elliot ☂︎

"Y/n, come on, look at me. I said look at me," Keigo says firmly. "You don't understand what this job is. Sometimes you have to make these choices."

You glare at him with glossed-over eyes across the shiny kitchen counter.

"There were people, Keigo. You could've saved so many people, and you chose to save me. You made that decision on your own without asking. You're supposed to save as many people as you can." Your voice is quiet compared to his. None of you want this argument to transform into a fight, having both been through a lot in the past twelve hours.

The tiny cuts on your hand from holding onto a worn-out piece of wood for at least fifteen minutes earlier started to prick as you absent-mindedly poked at them.

"I don't expect you to understand."

"You're right, I don't."

"Right, no, you don't. You don't fucking know what it's like. I don't give a shit if you don't understand, you have no right to be mad at me for saving you. You not having a quirk in this society makes you entirely defenseless. What the fuck did you want me to do, huh?!" Keigo's voice picked up in volume and anger, shouting at you in desperation for a hint of comprehension. "Just stay back and watch you die?!"

You looked away. "No, don't fucking look away from me, look at me." Keigo had a big thing for communication and eye contact, always searching for your gaze to understand your feelings. For you to understand this. "Would you have really preferred for me to let you die in front of me?"

"It's not about me Kei... It's about everyone else. They also deserved to be saved."

"You don't think I already have blood on my hands? I know you don't think it's fair. I know that." The hero's calloused hands grasped the edge of the counter, sighing. "I can't do my job if you're not safe," he continues. "There's nothing in this world worth saving if you're not here with me, (Y/n). Literally nothing. I do this job because I want to keep people safe ― which includes you by the way ― but also one day, truly live in a society where heroes actually have too much time on their hands, like the people say. So I can spend time with you, and be an active part of our life together instead of coming home at three in the morning while you're already asleep. Or having to plan a month in advance for a single date because of all the paperwork I have to fill out just to take the night off."

His voice picks up again. "Fucking look around, (Y/n)! Everything I fucking do is for you! This place? For you. My job? For you. I intend to keep you safe until my dying breath. Until someone takes a spear to my heart. I don't give a fuck if you don't approve of how I do it."

Keigo's large wings, extending outwards in a threatening way, showed the extent of the hero's feelings. A sincerity you can't fake, a vow you can't disprove. He looked like an angel from the other side of the counter, an angel with red wings and worn-out eyes, courtesy of the duty he felt he had to fulfill.

The hero lowered his head once again, his wings faltering. "I just... I can't lose you (Y/n). You're all I have left."

He knew you didn't mind him crying around you, but he always wanted to seem stronger than that. He had weaknesses but never owned up to them. This time, it was different. "I would repeat what I did a thousand times over if it meant us having this argument right now... if it meant you were sitting at the other end of the counter, safe and strong enough to talk back to me." Keigo looked up, tears brimming his eyes. His voice was shaky and uneven, finding cracks to seep through every now and then.

You frowned. You felt bad as Keigo described you as "all he had left". Although you didn't want him to extend favouritism towards you, you knew he wasn't capable of it. He would choose you over any group of people. Over Japan.

Over the entire world, if it came down to it.

And here you were, as he felt you were rejecting everything he's ever offered and will ever offer. He felt you were rejecting him.

"You have to understand," Keigo walked around the counter towards you. "You have to understand you're the reason the world even has Hawks. You're the reason they still have..." he inhaled a sharp breath, "...Keigo Takami. Without you, there's none of that hero shit. I'm yours first, hero second," he said like a guilty child. He was vulnerable.

You extended your hands to meet his stubbly face, chasing away his tears with your thumbs. You didn't mind seeing him cry, but that didn't mean you liked it either.

There was so much guilt, so much self-resentment, distress and loneliness inside of Keigo. You made him feel human and alive like he no longer had to be a shell of himself to exist around others. He was aware he was dropping that responsibility onto you, and that it wasn't fair to keep pushing you to accept him and all his baggage, but he knew that you would, selfishly hoping that you would never change your mind.

"Kei..." you spoke softly and sighed. "I just want you to do the right thing."

"I will," he says, knowing you both knew it was a lie. He would continue to pick you over everything if he was given the choice.

Keigo kissed you. Not just a quick peck to settle the argument, no; he kissed you until he couldn't breathe. He was yearning to capture the tiniest bit of your love for him, of your affection, just to satiate his sick mind.

