The Two Types of Wingmen [Bakawks] - Part 14

[Click for Ch13]

Katsuki leaned against the doorway to watch as Keigo got himself ready to go, a towel barely hanging on around his hips as he aimed a blow dryer at his hair. The blond locks danced around like soft, downy feathers, much like the tiny red ones on the inside of his wings that tickled Katsuki’s skin when Keigo wrapped him in an overzealous hug.

When his hair was suitably dry, and looking like a fluffy mess that made Katsuki snort at him, he picked up one of his little red studs, leaning in closer to the mirror to see better.

“How long have you had them?” he asked, as Keigo slid the little silver pin through his ear lobe. “You usually have them covered.”

“In my costume?” Keigo asked knowingly. “The covering is a symptom, not the purpose; don’t wanna damage my hearing when I fly fast. I should really get you a set of earmuffs too, shouldn’t risk ruining your hearing just to fly together.”

“I make explosions from my hands, I’m pretty sure my hearing is screwed already.”

“Our bodies are pretty good at dealing with our own quirks,” Keigo said, with a little grin. “Not so much at dealing with each other’s, unfortunately.”

“Fine, get me a set then. I want red ones.”

“Deal,” Keigo agreed, reaching for the other stud. “And I got them pierced pretty much the moment I legally could. Thought they’d be cool, so I just went out and got them, before anyone could tell me I couldn’t. How come? You don’t like them?”

“I never said that,” Katsuki huffed. “Just wondered.”

“These are still the first ones I ever bought,” Keigo added. “I’ve tried others, through the years, but I always come back to these. They’re my favourite colour.”

He glanced back, looking straight into Katsuki’s eyes, and Katsuki felt his face flood with warmth.

“Shut up, you damn lorikeet.”

“Okay, okay. I’m almost done, you ready to go?”

“Uh-huh, just need to grab my bag on the way through.”

“Would it be a terrible idea to ask you to pick me something to wear?”

“What, you can’t go like this?” Katsuki grinned, catching a glimpse of Keigo rolling his eyes in the mirror. “The abs, the arms, the towel, I think it’s perfect.”

“You’re very sweet, but far too young and talented to get caught up staring at my abs.”

“I’m eighteen,” he grumbled. “I’m not young.”

“I know that,” Keigo huffed right back “But you’re not a middle-aged woman begging me to sign her boobs, you have more going on in your life.”

“You sign people’s boobs?”

“Why, you want in?” Keigo teased, eyes darting pointedly to the little swell of Katsuki’s pecs beneath his t-shirt. “I’d do it.”

“You… Common Shag.”

“You’re supposed to have an insult to go with the dumb birds, not just rattle them off.”

“Shut up, Limpkin.”

“Sea urchin.”

“Tawny Frogmouth.”

“Echidna.”

“Masked Booby.”

“Is that your new hero name?”

Katsuki thumped him in the arm stubbornly, but he couldn’t help but crack a smile anyway, especially when Keigo shot him a teasing grin.

“Grab me a pair of jeans,” he requested. “From the bottom drawer. And one of my button up shirts.”

“Why are you being a nerd just to meet my parents?”

“Because I care about making a good impression on them, you know that. Maybe my grey coat too, it’ll be cold getting there and back. Are you gonna stay here tonight?”

“If it’s cool,” Katsuki mumbled, slightly awkward all of a sudden. “They’ll just think I’m at my parents’ place anyway.”

“You know you’re always welcome here. Makes life easier, anyway! We can head to the agency nice and early in the morning, you can join me and Endeavor on our patrol tomorrow evening, and then we’ll finish off with the Todorokis before I walk you home.”

“Alright,” Katsuki agreed, straightening up off the wall. “But I’m not getting the grey coat.”

“Why not?”

“I like the black one better.”

“Black one?” Keigo asked, frowning slightly. “What black one?”

“You know the one!” Katsuki called, already heading to the bedroom.

“Wait, are you talking about my leather jacket?” Keigo called back, laughing. “That’s not a nice one for meeting your parents!”

“Too bad!”

“Okay, okay! Leather it is, you weirdo.”

“Shut up! It’s hot!”

Katsuki felt himself blushing again as he listened to the laughter coming down the hall, quickly digging out the requested clothes – and a pair of underwear, although it was tempting to not – before returning to the bathroom.

He froze in the doorway when Keigo turned toward him, staring blankly, and Keigo stared back for a moment in silence.

“What?” he finally asked. “Did I miss a spot?”

“What the fuck,” Katsuki asked, already blushing again at how stupid it made him feel.

“What’s wrong?”

“You look like a baby.”

Keigo finally caught on, bursting into laughter again despite the way it made Katsuki’s cheeks burn, and putting his razor away.

“Point taken, never again.”

