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When he comes to, the first thing Keigo notices is that he's choking.
He's fucking choking.
There’s a tube going down his throat and he can’t breathe. He’s panicking and thrashing and he can’t fucking breathe! The bright lights of the hospital room are blinding him and he hears the shouts of doctors or nurses yelling for sedation. Everything hurts and he’s still fucking choking.
Then everything goes dark.
When he wakes up again, the tube is gone. There's a nurse who's kind enough to bring him some ice chips to try and soothe the burn in his throat, while a couple of other nurses (or maybe intern doctors) discuss his chart as if he’s not even in the room.
It feels like hours after everyone has cleared out before a doctor finally comes into his room to actually talk to him, rather than talk about him in hushed whispers.
"Hawks?"
He nods in response. The doctor is an older man, a graying beard and hair, but with friendly eyes that silently reassure Hawks that everything will be alright. He thinks this guy must be everything that people search for in a doctor.
"I'm Dr. Kenji Kobayashi. One of the nurses said you had trouble talking, so I brought a notepad …" The doctor hands it over. "You might have some trouble writing, so, whichever works best for you … I have some questions I need you to answer. If it’s a yes or no, a simple nod or head shake will do."
Another nod as he weakly takes the notepad and pen. Shit … He must have really overdone it in training to wind up here; his arms feel like heavy jello.
"Do you remember how you got here?"
Keigo shakes his head.
"What's your name?"
Keigo gives him a flat stare. The doctor had said his name when he came in.
Dr. Kobayashi eyes him for a moment quickly figuring out the unspoken comment, "Your real name. Not your hero name."
He pauses. He never uses that name. It takes a moment before he writes, in shaky handwriting that looks more like a child’s, 'Keigo Takami'. When the doctor looks it over, a frown crosses his face, but he jots the information down.
“What year is it?”
Keigo hesitates at that. He’s not … He’s not actually sure. He glances up at the doctor and the panic must be visible on his face because Dr. Kobayashi simply gives him a comforting smile.
“It’s okay, this happens sometimes …”
They run through a gamut of questions, some easy ones that he can remember, some that … He just can’t answer. Finally, Dr. Kobayashi gives him a small, sad smile.
“What I have to say may be … Difficult to hear. Are you prepared for that?”
Keigo’s brows furrow before he nods.
“You were injured in a rather difficult fight against a villain.”
A villain?
“You were trapped under rubble for quite some time with a severe head injury,” Dr. Kobayashi says and Keigo can feel his blood run cold as he realizes where this is going. The questions … The looks … “You’ve been in a coma for almost six years …”
Keigo’s heart is thundering so loud as he hears the news, he thinks he can hear it thundering in his ears. It takes him a minute to realize he can hear it, thanks to the heart monitor next to his bed. He’s trying to calm himself as the world around him starts to go fuzzy. He’s vaguely aware of Dr. Kobayashi calling for a couple of nurses who put … Something in the IV attached to his arm once again that almost instantly makes his body feel more sluggish than it had been before.
The last thing he recalls before he falls asleep is hoping that the next time he wakes up, it's not another six years in the future.
Waking up is like trying to walk through mud up to his knees. It’s a struggle and a serious fight, but he soon manages to get his eyes open; one at first, then the other, then both at the same time. As the room comes into focus, he notes that it’s the same room as before, which … Is probably a good sign in his ‘I hope it’s not another six years’ thought.
A nurse comes in and pauses in surprise as she sees his eyes open. “Oh! You’re awake!”
Keigo gives a tired nod.
“Let me get you some ice …” She says. “You also have some visitors waiting … If you’re up for it? They’ve been waiting for you to wake up for quite a while.”
Keigo frowns at that. Visitors? Honestly, not having to see anyone from the HPSC has been a blessing … Even if it was only for thirty minutes in his recollection. He’s sure that Mera is going to have his ass for getting the chance to sleep for so long. He’d rather just rip the damn bandage off. At least if they come in now, he’s got no real obligation to talk to them with his throat still raw. He gives the nurse a nod.
“Great! I’ll have them bring in the ice,” she says cheerfully.
Time passes slowly as he waits for his ice and his visitor. He can feel his anxiety creeping up. What if the HPSC is here to decommission him already? Can he even live like a civilian? He supposes he could … It hasn’t been that long since he started his training.
When the door opens and a hulking figure walks in, Keigo’s mouth goes dry. The man … Looks familiar, but he can’t put his finger on it. He’s got red hair that’s graying at the temples, piercing blue eyes, and a scar running down the left side of his face. He looks … Terrified? Relieved? Keigo really isn’t sure. He pulls a chair up to the side of Keigo’s bed, holding out the ice for Keigo to take.
Holding the cup with his shaking hand, he scoops out one of the chips with his fingers, plopping it in his mouth as the man awkwardly shifts in the chair, clearly trying to figure out what to say. Is he one of the HPSC new hires? Some sort of hazing ritual? Haha newbie, you’ve gotta tell Hawks he’s decommissioned.
“Do you know who I am?” The man finally asks and holy shit … His voice is hot as hell. It’s familiar … Oh so familiar … But he can’t put his finger on it. Is he another hero? Maybe that’s why he doesn’t recognize him. He’s pretty familiar with a lot of heroes from his training, but really, that was dependent on their hero costumes. He’s not sure he could pick out a few of them in civilian clothes.
Keigo shakes his head. He takes a few moments, letting the ice soothe his throat before trying to speak. His voice comes out raspy and unused, “You …. A … Hero? Not … Sure … Civilian clothes …”
When Keigo says he doesn’t recognize him, the man’s shoulders fall. It was clearly the wrong answer. So … They’d known each other before he bumped his head. The fact he’d asked whether or not Keigo remembered his must have meant the doctors spoke with him so … Who was this guy?
The man seems to understand what Keigo asks about the civilian clothes. After a moment, he sits back, sits up a little straighter, and lights his face on fire. Keigo chokes on an ice chip.
Holy fuck.
Oh holy shit.
There’s no fucking way.
“E-Endeavor …” Keigo manages to croak out, eyes wide as he stares at his hero.
The flames quickly dissipate now that they’ve done their job. That was why he’d recognized the voice. How many times had he sat up in his room watching interviews with Endeavor? This … This Endeavor, though … He’s much older (he supposes that comes with being out for six years) and he seems to have this air of sadness about him.
“Keigo …”
Keigo freezes and pales, at that. “H-How … Do … You know … That name …?”
“You told the world your name,” Endeavor explains. “But, it’s also what I call you … You call me Enji.”
Keigo stares at him. There’s so much to process there. Why would he tell the world his name? Also ... Enji?! Wait a goddamn minute. They’re close enough that they’re on a first name basis?
“How …?” He asks, confused. “We’ve … Never … Met.”
That … That seems to be the wrong thing to say. He watches as Endea-- Enji’s face absolutely crumples. He’s never seen his hero this low before. He’s always been there as his symbol of victory, standing proud and cocky above his enemies. Enji is … Enji’s clearly struggling to keep it together.
Keigo doesn’t understand.
Enji takes a shaky breath, “What do you remember last?”
His throat is slowly feeling better the more ice chips he pops in. Sitting back, he thinks the question over. “One of … My HPSC handlers ... Said ... I was ... Doing well in ... My altitude training …” There’s a pause as he tries to remember. “I’m supposed … to h-have my … hero … debut in a couple … months.”
Keigo looks up to see Enji staring at him, mouth slightly agape. Well … That wasn’t a good sign. “What … ?”
Enji’s face shifts, his stare turning into a frown. “Keigo …” He starts. “You’re not just missing six years from your coma … You … You’re missing your entire hero career …”
“I’m … What?”
Enji shuffles some, pulling out a phone that looks far more advanced than he remembers. He fiddles on the phone for a moment before pulling up a picture of the two of them. They’re clearly at one of the Hero Billboard Charts. If Enji has his scar, it’s hard to see past the flames on his face. He looks annoyed while Keigo stands in front of him, grinning brightly, flashing a peace sign at the camera.
“This was the last Billboard Charts we went to …” Enji explains. “We were Number One and Number Two in that picture.”
