❣ Forelsket ❣ Keigo Takami/Hawks

[Book 2] ↬ Christmas

Light Manga Spoilers

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"...What?" Voice faltering, you curled into the couch, attempting to ward off the tsunami which threatened to erupt from your eyes.

"Keigo...No - you can't do this! I can't do this! I can't spend Christmas without you!"

An uncomfortably tense atmosphere staled, the longer his silence persisted. The current situation (his covert 'lull the villains into a false sense of security' operation) had been fleshed out, at your unyielding request. However...he understood that trackers would soon grace his wings, and he refused to allow the League or the Liberation Army access to any of your information. Not only could you be taken hostage or as collateral - his adversaries had the ability to make life unbelievably torturous for you, and he simply couldn't fathom the idea. If there was even a chance of preventing this, he would jump on it without hesitation.

Eventually, a choked sentence keeled over his tongue. "I know...I know it won't be easy, and trust me, I really don't want to do this to you, but...I can't let anyone take you from me. This is the safest thing - for both of us. It'll be over soon, I promise, then we can go back to how things were."

"No..." You whispered, the sickening sound of your heart shattering reverberating in your ears. "...Please...no..."

The stockings decorating the fireplace, three in total (one was significantly smaller, as you were preparing to introduce yet another addition to the Takami family, which only served to worsen your blossoming depression...How long would they monitor him? What if years passed, never allowing him to become a constant in his own child's life? These parasitical thoughts consumed you), seemed so distant now. They hung merely a few inches away, and yet your desperate fingers couldn't graze them. Three were becoming two, but the notion was hard to stomach. A wretched bile bubbled in your throat, morphing the once-aromatic mulled wine into something almost disease-ridden. Even the sight was deplorable. A half-wolfed mince pie perched beside it, but food was now the last thing on your mind.

The nervous fluttering of wings echoed throughout the room, their scarlet shade nearly ghosting your vision, but you refused to face him. You wouldn't - you couldn't! Dating a professional hero was always supposed to accompany a number of trials, but this...this was absurd, especially amidst all the Christmas festivities! The ruby-red ribbon, acting as the stitching of your heart, was gradually unravelling, and soon, the two halves would separate completely. Keigo must have tuned in to the frightful sounds of your shattering heart, because he shuffled closer and closer to your form, before embracing you in an iron hold, which promised both devotion and security. His wings nestled on either side of the couch, as he gently re-positioned your body. He needed to witness that glimmer of love within your eyes, that one, fond expression which provided all his reasons for living.

"(Y/n)...look at me, please."

I barely ever take my eyes off you.

"Sweetie, I love you. You know that, right...?"

Of course I do, so why are you leaving?

"You know that I'd never just abandon you. I need you in my life."

I have nothing without you.

"I wouldn't do this if I actually had a choice."

You did have a choice. You knew exactly what you were casting off, who you were abandoning. You knew that I was pregnant.

"Please forgive me, (Y/n), and take really good care of our child while I'm gone. And oh, when I get back, I'm gonna spoil him rotten, and I'll miss you. I'll miss you so much...but I can't put you in danger. I just can't. I'm sorry."

I can't raise him alone.

Under the cloak of midnight, he slipped away. Glancing out of the frosted window, (e/c) eyes dulling evermore, you wondered why none of your words had aroused a reaction. Keigo's dialogue was continuous, as though you hadn't spoken even once. Maybe you hadn't. Those sentiments were still burning on the tip of your tongue, yet your mouth was sealed. Perhaps the wax from that one, lonesome candle had suffocated them - the intensity of your funeral-primed stare had appeared to diminish the flame. Then again, could that have simply been your drooping eyelids, with which you mistook everything as dwindling?

Your shining beacon of light, of hope, of energy and love, had finally disappeared, and his return was neither imminent nor certain. The child you carried may never ascertain the truth of his lineage, or he may never once caress the Earth. Either way, you would remove the stockings adorning the fireplace.

Three were unbefitting for a solitary woman.

[Word Count: 778]