Fly High, Burn Bright

Chapter 26

It had taken a few minutes for me to convince the nurses that I was good to go, but after I'd shown them that there weren't even any scars left on me from the burns, they'd finally given me permission to leave. Keigo still hovered around me like an overprotective helicopter, and the whole way back to the agency, his arm was wrapped around my waist to offer support as we walked. The streets got more populated as we left the destroyed part of the city behind in the hands of fire fighters, and I caught a few of the passing pedestrians giving me a dirty look, which I was oh-so-tempted to return.

Then, I didn't know if I was imagining it, but I heard the faint click of someone taking a photo, and I pulled away from Keigo, no longer feeling comfortable with him holding me now that I was aware that others seemed to be paying extra attention to us. It was only now that I realized how it probably looked to others. Sure, Keigo and I have both stated in several interviews that we are comfortable with working as partners on cases, which wasn't uncommon for heroes who work under the same agency, but we'd never told the media about our more personal connection, and holding your work partner by their waist wasn't exactly the most common approach.

There was also the problem of Keigo's fans, who fawned over him as if he was some sort of celebrity, but to be fair, I couldn't exactly blame them - after all, I wasn't that much better. With me, however, the lurking reputation that I was a, to quote, 'disgrace to the hero society', there was no doubt that Keigo's fans would do whatever they could to ensure that I didn't hurt Keigo's golden reputation as Japan's youngest and most successful hero. Even so, there was no doubt that even if rumors about me and him started to spread, I'd be the one who'd receive backlash from it, but I still knew it was worth it. Even if millions of people screamed at me that I was unworthy of Keigo, as long as he stayed by my side, I wouldn't waver. I'd withstand the hate and I'd push through, and I'd stay a hero by Keigo's side until the day I dropped dead.

Still, on the off chance that he'd be hurt by such rumors, too, I put a little bit of distance between us, only for Keigo to pull me back to his side, glaring down at anyone who dared make even the slightest expression that they were against it. Neither Keigo nor I were the type to get flustered easily, but right now, my cheeks were flushed a bright pink, and Keigo wrapped one of his wings around me protectively. There was no way he didn't reach the same conclusion as I had, that ultimately, this move of his might make him end up being known as the golden hero who dropped before even reaching his peak all because of the fact that he associated himself with someone as hated by the public as me. 

I remembered his speech at the ranking ceremony where he'd been officially announced as the number two hero, and any doubt I had earlier disappeared. Keigo and I weren't quite the same. I pretended that the whispers of the public didn't bother me, but they ate away at me every night. He, on the other hand, couldn't care less what people thought of him, and he genuinely meant it. A small part of me was jealous over it - he didn't even care about what they thought, so why couldn't the roles be reversed? Why couldn't I be the one that people fawned over, and he the one that they avoided? It would only be fair, wouldn't it? He didn't need the love of the media that he got, but I desperately did, so why couldn't we switch?

I caught myself and shuddered at the thought slightly. I can't believe I really thought about that. I don't care what I have to withstand from those idiots, as long as Keigo is safe and by my side, it's enough. I felt his hand around my waist squeeze a little, and I snapped out of my daze - we were already outside the agency, with the sun just starting its descent behind the skyscraper. I already knew what awaited us in the agency, and my suspicions were only confirmed by the stack of paper waiting on the desk in my office. I groaned loudly, but forced myself to rush through every form, making sure to recount every little detail I could remember before finally filing the papers into the proper order and dropping them off by the management of resources, stopping by Keigo's office to wait for him to finish up so that we could go home together. 

He looked pretty defeated, but cheered up a little and started writing faster when he saw me, and within minutes, he was done, too. We trudged home, both sore after sitting still for so long, and I barely managed to get the key into the lock, frowning when it didn't turn on the first try. The lock had been fine this morning, so it couldn't have gotten jammed so quickly, right? I tried to shrug it away and pushed the door open, leading Keigo into the apartment and turning on the lights as I went. Just in case, I scanned the entire area for anything unusual. It would be easy to spot - I memorized the entire layout of the apartment like the back of my hand, and even the smallest difference would stick out like a sore thumb. 

On the chance that I was just being paranoid, I didn't tell Keigo - he was already stressed enough as it was, and I wasn't going to add on to that. I did my best to act natural as I walked through the living room, relieved to see that nothing was off. The bedroom was cleared, too, but as I went to check the kitchen, telling Keigo that I was just getting some water, my heart dropped. A small scrap of paper, almost identical to the one that I'd gotten from Dabi a month ago, lay on the small table, and I had to quickly put my cup down to stop myself from dropping it.

"Kira? Everything okay?" Keigo called out, and I quickly snatched the note off of the table, crumpling it in my hand. I couldn't let him see it first. I had to at least know what Dabi was so keen on telling me. 

"Oh, yeah, I'm all good." I smiled, hoping it didn't look forced. "Why don't- uh, how about you go wash up, alright? I'll be there soon."

"Okay, just don't have a feast without me," Keigo teased, and I giggled, gently punching his arm and rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, just get on with it," I replied, pushing Keigo towards the bathroom. As soon as he was inside, with the door shut behind him, I unraveled the small slip of paper, the now-familiar rushed handwriting immediately meeting me. It was from him. There was no chance that I was wrong - that writing haunted me in my sleep every other night and it forever engraved itself in my mind by now. Somehow, Dabi had managed to get in and leave this to taunt me. With shaking fingers and even more unstable breaths, I managed to read the message he'd left me. 

Hey, princess. I hope you didn't miss me too much. I have a plaything of yours that I think you might want back, and as long as you manage to control yourself, I'm willing to return it. I think you and I both want answers about something, don't you? Come to the roof alone at 2:00 sharp - don't even try to bring your little boyfriend with you. I'll know if he's there. I'll be waiting.

My whole body trembled, and I was glad that I'd only opened the note in the bedroom - at least I had the soft mattress to sink into. Dabi had gotten into the apartment. That explained the lock. I felt myself shiver as I realized that even my home was no longer safe - the League was determined and fixated on me, and it didn't look like they were willing to back down any time soon. Still, if Dabi was willing to meet me, and he, too, was looking for answers, then this could be an even better chance to take the League of Villains down than the time we'd interrogated him. Maybe since he was the one to bring it up, he'd be more willing to talk this time...

With a new goal set, I pushed away the books that led to my hidden safe, pulling out my last vial of the paralyzing poison - I'd need to restock later - and setting it to one side, just in case the going got rough. Sadly, I'd lost all of my remaining knives in today's fight, so a simple kitchen knife would do. I carried the supplies to the living room, covering them with a pillow so Keigo wouldn't see, and when he finally got out of the bathroom, I quickly washed up and slid into the bed next to him. It was already one in the morning, and I watched silently as the minutes on the clock slowly passed, Keigo's soft breathing echoing in my ears, but any chance to rethink my decision was gone as soon as the clock hit 1:45. It was time.