Chapter Fifteen: Different Perspectives
The President of the Hero Public Safety Commission drummed her fingers on her desk as she watched the footage of Hawks's interrogation again. She observed as Hawks emerged from the interrogation room, and followed its path outside to the lobby. Her lip curled at the pathetic display as Hawks's was guided to Detective Tsukauchi's car. Guided. If Pathfinder and Amplifier's touch was enough to leave it shaken, the Icarus Project had failed worse than they could believe.
Hawks disobeyed protocol, spoke back to her, and tried to tell her what she should and should not do. The nerve. The Icarus Project was a Hero, yet it acted like its feelings mattered. They did not. Heroes smiled through the worst of pain. They did not tremble and lean on another Hero for support.
These little rebellions were getting out of hand. If other agents acted as the Icarus Project had, they would be sent for remedial courses immediately. It was unfortunate Hawks was so weak in body and mind. If they tore off the unsightly and unnecessary pieces and forcefully forged the Icarus Project into the Hero it should be, it would break completely during the remedial course procedure. And the smiles of broken dolls looked damaged no matter how skillfully the artist painted it. She had learned that from her last attempt to squash the rebelliousness from it.
The thought of an imperfect investment rankled at the President but unfortunately Hawks was not All Might. The Icarus Project was loud, rude, lazy, confrontational, and could not keep its disrespectful mouth shut. The program to create perfect Heroes did not allow for trial runs so they were stuck with indolent, ungrateful gutter trash after nearly twenty years of work.
At least she could console herself that it was not a complete waste of resources. Despite its flaws, Hawks knew its place, having learned that at sixteen after it thought it could poke its nose into business it had no place in. There had been a close call— her agents had miscalculated how badly the Icarus Project would respond— but the end result had been worth it. If the Commission said "jump" it would not need to be told how high. If they ordered it to give its life for the good of the public, it would lay in its own grave.
But even with that extra push that nearly resulted in a corpse instead of a flawed but working product, the Icarus Project was not selfless as Heroes should be. It had the gall to take a day off to watch a movie. It showed fear when it should smile to put the public at ease. If they ordered it to kill for the good of Hero Society, it would hesitate. It would not argue directly, but it would try to manipulate them, using the skills they gave it to press them into a different way. Did Hawks think they were fools?
Apparently reminding it of what happened the last time it stopped being a good Hero and tried to rebel was not enough to make it understand it was their Hero and would do as the Commission commanded. Unfortunately, taking more drastic measures was now unavoidable. They would have to crack down on it even harder.
Targeting Miruko was a good first step. It was because of her they knew about Hawks's unfounded and ridiculous suspicions. Their listening devices in her apartment had heard as the Icarus Project told her about Endeavor's supposed crimes, and then she had used her Agency's resources to begin looking into the Todorokis. Listening devices placed there failed to function, but the alerts worked well enough and her inquiries immediately informed the Commission of her actions.
As for why they had alerts for such instances, it was for the benefit of the stability of Hero Society to keep an eye on the lives of their topmost Heroes, though the Commission was ignorant to the private life of the Todorokis, of course. They would do the same to All Might if they knew who he was. Just to ensure no one was attempting to slander him.
Miruko had gotten too big for her skintight costume as of late. Ever since Hawks disappeared she grew louder and louder, refusing to stop looking for it even when the Commission considered it irretrievable. And now she had the gall to pry into the private life of the Number Two Hero, Endeavor. Did she think she could simply open an investigation without permission?
She would have to be dealt with, because rules and proper procedure kept their society running and she was dangerously close to breaking them. It was not a simple case of her tragically losing her life in the near-future. If she died in an accident the public would despair. She was brash but popular, and losing one of the Top Ten would not be a good look for Hero Society.
She had a weakness to exploit however. One that belonged to the Commission.
Miruko was truly a fool to look at the Icarus Project and see a person, but they could use that misconception to their advantage.
Unfortunately, they could not track Hawks and Miruko's every movement. It was infuriating that the bugs in Hawks's Agency still refused to function, and no matter what the Commission's hackers and tech experts did, they could not slice into the Agency's cameras. The Icarus Project would not dare to rebel so openly by using a sidekick's Quirk to block their efforts, so the thwarted observers could only offer an accidental firewall as an explanation.
Their incompetence disgusted the President. The problem had persisted for nearly all of the four years the Icarus Project's Commission-granted Agency had been active, yet their agents still could not eliminate it. The closest their best hacker got was the image of a bee, and he admitted it was only because the perpetrator— who they had failed to realize existed until that moment— sent it to them. Such symbolism matched none of the known hackers in the Commission's database, leaving them with nothing.
The President had the agent and his team sent to remedial courses immediately.
If only dealing with Hawks's own selfishness and failure was so straightforward.
Diverting even more resources to the Icarus Project made the Commission President's lip curl but if Hawks wanted to act like an ungrateful child, it would be treated like one. The Icarus Project may be trying its hand at rebellion again like a brain-dead chick thought it could fight a wolf, but it had been trained well in one area.
