Heroic to a Fault | Commission

𝐈.𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ━━━━━━

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￣￣  :hearts:   :hearts:   :hearts:   :hearts:   :hearts:   ￣￣

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Welcome to a commission for Julia. Sorry this one took so long, Anna! I hope you enjoy! Spoilers for up to chapter 426 of the manga. Cover art is by KudoBean.

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━━━━━━ 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏.𝐒𝐈𝐒 ━━━━━━

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There's a life-altering event around the corner, and Lia and Keigo have different approaches to managing expectations.

➥ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬:

             Julia Dawson

             Keigo Takami

             Dabi

➥ 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Romance, Action

➥ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 4,113

➥ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 22,315

The majority of the city was awash in shadows, only small slivers of orange light peeking through the gaps in the buildings as the sun neared the horizon. But up on the rooftop, a brunette lay soaking up the rays, uninhibited by the buildings below her. Her blue eyes were shut against the sky, seeing only the red of her eyelids. The sunlight shining through her hair made the ombre blonde look like it was glowing.

Julia flinched when she felt a tug at her hair, settling down when she realized what it was. Her companion was running his fingers through it. “Is that your quirk?” he asked softly, not wanting to disturb her meditation.

She opened her eyes to look at the blonde man sitting beside her. His crimson wings were resting on the ground, enjoying the moment of leisure and laziness. “Hm?” she asked, unsure what he had been referring to.

”Your hair,” Keigo clarified, “it’s glowing, like when you use your quirk.”

Lia turned her head, getting a glimpse of the end of her hair. “No, goofball, that’s just the sun,” she scoffed when she saw what he was talking about. “You’ve seen me use my quirk.”

”It looks exactly the same,” he defended himself, smiling. “Like you’re on fire.”

”If you thought I was on fire, I would hope you would do more than sit there and watch,” Lia chuckled, sitting up. “Thanks for sitting here with me, by the way. I get bored by myself sometimes.”

”I should be thanking you,” Keigo replied, stretching in comfort. “This was a perfect excuse to just laze about for a few hours before…” He trailed off, his gaze shifting from one of content to one of concern as he watched the sunset.

After that, the two sat in silence for several minutes, until there was no more sunlight to soak up. “We should rest, huh?” Keigo mused with a bitter tone.

”That would be smart,” Lia agreed half-heartedly. And yet, neither of them moved. They both wanted to speak, but neither wanted to discuss the grim proceedings tomorrow would bring.

”Listen…” Keigo sighed, running his hand through his own hair. “I can talk to the president, see about asg you to—”

”Don’t you dare,” Lia interrupted. “I’m not going to sit somewhere safely while everyone else saves the country. I’m a pro hero, this is my responsibility as much as yours.”

”Sorry,” Keigo lowered his gaze. “You’re right, and I’ve been telling myself that I don’t need to protect you. But, it’s just…this will be a dangerous assault and the chances of everybody getting out of it alive…”

”We’ll both be fine,” Lia assured him. “By this time tomorrow, we’ll have wiped the floor with them, and we’ll be back on this rooftop, talking about our various achievements.”

Keigo gave her a half-smile, but he clearly wasn’t convinced. “Just…please be careful, okay? This…Paranormal Liberation Front, they’re no laughing matter. It’s not your everyday ragtag group of villains. Their leader is being groomed by All for One himself, which speaks to his strength, and Dabi…he alone is a force to be reckoned with.”

”I should be telling you to be careful,” Lia said, scooching closer to him. “You’re the one who’s deceiving them. When things backfire, they’ll want to hurt you more than anyone else. Especially since you insist on being around them prior to the raid.”

Keigo looked at Lia, chewing his lips with concern. “I know it’s probably not the smartest move, but…there’s one of them that I think can be saved. I want to try and convince Twice to give himself up, so he’s spared any danger. And trying to get him to safety any earlier would give away my role and the commission’s plans.”

”Heroic to a fault, huh?” Lia smiled at him. “You’re more amazing than you give yourself credit for. Please don’t do anything reckless, okay? If things go bad, please don’t risk your life for him. I…I need you to survive this, okay?”

