𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬? (𝐁𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐠𝐨𝐮 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

49

"I'll tell them the truth, I'll tell them everything."

"And I'll deny it."

There was a hint of remorse in the hero's voice as he spoke his next words. "Who do you think they're gonna believe? A villain's daughter who has shown consistent violent and dangerous tendencies? A kid who's been prancing around the city and taking the law into her own hands? A murderer? Or the number two hero? Someone who was dragged into your plot and manipulated into aiding you."

Your eyes widened, and your lips parted as if to respond, but no sound would come out.

"Now, let's take the knife away from my neck and we'll talk."

You shook your head, feeling another swell of emotion rising in your chest. "You-"

He placed his hand on your arm and spoke softly. "I'm sorry it had to happen this way, just give me a chance here."

Slowly, you pulled the knife away and stood on shaky legs.

He stood as well, wincing as he placed a hand to the cut you had given him.

You didn't know what to do. Instinct was screaming at you, yelling for you to attack once more, but if his threat rang true, doing so would lead to some pretty major consequences.

Coming here tonight, this had been the last thing you would have expected to happen. All you had wanted to do was say goodbye and return to somewhat of a normal life.

In your hand was the crumpled image that you had found. Holding it up you asked, "how the hell do you have this?"

The photo was of you, a much younger version of you, probably no older than a year. You were wrapped in the red blanket that your mother had given you, sleeping soundly. Your mom's face was at your side, she seemed to be lying next to you.

On the back of the picture was a note.

Keigo, it is no longer safe for us to remain in contact. There are things, things I cannot tell you due to the risk it would pose to my family. Please just know that you will forever be in my heart, as one of my closest friends.

All I ask of you, is that if anything is to happen to me, please remember your promise.

And as a final note, she absolutely adores the blanket that you sent. I wish you could have met her, but this gift will allow for her to have a part of you in her life, even if she is unaware of it.

I wish you the best, goodbye.

You looked up."How do you have this? What does this mean?!"

Hawks took a step forward and you held out your arm. "Do not come any closer, I'm giving you one minute to explain. Make it count."

He sighed. "Your mother and I, we both grew up in the same area. It was run-down, filled with criminals and people who could barely afford to keep themselves fed. We met when I was a kid."

That couldn't be true, your mom hadn't talked much about her childhood but there's no way she would have kept this from you.

You shook your head. "You're lying."

He continued. "I was outside, sitting on the ground and trying to distract myself from the sounds of my parents screaming at each other when she happened to walk by."

A heaviness had settled over him and his eyes became distant. "I had seen her once or twice, she was one of the only other kids in the area. We never spoke, though. She was a lot older than me, and I guess I had never been taught how to approach someone in a friendly way. My parents didn't let me socialize very much."