It would not fight the Commission. Nor would it try to tell the public about them. It knew Hero Society relied on absolute belief in the Hero Commission, so it would keep silent no matter what was done to it.
Miruko would know who hurt it, however. And if she had any brains in that empty head of hers, she would know why. If she cast off her arrogance and became a model Hero, problem fixed. If she did not, the Icarus Project would learn exactly how much it meant to her and realize her promises were lies. She merely used it to bolster her own popularity and standing. How could it be so stupid that it had blinded itself to that?
The Commission watched the footage again, tapping her fingers on her desktop as her annoyance mounted. Hawks did not smile once as it was aggressively questioned. In fact it had the gall to close its eyes and brace itself. What an abysmal display. The Icarus Project could never be what it was created to be. It would never be a Symbol like All Might.
Perhaps they should look to the next generation again. It was a pity many promising Quirks had successfully been accepted into UA and other Hero schools, though a few that did not have combat-oriented Quirks were successfully recruited by the Commission. Bless the entrance exam for being so utterly imbalanced against those whose Quirks were not suited for fighting robots. Though of course, that was how it was designed to be by the Commission, letting powerful Quirks slip through the cracks and into their ranks.
For now, they would sink more time and effort into their unworthy investment and remind it just who had saved it from dying in the gutter it was born in. It did not matter what Hawks wanted. If it had been properly trained, it would not want anything except to use itself to keep Hero Society running and the public safe. The Icarus Project's Quirk, thoughts, and body belonged to the Commission, and the Commission worked only for the good of Hero Society. Hawks would become whatever was needed to keep the people content for generations to come.
It was time Hawks was reminded of that.
The President picked up the phone and made a call to Tartarus, requesting the release of a prisoner.
The Commission-trained warden was all too happy to oblige.
XXXXXXX
Saturday morning came. Miruko was hung over and Hawks was exhausted. He drank some coffee as he headed out and left her regretting her decisions at the counter. One day off he could do but two were too many. Plus, he wanted to be distracted.
I was a spy sent to infiltrate the League of Villains.
I was caught and killed because of it.
I was caught and killed because Pink and Yellow accidentally exposed me.
The voices' evasiveness when it came to his future self's death made all too much sense to him now. Something happened to All Might— the voices insistence he would not last forever made that obvious— so the Commission became desperate to bring the League down. Desperate enough they sent their pet project to die.
It was rather freeing for it to be confirmed just how expendable he really was.
And Hawks knew he would die from such a mission. He would be found out, captured, and tortured no matter how things played out. He was good at deception and manipulation, but his better nature would betray him. He would not be able to stand by while innocents got hurt, just like his other self had been unable to stand by in that timeline. Future him and Best Jeanist's plan was proof of that. And it was their plan. The Commission would be willing to sacrifice one of their top Heroes but Hawks wouldn't and couldn't.
And then his deception had been exposed by Pink and Yellow, which led to future him's death.
Pink and Yellow.
Uraraka and Kaminari.
Hawks vaguely remembered them from footage of the Sports Festival but the memories were fuzzy due to his and the voices' lack of control back then. Now his head was silent, with only the occasional bolt of pain to warn him the voices weren't doing so well.
As a result, Hawks was on edge all day as he watched two figurative cars speed towards each other in slow motion and waited for the inevitable crash. By the time he went to visit Eri he was worried he might have another anxiety attack. Hopefully the voices would keep their distance a bit longer.
Aizawa met him in the hallway like usual. His dark eyebrows inched upward. "You look exhausted."
"I haven't slept well in days." Hawks said brightly. "Where did you get your caterpillar bag? I want one."
Aizawa slouched with his hands in his pockets. "Can't tell you. My co-worker bought it for me. Besides, I don't think your wings will fit."
Hawks pouted. "Aww." He walked next to Aizawa. "So did I miss anything these past few days?"
"Eri missed you."
Hawks winced and his wings pressed tightly against his back. "I'm sorry. I should have visited yesterday. I have no excuse."
"I think you do." Aizawa said neutrally. "It would not help her feel safe if she saw your bruises." Dark eyes flicked to Hawks's stiff expression before returning to the hall ahead. "Toshinori told me what happened."
Hawks's entire body seized up. 'When did Toshinori meet with you?' he did not ask, knowing better than to think he could. "Toshinori does not understand the full situation." He said instead, tone clipped. "I assure you that I am perfectly fine and capable of returning to work. These injuries will not affect my performance."
Sharp black eyes never strayed from him. "Of course. I didn't mean to imply you weren't capable."
Hawks had a suspicious feeling Aizawa was only agreeing with him to soothe him. He rankled at the condescending response but let it go. He knew Toshinori and Aizawa were overreacting. They just didn't know any better. This was nothing new.