“No shit!” Keigo says raspily, fighting off a coughing fit. He’d made it to Number Two?! There was a pause. “Wait … That means … You finally … Became Number One! You b-beat … All Might!”
Enji shook his head, “All Might retired … There was a villain … The worst villain anyone’s ever seen. All Might nearly killed himself trying to stop him. He retired after that. By default, you and I rose in the ranks to Number One and Two.”
Keigo took in this information, giving a small nod. His head is throbbing and it seems as though Enji picks up on this. He stands and awkwardly shifts. “You look like you need rest. I’ll be back tomorrow … We can discuss more.”
“Y-Yes … Please?”
Enji nods and hesitates a moment. Keigo watches him run through a decision in his mind before giving a small head bow. Enji leaves the room and he hears talking just outside the door. It’s muffled but he manages to catch Enji telling someone ‘maybe tomorrow’.
The nurse had implied there was more than one visitor, but he’d only seen Enji.
Tomorrow. He’d see tomorrow.
With ‘tomorrow’ comes a slew of tests and even the beginning of some physical therapy that he’s absolutely over already. There’s supposed to be some psychologist that specializes in memory loss and coma patients that’s also supposed to visit him some time that day, but he’s yet to meet her.
By the time afternoon rolls around and the nurse pops in to happily tell him he’s got visitors, he’s fucking exhausted mentally and physically and he’s upset that he knows he’s not going to enjoy finally getting to talk to his favorite hero for very long. Once again, Enji enters, this time with a bouquet of flowers that he settles on the small, round table in the corner.
“They’re from Fuyumi …” Enji explains before realizing he has to explain who that is. “My second oldest. They’re all eager to visit you … I assumed you’d want more time to rest first …”
Keigo scrunches his face in confusion, “Your family? … Eager to visit me?”
Enji gave a nod, once again trying to figure out how to cover the topic with Keigo.
“We’re … Friends, right? Are we hero partners? Or … Were we hero partners?” Keigo asks curiously. He wants to know more about his hero career, just as much as he wants to know how he’d been fortunate enough to be so close to his favorite hero.
Enji nods. “Yes, we’re friends … We were hero partners … The last few years. We worked together until my retirement and … Your accident. You were going to retire early … Possibly take up teaching at U.A. Then you were trapped …”
The conversation seems to hurt Enji and Keigo feels compelled to quickly try and change the subject. “So I guess … I hung out with you a lot? ‘Cause we were hero partners? Is that how I know your family?”
There’s an unreadable look that crosses Enji’s face. “Keigo …”
“Shit … Did I do something bad?” He asks, worry creeping into his voice. “I didn’t … Like kill someone, right?”
Enji shook his head, though there's a hesitancy with that as well. So … He’s killed people. That was never part of the plan … He must have had his reasons for it, though … He’d have to ask Enji about those.
“No,” Enji says. There’s a moment where Keigo watches Enji prepare himself before he looks back up to Keigo with those sad eyes. “We’re married, Keigo.”
Keigo’ world slows down to a stop. He … He married … Endeavor?! Holy fuck. There’s no fucking way. Endeavor … Endeavor was his childhood hero … His first love … His fucking teenage wet dream … And they were … They were married?!
“There’s … What?? No way …” Enji winces at that and Keigo feels the need to quickly explain himself. “N-Not that I … Not that I don’t … Want to be … Married to you but … Endeav-- Enji … You’re my hero. You’re kind of like this unreachable light … How … How did we get married? Aren’t you already married?”
Enji takes out his phone, similar to last time, and clicks around until he finds a picture of the two of them. They look happy in white suits, standing at an altar in front of … Was that Best Jeanist?! Did Best Jeanist marry them in a Western-style wedding??
“Holy shit …” He says quietly.
Enji shifts to put his phone away. “I divorced my wife not long after you and I began to work together initially … We both came a long way and realized things were … Better … If we were to part ways. She’s happy and remarried … To Rumi--Miruko--I’m not sure if you remember her?”
Keigo shakes his head and Enji gives a sad frown.
“She was your best friend … She’s eager to see you again as well. I’ll have to prepare her,” he says. “Rei and Rumi met through us … Family cookouts. They’re happy. So were we …”
Keigo gives a small nod at this, “I mean … Getting married to my favorite hero? That’s … A dream come true …” Enji relaxes slightly at this. “How uh … How long were we married? Before my accident?”
“Two years.”
“I see … Fuck,” Keigo says, wilting a bit. “I’m sorry … I’ve missed out on so much of our lives …”
“Keigo,” Enji says, reaching out to take Keigo hand. Keigo can’t hold back sucking in a breath at the touch. “Don’t apologize … I’m just … I’m happy you’re awake now. I tried to come every day … I wanted to be here when you woke up …”
“That’s … Enji, fuck. I’m sorry. I don’t … I wish I could remember us . I-It’s all I’ve ever wanted,” he says, tears pooling in his eyes. “You saved me … Saved me from my shitty childhood and … God, you’ve always been my favorite, even before I knew that heroes were real. Now you’re telling me that not only do I know you, personally … I married you? I just … I want to remember … Fuck …”
Enji hesitates a moment before moving over to the edge of the bed. He sits and carefully wraps his arms around Keigo, pulling him close so that Keigo can cry on his shoulder, gripping him tightly. Keigo briefly compares what it's like: crying holding his Endeavor plush or crying holding Enji and confirms, without a doubt, that holding the real thing is better.
By the time he’s out of tears, Enji has been holding him, soothing him quietly, for what seems like hours. Between the morning of tests and therapy and this afternoon of tears, he’s worn out. Enji finally pulls away and looks at him for a moment.
“I should let you get sleep … You look tired,” Enji says.
Keigo hesitates a moment, reaching out to grab Enji’s hand before it can get too far from him. Enji looks down to their hands and smiles; it’s so small but it’s there.
“Can … Can I have a kiss?” Keigo asks quietly. They’re married, right? He should be able to kiss his hero whenever he wants … Right?
Enji pauses, clearly debating on it before nodding. Leaning down, he brushes his lips against Keigo’s, giving him a moment to back out if he wants, before pressing more firmly. Keigo can feel the way that Enji finally relaxes, as if everything is right in the world. When he pulls away, his face is softer.
“Get some sleep, Keigo. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
Once again, Enji leaves and Keigo can hear him speaking with someone before two sets of footsteps retreat. Keigo settles in, falling asleep quickly.
The next morning is a repeat of the previous day, except there’s an added shower in there that Keigo is extremely fucking grateful for. He’s sure that someone must have been bathing him while he was under, but the fact he can’t remember it, was really making him feel gross. He needs a little help from the cheerful nurse who reassures him that it’s normal for coma patients to need a lot of help.
By the time he’s settled into his bed for the afternoon, he finally feels more human than the past two days. He thinks even his wings look a bit brighter in color!
It’s almost evening by the time that there’s a knock at his door and Enji pokes his head in. He turns his head, speaking quietly to someone, before turning his attention back to Keigo as he comes into the room.
“How are you feeling?”
“Much better than the last two days … They’re even starting to talk about sending me home ...” Keigo says, grinning. “I got to shower too.”
“Mmn … I’m sure that made a large difference,” Enji responds.
“Who’re you always talking to outside?”
The question makes Enji freeze in place. Did he ask the wrong thing?
“Sorry,” Keigo says with a pause. “It’s just … The nurse said there were a couple of visitors … But I only ever see you … And I can hear you talking outside …”
Enji looks pained at the question. There’s a quiet moment of thought before he shifts on his feet. “I didn’t want to introduce you, yet … In case it was too much …”
Keigo tilts his head. “No time like the present?”
Enji considers it before he finally nods, “Okay …”
Going to the door, Enji opens it up again. There's a quiet conversation before a girl who looks to be about ten or eleven shuffles in awkwardly. She has black hair pulled up into a messy bun and two large hawk-colored wings on her back. There’s a scar on her chin and a hesitancy in her brown eyes that just reeks of fear.
“This is Yua …” Enji says.
