Chapter Text
The boy walked through the door to his house. He kicked off his shoes at the entrance and flopped onto the couch face down. His vibrant wings ruffled behind him, and feathers fell softly to the ground. The house was dark and peaceful, symbolizing that his mom had not been home yet.
A groan escaped Keigo’s lips, and his hand clutched his side. Training had been hard for the young boy, and he took several harsh blows to the ribs that day.
Keigo went to a specialized school due to his abilities. He was seen by the Hero Public Safety Commission after he saved people from a burning car using the quills from his wings, and they offered him free education at a prestigious private school.
He never liked the rich pricks there and found it difficult to connect with any of them. When the mention of high school floated around his grade, Keigo begged his mom to remove him from the HPSC otherwise, they might take him away forever to enroll him into their private training. After months and months of convincing, his mother finally agreed and signed the paperwork to allow him to go to U.A.
So, Keigo lay on his stomach on the couch, feeling both nervous and excited for the entry exams the next day would bring.
His stomach grumbled, and he reluctantly sat up, walking over to the kitchen to see if his mom had left anything. He scanned the fridge and found nothing but bottles of alcohol. His mom had developed a drinking habit in hopes of all her worries disappearing. She had seen multiple therapists, yet nothing really seemed to work. His mom was a lot better towards him after his abusive dad had been arrested, however.
He moved to the cupboard, where, to his relief, he found a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. He quickly made a sandwich and moved over to the kitchen table which had been littered with cigarette butts and crumpled up receipts. He cleared a spot to set his plate down and went to fetch a glass of water for himself.
Keigo sat in silence as he ate. His leg absentmindedly bounced up and down as he consumed. When he finished, he went to put his plate in the cluttered sink. He paused, staring down at the mess of dishes and beer bottles. A soft sigh passed his lips, and he picked up a dirty plate, flicked on the sink, and began scrubbing.
Once he was finished and left everything on the counter to dry, he went back to the couch, grabbed the remote, and flipped through channels. Nothing seemed to interest him, so he settled on watching the news.
A loud thud brought his eyes away from the TV, and they darted over to the front door, where a banging sound erupted from. Keigo darted up, his wings flaring behind him, and approached the door.
“This damn door,” Tomie muttered to herself. Keigo perked up and unlocked the door. His mother stumbled in and slammed her hand against the wall, searching for the light switch. The lights flickered on, and Tomie squinted and shied away from the bright light. Keigo scanned his mom’s face and noticed her flushed cheeks and blank gaze.
“Are you… drunk?” Keigo stepped to the side to let his mom into the apartment and shut the door behind her. She turned to face him, her eyebrows furrowed.
“Why do you say that?” She slurred, relying on the kitchen table for support. Keigo narrowed his eyes at her.
“Why do you keep doing this, Mom?” He questioned, taking a step closer to his mother. “You know who you’re acting like? Dad.” He snapped.
Tomie stared at him in disbelief. Keigo stepped back, his wings folding against his back. He looked down at his feet and spoke softly. “Mom, I’m sorry-“
He was cut off when she broke out into an uncontrollable sob. Keigo quickly wrapped his arms around her and caught her before she fell to the floor.
“I-I’m sorry, Mom. I just don’t like it when you come home drunk.” He murmured, nibbling on his inner cheek. He decided it would be best to change the topic. “I did the dishes for you! And, I already ate dinner. Let’s just get you to bed, okay?”
Tomie nodded and leaned on her son for support. Keigo walked her to her room. He set her down on her bed and lifted the blankets over her body.
“Let me go get you some water…” He muttered and turned on his heel to head back to the kitchen. He grabbed a cup from the cupboard and filled it up. He placed a few ice cubes in the glass and walked back to his mother’s room. He set the cup on her bedside table and sat at the foot of her bed. His wings sat limply behind him, and he sat crisscrossed.
“I’m excited for tomorrow.” Keigo’s voice filled the silence. He looked up at the ceiling with a small grin. “Do you think I’ll get in?” He asked, receiving a grunt from Tomie.
Keigo’s smile faltered, but only for a moment.
“Do you think I’ll make any new friends? I’m so anxious.” He spoke again, however, this time he did not get a response. He looked down to notice his mom had fallen asleep. His smile grew at the sight of his mother’s peaceful expression, and he slid off her bed. He walked off to his room and flopped onto his bed.
