Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Piltover had never been perfect. If anything, it had always been flawed in of itself. 

A nation split down the middle. 

Piltover was a place of wealth and power, but also one of pain and classism. Tensions between the two sides of this land only seemed to grow, seemed to strengthen. There had been so many rebellions. The bridge had so many vast layers of blood stacked atop of layers, never-ending violence that paints every crevice of the home of millions. 

Pain is temporary, peace is forever. That's what they will always say. When the blood dries, when the last whisper of the oppressed ceases to exist, then what will be left?

The undercity, impoverished, with not a coin to spare. The streets were filthy, since there was no one to clean them. Riddled with crime and a high rate of drug usage. The pain never stopped for them. Most children grew up down there knowing it was nearly impossible to have a future. 

Piltover was the city of progress. Filled with young inventors, shining military strength. Whilst they were born lucky, most of those form the undercity had been lucky to be born. 

Touya knew he was lucky. 

Born to a rich family, with a name that had been passed down from an honorable man to the next for generations before him. Each new name was a new member on the council. Each new eldest child was destined to be the next prodigy. Sensation of the ages. Touya, the eldest child of the Todoroki legacy, knew this. Knew he had been blessed to not be born in the depths of the undercity, that he could be destined for greatness. 

But Touya also knew he had been lucky to have been kept. He knew his worth in his father’s eyes, knew the distaste his family had for him, even if they would never admit it. 

Touya Todoroki had been unwanted the second his other brothers had shown greater capabilities in the battlefield than himself. Councilor Todoroki held his head high, and he expected only the utmost best from his children. And Touya… was a lot less than the best. 

He hadn’t been weak. Never something like that. But he hadn’t been enough. Never. He wasn’t quick enough, he wasn’t strong enough, his head wasn’t in the right place, he couldn’t focus, he wasn’t grasping the task at hand. 

Always something with him. 

He supposed that’s why his father had been so fed up with him. Then again, Touya learned he didn’t care all that much. He resented his brothers, he hated his father, he saw his sister and mother as useless. 

He didn’t love his family. He didn’t love much of anything or anyone. But he was still a Todoroki. Which meant certain things were still expected of him. Specifically, excelling at something. So, Touya latched onto the one thing none of his brothers tried. 

Academics. Now, he wasn’t the brightest ever, but he knew how to work hard. He wasn’t afraid of work or studying. So sure, it hadn’t been easy but it hadn’t been impossible either. Not to mention, his father’s name helped him a lot more than he’s like to admit. He studied for years, he worked harder than he thought was possible. And eventually, yes. It paid off. 

But his father did not care for his work. 

So Touya learned not to care for his father’s opinion. 

He knew he was destined for something more, but he lacked passion. Purpose. He had no desire to play around with machines for the rest of his life. He desired something… great. Something truly splendid. Organic, raw, untouched. Something he could take apart and understand from the inside out. 

But alas, he had yet to find anything of the such. His life bored him so miserably. He had himself locked in his lab, as though trying to search for something he would never grasp. The world slowly crumbled in on itself and all he could think was how much longer until I get what I search for?

“Touya-san.” 

He was abruptly pulled form his work, finally looking up from his calculations sheet. His eyes were sunken in. He hadn’t slept in a while. He had sworn he’d nearly managed to put together something interesting enough. It led to nothing. He probably smelt terrible, considering he’d been rotting in this room for a day now. He spun around in his chair, seeing his young assistant staring back at him with a slightly tilted smile. 

Toga Himiko. She was from a somewhat wealthy background, kind girl. Touya had met her by chance. Got good grades, never raised her voice at authority figures. She was overall sweet. Freshly sixteen, with big eyes that were supposedly filled with ambition. Her blond hair was tied up behind her head into a messy bun, two pencils through the mas sof hair to ensure it didn’t fall apart. Her uniform was informal, but she didn’t really have to wear it properly. She was still a student, but she didn’t go to any classes as of now, since it was a internship program. 

She had always been friendly. Also so happy, readily awaiting work. 

But Touya knew better. He knew those eyes far too well. They were hollow. Painfully so. They had no sparkle as they should. They lacked true emotion. Lacked true joy. Toga was an abyss, and that’s why Touya had picked her. She wouldn’t be a hassle. Lacked love of the craft, and with that, came to the lack of desperation for work. For inclusion. She was indifferent to whether she was there or not. Had no true care for if she was given work or not. That’s what Touya had been looking for as an intern this season. 

“Toga.” He sighed, running his hand over his face. “What can I help you with?”

Toga hugged her clipboard, blinking a few more times. He smile was curled into a neat, proper smile. Most likely taught to her in etiquette class that her parents decided she must take if she wanted to succeed in anything in life. 

“Nothing in particular. I just thought it might be wise to tell you that its important to leave your lab space on occasion.” 

Touya clicked his tongue, spinning back to face his work again. “I have no desire to take concerns from a schoolgirl.” 

He absorbed himself back in his work, staring at the numbers, trying to make sense of what he’d calculated mere seconds before before being rudely interrupted. Days like these, he found his lack of talent seeped in. He could’ve sworn that he was good at this. Could’ve sworn he understood it. And yet, here he was. He wasn’t a prodigy, his father had drilled that into his head long ago. But even now, that he had made it to where he wanted to, he still found these moments of weakness seep in. Moments where he was less than he wished he was. 

His self-depricating thoughts spiraled. Maybe if he had been as kind as Fuyumi. As stubbornly willed as Natsuo. As strong and perfect as Shouto. But that was impossible. Because he was only Touya. Weak, not good enough Touya. That had nothing but the diplomas that he didn’t deserve that hung on the walls of this very lab, as though mocking him. Always mocking him. 

There was a clink beside him. His eyes follow the sound. Toga stood beside him now, offering a small smile of comfort, but her eyes did not contain the same emotions. Touya had gotten used to that by now. Her eyes always looked so… bored. 

“I know you like zaru soba.” She smiled softly, pushing a small plate towards him. “I’m still very bad at cooking, if I’m being honest. But soba is easy enough to make. So I thought there was no way I could mess it up for you!” 

Touya’s eyes followed her arm down to the plate. It wasn’t much. But he hadn’t eaten in nearly twenty-four hours now. His eyes traveled back to her face.

“I appreciate the thought,” He lied through his teeth. “But I’m really not hungry. I have to focus on this project. It's crucial to bring forward the data I collected and make sense out of everything.”

Touya ran his hand over his face, letting out a groan. He’s spent weeks on this. So many hours. He still couldn’t grasp it. He could’ve sworn in at least a week he should’ve put everything together. But nothing was clicking. He had always known he wasn’t made of pure talent and passion, but with how long he’d been working out this stuff, he should at least have an idea of what’s going on. 

“Well, I do have another reason for coming here.” Toga sighed, crossing her arms. 

Touya cursed under his breath, wishing she’d go away. He wasn’t in the mood to do anything but work right about now. And knowing Toga, she was going to drag this on forever. 

“If it isn’t something I deem important, I’ll blow you up.” Touya groaned, swiveling in his stool to look at Toga.

The assistant grinned, raising her eyebrows pointedly. “No you won’t~! More importantly!”

She basically hobbled over to another one of Touya’s lab stations, plopping down on a stool and rolling over. She twirled in it, quickly grabbing onto the desk to steady herself and sliding right beside Touya. 

Toga pushed the soba to the side, but not before pointing at it and giving Touya a stern look. She then took out her notebook, flipping through the pages before landing on one. There were diagrams of the old filtration system that was set up in the undercity. Touya hadn’t even been born when those old things broke down. 

“Why do you—” 

“Dont ask silly questions Touya-san!” Toga interrupted before continuing, “On my break this weekend I took a trip to the undercity and mapped out the old filtration systems. They’re crazy complex. Also, the undercity is a lot more lively than I expected! Oh and—”

“You went to the undercity alone!?” Touya said, horrified. “You’re a kid! You cannot be serious! That’s extremely dangerous, you could’ve been…” Touya trailed off. 

“Oh please don’t be dramatic Touya-san! I can handle myself.” Toga waved her hands around dramatically to highlight her point.

“You’re like ten. At your age I had to sneak out of the house just to go a block down!” Touya gritted his teeth. 

“Sixteen actually.” Toga scoffed. “Besides, nothing happened! So it barely matters!” 

Touya opened his mouth to protest, but Toga shushed him harshly. She grabbed his face and turned it to look back at the sheet. His eyes trailed over the intricately detailed map. Toga must’ve spent a while on this. It was strange to see how they were formatted. It looked stupid, for such a system to be created like some sort of maze. 

Touya grabbed the notebook, running his finger through the detailed map, as though trying to solve a maze himself. Toga looked at him with confusion, blinking a few times before speaking up. 

“Whatca doing?” She blurted. 

Touya felt a vein pop out on his forehead, trying not to yell at the younger to get out. She had brought him this. It would be unfair to yell at her. But god did he want to. He only had a… slight patience problem. 

“I’m looking it over.” Touya grumbled between gritted teeth. “These are incredibly detailed Toga. How did you…?”

“I spent all weekend mapping it out. I told you.” She shrugged.

“All—? Y’know what, I’m not surprised.” Touya scoffed. “More importantly, why did you even do this in the first place? I thought we gave up on trying to filter the air in the undercity years ago.”

“Your dad had different plans.” Toga shrugged. 

“The hell does that bastard have to do with anything?” Touya’s expression turned dark, gritting his teeth. “Since when do you take orders from him?”

Toga blinked a few times, almost confused. Meanwhile, Touya’s mind was running wild. That piece of shit of a father he had… Enji had definitely been trying to get closer to him recently. Everytime he talked to Fuyumi it was something about him ‘wanting to be better’ and ‘rebuilding their family’. 

Load of shit if you asked Touya.

As the eldest child, he always had it rough. Having younger siblings with better willpower and strengths than you took a toll on both self-worth and confidence. Touya would never be enough, Enji had made sure he knew that. So no, he wasn’t going to help him on his ‘redemption’ journey. Matter of fact, Touay would rather be burnt alive than forgive that monster. 

“Well, I also think what he’s suggesting is a good idea.” Toga said, her voice becoming significantly smaller. 

“What exactly is he suggesting?” Touya scoffed. 

“Well, according to the latest research done of mortality rates in the undercity, a majority of deaths are caused by the gases down there giving even non-smoker stuff like lung cancer!” Toga frowned. “I think it’s only fair that we let them breathe! They deserve it! It's not fair!”

“When did you become an activist for undercity rights?” Touya scoffed. “This is just another one of his stupid ploys to get me to work under him. That manipulative—”

“Touya, excuse my language, but you’re being a fucking idiot.” 

Touya jolted to a freeze. He’d never heard Toga swear before. The girl always acted so innocent and pure. She’d been raised to act a certain way, but every now and then she flashed a different side of her that often caught Touya off guard. 

“That’s no way to speak to your superior Toga.” Touya frowned. 

“Sorry… sorry.” Toga cleared her throat, yet sarcasm dripped from her tongue with each word. “ I think that it’s… unwise and frankly… immature to—”

“Okay okay I get it. Sorry.” Touya groaned in annoyance. “What does good ol’ dad want us to do with this info?” 

“Well if you would just let me speak and stop interrupting me, mayyyyybe I could tell you, but now that you’ve been so mean I think I’d rather—”

“Toga.” Touya growled. “Talk.”

Toga groaned, rolling her eyes. “You’re so mean when you're agitated. Fine. Councillor Todoroki said that he would like to speak to you in his office this afternoon. To discuss what courses of action that we should take to start on the filtration of the undercity’s air. The old system is a mess, so it’ll take a while. We’ll need someone posted in the undercity for a long while taking samples and whatnot.” 

“Hm…” Touya covered his mouth, his brow knitted together. “That would make sense. But you aren’t going again.” 

“What!? Why!?” Toga frowned, slamming her hands on the desk. 

“Because one, your a kid. Two, because I say so.” Touya scoffed. “Tell that old man I’ll talk to him later. I’ll just finish up here… or at least properly give up on this project, then I’ll go talk to him.”

“Ugh, tell him yourself. I’m not your—”

“Yes. Yes you are, Toga. You’re here on an internship. I’m just kind enough to not have you do all my dirty work.” Touya scoffed. “Go. Now.”

Toga sighed dramatically. “This is child labor!!!!” She cried as she walked out of Touya’s lab. 

“Close the door on your way out!” Touya called out after her. “And don’t lie, you get paid for this!” Touya grumbled. 

As the door closed, he sighed, digging his face in his hands, elbowed atop the desk to prop him up. So many thoughts were rushing through his head and he was far too tired to address any of them. As of now, he decided the best course of action. 

1. Eat that soba.
2. Try to get out of talking to his father
3. Eat that soba.
4. Convince the council to let him conduct his research if his dad didn’t already get the okay
5. Contemplate going rogue because it would be so much easier
6. Commit arson
7. Eat that soba.
8. Probably eat that soba
9. Eating that soba was probably the only thing he’d be doing on this list. 

Yeah, he was just gonna eat, then wing it. He wasn’t one for thinking stuff through before doing them. Wasn’t his style. Besides, that soba looked fucking delicious. Who was he not to take what was offered?