“Uhm … Hi, Yua … It’s nice to meet you,” Keigo says, smiling, trying to reassure her and erase the fear from her face.
The girl looks up to Enji; there's a silent conversation that happens. Enji nods before looking back at Keigo. “Yua is … Our adopted daughter.”
Hawks thought nothing would top the revelation of being married to Endeavor … But being a father? Was he caught in some sort of soap opera quirk? There was no way this was his life right now. He wasn’t ready to be a father! As far as he knew … As far as he knew he hadn’t even debuted as a hero! But … If he was married to Endeavor, then … Fuck, he already was a father, wasn’t he? Enji had kids before they were married, so Keigo was a stepfather, right?
As the silence grew, Keigo could see the way that Yua shifted and tears welled in her eyes.
Oh fuck.
“S-Sorry … I just … I can’t remember,” Keigo says. “Please don’t cry …”
He hesitates a moment before motioning for her to come closer and sit on the edge of his bed. Yua pauses as well, looking up to Enji for permission. When he nods, she cautiously moves over to sit on the edge of the bed, playing with the bottom hem of her blue and white hoodie. He wasn’t sure who this ‘SHOUTO’ was, the name plastered along the arms, but he could spot hero merch pretty easily.
“Your wings are really pretty,” Keigo says, trying to act casual. He can talk bird things. That’s his jam. Being a dad? That’s … That’s something he’s going to have to figure out.
“T-Thank you …” She says quietly and his heart melts almost immediately.
“Can you fly?” Keigo asks.
“Uh huh … Not … Not really good …” Yua says, shifting awkwardly. “Dad taught me how with some friends … H-He said … When Papa wakes up … Papa would teach me to fly better.”
Keigo’s jaw drops and he looks over to see Enji looking away, clearly embarrassed by the whole situation. He’ll teach her whatever she wants to learn. Hell, probably even stuff she shouldn’t learn. “I bet you fly really well! Once I get outta here … I’ll definitely help you! Flying is my favorite!”
“Really?” Yua asks, finally looking up to him with big, curious eyes.
“Of course! No one with wings should be grounded, if they can help it …”
Yua gives a shy smile at that, “I’d really like that, Papa …”
Hawks spends the next two hours talking with Yua, learning everything she wants to share. He finds out that she is ten years old; they had adopted her when she was only four. She is really into rainbows and dolls. She wants to be a hero like her fathers and her older sibling, Shouto (it explained the hoodie). She even gave him a run-down of Shouto’s quirk skillset and how she wishes her hair was two-toned like his.
She yawns and Enji gives a warm smile. “Yua … We should get home … It’s late.”
Yua pouts, “But I want to stay with Papa …”
That … That breaks Keigo’s heart. He doesn’t know her but damn if he doesn’t want to learn how to be a good Papa just for her.
Enji gets up, kissing the top of her head. “Papa will get to come home soon … Then you can show him your room and all your drawings.”
Her eyes widen, “Really?! Papa will get to come home?!”
Keigo hesitates. Home? A real home? Not the shack he’d shared with his parents or the HPSC dorms? He hadn’t even thought about that possibility yet. For whatever reason, he hadn’t thought marriage plus Endeavor equaled living with Endeavor.
“Yes, he just needs to stay a few more days, from what the doctor says. He’ll still need a lot of help … Do you think you can help?”
Yua gets a determined look on her face before nodding, “Yeah! Heroes help people and I wanna be a hero, so … I’ll definitely help Papa!”
Keigo feels his heart stutter. She reminds him so much of himself at her age; he’d just wanted to help … Especially after such a shitty family … He’d have to ask more about her background and how they’d adopted her later.
Enji turns to Keigo, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Keigo motions to the room, “I’m not going anywhere.”
There’s a huff of a laugh from Enji as Yua shifts awkwardly. “Can … Can I have a hug?”
There was no way that Keigo could say no even if he wanted to. “Of course!”
Holding his arms open wide, Yua looks as if he’d hung the moon and stars as she happily moves in to hug him tightly.
“I missed you, Papa …”
“I’m sorry, kiddo … I’m here now.”
“Don’t leave again, okay?”
“I won’t.”
He knew he shouldn’t make promises, but he’d already decided he was retiring before he’d gone into a coma. Clearly, his days of hitting the streets were over … He wasn’t sure if he could go back to them knowing that he might break his daughter’s heart again like that. Once Yua let go, Enji comes close. He gives him a more gentle hug, before leaning in and kissing his forehead.
“Get some rest.”
“Will do, big guy.”
Enji smiles at the nickname and leads a waving Yua out the door.
Keigo sleeps better than he has in the past two days.
Dr. Kobayashi makes another appearance the next day. He gives him a warm smile as he slips into the room.
“Hello, Hawks … How are you feeling today?”
“Better than when I first woke up … My throat feels better and I feel like I’m getting stronger,” Keigo says. “There’s places on my body that still really hurt but nothing that I think I need to be hospitalized for as long as I don’t over do it. Thankfully, my feathers can get some stuff.”
“Excellent! I’m glad your connection has held strong.”
“It’s like riding a bike … I guess? Never learned how to ride a bike.”
The doctor gives a small laugh, “I never did either, if it helps you feel better … Nonetheless, your tests have looked good the past two days … I think, if you’re comfortable, we can have you go home tomorrow. You’ll have to continue to do daily physical therapy to help your atrophied muscles; the physical therapist will show you what to do at home. You’ll have to have weekly appointments, but once you get stronger, you’ll have fewer sessions.”
“I’ll have a wheelchair going home then?”
Dr. Kobayashi nods. “I doubt that Endeavor would appreciate having to carry you around everywhere … Though, I believe he happily would,” he adds with a chuckle. “I also recommend you meet with Dr. Yamada, the therapist helping you through the coma and memory loss, every other week. Dr. Yamada offers virtual sessions to make it easier.”
Keigo can’t offer a response either way; he’s not sure if he has a computer or internet to do virtual sessions. He lets Dr. Kobayashi run through a myriad of questions and instructions that he hopes he’s going to write down because he can’t keep up for shit right now. Once he’s done, Keigo’s whisked off to physical therapy and helpfully gets a list of instructions (as well as demonstrations) of exercises to do at home. He’ll have to have Enji help him.
Would Enji help him?
God, that was such a weird thing to wonder about still. He’d never met Endeavor according to his memory, yet here he was … In his 30’s, married to Enji Todoroki … with a daughter. He had lived a life that was hard for him to comprehend. As far as he knew, he was still training with the HPSC; planning on making his hero debut in a couple months.
Speaking of … What happened with the HPSC? He’d been here for days and he hasn’t had a single black suit show up. Did he get free of his cage? Were they just waiting outside the door for him? Was Enji in league with them?
He was contemplating exactly what was going on when there was a knock at his door. Looking up, he sees Enji and he motions for him to come in. As Enji’s face softens when he sees him, he just can’t imagine Enji being in league with the HPSC.
“How are you feeling?” Enji asks, settling down in his usual seat next to the bed.
“Tired and sore …” Keigo says. “But … They said I can go home tomorrow. I’ve got an entire list of do’s and don’t’s, but I can leave here.”
“Good … The house has been too empty without you,” Enji admits, looking at his hands. “And Yua has missed you.”
“I gotta admit … It’s weird to know I have a home … Especially one that’s not the HPSC dorms and with my favorite hero …”
“It's your home, with your family.”
Keigo gives a weak laugh at that. “Sorry … ‘Family’ leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.”
Enji reaches out, taking Keigo’s hand. “I know.”
“... You know? I told you?”
“We don’t have secrets between us. Before we started dating, we were in a war against that villain I told you about that ended All Might’s career … The connection between you and your father was revealed to the public, so you sat Best Jeanist and I down and told us the story. I told you about my family history.” Enji hesitates a moment. “Your family history is one of the reasons we adopted Yua.”
“What?” Keigo asks, wanting to know the connection.
Shifting his chair to sit more comfortably while still being able to hold Keigo’s hand, he nods. “You and I decided that we should have a child of our own … But we didn’t want to go through the whole surrogate process. You were rather adamant that there were plenty of children who needed a good home, so we decided to adopt.”
