Author's Note: These next few chapters are going to be a rollercoaster. Enjoy! I'm so sorry work has kept me from writing, but I will be able to get back to 2-3 chapters a week.
Disclaimer: I don't own MHA or its characters. Original characters are mine but that's it. Story is rated for sensitive subject matter and content both mentioned and written. Includes but is not limited to child abuse, assault, rape, violence, drugs and more.
Chapter 71 - Sidekicks and Confrontations
Another explosion rocked the streets as sirens and screaming filled the air. The financial district was being torn to pieces by three villains who were making a huge scene. The air was full of building dust and smoke from the fires that scattered along the six blocks of banks, mortgage companies and various other financial institutes. It was all hands on deck as rescue heroes were evacuating civilians and trying to evacuate the buildings in the targeted zone. Other heroes were putting out fires and closing off gas lines, trying to keep the damage as minimal as possible. Multiple agencies had sent heroes and their sidekicks to aid law enforcement, and it was chaos amidst the streets.
A loud, echoing scream seemed to pierce the air as Echo let loose his strongest move like a shock wave into one of the villains that had been distracted by Hawk's sword feathers. The villain, a tall man with grey tentacle-like hair, seemed to be toppled over from the surprise attack, and Hawks managed to finally get a solid punch into the jaw to render him unconscious. Hawks spared a glance at his sidekick and saw that Echo was perched on top of a roof top corner near an intersection so he could have a clear shot. The bat like hero spoke over the coms as Hawks took to the air to evaluate.
"Polithe are headed in your directhon tho you can leave that guy there. I only thee one other guy and he'th mid battle with Edgethot and a few otherth. I can't get a read on the third guy anywhere, did he go underground?" Hawks shook his head peering around as feathers launched towards some over eager media enthusiasts who were trying to get close up shots of the fight and rescue. "Can't be, that's covered by just as many pros as we have out here. How do we not have intel on these guys yet?" Echo peered around and suddenly launched himself from his rooftop corner perch in Hawk's direction.
"On your left!" Echo slammed into Hawks and shoved him back as a shot of steaming black tar streamed through where Hawks had just been hovering. Hawks threw both wings up to stop the mid air movement and saw the right side of Echo's body was covered in black tar that was already beginning to harden. Not wanting to trap Hawks in his grip, Echo let go and struggled to stay in at least somewhat of a controlled drop since his right side was going rigid and couldn't move. Echo grit his teeth in pain because the tar was hot. Hawks dove to grab Echo around the middle and flared his wings out so they both could safely drift to the ground as he shot a feather towards the source of his own surprise attack.
"Ew! Thith thtuff thtinkth! And burnth!" Echo was trying to move his right arm and wing to break off the tar as a police officer ran up to them. "I can help! There's an ambulance nearby." Echo started to shake his head no when Hawks agreed. "Sure. And don't let him back into this until he's cleared by medical." Echo's eyes went wide and he wanted to argue, trying to reason with his best friend. "You need all the help you can get!" Hawks smirked and rested a hand on Echo's shoulder. "True, but half your body is scalded and rigid. I don't know how long it will take to get that stuff off, so once you're cleared you can rejoin. I have to go before I lose the guy." Despite Echo's continued objections, Hawks flew off in the direction the attack had come.
He sent out feathers to check for citizens and the tar spitting villain that had taken Echo out of commission. He knew he'd have to be fast to dodge another attack, so he was being extra cautious. As he flew up to a rooftop to perch, he saw the villain hiding on the rooftop. Hawks smirked because he was behind the villain, and quickly shot up above him so Hawks could drop down behind the villain with the cuffs. As planned, he dropped down and snapped both cuffs on the villain's hands before he even had a chance to spit tar at the winged hero. The villain glared and kicked at Hawks, who grabbed the leg and pushed, pinning him to the roof. A hand went to his ear and he spoke on his radio.
