Toxic Marriage

Then


"Alright, rotate!" the commissioner screams for the fourth time. Keigo has already earned himself two knockouts; his other two fights ending in draws. The winged boy's strategy is to dodge speedily and hit a pressure point with his feather which seems to be working efficiently. One more knockout and he'll earn himself a free day. He's never had a free day before; Keigo hasn't been outside into the real world since he was four, and that was only for a few hours with his mom. So he's excited, and he brings his A game, just like Etsuko said.


Touya, on the other hand, is having trouble. He's already earned himself a free day, successfully knocking out (almost killing) all four of his opponents with his raging blue fire, but, as expected, his quirk is eating away at him. "Your flames are incredible," he remembers the president of the hero commission saying when she first accepted him into the program, "but your body isn't suitable for this kind of heat. You'll end up burning yourself into a cremated corpse if you use it."


"I don't care," Touya had grumbled. "I'm gonna be a hero, just like my dad wants."


"Alright," the hero commission president said, smirking ear to ear. "Your wish is my command."


A year later, Touya is here, fighting his fellow novices in the training room. He's hurting them badly with his fire, and he's aware of that, but there isn't much else he can do. There's only two options: fight or give up. If he stops fighting, he'll lose and be sentenced to time in the basement; if he keeps fighting, his quirk will eat up the flesh on his hands.


Touya grunts to himself as he lets out a wave of flames at his opponent. Failure is not an option.


When the training is over, only twenty six of the initial fifty two aren't knocked out. And of those twenty six, only four of them knocked out more than two of their peers. "Exodus, Blaze, Tanzanite, and Hawks. The four of you earned a free day. Congratulations. From noon to midnight, the four of you are free to explore the city. You have twenty minutes before the president will escort you to the door. You're dismissed."


"Awesome!" Keigo beams, flapping his wings so hard that he soars up. He drops back down, giggling softly as the commissioner scowls at him. "Sorry. Just excited."


"Well, nobody fucking cares," Exodus grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. He's the oldest of the four of them, and he's upset that he couldn't prove himself against the winged boy. Still, out of all of them, he managed the knockout the most.


"Don't be a dick," Touya snaps. Keigo beams at him, but Touya ignores him. "Leave him the hell alone. And what did I tell you, Birdie? I thought I made myself clear. Don't look at me."


"Sorry," Keigo mutters.


"You did great," Etsuko says, ruffling Keigo's blonde hair. "I'm proud of you. Wanna hang out on our free day?"


"Sure!" Keigo beams.


"No," Touya snaps. "He's coming with me."


"Huh?"


"Didn't you just say–"


"I changed my mind," Touya says softly. "Plus, he's my husband anyway. We're gonna get married when we graduate, right Birdie?"


"Toxic marriage," Exodus says.


"I think it's cute," Etsuko grins. "Can we join? Call it a double date?"


"That would imply the two of you would also be going on a date," Touya points out.


Etsuko shrugs while Exodus' face heats up. "Whatever," he grumbles. "I don't care."


"Awesome!" Keigo exclaims. "Where to first? I wanna go everywhere! I wanna see everything!"


Touya smiles, grabbing Keigo's hand to keep him from accidentally flying up again. "Got it," Touya tells him. "We'll go everywhere, and we'll do it together."


"Corny," Exodus coughs. "And really gay." Touya glares at him, shutting him up, and the four of them hurry down the stairs and into the real world for what feels like the first time in forever.

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