"Has anyone seen Touya come back?" Hawks peers out of the window and back at the three Todorokis, fidgeting with his cell phone. It's not like Touya to take this long to smoke, even if he did get a phone call. Shouto and Natsuo also look out the window to try to get a glimpse of Touya while Fuyumi slowly stands up and heads to the door.
"I'll look for him, maybe he got lost. It's been a while since he's been in this neighborhood." She trails off as she opens the door. Hawks nods but still can't shake the growing feeling that something is wrong. He's always had a strong sense of perception, usually calling it his birdie sense just for shits and giggles, but this time- Hawks hopes that he's wrong. He stands up after Fuyumi leaves and collects the dishes to keep himself busy and to keep his worrying thoughts at bay.
Hawks turns on the tap water and watches as the bubbly water rises in the sink, chewing his lip while lost in thought.
"Let me help." Hawks nearly jumps out of his skin and looks over his shoulder to see Shouto standing behind him.
"No, no. It's fine, don't worry about it." Shouto either pretends not to hear him or completely disregards what Hawks just said and moves to stand next to him, dipping the dishes into the hot water- scrubbing away contently.
"For the longest time," Shouto starts- his voice is low and unwavering but Hawks can still pick up a sense of unease from the teen, "I thought it was my fault." Hawks says nothing, from what Tokoyami told him during his internship- Shouto was the ice princess of class 1-A that had slowly thawed out after Yuuei's Sport's Festival. While Shouto had opened up more, Tokoyami explained, he still avoids talking about his past to nearly everyone but Midoriya.
Hawks wonders why Shouto is choosing to talk to him about something that's so taboo in the Todoroki household. For a fleeting second, Hawks ponders that maybe it's because of the joint effort of Fuyumi and himself that Touya was able to be reunited to begin with?
Nonetheless, he stays quiet- not wanting to startle the teen back into his own walls.
"He was my hero when I was a kid. He's always been stronger than... our father," Shouto's grey eye peers at him thoughtfully, "I never once thought that he died like Fuyumi and the others." Shouto pauses again and takes in a deep breath, shaking his head.
"I suppose he did die in a sense," Shouto states bluntly, "But he's still my brother."
"Are you ready to forgive him so easily?" Hawks is genuinely curious, knowing that Shouto has no love whatsoever towards Endeavor. He finds it intriguing that Shouto is so ready to forgive Touya and his haggard past, "I mean, he idid/i kinda kidnap one of your classmates." Shouto merely shrugs.
"It was only Bakugou. Not like it was anyone too important." Shouto finishes with a ghost of a smile and Hawks can only chuckle. Kid got a strange sense of humor, Hawks thinks. Yet, it seems to nearly be required of the Todoroki family to have a warped sense of humor. They fall into another bought of silence, but this time it feels more comfortable.
Until Fuyumi bursts through the back door a few moments later with a busted phone that Hawks immediately knows that belongs to Touya because, who else owns a flip phone in this day and age?
Fuyumi's blue eyes are wide and she's paler than a sheet of paper, Hawks can only watch on with a heavily sinking feeling as she gapes- searching for any sort of semblance of words.
"Guys." Natsuo's voice echoes from the living room, breaking the three from their trance. Fuyumi leads Hawks and Shouto to the living room. Natsuo says nothing more and instead is glued to the television.
Every fiber in his body screams out at Hawks to not look at the television. Fuyumi's stifled gasp and Shouto's mumbled curses coax Hawks to stare at the television.
A mug shot of Touya is staring right back at him.
Tomura wants to laugh. He wants to howl with laughter until he can't even breathe anymore and his vision is clouded by tears.
Instead, he settles with a soft snort and a well placed middle finger at the television screen.
"Serves you right, now you can rot in Tartarus along with your precious Stain."
"Shigaraki, Tog-" Kurogiri starts and Tomura waves him off, taking a sip from his glass.
"Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it. It'll only ruin my good mood." Tomura can tell that Kurogiri wants to say more, but ultimately turns around and heads to the back room to probably take inventory of their liquor. Now with Touya or Dabi or whatever the hell he wants to call himself these days is gone, Tomura has noticed a pleasant decline in the mysterious alcohol bottle disappearances. Pushing Kurogiri out of his mind, Tomura reaches for the remote and turns up the volume with a growing grin.
"One of the most infamous terrorists in Japan has been reprimanded earlier this evening. Local hero Voltage had spotted Dabi and successfully brought him down in a tremendous act of courage and valor-"
"Courage and valor my ass! He'd never let himself get caught like that! Bastard probably played dirty!" Spinner spits vehemently. Tomura chides him to be quiet and returns his attention the the news broadcaster.
"Dabi is believed to be a high ranking kingpin in the criminal organization that goes by the name of The League of Villains; D-" Tomura can't help but to bark out a laugh.
"High ranking kingpin? Bitch, you thought." He tastefully ignores the current stink eye that Spinner shoots his way.
