Top pic credit: unknown
"Still stiff as a board, huh?" Keigo laughed, as we began flying around the night sky.
My eyes were squeezed shut, and my body was completely tensed up. I guess I wasn't as used to the flying thing as I thought.
"W-What?! Me!? N-No way! I...love this." I stuttered out in deflated enthusiasm.
"You're a horrible liar." He chuckled, wrapping his arms tighter around my waist.
"Sorry. I guess I'm just still thinking about how high up we are." I muttered sheepishly, keeping my eyes closed.
I heard Keigo hum lightly, the vibration from his chest tickling my shoulders blades. He quickly lifted up one of my headphones, getting incredibly close to my ear.
"You're overthinking it. Don't focus on the parts that make you scared. Focus on the parts that you enjoy." He whispered into my ear, causing a flustered shiver to run down my spine.
His breath was so warm in contrast to the cold wind. His stubbled chin lightly grazed my jaw line. I was definitely enjoying that-
"Like, look over there. At the moon. Isn't it beautiful?" He breathed out, pointing to the milky full moon that was practically within our reach.
Now that I think about it, the moon did look quite majestic tonight. It gave off a beautiful, illuminated glow that lit up the city below.
"Yeah.....yeah, it's perfect. And, do you see the clouds behind it? Even though it's dark, the light from the moon still makes them look so fluffy." I smiled, keeping my gaze to the dreamy clouds.
"Why don't we go see?" He suggested, resting his chin on my shoulder.
God, he was so close to me. I couldn't even deny that I liked it.
"Don't we have a mission to do?" I asked in amusement, as Keigo's wings began to flap stronger than before to get us higher into the air.
"Eh. Details, details." He dismissed, the smile present in his voice.
I held onto his arms tightly as we ascended into the clouds, the dewy vapor of them immediately hitting my face.
I couldn't stop the giant smile from spreading across my face, as we soared through the clouds.
"Woah!!! Oh my gosh!! This is amazing!" I exclaimed excitedly, looking at the endless scenery of magical, swirled clouds, completely illuminated by the moonlight.
It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen, flying through the clouds at night. It was a completely different world up here. So peaceful. So mystical. So majestic.
Keigo chuckled at my newfound excitement, slowing his flight pace so we could soar through them a little longer.
"It is, isn't it? Flying at night is one of my favorite things to do. I find it so amazing how the clouds look so fluffy, but they're really nothing more than vapor when you try to reach out and touch them. I don't know....I think there's something magical about that." He explained, reaching his gloved hand out towards the translucent vapor.
I tightly held onto his arm with one hand, hesitating to reach my other hand towards the sky.
Keigo sensed my hesitation, bringing his lips to my ear once more.
"I've got you, Ari. Go ahead and reach out." He whispered, the softest I've ever heard his voice.
His words were all I needed to reach my hand out towards one of the clouds, feeling the cool mist swirl around my hand.
"W-wow." I breathed out, hearing Keigo laugh softly at my awestruck.
"Do you like it?" He uttered, sounding completely vulnerable with me right now.
This seemed to be how it was when Keigo took me flying. There was no arrogant, heroic attitude. There weren't even any of his forced jokes, or snarky comments. No. It was just him. He was happy. I could see it. I could hear it. He was just content.
He was being himself.
"I love it." I breathed out, throwing my head back against his chest.
I could feel the soft drumming of his heartbeat, against my head. So slow and steady. So strong and comforting.
In this moment, it was all perfect. Everything. Being with Keigo. Being in the sky. There's no where else I wanted to be.
"I love it, too. Especially.....because you're here. With me. You get to experience this with me....and it makes me....happy." He stated, his lips brushing against my cheek when he spoke.
I felt him adjust his hold on me slightly. In the next instant, he very hesitantly intertwined his gloved hands with my bare ones, continuing to hug my waist.
He squeezed my hands tightly, making my heartbreak pick up.