Enji gives a chuckle at the memory. “We went to the orphanage and as soon as you laid eyes on Yua’s wings, I think you had made up your mind … But then we heard her story and that solidified it for the both of us.” He pauses, steeling himself. “She’d been abused by her family. Her feathers had been plucked out by them whenever she did something ‘bad’; her mutation allows the feathers to grow back, thankfully … Similar to yours, though hers aren’t meant to be detachable like yours. Anytime she did something wrong … Leave a toy out, dislike the food they fed her, breathe the wrong way … They’d punish her.”
Keigo watches as Enji scowls. He can feel the temperature in the room rise and he realizes it’s Enji barely holding back his anger.
“Her parents were dealing illegal quirk drugs and when they were picked up, her abuse was discovered. She still has scars from them,” Enji says, hand squeezing Keigo’s just a bit too hard before he realizes what he’s doing and he lets up. “After that … We knew we had to take her home … The two of you hit it off quite well.”
Enji chuckles as he looks up to Keigo with a warm look that puts a flush on Keigo’s face. “Actually … Your conversation yesterday was almost exactly the same as the first conversation you had with her …” Enji turns his attention back to their shared hands. “Her wings were so badly damaged and were still recovering when we took her in. It took a long while for her to warm up to me, but you two … You two were peas in a pod. You taught her how to preen her wings and helped to try and check on their regrowth …”
Keigo gives a weak laugh, “Sounds like I was … A pretty good dad?”
“The best,” Enji says firmly. “But … We’d only had her for about five months when you had your accident. You had just started to make sure her wings were even strong enough to hold her up …” He shifts awkwardly. “She wanted to learn to fly … And she really wanted to learn to fly once you were in a coma … She hoped that if she learned how to fly, you’d wake up. I tried to tell her that wasn’t how it worked but … Children can be stubborn. So, I enlisted some help … One of your former interns--”
“I had interns?”
“You had an entire agency,” Enji says proudly.
Keigo’s mind swims. He really had had such a huge life and it was all … Missing.
“One of your former interns, Tsukuyomi, was in class with my son, Shouto. You taught him how to fly using his quirk, even though he doesn’t exactly have wings. I asked him to help me teach her, though … It was a bit difficult.”
“What about the scar on her chin? Was that from her parents?”
Enji looks embarrassed. “That was a … Flying mishap. The first time she was able to get into the air without holding on … Her wings grew tired quicker than she anticipated and I was a fraction too late … She’d cut it badly and needed stitches. It’s also how she lost her first tooth.”
Keigo’s chest tightens. He’s missed so much … It’s all new to him but he thinks some part of him must remember because he feels like sobbing hearing how much he’s missed. Enji catches the look and brings Keigo’s hand up to kiss it.
“It’s okay … It’s … A lot to take in. Especially if you don’t remember your entire career. We’ll just take it slow, okay?”
Keigo nods. “What about the HPSC? Why haven’t they come to decommission me or something?”
Enji scowls at that; clearly a sensitive subject, Keigo realizes.
“They took advantage of you … The training you’ve undergone …”
Keigo averts his eyes. Shit … He’s told Enji all of that? He supposes if there’s no secrets between the two of them … His clearest memory is something that happened a week ago (or, at least it felt like a week ago). Torture training. Waterboarding. Electrocution. The thoughts cause his hands to shake and Enji squeezes them.
“They’re gone,” Enji says, causing Keigo’s eyes to shoot up to him. “At least … The HPSC that you know. Now it’s more transparent. It does still take in talented, orphaned children who want to be heroes, but under the watchful eye of citizen groups. They’re no longer able to make child soldiers to do the government’s dirty work. There’s no longer an HPSC President, but a Governing Board, of which I sit on as the former Number One Pro Hero.”
Keigo gives a small laugh. “It sounds like … The world really is a better place.”
“It took a lot of time, energy … And a lot of lives lost … But we’ve finally made it a world where heroes have too much time on their hands.”
They’re nearly at the Todoroki estate when Enji cracks.
“I should have told you sooner … My children--your step-children--are going to be at the house …” Enji says, shifting awkwardly. “Fuyumi was busy watching Yua … And when Natsuo and Shouto heard … They wanted to join as well …”
Keigo blinks owlishly, hesitating a moment, “They … Do know I don’t … Remember them right?”
“They’re aware.”
“Okay … Cause I don’t want to get hopes up …” Keigo says, looking down to his hands.
“You won’t,” Enji promises. “They’ve just missed you … Natsuo tried to be put on your medical detail, but they wouldn’t allow him.”
“He’s a doctor?”
Enji nods. “Natsuo is a doctor … Fuyumi is a teacher …”
“And Shouto is a hero … I remember Yua talking about his hero work.”
“Correct ... “
“It’s weird … I feel like I’ve gotta win over people that I’ve already met … But I don’t remember meeting them,” he says before pausing. “Do they like me?”
“Do you think they’d be eager to see you if they didn’t like you.”
“Good point, big guy.”
Keigo is quiet for a long while, shifting in his seat. Enji reaches over, taking his hand to try and comfort him.
“It’s okay, Keigo. If it gets too overwhelming … Then I want you to tell me. I’ll ask them to leave.”
“I can’t ask them to do that …”
“You’re not going to ask them, I’ll ask them,” Enji says simply. “They’ll understand.”
Keigo gives a nod, trying to shove down the nervousness bubbling up in his stomach. When they pull into the driveway, he has to let out a shaky breath to try and calm himself. Enji places a comforting kiss on the back of his hand before moving over to help him into the wheelchair he’d been provided with. Allowing himself to be wheeled in, he froze in place as a small group of people shouted out a ‘WELCOME HOME, KEIGO!’.
Keigo recognizes Yua, being supported as she stands on the back of the couch, by one of her older brothers; the others are unfamiliar. He assumes that the woman, who had set off a celebratory confetti popper, must be Fuyumi; Enji’s only other daughter. The two, Natsuo and Shouto, were a mystery to him. Noting Shouto’s hair, and the way Yua had wished for two-tone hair, he assumes that Shouto must be the one with the split hair, leaving Natsuo to be the one holding Yua.
“I thought I told you four not to do anything …” Enji says with a small sigh, looking at the few balloons and ‘WELCOME HOME’ sign that clearly had been hastily written and then decorated by Yua.
“Well … We weren’t going to do anything … But then Yua suggested …” Fuyumi starts.
“You know no one can say no to her,” Shouto finishes.
Keigo gives a small smile, “Thanks guys … I love it … Probably the best celebration I’ve ever had.”
Enji pauses a moment and he briefly wonders if he’s ever told Enji that he’s never had so much as a birthday party before. Instead of commenting on it, Enji simply hums.
“Keigo … You know Yua … This is Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Shouto.”
Keigo nods, happy that at least he hadn’t lost his deductive reasoning skills. “I’ve uh … Heard a lot about you. Mostly from Yua …” There’s a pause. “I’m sorry … I’ve made you all worry …”
“No, no, Keigo …” Fuyumi says quickly, jumping ahead of everyone. “It’s okay … We’re just glad that you’re back and you’re okay. We were … We were really worried for a while …” She starts sniffling and Yua reaches out as far as she can to try and comfort her big sister. “When it happened, we were scared we were going to lose you. And then we weren’t sure with the coma …” She wipes a few stray tears that makes his heart clench. “We’re just glad you’re okay. If there’s anything we can do … Just let us know, okay!”
“Thank you …” Keigo says quietly.
Shouto awkwardly clears his throat. “There’s … Chicken. On the table.”
“Chicken?”
“We assumed you’d want something other than hospital food,” Natsuo says with a knowing look.
“You guys really do know me, huh?”
Yua hops down out of Natsuo’s hold, moving over to take Keigo’s hand. “Let’s get some chicken! It’s my favorite!”
“Hey! Me too!” Keigo says, not even needing to feign excitement for the food.