”Need me to survive?” Keigo raised an eyebrow.

”When I envision my future, you’re in it,” Lia explained. “So, I need you to live.”

Keigo averted his gaze once more. “You shouldn’t do that, Lia,” he said. “You shouldn’t envision me in the future. Even if I survive today, there will be another. And another. Because this dance of death is my life. I’m a spy. Spies’ life expectancies aren’t known to be very high. You shouldn’t…get emotionally invested in my future.”

Lia stared at him, at a loss for words. “You don’t…actually think like that, do you?” she whispered.

”I need to,” Keigo confessed. “I am nothing but a tool for the commission. You know what it’s like. I can’t get too hopeful, or make plans for myself. I’ll be doing this until I die.”

Lia felt emotions build up in her throat, choking her. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to control her thoughts into words. After a few moments of silence, the blonde looked back at her, and his grim expression was replaced by surprise and concern. “Lia?” he asked hastily. “You’re crying. Are you okay?”

Her despair ignited into a rage, and before she knew it, an open palm was rushing toward his face. Caught off guard, his instincts took over, grabbing her wrist to stop her. “Sorry,” he quickly released her hand. “I don’t know why you’re so upset, but if you want to—”

More rage filled her at that statement, and this time, he wasn’t met with a slap across the cheek. Instead, her fist met his nose. He reeled back, rubbing the sore spot. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Lia demanded. “How can you…how can you treat yourself like that?”

”Lia, I know it sucks, but it’s just the truth,” Keigo tried to plead with her logical side. “Why do you think I want a world where my services aren’t necessary?”

Lia drew her knees to her chest, breaking eye with him as her rage subsided back into a form of grief. “I can’t believe you’re willing and ready to die, just like that. That you can so easily just detach from someone and tell them you have no intention of being in their future.”

”Please, Lia, you have to understand, it’s not personal,” Keigo explained, inching closer to her in hopes of appealing to her. “If I allow myself to get close to others, or for others to get close to me, all that will come of it is hurt. It might be selfish of me, but I can’t fathom causing somebody close to me hurt.”

”Well, you’re doing a bang-up job of that,” Lia scoffed, rising to her feet. “Both at the preventing people from getting close to you, and of not hurting them. But I understand. You don’t consider us close. It’s as simple as that.”

”Lia,” Keigo tried to console her, but she was already walking towards the roof escape door. “Lia, that’s not what I meant! I would love to—” his voice was cut off by the closing door.

*            . • .     • .                 • .    • °. •.    •     . •    . • . ✦• . • .      • . • .               •.     . • . • .    •                  ★               . • . ★     . ° . •          . • .       • *.     •         *            . •★     . ° . •          . • .

Lia did a double take. She had just killed Twice.

She watched as his body collapsed after a single hit, melting into a puddle. That didn’t make sense. Keigo was with Twice. All she had done was punch him. And why had he melted? She frantically tried to make sense of it, but couldn’t take too much attention off the battle at hand. That’s when she saw it: another Twice falling into a puddle after being defeated by another hero.

The realization dawned on her: they were clones. But rather than bring understanding, that thought brought worry. If Twice was creating clones to add to the fight, that meant Keigo’s attempts to save him failed.

The plan had stationed her a few blocks away from where Keigo must be. She was told that her squad needed to push to a certain point no matter what else happened, but her feet moved on their own. Suddenly, she was rushing away from her designated fight, through the chaos and destruction.

Lia felt like she was running for hours as her brain fretted over the possibilities. What happened to Keigo? As she approached the building he had told her he’d be in, she watched as a wall exploded in blue fire. The unmistakable fire belonging to the villain known only as Dabi. Fire, Keigo’s biggest weakness.

As the fire, smoke, and debris cleared, she could see them on the crumbling balcony. Blue flames surrounded Dabi, who stood over a charred body. There were no wings, but Lia knew it had to be Keigo. As Dabi lifted his boot to stomp his head into the ground, Lia panicked. She screamed as she jumped, and her feet did not return to the ground.