Hawks felt some of his stress fade away when he opened Eri's door to find her surrounded by stuffed animals. Her room was much less empty now. Aizawa had brought over some toys and books for her, filling the white room with colors. Hawks had gotten her a couple playthings as well, though he counted every cent and tried not to think about the upcoming bill he was unlikely to be able to pay.
Eri's face lit up when she saw him. The lines of worry that should not be present on such a young face faded and she rushed up to him. For a moment, he thought she was going to throw her arms around him but she stopped at the last second, dithering uncertainly. Hawks smiled, knelt, and opened his arms a bit.
"Miss me?"
She threw herself into his arms and clung to him tightly. "I thought you left." 'I thought you left forever.' he knew she meant.
"I did leave for a couple days but I came back." Hawks assured her. "So what have you been up to?"
He listened, not bothering to hold back a smile, as she rambled about what he'd missed.
"Gold."
Hawks refrained from jumping. Hey, Green. You're talking to me again? Not to be rude, but this is not the place to discuss what I saw—
"Eri's Quirk might activate." Green interrupted urgently. "Her horn's growing which means she's accumulating energy for it. She might have an outburst."
Hawks glanced at Eri's horn, noting its length. He settled back on his heels and grinned at her. "Do you have any new pictures to show me?"
She instantly rushed to the table to gather the colored pages. With Eri distracted, Hawks leaned over to Aizawa.
"Be ready to use your Quirk." he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "My gut's telling me she might have an outburst."
Aizawa frowned at him. "What do you mean?"
Hawks bit back some annoyance at the question, knowing he would ask it himself while also hating having to explain. Why could no one just take his word for things?
"Her horn has grown." he murmured, nodding at her. "It might indicate something. Just a hunch. And my hunches are usually right just so you know."
Aizawa nodded but Hawks was uncertain how seriously his warning was being taken. He shoved down his annoyance again and ignored the twisting in his gut because if Eraserhead did not take him seriously here, in this instance, how would anyone take him seriously if he revealed he had time travelers in his head?
Eri showed him her latest drawings and he fawned over each of them, grinning from ear to ear as she drew mystical creatures that likely came from her own imagination. Sure, some of them could be mutation Quirks she had glimpsed but he'd like to think Overhaul's abuse had not stolen the childish creativity from her. He noticed she never drew Ennea, however. Not even once in all the hundreds of drawings she created. Did she not want to remind them the vigilante existed and get them into trouble?
Hawks saw Eri's eyes dart to the table and she abruptly removed a couple papers from it, hiding them under the others. She glanced at him again almost guiltily and shoved them more out of sight.
"Eri?" She froze. Hawks kept his voice soft. "Are there a few pictures you don't want to show me?"
She avoided his gaze, twisted her hands, and nodded silently.
"That's okay." Hawks soothed her. "If they're just for you, you don't have to show them to me."
"They're secret." she whispered.
Hawks kept his expression solemn. "Good secret or bad secret?"
"Both." her voice was so quiet it was barely audible.
Aizawa was frowning, and Hawks hoped he was not considering looking at the pictures when Eri was unaware. Hawks would leave him with a feather to call his very own if he did. One that would smack him upside the head until it was destroyed. Eri was not a test subject in a lab. Not all of her actions needed to be scrutinized and not all her secrets exposed. Hawks liked to think Aizawa knew that but honestly, he only had the voices and a few of his own interactions to judge the underground Hero by.
"As long as those secrets won't hurt you, you can keep them if you want." Hawks told her. "It's your choice whether to share them. And you do not have to share them if you don't want to, okay?"
Eri was giving him that look again. That wide-eyed, bewildered stare she always gave him whenever he gave her a choice. Whether it was something minor like "What would you like to do?" or bigger like "Is it okay if the doctor comes check on you?", she always stared at him like she could not believe he was real.
In his darker moments, Hawks wondered if he used to look at Rumi like that. He forced that line of thought away before he could consider it more, because comparing himself to Eri was ludicrous and disrespectful. His past was nowhere near as bad as what she suffered. He probably only compared the two because Toshinori mentioned Eri when they argued.
"I..." Eri looked down and gripped at her dress. "I want to."
"You want to what?" Hawks asked gently.
"I want to share." Eri sounded close to tears as she said it, and her eyes were watery.
She returned to the table on her own and pushed through the drawings until she found the ones she hid. She held them to her chest and stared up at Hawks, gaze darting to Aizawa, and he felt something in his throat tighten. This was not right. If things went well, Aizawa would be her guardian. She should trust and look to him more than Hawks.
Aizawa remained silent, and Hawks realized he was letting him take point to hopefully prevent Eri from shutting down if Eraserhead became involved in the conversation.
"Do you want to share the good or the bad secret first?" Hawks asked.
Eri glanced at the pictures and held out her left hand. It was shaking. Hawks took the drawing and kept his expression composed. A demonic monster with a clearly-defined beak-like mask was scribbled onto the page. Every line was wobbly, as if the hand that drew it had been shaking. The figure's hand was covered in red crayon, which twisted out like something had exploded into a fountain of blood.