At the table, over food, Keigo learns that Fuyumi is married with a five year old boy (who apparently is able to make it snow, even indoors). She’s rumored to be in the running for becoming the next assistant principal of the school, though she’s not sure if she wants to take it yet (“I feel like I wouldn’t get to see the kids that often!”).
Natsuo, recently promoted to head physician of his department, apparently had had a slew of romantic interests. For a while, just before Keigo’s accident, there had been some lawyer and everyone had thought the guy had been the one for Natsuo … Until said lawyer cheated on him and claimed that they hadn’t actually been dating. Rumors were that the lawyer had come out to his car to find three of his tires slashed and a single red feather on the ground. After that, Natsuo’s dates didn’t last for more than a few months. His most recent partner was the longest relationship he’d had in six years at just over a year old. He and Burnin’ were looking for an apartment together.
Shouto was currently working as a pro hero. He claimed that most days were slow and boring, but he preferred those to the hectic life that was thrown at him during high school. Many of his friends were people that Keigo apparently knew, but none had rang a bell. Shouto also explained that his hero partner was his husband. Red Riot, named after Crimson Riot, was apparently a ball of sunshine that usually had Keigo laughing so hard, he found himself popping aspirin to get rid of a headache. They had married a couple years ago and had even included a spot for Keigo in the wedding, though it had gone unfilled.
Once they’re done eating, Shouto and Natsuo excuse themselves to go be with their significant others. Natsuo gives him a hug and a welcome back; Shouto is a bit more reserved, though Keigo is fairly certain it’s just his personality. Finally Fuyumi bids her farewell, giving him a kiss on the cheek, a tight hug, and a teary ‘welcome back’.
With that … Keigo is left alone with his small family.
The family he can’t remember.
Yua bounces over to him, dragging him out of his thoughts. “Papa! Want to come see my room?”
Keigo opens his mouth to respond but all that comes out is a choked sound. He wants to respond that he does. He absolutely does want to see her room! But he’s just … He’s spiraling. He feels like he’s in the ocean with weights on and he’s been treading water for hours. It’s such a sudden realization that it leaves him gasping for air.
Yua looks concerned, running off to get Enji. When Enji arrives, he cups Keigo’s face in his hands and it takes a few moments before Keigo realizes that Enji is calling his name.
“Keigo! Breathe … Match my breathing …” He says, taking Keigo’s hand in his, placing it on his chest so he can feel the steady rising and falling.
It feels like forever before he finally manages to get his breathing back under control. There’s tears flowing down his cheeks and Yua is crying and shaking in the background.
“S-Sorry …” He manages to choke out. “I’m … I’m s-sorry …”
Enji’s face softens, brushing a thumb over his cheek, “Don’t apologize … It’s okay … We were just scared. Right, Yua?”
Yua sniffles, moving in close to hug Keigo tightly before Enji can stop her. He’s about to ask her to give Keigo space when Keigo wraps his arms around her, holding on as if she was his lifeline. Enji shifts to be able to rub their backs gently, trying his best to soothe his family.
“It’s okay, Keigo … You just got a little overwhelmed …” Enji says patiently. “Maybe you should sleep?”
He’s still holding Yua, who has buried her face against his throat, when he nods. Enji helps shift Yua until she’s sitting comfortably in Keigo’s lap. He wheels the two of them down the hall, coming to a room that looks somewhat barren with the exception of a futon set up in one corner.
“Dad … This isn’t Papa’s room …”
Enji winces. “I thought Papa might want some space while he’s still healing …”
Yua’s face scrunches up in confusion but she soon climbs out of Keigo’s lap, running off, leaving the two of them confused. Enji takes the opportunity to help Keigo out of the chair to walk a few steps to the futon.
“Why am I in this room?”
Enji sighs. “I wasn’t … Sure if you’d want to sleep in the same bed as me.”
The thought hadn’t even occurred to Keigo. If they were married … They would have shared a bed, wouldn’t they?! As much as he wanted that more than anything, he wasn’t sure he was ready. Hell, just meeting everyone today had sent him into a panic attack (one he was still trying to stave off from returning).
Yua comes running back with something in her arms. She pants a bit before holding out his Endeavor plush, well worn and even repaired in a few places than what he remembers.
“I-I thought … I thought he could … Help you sleep,” Yua says, breathless after running around.
Keigo takes it, hands shaking. He runs a thumb over the plush’s face, smiling ever slightly at something that’s familiar to him.
“You … Gave him to me … When I first came here. You said he’d keep me safe and he’d fight away the bad dreams … So … You should have him back now.”
He’s fighting tears again as he holds the plush close to his chest, hugging it tightly. “Thank you, Yua …”
“I hope you sleep good, Papa,” she says, moving over to quickly give him another hug before she goes to her room.
Enji smiles at the exchange before turning his attention to Keigo. “Are you going to be okay?” He asks, worriedly.
Looking down at the plush, he gives a nod. “I think so …”
“I’m just next door,” Enji explains. “If you need anything … Just call for me, okay?”
“Okay …”
Leaning down after hesitating for a moment, Enji kisses the top of Keigo’s head before leaving him to the quiet of the room.
Keigo clutches the plush tightly to his chest. He thought he was fine. He’d been fine listening to the Todoroki children and their adventures … But after they’d left … It all came crashing down; drowning him. He had a family. He had people who genuinely loved and cared for him … And from their stories, he loved and cared for them back.
He just couldn’t remember. It was like learning about some other person he’d never heard of. He didn’t miss the hopeful looks that the family gave him, as if hoping that their stories would jog some sort of memory.
He almost wondered if it would have been better if he stayed in a coma than to give them false hope.
Burying his face in the plush, he let Endeavor soak up his tears as he fell asleep.
Keigo sleeps restlessly, tossing and turning through the night. If his dreams are plagued with anything in particular, they’re gone from his memory by the time he wakes. Part of him wants to dwell on the fear that his memories were going to continue to rapidly disappear until there’s nothing of him left.
Instead, he gets up and focuses on the few physical therapy exercises that he’s able to do on his own.
He’s mid-stretch, wincing as he aggravates some of his sore spots, when he hears a quiet knock at his door before it slides open just enough for an eye to peek through the crack.
“Papa?”
“I’m awake, Yua … You can come in,” Keigo says, smiling slightly. He watches as she eagerly scrambles into the room, leaving the door wide open. He’d never imagined being a parent … But Yua makes it easy for him to want to be one.
“Did Endeavor help?” She asks, nodding towards the plush.
Keigo picks him up, brushing a hand over the worn fabric. “Very much so … Thank you …”
Yua grins brightly. “Dad is almost done cooking breakfast! I said he made too much but he said you’re gonna be really hungry!”
Keigo opens his mouth to retort that he’s not actually that hungry, but his growling stomach beats him to the punch, sending Yua into a laughing fit.
“Dad was right!”
“Yeah, yeah …” Keigo says with a pout. “Can you tell your dad I’m gonna need some help getting up and into the chair?”
“Yeah!” Yua says, immediately scampering off.
A few moments later, Enji arrives, wiping his hands on a dish towel. “Yua is watching the food … If you’re not a fan of burnt food, we should hurry …”
“What? Don’t like that crispy, charcoal flavor?” Keigo teases, holding his arms up to let Enji pick him up under his arms. Getting stable on his feet, he takes the few steps it takes to get to the chair in order to settle in.
“Do you need to be wheeled to the bathroom?” Enji asks. As soon as Keigo nods, Enji wheels him there, pointing out rooms as he goes. “I’ll give you some privacy,” he says, leaving Keigo in order to check on the food.
As soon as the food is on the table, Enji returns to the bathroom, knocking and waiting until he has permission to enter. Wheeling Keigo to the table, Yua stands, proudly showing off the food.
“Ta-da!”
“Oh wow, it looks great!” Keigo says as he looks the dishes over. “Who knew the great Endeavor was such a good cook …”
Keigo looks over to see Enji faintly blushing as Yua puffs her cheeks out. “I helped too!”
“You did!” Keigo says; though, he knows it was mostly the final touches she’d helped with. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so spoiled … At least … Not that I uh … Remember.”
Enji reaches out to take his hand, “It’s okay. Just focus on healing … Getting you back on your feet and then in the air is more important.”
