Okay, so this was a super quick thing, so don't badger me about it not being canon, because it isn't suppose to be. Plus, it's probably OOC, and I'm just writing according to the idea I had.

Fanfiction isn't letting me publish anything via browser for some reason, so guess I'm doing this the hard way.

Weak Heart

The first time he messed up real bad couldn't even be called a mistake. All the times before that? Nothing of consequence in comparison.

(The bruises that once littered his skin would say otherwise. Anyone who gave a damn about him would object. The scars etched into him, stinging with memories that shouldn't have been but was, ignored by all, even his own eyes when he glimpses them in the mirror.

But those times didn't have a wonderful life on the line - shouLDN'T Have bEEN LOST-)

The first time he saved someone was when he rescued a little girl and her pet puppy. Barely six years old, birthday just that day. He remembers what she wore that day very, very clearly: white sundress with lace with pale yellow under the sheer fabric of her skirt, white sandals on her feet, a thin, red ribbon tied into a bow around her neck. She had beautiful, starry-dotted eyes of silver that were only made brighter by her dark brown hair, wavy and reaching her shoulders. Hawks couldn't tell how many times he had to brush strands of her hair behind her ear as it fell into her eyes.

When he first found her, she was only but a day before turning six, filthy with dirt and looking as dim as a light barely able to peek out from underneath a closed door. He was doing his patrol, and hearing a startled movement when flying by over an alley went down and found the child tucked under the small space of the dumpster, flat on her stomach with her ear to the ground. Her foot had knocked against a metal trashcan and she slid under right as he landed. At that time, she wore nothing but an over-sized black T-shirt.

Hawks knelt down slowly on the opposite side of the alleyway, sitting with legs extended and hands in plain view on his lap after pushing up his visor. "Hello," he said softly, gently. "I'm sorry that I scared you. What's wrong?" He didn't ask if she was okay - he knew the answer to that.

It took a long minute, but he was patient, and it paid off as the little girl crawled out, on hands and knees and lifted her head to look at him. She didn't say a word, silent as the grave as she looked him over. Hawks merely kept himself open and relaxed, calm. She crawled over to him, into his lap, and her fingers brushed the tips of his bright red wings.

"My Quirk," he explained. "Fierce Wings. Do you like them?" She smiled, and with a nod and laugh like wind on a warm night, he was met with the sun. She turned to the trashcan she had kicked a few moments prior and clapped her hands. A tiny, furry thing popped out and stumbled over to the duo. It looked like a beagle, and if the size was any indication, only a few months old. She picked up the puppy and grasped onto Hawks' hand with her free one, looking at him imploringly.

That day, she let him take her to his apartment to get cleaned up, and then to get proper clothes, along with food for the dog. It wasn't hard at all, and he was concerned by how easily she was in trusting a stranger, but better him than someone else. That day, Hawks found himself caring for two others that became a part of his family far more quickly than he thought.

That night, wearing one of Hawks' old sweaters and a pair of shorts (he had forgotten to get night clothes for her), she slept curled in his side, a wing pulled over her acting like a blanket, beagle at his other side.

The next day, though, she gave him more to work with. Said it was her birthday, that she had no one, that the puppy was named Roo. He knew she was the one to name the waddling little hyper thing (with its attempts in running around his home Roo effectively managed to do no less than four flips in the span of eleven minutes before eventually tripping over a pillow that had fallen to the floor). When asked what her own name was, she only shook her head.

"Hmm..." Hawks brought a hand to his chin playfully as he peered at her with a grin. He tapped her nose, relishing the giggle that he was awarded with. "Then how does the name Ito sound? You deserve to have a name of your own too."

That gave her pause. "Ito..." she repeated slowly. A small smile, pure, formed on her face.

For her birthday he took Ito and Roo to the park and got ice-cream for the three of them; he discovered that she had, in fact, had ice-cream before, and that she liked half-n-half. Roo got a small bowl of vanilla, and Hawks himself chocolate. Later on after playing for a few hours (always within his sight, never too far from him), they wandered by a bookstore. Ito seemed interested in a certain book, and so he happily bought her the story of Icarus.

She looked up at up from where she sat on his couch in the living room, face oddly solemn for someone so young. Hawks frowned. "What's wrong?" The book was open on her lap.

