The depths of flame

      Snow slowly fall and swirl from the sky, as if creating some kind of dance — the waltz of winter. The snow sparkles in the light. The sun, often breaking through the clouds, doesn’t warm as much as we would like, instead playing with its rays on the faces of passers-by: from happy to gloomy. And only a little wind moves people’s hair. It’s a wonderful day for a walk.       Several red feathers circle in rhythm with the snowflakes. One wing covers, preventing from seeing, his partner, and the other wing covers him. Although with a quirk like Dabi’s, it’s not really necessary. But hey, let Hawks have his moment.       The winged person is not at all surprised that the villain doesn’t even bother to put on a jacket or any warm clothes, going outside in his everyday attire. Surely the fire inside his body warms the guy even in extremely sub-zero temperatures. When Hawks lays a wing on his shoulder, covering his back, Dabi doesn’t say a word, as if he didn’t notice or care about the this gesture. Hawks himself doesn’t know why he felt awkward because the villain didn’t even move away.       They walk along quiet alleys to their place, which Dabi has chosen, in silence, only occasionally glancing at each other. During their call, hero number two insisted that the place must be uncrowded, and the black-haired man grunted in response and hung up. And now it was difficult not to wonder whether Dabi had heard his request, or whether he had specifically chosen the gathering place where are all tourists and residents of Japan. Approaching the end of the alley, Hawks sees a small embankment. The path, paved with cobblestones, is living its last days. Snow lies along it. But otherwise it’s even decent here, and there are no people at all.       "There won’t be a single soul in this place for the next three hours, birdie, so don’t flutter your wings" Dabi says after a second of silence, looking ahead. His back is straight, as it was during their entire short-lived meeting today. "So you can let go of my shoulders, I’m already pouring sweat from the heat."       The hero obeys, moving his wing to the side. His cheeks immediately turn a little pink, but not enough for the pyrokinetic to notice. Hawks covers himself with his wings, creating a kind of shelter from the cold. Winters in Japan are not harsh, but the hero always wraps himself up to his neck, just to feel at least a little more warmth. He buries his nose deeper into the scarf, so that now only his golden eyes are visible.       "Shall we go further for a walk?" Dabi asks, looking down at Hawks, raising an eyebrow and grinning. "Is birdie cold?"       "There is such a thing. Looks like I wasn’t cut out for Japan’s climate. Every winter I feel like I’m at the North Pole." he lets out a puff of steam from his mouth, immediately hiding back in his scarf. Dabi smiles at the corner of his mouth, and the temperature around him immediately rises, warming Hawks, standing to the left of the villain at arm’s length. Loose feathers involuntarily reach for warmth, and the hero stubbornly stands still, not intending to give Dabi any hope of getting closer.       The pyrokineticist gestures toward the path with an inviting gesture, repeating his question. Hawks nods and silently walks in the indicated direction. The embankment is indeed empty and goes for several kilometers, perfect for their walk. Quiet waves beat below, filling the silence around. They walk, each thinking about their own.       Hawks no longer remembers when they went from meeting only for business in abandoned buildings to walks like this. It’s just that one day, after discussing information, Dabi invited him to go for a walk, and Hawks couldn’t find a reason to refuse. And then such meetings became more frequent until they filled almost all the free time of hero number two.       Was Hawks against this? Pfft, as if.       On such walks, he felt something warm deep in his soul, as if a blue-eyed pyrokineticist was lighting a long-extinguished candle with his blue flame, like his eyes. More and more often, Hawks began to compare this shade with the Endeavour’s, finding each time more similarities not only in the color of the eyes, but also in the personalities of both in general. Having looked through documents with information on the Endeavour and his family, the feathered one had long guessed about Dabi’s real name and identity, but never allowed his guesses to reach the point of publicity or acceptance even in his thoughts.       Lost in his thoughts, the hero doesn’t notice that he’s looking straight into Dabi’s eyes. He, noticing the excessive attention to his person, grins again, for… what time is this in all their meetings? Hundredth? Hawks quickly looks away and stops, looking down the embankment at the waves crashing on the shore. A moment later, a hand is placed on his shoulder blades, right at the base of his wings, warming the chilled bones and feathers. Overwhelmed by the heat, Hawks grabs the railing of the partition so as not to fall to the ground. He closes his eyes and lets out a controlled exhale through his teeth. He could swear that he could even feel the villain’s smile behind his back.       Leaning down, Dabi rests his chin on the blond’s shoulder and begins to stroke the red fluff and feathers at the base of his wings. The other hand massages the left wing, fingering the plumage.       "You know, I didn’t study biology and I don’t know the skeletal structure of birds, but I can definitely say that you feel very good now when I stroke there" he presses on his shoulder blades, thereby causing Hawks to sigh again. "Isn’t that right, birdie?" The air around begins to heat up even more, and a trickle of sweat runs down the hero’s temple. His hands squeeze the poor railings until his bones crunch. The movements of Dabi’s hands really bring pleasure, but something more distantly tender than passionate now flares up within his chest.       Hawks sharply opens his eyes and turns his head to the left towards Dabi’s head, which is resting on his shoulder in a familiar way. There is almost no space left between them. He looks into the depths of the villain’s eyes for the first time so closely, seeing something unknown at the bottom of the blue ocean, something that appears only next to Hawks, only when looking at him. Dabi stares back without even looking, staring, just like Hawks. The winged one turns his gaze to the villain’s lips, slightly parted. Dabi smiles and at the same time Hawks realizes his thoughts.       He wanted to kiss him.       Kiss the villain.       Oh my God…       Hero number two wants to kiss villain number two.       What do they say there? Opposites attract each other? That’s for sure, see yourself.       Ironic.       Hawks grins at his inner monologue. Returning to reality, he looks up at Dabi’s eyes again, finding him looking at his lips, obviously fighting an internal battle. Hawks puts his hand on his cheek and smiles when Dabi is distracted from looking at his lips. Now they look into each other’s eyes, and Hawks understands what exactly is in the depths of the ocean of the opposite. And this only makes him more determined on his decision.       "You look so cute when taking the first step" Hawks strokes the brace on his cheek with his thumb. "And so beautiful."       And kisses. The snow around them begins to melt instantly. Dabi’s hands wraps behind Hawks' back, pulling him even closer to him, and he chuckles into the kiss. Their tongues intertwine, performing a gentle dance, just like the red-feathers with snowflakes earlier. The wings tremble, unable to withstand the sudden wave of feelings. Their kiss lasts like an eternity, but does not develop into passionate, no, this is only ahead.       This walk is their starting point. When “I” and “you” replace by “we”.       "I love you, Keigo" Dabi says, breaking the kiss for a moment and looking into the golden eyes.       "And I love you, Touya" and Hawk kisses him again.