As he snapped the wooden chopsticks, his mind wandered. Specifically to the undercity. He knew to an extent, he’d been coddled. Not incredibly, but he still did grow up rich. Bad parenting could be, in some ways, evened out by wealth. He knew how it felt to fear for his life, but he had doubts any skills he ahd for surviving in an abusive home would help in him the dangerous streets of the undercity.

But right about now, he didn’t care about that. Right about now, he was busy slurping soba contently, trying to ignore the dread seeping in as he thought about how he’d have to talk to his father soon enough. 

At least the soba was good.

____________________________________________

The knock on his door was loud, but not enthusiastic. It was a knock the councilor was familiar with, as would any parent. He clicked his pen a few times, staring at the door and waiting for his son to simply let himself in like he usually did. He had no energy to say anything. 

At long last, Touya swung the door open, entering. His hands were in his pocket, and his eyes were everywhere but on Enji. He stridded into the middle of the room, looking around at the decorations, seemingly distracted more than anything. 

“You wanted to see me dear old dad?” Touya said, his voice flat.

“Touya. Sit, please.” Enji hummed, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. 

“Nah, not in the mood.” Touya still wasn’t looking at Enji. “I prefer to stand. Gotta get those steps in, y’know.”

“...I see you're still a child.” Enji sighed, rubbing his forehead in irritation. 

“I see you're still as short tempered as before.” Touya scoffed, finally meeting Enji’s eyes, voice defensive. 

“You’re finally meeting my eyes. Congratulations. Now please sit.” Enji repeated, much sterner now. 

“You can’t boss me around old man.” Touya gritted his teeth. “I’m not ten anymore.”

“But you work under me as my employee and I asked you here to discuss a new project, meaning it is only respectful for you to sit down as we talk.” Enji crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat before adding, “Oh, and I don't know if you actually respect me or not, so please, keep the snarkiness to yourself.” 

Touya clicked his tongue, walking over lazily and sitting on the chair. It was awkward to sit on something with a backing, after spending so many hours perched on his stool. It was uncomfortable and weird. He crossed his arms, mirroring his father’s movements as a reflex from back when he was a kid. 

“Go on then.” Touya scoffed. “Speak.”

“I’m sure Toga briefed you on what I wanted, but I’ll explain anyway.” Enji sighed. “The undercity has had a distressing number of sicknesses we don’t understand or can cure, and it has only begun to escalate. We might not be close friends with the people down there, but that still doesn’t make it fair. Everyone deserves to be able to breathe and not have the fear of illness creep into them.” 

“That’s uncharacteristically soft of you, Councilor.” Touya spat back, venom on his tongue. “What’s with the change of heart?”

“It’s not a change of heart. I have never thought it was fair that we never went to fix the filtration systems down there. But I didn’t even think it was possible until Toga brought me the data.” Enji gritted his teeth in irritation, trying not to snap at his eldest son.

“Mhm. What exactly do you want me to do then?” Touya scowled. “Go down there with all those filthy criminals!? And what, probably get mugged? Why exactly should I go down there? I’m terrible at protecting myself, you know this! Get enforcers to collect the data, I’m busy with other projects—”

“You’re a scientist. You collect the data, it's your job. Besides, you’ll be fine. The undercity might feel dangerous but you just have to know how not to get into fights. I’m sure as long as you go down there wearing… less expensive clothing and keep your head held down, you’ll be fine.” Enji explained. 

Touya had slightly been lying through his teeth. A part of him wanted to go to the undercity. It would be a fascinating experience. And besides, the only part he actually liked about being a scientist was collecting data… not to mention he needed a break anyway. The last project he’d been working on had been more than just annoying. 

But he didn’t want his father to know that. If it had been any other councilor, he would have shown little resistance. But he wasn’t one to let things be easy for the man he resented so greatly. So of course, he was gonna pretend not to want to do it, be the pish-posh stuck-up rich boy that his father had raised. 

But he had enough by now. He wanted to get packing, he was already thinking of the stuff to bring. What he should wear to blend in, what kind of equipment to use It was all too exciting. He was ready to let up. 

“I’ll go under one condition.” Touya said sharply. He had to milk this opportunity the most he could. “You give me an unlimited budget.”

“You know that isn’t happening Touya.” Enji scoffed.

“Then I won’t go.”

“Touya.”

“Nope.”

“A quarter of a million.”

“Not nearly enough.”

“Touya, I’m not going to let you walk around with that much money, if you get robbed—”

“Half a million final deal or I’m not going.”

“Touya.”

“Councilor Todoroki.”

The son and father stared into each other’s eyes sternly, neither planning on budging. Touya was stubborn. He had gotten it from his "inability to talk about anything" of father. Enji knew it was easier to simply bend to the whim and let Touya have what he wanted. But they wouldn’t be father and son if they weren’t both equally as prideful.

“You’re getting 350, 000. That's the most I’ll give. And I’ll give it to you in small increments.” Enjji grunted, gesturing for Touya to go. “You can leave tonight. If anything goes wrong, you know how to contact enforcers.”

Touya bit his lip. Three hundred thousand wasn’t bad for a project like this. Still, he had really wanted to steal some money from his father. There was less wiggle room. But whatever, he could more than survive with that as a grant. 

“You talked to the other councilors then?” Touya asked, needing all the information before heading out. 

“Don’t worry about them.” Enji muttered, going back to his paperwork. “They won’t mind. I’ll tell them about it after you get the results.”

Touya gritted his teeth. This only ever ended badly. His father was notorious for doing projects behind the rest of the council’s back. Reminded Touya of himself. Made his skin crawl. 

“You can’t be serious. Councilor Yagi will—”

“Enough Touya. I dismissed you. I don’t want to hear from you again until you have data to give me. Or updates.” Enji didn’t bother to meet his son’s eyes. “Don’t die out there.”

Touya scoffed. “As if you’d care.” He mumbled under his breath, turning and swinging the office doors open, not bothering to close them gently.

The loud SLAM! of the doors made Enji flinch, groaning in annoyance. That boy, ever so reckless. As soon as the loud thuds of footsteps disappeared, miraculously, Enji’s headache did as well. 

“One day, that boy’ll get himself killed with that attitude…” Enji grumbled, returning to his paperwork. 

____________________________________________

“Remember to do routine maintenance on all of the equipment. But if you need help, just go next door and talk to Tenko. He knows some of this stuff better than me. He’s a real nerd. Also, if anything happens, and I mean anything—”

“Touya-san, I’ll be fine.” Toga smiled softly. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll help you put together your equipment, ‘kay?” 

“I have doubts. You promise you won’t start any fires? I have priceless research notes in here.” Touya sounded like his father now. 

“It’ll be fineeeeee, you can trust me!” Toga said cheerfully. “Nice to know you care though.” She giggled. 

Touya glared at her. “Don’t get any ideas now. Please just take care of the place.”

He put a gentle hand on her shoulder. She softened, smiling shyly. 

“I won’t. Pinky promise.” Toga said with sincerity in her voice. 

“Thank you.” Touya cracked a small smile. 

Just then, he heard the lab door open. Touya chuckled seeing Tenko enter. His longish black hair was tied back. He was lazily scratching his neck, his eyebags seemingly having grown. 

“I heard you’re heading out?” Tenko asked softly.

“Yeah!” Toga said excitedly. “Touya-san is gonna go be a hero in the undercity!”

“Hardly.” Touya scoffed, giving Toga a look. “Tenko, didn’t think you’d drop by.”

Toga got the look and bounded out of the room, waving Touya a quick goodbye before disappearing into the hallway. Tenko raised an eyebrow at Touya, and Touya just shook his head. 

“Gotta make sure I get first dips on your stuff when you inevitably end up dead down there.” Tenko scoffed. 

“Aw, your trust in me always moves me so much.” Touya said, sarcasm dripping off his tongue. 

“Seriously. Be careful. Wouldn’t want to have to learn about your research down there from your notes rather than your mouth.” 

Touya nodded, chuckling. “I’ll be fine. I’m not that reckless.”

“I beg to differ.” Tenko smiled softly. “I’ll take care of your intern. Don’t worry too much.”

“You’re only saying that ‘cause you don't know what a hassle she is.” Touya grinned. 

“Oh please. I dealt with you during my internship, didn’t I?” Tenko chuckled. 

“Yeah. You could say that.” Touya scratched the back of his head awkwardly. 

Tenko wasn't much younger than him, but due to Touya’s amazing results he graduated very early. He had taken Tenko as an intern a few years back. Now they worked closely together. It was funny how those things worked. 

“Good luck out there.” Tenko patted him on the back, turning to leave. 

“Thanks. Sleep, would ya? Those eyebags only seem to get worse.”

“Yeah yeah.” Tenko waved his hand dismissively before also disappearing down the hallway. 

Touya used to think if he was to really truly form a connection with anyone, it would be Tenko. Tenko matched his energy well. They worked together splendidly. But alas, he had never managed to form any of the sort with the other man. Maybe it was his inability to care for other people. Who knew? Whatever the case, he wasn’t the kind of man to make connections anyway, so why dwell on things he’d never have?

He grabbed Toga’s notebook with the map of the filtration system. He sighed, tucking it into his duffelbag. He slung it over his shoulder, grunting at the weight. You could accuse Touya of a lot of things, but being muscular was not one of them. He walked out of his lab, knowing this was gonna be a long walk. 

____________________________________________

Touya hadn’t expected the undercity to have so much life, if he was benign honest. Walking through the streets that were filled with neon colored lights and clubs, he honestly wasn’t sure why he had expected anything different. It could be considered a red light district, he shouldn’t have expected anything else. Women in revealing outfits waved at him, giggling. Touya chose to ignore them. 

Men all the same waved at him, grinning. He walked faster. The atmosphere wasn’t his style. His mistake for heading out when it was already dark. That was beyond idiotic of him. Not to mention, he had never hated an environment more. 

Everything was too overwhelming. There was too much going on. He gripped his duffelbag tighter, weaving through the sheer volume of people. He pulled his hood down further, trying to remain undetected. 

This was annoying. He was ready to crash land on that shitty hotel bed that was waiting for him. He bumped into a man much larger than him. He apologized quietly, and continued to move. He managed to get out the crowded streets by ducking into an alleyway in a much quieter area. He sighed, putting down his duffelbag with a heavy thud, ripping off his hood and taking a deep breath. He really needed that. Too much of… everything was happening out there. 

He checked the time. 10:07. Not too bad. He was making good time. If he was just in bed by eleven, he could wake up bright and early tomorrow and start on his research in the labyrinth that was the old filtration system. 

He heard someone enter the alleyway. He tensed, pulling his hood back up, trying to look small and unimportant.

“Hey you!” 

He cursed under his breath, not wanting to interact with anyone. He lifted his head, realizing it was the same man he had bumped into prior. He looked pissed. His heart sunk. He couldn’t fight this guy off! He was screwed if he wanted trouble. Touay gulped, realizing he stupidly hadn’t armed himself. 

Touya grabbed his duffelbag, turning away and trying to rush deeper down the alleyway, to hide from something like that. A large hand grabbed his arm, rough and unkind, yanking him back. Touya let out a small yelp, turning back to lock eyes with the much larger man. 

“I was talking to you.” The man sneered. “You deaf or something?”

Touya gulped, refusing to answer. The man continued anyway, unphased. 

“Listen man, just give us the bag and nobody gets hurt, ‘kay?” The man held out his hand expectantly. 

Touya was appalled at the nerve of this man. He hid the bag behind him protectively. Toga’s notes were in here. All the equipment was replaceable, but he couldn’t lose Toga’s notes. The map would take days to recreate. He couldn’t have a setback that large. Besides, Toga would be crushed. Her life’s work was in here. 

“No.” Was all Touya managed to choke out. 

The man blinked a few times, surprised at the resistance. “I’m thrice your size. I’m not interested in fighting someone so small and fragile. Just hand over the bag. I have kids to feed at home.” 

Touya gulped. “No.”

“Seriously man? Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” The man groaned. 

“Fuck you. No.” Touya glared at him. He didn’t know why he was doing this. He seriously couldn’t be this dumb! He was gonna get murdered out here if he didn’t do something! Give the bag, or uppercut him! He could do neither, so he was just stuck in place, paralyzed by fear. 

“You really got some balls, huh kid? Tell you what, you give me the bag and if you don’t got anything valuable enough in there I give it back.” 

This was the strangest mugging ever. Touya was so confused by what was going on, he almost gave the bag. But there was valuable stuff in here. This equipment would go for good money. And Toga’s notes. Touya simply glared at the man, not saying anything further. 

“So you do have valuable stuff in there?” The man chuckled. “What’re you? A Piltie? That makes sense, considering how dumb you are.”

Touya gritted his teeth. He had to do something. At long last, his body listened to him. He swung fast at the man, hitting him square in the chest. His heart sank when the man didn’t even flinch. 

“I really didn’t wanna have to do this pipsqueak.” The man gritted his teeth. 

Touya gasped and squeezed his eyes together as the man raised his fist. He braced himself for pain, pain that never came. 

He felt the hand around his wrist get yanked off and he was thrown backwards, landing on his ass. He groaned, opening his eyes a crack. 

The sight was something he had never seen before, and swore was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid his eyes on. 