His heart clenches as he realizes just how well Enji knows him. All he wants is to get back in the air and go for a long flight; something to clear his head. He could probably do it, but without good use of his legs, he’s afraid it’ll look more like a baby bird that was kicked out of the nest too soon.
Yua grins brightly, egg shoved into her mouth. “Can Papa see me fly today?!”
It knocks Keigo out of his thoughts. He gives a laugh and nods, “Sure … Getting some sun will probably help a lot.”
He shoves a piece of egg in his mouth as Enji hums in thought. “After breakfast … Yua, if you do the dishes, I can help Papa bathe and we can go outside quicker?”
The girl looks eager to actually do chores as she nods quickly. Keigo can’t help but grin, watching her scarf down the food as if that would make everyone else go quicker. “Hey, hey … Don’t make yourself sick. We have plenty of time for you to show me,” he promises.
She eyes him for a moment before nodding. By the time they finish eating, Enji helps put the leftovers away and stack the dishes before helping Keigo to the bathroom.
“Are you … Okay with me assisting?”
Keigo hesitates for a moment. “Did we uh … Have sex? Before?”
The question causes a small flame lick up the side of Enji’s face and Keigo can only assume it’s out of embarrassment as Enji’s face turns red. “Yes … Quite a bit …”
“Then … Sure. I mean, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, right?”
“Precisely …”
Enji helps Keigo out of his clothes and helps him rinse off before helping him wash up. Enji focuses on washing Keigo’s hair and his back; eventually taking over washing the rest when Keigo’s arms are tired.
“Yua uh … Seems a lot more energetic than when I first saw her …”
“She was afraid you wouldn’t like her …”
Keigo pauses, turning to face Enji, “What?? How could I not like her …”
Enji sighs, “She’s been through a lot … For a while, she blamed herself for your accident …”
“That makes no sense … She wasn’t even there.”
“No, she wasn’t,” Enji says. “But she considered herself a bad luck charm. I assume because of something her parents must have said to her. After I convinced her otherwise, that it was part of the risk we took as heroes, that’s when she became obsessed with trying to learn to fly … That somehow that would bring you back.”
Enji carefully rinses Keigo, gently moving his wings as needed. “When I told her that you didn’t remember us … She was afraid you wouldn’t like her … Because you didn’t remember picking her.”
“After my parents …” Keigo starts, frowning as he looks down to his hands, wringing them together. “I never thought I’d want to be a father … Now … Just after a couple days of knowing her … I don’t think I would want it any other way.”
Enji smiles as he listens to Keigo. “I’m happy to hear that …” He says. “Let me help you into the tub to soak. It’ll help your muscles.”
“Ugh … You’re a lifesaver.”
Picking Keigo up with ease, he carefully sets him in the tub, chuckling as Keigo lets out an overly dramatic sigh.
“I’ll let you soak for a bit …”
Leaving Keigo in the tub, Keigo tried to not actively melt into the water. It was just too damn comfortable … Which is how Enji finds Keigo dozing off fifteen minutes later. Chuckling to himself, Enji carefully shakes Keigo.
“The water’s going to get cold if you stay longer,” he teases.
Keigo huffs, but allows himself to be carried out of the tub and dried off before dressing in a yukata that has holes cut out for his wings. When Keigo looks at Enji curiously, he shrugs.
“I thought you might prefer comfort … I’m unsure if your older clothes will fit properly …” Enji explains.
Helping Keigo into the chair, he wheels him out to the backyard where Yua is bouncing from foot to foot eagerly. He remembers that. He remembers the feeling just before take off; the excitement and thrill of getting ready to feel the wind between his feathers.
Yua’s hair is up in a messy bun again, half of Keigo wonders if she did it herself or if Enji did it for her. Maybe he’d get the chance to ask Enji later. She’s got her own little flight jacket that looks … Remarkably like the one he’d designed for his costume, just in a Yua-size.
“Papa! Papa are you ready?!” Yua calls out as Enji parks his chair so that Keigo has a good view.
Keigo gives a small laugh before nodding. “Show me what you’ve got!”
Nodding eagerly, she hesitates before doing a … Weird squat? Almost as if she’s got a jetpack on her back and she’s ready to fly. It’s hard to resist laughing at the visual, but he somehow does. It takes quite a few flaps of her wings before she lifts off the ground, wobbling to and fro until she manages to get steady. Once she does, she smiles happily at Keigo before shakily flying around the backyard.
Keigo claps his hands, grinning at her. It’s not bad for someone who learned on their own (or, rather, with their very wingless father). He can see where she needs improvements, where she needs to strengthen her wings, but it’s a start.
“That’s great, Yua!” Keigo says, causing her to falter in mid-air at the distraction. He sees Enji twitch, clearly ready to run out and catch her should she fall again. “C’mon down! I think your dad’s gonna have a heart attack if I accidentally distract you again!”
Enji’s cheeks turn red at the comment, but he says nothing. Yua lands somewhat hard, causing Keigo to wince. They’d definitely need to work on landing. He has a feeling that their landing lessons consisted of Enji catching her.
“Was I good, Papa?!” Yua asks, running over, a slight wince in her step from the landing.
“You were excellent! Especially since you learned on your own …” Keigo says before pausing, “Well … On your own and with someone who doesn’t have wings.”
“It wasn’t that good …”
“It was!” Keigo insists. “We can work on polishing it up, but you’ve got the basics down! We have to build up your wing strength to make it a little easier on you …” He pauses, turning to Enji. “Do you think we can get a set of weighted belts? If we add a weight a little at a time, eventually supporting just body weight wll be easy. Plus, if Yua needs to carry anything, then she’ll be prepared for it.”
Enji thinks it over before nodding, “We might have some … If not, we can order some.”
Keigo nods, smiling as he turns back to Yua. “Alright … So, flying school 101 … Ready to start that?”
“Yeah!” She says eagerly and Keigo swears he sees stars in her eyes.
“Alright … Dad’s going to get those weighted belts … I want you to start wearing them just while walking around first … Just to get the feel of them. Then we’ll start trying to fly with them, with dad’s help, okay?”
Yua nods, grinning before quickly wrapping her arms around him unexpectedly. He hesitates before wrapping his arms around her, giving her a hug as tightly as he’s able.
“Hey Yua … Who did your hair?”
“Dad did!”
“Oh yeah?” Keigo asks, looking up to see Enji in a bright shade of red.
“Uh huh! Auntie Rei and Auntie Rumi showed Dad how to do it!”
“It looks great,” Keigo says.
“C’mon! I wanna show you my room and all my drawings!”
So, Keigo goes.
He’s treated to a full tour of Yua’s room, followed by a tour of the Todoroki estate. There’s the vague sense that he’s been there before, which is the closest thing to memory he thinks he’s had since he woke up.
It’s the closest he gets to his memories returning for the next couple weeks.
Keigo spends his days doing his at home physical therapy, virtual therapy for his memory loss, and trying to learn about the time he was missing. Enji had brought out scrapbooks (apparently one of Enji’s retirement hobbies) and Yua had told him the few stories she had about their first meeting. He meets Rumi and she tells him of some of their crazier adventures.
He just … It’s like a life he’s never known.
Keigo finally gets frustrated enough that Enji suggests something he’s not sure he’s prepared for.
“Come sleep in our bed.”
Our bed. He’d been camping out in the spare guest room, afraid it would be too weird to sleep with his hero … His idol (that he’s supposedly married to). He’s ready to try anything at this point, crazy theories or not.
So he does.
And it works.
The first night, it’s as if something just clicks when he awkwardly cuddles up to Enji. He’s bathed in warmth and he dreams of Enji holding him up in a press green room, asking him what he was thinking, flames engulfing Enji, causing him to lean back.
When he wakes up and asks Enji about it, Enji looks thrilled. He explains the context and that yes, it actually had happened.
Even Dr. Yamada is excited to hear he’s had progress in recovering memories. She instructs him to keep doing it; to chase the feeling of the memories to see what else he can discover. With that, they begin to come back. Little nuggets: memories of lunch with Enji, his hero debut, rising to the top three, and so on.
