𝗙 𝗔 𝗟 𝗟 𝗜 𝗡 𝗚 （ｔｏｇｅｔｈｅｒ）

10. 𝙣𝙚𝙬

There was an incident about two years ago. It was a couple months after I'd gotten out of the hospital, Hawks had gotten into a fight with a villain, and it was all over the news. The villain apparently hurt his wings so badly it took him half a year to fully recover, and at one point there was a news channel made specifically for covering his recovery process. He retired shortly after that incident, and after he'd fully recovered, decided to become a full time model.

Because of that, sometimes I'd see remnants of him, whether it was seeing his face plastered on a billboard, or an interview of his playing over the radio at the store, they all hurt the same. They reminded me that while it took me months, out of the now three years since I've seen him, to learn how to live normally again, but it didn't affect him at all.

In the end, I was nothing to him but a failed attempt at charity work, and all those times I could've sworn we had a connection, that was all just a means to make me feel better a bit faster. So that he could get rid of me sooner. At times I'd think I saw a hint of red, hiding behind a corner, or flying past me at the speed of light, but whenever I'd go to investigate them, there'd be nothing. It was gone. I was just delusional, still wishing after all this time he'd check up on me.

What I think hurt most were the words he said to me just before we'd parted ways. Though I wished so badly that he was a horrible person, that him taking me in was a mistake, I couldn't shake those last few words. If there was one thing I knew about Keigo, it's that he meant those words. It would have been quicker for him to play the role of the villain, to say he hated me and wish we'd never met, but he didn't. We both knew if he'd said that, I wouldn't have put up much of a fight about leaving. The only reason I could come up as to why he didn't go that route, was because he couldn't bring himself to. If those last words he said were true, I don't think he could've put up the front that he hated my very being. It went against his nature.

I couldn't believe myself sometimes, constantly thinking about a guy I'd only spent a couple days with. But, the more I thought about that, the more I seemed to think that was a stupid point to make. He was the first person to treat me like I was my own person, the first guy to not treat me like a hunk of meat, and the first hero to make an effort to save me.

I got discharged from the hospital the day after I'd seen Keigo there, and immediately went to quit my job. I was sick of conforming to the boringness of the world, but most of all, I wanted to be the embodiment of spite. I wanted to prove everyone wrong, my parents, Hawks, the universe, everyone. The world that once made me sick just to think about, I decided to take hold of. My purpose in life was no longer unclear, instead I'd made it my mission to say 'fuck you' to the universe, to say how dare they put me through so much shit, to make me suffer so much. I planned to make the universe suffer as much as I did, not by wreaking havoc among mankind, but by existing. If the universe wanted me gone so badly that it had to make me feel such sickening emotions, the most reasonable thing to do was to defy it.

Now, instead of being bored by the very thought of living for years on end, I was invigorated by the idea of tomorrow. Now, every day was something new to experience, a new person to meet, a new food to try, a new show to watch. I didn't need to find some worldly purpose to live for, because eventually everything in the world comes to an end. But something untouchable, like spite, never ends, but it can never be accomplished. It was something so simple, but it had become my world. I guess I had to thank Keigo for that, in some way.

It's been three years since I had that revelation, if you will. For about a month after that, I felt like complete and utter shit. I was freeloading off of my parents, eating their food, not working, and not paying rent like I used to. It took me a while to get back on my feet, but when I did, I decided on a new career path.

Wedding planning.

It was that little bit of everything I needed, and I got to see the reap of my efforts in just a few months. It made my heart full being able to bring peoples visions to life, to be able to see others have their perfect day. It made me work on almost everything I lacked, while not making me want to give up immediately, it was perfect. At one point, I even got to plan the wedding of a certain friendly nurse.

I picked up almost every job I could, from beach weddings to churches to barns, sometimes I even did photo shoot design, though hardly. Everything was going perfectly, I'd found a job that made me happy, I felt like I'd finally gotten over Hawks, and I was almost completely independent from my parents.

Until, I got a call from an old friend.

An old coworker of mine from my office job, who used to work in hero publicity. He told me he'd worked his way up into hero management, and was looking for a photo shoot designer. He was in charge of coordinating a huge promotional video project, that'd require several large venues to be fully decorated for shooting. It paid well, the shooting would only take a week, and I didn't have to do much heavy lifting. I almost complied, until I saw the list of actors who'd be starring in the video.

Iwao Oguro
Keigo Takami
Masaki Mizushima
Misuta Purasutikku
Rumi Usagiyama
Yu Takeyama

"There's no way in hell!" I shouted into my phone. "I can't do it anymore! Just hire someone else!"

"Are you kidding me, Sosore? You're kidding right? Please tell me you're kidding." Kongan, the old coworker, pleaded.

"Look, I'm sorry, but it's for personal reasons." I tried to tell him, crumpling up the shopping list I had been in the process of making when I'd heard this god awful news.

"You can't do this to me! I already pitched your work to all of the actors and their managers! Plus this is my first time being put in charge of a project like this! Come on!" He yelled, panic clear in his voice.

In the middle of throwing the crumpled paper into the trash from where I was sat on the couch, I faltered. My paper ball fell onto the floor, just short of the trash can as I flopped back onto the couch, releasing a heavy breath. "Did you just say you pitched my work to the actors?" I said, shooting straight up again.

"Yes! During a conference! Once you started showing interest in the project I had to make sure the production company liked you and the only meeting we had all of the directors together happened to be the same one where all of the actors were there too! Bottom line is they all loved you and-"

"Did you use my name?" I asked, wondering into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water to cool down my now nerved body.

"Well I mean of course, that's kind of the whole point..."

I chugged the glass of water, slamming the plastic down on my countertop. "And were any of the actors opposed?"

"No in fact every single one of them praised you-" He started to talk quicker and quicker, probably desperate to have me not quit.

'If he didn't want me there, he would've said something... but he didn't?" I thought. Keigo was far too stubborn to not speak his mind if he was against it, plus I could really use the extra money...

"Fine"

"You'll do it?!?" Kongan screeched, and I had to pull my ear away from my phone just so that my eardrums wouldn't blow out.

I hoisted myself up onto the counter, swinging my legs over the edge once I'd positioned myself. "Yeah yeah, I'll do it." I said, and Kongan sounded like he started having a breakdown, crying and screaming streams of thank yous.

"Shooting starts in a week, right?" I'd asked when he finally managed to calm down.

"Yes! Yes! And you're going to be there!" The happiness and relief in his voice was hard to miss.

One week.

~~~
A/N

this is a filler chapter since school is KICKING MY ASS SO HARD