Through the foggy air of the alleyway, he saw the man on the floor. He was groaning, not bothering to get up. Above him was a lithe frame. A spikey boot was planted flat on the man’s chest, keeping him down.Tight leather (most likely fake) pants decorated lean legs, belts messily hanging around the waistband. A tight black shirt clung to a thin upper body, a worn out black jacket slung over it, also far too big for the figure’s size. 

A head of messy blonde hair, probably not combed through in weeks, framed a face filled with sharp facial features. They’re lower face was covered by a cloth, probably to help them not breathe in the harsh air, or to prevent catching any of the deadly things that were lingering in the disease ridden air. But who needed to see an entire face when there were these sharp eyes that peeked through the messy strands of hair. 

They looked like they were glowing through the fog. They stuck out so apparently. Bright neon gold, seemingly impossible to miss. There were sharp, captivating avian-like markings around their eyes, which made them even more captivating. It was beauty that left Touya frozen, unable to move. 

But that wasn’t what made him unable to tear his eyes away. No, despite that beauty, there was something else entirely that had taken all his attention away. 

Feathers were everywhere. They laid messily across the alley, all between the colors dark red and pitch black. Large wings sprouted from the back of the figure. They were huge and majestic. They looked a blackish grey color, but there were small specks of red every now and then. Touya inferred the wings were most likely red, but had turned the blackish color from the exposure to the anything but clean air. 

He’s only heard of mutants in biology books. It was a recessive trait, which barely showed up. It had started occurring a few decades ago, and no one really understood why. A baby with claws, or a tail or sometimes fangs. There were larger mutations as well, but the rarest one that had ever been documented were… well wings. 

The mutations had only taken place in the undercity, so it hadn’t been studied much, if Touya could recall from his biology textbooks in the academy. Scientists hypothesized it stemmed from a specific toxin in the air that had somehow altered some individuals’ genetics, and caused them to be able to pass the recessive mutations to their children, only if their partner also carried a recessive gene. Regardless, there was an extremely low possibility of it happening. 

Touya could have never imagined that he’d ever meet a mutant.

But here he was, staring at one.

“Y…you…” He whispered into the air. 

The avian-like human shot him a glare, before dashing back into the crowd. Touya burst into action out of nowhere. He grabbed his bag, nearly tripping over himself while hauling it over his shoulder. 

“W-WAIT!!!” He hollered. 

What were the chances he met someone so interesting? It didn’t happen everyday. As both a scientist and a person, he couldn’t let this opportunity be wasted. 

Even if it meant tackling that damned bird to the ground. 

Chapter Text

Touya wasn’t much of a runner. His father used to always say that. Touya knew it himself, so as a kid he used to run so much to try and prove him wrong. But he could never catch up to anyone. He was far too frail. “The runt of the Todoroki family”, he often heard people whispering. 

Touya knew he was foolish to believe he could ever catch up to his father. 

But one thing was for sure, he could catch up to some random Zaunite that was, for some reason, not simply just flying away. He wasn’t fast, but neither was the other. And clearly the adrenaline had yet to kick in. They were both shoving their ways through the crowd. The only thing that Touya could see in the never-ending crowd were those feathered wings that no one was questioning for some reason?

Touya knocked over a few people during his frantic running, not bothering to mutter a sorry, not wanting to lose sight of the other. His calves burned, threatening to cramp at any moment. He lost sight of the other when a wave of people appeared.

Sneaky. 

He groaned in frustration, looking around frantically. He grabbed a nearby woman, shaking her.

“Did you see a man with wings run past here!?” He exclaimed in her face.

The woman trembled, eyes wide with shock, unable to form words. He groaned in frustration, rushing past her. His eyes searched frantically. 

His mind was moving so fast, he couldn’t actually process anything around him. Thoughts all too jumbled to understand why he was even chasing the avian. He stood still, frozen in the middle of the crowd. People weaved around him, as he turned around frantically, eyes probably crazed as his moves were jerky and uncontrolled. 

He heaved, gritting his teeth. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping his muscles ready for more running. Turquoise eyes as deadly as ever searched for those neon gold ones. 

The world was spinning. Everything was blurring. His head was pounding. 

Find him. Find the bird. We can study him. Understand him. Father would be so proud. He’ll finally accept us. If we just—

Through a crack in the crowd, he saw the familiar face. Piercing avian eyes locked with his own. He was only a few feet away. People were walking around them, as though it were a scene in a movie. The cloth was still over half his face, but seeing him face to face was different. 

Touya’s crazed eyes darkened. He took a step closer. He watched in fascination as the other bent his knees, getting into a fighting stance. From his fingers came talons, sharp and dangerous. Touya’s sense of danger had been long since skewed. 

He lunged for the other. The stranger dove out of the way. Touya got close enough to almost rip the cloth off. The avian skidded away, using his claws to dig into the Earth to stabilize himself. Touya froze. He had finally taken a second, staring into the other’s eyes. Those eyes… how could anyone with eyes like that be anything but a rare precious gem in a crowd of rocks. 

“You’re…” He whispered breathlessly. “Beauti—”

The other let out a hoarse sound that Touya couldn’t quite place. But no human should be able to make it. Fascinating. He definitely had a different set of vocal cords. Touya grinned, pushing forward. The other ran away at equal speed. 

As they both moved through the crowd, Touya finally realized that he had never felt this alive for seemingly years. He couldn’t even pinpoint the last time. His heart was racing, there was a smile on his face that was the most genuine since he was a kid. He hadn’t run this much since the day he lost to his dad in a race. This is what it felt like to be alive. Truly. This was the rush he had craved. The feeling he had long since lost. 

A part of him wished the chase would never end.

Not when it made him feel this real. 

He could for once feel the blood pumping through his veins. Hear the rapid beating of his heart. Feel every individual hair on his body all standing up from the cold air that was rushing through his jacket. 

This is it. 

This is life. 

He had never felt so alive. And he was never going to let it go. 

The winged figure slid into an alleyway. Touya had nearly missed it. He made the sharp turn into the alley last second, falling smack dab against the cold concrete wall, wincing in pain. That was gonna hurt later. He rubbed his arm, but then was quickly reminded why he had been running recklessly in the first place. He charged forward, eyes following the fallen feathers on the ground. 

He didn’t know that wings could shed like that. Though if he just got close enough, he could figure out why. And god did he want to figure out why. 

“HEY! WAIT! I’M NOT GONNA—!” He called after the other. He clumsily almost tripped on a rock, managing to regain his footing and keep running. He cursed under his breath. Out of all the times to be clumsy, why now?

He made another turn, sharp and fast. He gasped in surprise as a feather seemingly flew right by him, cutting his cheek open. If he wasn’t so pumped full of adrenaline, he might’ve thought about how the hell a feather can be that sharp. And maybe he would’ve also realized it wasn’t the smartest idea to chase after someone who had knife-like feathers?

Nah, Touya wasn’t reasonable enough for that. 

The young scientist was losing sight of the mutant. It was all happening too fast. He groaned, pushing himself to run faster. But he knew he would soon be at his limits. Adrenaline was an amazing drug, but it had its limits, as a top scorer in his biology class, he of all people knew that. 

Touya made one last turn, realizing the winged stranger was also starting to slow down. Thank god he was also not very fit. Touya gave one last push, pleading internally that his leg wouldn’t cramp out of nowhere and screw him over. 

His leg cooperated. 

“Hey—!” Touya grabbed the stranger’s arm, rougher than he had planned, pulling them back swiftly, slamming him into the wall to their side.

The stranger’s pupils dilated, and in an instant, tried to rip out Touya’s throat with his other hand. Touya was swift enough to back out of the way, letting out a small gasp. He gritted his teeth, glaring at the other. Those glowing yellow eyes had the look of a predator in them. 

“I don’t want to fight you, please just—” Touya tried. 

The stranger dove, striking to cut open Touya’s throat. Touya yelped, covering his neck with her hand protectively. He gulped, rubbing his neck. The stranger growled, going for another swing, definitely not on the course to miss a third time. Touya’s head was racing and as a reckless decision, he instead stepped forward and managed to grab the clawed hand, strong enough to tear it away from the path it was on. 

The stranger was surprised, caught off guard for long enough that Touya could properly shove him against the wall. Touya heaved, eyes darkening to match those of the stranger.

“I… just… want… to… talk to you!” Touya groaned in annoyance. “Stop running!”

The stranger’s eyes narrowed. He tried to thrash, kick, anything to be freed. Touya wasn’t as strong as he hoped. This stranger had much more strength, years having to defeat yourself kinda gives you some good strength. The stranger thrashed hard enough that Touya almost fell back. Touya, without really thinking about it, rips off the mask covering the face of the other. Touya once again found himself frozen in place. Those eyes had been so striking, but that face was an entirely different story. He was perfect.

This… this was beauty. 

True beauty. Touya had never thought he’d ever seen it before. He thought it didn’t exist. Hell, he didn’t think he could ever be so attracted to someone. Was this what angels looked like? He felt his voice clog in his throat. He couldn’t formulate thoughts. The avian stared back at him, sharp, gorgeous features contorted in confusion and a tinge of repulse seeing the way Touya was staring at him. 

He’s beautiful. Is this… what it's like to—

“Get your hand off me before I rip out your throat.” 

The words were smooth, which was surprising. His voice was deep, but it raised a few octaves every now and then, which made a nice satisfying curve. Touya gulped, still staring and trying to process the words.

“Don’t. Please.” He managed to choke out, clearing his throat. “It would be… very unpleasant. To have my throat ripped out.”

“No duh, that’s why I said it.” The mutant raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you an idiot or something? Thought topsiders were supposed to be gifted.” The last word was spat out. 

Touya opened his mouth to say something else when the avian ripped his arm out of the other’s grip, glaring at Touya. He pushed past him, clicked his tongue. Touya was frozen for a second watching the Zaunite start to walk away. He shook his head, grounding himself back to reality and rushing after. He grabbed the stranger’s arm again to stop him. 

“Wait I—”

“Would you stop grabbing people!?” The other snapped, turning and glaring at Touya with a dangerous glint in his eyes. 

He ripped his arm away, rubbing it softly. 

“Sorry… sorry I just…” Touya trailed off, staring at the avian like an idiot. “I… My name is Touya.” 

“...I don’t… care?” The mutant blinked a few times in confusion. He scoffed, turning away. 

“I mean— fuck just stay a second would you!?” Touya groaned, rushing to not be left behind. 

“Stop following me.” The Zaunite bit back, glaring at the Piltie. 

“No! Your… your name. Please just give me your name alright?” Touya gritted his teeth. 

“None of your business.” The stranger walked faster, not wanting to gaze at Touya. 

Touya had never been so frustrated. He had been frustrated, don’t be confused, but it had always been different. An argument with Fuyumi about “You should’ve done this”, “you should’ve done that”, back in their childhood where it only ended in arguing and their mother prying them apart. Glaring at his prodigy brother, wondering how no matter how hard he tried, he’d never be better. A shout, a slap, a scream,a push. He had been frustrated before. Only God knew of his countless frustrations. 

But this was so… so much different.

This amount of disrespect from a stranger made him fume. It wasn’t like the man mugging him previously, no this felt so much more personal. 

This time, Touya aimed for the feathers. He enclosed a fist around the softness, yanking back. In a second, he was falling back onto the ground. He found himself in a similar position as the man from before. The breath was stolen from his lungs. He stared up on the Zaunite, eyes wide in awe. There was a sharp, long feather that was clenched in the stranger’s hand, and it was long enough to reach Touya's throat. Marvelous. Touya would kill to know more. 

Eyes of fierce disgust, how was it possible to be so beautiful? There was a trickle of blood dripping down the side of his neck. The feathers could sharpen how intoxicating… perfect. And oddly fitting? 

Features etched with years of misery were contorted in defensiveness. Touya couldn’t think right now. He knew he was stupid. His hand was filled with torn out feathers. They were so… soft. Like a handful of straight warmth. 

“Sorry.” He whispered, but his voice held no apologetic edge. 

“Are you a fucking idiot? Are all topsiders like you?” The Zaunite cringed, leaning in closer. “You disgust me.” 

“You amaze me.” Touya’s words were full of admiration, and maybe a hint of something more. “Please, let me find out everything about you. You’re magnificent.”

“Are you mental? Who do you think you are?” 

“Touya Todoroki. And you?” Touya sat up, turning away from the feather. It still cut a superficial cut across the side of his neck that bled minimally down to his collar. 

“Fucking mental…” The stranger grumbled, cringing at the cut and how Touya had leaned forward with no hesitation. 

“Please. Grant me at least that.” Touya whispered, grabbed the feather. 

The Zaunite yelped as Touya tugged forward roughly on the feather. The mutant growled, not easily pulled off his feet. Amazing. The strength of a mutant huh…?

“If I tell you, will you leave me the hell alone? I’m not interested in killing anyone tonight.” The avian gritted his teeth. 

“Yes. I’ll do anything.” Touya whispered, gripping the feather tighter.

“Keigo.” The avian gritted his teeth. “Just Keigo.”

“Hello… Keigo.” Touya muttered in pure rejoice. “Just Keigo.”

____________________________________________

“Did he really?” Jin Bubaigawara laughed aloud, pouring another beer for a customer and sliding it over.