"-Trial will be held this Friday. So far, there has been no reported attorney that has stepped forward to serve as his criminal defense lawyer."
"I'll represent him!" Twice pipes up and Tomura shoots him a glare.
"You wouldn't even be able to represent a burn piece of toast. You'd both end up in Tartarus before you'd be able to say-"
"Objection! I happen to be a very fast talker!" Twice waves a hand in Tomura's face, "Besides, I'm more than qualified to represent a defendant."
"Really? You?" Tomura supposes that he's never really taken the time to get to know about Twice's past. He is well aware that the man had been exceedingly intelligent before the backfire of his quirk though. Perhaps he really had been a district attorney?
"Yes," Twice retorts smugly, "I happen to be a pro at Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney."
Really. What did Tomura expect from Twice, he should've known better to actually think that Twice had even gone to law school. Tomura runs a hand down his face and groans, asking himself what has he done to be surrounded by a group of imbeciles.
"I think that you'd make a killer lawyer!" Spinner cheers, raising his mug towards Twice before taking a long drink.
"No, he wouldn't. A video game has nothing to do with real world experiences." Tomura retorts, all he wants is to watch the news. Why can't he just have one day without the constant chatter and mindless droning of his subordinates? Tomura begrudgingly thinks of it as an unsolved mystery that will very likely remain unsolved for the rest of time.
"Hah!" Spinner laughs, "That's rich, coming from you boss-man! Don't you live and breathe video games?" He shouldn't of sent Kurogiri away, he needs another drink.
"Say that again to my face, lizard." Spinner puffs up his chest and smiles confidently.
"Bring it! I have the power of God and anime on my side!" Tomura honestly has nothing to say, he just stares at Spinner trying to search for words when Kurogiri appears again.
"Shigaraki."
"Not now." Whatever it is, it can wait until later. He can still spy Touya's mugshot and knows he already missed a lot of the news headline due to arguing with Twice and Spinner. He really doesn't want to miss anymore of what the news anchor has to say.
"Well, that sucks, but we ain't going anywhere." A very familiar voice makes Tomura peer around Kurogiri and narrows his eyes when he sees Hawks leaning against the doorway with a lopsided grin.
"What are you doing here?" Hawks pushes off from the doorway, Toga bounds up from behind him and skips into the bar pointedly smiling at Tomura.
"I brought them here!"
"Them?" Tomura really has no idea what's going on because the last thing he was aware of, he banished Hawks from his bar. Now Toga is going around behind his back and bringing people here? Hawks looks behind his shoulder and motions someone to follow him into the room.
Whatever good mood Tomura was in, is now gone. He takes in a deep breath to calm his breathing and taps a finger against the bar top to keep himself from freaking out.
A slight woman and a well built man step into the room. He's seen them before, not only on television but also from a very old photograph that Touya had shown him once.
Their resemblance is nearly uncanny. Even with a shock of white hair from the duo, there's no denying the fact that they're Touya's siblings.
Tomura would think that stepping into the evil lair of the most notorious criminal organization in Japan would have a stronger effect on the two Todorokis. Instead, the brother glances around with interest and gives a small smile to Toga while the sister's gaze doesn't stray from where he's standing. Her eyebrows furrow but she doesn't say anything.
"This isn't a zoo for you to bring people here so they can just stand around and gawk. Leave." The brother, if Tomura remembers correctly is named Natsuo, laughs and shakes his head.
"If this was a zoo, I'd ask for my money back." Of course, one of them would have to have the same shit personality of Touya.
"We're not going anywhere." The woman speaks up, she crosses her arms as Tomura stalks closer towards her- fully intending on intimidating the three.
"And why is that?"He nearly hisses out, instead of her backing away and seeking the protection of either man next to her- she takes her own step forward and meets his glare head on.
"Because you're going to help us get Touya out of Tartarus."
It's dark. It is, however, not quiet. Touya can hear the distant screams of pissed off villains and he sighs. He tries to itch at the irritated scarring around his wrists, the guards outfitted him with a quirk cancellation handcuff that's too small and it rubs and chafes painfully against his skin. Shifting uncomfortably against his chains, he starts to feel restless. Touya's never been one to enjoy being tied up and right now he feels like a cornered and wounded animal. He swallows down the rising panic and begins to count in his head. Knowing that if he loses concentration, he will lose his sanity.
And if he loses his sanity, he will just end up as another screaming face in the churning ocean of prisoners.
One, two, three, four, five.
He tries to tell himself that this is all just a nightmare.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
All just a terrible nightmare that he'll wake up from.
Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.
Once he wakes up, he'll be safe because Hawks will be right there by his side.
Sixteen.
Hawks.
Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty.
Touya ignores the dripping tears that are currently running down his face. He can't lose his focus. He can't snap.
Twenty one, twenty two, twen-
"Prisoner Twenty-fifteen-twenty one-twenty five-one. Stand back." His concentration is broken and he cracks open an eye as the door to his cell slides open. Four guards step in and the one in the middle unlocks the chain that binds him to the wall.