You kissed back, but it wasn't enough for the greedy hero. Keigo grew needier, moving his hands from your face to torso, caressing your breasts as best as he could through the fabric of your shirt and your bra. He needed you. He needed you to be all over him, a mess, so he could forget his mistakes and feel good.

You started to slowly give in, pushing your bodies together until Keigo was between your thighs. His feathers rustled together feeling the contact from his clothed dick to your crotch as he grinded on you gently. The attention he was giving you was priceless, and you felt adoration from every touch of his fingertips.

"I need you baby, come on, give it to me," he muttered against your lips, trailing them from your mouth to your neck. He wanted you to want it as much as he did before he did anything. Keigo was a gentleman after all.

He elicits gentle moans from you as he sucks on your neck, having slipped one hand under your bra to play with your breast as the other one rested on your thigh, holding you in place while he rocked his lower body against yours. "Please," he pleads once more.

"Kei, come on, you're teasing," you whined as his index came in contact with your nipple. He smirked. Your tone, your now needy body, your flushed face, your words... could raise his ego to the heavens way more than his hero status. Every time. Without fail.

Keigo picked you up from your waist placing you on the table. "You want it babybird? Hm? You want me fucking pounding your little cunt until you can't form a sentence? Is that what you want?" Even though his dirty talk was engulfed in lust, it was simply to rile you up, to make you as desperate for him as he wanted. In reality, his words were dripping in love, a different tone than when you're casually having sex.

"Answer me, hm? Tell me, love, is that what you want? Is that what your pussy needs from me, baby?" he continues, holding your jaw tightly to force you to look at him. Just like in arguments, he's very strong on eye contact.

"Yes, please, Kei, you're making me wait."

Keigo chuckled softly. "Yeah, I know... I know baby," he said as he felt a wave of sadness take over him. He removed your top first, following with your bra as you pawed at his shirt, silently asking for him to take it off which he did. He knew skin-to-skin was important to you. Keigo followed with your bottoms and the last remaining piece of your underwear before discarding the rest of his own clothing, all while keeping his mouth on yours. He was mixing up sadness and desperation in his mind, as well as relief, pain, love and care.

How dare he call himself a man. How dare he call himself a hero.

Holding back his tears, he kept your legs open around him and his hands firmly placed on your hips to stop you from wriggling, entering you with full intent. You could sense something was wrong judging by his emotionally pained expression and by his sudden change of tone and pace. Keigo needed this, truly, but felt he would break down any minute now.

"Baby," you spoke up, but he just shook his head.

"No. Shut up, I'm fine, just let me have this, please," his voice cracked. He was not fine. But he wanted this.

Keigo began to rock his body against yours, jaw locking at the pleasure. His sadness transformed into anger, not towards you, but towards himself. His hips snapped against yours, pathetic moans and whines escaping your mouth with every one of his movements.

He felt okay shortly after for the first time in the night. He was in his own personal heaven, there, right between your legs, making you feel good, making you writhe under his touch. He could die happy knowing he could make you feel this good.

You clawed at Keigo's back, right under his wings so as to not hurt the more delicate feathers of them. He was in too much bliss to talk and knew you were too. The way the head of his cock hit your cervix just right, and your spongy walls throbbed against his length drove him insane. A throbbing, shaky, moaning mess under him, and the sight alone could make him cum anytime.

Keigo reached a hand down to play with your clit, making slow circles around it. He didn't want to overstimulate you, just bring you close to his orgasm.

"You gonna cum baby? Y-You gonna cum all over my cock? God, you feel so fucking heavenly," he whined and moaned. He was twitching inside you and was waiting for you to be close to release.

"Mh- K-Keigo- I-"

He smirked and shushed you gently, his mouth next to your ear with his body slumped over. "C-Cum for me princess, my pretty baby."

Keigo's thrusts became irregular as he felt you tighten around him and the slick from your orgasm drip down in between his thighs, the feeling making him cum as deep as he could, holding you close with his arms. He mumbled through his high.

"'Gonna protect you. 'M gonna offer you the world babybird. I'll make it worth it. I'll make it worth it..."

─ ✧ Mentor!Hawks that likes you as soon as he sees you filling paperwork at the office. No need to talk, he's already made up his mind.

─ ✧ He cheated his way into the system to patrol with you as many times a week as he can.

─ ✧ Just being alone on rooftops with you made the blood rush straight through his dick.

─ ✧ Can't be serious to save his life. Flirty and touchy at any occasion, and uses the fact that you can't fly like him as an excuse to have you close to him while he brings the both of you in the air.