"Do you want to tell me who this is?" Hawks asked, even though he already knew. He pointedly did not ask "Who is this?" giving her the choice whether to tell.
Eri shook her head violently and clutched the other drawing— the 'good secret' drawing— to her chest like a shield.
"Can Aizawa see it, Starling?" Hawks asked next.
Eri hesitated but nodded.
Hawks passed the picture to Aizawa, who studied it with lips pressed thin. He kept his own expression calm and did not think about whether the person being torn apart in the picture was meant to be an unknown person or Eri herself.
"How about the good drawing?"
Eri held it out with both hands and ducked her head. She was less frightened this time and more shy, which was both adorable and a relief.
Hawks took the other drawing and let a smile cross his face. The drawing was of five people, and he could identify a few while inferring who the rest were. His portrait was the most obvious with the large red wings, while the figure with the black bird head was clearly Tokoyami. Shoto was next easiest to identify with his red and white hair, with who was presumably Aizawa dressed in black next to him. That left the other black-haired figure with what seemed to be glasses, so probably Tenya Iida. They were all standing in front of a building that was completely colored blue.
"Ooo, a group shot." Hawks crowed. He turned the page and squinted at the background. "Can you tell me what building this is?"
"UA." Eri mumbled. "Fumikage and Tenya told me about it. It's their school."
Hawks had no idea his former interns visited while he was… preoccupied. Though with Aizawa here they had a potentially easy way to get a ride from UA. Good on them. He briefly locked gazes with Aizawa as he asked his next question, searching for any sign that he shouldn't.
"Would you like to visit UA, Starling?"
She held out her hands and he handed the group drawing back. She held it to her chest and rocked on her feet, gaze on the floor.
"Yeah." she mumbled.
Hawks looked again at Aizawa, who sighed and nodded his head. He grinned brightly and clapped his hands together. "Well, you're in luck. You'll be able to visit soon."
Eri blinked at him uncomprehendingly as if getting such a simple wish granted was a foreign concept to her. A doctor came in and she tensed. Hawks considered shooing the man out but he shook his head, lingering near the door.
Aizawa crouched in front of Eri so he was at her level. "You might be going to UA with me in the near future. To live with me. Is that okay with you?"
Eri bit her lip. "Will there be doctors?"
"Only the school nurse." Aizawa said honestly. "She does not hurt people. She kisses wounds better."
Eri considered that as she looked down at her picture of what she imagined UA looked like. She glanced uncertainly at Hawks before looking at Aizawa again. "Hawks is coming too, right?"
Hawks forcibly stopped a sad look from crossing his face. He doubted he could get an excuse to go into UA every day. If he was lucky, he could maybe visit once a month with his busy schedule and security being so tight.
Aizawa hesitated. "He may be able to visit."
Eri went still. Her eyes widened. "'May'?"
"I will visit." Hawks corrected firmly. "But it won't be every day."
"UA is very far away and Hawks has to stay here." Aizawa explained patiently.
Eri's lip trembled and she bit it harder, eyes watery and distressed. "B-But I—"
A shudder passed through her from her head to her too-thin legs.
Her knees buckled, hitting the floor with sharp, painful thuds.
Her horn glowed and the air around her seemed to warp with a strange energy.
The doctor in the doorway gasped and stepped back with the slowness of someone moving through molasses. Was he glowing or was that the trick of the light?
Aizawa's went rigid as his instincts perceived a threat but he did not move as his black-eyed sight instinctively perceived a terrified child.
And Hawks lurched forward, reaching out even as someone screamed at him to stop—
Before he could touch Eri, Aizawa's eyes turned red. Her horn stopped glowing and the strange energy faded. The doctor immediately slumped in the doorway. Two nurses rushed in and checked him over. He was breathing heavily but he seemed to be alright.
Eri was frozen, face pale, eyes round, and horn smaller than it had been. Hawks scooped her up and held her in his arms. She seemed too stunned to react and stared past him like he was not there. The voices were clamoring in the back of his mind, cursing themselves for not paying attention, but their urge to comfort and protect only bolstered Hawks's own.
"It's okay." he soothed her as he rocked her back and forth. "You're okay."
The spell of shock cast over her shattered and she burst into tears. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. Don't send me back. I'm sorry!"
Hawks hugged her and wrapped her in his wings as she cried. His comforting murmurs did nothing to stop her sobs and he glanced helplessly at Eraserhead. Aizawa was pale, his red eyes watering as he made sure Eri's Quirk remained suppressed.
"I'll secure her as a ward of UA and myself." was all he said.
"Good." Hawks croaked.
XXXXXXX
Coffee was not a drink that Miruko preferred. She could handle bitter tastes, but plain hot coffee was just one of those drinks she did not seek out for the joy of consumption. She preferred coffee with so much sugar and creamer it could barely be considered coffee at all. It did not mean she was completely adverse to drinking coffee to give her some energy after a hangover, however, as she begrudgingly acknowledged while chugging down a cup. After having already drunk two. Or five.
