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There had once been a time when Christmas was your favorite holiday. The day used to fill your heart with such warmth, such happiness. Of course, that feeling was only a distant memory at this point. You hadn’t felt that kind of warmth in a long, long time. It almost felt like all of those happy days were nothing but a dream. A daydream your mind had conjured up for you to escape to when you couldn’t bear to be in this house any longer. When you couldn’t bear to be near him any longer.
You had tried leaving the penthouse before, but he somehow always caught you. The farthest you had ever made it was to Hosu, but he still found you. You were sure he had put some sort of tracking device in all of your clothing, but you had never been able to find it, no matter how hard you looked.
“Come on, dove, you know you can’t keep running away like this,” he would scold you. “You know I love you, right? I wouldn’t keep chasing after you if I didn’t.”
No matter how many times he told you he loved you, you couldn’t believe it. You refused to believe it. After all, if he really loved you, he wouldn’t have kept you hidden away for all these years. If he really loved you, you would be free.
You hated to admit that you were lonely while he was away at work. It had been two years now since you had talked to someone that wasn’t him. Two years since you had seen your family and friends. Two years since you had actually enjoyed Christmas.
Tonight. Tonight would be the night you finally brought an end to the suffering. You had spent too long waiting for him to let you go. If you were going to be free, it would have to be your own doing.
You were cooking tonight, just like you did most nights. Although Keigo was a phenomenal cook, you preferred to do it because it gave you something to do. It was only just a few months ago that Keigo had even let you into the kitchen, seeing how many sharp objects there were within it. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he knew as long as he took the right precautions he could get away with it. But today would be different. Today would be the day all of his wrongdoings would come back to bite him in the ass.
You had decided to make him soup using an old family recipe of yours. The same one your mother always used to cook around Christmas time. You sure hoped Keigo would like it, seeing as it would be the last thing he ever tasted besides his own blood.
Once you were sure the cameras he had placed around the kitchen weren’t pointed towards you, you slipped a vial from your pocket and began pouring it into the soup. It was a muscle relaxant that you had taken from Keigo’s medicine stash he kept in the safe. Although he usually kept it locked so you wouldn’t try to overdose, you had finally figured out the combination. It was his mother’s birthday.
That was when you heard it. The sound of the front door unlocking and opening. You quickly slipped the empty bottle into your pocket. Keigo called out to you, “(Y/N), I’m home! Where are you?”
You put on a faux smile, just like you did every time he came home. You had learned that although he was easygoing for the most part that the punishments for defiance were severe. “In the kitchen, dear! Dinner will be done soon!”
You heard footsteps behind you, and then you felt him wrap his arms around your waist, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck. He was sweaty after a long day of work, but you didn’t dare move away from him.
“Smells good, love. I got you something for Christmas.”
“Oh? And what might that be?”
“I’ll show you after dinner, I want it to be surprise,” he decided. “How was your day?”
Same as every day, you thought to yourself. But instead of saying that, you replied, “It was good. What about your day, Keigo? How was work?”
“Extremely exhausting,” he grumbled. “I wish I could’ve just stayed home with you…”
“Criminals don’t take days off, love,” you reminded him. “The civilians need someone big and strong to keep them safe on the holidays. Now, go on, take a seat, baby, I’ll pour you a bowl.”
Keigo nodded, giving you a kiss on the cheek and reluctantly pulling away from you so he could go sit down at the dining room table. You began ladling a serving of soup into a bowl. With every step you took towards him, you could feel your body tensing up more and more.
You had never expected your last day on Earth to go like this. You had always thought you would go surrounded by loved ones, but instead, the last person you were ever going to see was the man you hated most.
You wished there was a better way. You wished you could walk away from this and forget any of it ever happened, but you knew that the moment you stabbed him, whether he lived or died, you would be a wanted criminal. No one would ever believe you if you told them the #2 hero had kidnapped you and kept you captive within his home for the past two years. No one would believe that the man they held on such a high pedestal would be capable of such a thing. You weren’t even sure if you fully believed it, even after all of this time. You were still waiting to wake up from this awful nightmare.
You set the bowl down in front of him and sat across from him.
“Thank you, angel.”
“Of course.”
He picked up his spoon and scooped up a spoonful of the soup from his bowl, but right before he put it in his mouth, he stopped. You raised an eyebrow, doing everything you could to not let your worry show on your face.
“Why aren’t you eating, (Y/N)?” he questioned. “Is everything alright?”
“I’m fine, I just- I’ve got a stomach ache,” you lied through your teeth, patting your stomach. “Perhaps it was all of those chocolates you kept bringing me. I loved them so much I couldn’t help but eat them all in one sitting.”