─ ✧ In battle or sometimes in training, he'll take advantage of your suit being as tight as a hero's is to take a good look at it. Looking at you gets him going like a madman, you'd think he hasn't seen a woman in years.

─ ✧ He purposely made his pants one size bigger to hide when het gets hard around you.

─ ✧ The groans you make when you're training also turn him on.

─ ✧ "What do you say we take this back to my place over some champagne?"

─ ✧ Protecting you first in battle no matter what or who else he's supposed to be protecting, to the point where other heroes and you have gotten annoyed at him.

─ ✧ "I know you can defend yourself, it'd just be a shame for something to happen to that pretty little face of yours, don't you think?

─ ✧ Over time, you start dating. He never asked you out, he's way too proud for that, but he treats you like his princess.

─ ✧ Unless we're talking about him forcing his cock further down your throat when you're both bored on patrol.

─ ✧ "Treat her like a princess, fuck her like a whore, isn't that right, babybird?"

─ ✧ Purposely lets you show off when you're fighting to be able to say "That's my girl" to male heroes around the area.

─ ✧ Gives you feathers to fight with. For protection of course and definitely not because he sees it as some form of ownership.

─ ✧ Loves teaching you fighting techniques and seeing you use them.

─ ✧ Goes all soft seeing you carry children out of dangerous situations.

─ ✧ "What's wrong sweetheart? Suddenly don't like being under me?" when he has you pinned against the floor during training.

─ ✧ By the way, he takes training as his personal play-fighting session and rarely lets you win.

"Good morning students of Jackson Heights," announced the headmistress the next morning. I sat in the first row, right next to the stage, which made my ears ring a little bit at how close I was to the speakers.

Incessant murmurs were heard all around the room as people began to point out The Umbrella Academy were standing behind the curtain on the left side of the stage. Gasps and squeals of surprise had to be shut down by Mrs. Auburn so she could continue talking without being overpowered in terms of voice during her own conference.

"I'm sure all of you are aware that today is the day we welcome The Umbrella Academy in our establishment," she said and turned to face them. "Well come on kids, don't be shy!"

And shy, they weren't ― except for Ben who reluctantly trailed behind the others. They walked to the front of the stage next to Mrs. Auburn proudly, just like they did in the press. I noticed they weren't wearing the school uniform, and instead were still in those Umbrella Academy clothes.

Our uniform is almost an opposite colour palette, with variant shades of marine blues, grays and black, while theirs was more burgundy. I was kind of jealous of theirs, it looked more interesting than ours, but I'm pretty sure that was the point.

They were standing in order of their numbers, Luther being first next to Mrs. Auburn and Viktor being last. You could tell which ones of them wanted to be here and which ones just wanted to go home. People weren't probably their thing.

I saw Reginald Hargreeves start to walk on stage behind Mrs. Auburn, reaching for the microphone.

"I expect you treat them as your own and not anything less! They will be―"

"They will be forbidden from using their powers outside of the special class that has been assigned to them and be performed by Grace Hargreeves. You all are to report any signs of infraction of that rule directly to her!" Reginald exclaimed.

Jesus, was he always so cold and stern?

"Thank you, Mr. Hargreeves but please do not take the microphone away from the speaker," said Mrs. Auburn, seemingly uncomfortable.

"My apologies, I just needed to make that clear."

"Yes, yes, thank you. The Umbrella Academy will be joining Year 10, so I expect those of you in that year to be on your best behavior for them. You may now get to class."

The kids that tried to stay behind to talk to the Umbrellas were soon shrugged off by Mrs. Auburn, and I tried to sneak out of the Auditorium without being held back to actually do what I was assigned to do.

"Ms. (L/n)! You are an exception, remember?" she said through the microphone.

I took out a gun in my head, shot her, then shot myself. I shyly turned around and walked back as the Umbrellas have their eyes on me. I was unaware of whether they were judging my every move, or was that just their way of looking at people.

"Yes Mrs. Auburn, how could I forget?"

"Young lady," Reginald speaks up, "I have been made aware of your excellent academical and behavioral successes and while they aren't near The Umbrella Academy's, I trust you will be the right person to accompany them during this school year."

"Thank... you?"

"Very well then!" he said and turned around on his heels without even saying goodbye to his kids. What a weird specimen.

"I'll leave them in your care," said Mrs. Auburn before following him.

I was left alone with the Umbrellas, and I wouldn't say I was intimidated, but they could also stop looking at me like I was an enemy.

"I'm (Y/n)," I attempted with a small smile.

Diego hopped off the stage and shook my hand, introducing himself. His siblings soon followed, but not without something to say.