The rest of his body gets stronger too. He’s eventually able to walk on his own (albeit with a cane just for stability) and he just feels better in general. The pain and soreness he’d constantly been feeling finally subsided. He’d joined Yua for flying lessons and eventually was able to show her how to fly.
The first time he takes to the air, he thinks he could actually cry.
The memories eventually stop coming. He thinks he’s got everything in order at least … He remembers everything from his debut all the way until fighting All for One … After that … It just stops. He doesn’t remember dating Enji. He doesn’t remember getting married. He doesn’t remember becoming a step father to the Todoroki children. He doesn’t remember adopting Yua. It’s just … Blank.
Three months in, Keigo is sitting in his and Enji’s bed, fiddling with his hands as a nervous tick, when Enji eyes him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh?”
“You’re doing … The thing,” Enji says before nodding towards Keigo’s hands.
He sighs. “What if they don’t come back?”
“Hmm? Yua’s just going to Fuyumi’s for a sleepover … They’ll be back …”
“No, no … I mean … My memories,” Hawks says. “I want to remember us … I want to … I want to remember our family. Hell, I want to remember slashing Natsuo’s ex’s tires! B-But … There’s just … There’s nothing.” He feels the tears already forming; a storm that’s been brewing in his mind. “There’s nothing and all I want is to remember us. I want to remember our first date … Our first kiss … Our wedding day … God, I want it all … But all I have is pain and sadness …”
Enji climbs into the bed, pulling Keigo close, letting Keigo’s tears stain his shirt. “It’s ok, Keigo. I know it’s hard.” He places his hand between the other’s wings, gently caressing him. “Even if you never remember … We’ll just make new memories in their place …”
“H-How are we going t-to do t-t-that, Enji?! W-w-w-we cant re-readopt Yua! O-Or have a f-first date a-again?” Keigo sobs out.
“Who says we can’t?” Enji asks. He pulls Keigo away, just enough so that Keigo can see his face. “Keigo … Would you go on a date with me? Friday night?”
Keigo stares at him, occasionally sniffling as he tries to regain control of his tears. After a moment, he nods vigorously. Enji chuckles and kisses Keigo’s forehead.
“Then it’s a date.”
When Friday morning rolls around, Keigo is outside, ready for his and Yua’s weekly flying lessons, trying to fight down butterflies in his stomach. He had a date with Enji that night … An honest to god date with the hero he’d idolized (and wanted to marry) ever since he was a kid.
Yua giggles as she catches sight of him, “Papa … Are you okay?”
“Hmm? Yeah, kiddo … This is the best I’ve felt since I’ve been up …” He admits.
“I’m glad you woke up … I was scared.”
He turns his full attention to her, “You were scared?”
She nods, “Uh huh … I kept telling you wake up … But you wouldn’t … Dad said you’d wake up but you kept sleeping …”
The vulnerable look on her face as she plays with the hem of her SHOUTO hoodie makes his stomach twist uncomfortably. It’s not nerves …
“Well, I’m here now,” He states. “C’mon! Ready? Let’s get up in the air!”
Keigo watches as she takes off, her form much better now that he’s taken her under his wing. She gets up into the air and grins happily. “Look at me! See? I told Dad that if I learned to fly, you’d wake up!”
He gives a half-hearted laugh, remembering what Enji had told him about her wishes, trying to play into her happiness. He gives a few flaps of his own wings, already rising into the air. The higher he starts going, the heavier he feels. It’s an odd feeling and causes him to frown.
This isn’t right.
His body feels like it's being pulled down to the earth; a tether holding him instead of letting him rise higher.
“Papa! C’monnnnn! Wake up! I wanna go higher, sleepy head!”
“I’m coming, Yua! Just -- Just give me …” Keigo says, struggling as he tries to climb higher. “Give me a minute!”
It’s like his early training, where the HPSC handlers would constantly add more weighted belts before he was ready and he’d sink down. His wings are struggling and he’s losing feathers. He’s panicking.
The next thing he knows, his vision is going black and he’s falling.
He hears Yua calling for her papa before it all goes silent.
When he wakes, it’s to the dreaded smell of sterile solutions and the sound of medical equipment beeping.
His throat is rough and unused.
Thank god they’ve got him on some sort of medication that has him feeling like someone tied a bag of rocks to him because he’d be panicking otherwise.
Looking around the familiar room--one he’d woken up in after his coma--sends a jolt of fear down his spine. He had a date. He’d missed his date with … With --
Keigo turns his head, seeing Enji’s hulking figure dozing in the familiar chair he’d been in whenever he visited before. He’s struggling to keep focused on Enji, but there’s something … Something different … And where was Yua? Was she safe?
There’s a knock at the hospital door that wakes Enji. Just as the doctor walks in the door, Enji’s eyes lock with Keigo’s. There’s fear in them, apprehension, worry, then relief.
“Hello, gentlemen. How are you?”
Keigo takes a minute, struggling to turn his head to focus on the doctor. He’s wearing round glasses that he thinks most people would consider ‘vintage’ and seems ready to get this over with to go to his next patient. He’s got fine dark hair and Keigo’s honestly not sure if this guy is old enough to have graduated medical school.
“I’m Dr. Kenji Kobayashi. How are you feeling Hawks?”
Keigo scrunches his face in confusion. “No … You’re not …” He rasps out.
“I’m … Not?” Dr. Kobayashi asks, confused. “Not what? Dr. Kobayashi?”
Keigo nods. “He’s … Older. No glasses …”
“I’m … The only Dr. Kenji Kobayashi here …”
Keigo frowns. He’s positive this is the same room from before … Everything is the same exact layout … The same colors … He looks over to Enji, who looks just as confused as the doctor does.
“Hawks … Do you remember what happened?”
He nods. That much he knows. “I was … Giving … Yua flying lessons … Blacked out …”
The doctor looks down to his chart, seemingly more confused now before he looks to Enji. Keigo, in turn, looks at Enji. He should be able to set the record straight.
“Hawks … Who is Yua?” Enji asks.
Keigo feels like his whole world is suddenly shattering with that one sentence. “W-What? What do you … She’s my daughter! She’s--”
“Hawks … Hawks we need you to remain calm … Take a deep breath,” Dr. Kobayashi says, moving closer as he listens to the heart monitor giving off alarm sounds. “Take a deep breath … We’re going to figure this out …”
There’s tears streaming down his face. Enji doesn’t know Yua. Dr. Kobayashi isn’t Dr. Kobayashi. Keigo turns to beg Enji to remember who Yua was when it finally hits him. He finally realizes what’s so different.
Enji’s younger. The gray at his temples is gone.
There’s no wedding ring on his hand.
“Hawks … You’ve been under our care for about six months. You were severely injured in the fight against All for One. We had to sedate you in order for your body to properly heal. We tried to bring you out of it just a month in, but you began thrashing so badly we had to sedate you again in order to continue your healing. We started the process to wake you up earlier today. One of the nurses said you responded well when she called for you to wake up.”
Keigo is on the verge of panicking again. “No … No, no … No … I-- I was in ... I was in a coma … For six years … There was an accident …”
“I’m not … An expert on this,” Dr. Kobayashi warns. “But I believe your mind may have created false memories in order to cope with the trauma while you were unconscious … Similar to times when we dream that we’ve gone through an entire school or work day. I have a therapist we’ve been consulting with for your case who will come speak with you shortly about it …”
He’s jotting down information when Keigo turns, teary eyed to Enji. “Enji … Please …”
“Enji?” He asks, seemingly taken aback. “You’ve … Never called me that before …”
“No … Stop, please …”
“Hawks,” Dr. Kobayashi says. “I need you to breathe …”
His mind is already spinning as he tries to understand just what the hell is going on. He’s vaguely aware of the heart monitor once again sending off alerts as his heart rate increases before a nurse comes in with a syringe full of something that makes him fall asleep almost as soon as it’s placed in the IV; his protests against it falling on deaf ears.
Waking up is quickly becoming something that Keigo fears.