“Do you need anything for it?” he asked concernedly, setting his spoon down in his bowl. “I can get you something if you-”
“No, that’s alright, dear. I’ll be fine, I’m just going to wait a little while before I eat dinner.”
“Hm… alright.”
He picked up his spoon once more, scooping the soup into his mouth. He smiled at you, his golden eyes twinkling in the light that shone through the window. The sun was just starting to set. At least you were going to get to see the stars one last time. “Mmh- hey, is this your mother’s recipe? You know, I’d love to meet her some day. I can tell from all those nice messages she’s sent you that she’s a real nice lady.”
Although you didn’t show it on your face, there was a great sadness growing inside of you. You were never going to get to hug your mother again. You could only imagine how much her heart was going to break once she saw your dead body on the news.
“Maybe,” you replied blankly, playing with the hem of your shirt. “I don’t know, though. She’s not very fond of birds. She’s convinced they’re all out to get her.”
“Hm. Well, maybe I’ll be the one to change her mind,” he suggested. “I think I’m pretty likeable.”
“I don’t know if I’d call you ‘likeable’,” you teased him. He was anything but likeable. He was a good-for-nothing bastard.
“Oh, whatever, you know you love me.”
“Of course I do.”
You watched him finish off his bowl of soup, resting his head in his hand and yawning. “That was amazing, (Y/N). Just like always. You really have to teach me how to make it.”
“Next time I make it, I’ll wait til you get home so you can watch. How does that sound to you?”
“It sounds really good,” he slurred, smiling lazily at you. It was clear the muscle relaxants were starting to kick in. “God, you’re perfect. You know that? Do I tell you that enough?”
“Yes, Keigo, you tell me that quite often,” you reply, nervously tapping your foot on the floor. You could feel the cold metal of the knife you had hidden away in your boot rubbing uncomfortably against your leg. Now that the muscle relaxants were kicking in, he wouldn’t be nearly as strong. You’d finally be able to take him down.
“Come here,” he demanded, opening his arms for you. You scrambled to your feet, quickly walking over to him. He pulled you down to where you were sitting on his lap, facing him. He grinned up at you, cupping your face in his cheeks.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, kid,” he told you drowsily. “You’re so amazing… I just… I don’t know what I’d do without you… I think I’d just… I’d just-”
“Die?” you asked him.
“Yeah. I think I’d die.”
“Well, I think I may know how to help with that,” you responded, pulling the knife from your boot and now holding it to his throat. His reaction was delayed, but once he finally realized what you were doing, his eyes went wide. Adrenaline pumped through your veins.
“Angel, I thought we- I thought you were finally starting to-”
“Like it here? How could I ever like it here? You never let me see my family, my friends. You made me quit my job… the moment you brought me here I lost everything. You’re an awful, awful man, you know that? You ruined my fucking life,” you told him. You could feel tears forming in your eyes already. This was it. The end of it all. “You’re the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“(Y/N), I’m… I’m sorry, please- don’t do this. Whatever you want, I can give it to you, just… please, don’t do this, please…”
“You think begging is gonna get you anywhere? I begged and cried for months to see my Mama. I begged for you to let me go. But no matter how hard I pleaded, you didn’t listen. You told me it was for the best if I stayed inside. But I’m done being inside, Keigo. I’m leaving, and- you’re going with me.”
“Come on, baby, we can work this out,” he assured you, placing his hands languidly on your waist. “We’ve just gotta-”
Suddenly, he threw you down onto the hard, tile floor, the knife falling out of your hand and sliding across the kitchen floor, all the way across the room. He had you pinned to the ground now, holding your hands above your head. Your head was pounding from the impact.
“You know, you’ve pulled some pretty stupid shit with me before, but I think this was the stupidest,” he admitted to you. “I know you drugged me, but… I’m not even mad. I’m just real disappointed that… that you would do something like this to me… I th-thought we were finally making progress, baby, I- I…”
You could feel his hot tears spilling right off of his face and onto your own, but you felt no sympathy for him. This wasn’t the first time he had cried in front of you. You continued to squirm beneath him, but he didn’t budge.
“I fucking love you, (Y/N), so much, that- that I… I can hardly think w-when I’m around you… please, baby, why do you keep- why must you keep trying to leave me? I need you… I’ll die without you…”
Ignoring his pleas, you leaned up towards his face, biting his neck as hard as you possibly could and ripping the skin off, spitting it to the side. He groaned in pain, letting go of your wrists to hold his bleeding wound. You took this opportunity to push him off of you, crawling as quickly as you could towards the knife. He grabbed you by the ankle, pulling you back towards him.