"Blargh." Miruko muttered, shoving the latest empty mug aside.
She returned to glowering at the papers on her desk, trying to force her brain to work until a hand invaded her vision and shoved a new one in her face. She placed another sheet on top of her file on the Todorokis, glanced up, and grimaced.
"You got another one for me?"
"No, I merely came over to your office to give random paperwork to you for no reason." Mockingjay said dryly.
Miruko huffed at her. "Be nice, I have a hangover, my tongue feels like sandpaper, and my head is pounding." She took the paper but delayed reading it, keeping it face down on the desk. "How angry is this one going to make me?"
"Very." Mockingjay said flatly.
Miruko looked over the report. She was not one to take deep breaths to calm herself but found herself doing exactly that as she took in the details.
Seven years ago. Family of five. Kids aged twelve, seven, and five. Youngest developed a Quirk that let her project people's crimes like a movie reel when she touched them. She went to a meet and greet with a local Hero and revealed he left his ex's current boyfriend to die in a collapsing building. Only witnesses to the damning projection were the Hero and the family. Family tried to tell the police but had no evidence except for the girl's Quirk.
A gas explosion burned the family's house down two weeks later. All five were confirmed dead, including the girl.
Miruko rubbed her temples as her ears went flat. "What makes you think it was the Commission cleaning up a mess?"
"Other than the fact that the house didn't have a gas line anywhere near it?" Mockingjay asked rhetorically. "A neighbor reported seeing someone following the family after the initial police report was made. Of course, he was 'old', 'senile', and 'paranoid' so his claims were dismissed. He passed away from old age two years ago. And it was from old age. I double checked."
Miruko slowly added the new report to the growing pile. "That's how many cases of witnesses conveniently dying so far?"
"Seventy-four." Mockingjay said bluntly. "And according to my associate, these are still the most obvious ones. We haven't even gotten to the deaths they really worked to hide."
Miruko did not bother to hide her scowled as she glared at the growing folders. She tried not to do the numbers but her mind betrayed her and did the math. So far there were seventy-four cases of fifty-seven different Heroes having their crimes covered up by the Commission, resulting in the deaths of two hundred and twenty-six innocent people. Of those two hundred and twenty-six, forty were other, less prominent— quote unquote 'less important to Hero Society functioning'— Heroes and sidekicks. Thirteen were police officers. The rest were civilian deaths.
"Some of these date back to before All Might became a Hero." she growled. "I can't believe they've gotten away with this for so long."
"I can." Mockingjay disagreed. "I've seen this kind of cover-up before. They've gotten away with it because no one thought to look or have their pockets filled with bribes. But we're looking now."
"Yeah." Miruko growled. "Still should have looked sooner."
None of the incidents were from the past two years— Miruko suspected it was because of them being buried extra deeply due to being so recent— but she could not help but think of those she might have been able to help if she'd acted faster. Mockingjay did not argue with her to try to change her mind.
Miruko checked the growing list of incident reports again despite having memorized more than half of them and sighed. "We still don't have enough, do we?"
"Not even close." Mockingjay admitted. "If some bribes are passed around, all of it can be brushed aside as coincidence or even attacks from a mysterious group of Villains 'trying to slander the heroic Commission'."
Miruko shot the pile of reports a disgusted look. "So you're saying that even after almost year we've been— what is the phrase?— 'spinning our wheels' and getting nowhere?"
"Pretty much."
"Damn it." Miruko whispered. "Our evidence is too circumstantial on it's own. The only concrete evidence we have is what happened to Hawks. But even with that, they can still claim denial if Hawks doesn't talk." Miruko shot a glare towards his folder, which was already three times the size of any of the others. She rubbed at her aching forehead. "We need him to come forward to make enough of a public fuss for the ball to get rolling, don't we? He's the most obvious and indisputable case we have."
Mockingjay did not reply. She did not need to.
Miruko grimly sorted through the files to put the latest incident in the correct year. "So what's your excuse to Baby Bird for working with me?"
"I don't have or need one. He doesn't know I've been coming here." Mockingjay admitted. "I always go on missions without Hawks needing to know. However…" She sat on the edge of Miruko's desk and crossed her arms. "How do you plan on telling Hawks about our year-deep investigation into the Commission?"