"Come in dispatch, I have the third one restrained on a rooftop off Sycamore. Can you send the police so they can take him?" There was a pause before the sidekick working dispatch from his agency spoke back. "They're on their way. When you get back, you have a visitor. Also Echo had to be sent to the hospital. He argued it, but the tar burnt his arm and wing badly." Hawks winced and may have pinned his knee into the villain out of revenge for his friend. "Understood. I'll return as soon as the police pick this guy up." The villain tried to bargain and plead with Hawks not to turn him over to the police. He was only trying to support his family and no one wanted to give him a job because he had a record.
Hawks tried not to let the man's story hurt, and the police were coming out of a rooftop entrance with capture gear and their own cuffs to restrain the villain. Hawks gave them a salute once his charge was taken away and took off towards his agency. He wondered if the visitor was his mom, as they were usually the ones who came to visit him at his agency. They would bring Mila and treat him to lunch, and he hoped if it was his family, he could let them know about Echo and they could visit him at the hospital together.
Lost in thought, he saw the balcony for his office and landed, settling his wings before he walked through the sliding doors to his office. Hos glasses went up on his head and ear muffs around his neck as he moved to intercom the dispatch. "Hey, I'm back. You said I had a visitor?" There was a pause before the response came. "Yes, I'll send him in." Him? Hawks was very confused. He knew his dad was at work today in a special meeting with his Uncles and his grandfather about something that pertained to his mother. There was no one else that was familiar to Hawks that it could be, unless Dabi had lost his mind and decided to stop in and see him.
The door opened, and a tall man walked in, his tall frame almost too thin with reddish hair that had feathers mixed in it. Hawks froze, his breath catching in his throat as he saw the man who was an inspiration for all of his nightmares since he was a child. Obi Takami shut the office door and paused as he looked his son up and down. "You look like you're doing well, Keigo. Successful and famous." Hawk's wings were still at first, but as the man spoke they shuddered before flexing out a bit as if trying to look larger than he was. "Wh-what do you want? Why are you here?" Hawks tried to keep the stutter from his voice. He was a pro hero, he shouldn't be afraid of this man. Not at all.
"I'm here to see how you are doing. Your mother and I have had a lot of time to think about the things we did, how we acted. Prison gives you time to change you know." Hawks snorted with disbelief, his guard up. "You aren't my parents. You don't get to call yourself such or act like that after all this time. Not after what you did to me and hurting Azumi like you did." His father didn't look upset at the reaction, wandering around the office to look at newspapers and photos framed on the walls. It wasn't all about Hawks. The newspapers highlighted every good move his sidekicks and his agency did. Some were of Echo gaining the recognition and others were photos of Hawks in costume at the hospital with kids, crayon picture thank you notes taped up with these.
"You are really doing well, we could tell just from what we see on the television at our apartment. We asked someone to get details, which is how we were able to find out where your agency was at." Obi walked to Hawk's desk and looked over the small framed photos, picking up the one with Keigo and Mila both wearing cat ear headbands with whiskers painted on their faces from a festival they had been to. Hawks saw Obi's eyes narrow slightly, an expression Hawks knew was calculated as if he was thinking about something. It took a lot for Hawks to grab the photo and pluck it from his former father's hands, his own voice firm as he squared his shoulders and stretched his wings out.
When Keigo had talked to Touya about this, he knew he couldn't be afraid of this man forever. Hawks was a trained Pro Hero with a loving family, supportive sidekicks and absolutely no reason to be afraid. This man may have tormented him when he was a child, hurt Azumi, caused months, if not years of sleepless nights from nightmares, but Obi was a criminal. He was on probation, restricted and watched. There should be nothing to fear and the more he thought about it, the more he realized Touya, Dabi, had been right. He was stronger than this man. He shouldn't cower from this man and needed to make sure Obi knew he couldn't scare or control Keigo.