"She knows who you are, moron," said Five. What a charming guy.

"Nice to meet you," said Viktor with a smile.

I smiled back at him and waited for Five and Diego to settle their mini argument before showing them to the dorms. I told the boys to meet us in the auditorium once they would be done moving in, and left for the girls' section to help Allison.

"Your brothers are―"

"A lot? Yeah. Imagine growing up with them," she chuckled lightly, slowly unpacking her suitcase. "You seem chill though."

"Thank you."

Allison put away her clothes in her dresser and I noticed she dropped a bobby pin on her desk. It was blue and gold and was actually very pretty.

She asked if she would be able to paint the walls and I told her that wouldn't be possible unless she "rumored" her way into it. I guessed that she was more used to having her own space she could change the way she wanted, which I couldn't exactly blame her for.

I noticed Allison was graceful in the way she did things, quickly but carefully like a mum with too many children.

"Do you have one?" I asked.

"What?"

"A mum. Do you have one?"

Allison smiled like I just said something funny. "I do, it's Grace."

"Oh."

When she was done, she put her suitcase away and followed me back to the auditorium where the boys already were. Diego and Luther were playfighting, while Ben and Klaus sat in a corner playing games. Five and Viktor were sat together away from the stage. Five's head turned to me when I walked through the door.

"Hello, (Y/n)."

"Hi Five."

He smiled and turned his head back away. He was much more elegant than the rest of his siblings, although he was the most blunt.

"Before you say anything, we don't want to be shown around. We would rather just go to class. It seems... interesting, to say the least."

"I mean, suit yourself, but I'm warning you they won't leave you the fuck alone. They've been talking about you guys ever since it was announced."

"Considering the general behavior around us it won't be much of a change from the usual so I think we're ready." Five gave me a smile and got up, ready to follow me wherever I lead him.

I looked over at Diego and Luther who were still fighting.

"Right. Don't say I didn't warn you," I said.

Science was Year 10's fourth class of the day, and was held by a rather young guy from west London. His name was Mr. Patel, and he was one of the nicest teachers you would meet in here.

When we walked into his classroom in the middle of a lesson, Mr. Patel introduced all of the students to the Umbrellas before they could get seated.

He had reserved an entire row for us, and my spot behind Jolika and Angela was already taken by Thomas, which meant I would have to sit next to one of the Hargreeves.

Klaus and Ben sat at the last two seats while Viktor and Allison took the front. Diego and Luther sat right behind them, and Five and I took the remaining chairs.

I noticed that none of them had changed into the school uniform, and were still wearing those navy and burgundy patterned clothes. But of course, this was The Umbrella Academy, who cared if they didn't follow the rules.

I looked at Five, my newfound lab partner. I noticed that his eyebrows loosened up whenever he focused on something, almost making it look like he was sad. Either way, his eyes were objectively pretty. His eyelashes were probably longer than mine without makeup.

When he smiled every once in a while, his dimples would show up. I thought that was very cute, but also that I should stop staring. It wouldn't make a difference though, because he probably already had noticed.

I could see Five wanted to ask just why I had been looking at him for the past twenty minutes observing his facial features, and if I had to be honest, Five wasn't a bad looking guy. I was just studying his face like I do with most people, because sometimes, you can see someone everyday, and then you look at their face with closer attention, and they look like a completely different person. That creeps me out, and I'd rather not have that experience with him.

"Do I have something on my face or something?" he said through gritted teeth.

"No. I'm just observing you, that's all. I'm done now, don't worry."

"You didn't tell me you were a fan."

I scoffed.

"A fan? No, don't flatter yourself. I do that with everybody."

Five smirked to himself and looked at me.

"You know you can tell me if you want my autograph."

What a cocky bastard.

"Who said such a thing? Calm down, I was just looking at you."

"Fan behavior."

"Don't be stupid."

The way Five took pride in what he said was almost enough to make me blush. He seemed so confident even though he was dead wrong.

"My brother though," I started, "he is a huge fan. He was born on the same day as you but he got expelled last year."

"Same day? Does he have any powers?"

"No."

"Ah," Five dotted and rested his eyes on the lesson.

Five Hargreeves was sure one hell of a character, but his brothers were even more interesting in your opinion. Upon getting here, Klaus and Ben had not stopped bickering about god knows what, whispering loudly enough everyone could hear.

Diego made a paper airplane near the end of the class, and made it fly around the room, making it do tricks as well. Luther kept passing notes to Allison, and every time she would get one, she smiled. I don't know how morally right you can call liking your adopted sister, but I think he likes her.