This time, he wakes up in the same room, but instead of Enji sitting at his bedside, there is a woman with short brown hair.
“Oh! Hello, Hawks. Are you with me?”
“Yeah …” He says, voice still rough. “Who are you …?”
“Would you like some ice chips?” She asks. When he nods, she gets up to fetch him some. “I’m a therapist, here to talk to you about what’s going on in your head--”
“Dr. Yamada?”
“Hmm? Oh no, no. I’m Dr. Suzuki.” She returns, handing him the chips before sitting in the seat. “Now … Dr. Kobayashi said that you thought you were in a coma for six years? Why don’t you tell me your version?”
So Keigo tells her.
He explains everything from waking up, hearing that it’s been six years, going through recovery, learning his relationship with Enji, being introduced to his adoptive daughter, teaching her how to fly, regaining his memories, everything. It takes longer than he expects, even giving just the briefest explanation, as he continues to pop ice chips in his mouth. When he’s done, he feels emotionally wrecked. He’d had everything he ever wanted ripped away from him so suddenly.
Dr. Suzuki is patient with him, listening with interest as she takes notes. Once he finally sits back, she gives him a warm smile. “It sounds like … A wonderful life you had.”
“It was so real … I could feel pain … I-I woke up and went to sleep … I felt Yua hug me …”
She gives him a nod. “I have an idea …” He looks up to her and she shifts in her seat to get more comfortable. “Things that you felt … Perhaps they were things your body actually felt. The pain you had in your dream was the same pain you felt as you slept … Your body was still recovering from major injuries. Maybe a hug was a visitor … Or maybe it was a nurse placing a blanket over you … It could be so many different things.”
The woman reaches out, taking his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. “Sometimes, when something traumatic happens, whether we realize it as trauma or not, our brains create another narrative for us to save us the pain. I think that your brain knew the pain your body had gone through and knew the losses we suffered during the war … And based on that, it tried to protect you by creating something you wanted; this constructed family.”
Looking down at their hands, he feels tears well in his eyes. “I want them back …”
“Who’s to say you can’t have something similar now?” She asks plainly.
Keigo looks up at her, tears sliding down his cheeks. “What?”
“It might not be … My place,” Dr. Suzuki says, letting his hand go as she sits back in the chair. “I’ve been called in a couple times for your case, to assess whether you might need mental therapy when you woke up, something I do for many coma patients, and each time I was brought in … Endeavor was by your side. As far as I know, he tries to come daily. He’s sat by your side … Occasionally read books out loud.” She chuckles. “I asked him why once … He told me that he’d heard coma patients could hear if people talked to them, so he wanted you to know you weren’t alone. It was rather sweet.”
Enji … Had watched over him?
“You might never be able to have Yua … But there are so many other children who would be happy to have you as a father, Hawks,” Dr. Suzuki says. “For now … Only time will tell. We can only ever put one foot in front of the other and press on.”
Keigo’s head falls and he gives a nod. He knew she was right … He’d always been good at rolling with the punches; this one had just hit him harder than expected.
The two part ways, Dr. Suzuki promises to come back to check on him in a couple days and to schedule regular sessions. She welcomes him back to the world of the living and tries to reassure him everything would be okay as she leaves the room.
He cries himself to sleep without Yua or his Endeavor plush to comfort him.
The next day is filled with tests that exhaust him. When he wakes up from a nap, he notes that there are now flowers coating one corner of his hospital room. The following day includes more tests, visits with Dr. Suzuki, and the introduction to his physical therapy. It’s not until the end of the week when he sees Enji again.
He’d just finished with Dr. Suzuki when there’s a knock at his door. He calls out a ‘come in’, freezing as he eats his hospital pudding when he sees Enji awkwardly in the doorway, holding a bouquet of flowers.
“Hey big guy …”
“Hawks,” Enji says gruffly.
“Keigo,” he corrects.
Enji nods and walks over to the bed, “I brought you flowers …”
“I can see that … They’re beautiful,” Keigo says, grinning. “Sorry uh … You can put them with the others?” He nods towards the fragrant corner of his room. Enji dutifully moves over to place the flowers in a good spot before returning to sit next to the bed.
“I’m uh … I’m sorry … I was kind of a mess when I woke up,” Keigo starts.
“Keigo … Don’t apologize for that,” he says. “You’ve been through … A lot. I’m simply glad that you’re okay.”
“Yeah … Me too.”
“Everyone has been worried about you,” Enji says. “Rumi stopped by a few times … Even Shouto and his friends.”
“Really?” Enji nods and Keigo sits back, putting his pudding to the side. “What have I missed in the last six months then?”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Enji frowns in thought. “A lot of rebuilding … Memorial services … Shouto introduced me to his boyfriend …”
“He’s got a boyfriend?!”
“Yes … Red Riot? The red head.”
“Oh! Mr. Unbreakable!”
“Correct … Eijirou Kirishima …” Enji says. It's hard to tell whether he approves or not. “I believe the two of them came to visit you once.”
Keigo thinks back to his ‘dinner’ with the Todorokis and wonders if that’s how news of their relationship entered his subconscious.
“What about you? Your life?”
Enji shifts awkwardly, frowning. “Rei and I have gotten divorced.”
“No way,” Keigo says, staring at him. “Really?”
“We sat and talked about it … And believed it was only fair to let each other be happy …”
There’s another knock at his door and he looks up to see the physical therapist who he’d met earlier that week.
“Sorry to interrupt, Hawks … Endeavor … Ah, it's just … Time for Hawks’ physical therapy.”
“No need for apologies,” Enji says as he stands.
“Uh …” Keigo starts, catching the attention of both his physical therapist and Enji. “Could Enji--Endeavor--come with and help me?”
The physical therapist pauses, looking to Endeavor, who looks just as lost as he is. “If Endeavor would like to … It would be beneficial to learn what to do so someone could help you once you’re discharged?”
Enji nods, “I’d be happy to assist.”
It’s how Keigo finds Enji with him at every physical therapy session. Enji is patient with him and corrects him every time he tries to call him Endeavor (“If I call you Keigo, it’s only right that you call me Enji”). By the end of two weeks, Keigo is ready to be discharged, and Enji asks him to move into the Todoroki estate. He knows Keigo currently has nowhere to go and he still needs lots of help; Enji insists it's mutually beneficial since he hates the quiet of his estate.
The day he moves in, he realizes just how off the Todoroki estate of his mind had been from the real thing. He’d been there before, dropping off paperwork, but he’d only seen the front and brief glances of the hallways. He’d completely gotten the guest room wrong.
They quickly fall into a steady rhythm. Enji helps Keigo get around the estate and with his discharge instructions. He even allows Keigo access to his credit card and his online shopping account in order to buy new clothes and anything else to make himself at home (a mistake he only realizes once Keigo buys a Colonel Sanders-themed kigurumi complete with a fried chicken leg shaped pillow). Keigo even starts joining in on Todoroki family dinners. They’re not far off from the one in his mind, though Natsuo is a bit more standoffish in real life than he is in Keigo’s false memories.
It’s … It’s not perfect, but it’s real.
He’d been so terrified about whether or not this had been real that it had come up during almost every session with Dr. Suzuki. She tries to reassure him every time, but he’s long given up on trying to figure out if it is or not; now it’s just become a running question and answer for the two of them.
As the weather turns nicer, Keigo practically begs Enji to take him to the park. He’s over being cooped up in the house like a caged bird and, even though he’s gotten stronger, he’s still not comfortable trying to walk for long periods without someone nearby. So, one bright, sunny Saturday, Keigo finally manages to drag Enji out to the park. He coos about the cherry blossoms while holding onto the crook of Enji’s arm for stability.
“Yua! Yua wait up!”
Keigo’s head snaps to the sound so quickly it makes his head spin. It takes a moment for him to register where the sound came from: a mother running after her toddler daughter, who’s giggling happily as she runs in circles.
“Keigo? Are you okay?” Enji asks worriedly.
Keigo turns his attention back to Enji, eyeing him for a moment before opening his mouth to reassure him that he was fine.
“Go on a date with me, Enji?” comes out instead.
“I’d be happy to.”