Miruko looked down at her empty cup as she considered her answer. Hawks was smart and observant, but she knew he had yet to realize she was investigating the Commission— she had been since he'd vanished— and compiling evidence simply because he did not want to realize what she was doing behind the scenes. If Miruko had any say, he would remain ignorant. Hawks was a self-sacrificing idiot and he'd take her investigation the wrong way. As in letting the Commission rip his beating heart out of his chest to keep them from harming the few people he had. But what was almost worse than that kind of martyr-like selflessness…
"Simple: I'm not going to. Not yet. Cause when Hawks hears about the other people being screwed over by the Commission, he'll rebel in a heartbeat to help them. I want him to fight them for himself but we both know he's not capable of doing that yet. He still wants to believe they have a reason to hurt him and he's not ready to see they're abusive monsters clinging to their power. And… I hate to say this about him, but he's fragile right now. You've seen it. I've seen it. He's not okay no matter how much he insists he's 'fine'. I think if I try to force him to see that truth now… he'll shatter. And I can't do that to him." She looked up at Mockingjay and smirked mockingly. It lacked her usual cockiness. "Pretty bad reasoning, right?"
"No." Mockingjay denied. "We both know the Commission conditioned Hawks to be self-sacrificing and stop the injustices others suffer through. If he fights them for other's sake, he's still acting as they ingrained in him and won't see just how genuinely villainous they are. He'll fight to get justice for the victims but not for himself, and that kind of denial won't help anyone. In a case like this, his instinctive defenses of the Commission could let them get away with what they've done because if a noble and 'well-adjusted' Hero that they raised defends them, that must mean they aren't that bad and are being framed, right?" Her lips twisted into a scowl. "They'll take any weakness they can to turn things in their favor, and Hawks could be exploited without meaning it. So I'd rather he see the truth fight them for his own sake as well." Her grey gaze hardened to steel. "Otherwise he'll never be free."
Philosophical discussion about the nature of freedom and the fragility of the human mind was not Miruko's thing any more than bad coffee but she had to agree.
"So what now?" Mockingjay asked after a pause. "My associate can keep finding cases and gathering evidence, but until we get someone to force this into the spotlight where it can't be swept under the rug, that's all we can do."
"Then we do exactly that." Miruko said simply. "We get one shot to make our case or it'll be dismissed and buried. We can't mess this up." She crossed her arms and scowled. "They hurt Hawks as a warning to me. Partially, anyway. It's likely the Commission is getting suspicious of me so you'll be going solo for a bit."
"Do you think they're watching you?"
Miruko shrugged carelessly. "Maybe. Probably. They've definitely bugged my apartment at the very least. So I don't want to take any chances." She glanced towards the file about the Todorokis, which lay hidden in the piles of reports. "Besides, while you're being your sneaky self and gathering ghosts, I have another case I can work on that'll piss them off. So I won't be suspiciously acting like a 'good wittle Hero' who got scared and gave up. That'd be out of character."
Mockingjay's lips twitched. "So you're going to hide that you're rebelling against them by rebelling in a smaller but equally infuriating way?"
"Yep." Miruko chirped, unrepentant.
Mockingjay almost smiled.
XXXXXXX
That night— well, the next morning but he was going to ignore that minor detail— Hawks flopped down on the couch, utterly exhausted. He had stayed late to calm Eri down, long enough that he had to text and call Miruko so she did not think he was missing again. The doctor's condition had only lengthened his stay since he had accompanied the man to another hospital to be checked over. And then the doctor's lack of condition extended his visit even further than that.
Doctor Eito Shiyokeru had been diagnosed with ischemic heart disease only a year ago. Now the tests— hurried along by a few handy Quirks meant for such purposes— showed the arteries around his heart had cleared significantly. In fact, the man claimed, he felt better than ever. Neither he, Hawks, or Aizawa told the hospital staff exactly how that 'miracle' happened, though they probably guessed.
Eri's Quirk was never brought up once at that hospital. Doctor Eito Shiyokeru had quickly counted his blessings and decided to go on an unplanned trip to America to celebrate his newfound health along with his cousin who was most definitely not a sidekick of the Hawks Hero Agency. Aizawa and Hawks promised to check in on him every few days and Hawks made a note to ask Mockingjay to do the same with her own list of contacts in her birth country.
Hawks knew Aizawa would like to keep the doctor close to make sure there were no bad side effects, but getting him out of the country was a more pressing matter.
Especially after Hawks 'bounced ideas' off Aizawa and 'theorized' what Eri's Quirk actually did.
All that mattered was no on died, Hawks was a bit closer to getting Eri's Quirk known to the right parties, and Doctor Eito Shiyokeru was out of Japan— and the Shie Hassaikai and Hero Commission's reach.
So yes, Hawks had a very long night.
And it was not even over yet.
Hawks did not lay down on his couch, opting to slouch and stare up at the ceiling as the voices shifted in his mind.
Pink, Yellow, we need to talk.
Hawks got the distinct impression of the two being shoved outside, a door slamming shut behind them. They hovered at the edge of his thoughts, trying to keep their distance, but they could not hide from him. He would not let them.
"We're listening." Pink whispered eventually.
I don't blame you, Hawks started.
"You don't know what we did." Yellow croaked.
Did you walk up to other Shigaraki and tell him other me was a spy?
"No but—"
Did you intend for the PLF to find out?
"No but—"
Did you investigate with the intention of exposing whatever you found?