Don't fall for him anymore than you already have, Ari...
Oh fuck.
It's too late for that.
I am head over heels for him. I can't stop this downward spiral anymore.
"Is this...okay?" He whispered, his warm breath fanning my neck.
Feeling all reserved thoughts leave my mind, I felt myself slipping further into Keigo's charm...becoming too deep within his grasp to be pulled back out.
"Yes." I whispered confidently, giving his hands a light squeeze as we soared through the sky.
.......
"Alright, what's the time?" Keigo asked me casually, as we began preparing our secret set up on the roof.
I quickly tapped my phone, watching the screen light up.
"It's almost eight. What time do you think the league of villains will come by?" I asked, polishing the lens of the night vision binoculars he had brought with us.
Keigo quickly grabbed his own phone, urgently typing a text to someone, before he quickly shoved it into his pocket.
"Eh. Who knows. Maybe they won't even show up tonight-that's what we should hope for, I mean." He replied absentmindedly, pulling out his laptop from the duffel bag.
I furrowed my brows in confusion at that response, placing the binoculars down.
"Well, yeah. I mean, of course we'd never want to fight them two against, however many people they plan to bring. But, I hope they do show up tonight. Then, at least we'll have some information about where they do business." I pointed out, walking over to him.
Keigo slid his aviators from his eyes up to his forehead, as he began typing away on his computer.
"Right. What you said. Anyways....so, this computer has a software system built into it. I have keen eyesight, but this will basically just record the possible villain encounter to ensure I didn't miss anything. My wings can detect the vibrations in the air, so I should know if someone is coming. Luckily, we are well hidden by this structure. That's why I chose this specific building." He explained, connecting a camera to his computer and pointing it at the sky.
I stifled a yawn, feeling incredibly tired from the day.
"Okay. Cool. And how does this work? Are we going to take shifts or something, while the other person sleeps?" I mumbled tiredly, hoping this was the case.
"That's the plan, man! You look pretty beat, so why don't you take the first sleep. I'll wake you up in a few hours, so I can get some sleep." He smiled, reaching around in the duffel bag for something else.
"Here." He uttered, tossing me a blanket.
I grabbed the blanket....waiting for him to hand me, literally anything else. A pillow. A sleeping bag. Anything that would make this more comfortable.
He looked at me in question, not understanding.
"What?" He asked innocently.
"Are you serious?" I retorted, gesturing to the single blanket.
"Yeah, I'm serious. What's wrong with it-"
"You're handing me a measly little blanket, so I can sleep on the cold, hard roof. Didn't you bring a sleeping bag or something?" I asked in disbelief.
Keigo mouthed the word "oh" as he finally understood why I was upset.
"I see. Yeah, no. I can't carry that much cargo here, chicky. I mean, think about it....I had to carry my body weight, your body weight, and that duffel bag which weighs another sixty pounds. That was already a pretty big max for me, as it is. There's no way I'd be able to add a sleeping bag into that mix, unless you'd want a crash landing on your hands." He explained, turning back to his computer dismissively.
Wait. He just told me he was carrying his max limit tonight, yet he still chose to take me for a flight in the clouds? Wow. That's really sweet-
Oh my god. Stop with the feelings, Ari.
"You're right. I guess I didn't think about how much energy really goes into the flying thing." I smiled apologetically, before laying down the measly blanket, a few feet away from him.
"Maybe I'll start keeping a sleeping bag up here, for all of our fun endeavors." He smirked, keeping his eyes on the computer screen as he typed away.
What....does that mean-
"Whoops. Sorry, chicky. That sounded way dirtier than I meant it to. Didn't mean to get ya flustered over there." He chuckled, raising his brows at me in amusement.
That's when I realized my cheeks were burning from embarrassment at his words, causing me to quickly pull the blanket over my face.
"Shut up, you soggy chicken nugget." I mumbled from under the blanket, before I felt sleep begin to take me.