Her eyes pure gold and her hair floating without gravity, bursts of solar energy propelled her forward, straight into the blue flames. She collided with the villain, both of them tumbling back into the burning building before he could deliver his fatal blow. Her element of surprise ended there, as Dabi quickly empowered the inferno of the building with more flame.

As the fire flew at her, Lia’s skin began to glow as she summoned a tangible layer of sunlight around her. The fire broke around her, leaving only its heat in its wake, unable to singe her skin. She clenched her fists, staring down the villain with a desire to make him pay for the pain he had caused Keigo. But upon that thought, her eyes shifted to the incapacitated hero. He had not moved from his position, curled up on the balcony with not enough strength to even move. She had to get him to safety.

”You’re just one more piece of coal to feed my hatred,” Dabi seethed. “And do you know what the fate of coal is? To burn!” Lia’s attention returned to the fiery man in time to see him charging at her, his own skin aflame. She reached out her hand, and in it formed a spear made of sunlight. She quickly held it out in front of her to prevent his approach, but he rammed into it, pushing closer to her. She held the spear diagonally, barely managing to keep the man away. It was the only thing preventing him from grappling her directly. Her layer of sunshine armor could only do so much, and she feared if she was pinned against his flames, they would melt right through.

Dabi grasped the golden spear, feeding blue fire into it. It caught, and the fire began to spread down Lia’s arms. Even though the flames didn't touch her, she could feel its intense heat. Despite her heat resistance, she felt her arms weaken from the pain, and Dabi overcame her defense, knocking her into the wall behind her.

She stumbled and her vision doubled as her skull crashed into the stone. By the time she shook her vision clear, there was no escaping the spiral of flame coming to engulf her. She shouted in pain and fell to her knees, feeling her protective barrier melt off of her. “Pathetic,” Dabi growled. “All of you are pathetic!” His voice was raw and hoarse, but still, he screamed at the top of his lungs. Blood gurgled up from his throat, but evaporated before he could choke on it.

Lia tries rising to her feet, but the pain in her legs is unbearable. She can’t stay standing and fight at the same time. So she swept her spear at Dabi’s feet, toppling him to the ground as well. She pounced on him, trying her best to pin him to the ground, but her hands burned on . The two wrestle amidst the smoke and flame, too close for her spear to do much good. Even though she was too close for Dabi to use his flames without also burning himself, he did so anyway, sacrificing his skin in an effort to kill her.

He was trying to kill her. Oddly enough, that thought was sobering. She had fought villains who wished her dead in the past, but none that held such insanity and hatred in their eyes. If she did not meet him with the same effort, she would die. She realized she was not taking him seriously enough. So, with that grim thought, her spear shortened and fattened, the sunlight wrapping around her fist in a glowing gauntlet.

Lia punched Dabi at every opportunity she got. She prioritized his face, hoping to knock him unconscious, but his adrenaline must be preventing him from caring. Either that, or he had already burnt away all his nerve endings. His maniacal expression didn’t change one bit as he clawed at her, cauterizing her wounds as he scarred her.

They were nothing but two silhouettes in the blue firelight. If Lia’s quirk didn’t allow her some heat resistance, she would undoubtedly have burnt up in the blaze. At some point, Dabi curled up his legs under her while she had him pinned, extending them to send her launching. He used the opportunity to scramble to his own feet, sending a wave of fire at her. She quickly shifted her gauntlet into a shield, but he sent a constant stream of heat at her. She could feel the shield melting.

She screamed as fire seeped around the shield as it shrunk, singing her hair, skin, and face. She fell to her knees once again as her shield dissipated, fully engulfed by the fire. Dabi did not stop until she was lying on the ground, near death herself.

Rather than finish her off, Dabi turned toward the unconscious Keigo, stalking back over to finish off his prey. Lia tried rising to her feet but stumbled a few steps before falling back down again. She didn’t even want to look at her legs. “Where were we?” Dabi scoffed, standing over Keigo once more. “Ah, right. I was just saying farewell.”

As he lifted his boots once again, Lia closed her eyes, drawing all of her stored solar energy and anything seeping in through the hole in the wall. When she opened them, a shockwave of energy exploded from her, knocking anything not nailed down several feet away from her, include Dabi and Keigo. They both tumbled right off of the balcony.