"No b—"
Then why are you blaming yourselves? You made a bad call, yes. A… long list of bad calls. But you did not intend to get other me captured.
"But our actions did get you captured." Pink whispered. "If we hadn't been so stupid, you might have been able to stop the PLF before they destroyed everything. Instead we exposed you because we stuck our noses where they didn't belong."
That's why you were so upset about present Iida and Todoroki going after Stain against orders, Hawks realized.
Yellow flinched.
Pink held her ground. Barely. "We want to pretend to know everything about doing what is right but we don't. You died because of us. Because we were so arrogant we thought we knew what was best when everyone warned us it wasn't."
She was on the verge of tears. Hawks felt them prick at his eyes.
I'm not dead now, Hawks argued. And I never will die like that again. We'll change events, and your future won't happen.
Pink laughed bitterly. "That doesn't make our past mistakes go away."
Of course not, Hawks agreed. But you shouldn't let your mistakes hinder you like this.
"We're not." Yellow lied.
Which is why you're so hung up things you could not control… how many years later? A decade? Hawks closed his eyes and went for the throat of the problem. You did not cause the collapse of Hero Society.
Pink recoiled. Yellow shuddered.
"Hawks—"
You. Did not. Cause the collapse of Hero Society. Hawks repeated. Yes, my other self's death was the 'beginning' of the end, but from what little I can gather, the Paranormal Liberation Front was going to attack and destabilize Hero Society anyway. You're no more to blame for their actions than Eri is for Overhaul's.
"You're a fucking madman trying to hug her when she could've vanished you." Orange growled.
Orange, we are having a private conversation here. Could you at least pretend you aren't eavesdropping?
"Could you at least pretend you aren't denying you were scared?" Orange mocked.
I wasn't scared. You were. You really need to stop projecting your feelings onto me. Thank you for worrying, but I'm still alive. We all are. Eri did not hurt us.
Orange growled incoherently and retreated.
Back to you two. Hawks imagined poking them in the foreheads and heard satisfying yelps from both. Your past is unchangeable, but this one can be changed. We can save everyone.
"I want to believe that…" Yellow admitted.
"But what if we make things worse?" Pink finished.
Then we keep trying, as always. Hawks turned his thoughts further inward. Green, I am very disappointed you did not have this conversation with these two earlier.
"I did." Green muttered. "I thought it worked."
"Well, what else were we supposed to do except pick ourselves up? Mope around and cry ourselves to sleep at night as we realized someone died because of us?" Yellow's attempt at a joke fell flat. He shifted, and Hawks's eyes stung. "We really are sor—"
You don't need to apologize to me. I'm not dead or captured.
"We won't let you be." Pink said, and the fire was back in her voice.
Now that the voices were done 'moping' as Yellow put it, Hawks moved onto the next topic of discussion.
When we have free time, you can ask to use my body. Their surprise reverberated through him. That goes for the rest of you too, who are totally not eavesdropping. The other voices shuffled like scolded children. Hawks almost smiled. We need to train your Quirks in this body. Plus Ennea should probably make a few more appearances. Maybe to get some intel on Overhaul to pass on to Nighteye's Agency. We still need to bring the Shie Hassaikai down.
He had so little free time to begin with and if they did this he would have even less. He had to accept that, though. He wanted a peaceful world, and he would not get it if he did not allow the voices to use his body to try to better the future.
He would sacrifice everything he had to reach that goal. There was no other choice.
He owed it to them, their present selves, and Hero Society as a whole.
XXXXXXX
When it came down to it, Jin Bubagaiwara knew his priorities. He was not well in mind. He was what many would— too often callously— call deranged, mad, crazy, and an outsider of good society, so his priorities were to be himself and protect those that let him be him and accepted him.
Looking into the Winged Hero Hawks's life was absolutely nowhere on that short list. Sure, Hawks had been approved of by Stain, but Twice was not in the League for Stain. That was Spinner and maybe Dabi's thing? It was hard to tell with Dabi since he was sooooo anti-social. He never joined team meetings, the jerk. Anyway, Twice just wanted to belong and so he did not particularly care about what the Number Three Hero was up to.
All that changed when he found Hawks mid-panic attack in an alley. Twice had headed out the door for a smoke when he found the Winged Hero hunched against the base of the wall. Even in the dull lights of the street, his skin had been hauntingly pale as he gasped for air like he was drowning and he clutched at his head.
It was like looking in a distorted mirror, and Twice had acted on instinct, removing his over-shirt and wrapping it around Hawks head. The flinch had been expected, the lack of a following violent reaction certainly not.
When golden eyes focused on him, Twice saw fear there. Fear of what? Of him? As if he could frighten a top ranked Hero. A fear of being found then…? Twice did not know, and was sure he would never find out. Back then, he had committed to his actions as he always wanted to do, and stammered the phrase that haunted his lucid moments.
And then something even more unexpected happened.