Keigo looked over at his Endeavor plush and reached over for it. He cradled it against his chest and curled up into a ball around it. A content sigh left his lips and soon, he too was fast asleep.
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Keigo woke up to the sound of his alarm going off. Today was the day of the entrance exams. He shot up, quickly got dressed, and ran to the kitchen to make breakfast. Feathers from his wings trailed behind him and floated back into position on his wings.
Keigo shoved a few pieces of bread into the toaster and rushed to check on his mom. To his relief, she was still tucked in bed, fast asleep. He knew her head would be pounding when she woke up, so he set out some Tylenol for her, grabbed his toast, and darted out the doors. He walked down the stairs connecting his third-floor apartment to the rest of the unit and flapped his wings.
Keigo took off into the air. He dug in his pocket to find his phone and looked up the address to U.A. high school. U.A. was a far flight and had been cities away. Keigo flapped his wings faster, causing a few feathers to fall to the ground.
The sun had just started to rise, telling the boy he would be right on time. The air was frigid, and tousled his hair around. He squinted against the air as it battered against his eyes.
Eventually, he made it and landed in front of the open gates of U.A. His wings folded behind him, and his hands entered his pockets. He had been just on time, as other students had been hanging out with friends before the test. Keigo glanced around at the others, though his sharp eyes eventually fell on a trio.
The trio was made up of a slim boy with long, sky blue hair, a heteromorph, specifically a lizard, and a tall boy with red and white hair. Keigo found himself studying the taller boy longer than he should have, and didn’t realize someone had been approaching him.
A hand waved in his face, and a girl’s voice stung in Keigo’s ears. “Hello? Earth to bird?”
Keigo looked away from the boy and focused his gaze on the short woman in front of him. She had long rabbit ears that poked out of silver white hair.
“Hey, buddy. You there?” She spoke again, grabbing Keigo’s shoulder and shaking him aggressively. Keigo stumbled back and grabbed his shoulder. A small ‘ouch’ came from him as he rubbed his shoulder.
“I’m here, I’m here.” He grumbled.
The girl smiled proudly and stuck out her hand. “You looked bored, so I decided to come and introduce myself! I’m Rumi Usagiyama!”
Keigo looked down at his gloved hand and reached out. “Keigo Takami!” He greeted, tightly taking her hand.
Rumi quickly let go, withdrawing her hand and shaking the pain off. “You… Have a strong grip.” She snickered, pointing at Keigo.
Keigo sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and smiled.
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Keigo’s leg bounced anxiously as the U.A. teacher, Present Mic, he soon learned, talked about the exam and what they would be required to do. He uncomfortably shifted in his seat as his wings were too big to fit in the tightly compressed chair. He was doing his best not to hit the people around him in the face, but found it hard as the girl next to him would grumble every time a feather hit her.
It was soon time to head out to the grounds. Keigo trailed behind the group of students he was with, his wings twitching anxiously. He was nervous. Scared, even. He did not want to be taken away from his mother and be put through whatever the HPSC wanted. He wanted freedom. Hence why he had to do his best.
His thoughts trailed off as the group came to a stop in front of a city scene. The small city was surrounded by large metal walls. Keigo looked up, awestruck at how large it had been.
He looked around at the group that had been surrounding him and had begun to stretch and prepare themselves for the grueling task up ahead.
Keigo, however, found his eyes had been drawn to a certain white and red-haired boy. Something about him was… so alluring. Keigo quickly looked away as he saw the boy’s head beginning to turn towards him.
To play it off, he began to stretch his wings, extending them to their full length and moving them anyway he could. He would take small glances at the boy every so often, but only briefly before he returned to his preparation.
“Attention!”
A loud voice boomed over the school grounds. Keigo recognized the voice to have belonging to Present Mic.
“Before we get started here, I just want to remind our future heroes,” The teacher continued. Keigo stopped his stretches as he spoke. “Even if this is a kind of competition, please do not harm your fellow students!”
Keigo scoffed slightly. He looked back at the students who had crowded around the large door, his eyes searching for the familiar hair. He eventually gave up and prepared himself for what the exam would bring. A buzzer sounded, and the doors began to slide open. Keigo took a deep breath, grabbed one of his longer, blade-like feathers, and lifted himself into the air.
As soon as the doors were fully open, Keigo pushed himself into the “city” as fast as possible, searching for points. This was the only way he could escape the clutches of the HPSC, and he was willing to take any risk that crossed his path.
He was determined to achieve the freedom he so longed for.