Fallen Angel

Dinner and a Show

After that, I began to work on my solo missions without letting Keigo know about them. He saw me do some small works outside in public, but in private times, I was working on dangerous missions behind his back. Even though I wanted to tell him what I've been doing, Madam President warned me never to reveal any info to him. It was getting harder and harder to explain any problematic issues I may have with him working alongside him. It got even worse after getting off work early one night.

"Hey, YN!" Hawks called out from across the hall.
"Keigo, what's up?"
"I just got off work and wanted to get an early dinner tonight. Wanna join?"
"You sure you can get off work, Keigo? I mean, you are pro hero, after all."
"I know, but my sidekicks can do the job for me, right?"
"That's not how it works, Keigo. You need to be responsible towards your sidekicks from time to time."
"Aw, come on! Can't you just let it be this one time? I never got to hang out with you lately, and I want to know what's been going on with you."

With his whimpering look and his wings down on the floor, I knew it was hard to resist his puppy dog look. The look that says: 'Please bestie? I'm begging you!' without having to say it out loud. I sighed as I scratched my hair lightly.

"Fine, but it has to be one time."
"Yay!" he cheered as his feathers ruffled with such delight. "Then come on: we're going on a flight."

With such irritation, I followed suit and flew right next to Keigo by wingspan. As both of you started to see the shimmering lights shining up the city streets, Keigo started to bump next to you.

"We never had the chance to see who was the fastest growing up, you know?"
"Oh, is that right?"
"Yeah. How about this? The first one to get to the tower and to the diner the fastest pays the loser dinner."
"Don't you mean the loser pays the win-"

Without letting me finish, he started to fly fast. Knowing full well he was cheating, I started to go fast, but used my quirk to get him to slow down. Catching on to my plan, Keigo used his feathers to attack mine, and our flight battle became intense. Hearing the sounds above, the people started to record the battle above, and some started to cheer loudly.

"Go Hawks!" Few of his fans cheered.
Get him, Tenshi!" the other roared.

We both started to play fight up in the air to the point both of us reached ground level with all our wings short to the brim. Both of us held to the last feather as a sword as we panted heavily on the ground.

"It appears we are at a tie?" I inquired Keigo.
"It seems like it." he agreed as both our wings returned to our former bodies.

He turned and bowed to all the fans who were racing towards him and I. While I wasn't that much of a fan with publicity, Keigo admired it so much.

"Did you have a dispute with Tenshi, Hawks?" one of his fans asked.
"Are you and Tenshi together as a couple, Hawks?" another fan asked.
"Will Tenshi be there with you when you receive your top five title next month, Hawks?" The third inquired.

So many questions were asked, and I couldn't even answer just one. Without any hesitation, Keigo pulled me in close and just smiled at the crowd.

"What you saw tonight was just two friends horsing around with each other. And, of course, Tenshi will be there since it is mandatory for heroes to be there. So, if you'll excuse us, we have dinner to attend to."

Flying both of us out of there, some of the fans continued to cheer and cry for Keigo to carry them like me. As I held on to his coat tightly, I could tell he was very protective of me, as I was to him.

"Did you really mean all of that?" I asked him when we were out of sight of the crowd.
"Why wouldn't it be?" he clarified, "you really are my friend. Ever since we grew up together, you always stood by my side, no matter how bad the situation was. I hope you can do the same to me when I get into situations like that in the future."
"You big goof." I chuckled as I hit him with my wing.

While we flew to our dinner site, I knew somehow this was going to be the most awkward thing to discuss with Madam President the following morning.

*****

"What is this?" Madam President asked as she showed me the morning's tabloids.

When I looked at it carefully, it said:

'BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCKING TOGETHER?! HOT FRESH COUPLE ON THE MARKET!! EXCLUSIVE!!'

I started to groan in agony since Keigo loves attention, but not me.

"Care to explain, Tenshi?"
"We only went for dinner. Nothing more."
"If that's the case, then how do you explain this?"

She swiped to the next screen, where it shows Keigo and I fighting up in the sky, landing to the ground with our sword feathers close to our necks.

"We were just fooling around."
"Fooling around when you both are heroes? You need to act your own age. Both of you aren't kids anymore."
"I understand. It won't happen again."
"It better not. We have another assignment for you."

While Madam President provided me with such info in regards to the mission, I couldn't help but think about that night. Hawks, holding me close, ruffling his feathers close to mine, looking at the night sky with his golden yellow eyes. I was suddenly interrupted when Madam President stopped talking.

"Were you listening?"
"Y-yes ma'am." I lied.
"Good. Now prepare to leave. You'll be gone in a few weeks' time."
"Weeks? But what about the Pro Hero Billboard Chart?"
"We'll make an exception for you to go."
"B-but..."
"Unless there's a problem we should know about."

I held my tongue and couldn't speak another word on it. I was letting my personal life interfere with my work, and it had to stop. We're heroes, not humans. We had to sacrifice all we care and love for the sake of the citizen's safety.

"...No ma'am."
"Good. You're dismissed for now."

I turned to leave for this mission as my heart sank to the bottom of my soul. It was going to be a long mission, and I would never see Keigo again if this mission goes south. I shook my head and had to focus on the mission as it was the one, I'll never forget.