"Excuse me, don't touch my things. If you don't have work for me or my agency, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I can't spend my time playing games with you, and I am not afraid of you anymore. Don't come back here. Don't try to come into my life. You've done enough and I've moved on from you. If and when I'm ready to have anything to do with you or your wife, I'll let you know." Hawks hit a button on his phone and the dispatch operator came on the line. "Sir?" Hawks kept his gold eyes on Obi, the glared and black lined points made him look predatory.
"My visitor is leaving, can you please come see him out?" Obi threw his hands up in a placating gesture. "Ok, ok I get it. But if you change your mind, your mother and I will be waiting." Hawks narrowed his eyes at Obi as the dispatch operator walked in. "Don't worry, I won't." Hawks shot back as the two left his office. He sat back and took a deep breath, holding it while he counted to seven, and then let it out slowly. Once he was calmed down enough to fly, Hawks headed back out to his balcony so he could take off for the Hospital to check on Echo's condition.
The tiny white device that had been affixed to the back of the small picture frame on his desk beeped and a small red light on it began to glow.
/
Mila chose a blue crayon to color the eyes of the person in her picture. Sion had the children sitting around her dining room table with coloring sheets and a large bucket of crayons in the center of the table. It was early in the afternoon, and the children had had a full day of indoor activities. Sion was working with them on tying shoes, writing their names, numbers and letters in preparation for primary school. They had spent some time outside playing before coming back for art time while waiting for each child's parents to come pick them up. Sion made a point to leave the TV off while babysitting. She knew her grandson could be seen doing his hero work as a sidekick to Hawks.
Sion loved her grandson, but watching him fly, fight and out himself in danger on TV was a bit much for her. She was wondering where Mila's mother or father were as she sat down to see Mila drawing spiky black hair on a horrod looking man with blue eyes and purple on his face and hands. The person looked grotesque and hard to understand as Mila started drawing red hearts on the page. The little girl was humming as her wings fluttered in excitement, the telephone ringing before Sion could ask about the strange colored person being drawn.
"Hello this is Sion." She paused before standing to walk towards her living room. "Is he hurt bad?" Mila watched Sion walk away and started adding more black to her picture with a smile. While Sion spoke on the phone, there was a knock at the door and Mila perked up with a whistle and chirp. "Mommy!" Sion looked towards the door and went to open it while listening on the phone. She saw that Mila had run to the door trying to reach the tall deadbolt that Sion installed to keep children from answering the door. The older woman undid the deadbolt as she peaked through the peephole and let Azumi in. Azumi scooped up Mila as she saw the older woman on the phone.
Azumi whispered as Mila hugged her close with a happy trill. "Mommy, I colored Nii san today." Azumi smiled brightly and carried the little winged girl to the table to see the crayon drawing as Sion finished up on the phone. "Wow, why are there so many hearts all over the page?" Mila giggled as Sion walked in. "I have no idea why she would draw such a creepy looking person." Azumi smirked as Mila's wings fluttered. "I drew hearts because I'm going to marry him when I grow up!" Azumi laughed as Sion gave a very confused look to them both. "You're too young to be thinking about marriage, Mila."
Sion poked at Mila's side as she hugged her mommy and whined, Azumi laughing again. "Thank you, Sion. I was thinking of heading to get some bubble tea. Did you want to join us?" Mila perked at the sound of bubble tea. She had just recently tried the fun drink and now she was a squirming, wing flapping, impatient ball of energy as Sion shook her head. "I'm sorry, apparently Jin is at the hospital with some mild burns and I need to go pick him up when he gets released." Azumi frowned a bit and set Mila down so she could grab her bag to leave. "I'm so sorry, Sion. Did he get hurt working?" Sion nodded and grabbed her own small clutch and keys to take a cab.
"Yes, but it isn't severe. Keigo is with him right now." Azumi nodded and smiled down at Mila who was wearing her kitty cat backpack and gripping Azumi's hand. "Well, if you need anything just let me know. I know Soji will be busy until late this evening but after bubble tea we'll be home if you need anything." Sion waved her off as she herded them both out her front door and locked up, starting to walk to the elevator. "I'll be fine. This isn't the first time my grandson has gotten himself into trouble and needed to go to the hospital after all."
