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The sound of beeping gently woke him, his eyes still feeling so impossibly heavy as he tried his hardest to figure out where the hell he was. The sterile scent of alcohol and cleaner assaulted his nose as he blinked open blurry eyes.
The hospital, of course he was in the hospital. It only made sense considering they’d been life-flighted off the battlefield. But as hard as he tried, he honestly couldn’t remember much about the way things ended. Everything became so impossibly hazy after Toga had tried to stab him. His body had been running on pure adrenaline by that point and when it had finally eased, he had crashed hard.
Had they done it? Had they actually won the war?
He groaned, turning his head and ignoring the way the fabric of his clothing clutched at his shoulders. His scar felt raw and pain seemed to radiate down his face, his head thumping as he forced his unbandaged eye open to confirm his suspicions of where he was.
He should’ve been able to tell right away, after all, he’d injured himself in Commission training and woken up like this more times than he could count. But in his defense, he’d been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours.
He tried his hardest to think, furrowing his brows as he worked on remembering everything that had happened. He’d managed to destroy All for Ones mask, Fumikage had shown up to help with that other girl from his class, and then….
Oh God…
His heart pounded as he moved, grasping the side of the bed tightly as he pulled himself up, crying out as his body protested against the movement. He took a breath, slowly turning his head and glancing behind him, unable to stop the choked-sounding sob that escaped his lips.
They really were gone.
His heart rate monitor started screaming as his heart rate picked up, alarms going off as he tried to force himself to calm down, to think logically. His eyes blurred with tears, his panic palpable as he reached around himself to try and feel his back desperately. How could he be a hero if his wings were gone? How could he atone for his crimes if he couldn’t serve society?
Hospital staff were in his room within seconds, swiftly silencing the alarms as they looked him over, forcing him to lay back down as they did checks and vitals, muttering and murmuring to themselves about making sure he wasn’t randomly coding again.
The word ‘again’ finally registered after a few seconds, allowing him to finally take a large gulp of air as he stared at the ceiling in awe. He had…died? Or he had at least tried from what he could tell.
It was enough to put some things into perspective, his heart rate slowing slightly as the medical staff let out small sighs of relief. In the long run, it was just his quirk. They had been damaged beyond belief anyway, so it wasn’t like he could have relied on them in the long run for hero work. They weren’t that important.
He had escaped the war with his life and that was enough.
It needed to be enough.
He hardly processed anything the doctor had started to say to him, his mind racing a mile a minute when he suddenly frowned deeply.
“You’ll need plenty of bed rest-“
“Where is Fumikage?” He asked, the question slipping out before he could stop it. Nobody had even mentioned his poor intern to him and if he’d been in bad enough shape to almost die, was Fumikage okay?
“I’m sorry?” The doctor asked in confusion, tilting his head slightly as he arched an eyebrow at him. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you-“
“My intern!” He snapped back, his agitation growing as a nurse silenced his heart rate monitor once again. “He was with me when I was brought in.” He furrowed his brows as he tried to dig through his brain, to remember anything, but it was useless. “I mean…at least I thought he was with me. But, please, I need an update. Something, anything.”
The doctor furrowed his brow further, glancing at the nurse before taking a deep breath, “Hawks-“
“Keigo,” he quickly interrupted, not wanting to hear his hero name anymore for the time being. But he would have to process and unpack that entire issue another day.
“Keigo,” The doctor repeated slowly, hesitantly, like he wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it and honestly, Keigo didn’t blame him. He’d been Hawks to the public for so long and Keigo Takami was the son of a criminal. It would be an adjustment for everyone, but it was a necessary one.
He cleared his throat, glancing over at the nurse before frowning at Keigo, “I’m so sorry, but I don’t have that information,” he said cautiously, “But you should be focused on your own recovery. You’ve been through a lot and your body needs time to heal.”
Ignoring the pain that surged through his body, he grabbed the doctor’s arm with surprising strength. “Where. Is. Tsukuyomi?” His voice was desperate, almost pleading as they stared at each other. Keigo could hear his heart pounding in his ears, his anxiety worsening with each second of silence.
The nurse stepped in, gently prying his hand off the doctor. “Hawks, please, you need to calm down. We aren’t allowed to tell you, it’s against the law because you aren’t family, but that’s all relative. You need to rest and when you’re strong enough we will allow visitors.”
But he couldn’t rest. Not when he didn’t know what had happened to Fumikage. Panic and frustration surged through him. He couldn’t just lie there, not knowing.
“My name is not Hawks!” He snapped at her, and with a sudden surge of adrenaline, he ripped out the IV in his arm, the sharp sting barely registering. He took a breath, as he went to move, the other monitors tugging roughly at his skin and he cursed in frustration.
The heart monitor’s beeping turned erratic before it was silenced by another nurse. Alarms blared again as he tore off the other monitors, ignoring the shouts and protests from the staff and the sting from the adhesive pulling his skin.
The medical staff tried to restrain him, but their words were lost to him. He had one goal now and that was to find Fumikage. He needed to make sure he was okay, because if he hadn’t made it, Keigo would never be able to recover. He was supposed to protect him, to teach him and instead he’d led him into a war where he’d been forced to save Keigo’s ass more times than he could count.
