blur to Keigo. Thickly swallowing down rising bile, he stumbles to his feet. It takes Keigo a few attempts to steady himself and it takes him even longer than he would want to admit to get back to his room. He's had to stop every few steps to gather his bearings and blink against the ever swirling lights and dancing objects. His mind is so muddled and it takes him forever to even think a simple thought.

Everytime he closes his eyes, all Keigo can see is a bright blue that's seared into the back of his eyelids. A very specific blue, a pale turquoise that can rival winter's glimmering ice and the crashing waves of an ocean on a midsummer day. The color that he's long since declared as his favorite color and no matter how much he tries to forget it, he can't. Many would say that blue is a color of sadness and loneliness but Keigo begs to differ. He finds it ethereal and dangerously beautiful.

When he looks past the blue that threatens to pull him under and drown him, he sees lopsided smiles and shining silver that had captivated him since day one.

With a groan, Keigo opens his eyes and shakes his head. Now is not the time to think about the bridges that he had burned in what feels an eternity now. Right now, Keigo should put all of his focus into getting back to his room without causing too much of a ruckus. He doesn't want the others to see him like this, truth be told, he doesn't even want to see himself like this.

He's pathetic.

Keigo's stomach roils and he leans heavily against the wall for support. Getting his breathing under control, Keigo silently gives himself a pep talk and pushes away from the wall. He's free for only a few staggering steps before Keigo feels his legs start to wobble again and he crashes loudly back towards the wall. To his dawning horror, he sees that he's stopped right in front of Shigaraki's bedroom door. On the other side, his keen ears can pick up the murmuring of two voices that grow silent. There's a creak of bed springs and then footsteps approaching the door.

He tries to blink away the double vision that swims in and out of focus. Keigo tells himself that he's the fastest man alive so he can easily barrel towards his door that's only a few more steps away and on the opposite side of him without getting caught. With the clock now ticking, a burst of adrenaline courses through his veins and he scrambles for his door.

Shutting it behind him, Keigo slides down his door and listens as Shigaraki's door opens just seconds later. He hears Natsuo call out to the empty hall that people are trying to sleep and to keep the noise down. Keigo says nothing and breathes out a sigh of relief when he hears the door close.

Keigo looks around his new room. Since siding with the League of Villains, everything had been taken from him- including his apartment and its furnishings. As a child, Keigo had lived in poverty, he was used to having the bare minimum and he never had anything more than one toy for the six years he had lived with his parents before he was sold off to the hero commission like some sort of object. When he was with the hero commission, he was only granted furniture and decor for his small and windowless dorm if he had proven himself to them. For years, he truly felt like he lived in a cage but he could never accept that.

Becoming a pro hero was a dream come to for him. He could afford whatever apartment he desired. Whether he wanted to rent one in downtown Musutafu with their lofty ceilings, huge windows and open floor plans or to go back to his hometown in Fukuoka and get a beautiful seaside loft. The world was his oyster and Keigo had missed the warm southern ocean breezes and the carefree and lazy lifestyle that came with it. Without even hesitating, he flew back to Fukuoka and before he knew it- had the apartment of his dreams.