The trio walked to the elevator and took it down to the lobby. Sion waved to Azumi and Mila as she hailed a taxi to take her to the hospital. Mils skipped along the sidewalk, holding Azumi's hand as they headed for the Bubble Tea kiosk next to the new playground Mila had gone to before. Azumi ordered honeydew and Mila asked for strawberry, the two sitting on a bench just outside the playground to enjoy their drinks. Mila used the scoop ended straw to gobble up the tapioca bubbles in her cup, and giggled when Azumi poked at her nose. As Azumi sipped her drink and Mila played with the empty cup and straw speaking with a hesitant voice.
"Mommy?" Azumi looked over, purple eyes gentle as she smiled at her daughter. "Yes little one." Mila looked at her hands. "Why do I have to hide my healing quirk? Don't you and daddy like it?" Azumi was stunned because this was not how she thought Mila would take their concerns. "No, no sweety, we love you and your quirk. It's very special. Do you remember when Keigo told you that healing quirks were more rare than winged ones?" Mila nodded as she paid attention. Azumi set her half empty drink down and turned to take the empty cup out of Mila's hands before carefully holding her daughter's hands in her own.
"We don't want anyone to hurt you, or take you away because they think they know what's best. The people we worry will find out aren't very nice. They could make you use it all the time, and they won't care when you get sick or tired. It's not because we don't like it. We want you to be happy and safe using it. That's all." Mila's blue wings fluttered a bit behind her and she didn't bother to wrap them around herself like she normally would. Azumi waited patiently for Mila to speak up again, still holding her hands. "Does that mean I can't learn to use it better? I want to help Nii chan if he gets hurt being a hero. Or Nii san when his arms hurt."
Azumi took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. "Mila, my beautiful little girl. If you want to train and practice with it, then your daddy and I will help you do that. We will find someone who can help you and we will make sure you get all the training and practice you need. Alright?" Mila smiled widely as she hopped in her seat and chirped. The little white haired winged girl tackled Azumi in a big hug before hopping off the bench. "Can I go play on the playground for a bit? Just until we need to go home?" Azumi laughed at the hug and kissed Mila's forehead, then her cheeks and nuzzled her nose. "Yes, you can play until it's time to go back home. Leave your backpack here with me."
Mila shrugged off her kitty backpack and ran to the playground equipment to climb all over it. Azumi smiled, picked up her bubble tea and sat back enjoying the daytime warm weather as she watched her daughter. Dr. Seeks came to mind. He knew Recovery Girl and could ask her to help Mila train. Especially since Mila was the daughter of one of her former sidekicks. It was possible Dr. Seeks could also know of another healer that could do it. Someone sat down next to Azumi on the bench while she watched Mila run around with a few other kids, wings out as she giggled.
"You're daughter is adorable, she reminds me of my son." Azumi smiled at the compliment, her eyes following Mila until her memory seemed to click. The voice was familiar, a cold tingling sensation began to crawl under her skin as Azumi tightened her grip on her drink. She was too afraid to look at the stranger as she struggled to speak calmly. Memories flash in her mind. Restrained. Tied up with telephone wires. Being struck over and over and over again as a wave of nausea struck Azumi. Her vision began to blur and as her shaking hand reached for Mila's backpack. The woman sitting next to her looked exactly as Azumi remembered. The two stared eye to eye as Azumi froze and tried to will away the image of Sara Takami.
The skinny woman had eyes that looked manic and every bit as insane as when they had loomed over Azumi. She barely heard Mila calling for her before a sharp pain spread from Azumi's forehead as everything began to get blurry. She gasps and struggles to take in a deep breath, Mila's worried call going unanswered as a large and evil looking grin stretched along Sara's face. The last thing Azumi heard before her vision went black and silence crashed in on her was Sara, having leaned closer and spoke with a tone that dripped of sarcasm and bad intentions.
"Hello, Azumi Nakamura."