It wasn’t fucking fair.
He broke free of the arms holding him, finally making it out of bed and making a beeline out into the hallway. Hospital staff stopped and stared as he struggled to breathe, each breath coming in short, ragged gasps as he clutched his side. Fuck, this hurt more than he thought it would, but he would deal with it later. He needed to find Fumikage.
He grimaced as he looked in both directions, unsure of where to start. The bright sterile hallway seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions, but he didn’t really have time to try and figure it out. The staff from his room were pouring out after him, trying to grab at him and so he did the only thing he could think of in the moment.
He just picked a direction and ran.
The slap of his bare feet against the floor echoed through the hallway, the shouts and yells of the staff growing distant as he went. He knew he was being reckless and he would happily allow them to take him back once he had the answers he needed, but nothing else mattered to him now. He peeked into each room he could, his agitation and frustration growing with each one he found empty, until finally he heard shouts coming from down another hallway.
He quickly turned the corner towards the sound, freezing at the sight that greeted him.
It was Fumikage, in the middle of what looked to be a very chaotic struggle with several nurses and doctors trying to pull him back into a room. His usual composed demeanor had been replaced by a fierce desperation, his eyes wide as he thrashed against them. Dark Shadow had herself wrapped around him protectively as he pulled roughly against their grip and Keigo couldn’t help but notice two people behind him who had to be his parents.
“Fumikage, please!” His mother pleaded, her tears sliding down her cheeks as she watched her son’s struggle. “You need to calm down and get back into bed. You’re going to hurt yourself more!”
“No,” Fumikage said firmly, his voice raw with emotion Keigo had not quite heard from him before. He ripped his arm from a nurse’s grasp as he shook his head, “I will not rest until I know Hawks is okay.”
“Son, I am sure the doctor’s are doing everything they can for him. It is time for you to rest.” His father tried to reason, stepping forward slightly.
Fumikage’s eyes flashed with determination as he twisted from the nurse's grasp, Dark Shadow flaring with energy as she forced people away from them. “I can’t just lie there. Hawks saved me, saved Dark Shadow. I owe him everything and I need to help him. He can’t die!”
With a sudden burst of strength, aided by Dark Shadow, Fumikage managed to tear himself from the medical staff completely, taking a step forward to run off. He froze when his eyes locked onto Keigo, standing battered, but very much alive at the end of the hallway. Both of them were struggling for breath, eyes wide as Keigo leaned against the wall for some type of support.
Keigo could feel his heart hammering against his ribs as his emotions began to overwhelm him, though it was obvious Fumikage felt the same way. In that moment, nothing else mattered to either one of them, but ensuring each other was okay. Together they started moving towards each other, their steps quickening as they echoed against the silence of the hallway.
“Hawks!” Fumikage called out, his voice cracking as they raced towards each other.
“Tsukuyomi!” Keigo called desperately in return, his vision blurring as the tears finally started to spill.
They collided into each other full force, the sound of their bodies meeting a sharp contrast to the sterile silence of the hospital. Keigo wrapped his arms around Fumikage, holding him so tightly as if letting go would mean losing him. A choked sob escaped him as Fumikage clung to him just as fiercely, his body trembling with the effort.
It was then, in that moment, that Keigo felt something inside him just…break. The wall that he had so carefully crafted to keep people out as Hawks, to keep himself that happy, cheerful hero, shattering and breaking completely as the floodgates finally opened.
He sobbed as they sank to their knees, holding Fumikage so tightly he was probably crushing him. He couldn’t stop, the tears coming fast and hard and ugly. It was raw, unrestrained, everything he’d been holding inside himself for so long suddenly rushing forward.
“I’m so sorry Hawks,” Fumikage said through his own tears, his body shaking as he shook his head, “It’s all my fault. Your wings…I cost you everything.”
Keigo could feel his heart twisting at his words. He hated that Fumikage felt that way, because it was the furthest thing from the truth.
“You cost me nothing,” Keigo finally managed to say through his sobs, his voice rough and broken. “You saved me. My wings…they were already gone anyway.” He tightened his grip around him. “You’re still here, Dark Shadow is still here. That’s all that matters to me.”
Keigo pulled back, quickly reaching up to wipe his eyes with the back of his hand before reaching up and allowing Dark Shadow to rest her spectral beak gently in his hand, giving her a gentle smile before looking back at Fumikage, “You did everything you could, and more. You were incredible out there. Don’t ever think you failed me. Because you didn’t. If anything I failed you.”
Fumikage’s eyes searched his, as if he was looking for some type of insincerity in Keigo’s words, but there was none. He meant everything he said, his body already feeling heavy as the adrenaline coursing through his veins, started to finally ebb.
Keigo smiled– despite wanting nothing more than to just lay down in the hallway and nap– as Fumikage slowly nodded, determination replacing the guilt in his eyes. “You didn’t fail me, but I’m going to get stronger. I promise.”
And Keigo couldn’t even help the laugh that escaped him, shaking his head as tears continued to leak down his cheeks. “I sure hope you do, kid. You’ll surpass me easily.”
And Keigo knew that was the God’s honest truth.
He reached up, his hand sinking into the soft, black feathers on Fumikage’s head as he let out a long, tired sigh. “But for now, I think we should just rest.”