Chapter Three - Part Two: Hero For A Day
Misaki quickly jogged down the stairs leading to the second floor of her house on Saturday morning while pulling her hair back into a low looped ponytail. She stopped in front of the mirror at the bottom of the stairs and opened a drawer in the narrow hanging shelving underneath before pulling out some lip balm. Just as she'd finished applying a thin coat of the balm to her lips, she was startled by the unexpected sound of a knock on her back door. Glancing over, she placed the lip balm back in the drawer and slid it closed before turning to walk over that direction. She flipped the lock and pulled open the door to find Hawks standing on her back porch with his hands in his pockets and a broad grin on his face.
"Ready to go to work?" He asked with a chipper tone.
"Um," she stammered for a moment, blinking at him in surprise. "You didn't have to come pick me up."
He shrugged and turned his head to the side. "Your house was on the way to my first call."
When he'd called her last night, he'd told her just to stop by the agency whenever she was ready, and he'd come by to pick her up when he got a call that she could go with him on. As far as plans went, it had seemed pretty "fly by the seat of your pants", but she supposed that was just the way things went in his line of work. It wasn't like crime was something that stuck to a schedule or anything. But she hadn't expected him to throw what shaky plans they did have out the window and come pick her up from her house first thing in the morning. He'd wanted her to get an idea of what the hero business was like; apparently that included the odd hours as well.
She stepped back into the house, leaving the door open for him to follow as she held her arms out to the side and asked, "Should I bring anything? Is what I'm wearing okay?"
He closed the door behind him before turning his head to assess her attire; form fitting black jeans and a heavy, orange V-neck sweater. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out a spare visor and held it out to her. "Put this on. You got a heavy coat?"
"Yeah?" She said, her tone inquisitive as she slid the visor over her eyes before pushing it up to rest atop her forehead. It was a little big for her, but at least it didn't feel like it would fall off of her face.
"You'll need it. A scarf probably wouldn't hurt either," he added as an afterthought, his wary eyes lingering on the neckline of her sweater.
Misaki walked over to the entryway closet and pulled out her heavy winter coat, sliding her arms inside and testing her range of motion with the extra padding from the sleeves of her sweater. Deciding she was comfortable enough, she sat down on the entryway bench and pulled on her winter boots before bending over to cinch the laces. Grabbing one of the thicker scarves from the hanging rack inside the front door, she wrapped it around her neck, tucking the ends into her coat as she walked back over to the back door.
Hawks reached out when she stopped to stand in front of him and snapped a pair of headphones over her ears, sliding the visor down over her eyes in the process before asking, "Ready?"
"Wha—?" She cut off as he suddenly pulled her into his arms and immediately took off out the back door.
She held her hand firmly over the visor, having felt it come loose a bit when they took off. She was glad to have it though, and the scarf, as the cold winter wind streamed past them. Feeling secure that the visor was snug against her face, she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and chided him, "A little warning next time?"
The edge of one side of his mouth tilted upward in a wry grin and he glanced down at her out of the corner of his eye. "I asked if you were ready."
"Don't ask if you're not going to wait for the answer..." She trailed off exasperatedly under her breath.
He didn't respond to her, turning his attention back to the sky ahead of them instead and adjusting their heading to the north a bit. When he'd invited her to accompany him to work for the day, she had been a little apprehensive about what he'd really meant by that. She really had very little idea about what heroes did on a daily basis, and the only thing Hawks had told her was that he'd just be taking her along on a few routine calls, whatever that meant.
He slowed to a stop in the air not more than a minute after taking flight from her house and inclined his head, glancing down as he said, "Looks like we found our first job for the day."
She craned her neck to follow his gaze and her face suddenly faulted. "You're kidding... An old lady whose cat is stuck in a tree?"
...
Hawks let out a hearty laugh.
Usually he would just grab the thing by the scruff with some of his feathers and pry it off of the branch before dropping it; either on the ground if it was still scared, or with its owner if it was calm. Today, however, he'd resolved to let Misaki handle some of the workload, to really give her a worthwhile experience of being a hero for a day. Not that he was planning on letting her handle anything dangerous...
He glanced down at the cat again warily, considering for a moment whether or not to count the thing as dangerous.
"I'll let you grab the brainless fur ball. Never been good with cats," he said under his breath with a slight shiver.
"You know, cats are actually supposed to be pretty smart," Misaki informed him ironically.
He scoffed under his breath. "Smart enough to get itself stuck in a tree."
She smiled and conceded playfully, "I'll take the cat, you take the old lady."
He flew down to hover next to a branch a little way away from the one the terrified cat was clinging to. He let her legs down and she stepped out onto the branch, testing her weight before releasing her hold on him. He steadied her a bit with his hands on her hips until she got her footing, moving back when he was sure she was secure.
He glanced over his shoulder at the elderly woman on the sidewalk below. "Kinda reminds me of that old doc from UA. Maybe I'll even get a kiss for my efforts."
She slid him an exasperated glare as she slowly made her way toward the softly growling feline. "I think you mean my efforts."