Hawks had acted as if he understood what Twice meant by 'splitting'. He did not spit or sneer or demand to know what Twice thought he would accomplish by tying a shirt around his already bandanna-clad head. Instead he thanked him— genuinely— and mentioned he had PTSD before frantically trying to cover it up. He was so blatantly nervous, ashamed, and terrified Twice wondered exactly what others had done to him when he told them.
It was clear Hawks was… not well. Not in the same way Twice was unwell, but certainly in a debilitating fashion if his head-clutching and shaking were any indication. When Hawks had 'sunk into his head' as he put it, Twice had time to study him as he waited with him, because while he was a Villain, he would not just leave someone alone like that.
During his scrutiny, he saw cosmetic-covered cuts and bruises marring Hawks's face.
Twice was of average intelligence. He was not a detective. He was not close to being what people would call 'sound of mind'. But even he could tell something was not right. Sure, Hawks could have gotten beaten up by a Villain but that was highly unlikely.
So he did some research using the computer at Kurogiri's bar. He went over posts on Hawks-obsessed social media forums for the past few days and saw how many found it odd Hawks did not appear on most of Wednesday or at all on Thursday. Before "Hawks is missing again" panic articles could begin circulating, he was seen on Friday and the internet fawned over him once more. How could all of them miss he was wearing makeup to cover bruises?
A bit more research revealed Hawks had been trained by the Hero Public Safety Commission. Apparently they acted as a private school or something? That seemed off to Twice.
He typed 'Winged Hero Hawks real name' into Moogle's search bar and only speculation came up. People knew where he was born and his birthday, yet they could not find out his name. It was almost like Hawks's civilian self did not exist. Or he was erased from the records.
Twice smelled fish. A whole ocean of dead, floating fish. Or broken, caged birds.
"Just like our broken birdie, huh?"
Twice flinched and gripped at his head.
"Shut up." he hissed.
"Nah. Don't wanna." Twice brightened. "We should free the birdie!"
"Why the hell would we do that?" Twice asked warily.
"To save him." Twice said as if it were obvious. "Like real 'Heroes'. The fake Heroes will eat him alive or cast him out once they find out he's not normal. You know that, right? Because he's just like us."
Twice breathed heavily and struggled to reach his bag as his vision blurred and multiplied.
Splitting. He was splitting—
He yanked his mask over his head and did a thumbs up.
"Freeing the birdie sounds like a great idea! We should kidnap him!"
"It does not." Twice argued. "We cannot kidnap a Hero. And kidnapping him would not make him like or trust us. You have been spending too much time with Himiko. That is not how it works."
"Could too work." Twice shot back. "And can too do it. We're Villains. We can do whatever we want. Plus it's not bad kidnapping. It's preemptive rescue. Or forcibly moving him from a not-nice place! Someone's hurting him and the Heroes aren't doing jack about it."
"That is true." Twice mused, rubbing his chin as he considered the idea. "Boss man's probably not for the whole 'rescuing' thing though. He's more of a 'kill on sight' kind of man. Unless it's for the Nomu."
"It could be a team bonding exercise!" Twice cheered.
"We are not ready or meant for such a strenuous 'team bonding exercise'." Twice lectured.
"We are totally ready!"
"We will get ourselves captured or killed in an instant."
"If we help Birdie he might become one of us!"
"He will never join our side."
"He's like us. And he doesn't know we're a Villain yet… Think he'd want to hang out and be… friends?"
"Friendship can be found in the oddest places. Perhaps we could at least try…"
"I can be your Villain, Birdie~!" Twice hummed. "I can punch them in the face~!"
"That did not rhyme."
"Critic."
"In moderation, self-criticism can be a good step in gaining self-confidence."
"What?"
"...Even I don't understand that one."
Twice plopped himself down in his seat and stared intently at the picture of Hawks's face on the screen.
"Now… What do I want to do?"
XXXXXXX
Unknown to Twice, he was not the only person privy to what he was looking at.
As much as All Might may believe it, All For One did not spend every waking second plotting the end of Hero Society. He could do other things, feel other emotions, grow bored, become… curious. So when one of the members of the League of Villains began using Kurogiri's computer in earnest, he let himself follow along with a technology-based Quirk he'd acquired to 'observe' what his newer member was doing.
Well well well. This was unexpected. Twice had put together in a couple hours what all of Hero Society refused to believe. In another world and under different circumstances, he may have been a good detective. Or perhaps he was so used to seeing the dark underbelly he did not blind himself to them like the so-called 'Heroes'.
And here All For One had been thinking Endeavor was the tantalizing fracture that would bring all of Hero Society down.
All For One's smile pulled grotesquely at the tubes attached to his face.
"How interesting."
He would have to look into this himself.
XXXXXXX
A/N: Somehow half this chapter turned into "characters with severely different mindsets/viewpoints musing about recent events"… I honestly did not mean for that to happen when I started writing it. *shrugs* Hope it was enjoyable, haha.
Next chapter will be uploaded on the 7th...ish.