“(Y/N),” he moaned. “Fuck, I- after this fucking stunt, you’ll never be allowed in this goddamn kitchen again- I’ll- I’ll fucking handcuff you to the bed- you’ll learn to be fucking good for me-”
You kicked him away from you and dived towards the knife, finally managing to grab hold of it. He tackled you, trying to wrestle the knife from your hand, but you held on tight. You weren’t going to let this be another failed attempt. You had to end things right here, right now.
“Go to fucking hell,” you spat at him. Although he was still extremely strong while sedated, you were strong, too. After all, before he had kidnapped you, you had been one of Endeavor’s sidekicks. You plunged the knife into his stomach, twisting it as hard as you could. He grunted, reaching for his stomach. You could barely believe it. You had done it. You had actually done it.
“(Y-Y/N)... how could you…”
You pulled the knife out of his stomach, pushing him onto his back and stabbing him again in his chest, and then again, and again, and again, until you were sure there was no way he would be getting back up again. You watched him struggle to choose which wound to cover up. He coughed, choking on his own blood.
“P-please, we can still- we can- fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-”
You watched as the feathers flew from his wings towards his wounds, only to fall short and onto the ground beside him. He was too weak to even use his quirk. You kneeled down beside him, holding the knife to his throat.
“Any last words, Keigo?”
He reached for your hand, but you quickly pulled away. “I- (Y/N), I… I love… I loved you.”
With that, you watched as life drained from his face, and he was gone. He was gone. You took his hand in your own, now, crying and holding it to your face. You had killed a man. A man who had loved you too much for his own good. And now you had to die, too.
First, though, you had to make a phone call.
You slipped Keigo’s phone from his pocket, dialing the number you knew oh so well and stood, walking towards the door. You listened to it ring, ring, ring, until she picked up.
“Hello?”
“H-Hey, Mama,” you mumbled into the phone, unlocking the front door and nervously stepping outside, shutting the door behind you. The blood that had been on your fingers now covered the door knob.
“Oh my goodness, (Y/N)! It’s been so long since I’ve heard from you, hon. How’ve you been?” your mother questioned. You could practically hear her beaming through the phone.
“Things could be worse, I suppose. I could be dead,” you joked bitterly. You stepped towards the elevator at the end of the hallway, pressing the button that would take you to the top floor.
“Oh, well, is there anything I can do to help? Say, why are you calling from Hawks’ phone instead of your own?”
“Mine was dead, but I uh… I really wanted to call you,” you replied. You entered the elevator, nervously waiting for it to take you to the top floor. “Anyways, um… Merry Christmas, Mama.”
“Oh, Merry Christmas to you too, hon! Wish you could’ve been here… it’s been too long since you last visited. Maybe you can come by for the New Year’s party! I’m sure everyone would love to see you.”
“Yeah, I uh… I don’t think I’ll be able to make it.”
Ding, ding, ding! You were on the top floor, now. All you had to do was take the stairs up to the roof now, and things would be over.
“Aw, that’s a shame- I’ve really, really missed you! You were always my favorite child.”
“Mama, I was your only child,” you responded with a laugh, trying to silence the sob forming in your throat and wiping the tears from your cheeks. You walked up the stairs, opening the door to the roof. The stars looked beautiful tonight. It was cold, but you didn’t bother trying to warm yourself up.
“All the better reason for you to be my favorite- oh, I’m so sorry, (Y/N), your aunt needs my help controlling your little cousins. Can I call you back?”
You approached the railing, staring up at the sky. “Yeah, I- I love you.”
“I love you too, (Y/N)! Talk to you in a bit.”
You heard the call disconnect, and you threw the phone off the balcony, watching it hit the pavement. It wasn’t like anyone was going to be needing it anytime soon, anyways. You took a moment to stare up at the stars in the sky, watching the snowfall, thinking things over. If only there had been another way.
You shakily climbed over the railing, your grip on it making your knuckles turn white. You felt dizzy looking down at the bottom. This brought you back to when you and Keigo first met. A villain had thrown you off of a building, and right before you reached the bottom, he had been there to catch you.
“You okay?” he had asked you, running his fingers through his messy mane of blond hair. “You know, if I hadn’t seen that prick throw you, I would’ve thought you were an angel that had fallen from heaven.”
You sometimes wondered where that man you had met that day had gone. He had been so kind to you. Why couldn’t he have stayed that way?
Once you let go of the railing, you were happy to know that Keigo wouldn’t be there to catch you this time. You felt the wind rushing past you, drying your tears. You could already feel your life flashing before your eyes. All of those happy Christmases you had spent with your family, your real family. You couldn’t help but smile at the memories.
You felt your head make contact with the pavement. Then it all went dark.