Cupcake

Then


"Oh! I wanna try one of those!" Keigo beams, pressing his hands against the large window of the bakery. The other three stop with him, eyeing the large strawberry cake on display. But that isn't what Keigo is looking at. No, the winged boy catches sight of a flame-themed cupcake in a young boy's hands. "Touya, Touya!" Keigo says, pulling the taller boy's wrist. "I wanna try one of those!"


"A cupcake?" Touya asks, slightly unimpressed. He's fourteen, and he hasn't seen a cupcake before?


"Yes," Keigo breathes with stars in his eyes. "A cupcake."


"Exodus and I are gonna drop by the clothing store down the street," Etsuko says, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. "We'll catch up with you two morons in a little bit."


"C'mon, Touya!" Keigo squeals, basically throwing the bakery's door open. He inhales the scent of the store, flapping his wings. Touya gently places his hand on Keigo's back, chuckling softly. He asks what kind of cupcake Keigo wants, and Keigo points to a blonde woman who just purchased her son the flame-themed one. "The one he got," Keigo says.


Touya pulls the boy's wrist down to his side. "Don't point," Touya whispers. "It's rude."


"Sorry," Keigo chuckles. "Just excited. Let's go, I wanna get my cupcake." The two make their way up to the counter, greeted by a tall, lean man with pink-ish skin and short, darker pink hair. His eyes are dark, but his pupils shine with a golden yellow color. "Hello, I'm K... Hawks," Keigo says. "Am I allowed to have a cupcake?"


"Of course! Nice to meet you, Hawks. Welcome to Ashido Bakery," the man says with a welcoming grin. "What kind of cupcake would you like?"


"The fire one," Keigo says, eyes glistening with anticipation. "But, um, could you make the fire blue instead of red?"


"Sure," the man says, nodding to Touya. "Anything for your friend?"


Keigo looks over at Touya, the smile on his face undeniable. Touya grins back, keeping his sleeves down and his hands tucked in his pockets. He doesn't want anyone to see his bandages. "May I please have a chocolate cake pop, sir?" Touya says gently.


"One chocolate cake pop and one blue-inferno cupcake coming right up!" the man says. Keigo and Touya wait for their sweets, smiling wide at each other. "That'll be seven dollars," the man says. Touya hands over a ten and tells the man to keep the change. Keigo and Touya hurry to the table outside to soak in the sun while they eat.


"Why blue flames?" Touya asks, biting into his cake pop.


Keigo uses his index finger to taste some of the blue frosting, melting into the sweetness. "To match your quirk," Keigo replies simply. "I've missed you a lot, y'know, Touya. It's been months. Why didn't you want to see me? And what made you change your mind?"


Touya sighs, his shoulders drooping a bit. "Keigo, you know how we're gonna get a house and stuff when we graduate?"


"Yeah," Keigo says with a mouthful of cupcake. "And get married."


"Well... I really want to do that, and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything, but..." Touya's hands start shaking, and he shoves them deeper into his pockets; his bandages are scratchy, and he can't focus. "I might not be able to graduate from the hero program at all. I haven't really explained it to you because I didn't want you to worry. I'm not that strong, and I've been getting sent to the basement more and more often–"


"That's not true," Keigo says softly, placing his cupcake down. He folds his fingers in his lap, his expression cold. "You're plenty strong, Touya. You're the strongest person I know."


"I'm not," Touya chuckles dryly, shaking his head. "My body is weird. Like, I have a fire quirk, right? But my body is wired for an ice quirk. So every time I use my fire, I get burned."


"Then don't use your fire," Keigo hisses. "You're smart, Touya. You can work around it. No matter what, don't hurt yourself."


"But then I won't graduate," Touya snaps back. "The commission will think I'm weak if I don't use my quirk, and they'll beat me to death in the goddamn basement!"


"No they won't." Tears start to collect in Keigo's eyes, but he brushes them away. He wraps his wings around himself like a cocoon. "They won't do that to you. I won't let them."


"Don't cry, Birdie. I'm just telling the truth. We both know they will. I don't want to die. I really don't. So I made a deal with someone. He said if it gets bad at the hero program, he has somewhere I can go. And I'll come back for you as soon as I can. I'll break you out of the stupid program, and as soon as you want to, we'll get married. Just like that."


"I don't want you to go," Keigo pleads. "Not now. Not ever. I promise I'll protect you, and it won't ever get bad."


"We don't have a choice," Touya whispers, petting Keigo's feathers. "I'm sorry. I just wanted you to know I'm not mad at you. I never was."


"You promise you'll come back for me?"


"I promise," Touya says. "Let's just enjoy today, alright? Today's our first free day."


"And our last," Keigo murmurs. "I'm gonna lose you forever."


Touya pulls Keigo to his feet, holding him by the shoulders. "Chin up! You didn't lose anything, you damn airhead! The past never dies."     

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