"Yooo! Keigo? Keigo, you here yet?" I called out, walking into the Hawks Agency, early the next morning. I was eager to tell him my feelings. I wanted to do it sooner, rather than later so there was no time for me to overthink things.

"Ari! I'm in here." He called out, from inside his office.

I took a deep breath, quickly charging into his office.

Don't chicken out, Ari.

"Listen, there's something I need to tell you...." I trailed off, seeing someone else standing in the room.

My heart practically jumped up my throat at the sight of her.

"D-Diane!!?" I stuttered out in clear unease, watching her narrow her lifeless eyes at me.

"What is it you need to tell Keigo, Ari?" She asked firmly, expecting me to speak.

I looked over at Hawks, seeing him leaning back in his seat. While he always had a good poker face, I could tell he was annoyed with Diane's presence.

"Well? Spit it out." Diane spat at me impatiently, her tone of voice causing me to jump slightly.

"Don't talk to her that way." Keigo immediately said, causing Diane to turn around.

"Excuse me?" She scoffed at him in disbelief.

Keigo immediately switched his tone to a more relaxed one, yet still held his ground.

"C'mon, Diane. I know you don't have feathers in your brain. You're a smart woman. So, let's talk about what's going on here. You waltz into my office at 8 in the morning, demand my attention, and then harass my intern? That's a bit bold of you, if I do say so myself." He shrugged, kicking his feet up on his own desk.

I stared at him, completely dumbfounded by what I'd just heard.

Was he not afraid of Diane?! Diane Himura?! She was absolutely terrifying! I could never imagine speaking to her that way, and getting away with it.

Diane was quiet for a moment, looking between me and Keigo in silent thought.

"Actually, little boy..." she started out, causing Keigo to laugh freely.

"Hah. Guess I am still a little boy, huh?" He retorted, going along with it.

"It's bold of you to speak to me in that tone. After everything I've done for you. For you too, Ari." She remarked firmly.

I didn't say anything.

"Well, uh-" I started saying, before she cut me off.

"Let's get something straight, Keigo Takami. You wouldn't have this office, had it not been for me. You wouldn't be a hero. You know where you'd be? Living off the bottle, somewhere in Fukuoka. Just like your father." She spat, trying to get a rise out of him.

Woah.

That was a big statement that Diane decided to just blurt out right in front of me.

Clearly, Keigo didn't want me to know something like that, if he never decided to tell me on his own.

I subtly looked over at him, noticing his poker face remained unchanging.

"Yup. Probably. Who knows, right?" Keigo smirked, trying not to let Diane get to him. She knew this, and was clearly about to continue her verbal assault.

I was definitely intruding. I shouldn't be here. This is clearly a private conversation between Diane and Keigo.

"I'm gonna go-" I started saying, before Diane snapped her fingers at me harshly, gesturing for me to stay.

"Who knows? Me. I know, Keigo. Because I know where you came from. You came from dirt. Nothing. Living with your deadbeat mommy and abusive daddy-" She blurted out, causing Keigo's eyes to widen for half a second.

Oh no...

"Diane, stop it." I called to her firmly, only giving her more motivation to continue.

"You talk a big game, boy. But, you weren't so big and tough when I found you, all those years ago. You looked at me like a scared little doe. Your arms were bruised from beatings. You were covered in filth, and you were hungry. The look of depression was present on your face. You hugged my leg, silently begging me to get you away from that life. Sound familiar." She taunted, causing Keigo to abruptly stand up.

He was no longer in a carefree mood, as he glared at her darkly.

"Get out. Now." He stated lowly. Even though he only uttered a few words, this was by far the angriest I had ever heard him. I've never seen this side of Keigo before. I honestly didn't even think it existed.

Until now....

"Fine. I'll get out. I'll leave. Just remember this conversation, the next time I see you, the next time you'd like to disrespect me. Remember who made you what you are. Remember who gave you everything. Remember who gave you a chance, and stop acting like that weak, timid boy I met fifteen years ago. Because in my eyes, that's still all I see from you." Diane seethed out, sloppily tossing a file onto Keigo's desk.