He looked over at the cat and cringed.
"Good luck, Misa-chan. Let me know when you want me to bring you down," he called out as he dropped down to greet the old lady.
Normally this kind of job was something he would delegate, unless, as sometimes happened, he'd been flagged down while out on patrol. However, it was the perfect introduction for Misaki into her hero work trial. He'd asked his sidekicks to field these kinds of mundane calls to him so he could decide if it was something he wanted to let her take a crack at or if he could just let the sidekicks handle it. It wasn't like his was the only hero agency in town, it just happened to be the most well-known, which meant people usually called his office first.
"Good morning, ma'am," he said as he landed next to the woman before bowing graciously with a cordial grin on his face.
"Oh my! I wasn't expecting to see you, Hawks!" The woman exclaimed in surprise. "It's usually one of your sidekicks who comes by to help us. That nice fellow in the toga, now what was his name again…?"
Hawks reached up to rub the back of his neck and chucked sheepishly, "I was in the area when we got your call, I hope you don't mind?"
"Oh, no! Not at all!" The woman exclaimed before lifting the back of her hand to her mouth and letting out a few enthusiastic giggles.
"Hey."
He looked up at the sound of Misaki's voice calling out from the tree branches above. She was sitting gracefully on the thickest branch, cradling the now contently purring feline in one arm while her other hand braced her against the trunk.
"You gonna bring us down from here or what?" She asked sarcastically, a small, playful smile tilting the edges of her lips while her cherry blossom colored eyes sparkled with mirth.
She had never looked more beautiful to him than she did in that moment. With the way the early morning sun was casting a halo of light around her from behind, and her bright eyes danced with a hint of excitement to match the slightly rosy tint on her pale cheeks. In the three months that he'd known her, he'd never seen her look so happily relaxed. Sure, ask anyone who'd met her, they'd all tell you she was stunning. But when she let her inner beauty shine through her features, the woman was absolutely captivating.
"Keigo?" She asked suddenly, cocking her head to the side.
He blinked, startled that he'd taken so long to react, and immediately sent a few feathers up to carry her and the cat down from the tree. Captivating was right. He felt a slight twinge of embarrassment that he'd let himself get distracted while on a job. Maybe it was a good thing that she wouldn't be in the field with him for a while…
After he'd set her down on the sidewalk, Misaki gently handed the softly purring feline over to its elderly owner with a gracious smile.
"Why thank you, my dear," the old woman crooned, running a bony, wrinkled hand over the cat's fur.
"You're welcome," Misaki replied with a small grin as she reached out to pet the cat on the head.
The old woman smiled up at them warmly and crooned, "You two make such a wonderful couple. Just like me and my dear Takuto."
Misaki blushed demurely, ducking her head a bit, and reaching up to tuck a loose strand of her long, dark hair behind her ear as she asked, "Is that your husband, ma'am?"
"Oh no, dear!" The old woman exclaimed. "Takuto is my cat!"
"Oh," Misaki softly gasped.
Her eyes widened as she waved absentmindedly at the old woman, who bowed and turned to slowly make her way back inside the apartment building with her dear Takuto. Just as the front door shut behind the woman, the laughter Hawks had barely been able contain came spilling forth and he doubled over, holding his stomach as he broke down.
"I'm glad you find this so hilarious, but did you ever stop to consider who was the old woman and who was the cat in this scenario?" She turned to ask him contemptuously, crossing her arms and tapping her toe impatiently against the concrete.
Leaning against the tree for support as he fought to regain his composure, he somehow managed to reply around his giggles, "Don't take it so seriously!"
She rolled her eyes and chided him dryly, "Very professional."
Flipping around to lean back against the tree, Hawks reached up to wipe the tears from his eyes as he finally calmed down somewhat from his fit of laughter. "Oh, man. That was great. I haven't laughed like that in a while. You're the best, Misa-chan!"
"Why do I put up with you?" She asked in an exasperated tone as she threw her hands in the air and marched off down the sidewalk.
"Wait, wait!" Hawks called after her, still fighting off a few giggles as he chased after her. "That's the wrong direction!"
His cell phone began vibrating in his pocket and he absentmindedly pulled it out before glancing down at the number briefly. His eyes widened in recognition and he slowed his pace before pressing the button on the screen to pick up the call.
He lifted the phone up to his ear over his headphones and asked, "What's up?"
"We need you to come in," the low toned voice of the President of the Hero Public Safety Commission sounded from the other end of the line.
"Now?" He asked in an incredulous voice at the succinctness of the order.
"The sooner the better," the President hastily replied.
Hawks grimaced, glancing up at Misaki still walking down the sidewalk ahead of him. "I'm a little busy."
"It's urgent," her curt voice responded.
"What's the job?" He asked, curiosity sparking through him at her tone.
He heard the woman sigh on the other end of the line before she replied, "The American whose necklace you recovered has requested to thank you in person."
"You need me to come all the way to Tokyo for that?" Hawks asked incredulously.
"The man is apparently very well connected in the political circles. The Prime Minister has gotten involved. You know what that means," she explained exasperatedly.