“That’s what I fucking said!” Keigo grumbled, flicking the toothpick in his drink for the hundredth time, before perking up, elbows on the counter. “What kind of audacity do these topsiders have nowadays?”

“They really have gotten bold. And to think someone would try to get with you of all things? HA! Now that, is hilarious.” Jin grinned, raising an eyebrow. “Last guy who tried that ended up screaming and crying with his tail between his legs.”

“Oi, shut up! I’m plenty lovely.” Keigo laughed. “And that guy had it coming he provoked me and you know it.”

“Heh. If you weren’t so strong, you’d have a much larger target on your back Kei.” Jin smiled softly at his friend. 

“Circling back to the Piltie.” Keigo clicked his tongue. “He was carrying around some… duffelbag. Treated it like his fucking baby. Some punk tried to mug him, and the scrawny idiot fought back. Did he think he would win?” Keigo chuckled. 

“Did ya see what was in there? Might be some new topside tech. Didn’t ya mention he was a scientist looking fella? Some topside medicine would do us well, Kei.” Jin pointed out. 

“Hah!? I don’t need no fancy Piltie medicine. Besides the undercity is doing just fine with all the shit they’ve been doing to fuck us over… take our damn filtration systems, they want us dead!” Keigo slammed his hands on the counter, wings ruffling in frustration. 

“Don’t get your feathers in a twist baby bird.” A smoother, much slicker voice entered, a figure coming up behind Keigo. 

Keigo’s expression soured immediately. He scoffed, his expression mocking. “Why do you hang around this joint? You know no one here likes you, right, Shigaraki?” 

“Don’t be so cruel Keigo. I thought we were on a first name basis by now?” Zen Shigaraki smiled slyly, putting a hand on Keigo’s shoulder.

Keigo stared at the hand on his shoulder, then slowly turned his gaze to meet Zen’s eyes. He didn’t make any protests verbally for the other to unhand him, simply staring at the hand with a blank expression. He then turned back to Jin. 

“I thought you banned him, Jin.” Keigo said simply.

“You know folks like him, Kei.” Jin gave an awkward smile.

Keigo scoffed, shrugging Zen’s hand off his shoulder. “You really are the worst.” Keigo smiled, laced with venom. 

“Hm, as are you, Keigo.” Zen gave a much softer, almost mocking, smile. 

Zen’s hand went to run through the feathers in Keigo’s wings. Keigo shut that the hell down, feathers sharpening and one wing swinging, poised at Zen’s jugular in seconds. 

“What did we say about touching the wings, dear friend?” Keigo hissed.

“Oh Keigo, I wish you’d open up to me like you do to everyone else. You have such a bubbly, wonderful personality when you forget that I’m in the room.” Zen feigned mock hurt. 

Keigo shoved past him. The bar was full of drunkards, laughing and dancing to the music, swaying like idiots and singing along to the band. 

“Jin, see ya tomorrow!” Keigo called, lifting a hand lazily into the air as a farewell gesture, heading for the exit. 

“Oi Kei, don’t forget to call Rumi tonight!” Jin called back. 

Keigo flopped his hand around dismissively in the air and grumbled as a response before shoving the front door to the bar open and finally wafting in that not so fresh air. He lifted the cloth around his neck to his nose and mouth, coughing slightly. Annoying. He saw how empty the roads were. Strange for this part of town. Though the air quality was worse than usual tonight. 

His wings spread behind him like those of a magnificent hawk, before flapping harshly to propel him into the air. It wasn’t until he got good ways away from the ground that he finally felt the sweetness of true fresh air fill his lungs. A smile washed over his face as he soared above the fog, looking down at the undercity. How… symbolic. He was looking down at the undercity, just as the topside had looked down at them. 

Keigo looked around, eyes scanning the ground. There were several brothels, women of all ages, pitifully even ones that looked much younger than legal. Anything to be able to keep living. Keigo understood how hard times could get. No enforcers out tonight, surprisingly. They hadn’t bothered patrolling. 

Keigo’s eyes went to observe the several deals going on. Shimmer. He knew what it was. He would know best out of everyone. The drug had become popular around Jin’s bar. He’d seen countless people douse the drug. He knew of the thrills the liquid brought. But also the pains it brought. 

He flew onto the other side of the bridge. Now flying over Piltover. He swooped down out of sight, ensuring no enforcers saw him. He landed on the bridge, his swings tucking behind him. He jumped down off the structure, sliding down a dirt ditch into the old docs. He hummed softly, eyes squinting to see better in the dark. One of the most unfortunate things about being a mutant is that it completely alerted many of Keigo’s senses. He saw incredibly well during the day, eight times better than the usual human. But at night he had significantly worse vision than the regular human. 

Incredibly annoying. Ah how he had wished he’d been mutated to have a nocturnal bird’s features. But alas, he wasn’t so lucky. 

“Come out come out, don’t be hiding now!” Keigo sighed. “You know I can’t see well, I’d hate to have to start simply clawing at air until I find you.”

There was a sound of a twig snapping. Immediately, Keigo’s pupils narrowed and his head snapped to look in the direction of the sound. 

“Took ya long enough, big guy.” Keigo chuckled as his eyes struggled to focus on the other. 

“Took me long enough? I told you to be here ten minutes ago. Do you understand how risky it is for me to stay around here too often?” A deep husky voice argued. “If anyone recognized me-” 

“Crybaby.” Keigo laughed, crossing his arms. “Oh Enji-san… don’t be so uptight! C’mon, give me a smile~” 

“You’re ridiculous and childish, as always.” Enji scoffed. 

“Don’t be so cruel. You sought out me first.” Keigo stuck out his tongue. “Now more importantly, what do ya want to see me about, eh?” 

“My son.” 

“Ohhhh, Touya Todoroki?” Keigo grinned. 

“Ah so he’s already started causing trouble.” Enji groaned. 

“That wimp? He wishes he could cause me trouble.” Keigo scoffed. “He was just… persistent.” 

“Ah. Your wings, I suppose?” Enji chuckled, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh? How are you so sure?” Keigo walked to Enji. The two walked along the docks together. 

The moon was high in the sky, shining down on the water that separates the undercity and topside. Beautiful. Keigo smiled softly, looking out at the beauty. Enji had no desire to look at anything but in front of him.

“He’s always been fascinated with things he doesn’t understand.” Enji explained. “And you’re probably one of the rare kinds of mutants. A recessive gene, that barely anyone manages to carry, and for two people to have a kid who actually presents it? Amazing, really.” 

“Heh. So what he’s… amazed? Yeah, lucky me. I got wings that put a target on my back. They go for a lot on the blackmarket huh?” Keigo raised an eyebrow. “What’s the point of being super rare and unique if everyone wants to rip off my wings and sell

“That’s pessimistic.” Enji scoffed. 

“Well, that’s the realistic part of it. But if I’m being honest…” Keigo smiled to himself. “I love them. My wings. They’re part of me. So though I wish I could resent them, I can’t. Like c’mon, look at this! They’re awesome.” 

Enji scoffed. “Cocky much.”

“Stop calling me names and say something with sustenance would ya?” Keigo said dramatically. “More importantly~!” Keigo sang. “Why did you want to see me, big guy?”

“Keep an eye on my son.” Enji sighed, turning to Keigo and stopping. “Please. I’ll repay you with more of the… medicine you keep insisting on. For every day you stay by him, I give you an injection. Deal?” 

Keigo stared at him, stopping as well. He raised an eyebrow and turned away from Enji staring out at the undercity. 

“I don’t like your son.”

“You don’t have to like him. Don’t even gotta be nice to him. Just don’t let him get hurt too bad. The kid’s a failure but if he gets hurt… my youngest son won’t forgive me.” 

“I don’t like Zaunists.” 

“I would assume.”

“He thinks… things about me. Because I’m a Zaunite. Because I’m a mutant.”

“He doesn’t. He think your interesting.”

“Like you would know your own son.” 

“You think I don’t know my own son?” Enji’s voice went dark. 

“I don’t think I know.” Keigo still had his back turned. 

“How dare you insinuate—” 

“Be honest with yourself Enji, you’re a bad dad.” Keigo sighed, turning to look at Enji. 

The moonlight reflected off his eyes. Human eyes didn’t do that, well, normal human eyes didn’t. Keigo wasn’t completely human, though. His hair was blowing in the wind, his expression was stern. For such a smiley person, he had such terrifying eyes that he was serious. Avian marks made them look sharper, like they were the eyes of a predator. 

“Two injections per day.” Keigo said simply, walking closer to Enji. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, babes, I was just joking… kinda.” Keigo laughed. 

“...fine.” Enji sighed. “I brought one today. Here.”

Enji took out a syringe-looking device. It was covered by a cap, fancy and not something that belonged in the undercity. It reeked of money. Keigo eyed the injection like it was shimmer itself. With how much he criticized shimmer addicts, he was quick to do just about anything for the injection placed before him. He had to stop himself from salivating as he grabbed the injection. 

“Pleasure doing business with you, Councilor Todoroki~” Keigo sang, twirling happily with the injection in his hands. 

“Meet me here every week and you get your injections. Got it?” Enji said sternly. 

“No trust…” Keigo pouted. “Yes yes, don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I’ll keep… Togo safe?”

“Touya.” 

“Tou~ya~! Yes! Bye bye now, Enji-san~” Keigo blew the councilor a kiss before launching himself into the air. 

“Damn lunatic…” Enji mumbled, before shuffling to get off the docks. 

____________________________________________

Keigo flew through the night sky, high enough that he didn’t have to worry about bumping into anything despite his dulled vision in the dark. He knew the way to his apartment by heart. He landed on the ground briefly, swinging around on a pole and singing happily, a big grin on his face. He took off immediately after, soaring through the sky. 

“Every day, it's a-getting closer~ Going faster than a rollercoaster~”

Keigo sang to himself before landing swiftly inside his apartment, sticking the landing flawlessly, skidding right into the bathroom. 

The apartment was run down. It was a mess of clothes, hurriedly ripped out of closets and onto the floor. The bed was messily made, there were large blankets draped over it. The window was wide open, but the apartment was high enough that no one could ever dream of managing to climb in. The lights were all off, there was makeup in the bathroom, a mess of it. It was small… but it was cozy, despite looking like a mess. It was… home. 

He hummed, twirling once more before dancing a bit in the mirror. He sighed contently, pupils dilating from the pure adrenaline going through his body. He reached for his pocket to grab the injection, his other hand slipping off his jacket and lifting up his tight black shirt. He hummed to himself, and then it abruptly stopped. 

Nothing.

There was nothing in his pocket. 

His pupils dilated to an unhealthy amount, his body going rigid. His hand rubbed all over his pocket, eyes slowly turning feral. 

Where is it.

Where is it. 

Where is it.

Where is it.

WHERE IS IT!?

Keigo threw all of the numerous things on the kitchen counter off, sliding it all to the floor in a fit of rage. His breathing became rapid, his chest was heaving. His hair somehow looked even more messy. His eyes were slowly turning red, there was drool rolling down the corner of his lip. 

Where. Is. It.

Every last feather on his wing had sharpened, and the large wings were struggling to fit in the cramped space, having spread out in response to Keigo’s rage and distress. 

“I just had it…” He whispered maddenly to himself. “I just had it, where is it…” 

His voice was sharper, fueled by more rage. His hands were shaking, and he had started looking around in a fit of disarray. 

“I just had it!” Keigo snarled, slamming open the bathroom door and looking around frantically. “Where is it!?”

He dove through piles of clothes, looking frantically. Some people would describe him as an animal. As though he was letting his instincts take control, that he was going rabid like all mutants. 

But people who truly knew human nature would know this part of Keigo was what made him the most human. 

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!!!” Keigo growled, unable to find the injection anywhere.

He looked crazy, standing there like a mad man. He searched frantically for something… anything. The bathroom door slightly creaked. He froze, those terrifying eyes slowly turning to look in the direction. 

The injection was on the floor. It must’ve fallen out of his pocket when he—

He lunged for it, grabbing it and gripping it like it was his child. He slowly calmed, sighing happily. 

“Haha… silly me… thought I…” Keigo smiled tiredly to himself. 

His face wasn’t one of true joy. Moreso… the look of a man who hated his life. Who wanted nothing more… than to disappear. Like he hated what he was doing, that he knew what he was doing. He just didn’t know how to stop. 

“Ha… ha…” Keigo’s smile faltered. “I really am… terrible, aren’t I?” 

His whisper was soft. He looked down at the injection. 

“No better… than those shimmer addicts… huh?” 

He stood shakily, lifting his shirt. He lowered his pants, letting them fall. He let out a shaky breath, taking off the cap of the injection. He locked eyes with himself in the mirror. He let out a choked laugh, and smiled sadly before pressing down on a button on the back of the syringe, and allowed the needle to enter his skin, right through his thigh and into his femoral vein. He flinched, but stayed still until the injection was finished and pulled it out. He threw the needle onto the bathroom counter, leaning on it and staring at himself through his hair that hung loosely over his eyes. He panted. He could feel it. The drug raced through him. Or the “medicine”, he called it, to justify his actions. He panted, gripping the counter harder. 

“Stupid… fucking… bastard…” Keigo gritted his teeth. “You should… just die… die… die…” Keigo whispered, eyes bloodshot. 

