False Reality

Try Again

You don't speak to Keigo all evening.
Half because you were pretty pissed off with him, and half because you didn't want him to find out about what you did.
He tried luring you out with the promise of take out for dinner, but you ignored him.

You ignored him when he called you for a, what smelled like burned, dinner.
You ignored him when he knocked on your door, having brought up the food to your door.
You ignored him when he sat outside for a while, waiting for you to get your dinner.
You ignored him when he asked if the dinner was okay about an hour after you snuck it into your room.
You ignored him when he begged you to let him in to talk.

You ignored him and opted to cry instead when he slid feathers under the door, the fluffy things feeling around the room blindly, and then working at picking your things up and cleaning up all the destruction you had caused.
The feathers that picked up on the broken mirror paused momentarily before carefully sweeping up the remaining shards of glass, opening the door and carrying all the shattered pieces and the shell of the frame downstairs.
One feather gently stroked past your cheek before picking up clothes on your bed, folding them and putting them away again.

You swatted at it even though the contact was brief and gentle, not wanting his lame attempts at physical affection.
You slept curled up, the rhythmic throb of your arm weirdly lulling you to sleep.

*•*

You wake up with a few pokes on your cheek, Keigo's feather prodding at you.
It seems to sense your movement before you even do it, darting out of the way as you go to grab and crush it in your hand.
You groan, shoving your face back into the pillow.

There's a knock on your door that needn't have happened, as Keigo lets himself into your room anyway from the sounds of it.

"Come on, it's a new day." He coaxes. "Let's start afresh."

You ignore him, burying your face even further into your pillow, and shifting to hide your injured arm under your pillow too, just on the off-chance.

"You gotta go to school." He sighs. "You can ignore me all you like, but it's happening."

A dip on the side of your bed tells you that he's perched himself there.

"Can we just... start again?" He asks with a heavy sigh. "I don't want you to feel like you live with an enemy. Let's just spend a little more time together."

His hand lands on your back, in between your wings, and begins to rub at your back in an attempt to be soothing.
This makes your anger prickle again, and you flinch away from his touch while scowling into your pillow.
You don't say a word, just lie there, wishing you were anywhere but here, your body tense. You consider thumping into him with one of your wings for a solid minute, too.

"Sorry." He murmurs, immediately moving his hand from your back the second you flinch angrily at him.

You lie there in silence and he continues perching on the side of your bed, the air thick between you both.

"Uh..." He murmurs, scratching the back of his neck from the sound of it.

The silence draws out again.
You don't care. You could sit in this silence for a while and still be happy. You were used to being quiet, you'd been practicing silence since your parents had died.
Keigo, however, was clearly struggling. Sniffing and clearing his throat, scratching at his head, fluffing his wings...

"Fine. You're still going to have to go to UA." Keigo says, his voice straining to stay even. "I'm flying you there today. And picking you up after. So don't think about pulling a runner again."