Long Way Down [Hawks x Reader]

The Beginning

*** I just wanted to say THANK YOU all so so much, from the people who came from Tiktok to the people who simply stumbled upon my works. I cannot appreciate you enough. Welcome to the beginning of the story that broke your hearts on Tiktok.***

You were playing on the monkey bars and trying to catch the attention of your mother, who was paying attention to anything but you in that particular moment. You just wanted to make her smile and be proud of you, but instead your eyes looked upon her sad face, which was turned from you. You wanted to call out to her and ask her what was wrong, but in that moment, you lost your grip and one hand slipped from the bar you'd been clutching to for dear life. You panicked and waved your arm up to try and regain your hold, instead losing grip with your other hand.

"Mommy!" You cried out, but you didn't need to. You'd only fallen a short distance. Not into the wood on the playground, but into small arms, only slightly bigger than your own, but somehow capable of carrying your body. You looked up to see wide golden brown bird like orbs lined with black staring down at you.

"Got ya! I almost missed ya!" A chipper and slightly raspy and lower voice sounded, bringing your attention to their mouth. A boy. Your eyes widened and you realized what could happen, so you fumbled out of his grasp and fell the rest of the way to the ground with a plop straight onto your bum, which made the boy look at you like you were insane.

"Ow!" You groaned, slowly getting up and brushing the woodchips off of yourself as the boy slowly landed in front of you and raised a brow at you. You pouted and looked around, making sure nobody had seen you.

"Well that's no way to say thanks. Did ya wanna get hurt? I can fly ya back up there if ya did, I'm sorry if I-" He stopped when you glared at him.

"I didn't want to get hurt, who would want to get hurt, are you okay up there?" You pointed to your head for reference and rolled your eyes. You were always too smart and sassy for your own good. "Sorry. I just didn't want my mom to see you holding me. Thank you." You composed yourself properly and bowed your head to him like your father had taught you to do to all of his important guests. Thank God he couldn't see you, now. 

The boy chuckled, actually having enjoyed your comeback, and stuck his hand out to you.

"I'm Keigo. Keigo Takami. Wanna be friends? Ya won't need to worry about fallin' anymore. I'll make sure to always catch ya and make sure your mom doesn't see ya." He smiled widely at you.

Something about his dumb smile and how he wasn't affected by your reaction made you instinctively reach your hand out to him. You didn't know why for sure and you knew that it would certainly cause problems if your mother ever did see you two, but you were young and he was nice. You needed nice. And so you shook his hand, making his face turn red as his smile reached his eyes. You smiled in return, unable to hold it back.

"I'm (Y/N)... nice to meet you Keigo. What an old man name!" You giggled, taking your hand back and putting it to your chin, posing thoughtfully. A light bulb went bright in your head and you smirked. "Kei. I'll call you Kei." You decided, booping him on the nose playfully, which made him swat your hand away with a smile.

"Fine, but just you, don't go tellin' other people that nickname or I'll get ya, Chicky." He smirked, giving you his own nickname. You blushed and turned to your mother to make sure she still wasn't looking before turning back to Kei and smiling.

"You're the birdie." You pointed out, confused as to why he couldn't just call you a cute version of your own name.

"Somethin' like that. Birds are free. I'm no bird, I just got wings." He shrugged, turning as someone far off shouted, presumably for him. He turned to you and sighed. "I gotta go, but I'll be back next week, same day, same time." He told you, patting your head, which made you notice how much taller he was than you.

"But... I don't get to come here a lot... just when daddy's out of town." You clutched his shirt before he could turn to leave. You'd never had friends before, you didn't know how this worked. 

"Well. I guess neither of us are free like birds, huh?" He asked, curiously. The look on your face gave it away and he sighed. "If ya can't meet me here, tell me your address. When I can, I'll go see ya, be sure to look out your window, 'kay? And if ya need me, call my nick name out real loud and I'll come for ya." He offered, making your face soften and you smiled, nodding.

With that, he turned and flew toward the voice that had called him. You looked to see a smaller boy with red hair and bright blue eyes. He seemed gloomy, kind of like you. Kei got to him and the boy looked toward you with a bored expression in his eyes. He looked away after making eye contact and you pouted, hearing your mother call you.

"Coming mommy!" You called out to her, turning and running to her side, keeping quiet as you normally did. She smiled sadly at you and took a deep breath. 

"Your father will be home soon, (Y/N). It's time for us to leave. Remember, you can't tell him about our little girl dates cause he's a boy, okay?" She asked with that same sad expression on her face. You nodded and she picked you up, patting your head and combing her fingers through your hair to keep it from becoming unruly as she walked you back to the house. 

You didn't pay her actions any mind in that moment. Your eyes were stuck on where you'd seen Kei leave. And your heart squeezed hoping you'd see him again.