“What the hell.”

He set the clothes down on the counter, reaching for Keigo’s weirdly-smooth face to hold it between his hands, and Keigo just continued to laugh as he inspected every inch of his face.

“You like the stubble, I get it, I won’t do it again,” Keigo assured him. “Are you done now?”

“No. It looks so wrong.”

“Okay, okay!”

“When have you ever shaved? You’re always all scruffy and homeless looking.”

“Rude!”

“You know what I mean!”

“I shave all the time,” Keigo informed him. “It just grows back, dummy.”

“That quickly?!”

“Yes, that quickly,” he chuckled, wriggling a hand up to rub Katsuki’s hairless cheek fondly. “Let me guess, you’ve never shaved in your life?”

“Shut up, I do.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Like… once a week. Or else it gets patchy and gross looking.”

“Once a week.”

“Shut up!”

“You’re so cute,” Keigo laughed, planting a kiss on Katsuki’s forehead. “I’ll stick with the electric one from now on.”

“The kind that leaves a little behind?”

“Exactly.”

“You better,” Katsuki huffed, finally pulling away. “I didn’t sign up to date a child.”

Despite the jabs, Katsuki still cracked a smile when Keigo gave him an exasperated look, not even complaining when Keigo ruffled his hair fondly.

“Alright, close the door and gimme two minutes to get dressed, then we’re off.”

“Don’t shave anything else while you’re in there.”

“I get the point!”

With a little grin, Katsuki closed the door between them, flicking his father a quick text to let him know they were on their way. He knew the idiots would be making way too big of a deal out of the whole thing, but… Well, it was kind of nice, he supposed. He liked being able to show off his relationship, after all.

“Ready to go?” Keigo asked, returning fully dressed to drop a kiss on Katsuki’s hair. “I’m excited to meet them.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki conceded. “I guess I’m kinda glad, too.”

“It’s gonna be really hard to stop myself from giving you a hard time all night, though.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s second nature at this point?”

“I meant why would you stop,” Katsuki snorted. “They’re my parents, not royalty or some shit. They don’t care.”

“I’m sure they won’t want to hear me talking shit about their baby boy.”

“My mother has eighteen more years of experience than you in that field.”

Keigo laughed, but when he saw the serious look on Katsuki’s face, he halted quickly.

“You said your relationship with them was okay, right?” he asked, his voice lower than usual. “Should I be moving you into my spare room instead of meeting them?”

“I give them just as much shit back,” Katsuki assured him. “That’s just… us, I guess.”

“Okay,” Keigo said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’ve got your back if you ever want them to cut it out.”

“Stop being all protective,” Katsuki said stubbornly, shoving Keigo in the arm. “I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can,” Keigo assured him, ruffling his hair. “That doesn’t stop me caring about your safety. I know you’d do the same for me.”

Flashes of old photos and articles flashed through Katsuki’s brain, but he did his best to shove them aside in a hurry, to keep it from showing on his face.

“Whatever,” he said, striding out the door with his school bag in his hand. “You’ll like my dad, at least.”

Keigo locked the door behind them, and slipped an arm around Katsuki’s waist, pulling him in close. While the trip between Keigo’s house and Katsuki’s childhood home took about an hour on a train, Keigo had assured him that flight time was significantly quicker. Apparently he intended to keep that promise, because he slipped his earmuffs over Katsuki’s ears before they lifted off the ground, leaving his own exposed.

“Don’t start,” Keigo said, before Katsuki could even open his mouth. “I can feel it if mine are a problem, I can’t feel yours.”

Katsuki huffed, but he didn’t bother to argue, just looped his arms around Keigo’s neck to help hold himself in place. He trusted Keigo to hold him up even without the help, but he felt like it was some kind of weird courtesy to at least attempt to help, rather than just hang limply over Keigo’s arm and let him do all the work.

As soon as they rose above the rooftops, Keigo’s wings changed motion. Gradually they shifted, from the gentle pulses that lifted them up, into something wider, sharper, a quick, hard push that sent them shooting through the sky. Katsuki’s face immediately started going numb, so he turned his head a little, tucking his cold nose into the shoulder of Keigo’s leather jacket. Keigo didn’t even seem to notice, too busy finding a rhythm with his wings that kept them moving so fast that the world blurred around them. Katsuki didn’t bother attempting to pick out any landmarks, he was pretty sure he’d get motion sick if he tried.

In the end, it took barely more than twenty minutes for them to begin to slow down again, and when Katsuki dared to peek, he saw familiar buildings down below. He was pretty sure, in fact, that they flew directly over the Midoriya apartment, and he made a mental note to get his phone out when they left, to snap a dumb photo that he knew the nerd would think was cool.