In the split second they were falling, Dabi tried locating which way Keigo had been knocked, but it was no use. Keigo was already in Lia’s arms as she used her energy blasts to propel them away, to safety. Once she was confident they were out of Dabi’s range, she landed, collapsing once more to her knees from the effort. She breathed frantically, feeling herself burning up not just from Dabi’s fire, but from the overuse of her quirk.

Lia didn’t have time to worry about herself, though. She quickly reached under Keigo’s chin and released a relieved sob when she felt a pulse. It was slow, but he was alive. Next, she leaned over him, her cheek hovering mere inches from his lips. He was breathing, too. “Thank you,” she sobbed quietly, not knowing who she was thanking.

She took a moment to address her own safety. Her skin was barely better than his. She owed a lot to the protective sunlight barrier she had summoned. With a determined breath, she picked Keigo up again, and stood, forcing herself to walk through the pain. She would have to hope her adrenaline would be enough.

”…Lia?” a voice rasped out from the charred body. Lia looked down at his blackened face.

”Please, get some rest,” she said. “You did good. I’ve got you.”

”You’re…crying.” Keigo’s finger twitched in an effort to move his arm, but that was the only movement he could muster.

”You make me feel like a high school girl,” Lia smiled weakly at him. “You’re always making me cry.”

”That’s not very heroic of me,” Keigo coughed. “How could I…cause you such pain?”

”Shut up,” Lia ordered. “You need to rest. We’ll talk when you’re recovering. I’m bringing you to a hospital. We’ll both survive this, you hear me?”

It took a long time for her to drag Keigo to a safe hospital on foot. She didn’t have the energy to propel herself forward with her quirk, nor the strength to sprint with him in her arms. Even though she had long left the fire, her whole body burned with pain.

When she finally arrived, she found the place swarming with injured heroes and civilians who had been unable to get out of the dangerous areas in time. The heroes had sorely underestimated the size of the battlefield. How could they have known the full extent of Shigaraki’s quirk evolution? Luckily, Keigo’s name was so well known that there were no follow-up questions when she asked for help. He was taken from her arms and wheeled away in a gurney. Everything after that was a blur.

Somebody took her shoulders and gently guided her to her own room, where she quickly ed out. She didn’t know how long she slept, but when she awoke, she could hear the distant sounds of battle. The fight was still going.

Lia pulled her phone from her pocket, but it would not turn on. The screen was melted. “Excuse me,” she flagged down a nurse ing by. “How long have I been out?” The woman just shrugged before continuing on her way.

Lia swung her legs over the edge of the cot, rising to her feet. She felt weak, but she could walk, at least for a short while. She moved to the doorway of the room/ “Excuse me,” she interrupted another ing nurse. “I-I need to find Keigo Takami. Hawks. What room is he in?”

”Uh, I don’t know the specific room,” the young man pondered, “but he’s nearby, I’m sure. I was told he was in the burn unit. You shouldn’t be out of bed yet. Oh, whatever, I don’t have the time. Excuse me, I have to respond to a code.” He slipped away.

It didn’t take much asking around to find him. Everybody on the floor knew who he was, and many had made a mental note of where he was too. She finally found him lying on a cot, sleeping. She pulled the uncomfortable chair closer to his bed, sitting beside him.

Lia sat there in silence for several minutes, just looking at his skin. It would take a long time for him to recover. And his wings; it was so weird to see him without wings. She reached over, gingerly placing her hand on top of his. She didn’t grab it or interlace their fingers, just allowed her hand to rest on his.

”I think you’re a liar,” she whispered to him. “You say you don’t let anyone get attached to you, but here I am. I think, deep down, you want someone close to you. But you can’t it to yourself that you allowed me to matter to you, that you allowed yourself to matter to me. So I forgive you. Just…pull through, okay?”

*            . • .     • .                 • .    • °. •.    •     . •    . • . ✦• . • .      • . • .               •.     . • . • .    •                  ★               . • . ★     . ° . •          . • .       • *.     •         *            . •★     . ° . •          . • .

”Mr. President, there’s a woman in the lobby demanding to see you.”