The Prime Minister typically remained fairly disengaged in hero related business, preferring to leave the management of their affairs to the Hero Public Safety Commission instead. That was unless it directly affected him in some way. An international incident, like the recovery of a valuable historical artifact with great significance to a country they'd had ongoing turbulent relations with, would definitely have caught his attention. Combine that with the necklace's owner being a well-connected American businessman, well… It was a prime opportunity to make the incident into a publicity stunt to promote the appearance of international cooperation.
"Right..." He kept his reticent gaze on Misaki, who had stopped walking and turned to stare back at him, her head cocked quizzically to the side. "Any way you could get me a ride?"
The President sounded both confused and concerned as she asked, "Is there something wrong with your wings?"
"I guess you could say that my current situation calls for an alternative means of transportation," he articulately answered, electing not to inform her that he would be bringing another passenger along for the ride.
He probably should have just taken a rain check on their plans for the day. However, it was almost too good of an opportunity to pass up. The meeting and the photo op wouldn't take more than a half an hour, and afterward he'd have an opportunity to show her around the Commission. Letting her get a sneak peek at the administrative side of things would give her a bit of insight into the job planned on asking her to do at his agency, and hopefully maybe even sway her into actually taking it this time.
Not that he had any intention of informing her about their sudden detour. She'd gotten a lot better about her aversion toward heroes and law enforcement over the past couple of months, but he suspected that she might take issue with him leading her directly into the headquarters of the Hero Public Safety Commission.
Sometimes it was better to ask forgiveness instead of permission.
"Fine. I'll call and have a jet prepped," the President's slightly exasperated voice replied.
"Thanks, I owe you one," he quipped before cutting the call and jogging over to where Misaki was waiting for him.
It wasn't like he couldn't fly them both up that way, but it was a little far to travel with a passenger in such cold weather, and he wouldn't be able to fly at top speed like he normally would while carrying her anyway. He was already pushing it just taking her along on the impromptu journey without telling her where they were going. Hopefully, making sure she had a comfortable ride there and back would earn him some brownie points.
"What was that about?" She asked when he stopped in front of her.
He dropped his hands onto his hips and grinned down at her. "Looks like we're headed to Tokyo next."
...
"Tokyo?" Misaki asked, blinking a few times as she stared back at Hawks in confusion.
"Yeah. Sorry it's so last minute. The call just came in and it's kinda urgent," he replied apologetically as he reached up to rub the back of his neck.
"I get that. I'm not sure why I need to come with you though?" She asked, shooting him a quizzical look.
If he'd had an emergency call come in, it wasn't a big deal for them to just reschedule. Something about this smelled fishy to her...
"It's up to you if you wanna tag along or not. I just think it'd be a good opportunity for you to see a new aspect of the job is all," he replied with a nonchalant shrug.
He was acting suspicious. Putting aside the fact that he'd neglected to tell her what the job was, he seemed to be purposely avoiding giving her any details. Either this job was more dangerous than he wanted to admit to her, or it involved something he knew she wouldn't like. She was inclined to lean toward the later of the two scenarios, since she doubted he would purposefully involve her in anything he knew to be dangerous.
Fine. If he wanted to be intentionally vague with her, then he must be prepared for the consequences when she finally found out why.
"Alright." Misaki said a bit hesitantly, not bothering to hide her obvious suspicion.
He held up his hands in front of him and leaned back with a nervous grin. "You don't have to look so suspicious, Misa-chan! I promise it isn't anything dangerous!"
Yep. She definitely was not going to like whatever this job turned out to be.
Preview of Chapter Three: Part Three —
"That should do it."
The man leaned over Misaki's shoulder to stare in shock at the screen as he excitedly exclaimed, "No way, you fixed it already? Thanks!"
"Ahem." The sound of a throat clearing drew both of their attention to the President standing behind them with her arms crossed and a look of extreme displeasure etched across her face.
"Ah! Madam President!" The man stammered, waving his hands in front of him. "This was just—!"
"Save it," she cut him off, holding up a hand. "During your exit interview with HR you can tell them why you allowed a civilian access to our private computer system instead of calling tech support."
The President snapped her fingers and two security officers stepped forward, from where Misaki couldn't rightfully tell, and forcefully escorted the protesting man out. She shivered, having flashbacks to the imaginary men in black from the rooftop who turned out to be not so imaginary after all.
"Did I just get someone fired?" Misaki asked in muted shock. "I was just trying to help."
The President sighed and reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose, sighing dejectedly, "Why is good help so hard to find these days?"
This part of this chapter went through so many renditions before I settled on this one. I hope you like it!
When the initial idea for the "hero for a day" date came to me, I knew I had to throw the old lady and the cat reference in there :p
Good decision or bad decision on Hawks's part? Either way, Misaki is in for quite a roller coaster ride... Find out what happens when Misaki discovers where Hawks is taking her in the next chapter!
Thank you so much to everyone who has favorited and reviewed this story so far, I appreciate all of you!
As always, thank you so much for reading :)
LOLSAT