“What an impressive entrance,” Mitsuki said with a grin, when they touched down at the end of the driveway. “I’m Mitsuki Bakugou, it’s nice to finally meet you instead of just seeing the posters on my son’s bedroom wall.”

“Keigo Takami,” Keigo answered, grinning already. “I’m really glad to meet you, too.”

“Don’t go spreading that around,” Katsuki instructed, handing Keigo back his earmuffs before he shoved past Mitsuki, into the house.

“What, I’m not allowed to tell people I met the Hawks who my son has been gushing about for half his life?”

“His name,” Katsuki corrected her, ignoring the rest. “See, you Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker? Told you she wouldn’t care if you give me a hard time.”

“You’ve gotta stop looking up dumb bird breeds.”

“Never.”

He kicked off his shoes and glanced back, watching his mother step aside and smile fondly as she waved Keigo through.

“For you,” Keigo said, pulling a small bunch of flowers out of his jacket that miraculously didn’t seem to be squished from the flight. “Thank you for having me over, it means a lot.”

“Aren’t you the sweetest?” Mitsuki gushed, accepting the little bouquet and taking a deep breath of the blooms. “You’re welcome here any time, even if the brat tries to talk you out of it. Now, shall we start with the tour of his bedroom, or the album of baby photos?”

“The bedroom,” Keigo answered immediately. “Otherwise he’ll run off to tear the posters down before I can get there.”

“Good plan!”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, but when they actually started up the stairs, he hesitated. Were they seriously going to go poke through his room like creeps?

“What?” Keigo asked with a grin, when Katsuki grabbed his arm pointedly. “I don’t get to see?”

“Seriously?”

“Come on, I’m curious now,” Keigo laughed. “What are you hiding from me? I already know about the merch collection.”

“I love that merch collection,” Masaru said, emerging from his own bedroom with a smile. “It was getting so hard to find him All Might merch that he didn’t already own, the sudden Hawks collection was a blessing.”

“You must be Mister Bakugou,” Keigo said with a grin. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Please, it’s Masaru. Welcome to our home.”

“Masaru,” Keigo agreed. “I’m Keigo, it’s a pleasure to be here.”

“Stop being so polite, both of you,” Katsuki demanded, miming gagging. “Don’t make this weird.”

“This one is my favourite,” Masaru said, ignoring the reprimand to lead the way into Katsuki’s room. “He spotted the single Hawks toy in a bin full of heroes, at some tiny store in Fukuoka when we were on holiday, and we couldn’t say no when he was so delighted.”

“I wasn’t delighted,” Katsuki insisted, face burning. “I was like thirteen years old, it’s not like I was a dumb toddler digging through toys.”

“It’s cute though, right?” Masaru said, holding the blobby little stuffed toy like it was made of gold. “I always called it the Hawks Log.”

“I haven’t seen that series in a long time,” Keigo chuckled. “They probably sold out quickly, in that area. It’s no wonder you had to dig.”

“I didn’t dig!”

“Sure, buddy.”

“Have you seen the t-shirt, too?” Mitsuki asked. “He didn’t take it off for weeks.”

“Stop being embarrassing.”

“Never.”

“I saw it,” Keigo assured her, catching Katsuki in a hug when he turned around to complain. “He wore it on a date, it was adorable.”

Katsuki finally managed to extricate them all from his room, though he couldn’t resist a tiny smile back at the Hawks Log as he closed the door behind them – it had lived on his bedside table for about as long as he could remember, and it always felt like a little reminder that he was home, when he woke up to it. Part of him was always tempted to take it back to the dorms with him, but he hated the thought of one of his idiot classmates barging into his room and stealing it, or damaging it, or something equally stupid. So in his childhood bedroom it remained, to watch over him whenever he visited home.

“One of the first things he ever asked me for was my merch,” Keigo was telling his parents, despite Katsuki’s grumbles about it. “I thought he was joking at first, but he got so excited when I agreed, I ended up going overboard.”

“We saw the photos,” Mitsuki grinned. “That hoodie is the cutest, and he sent us pictures of the figurine immediately. The wings on that thing!”

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Katsuki grumbled. “Stop talking about me!”

“Sorry,” Keigo said, though there was clearly no sincerity in it. “I don’t get the chance to gush about my cute boyfriend very often.”

Katsuki felt his face fill with heat, not helped by his mother laughing at him openly, though at least his dad tried to muffle his chuckles, when Katsuki hid his face in his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“I have to check the dinner anyway,” Masaru said, heading for the stairs. “Shall we get comfortable in the living room?”

“Sounds great. You gonna walk, ‘Tsuki, or do I need to carry you?”

“Shut up,” Katsuki huffed, tearing himself away and pointedly ignoring the smirk on Keigo’s face. “I’m fine.”