Keigo didn’t move a muscle. “Tell her to book a meeting,” he sighed, drumming his pen on his desk.

”We tried, sir, but she’s insistent on meeting you right now. She says she’s a friend, and that you owe her your life? We don’t know what she’s talking about, but she has a pro-hero license and apparently works here. Nobody downstairs recognizes her though. Does the name Solar ring a bell?”

Keigo stopped messing with his pen. “Send her up,” he ordered. The secretary bowed before leaving the room. “You guys can go too.” The security guards glanced at each other before vacating. Keigo was left alone with his thoughts for several minutes, thinking of everything he would need to say, until there was a knock on his door.

”…Come in,” he said, leaning back in his chair as the door opened. In stepped a familiar face, her long hair shortened after being singed and then cut.

Lia bowed in greeting. “Hello, Mr. Boss,” she said, though there was definite teasing in her tone. “I’m here reporting for duty.” She rose from her bow into a salute.

Keigo cleared his throat, rising to his feet. “Ahh, Miss Dawson, if I correctly?” he said, gazing out the window. “You work for us to repay a debt, correct?”

Lia’s expression changed from mischievous to puzzled. “Oh, uh, yeah,” she said, not expecting him to play along.

”Well, I’ve been checking the ledgers recent,” he continued. “I do believe you’ve paid enough in services to our company to warrant waiving the rest of your debt.”

Lia stared at him, dropping all playfulness. “Wait, what?” she asked, taking a step forward. “Is this part of the joke, or…?”

”No, Lia,” Keigo smiled at her sincerely. “Do you really think I’d force you to keep working here? I’ve waived all your debts. You’re free. You can leave, be an unshackled hero.”

Lia stared at him for some moments. “What about you?”

”What about me?” he considered. “I despise this place. It was nothing but a nice lie. But now…I have the power to change that. I can make it what it claims to be. I think I owe that to the world.”

”That’s not what I meant,” Lia revealed. “I meant…what ? I told you, when I think of my future, you’re in it.”

Hawks was silent for a few seconds. “Who said—”

”And don’t tell me about how I shouldn’t consider you in my future,” she interrupted. “Because it’s too late for that. Besides, you’re no longer a spy. You have a future. You can’t keep going on and not let yourself dream.”

She was staring at him with a challenge in her eyes. After he was certain she was done, he repeated, “Who said we have to be coworkers to be in each other’s futures?”

Lia smiled, closing the distance between them. “So…what do you see when you think about your future?”

Keigo gazed out the window again. “I see a company that holds heroes responsible for their actions but doesn’t abuse the innocent. I see heroes who protect all life equally, ones that give people no reason to become villains. I see peace.”

”I meant your future, Keigo, not that of the company,” Lia chuckled.

”I was getting to that,” he clicked his tongue. “Man, the impatience on this one…I see myself going home after a long nine-to-five. I have a project I’ve been working on. Maybe woodworking. Something with my hands, you know? And on the weekends, I’ll be on call in case of any emergencies, but I spend my time with friends. I go out for a drink or two, I bowl, I…relax.”

”Do you know what I see?” Lia asked, taking his hands in hers. He looks down at her with nothing but love in his eyes. “I see us holding hands. I see us back to back, communicating without a single word. I like your vision of the future, so I work with you. Willingly. We make the world better. We achieve your dream. And at the end of the day, we go home together. We watch some sappy romcom or some exciting thriller. And when things go awry, we work seamlessly together to fix the issue. We are inseparable, because…I love you.”

Keigo leaned forward, gently pressing his lips against hers. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The kiss was short and sweet, a perfect first kiss between the two. They let their foreheads linger against each other for a moment. “I see us arguing over who has to make supper,” Keigo continued. “Because that’s the only thing we need to worry about because all else is perfect.”

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 ━━━━━━

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￣￣  :hearts:   :hearts:   :hearts:   :hearts:   :hearts:   ￣￣

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Sorry that it barely meets the word threshold! I didn't want to add too much meaningless filler. I hope you enjoyed! If anybody else is interested in commissioning me, you can do so here. AC commissions are not currently open, but you can comment to be informed when they are!