Inside Your Mind

116 - Keigo Takami

Counterfeit hypocrite holy shit

Keigo Takami sighed, as he made his way through the industrial area where he was supposed to meet him. He really wanted to just go to bed and rest up a little. After all, he had been beaten up pretty good during that fight. Sure, not nearly as bad as Todoroki, but still. Bad enough.

He stepped inside one of the empty buildings. It was really damn dark and he hated that he wasn't able to see what was going on around him. It made him nervous. He didn't even know who he could trust with anything anymore. With a nervous click of his tongue, he pulled the gun from its holster at his side. Just to be safe.

"You're late." he heard a voice saying, as he stepped out of the shadows with that sickening grin. Takami held his arm out, pointing the gun at him. He wouldn't like this, but it had to be done.

"None of that was according to plan." he said in an annoyed voice. Dabi laughed in a mocking tone.

"That so?" he asked.

"How about some actual cooperation, Dabi?" Takami wanted to know. He just about had it with this guy. He was annoying him so damn much. This job had seemed exciting and fun, but putting up with Dabi sure wasn't.

"Hey, I thought they had suspended your carry license for a while." Dabi replied, disregarding the earlier question and nodding at the gun he was holding. He was right - officially his license had been suspended, but he was allowed an exception. Just for this stupid mission. Not like he could have said no to it, anyway.

"You think I'd meet with a liar like you unarmed?" he grumbled, before taking a deep breath. They'd get nowhere like that.

"It was supposed to be tomorrow. And not downtown, but at the factory by the water. Plus, this Nomu was clearly a cut above the rest. You could've mentioned that beforehand." Takami voiced his complaints. Dabi just chuckled, as if all of this was just some sort of game to him. Which it probably was, thinking about it. He shrugged and held up his palms, as if it wasn't his fault.

"I guess, I just changed my mind. Didn't I tell you I'd be testing the Nomu's capabilities? But we're both a little guilty. I asked you for someone kinda strong. But you brought the top dog himself! It wasn't much of a test." he replied in a joking voice. Takami rolled his eyes. Of course he'd bring Todoroki to that fight. Most other people probably wouldn't have done as well as he did.

"I thought you'd be thrilled to inflict that kind of damage on him. Besides, you're the one who broke our agreement." he countered.

"I'm supposed to believe you, just like that? This was me testing how much I can trust you. And tell me, why zero casualties today? Do you really sympathize with us? You came looking to cooperate, but you sure don't act like it." Dabi said, giving him a scrutinizing look. Takami felt his heartbeat speed up, but he kept up his poker face and just rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"I gotta keep up appearances. I'm with the police officially. I can't go losing the public's trust. The more faith they have in me, the juicier the intel I can get. That's to your advantage. Try taking the long view, here." he explained, as he had already done a million times before. Playing the long game really didn't seem like one of Dabi's strengths. Not a lot of things seemed to be his strengths, honestly.

Dabi just scoffed and pushed the gun out of the way, so it pointed up to the ceiling, before walking past him. Takami didn't move. He didn't even know where to start with Dabi. This guy was a mess and Takami had always been sure that he was the one that was a complete mess.

"What I do, I do for the League's sake, Dabi." he growled, as Dabi passed him. He really needed them to trust him.

"Fine... but you don't get a face-to-face with the boss just yet. You'll hear from us, Takami." Dabi muttered, as he was on his way out of the building. Takami sighed. Join the League, they said. It'll be fun.