“Uh-huh. Can I do anything to help with dinner, Masaru?”

“No, no, I’m good!” Masaru assured him. “Come have a seat, tell us about yourself!”

He seemed to realise his mistake a little too late, freezing in the doorway, but Keigo just smiled at him, apparently unaffected.

“At least let me offer this, then,” he said, reaching into his jacket again and pulling out a wine bottle – how the hell did he manage to hide so many things in that jacket? “We had a French hero visiting recently, and she brought us gifts. I couldn’t think of a better group to share it with.”

“That’s so kind of you!” Masaru said, accepting it and marvelling over the label. “It looks amazing, I can’t wait to try it. Thank you so much.”

“My pleasure!”

He sat down on the sofa when Mitsuki offered, dragging Katsuki in by the hand, through he didn’t try hard to resist. He sat down at Keigo’s side, still huffing a little, but keeping his grip on Keigo all the same.

“I’m not sure what to tell you about myself, though,” Keigo continued, when they’d settled in. “Most of my time is spent on work, I don’t exactly do anything interesting.”

“What’s it like to be number two?” Mitsuki prompted. “It must be stressful!”

“It can be,” he agreed. “But probably no more stressful than most other heroes, to be honest. If I desperately wanted to place first, sure, but I just kind of do my job and place where they put me.”

“Admirable,” Mitsuki said, nodding sagely. “Not like our brat who’s obsessed with the numbers.”

“It works for him,” Keigo said with a grin. “Drives him to work harder, right?”

“I guess that’s true. If only he could learn to watch his language, I’m sure that would help a lot.”

“Shut up,” Katsuki huffed. “Like you can talk.”

“I know how to keep it down in public!”

“Sure you do.”

“What about your old agency?” Masaru asked, as he returned from the kitchen. “Do you miss it?”

“A lot. I worked with the people there a long time, and I loved the town. I knew my way around without a map, knew half the people living there, it was great. But being up here is better for my career, and the people here need me more with everything going on lately. Plus, it let me meet Katsuki properly, so I’m glad I did it.”

“Stop being cheesy,” Katsuki complained.

“Never, and you know it.”

As they chatted about work, Keigo asking questions about the Bakugous’ jobs too, Katsuki finally let himself relax a little, sinking into his seat. Keigo finally seemed to be done embarrassing him, at least for the moment, and his mother had clearly decided to give him a few brief minutes of peace, for once. He had to admit, it was kind of nice to see Keigo chat with his parents like it was no big deal; his parents were clearly doing their best to make Keigo feel welcome, and Keigo was trying equally hard to make a good impression, which was kind of cute.

“Do you think you’ll end up back in Fukuoka one day?”

Katsuki froze. He’d never even considered that possibility, even though he knew how much Keigo missed the place. And sure, Keigo could visit him pretty damn quickly with his quirk, but if they wanted to stay together, did that mean…?

“I’ve never really thought about it,” Keigo admitted. “I don’t tend to think that far ahead; I try to take things as they come. That way I don’t have to be disappointed if things don’t work out as I’d planned.”

“That seems… sad,” Mitsuki said, getting a stern look from Masaru that came too late to actually stop her.

“I agree,” Keigo said, thankfully unoffended. “I’ve never had much in my life to anticipate or hold on to, I’m not used to it yet. I could quit being a hero tomorrow just because the mood struck me and not even miss it, even though it’s what I’ve dedicated my life to.”

“People wouldn’t let you,” Katsuki pointed out.

“No, you’re right,” he agreed, smiling a little sadly. “Good thing I still love it, huh? I don’t think that mood will strike me any time soon.”

He paused, glancing over at Katsuki again, and reaching for his hand fondly.

“Every time I’m heading back to the agency and think about Katsuki being there in the gym, it makes me smile,” he said, making Katsuki blush like an idiot all over again. “It might be the first time in years that I’ve really looked forward to something, I guess that’s why I thought it would be fun to give dating a shot.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Katsuki complained, despite the soft smiles Keigo got from both Katsuki’s parents. “I barely even see you those days.”

“I know. But just seeing your face there is nice.”

“Shut up, you… Himalayan Snowcock.”

“I’m gonna have to look that one up to understand the reference.”

“It’s a bird.”

“Good to know.”

Masaru excused himself with a smile to check on the food, but then he was calling them in, and Katsuki was leading Keigo by the hand, pointing him to the chair at their table that was usually empty. Katsuki and his parents had always sat in the same places, for no real reason other than habit, but the chair next to Katsuki had been empty, other than the rare occasions he brought a friend over to fill it. When Keigo sat in it, though, his wings carefully draping themselves over the back to keep feathers out of the food, Katsuki couldn’t help but steal a few more glances than really seemed appropriate.

He liked seeing Keigo in that chair.