He let out a shaky breath. He stumbled out of the bathroom, his wings spreading and helping his balance. He let himself collapse onto the floor, a pile of clothes catching him. He rarely actually slept on his bed. The floor… It was so comforting. His wings wrapped around him, a protective gesture. Like a mother protecting its young. 

That was the only form of affection he had in these moments. 

He looked over at his receiver, that lazily laid on the floor not far from him. He reached for it meekly, playing the messages. 

“Keigo. Listen… I know things are crazy right now baby, and I know you don’t want to be held down the rest of your life, especially after what you said about… your health and all last night, but I think we can work this out baby bird, just give us a chance, I can make you happy—” 

Keigo pressed delete lazily, eyes unimpressed. Lying son of a bitch. Keigo played the next. The next message was less aggravating. 

“Kei, hey! Rumi passed by, wondering where ya at? I told you to text her man! She’s worried sick! If she knew where ya lived, she’d already be breaking down your house by now! Anyway… come by tomorrow, okay? Worried about ya kid…”

Deleted.

Keigo scoffed, turning away from the receiver. He hugged himself.

“What’s the point?” Keigo whispered. “You don't care… nobody cares… not really…”

He was whispering to himself. His eyes were tired, the drug was taking over. 

“I’ll be gone in a few years anyway… right? Fuck you wings… fuck you mutant… fuck… everything…” Keigo muttered, turning to lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. 

He reached his hand to the ceiling, spreading his fingers. His talons popped out, sharp and menacing. He hummed to himself softly. 

“Love like yours will… surely come my way…” Keigo mumbled, face blank and lacking in emotion. 

He smiled softly to himself. 

Touya Todoroki huh?

This… will be interesting.

Chapter Text

The night was spent sketching. Touya hadn’t slept a wink. This was a normal occurrence, of course, he wasn’t a stranger to lack of sleep. He often spent nights sleepless, consumed by his work. He used to think for long sleepless nights imagining… imagining the equations. Working through the problems through his head. Never worked, he had always been frustrated at the fact of his lack of genius. 

But last night he had spent it differently. 

The streaks seemed to come easy. Each stroke of the pen. Each time he curved his pen and traced it along the page. He would zone out, and then he’d find himself doodling the same thing. Wings. Damned wings that had begun to plague his mind. 

How was it possible that he was… alive? Such a mutation Keigo had, how was it possible to have such a prominent genetic change and not have died at conception. It was… fascinating. How was it possible to be so… genetically unique? He had seen disorders of all kinds in his research but never something this…

Beautiful. 

Touya had spent hours imagining it, running his fingers through Keigo’s feathers. Would he let him? No, Keigo hated him as of now. But… Touya could somehow crawl into his heart, couldn’t he? 

Regardless, Touya had to have him. Had to love him. Keigo made him feel so… alive. Was it because of his beauty or because of his wings, Touya did not know. What he did know was that he would do anything to see him again. 

And he supposed the gods were listening. 

“What makes you tick?” He whispered to one of the rough sketches, put together by rough scratches of graphite that somehow came together into a beautiful portrait. 

He could draw Keigo for hours. He was so impossibly beautiful, and so… fascinating. How did his wings function? Could he control them completely or did he have blind spots in his abilities? Whatever it was, Keigo was one of a kind. 

He was like a work of art that was yet to be finished, an unsung symphony, a masterpiece abandoned by its creator. Touya wanted to finish it. Watch him come together and bask in perfection. 

It would take time but Touya had never been an impatient man. 

After a night of obsessive sketching, of theorizing on how the mutation worked and the control Keigo had over it, he took to the streets. He was smarter this time, not bringing all his gear. He slung a much smaller, less suspicious bag over his shoulder. As he walked her flipped through Toga’s notes, following them to find the filters. 

He had a lot of ground to cover today. 

As he ducked into an alley, following the map, he nearly collided with the wall several times. Annoying. Couldn’t let himself get so distracted, especially after the fiasco that was yesterday. He grumbled, looking back at the map, but froze when he heard a voice. 

“Piltie! Thought I’d find you around here.” 

Touya had already taken that voice in, and knew how to identify it. He looked up. Those same wings were spread fully, like a majestic angel. Touya felt as though he might be being blessed. Was this a sign from God? Maybe, maybe not. Whatever the case, it was basically a blessing. 

Keigo swooped down, landing on his feet swiftly like a cat. Touya blinked a few times, taking him in. He was wearing different clothes from yesterday. A baggy shirt that bunched up around his waist, some baggy pants that pooled at his ankles. Not a bad look, but definitely a different one. The shirt was kinda torn and old, but it still served its purpose. Same with the pants. His hair was a bit neater today, but not by much. Maybe they had finally accepted the fact they were matted with no way of being saved. 

Touya didn’t stop staring. How could he stop? Looking at such beauty… it was impossible to turn away. Keigo blinked a few times, also scanning Touya as it would seem. Touya suddenly became hyper aware of what he was wearing. 

“Damn Piltie, I knew you topsiders were filthy but I didn’t think you wouldn’t have any changes of clothes either.” Keigo raised an eyebrow, almost accusatory. 

Touya turned bright red in embarrassment. “Hey! Not true I just um… fell asleep in these clothes and didn’t want to change them in the morning! Besides you aren’t one to talk, your clothes are all torn up and stuff.” 

Keigo raised an eyebrow. He had… become so much less defensive. It was almost like Touya was meeting an entirely different person than the one from yesterday. Why was that? Why had he even gone looking for Touya? In the moment, he had been so mesmerized he hadn’t stopped to ask questions. 

Keigo was smiling at him. Strange, is it not? He was trying to kill Touya yesterday. So why was he being… friendly now? Things weren’t adding up. 

“Why—”

Touya wanted to ask, wanted to interrogate, but Keigo didn’t let him. Keigo covered his mouth, grinning brightly. Touya blinked a few times. What was… going on?

“Those filtration systems won’t map themselves, right?” Keigo chirped happily. 

Cute… almost like an actual bird. 

“I um…” Touya tripped over his words. 

He’s so close. That’s all Touya could think. So… close. He smells like warm vanilla and spice, fuck my life. He’s perfect. He’s gorgeous, and he smells good and… he’s being nice to me? 

“You what? C’mon city boy, speak to me. Can’t have you all tongue tied, you’re the one who knows the calculations.” Keigo grumbled, walking past Touya, knowing what direction they were headed. 

“Wait I—” Touya coughed slightly, trying to clear his throat. 

“It's a really long walk y’know, we ought to fly, we'll get there faster.” Keigo turned back to him, clicking his tongue. 

Touay blinked a few times as Keigo looked at him with a big smile. Touya didn’t understand what was going on. This was a dream, right? He had accidentally fallen asleep and this was a dream now. He was probably getting dragged to some scary dark corner to be beat up because he fell asleep in the middle of the road. There was no way all this was happening. There was no way—

“Oi! Pay attention. Earth to Touya.” Keigo waved his hand in front of Touya’s face, frowning. “I was talking to you, dumbass.” 

“I… sorry I um…” Touya took a deep breath. “Why are you… helping me now? You were so… defensive and mean yesterday, why are you…”

“Being nice? What, you don’t like it? You into guys who shove you around?” Keigo raised an eyebrow. 

“What!? No I just um—”

“Relax man, I was pulling your finger. I had… an epiphany of sorts last night. You can thank that.” Keigo shrugged, walking past Touya and standing behind him, perching his chin on Touya’s shoulder. “We just have a common goal, y’know?” 

Soft hands ran down Touya’s arms, tracing a vein. Touya instinctively lifted his arms to follow the motion. Keigo’s clawed hands were so gentle when they wanted to be Touya could feel breathing by his ear, and could feel Keigo pressed against him. Keigo leaned in really close to Touya’s ear, humming softly. 

Touya was short-circuiting. He couldn’t… focus. Everything was jumbling in his head. The hell is even happening right now!? 

He felt like he was in some… awkward dance. He felt like he was the stupid goblin and Keigo was the beautiful elf seducing him, almost. But there was no way. Keigo wouldn’t. No… no. He wouldn’t. He’s too…

Perfect. Pure. 

“Tell you what, topsider.” Keigo whispered, like honey, into Touya’s ear. “If you don’t freak out too hard, I’ll give you a kiss when we land.” 

Touya turned bright red. He choked on his own words, trying to process what had just been said. Kiss? Kiss????? Keigo was gonna, what? His eyes unfocused, his brain was racing, kiss? Like an actual, real, kiss? Keigo’s lips against—

Hold on, what was that last part?

Keigo’s grin turned cruel, clawed hands wrapping tightly around Touya’s waist. Touya felt it, but didn’t quite process it. His hands went to touch Keigo’s arms, confused. He heard the whoosh of wings being spread, looking behind him. The still charred red wings were spread majestically behind them both, Touya wanted to reach out and touch them. Run his fingers through them. They were huge, like the wings of an inhuman beast. Something out of a horror story. 

Keigo looked at him with this gentle smile that was laced in sarcasm. He nuzzled his face into the dip in Touya’s neck. 

“Try not to squirm. Don’t wanna drop you. Not until you’ve been of use, that is.” 

That was all Touya got as a warning before he felt his feet leave the ground. He gasped, eyes widening as suddenly the blood rushed to his feet, the pressure built up in his ears and the knot in his stomach became agonizing. 

He didn’t even know what was going on, he wasn’t processing it. His eyes felt like they’d pop out of his sockets at any given moment. Everything was becoming smaller and the air was getting harder to breathe in. Touya didn’t even realize he was screaming. 

Keigo grumbled, wings flapping calmly behind him as he soared through the air, not as fast as usual due to the drag that Touya’s dangling body caused. The screaming was annoying though. It's really annoying. Keigo groaned to himself, making sure to hold tightly onto the other, not wanting to kill him physically, but some psychological damage was fine. He had to dodge a few buildings, the rough movements making Touya snap out of his screaming, zoned out trance. 

“PUT ME DOWN YOU PSYCHO!” Touya screeched in horror, thrashing. “YOU CAN’T JUST YANK PEOPLE OFF THE GROUND LIKE THAT WITH NO WARNING!!!”

“Don’t be a baby, I told you. You just weren’t paying attention.” Keigo scoffed, swooping down to dodge a sign.

A man that was working on the sign nearly tumbled off, yelling a string of swears after Keigo. Keigo chuckled nervously, raising an apologetic hand. 

“Sorry… geez, can’t get a break around heRE—” Keigo yelped as Touya basically clawed his way up his torso, digging his nails into Keigo’s upper body and hoisting himself up. 

“Put. Me. Down!” Touya hissed. 

“No can do buckaroo. We’re almost there anyway.” Keigo smiled condescendingly. “What’s wrong Piltie? Can’t handle a little bit of height?” 

“Why you—” 

“Well look at that, here we are!” Keigo hummed. “You did greeeaaaat.” 

“You almost—” Touya was cut off abruptly. 

Keigo got close, giving the smallest peck of a kiss onto Touya’s cheek. Warm/ Very warm. His lips were soft, but experienced. Touya’s mind immediately started wondering how such soft lips might taste. Sweet? Probably… like caramel or…

“Your reward, topsider.” Keigo whispered seductively. “Now, for the grand finale. Hold on tight!”

Touya was ripped out of his previously peaceful and longing thoughts by a sudden drop in his stomach. Similar to that one might feel… on one of those drop towers in an amusement park. Except this felt much more real, because instead of being strapped to a big metal chair that was falling at a controlled speed, Touya was clinging to a single other person and freefalling down with them to the rapidly approaching solid ground. 

Keigo’s proclamation to “hold tight” did not go unheard, Touya’s fingers digging into soft skin, definitely drawing blood in some places. Touya screamed the entire way down, clinging to Keigo like a lifeline. 

“PLEASE I DON’T WANNA DIEEEEEEE!!!” Touay screamed, tears streaming down his face already in pure fear. 

He hadn’t experienced something this terrifying in his life. If he was a good older brother, he might’ve been thinking of his siblings at this moment. How much fear his siblings must have felt when their father was so cruel to them. When he shut out and never bothered to help. 

But right now he was far too worried that he himself might be soon to die to give two flying fucks about anyone else. 

He kept screaming, eyes screwed shut. He screamed until he ran out of oxygen, heaving like a madman. There was… no more wind. He hesitated, cracking one of his eyes open. He was still clinging to Keigo, legs wrapped around his waist, arms tight around his torso. But they were in fact, no longer in the air. Touya slowly pulled away, his face previously nuzzled into Keigo’s neck. They locked eyes, Keigo smirking at him. 

Keigo’s wings were tucked neatly behind his back, standing still and awkwardly, as if expecting Touya to get off. “Ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary folks, we have landed at our destination. A forecast of terrible air quality, shitty cloudy skies and a high of 4 degrees, please enjoy your stay in the rundown filtration system in the undercity, we hope to see you again so—”

Touya shoved his face away, pink in embarrassment, basically jumping off of Keigo. Keigo laughed loudly, a carefree, beautiful thing. Touya gritted his teeth, turning away. 

“C’mon don’t be embarrassed Piltie, everyone has a rough first flight!” Keigo grinned teasingly. 

“Don’t mock me. We are never doing that again.” Touya muttered, glaring at Keigo. 