"You've a visitor." Touya says nothing, none of them are worth his time and he concludes that even if he did say anything- he'd be met with silence. Instead, he keeps counting.
Twenty three, twenty four, twenty five.
He keeps his chin raised high as he passes a group of criminals. He's recognized some of them as his recruits from Hosu.
Twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight.
Touya stumbles over the dragging of his chain and one of the guards gruffly pushes him forward.
Twenty nine, thirty.
They stop and Touya curiously watches as one of the guards swipe a card over a reader before pressing his thumb against a small screen. After a heartbeat, the screen blinks green. He hears the turning of gears and the mechanisms unlocking one by one. After an eternity, the door finally swings open.
Touya is alone in the vast white room. He notices a thick wall of glass that cuts the room in half, his footsteps echo in the room as Touya walks towards the glass. His attention snaps towards the door on the opposite side of the room as it starts to click, taking its time to unlock.
Touya waits with bated breath and is rooted to his spot as the door finally opens.
His strengthened resolve to not break down starts to collapse all around him as a tall and flaming figure enters the room.
His eyes wander from the man's boots and up until he finally meets the stern gaze of Endeavor.
"Touya." His father's deep voice is the last straw that breaks the camel's back and only then does Touya allow himself to scream.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Hawks peers up from the chicken scratch writing and to Shigaraki who merely huffs.
"Who do you think is the criminal mastermind here? Me or you who couldn't even be a villain to save your life?"
"I think you forgot the part that every one of your plans always seem to fail." Okay, so maybe Hawks shouldn't have mentioned that because Shigaraki looks like he's ten seconds away from disintegrating Hawks.
"Just remember that you're the one that came back, groveling."
"I did not grovel!"
"Well, I don't see you going in there to bust him out yourself." Hawks narrows his eyes at the sly curve of a grin that Shigaraki is currently wearing.
"I'm on the top ten wanted people in Japan" Shigaraki lets out a soft wheeze that Hawks can only guess is an attempt at laughter.
"Ironic to think that just last week that you were in the top ten heroes. Now look at you. Still in the top ten, just in the opposite direction." Hawks rolls his eyes and goes back to studying the paper.
"Yeah, a real knee slapper."
Some people may think that Toga is an inexperienced and naïve little girl. They always forget the fact that she's a seasoned killer and is well versed in toying with her victims with near maniacal glee. That's okay though, she prefers to be underestimated- it makes her job a whole lot easier.
Especially when it's her honorary brother's life on the line.
"Mister! Can you help me please? I think I'm lost..." She trails off and shyly twirls her hair around her finger.
It's now been two days since Touya's arrest and there's only three more days until his trial. Luckily for him, she's been tailing a Tartarus security guard for the past two days and now it's time to put her part of the plan into motion.
"Of course, where are you going? I can give you directions." The security guard steps closer and she smiles up at him, now is her time to strike.
"It's a good thing that I have his measurements memorized!" Twice chirps away, holding up a strand of Touya's hair- inspecting it closely, "This will do just fine!" he nods affirmatively and Hawks lets out a sigh of relief.
He nearly jumps out of his skin when the front door bursts open and a surly security guard marches through and up to the two men with a dour frown.
Before he has the chance to keel over from a heart attack, the guard's face seems to shift and melt- turning a slate grey before sloughing off to the ground. Hawks looks up from the puddle of grey goo and is met with a beaming Toga. It's nearly hilarious, seeing her head on top of a nearly seven foot buff security guard's body.
"First day back from the job!" She sings breathily, "I managed to snag three other uniforms too! Now we just need to get our team and we'll be good!"
"Great!" Hawks stands and holds out an expectant hand, Toga just tilts her head curiously to the side and studies his hand with a soft smile before shaking her head.
"You really think you're going along with?" A jeer makes Hawks turn towards Shigaraki who's stands at the doorway.
"Um. Yes?" Shigaraki rolls his eyes and snorts.
"Newsflash, asshole: you got those giant ass wings of yours. You'll be spotted before you can even set foot near Tartarus."
"Then who else is going, besides her?" Gesturing to a retreating Toga, grey puddles plop off to the floor as she starts to shift back.
"Twice-"
"I thought that he couldn't take off his mask?"
"He can take it off, he just needs to keep his face covered, don't wo-"
"Then how-" Shigaraki sighs exasperatedly and stares at Hawks, interrupting his interruption.
"Anyway. as I was saying, the other one is-"
"Me!" Natsuo strolls leisurely through the door and Shigaraki looks down and takes in a breath.
"Any more assholes want to interrupt me today?"
"Why does Natsuo get to go?" Natsuo barks out a laugh, and sticks his tongue out at Hawks.
"Because. One, he's my bro. Two, I don't have giant bright red wings that would instantly give out my identity? Three, um, he's my bro."
"Well, then who's the fourth person going?" At this, Shigaraki smiles wryly and points towards himself.
"Me."
Author's Note
Final Chapter will be up Friday!
Reviews are always welcome!