How to determine direction in order to compare it to raycast results

Hi, I am attempting to make a rudimentary way to determine if a player controlled object has another object in the way it is facing. If it does (determined by raycasting) the object will print a message to console. However, i cannot seem to save a boolean that carries what direction the player is moving without there being continuous input. I need something that will be stay true until told otherwise.

 using System.Collections;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using UnityEngine;
 
 public class ControllerPlayer : MonoBehaviour
 {
     public float speed;
     private Rigidbody2D rb2d;
     private float angleRotation = 0f;
     public float rayDistance = 1f;
     private SpriteRenderer rend;
     private int layerMask = 1 << 9; 
 
     void Start()
     {
         rb2d = GetComponent<Rigidbody2D>();
         rend = GetComponent<SpriteRenderer>();
         rb2d.freezeRotation = true;
     }
 
     void FixedUpdate()
     {
         float moveHorizontal = Input.GetAxisRaw("Horizontal");
         float moveVertical = Input.GetAxisRaw("Vertical");
         Vector2 movement = new Vector2(moveHorizontal, moveVertical);
         rb2d.AddForce(movement * speed);
         rb2d.velocity = new Vector2(0, 0);
 
 
         bool directionColor = Input.GetKey("w");
         if (directionColor)
         {
             rend.color = Color.blue;
         }
         else if (Input.GetKey("s"))
         {
             rend.color = Color.red;
         }
         else if (Input.GetKey("a"))
         {
             rend.color = Color.green;
         }
         else if (Input.GetKey("d"))
         {
             rend.color = Color.yellow;
         }
 
         {
             RaycastHit2D hitUp = Physics2D.Raycast(transform.position, Vector2.up, rayDistance, layerMask);
             if ((hitUp.collider != null))
             {
                 Debug.Log("Object UP");
 
             }
 
             RaycastHit2D hitDown = Physics2D.Raycast(transform.position, Vector2.down, rayDistance, layerMask);
             if (hitDown.collider != null)
             {
                 Debug.Log("Object DOWN");
             }
 
             RaycastHit2D hitLeft = Physics2D.Raycast(transform.position, Vector2.left, rayDistance, layerMask);
             if (hitLeft.collider != null)
             {
                 Debug.Log("Object LEFT");
             }
 
             RaycastHit2D hitRight = Physics2D.Raycast(transform.position, Vector2.right, rayDistance, layerMask);
             if (hitRight.collider != null)
             {
                 Debug.Log("Object RIGHT");
             }
         }
 
         
     }
 }
 

Right now, i have it sending out 4 rays in all 4 directions which will continuously print to console when an object is in their line of sight. However, I just need it to only do so when the object has moved in the direction of the object. The directionColor if/else statements will keep the color of the character despite there being no input, and i need that to apply to other variables.