“Suit yourself~” He sang, walking off towards the entrance of the filtration systems. 

“Hey wait!” Touya rushed after him, finally managing to catch his breath. 

Keigo walked forward, not bothering to wait for Touya. He hummed, a skip in his step. Touya rushed after, finally keeping up with Keigo. 

“Can you not stay put for two seconds?” Touya groaned.

“Nope. That is one of the many amazing things about me.” Keigo gave a cocky smirk, raising both his eyebrows at once. 

Touya felt a large pang of irritation. Okay so Keigo was beautiful… with a terrible personality. So much for the fantasies in his head. He’d been stupid to assume someone with a pretty face would be as angelic as they appeared. He was at fault for that one. They walked into the large filtration system. It was almost comically large, rusted up from the years. It was filth, several rats had made homes within. 

Touya pulled out Toga’s notebook, going through the numbers and such. He muttered to himself, not really checking where he was going. 

“Duck.” Keigo called, but Touya didn’t actually register it as words. 

He heard it before he felt it, walking right into a metal pipe. He dropped the notebook, groaning as he rubbed his forehead. Keigo laughed aloud, walking over and picking up the notebook, handing it to a sulking Touya. 

“I did say duck.” Keigo chuckled.

“You could’ve said it with more urgency.” Touya grumbled, still rubbing his forehead. “How bad is it?”

“Hmmm, it’ll probably bruise. You walked right into it, so most likely.” Keigo grinned, walking forward with his hands in his pocket. 

Touya cursed under his breath, continuing to hold his hand over his forehead in embarrassment as the two continued to walk through the tunnels. Keigo seemed confident, knowing the way. Touya idiotically let him lead, not sensing the false confidence. He wasn’t good at picking up on those sorts. 

As they walked through, the only sound being their wet footsteps that echoed through the area, Touya took the time to inspect. He planned to take several samples of the air inside the filtration system, as well as jot down the conditions of the system. He finally realized he hadn’t been focusing on his data collection, hurriedly taking out his observations journal and writing as they walked. 

Every now and then, he’d gaze up at Keigo. The mutant was walking in front of him, wings neatly folded behind him. They really were even more magnificent up close. If they were better treated they could easily be a lovely red color, rather than the dirtied one they were now. Some feathers were fully grown out, others in the process of growing. It was fascinating seeing some of the bald patches in the wings, most of them looked like from trauma of some kind.

Touya suddenly felt his heart drop to his stomach, remembering how he had carelessly ripped out a handful of those feathers. Man, he was a douche. Without even thinking of how sensitive exactly Keigo’s wings actually were. 

Now that he thought of it, if wings have such high sensitivity in their feathers, did Keigo as well? Could he control each individual feather as a bird can? That would be fascinating… Mutants in general spiked Touya’s interest so fervently. If it hadn’t been for the lack of money in the field, and how harshly his father disapproved, he would’ve majored in mutant studies. 

Did Keigo see like a hawk would? Did he require similar levels of protein intake? Did he shed feathers? Did he… mate for life, just like hawks did? 

Touya slapped himself, cursing under his breath for the thought. Regardless, it would be interesting to know what kind of traits Keigo had that were in relation to a hawk. Just how much did mutants like him become one with the species they were mixed with. 

He hadn’t realized how quiet he was being until Keigo spoke up. 

“Oi Piltie.” Keigo called, stopping in his tracks. “Whatca staring for? I thought you were supposed to be observing the condition of this place, not me.” 

Touya stopped as well, realizing what he’d been doing. “Oh um, sorry. You're just so… fascinating.” 

“The hell does that mean?” Keigo raised an eyebrow. 

“Mutant and all…” Touya cleared his throat. “I’d love to know more about your habits, and how it works and all…”

“Pfft, as if I’d let a Piltie near me. Besides, last I checked, you ripped my damn feathers out last time we met.” Keigo glared at him. “Isn’t that study material enough, you creep?”

“Ah—!” Touya rubbed his forehead. “I got… carried away last time. And I didn’t study them.” He hadn’t thought of it yet, “Didn’t mean to just… grab and pull. Also didn’t think they’d come off so easy. Are you molting by any chance?”

“Hah.” Keigo’s expression didn’t soften at all, still glaring daggers at Touya.

“Well… it is August.” Touya shrugged. “If you are mixed with a hawk, you’d be molting right about now. It's the season for it.” 

“Stop.” Keigo said it abruptly.

“What do you—?” 

“Nope. Stop right there chickadoo.” Keigo pointedly put his index finger up at Touya. “Do not tell me things about my biology.”

Touya blinked a few times, lips pursed in confusion. He’d just been stating facts, had he not? 

“I was just—”

“Zip. It. I don’t want any more fancy fancy scientists coming to try and study me and whatnot.” Keigo gritted his teeth. 

“Well, you’re a mutant, and if you’re mixed with a hawk then—” Touya started again, not picking up on the social cues. 

“I’m a human.” Keigo corrected, “And my name is Keigo. Yes, I sort of kinda have wings. Yes, I have really sharp… retractable ish nails, yes I have weird bird eye markings. Regardless. Let’s try this one more time, Touya.” 

Keigo stepped forward, grabbing Touya’s hand and dragging him over. Touya blinked a few times in confusion. Keigo put their hands together and started to shake it. 

“Hi there, my name is Keigo. Don’t ask about my wings, I was born with them.” Keigo gave a fake smile. “And since we're strangers you frankly have no right to ask! At least buy me a drink first.” 

Touya blinked a few times in confusion. He tilted his head to the side, Keigo mirrored him. 

“You’re turn, topsider.” Keigo said through gritted teeth. 

“Oh- oh. Hi, my name is Touya. I… will respect your boundary.” Touya’s voice softened as he said the last part. “...as well as probably buy you that drink.” He smiled slightly. 

“There ya go.” Keigo’s expression softened and he chuckled. “Wasn’t that hard now, was it?” 

Touya’s lips parted, pink dusting his cheeks at Keigo’s soft expression. “...yeah. Not… too hard.” He mumbled as Keigo pulled away from his hand and continued to walk. 

Touya stayed frozen for a second. He shook his head, getting out of his daze, quickly following after Keigo. As he walked, the hand that had touched Keigo’s was on fire. He clenched it into a fist, trying to calm his heart rate. 

Fuck. 

____________________________________________

They had been walking around here for ages. Every now and then they stopped, Touya took samples of the air, and collected some other bits of data. Keigo was honestly just there for the hell of it. Touya wasn’t… entirely sure why the Zaunite had even come in the first place. He wasn’t really helping, just watching Touya was almost childlike fascination as he did his work. Not that Touya minded. Keigo had a nice presence. 

When he wasn’t being scary that is. 

“Sooooooo, you plan on trying to restore this bad boy?” Keigo clicked his tongue, looking around lazily as Touya collected another sample, very focused. 

“Basically.” Touya said dryly, too focused on the collection of the sample to say anything with sustenance. 

“That’s a bit optimistic, don’t you think?” Keigo frowned. “Besides, who actually wants these fixed up there? When did the council start giving a damn about what happens down here?”

“Honestly, I don’t think it’ll happen either.” Touya said bluntly, Keigo was surprised by it. 

“Oh?” Keigo raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Then why come here and do all this… nonsense.” Keigo waved a hand around dismissively. 

“It isn’t nonsense, it's science.”  Touya scoffed. “...and mainly because my father is having one of his generous moments, if you ask me.”

Keigo’s lips parted, his eyes becoming much more focused after hearing the words. “Oh? Your father? Tell me about him.” Keigo said it smoothly.

“We’d be talking all night.” Touya chuckled. 

“I can arrange that.” Keigo said bluntly, watching Touya perk up. 

“You seem invested. You’ve heard of my father—?”

“Nope. Never.” Keigo laughed softly, the focus disappearing from his eyes. “Just interested. Dunno how someone like you could come out of someone that’s so… generous.” Keigo said the last word with a bit of venom. 

“Please. He doesn’t care at all about the undercity. He’s just trying to ‘change for the better’ and whatnot.” Touya scoffed, the words bitter on his tongue. “He’s a piece of shit. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”

“Oh that makes sense. So he’s like most Pilties.” Keigo scoffed. 

“Most—? Hey!” Touya snapped his head around, annoyed. 

“It's true. C’mon be honest with yourself, why are you doing this? To get daddy to love you again?” Keigo rolled his eyes. 

“Fuck no. I don’t want anything to do with that monster!” Touya stood, as though to defend himself against physical attacks. 

“Calm down wonder boy, don’t get pissy. I understand.” Keigo dismissively waved his hand. “Doing it for a friend? A girlfriend?” Keigo grinned. “A boyfriend?”

“A friend. She’s my intern, I guess. She wanted me to try… to help.” Touya hesitated. “I… I want to do this for her. She deserves it.”

“She a Zaunite?”

“Yeah. Or, I guess she was, she works in Piltover now.” Touya cleared his throat, grabbing his equipment. “But she doesn’t want her people suffering y’know?” 

Keigo flinched at the words “her people” but he didn’t relent. There was no point to it. Keigo continued walking, Touya trailing behind, confused. 

“Hey wait would you? Always going ahead geez…” Touya groaned, struggling to keep up with Keigo. 

Keigo looked around. “Soooo… where exactly are we? Like what part of the system?” 

Touya froze. He hadn’t looked once at the map. Of course he hadn’t because he had stupidly assumed Keigo knew where they were going. He slowly turned his head to look at Keigo.

“Ooo. You got all pale all of the sudden.” Keigo blinked a few times. 

“I… I thought you were… I thought you knew…” Touya felt nauseous. “YOU’VE BEEN WALKING BLINDLY THIS WHOLE TIME!?”

“I thought you were paying attention.” Keigo shrugged. 

“I thought you knew your way around the systems!” Touya hissed. 

“Did I say that?” Keigo blinked a few times. “Man I impress myself sometimes with my lies. Nah I used to know my way around it, used to hide out here when I was a kid but that was yeeeeeaaaars ago!” 

Touya’s eyes twitched. “So you just…” Touya took a  deep breath. “I would’ve been looking at the map if you had told me—”

“Well maybe I wanted us to get trapped here!” Keigo said, crossing his arms. “Because I secretly wanna kill you, ooooo~” 

“Cut it out! We could actually be trapped here! We have to retrace our steps, right now!” Touya gritted his teeth in frustration, but quickly realized he had been blindly following Keigo so had no idea what turns they had taken. 

“Oh man, this sucks. We might have to camp here for the night.” Keigo groaned. 

“Are you… no! We are going to get the hell outta here!” Touya growled, always speeding the other direction.

Keigo grumbled. “No fun… no seriously man, what time is it?” Keigo rushed after.

“Why the hell does that matter!?” 

“Just tell me, don’t be an ass about it.” Keigo grumbled. 

Touya relented, looking down at his watch. “Um… like 7 pm?”

“The sun has already gone down by now.” Keigo clicked his tongue. “If we go outside, the air will be impossible to breathe through. Didn' t you see how bad it was yesterday?”

“I… not really?” Touya shrugged. 

“How late were you out?” 

“Not too late. Got inside by like 6:30 ish.” 

“Well then clearly you’ve never been out during late night air quality have you!? It’ll be much better here, it's wiser to stay here until it's at least 8 am the next day.” Keigo said in a matter of fact way. 

“We still don’t know how to get the hell out though!” Touya snapped. 

“Shhhhhhhh, leave that to me. I wasn’t worried because I’ve probably been leaving feathers everywhere like crazy anyway. We can follow them out… probably.” Keigo said, shrugging. 

“...why DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT BEFORE!?” Touya snapped, eye twitching. 

“Didn’t feel like it.” Keigo shrugged, walking by him. “It’s fun watching you freak out. You look really stupid!” Keigo laughed loudly, walking forward.

“You… hey wait!” Touya rushed after him. 

____________________________________________

They set up camp on the floor. It wasn’t really… a camp per say. Touya lit a candle he had and they were laying on opposite sides of it, as far away from each other as they could while still getting the warmth. It had been quiet for a while now. Touya kept looking over, seeing if Keigo had fallen asleep. The Zaunite was just staring at the roof, deep in thought. When Touya looked over roughly the third time in a minute, Keigo finally groaned. 

“Stop staring you creep.” Keigo scoffed. “What do you want? Ask me another stupid question? Stop being so weird. If you wanna say something, say it!” 

Touya looked away immediately, a bit embarrassed. “...sorry. I was just… booking at how pretty your wings are.” 

“More of this, seriously man? I swear—” Keigo sighed, annoyance laced in his tone. 

“No! No, I mean they’re just… really beautiful.” Touya said, voice almost a whisper.

Keigo paused and looked back at him. He was silent for a moment, staring at Touya. “...thank you.” He muttered simply, going back to stare at the wall. 

“...why don’t you… wash them more often?” Touya said hesitantly.

“Excuse me?” Keigo looked right back over at Touya, offended. “Are you saying I don’t shower?”

“No! I mean like… deep cleaning your wings. They aren’t really that color, are they? They look more dirtied, that’s why they’re that color. If you tried… not to be degrading… but some shampoo for birds specifically, maybe you could get the stuff out better?” Touya gulped, not trying to sound invasive. 