Viktor was relatively quiet and actually listened, unbothered by his siblings shenanigans. I could admire that. I guess after years of having to stand them while remaining powerless, you learn to have a certain sense of calm.

Five was rather undisturbed as well, but he was such a chaotic person at heart that he didn't have to be outwardly.

But clearly, the Hargreeves are not used to classroom settings.

Lunch rolled around, and Viktor asked me what the assigned seating was and what were the rules in the cafeteria.

"You sit wherever you want and just don't throw your food at anyone."

"Why would I throw my food at someone?"

"Have you ever heard of a food fight?"

"...What?"

Today, the cafeteria offered tuna melts, mashed potatoes and a brownie. The siblings seemed disappointed at the proportions, so I told them they could always ask for more. I wanted to add that they would probably get bigger sizes if they asked for it because they're so special, but that seemed condescending and mean. I wanted them to feel a minimum welcome here.

People came up to our table at lunch, asking the Hargreeves a lot of questions about their works and their powers. Although they weren't allowed to use them outside of that special class Sir Reginald Hargreeves mentioned, some of them didn't hesitate to show off and egg each other on.

"I'm not a zoo animal," replied Five to a girl that came up to him. He sounded annoyed. "I'm not going to use my power for your amusement."

The girl looked intimidated and didn't waste time to apologize and scurry along. Five definitely wasn't the warmest individual, but I thought he liked showing off. He did at least in the battles I watched that he was in.

"By the way, if you don't want to get sent to the headmistress' office this afternoon, you should really change into the appropriate uniform," I told them.

"We don't have ours yet," said Luther, gobbling down on yet another brownie. "They're still being made."

"They're taking so long because somebody here needs a shirt that's hard to tear but easy to open," Diego snarked looking at Ben.

"It's not my fault. It's dad's. I would've been fine with a regular uniform. He's the one who won't give us a break from our training."

"Is everything in this family a discussion?" I sighed, looking over at the four other Hargreeves.

"Yeah," replied Five.

I was beginning to understand that they lacked a tremendous sense of others, and that most of them were pretty selfish in a way. It must have been their upbringing.

The other classes rolled out fine. I left Five for Allison and Klaus at the seventh and eighth period. Klaus was a lot of fun, he seemed very carefree and not afraid to speak exactly what was on his mind. He didn't hesitate or think before talking. It was sort of refreshing.

Allison snubbed me a little but she was nice overall. I think being roommates with her won't be that hard, it would be bunking with Angela that would make my life a living hell.

After dinner, Allison and I said goodnight to the Hargreeves brothers and headed towards our dorm. She changed into her pyjamas in the bathroom while I did so in the bedroom.

"So your brothers," I asked, "are they always like this?"

"Is Luther always that dumb, Diego always that pressed, Ben always that shy, Klaus always so eccentric, Viktor always so quiet and Five always so... Five? Yes," Allison slowly listed.

"Do you like Luther?"

"What?"

"I saw you two exchanging notes in class multiple times. Do you have something for him?"

Allison couldn't reprieve the smile on her face as she sat down on her bed, looking away from me.

"Well... kinda."

She tossed her pillow on her lap and looked at me with sincerity in her eyes.

"I think I do but, it's weird to have feelings for your brother. Adopted or not. I'm just a hopeless romantic and Luther was the only boy I could like."

I nodded and got my bed ready to lay in. I dimmed the lamp a little bit, letting the ceiling glow a warm orange. I always liked the way light bounced off of white surfaces at night. I found it so pretty.

Allison informed me that she left her necklace in the shower room earlier, and had to retrieve it. It was the heart necklace she always wore around. I thought it was pretty, although the writing on it was too small to even read what it said.

And alone at last I was, staring at the soft glimmer of the moon on the pond outside. Yes, our school had a pond. I liked it quite a lot, sometimes, ducks would come around and decide to take a bath, and we would feed them with a mix of seeds so they would keep coming back for more.

I almost adopted one once, but pets aren't allowed in the school and hiding a duck inside of my dorm wouldn't have been very practical. Ducks are sort of free animals you can't leave inside for too long unless you want to come back to a torn up interior.

All of a sudden, I heard a knock on the door, pulling me from my trance. It's probably Allison, I thought. I closed my blinds just in case it wasn't. Friends aren't allowed in other dorms during lights out, and there were security cameras everywhere outside.

I opened the door, expecting the curly haired girl.

"Five?" I said, quite surprised.