He didn't even look at the file, burning his deep, honey golden eyes into her skull.

"W-What is that?" I muttered out weakly, gesturing to the file.

"Keigo's next assignment. Which I guess is yours too, Ari. Sure, go ahead. Be mad at me all you want. Just don't let your immaturity stand in the way of your work. I expect the results of that assignment by tomorrow morning." Diane commanded, storming out the room, before quickly remembering something.

"Oh. And Keigo....Kiara told me she's been waiting for your call. I'll let her know you'll get back to her today." She stated, harshly nudging my shoulder on her way out the door.

What the hell does that mean!? What does Kiara have to do with this!!? How does Diane even know Kiara??

The door to the Hawks Agency slammed shut a few seconds later, leaving Keigo and I alone.

He stared blankly at the wall in front of him, not saying anything.

I swallowed thickly, feeling bad for him. Diane just blurted out dark things from his past that were clearly still painful to him. And she did it because he was trying to defend me.

"Do you....want to talk about it-" I started saying, before he cut me off.

"-So, I'd rather not talk about it, actually." He sighed out, giving me a soft, tired smile.

"Sure-no, yeah. Of course. No problem." I smiled reassuringly, watching him let out a deep sigh.

"Well, can't be helped. She trained you too, right? You know how Diane can be." He shrugged, trying his best to return back to his usual self.

"Yeah. She's a bitch." I stated matter of factly, watching Keigo pick up the file from Diane.

"Anywayyy." He chirped out, plopping back down in his swivel chair to read the file.

"Let's see....let's see...." he mumbled out, rapidly flipping through the file Diane left him while he spun around in the chair.

It looked like he wasn't even reading it, with how fast he was flipping through it. But of course...

"Alrighty. I read it. Looks like you and I are going on a camping trip, chicky." Keigo smirked, as he carelessly tossed the confidential file over his head.

I felt my mood instantly light up at his words.

"What?! Really?! I love camping. Where are we going?" I beamed, strutting right up to his desk.

"Well..." He called out in backtrack, immediately thinking of how he could rephrase his words.

"You know what? Scratch that idea. Get rid of it. Don't think of it like camping. Think of it like....sleeping outside...but on a very tall building." He said, definitely trying to beat around the bush on what we'd be doing.

I was quiet, staring at him blankly as I imagined myself sleeping on a fucking skyscraper.

"That sounds....horrible. Awful. Terrifying-" I began, before he quickly cut me off.

"Hey, that's the spirit!" He chuckled out, already seeing me rethink my entire life.

"What are we supposed to be doing?" I asked him in confusion, wondering why the hell Diane gave Hawks and I an assignment to spend the night on a skyscraper.

"Well, according to this report, the league of villains have been transporting illegal goods by a very specific air transportation route. We're supposed to get high enough to see if these allegations are true, while still being able to stay hidden. We're not meant to engage. We're just supposed to confirm or deny." Keigo explained, quickly grabbing his phone off the table to text someone.

With the way he was typing, his text message seemed pretty urgent.

"Alright. I....can do that. No problem." I stated, pushing away the terrifying thoughts of sleeping on the roof of a building, that was hundreds of stories off the ground.

"Cool. Cool. We leave tonight. Listen, I've suddenly got some stuff to take care of today. But, I'll be back before six. You can handle things for awhile, right?" Keigo asked, already making his way to the door.

Where the hell is he going now?! Once again, he's in such a hurry.

I felt slightly disappointed that he'd be leaving for the day. Especially, since I had something important to tell him. My feelings.

"Oh-uh, yeah! I can handle things. No problem. Where are you going?" I asked, watching him quickly look down at his phone again.

"I'm.....going to take care of some stuff. For the Hawks Agency. Boring paperwork, and stuff like that. But, I'll see you tonight for our sleepover!" He called out to me absentmindedly, already out the door.

I sighed tiredly, as I was now left alone in the building.

I guess I'll tell Keigo my feelings tonight.