“...I’m not a bird.” Keigo said simply. “I’m not going to buy bird shampoo because I ain’t a bird. I’m a human being who uses human shampoo, thank you very much.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I just mean…” Touya stared at Keigo. “...they… you are so beautiful. And it's always hurtful to see someone so beautiful not take perfect care of themselves.” 

Keigo looked at him, unimpressed. “God you’re so preformative, it's making me sick.” He dramatically stuck out his tongue in disgust.

“Ah…” Touya frowned. “Sorry… I think?”

Keigo turned away from him, wrapping himself in his wings. “We get up at 6 to start retracing our steps. 2 hours seems like a logical amount of time.” 

“Alright.” Touya nodded, also turning away. “I think that would make sense.”

“Good night, Piltie.” Keigo hummed. 

“...Good night… Keigo…” Touya said, the words getting stuck slightly in his throat. 

It was cold. Terribly so, and the air was stuffy, not as stuffy as the streets but stuffy nonetheless. Touya’ eyes trailed to look at Toga’s notebook. He didn’t want to screw this up, he needed to do this. For her. He knew it probably wouldn’t amount to anything, but at least… If he tried, it would make her happy. Honestly, he was only doing it so he could maybe feel something. If he could feel anything for someone it would be for Toga. It was honestly a little shameful that he already felt… so much for Keigo. 

He turned his head, looking over at Keigo. He was like a little ball of feathers. Cute. Touya smiled to himself. 

Maybe everything wouldn’t be so bad. 

He smiled to himself as he closed his eyes, allowing himself to drift off to sleep. The warmth of the candle was the only thing that was probably allowing him to not be shivering violently, thank god for it. 

His last thought as his eyes slowly closed was simple.

Soon. 

Chapter Text

Touya didn’t wake up at six o’clock. He woke up in the middle of the night, feeling anything but rested. The floor was hard and cold, and the candle had long since burnt out. He lit a match, the light illuminating the area. He immediately noticed the lack of another body he could’ve sworn was there previously. 

Keigo was gone.

He either abandoned Touya or betrayed him. He didn’t know which he’d preferred. He grumbled under his breath, shakily standing to his feet. He noticed the shadows of feathers on the ground. Lucky him, Keigo was shedding like a dog. 

He swiftly went after the other, following the feathers cautiously, carefully watching around for any suspicious signs. The trail was long, and it seemed like it would never end. It was getting exhausting now. Following the trail of never ending feathers. 

As he walked, his mind drifted off. The systems were so intricate and fascinating. Could he ever get them working again? They were old tech, and if the higher ups had originally tried to get it to stop working, why would they have made it possible to be fixed? There wasn’t an on and off switch, this was sophisticated software and work, this would take a lot longer than anticipated. 

He noted that Toga had written about it in her notes. How the older design seemed to be a problem. They didn’t produce stuff like this anymore. They had adapted, gained different ways of doing things. Though he did doubt that they had made any moves in advancing filtration systems. For anything other than water, that is. The undercity hadn’t been a priority in years. It probably never had been, not unless discussing crime rates. 

Touya remembered how his father would remark on the enforcers patrols sent down there to enact more peace. Ensure the crime rates drop. But all Touya could ever see was them skyrocketing. Enforcers were clearly bad at their jobs. 

He clicked his tongue, rounding another corner. There, he saw it. Finally, an end to the long-winded trail. His lips parted seeing Keigo. He had this focused look on his face, he was examining something on the ground. In the darkness, it was hard to make out anything. All he saw was the Zaunite in the distance. 

He debated letting himself be known. But now, thinking about it, Keigo either probably already knew or was too deep in thought to process anything other than what he was gazing at. Touya decided to just stay still and observe. It was something he’d picked up from Tenko. His friend had always been good at it. Observing. Touya often found he was too impatient for it, but somehow Tenko managed to pick up on the smallest most intricate of details no matter how uninteresting it was. It fascinated Touya, how could someone be so interested no matter what the subject?

Though this time, he found observing to be quite easy. Keigo was a sight to behold, there weren’t many that rivaled him. When he was focused, he looked even softer than usual. As soon as he allowed himself to truly be absorbed by something, it all started to seem… reasonable. Or so that was what Touya was interpreting via Keigo’s face. 

He finally found the will to take a step closer. He had a brief thought of how easily Tenko would be able to observe Keigo for hours. He had once observed paint dry for a stupid bet of five dollars. He did it for a damned hour. Just for a dumb bet. Keigo was so much more interesting, if Tenko got his eyes on Keigo he’d probably stare for days. Because who wouldn’t?

With one step forward, the entire trance was broken.

“You can stop staring, pervert.” Keigo’s voice echoed through the long hall. He stood up properly, looking over at Touya who was frozen in place. “Please don’t act so surprised. I could hear you from more than a mile away. You’re not very quiet, y’know.” Keigo let out a soft, tired chuckle. 

“...it’s pretty late.” Touya cleared his throat, a bit flustered at being caught staring. “Why are you up? We agreed on six, didn’t we?”

Keigo stood up properly from his squat, stretching his arms above his head. “What can I say? Early bird gets the worm?” 

“Ha-ha.” Touya said sarcastically, walking over. “Seriously. Could you not sleep?”

Keigo’s expression soured. “I don’t need to tell you anything, Piltie.” He said bitterly, clearly not amused by Touya’s attempt at what he interpreted as prying for info. 

“I’m not trying to be rude or anything. I want to help.” Touya offered. “I also couldn’t sleep so…”

“I don’t care about your sob story Piltie.” Keigo scoffed, walking by him. Touya instinctively grabbed his arm, pulling him back slightly. Keigo flinched hard, immediately spinning around. “Don’t touch me!” He snapped. 

His eyes didn’t hold the fury Touya was expecting. They held… fear. Cold fear. The one that happens when, for example, you realize you’re crossing the road and the car that was supposed to wait hasn’t slowed down. The one that overtakes when you notice the same car has been going your same direction for a solid thirty minutes. It’s the sort of fear that comes in a blink of an eye, and takes control of your entire body before you even process what’s happening. 

It went quiet. Touya didn’t remove his hand, and Keigo didn’t look away. They stood there, in some kind of standoff. Like they were holding guns to each others’ throats. Like whoever moved first would die where they stood. It was like watching two animals stare into each others’ eyes, deciding whether or not they wanted to fight or walk away. 

Touya’s lips parted and he took a step closer, still not releasing the other. Keigo took a hurried step back, staring daggers into him. But it was less maliciously, more like a fearful bird who doesn’t want to have to fight. Odd. He had drastically changed his attitude. It was so dark in here, did that have anything to do with it? Now that the Sun was down, even if it wasn’t terribly noticeable, it was darker. For human eyes it probably wasn’t much of a change, but who knew how much it had changed for such light sensitive eyes like Keigo’s? 

Truly fascinating…

“Stop it.” Keigo spat out the words as though they were poison, finally breaking the longwinded silence. 

“Stop what?” Touya asked, tilting his head to the side. 

“You know exactly what you douchebag!” Keigo snapped. 

“I—?” Touya cut himself off, blinking a few times. “Oh… Oh!” He immediately pulled his hand away, awkwardly fidgeting with his wrist. “Sorry… sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Fuck off, you didn’t scare me. I just didn’t want to have to beat your stupid ass to the ground.” Keigo spat, spinning around. 

He walked hurriedly, following his feathers back to their previous location. He seemed… lost even though he was following the feathers. Kept looking around like a lost puppy. 

“Keigo…?” Touya called out, hesitant. 

“What.” Keigo snapped back. 

“...can you… not see in the dark?”

The question hung in the air for a while. Keigo paused. 

“...why the hell would you assume… some shitty thing like that?” Keigo said, but his entire heart wasn’t in it. He was… looking past Touya. He clearly couldn’t see him properly. 

Touya caught up swiftly, gently putting his hand on Keigo’s shoulders. “I get it. Your day vision is impeccable, but night vision is minimal, right? Is that why you accidentally wandered off? Did you get lost?” He said, almost too excited about the discovery.

Keigo swiftly shook him off. “Don’t sound so joyous asshole! Yeah, sure I can’t see anything amazing! Who cares?”

“Well, clearly you.” Touya pointed out. “Which is fine. It's important to let it out, y’know?” 

“Let it out? What are you, my therapist?” Keigo scoffed, following the feathers again. Touya hurriedly followed again. 

“Careful!” He said quickly, a bit panicked. 

“Calm down. I can sense my feathers. As long as I follow them, I’ll be fine.” Keigo grumbled. 

They walked in silence for a bit. Keigo stopped every now and then, to properly sense his feathers and to ensure he was going the right way. Touya wanted to simply offer directions, but he knew it was futile, Keigo wouldn’t take them no matter what. Honestly, the most frustrating part of all this was that Keigo refused to even look at him the entire time. Or even acknowledge him! Touya didn’t think he’d done anything wrong. Had he? Was he too invasive when he went looking? He’d just been worried, that was very less something so terrible to—

“You’re Councilor Todoroki’s kid, right?” Keigo asked softly. 

Touya physically flinched at the question. He pressed his lips into a tight line, trying to process how he wanted to respond. In the end, he just decided to be honest with Keigo. Because he wanted Keigo to also be honest with him. What goes around comes around, he supposed. 

“And if I am?” Touya asked cautiously, his voice betraying his nervous composure. 

“Are you?” Keigo hummed. 

“...yeah. Yeah I am.” Touya cleared his throat, hugging himself slightly. “He’s my dad.”

Keigo nodded, but didn’t say another word. He continued walking. Touya’s eyes trailed to his hand. He hadn’t realized prior that the other was clutching something with an unrelenting grip. Touya’s eyes opened slightly in curiosity. He caught up. 

“Why do you ask?” He asked, looking at Keigo who was squinting at the area in front, still attempting to see anything at this point. 

“Curious. Your eyes… they’re a lot like his.” Keigo shrugged.

Touya paused slightly at that, turning his head back to face forward. He had to process those words. His mind was racing. His breathing unevened slightly. He tried to keep it as casual as possible, not to show how he was hyperventilating.

Why the hell would he know the color of my dad’s eyes?

A part of Touya was screaming, it was just a coincidence. Besides, his father was a very public figure. It wasn’t particularly odd for someone to not know him in Piltover. It was probable that Keigo had seen him offhandedly, or on a broadcast. But how likely was that? Genuinely? Touya bit his lip.

This was foolish. Keigo couldn’t know his father. He was too… kind. Too… he was everything Touya’s father wasn’t. 

Impossible. 

But he couldn’t let it go. 

“You’ve seen my father?” Touya asked softly. 

“Yeah.” Keigo shrugged. “He used to come to the undercity for small things. Ran into him more than once or twice. He dropped by my friend’s bar a lot. We talked a handful of times.”

A pit twisted in Touya’s stomach. 

Oh.

Oh.

“... I see.” Touya went very quiet. He was silent but his thoughts were loud. 

Keigo didn’t bother to look over at him. He was too preoccupied with how dark it was. They had no idea what time it was now. It had only gotten darker and darker. The feathers were threatening to blow away in the breeze running through the tunnels. 

They were once more engulfed with silence. Which was reasonable, considering they seemingly had nothing more to discuss. But it got to a point where the silence was clearly souring by the moment and if either of them didn’t speak up soon, they might end up snapping at each other. Keigo didn’t feel the tension, but Touya sure did. 

“My father huh?” Touya clicked his tongue. “What did you… talk about?”

“Business I guess. About why he came. He found my obnoxiously annoying, so of course I had to continue to bug him. It was mainly that kind of dynamic.” Keigo said dismissively, still trying to follow the feathers properly. 

“I see.” Touya looked around the dark tunnels, trying to look preoccupied. “...so you guys… got along pretty well to say then?”

“Nah, pretty sure the dude hated me.” Keigo hummed, turning a sharp turn. “He was also pretty closed off all the time. Pissed me off.”

“Well don’t…” Touya felt a bit nauseous about what he was about to say. “D-don’t guys like you kinda… dig the whole brooding thing? You didn’t think he was like… attractive or something—?”

“I didn’t sleep with your father, Piltie.” Keigo scoffed. “What, just because I got an above average face means I sleep with councilors? Please, I’ve got more respect for myself than that and I ain’t that desperate.” 

“I-I…” Touya turned pink, embarrassed at Keigo’s bluntness, despite that was what he was hoping to find out. 

“Typical topsider,” Keigo started with venom on his tongue. “Every pretty undersider just has to be using their body against every Piltie, huh? Is that why you followed me the other day? Hoping to get a good fuck?”

“No! Absolutely not! I… that was rude to ask. I’m sorry. I just…” Touya trailed off.

“You just what?” Keigo asked sharply. 

“You just… said my eyes were like my dad’s with a hint of… I dunno… maybe warmth? I was scared that meant you had a history… especially because my dad is… well he was never an amazing person to my family. I was… worried…”

“How chivalrous.” Keigo chuckled bitterly. “I could honestly tell he wasn’t a good person. He kinda reeks of it. So don’t worry, I can take care of myself perfectly fine. I know how to pick my battles.” 

Touya looked at Keigo, his mind working at a thousand miles per hour. If that’s how Keigo saw his father, how did he see Touya? Did Touya fall under a similar category? Or… was he worse? The idea gnawed at him like an itch he couldn’t scratch.

