Just Say No

Father

  "T-talk about something? With all due respect, Endeavor-san. I-I just got here, y'know I can't have caused that much trouble already. You gotta cut me some slack here," Hawks laughed awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He laughed a bit, scared. Enji watched him carefully. 

  "It won't take that long. Why don't you just sit down, and we can talk, hmm? As friends," Enji watched as Keigo reluctantly lowered himself into his seat, swallowing thickly. He waited till Keigo was sitting still in his seat. Under the older man's gaze, Keigo seemed too afraid to so much as even breathe. 

 "I'm sitting... so um... what is it?" Keigo cursed internally, hearing his voice crack. Endeavor's gaze softened, and he sighed softly. 

  "Look, kid, I'm not coming to you as Endeavor right now. You can relax. Right now, I'm Enji, okay? I'm just really worried about you. Whenever the president looked at you, you tensed up like you were expecting an attack. It wasn't big, but it was something, you can't say that you didn't. What did the commission do to you?" Enji questioned carefully. His voice was low and kind. The tone sounded so foreign on the man's tongue, but then again, Keigo hadn't heard such a tone very often. 

Keigo shook his head, forcing a smile, "nonsense, they didn't do anything to me. If it weren't for them, I would probably either be a villain or dead. I mean, I probably would have been my dad by now for all I know," He shrugged. Those words made Enji frown even more. Keigo's mask was cracking right in front of him. Keigo laughed weakly. Enji didn't take his eyes off of Keigo. He shook his head a bit.

"Why would they be so kind to one child while they practically tortured the others?" Enji asked. Behind Keigo, Asuka appeared, gasping softly. 

"E-Endeavor..." She whispered, eyes wide with awe.  Keigo completely ignored her, pursing his lips and hardening his gaze. 

"With all due respect, Endeavor-san, I'd prefer that you didn't insult the people who raised me. Heaven knows what people say about your family," Keigo's voice was cool and hard like a shield of ice. Enji flinched a bit, but he didn't snap. There was no contempt behind Keigo's eyes. If Enji looked hard enough, he could almost see the scared little girl that he had saved so long ago. Asuka started to slowly approach Enji, eyes wide with wonder. 

"He's so handsome in real life... and so nice, I-I-" She flinched as Keigo suddenly snapped. 

"I'm sorry, but my past is none of your business, so I would very much appreciate it if you stayed out of it," Endeavor didn't waver. 

"Look, I didn't come to interrogate you or fight you. I just want to say that I know you weren't fine on that day. I know what Anxiety looks like, Hawks; I know what a panic attack looks like. More than a lot of people know. You can't fool me and say that wasn't what was happening that day. If you don't want to talk about what caused it, that's fine by me. I just want you to know that I know what it feels like to both be under pressure and put someone under pressure. You don't have to hide your fears around me. It's not good for you... I want to help you." 

Keigo started shaking, his eyes beginning to sting. He swallowed thickly as he remembered his talk with Jin earlier. Asuka looked back at him from where she had settled, juggling Enji's arm. She said nothing, but Keigo could just feel the judgemental stairs coming his way. His breathing started to pick up ever so slightly. It was so slight that most people wouldn't have noticed. Enji was quiet as he laid a gentle hand on Keigo's shoulder, giving a soft and knowing look. 

"It's okay, Keigo," He said gently. You don't have to pretend to be anything that you're not." Keigo took a breath, not wanting to break down again that day. He just gave Endeavor another smile, this one much weaker, and much more real. He rubbed his wrist weakly, dropping his gaze down to trace the lines in the dark mahogany wood between them.