***

      The guy becomes silent and closes the book, taking off his glasses. The room is stuffy, and he gets up from his chair to open the window. A warm breeze hits his face, ruffling golden hair. The blonde inhales the spring air, closes his eyes, leaning against the glass, and listens. Birds are singing their beautiful songs on the street, the hum of cars is heard in the distance, and very close by is the noise of people talking. Opening his eyes, the guy looks down at the place where human noise accumulates. It was eight o’clock in the morning recently. Here are ordinary workers running, hurrying to work. Schoolchildren going to the place of study. Students literally crawling into U.A.       None of them attract much attention from the blond, except for a couple of two friends standing near the entrance the opposite building. Behind the back of one of them there are wings, the boy looks in awe at his friend’s hand, seeing the light of a red flame. They remind him of a couple he just read in a book. Or not even in the book, just a draft. This text will soon be published in a decent form and will be sold throughout Japan.              Should have been.       But the text is unfinished, and the author disappeared without a trace, not appearing on social networks for two years now. In the first couple of months, newspaper texts said that he was taking a break from writing. After a year-long “break,” fans began to go on alert. Well, a month ago the press announced that the writer’s family would tell the truth about the disappearance of the book series beloved writer by all readers next month.       And this, for a moment, is already tomorrow.       The blonde turns around and looks at the hospital bed with the guy sleeping on it. He slowly approaches him and sits back down on the chair. He looks at the sleeping man and frowns, lost in his thoughts. The beeping sound of a heartbeat measuring machine can be heard in the background.       "Dabi is happy with Hawks now" the blond says into the void. "It’s time for you to become happy…" he hesitates, nervously fiddling with the hem of his T-shirt and fiddling with the fingers of his other hand. Finally the guy exhales and looks straight into the closed eyes of the sleeping man. "Touya".       Everything is still quiet and calm, and not a single soul can disturb them. Golden eyes focus on the palm of the sleeping man’s left hand, lying on top of the blanket at the edge of the bed. The blond’s hand rests on top and squeezes lightly, stroking the fingers. Everything is as unnaturally hot as it always were. Keigo looks up at Touya’s closed lips and thinks. Immediately he anxiously clenches the palm of his free hand into a fist and bites his lips. Blinks several times. Behind him he can hear the sound of feathers rustling on the floor. He suddenly approaches the blond man’s face and freezes. The internal struggle feels the same as Dabi’s.       That’s what’s really ironic.       "I want to be your Hawks" he says into the half-closed lips of the sleeping man. All this seems terribly strange to Keigo, because Touya doesn’t even hear him. He places his hand on the guy’s cheek and strokes it with his thumb, feeling the warmth emanating. And in appearance, the skin falsely looks porcelain and cold. He moves his fingers to Touya’s lower lip and looks in awe, wondering about the further development of events. It’s strange, but he compares how touching with fingers can be different from kissing.       Oh my gosh.       Lost in his thoughts, Keigo doesn’t notice how the sleeper’s lips curl into a semblance of a grin. The previously steady sound of the heartbeat from the machine is replaced by a more frequent one, and Touya’s eyelashes tremble as they open.       "You are so cute at taking the first step" the quiet whisper of a familiar voice pulls Takami out of the abyss of thoughts. Touya’s hand squeezes Keigo’s in response. "And, God, you’re so fucking beautiful" his lying head jerks up and kisses Keigo’s lips. Only after a minute of being in shock, the feathered one kisses back, holding Touya’s head with the hand that was just now lying on his cheek.       "I love you, Hawks" Touya says, breaking the kiss.       "And I love you, Dabi" and kisses him again.