“...tell me what he was like.” 

Keigo’s voice cut through all the thoughts. Touya heard him light as day, even through all the rubbish infesting his brain. 

“Huh?”

“When you were a kid. What was he like?” Keigo repeated, still not glancing over at Touya. 

Touya’s lips parted, and he sort of just stared at Keigo. They continued to walk, but Touya lost all forms of coherent thought. Did Keigo just express interest in him? In him? The guy he’d been bashing all day, being rude to, not caring about and literally insulting constantly? Really? Was this a different Keigo from the one he’d first explored the tunnels with? It felt almost odd. 

“Ah… my father?” Touya cleared his throat. “...I think my dad didn’t really want to be a father. He either resented his children because we stole his youth or he just… never even saw us as children. He had longed for a prodigy, one good enough to take over the family name. The place on the council. He wanted someone exactly like him. And… I wasn’t. And he hated me for it, I suppose.”

“You aren’t like him?” Keigo let out a small scoff. 

“Hm?” Touya turned to Keigo, a small frown blooming. 

“Sorry just… you kinda remind me of him to be honest.”

The words struck Touya violently in the chest like a lightning bolt. His lips parted, eyes widened as he processed the words. Keigo noted that Touya had gone very quiet, and quickly spoke again to explain further. 

“Not in a bad way. Just… your mannerisms. They’re almost identical. And you honestly look a lot like him.” Keigo shrugged. 

“I… do?” Touya asked, slow and controlled, trying not to act brashly to the newfound information that did anything but sit right in his stomach. 

“Well, did you think you wouldn’t?” Keigo asked, curious. “Out of all the people you could look like, doesn’t it make sense that you’d look like your own father? Did you think you looked more like your mother?”

“No… no it's not that.” Touya gritted his teeth, focusing on the darkness in front of him. “It’s just… if I look like him a lot even now, back when I was a kid we must’ve been nearly identical.”

“Oh?” Keigo hummed in response.

“When I was young, I had red hair like my father.” He explained. “But as I grew up, it started turning white, I guess.”

“Ha!” Keigo couldn’t suppress a mocking laugh. “At the ripe age of 8 you were getting grey hairs? That’s hilarious! Maybe you grew up in the undercity rather than me, the fumes making you age unnaturally fast.” Keigo teased lightly. 

“Yeah… It's odd. No one ever explained to me why it happened, but eventually my entire hair just… turned white. I’m honestly grateful. Makes me look so much less like him.” Touya smiled to himself softly. “Its the greatest gift I ever received.”

Keigo let a moment pass before scoffing. “Seriously? Do you actually think that him being your father matters that much? You’ll look like him no matter what you do, so why bother trying to change that? You aren’t him, so why the hell does it matter?”

Touya flinched at the tone, turning to look at Keigo with confusion painted on his expression. “I… every time I look in the mirror, I wish it wasn’t.. Him. I thought it wasn’t that bad if you see it—” 

“Well I don’t want to lie to you, not really.” Keigo sighed. “But the only reason I notice is because Enji’s eyes kinda caught my eye when I first met him. I couldn't stop thinking about them. Like two big orbs. Really pretty. That’s why I noticed in the first place. After the eyes, the other small bits all start coming together too.”

Touya nodded, but tried to zone out during his words. He didn’t like the fact that Keigo saw his monster of a father in him instead of… well himself. Touya Todoroki. The person he was. But alas is the life of a doomed son. 

They kept walking, until Keigo finally broke the silence again. “...did he hit you?” It was a soft question, but sincere. 

“...he mainly only hit my mom.” Touya’s lips pressed together, almost ashamed to have shared. He shouldn’t have. “But if he hit her, he could’ve easily hit me and my siblings too.”

“Definitely, never doubted that.” Keigo hummed. “But that isn’t really what I asked. Did he ever hit you? Even if it was only once.” 

Touya felt his heart explode with emotion. Was Keigo expressing care for him? A strong warmth was filling Touya, and he was trying not to get too happy when talking about the tragedy that was what took place between his mother and father. 

“Ah… once. Just I honestly kind of had it coming, to be honest.” Touya sighed. “I strictly went against him. It was wrong and brash. Could’ve gotten myself and others hurt. He slapped me to put a piece of sense into me. Sharpened me right up, I suppose.” 

“Sharpened? That’s not a word I’d use to describe what he did.” Keigo scoffed. “It’s not malicious enough. You gotta say ‘corrected’ or something.” 

Touya shook his head. “No… no. It wasn’t like that. I hate the man, and I don’t stand for anything he has ever done… but in the scenario I would’ve done the same. It was the only logical thing to do, it made sense. I was being an idiot, he had no idea how else to snap me out of it.”

“Are you defending him?” Keigo asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I… guess. In a way.” Touya cringed slightly, causing Keigo to burst out into laughter. “Feels… gross. Never wanna do that again.”

Keigo snorted, eyes going back to trying to focus on the long winded road ahead of them. Touya sighed, looking over at Keigo with determination in his stare. 

“What about you?” 

The words made Keigo pause slightly, his step hesitating. He seemed thrown off by the question. 

“Excuse me?” Keigo asked, slow. Warningly. His guard went right back up tenfold. “The hell do you mean by that, huh dipshit? ‘What about you?’ what do you think this is? What are we, edgy teenagers sharing our ‘tragic pasts’ with each other? Trauma bonding or whatever the fuck they call it?” Keigo had a bitter edge to his voice. 

“No— no I just mean…” Touya gritted his teeth. Why was this Zaunite so damn… difficult? “I just… I shared. So… tell me something about you. About your life. About…”

“About my wings?” Keigo scoffed. “Why the hell should I? Its not like I asked to know your entire life story. Lay off me. I don’t owe you shit.”

“You were egging me on to tell you more—! That isn’t fair, c’mon, please…” Touya argued, frustrated now. Keigo was a different form of difficult. So closed off. It was impossible to break down such secure walls. “...please. Something. Anything.”

Keigo chuckled. “You sound so pathetic. Its amusing. Beg me some more and I’ll consider it.” Keigo mocked. 

“Seriously why are you so—” Touya eyes landed on what was in front of them and immediately, without a word, yanked Keigo back to ensure he stopped. 

Keigo let out a strangled cry of surprise, a birdish squeal coming from him, caught off guard. He covered his mouth, turning red in pure embarrassment. Touya stared at him, blinking a few times in surprise. That was… unexpected. To say the very least, that is. He slowly let his eyes fall on Touya’s hand gripping his arm. 

Keigo’s eyes burned red in fury, ripping his arm away. He was infuriated. Touya could read it all over his face. Touya forced a gulp down, pulling himself away from Keigo, not wanting to make him more uncomfortable. Instead of screaming at him, Keigo just walked faster, still following the road of feathers. Touya could almost feel the anger radiating off him in large, uncontrolled rage. 

He’d been stupid again. Of course he had. He was such an idiot. He was terrible at this. He couldn’t even spend two seconds without yanking or grabbing Keigo. He’d only done it because Keigo almost walked right into a wall. But he knew that wouldn’t really matter to Keigo. He was still the asshole that grabbed him without any form of consent or warning. 

And he let out that… squeal. Touya had to hide a small smile behind his hand, trailing behind Keigo, struggling to keep up, but also ensuring to keep his distance. Those vocal chords were… truly fascinating. It was amazing how he made such sounds. He really was just like a hawk. Touya wished he could know so much more. But if he couldn’t even get Keigo to open up about something small, there was no way he’d ever be comfortable enough to open up about his mutation. 

It wasn’t exactly a… light topic. 

Honestly, Touya was appalled that he himself had managed to talk so much about himself. He hadn’t been so open with anyone for years. Especially about his father. It was… scary and refreshing all at once. He’d barely known this man for what, 24 hours? And he was already spilling his entire life story to him? He was either an idiot or… Keigo was impossible not to want to spill his guts in front of. To be transparent, it was probably just Touya being bad at people. But regardless, he felt much more warm than anything after sharing with Keigo. 

They were still following the path of feathers. It seemed like they would be at it for years at this rate. Touya could’ve sworn they hadn’t been this far from—

Speak of the devil. 

They easily recognized where they’d previously set camp. It was identifiable by the sheer amount of feathers lost by Keigo just by staying in the same spot for too long. The crimson beauties were scattered all over the place. Touya couldn’t help but crack a warm smile. 

“Your apartment must be a mess of feathers huh?” He joked lightheartedly, hoping Keigo would for once not give him a snarky comment back. 

What came was probably much worse. 

Silence. 

The worst sort of answer. Touya’s words hung in the air. Forever unanswered. Keigo didn’t even make a sound of gesture to show he’d even heard Touya in the first place. He simply bent down and ran his hand over where he’d previously been laying, brushing feathers off to be able to sleep on a more even surface. Not that it’d be even anyway, the filtration system was built as though just to spite anyone who would ever sleep in its endless tunnels. Then again, it was originally built to… filter not… be a place to rest. So the uncomfortable cold metal floor and unevenness of the panels were more from age less as something made specifically to prevent the presence of loiters. 

Touya watched Keigo. The mutant curled up, facing away from where Touya had previously been sleeping. He hadn’t uttered a word. Touya should’ve known he wouldn’t. They’d barely known each other. It was stupid to expect anything from Keigo. Keigo had no debt to him, no reason to even help him in the first place other than his own desire to get the filters working again. 

Touya shouldn’t have treated him like a damned business partner, or hell, friend. They weren’t either of those things. They were two people, from two completely different worlds. They just had a common goal. That’s all. Touya was useful, probably just another tool for Keigo. It was stupid of him to think anything else because Touya had never been worth anything like that. Touya didn’t feel much of anything anyway. 

He laid down in his designated spot, lighting the candle again hesitantly. Then he slowly also turned away from Keigo, hugging himself. It was cold on the floor. Just like it had been before. But it felt… extra cold now. He supposed that was the loneliness kicking in. Annoying as usual. 

He forced his eyes to a close, too self absorbed to have noticed the slight tremble in Keigo’s frame. The slight twitch in his shoulders. The fact his eyes were still wide open, bloodshot. Like those of a madman. His talons dug into his arms, drawing blood. His breathing was uneven, his eyes were crazed. 

I need it. 

The rush, the feeling of power, of joy, of contentment. Finally to feel whole, like a solid, real human being. Like he wasn’t a ghost of himself, like he was real. Like he was conscious, like he was alive. Oh the desperation to be alive. 

The desperation to feel alive was one of the only things Keigo Takami wanted more than anything. 

I need it. I need it. I need it. 

His thoughts were a hot mess, melted together in one large pot. He couldn’t place them together, nothing was… working. Nothing made sense in his brain. Nothing at all. One could describe it as one describes that of a stack of hay. Each thought being one strand. Pieces mushed together, trying to form a shape of any kind, but alas failing. 

Always failing. 

Because he needed it. 

It's what made him be able to process. To be able to function. Survive. 

I need it. 

No. He didn’t. Or so he’d tell himself. 

He heard the soft sounds of Touya sleeping, breath even and calm. He slowly turned his body to face the topsider, eyes passing over him as though inspecting a perfectly curated piece of art. 

He was beautiful. Annoyingly so. An attractive man lucky to be blessed with enough money to stay that way. 

Keigo felt like Michelangelo, in a way. Gazing upon a younger, more talented man’s work, in envy. In rage. Raphael, as praised as he was, as charismatic as he was. Michelangelo was angry, he was spiteful. A man of talent, jealous of another’s. Despite the fact that Raphael adored Michelangelo, they could never truly understand each other. 

Maybe this was what Keigo was always destined to be. The painted jealous of the painter. Angry and spiteful that another got to have a life that was better, whilst the other admired him for what he was. 

Keigo was a bad person. 

He knew that. And he hated the back that Touya was slowly making him realize it. Touya was nothing but a spoiled Piltie, but what did it matter? He was kind, despite it. Awkward, be it, but kind. Keigo stared at him in the silence, watching him breathe. Adam’s apple bobbing up and down with each breath. He clicked his tongue then turned back to stare at the ceiling, trying to distract himself. 

His body ached. His head was pounding. How stupid of him not to bring a dose. He should’ve planned. Now he felt like he was suffocating. He bit the inside of his cheek until it bled, eyes scanning the ceiling like it was the most interesting piece of art that he simply couldn’t wrap his head around. 

What a hypocrite he was, criticizing shimmer victims. He was no different, really. He was just as bad, if anything. Stupid, silly addict, just like the rest. 

He chewed at his bleeding cheek, almost as though he were punishing himself. Eyes unfocused. His nails dug into the soil, leaving claw marks that someone might find one day and wonder what beast had come through here. 

Even in his own head, he was calling himself a beast. He scoffed quietly, amused by himself. So he really was a hypocrite. “Don’t call me a beast!” and yet here he was. He would’ve laughed if not for the sleeping man beside him. 

He closed his eyes, attempting to force himself to sleep. Maybe if he was lucky, he’d get an hour or two. Regardless, neither of the two had any idea what tomorrow would bring. 

Not that it mattered. Regardless of their actions, it was always going to end the same way. Their actions don’t matter in this world. 

Because no matter what, history will always repeat itself.