She turned it around for him and pointed at the image of a young man falling down, bright sun above, wax wings melting and flame.

"Please don't turn out like this." Hawks blinked, rightfully surprised.

"Pardon?"

Ito gestured more forcefully. "Don't be like this. Please stay safe." Silver pools teared up, and Hawks hurriedly stood from where he sat playing on the floor with Roo to sit next to her. Ito immediately latched onto him, sobbing, book discarded on the cushion. "Please don't get hurt! Don't-" she hiccuped, "Don't be like I-Icarus."

He held her tighter, wings folding around her protectively. "Don't worry, I won't. I won't be going anywhere for a long, long time, and neither are you. Okay?"

He pulled back some and stroked her hair. "Ito, I have another present for you." She looked up at him in confusion. Hawks reached over and plucked a single feather from his left wing and grasped the end of the ribbon around her neck. "May I?" She did, and tugging the ribbon free, tied the feather onto it. He then tied the two ends together and put it over her head.

"As long as you have this feather, I'll find you. Ito, I promise I won't leave you."

The second day after having found a child and her dog as new additions to his home was simple: keep her happy. But it seems he didn't have to try too hard. In the end, she was as happy as she could ever be ever since she had first crawled her way onto his lap. That feather he gave her became the most precious thing she ever claimed to have had.

That evening, after helping her complete the book he got her when she fumbled over a few words, took her and Roo back out. He mentioned wanting to show her something special. Hawks even dressed in civilian clothing, a simple brown leather jacket, white shirt, blue jeans, and black boots. He'll still be recognized due to his wings, of course, but the average person for some reason had a harder time figuring him out when not in his iconic outfit (never mind that his wings were just as iconic).

The three of them went to the same park where they had ice-cream, but this time it was nearly abandoned at the current time.

Hawks crouched in front of Ito, smiling as he spotted Roo already on the move and pawing at the air at something unseen to the little girl. "Want to see something really pretty?" he asked her.

Ito nodded, looking ever so curious. Hawks reached a hand down slowly, and feeling the insect he had spotted get onto his palm, closed his hand slightly and held it up. Taking her cue, Ito held out her hands. Her cupped her hands with his left one and tilted his right. The bug landed in her hands and glowed as it flew up and then back down to land. Silver orbs widened in awe, reflection of the green-yellow light shining like miniature suns in her eyes.

"It's a lightning bug," he told her, dropping his hands. Her gaze darted over to Roo, who, she now realized, was chasing the very same bugs, licking at the air behind where they flew. She snorted, shoulders shaking, and the bug flew away. Ito took one step forward, head tilting down as she saw lights form on the blades of grass and then fly into the air.

Hawks pulled out his phone and took a video of the beautiful sight, as well as pictures. He made sure to film Ito's laughter, Roo's yelps, and his own amusement. Once seeing what he was doing, the girl ran over to take selfies with him, Roo literally jumping in at one point and landing on Hawks' chest, knocking him flat on his back with a yell. Ito caught his phone and was a giggling mess as her shaking hands recorded the event with pictures to immortalize to boot.

(Later on, when he would manage to look through his phone again after much convincing, he'd see all this as well as selfies of herself, and videos, accidentally taken in her glee and lack of knowledge of what to do with phones.)

It happened out of nowhere. No sign, no prelude, no bad feeling. Nothing.

Exactly 0.17 seconds later - the amount of time it takes someone to react to auditory stimuli - Hawks would turn around to find shocked, pained eyes gazing right back at him. Ito fell, he caught her, and instantly had some feathers search for the assailant. It didn't take long, the person wasn't too far away, and he'd took the time to throw off his jacket and press it over the girl's chest. It went through the left side, and judging by the angle would have went right through the heart.

"Hawks..?" she whispered in those last, fleeting moments that never should have been. "You're... my h-hero..."

The first time he messed up real bad couldn't even be called a mistake. The first time he saved someone was when he rescued a little girl and her pet puppy. Only just six years old.

He was only eighteen when he discovered he was too slow for the good of others.

"Ito" is a Japanese female name meaning "thread". I used it to refer to the red string of fate. I was originally gonna call her Hoshi ("star") or Hotaru ("firefly"), but then I saw this and went "oh man readers are gonna hate me" and wrote it in.

This would all take place in the months after Hawks made his debut.