Chapter Twenty-Eight: Birthday Surprise

Misaki hummed to herself as she made the President's morning tea, a pleasant smile gracing her lips and a faint blush coloring the apples of her cheeks. She wasn't wearing any makeup; she was just happy. She would be taking a three-day trip down to Fukuoka for the weekend, starting that evening. It had been almost three months since she'd been able to take any time off, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Her smile never left her face as she walked in and placed the teacup on the President's desk.

Without looking up from the report in her hand, the President addressed her suddenly, "Happy birthday, Misaki."

Startled at the sudden congratulations, she blinked a couple of times before her expression softened and she replied warmly, "Thank you, Madam President."

The President lowered the report she'd been reading and turned toward her behind the desk before inquiring, "Do you have any plans for your long weekend?"

A candid smile worked its way across Misaki's face, and she turned her eyes downcast as she demurely replied, "My boyfriend is taking me to dinner."

The President's eyes widened a bit at her admission. "A boyfriend? How come I've never heard you speak of him?"

Misaki cringed softly, realizing her mistake a bit too late.

"We try to keep things private. He's kind of a public figure, I guess you could say," she replied hesitantly, hoping that the woman wouldn't try to pry too much into her reasons for being so vague.

"Is it serious?" The President's intrigued tone asked as she raised her teacup to take a sip, staring at her inquisitively over the rim.

Misaki reached up to coyly tuck her long bangs behind her ear, unable to keep the warm smile from her face as she considered the prospect. "I like to think so."

The President cast her a knowing, sidelong glance before picking the report back up and saying candidly, "In that case, you may want to find a subtle way to show the single men around the office that you're off the market for the time being. You're a bit of a celebrity yourself around here."

Misaki gasped softly, bringing the tray she was holding up against her chest and crossing her arms over it. "Oh, I don't want to presume—"

"Just a suggestion," the President drawled.

She ducked her head sheepishly before bowing toward the woman and replying, "Thank you for your consideration, Madam President."

She immediately turned and hurried out of the office, flopping down in her chair, and hanging her head in her hands with a low groan.

Stupid! How could you slip up like that?

While he hadn't expressly told her not to inform the President about their relationship, she wasn't deaf. She'd been able to hear the apprehension in his tone when he'd asked her before the Kamino Incident if she'd told the woman about them. She didn't know why he didn't want her to know, but it didn't really matter that much to her one way or the other. If he wanted to keep their relationship just between them, she didn't have a problem with that. She just hoped she'd been able to successfully dissuade the President from asking her any more questions until she felt more comfortable answering them.

Her phone started ringing on top of her desk and she picked it up to answer it without looking at the caller ID, her tone a bit reticent when she gave her greeting. "Hello?"

"Happy birthday," Hawks's voice told her from the other end of the line.

"Keigo!" She gasped, her smile returning full force at the sound of his familiar lilt. She turned away from the door to the President's office and lowered her voice before saying, "Thank you."

"You still planning on coming down tonight?" He asked expectantly.

"My leave request was approved," she said as she glanced down at the Shinkansen ticket on top of her bag underneath her desk. "I should get into town around eight pm."

She'd requested to take a half a day off today and a full day tomorrow. Since Sunday was already an off day for her, that gave her two and a half days and two full nights including travel time to and from Fukuoka.

It was hard to believe that it had almost been a year already since they'd met at the bank. Considering how hostile she'd been toward him in the beginning, it was almost more surprising that they'd even started dating at all. She never could have imagined how much her life would change for the better from that one fateful meeting. If he hadn't been so persistent and patient with her, she would probably still be working there, pining after her parents and blaming herself for resetting their lives.

"I'll pick you up at the station. Leave your flight gear out, okay?" He added almost as an afterthought at the end.

Misaki's brow drew down suspiciously. "You still haven't told me where you're taking me for dinner. Are we flying there?"

He chuckled in her ear before saying, "That's a surprise. You'll just have to wait and see."

She smiled and shook her head. "Fine, keep your secrets. I'll see you tonight."

"Can't wait," he replied in a low tone before cutting the call.

She smiled softly to herself as she lowered the phone from her ear and set it back on the desk. She looked over at the clock on her computer screen, sighing forlornly at the time displayed there. It would be another four hours until she needed to leave the office in order to get to the station with enough time to board the train to Fukuoka. Her eyes drifted up from the clock to the report that was displayed on the screen above it. It was a record of birth within the previous boss of the Shie Hassaikai's family registry.

Six years ago, the previous boss's daughter had given birth to a baby girl whom she and her husband had named Eri. That was also the name that Chisaki Kai had used when addressing the child he'd professed to be his daughter. There was no record of where the family was now, having apparently up and vanished nearly four years ago. The age and the name of the child, combined with the connection to the leader of the organization, was too similar to be a coincidence. But if that was true and Eri was not in fact Chisaki's daughter, she wouldn't have inherited his quirk, and neither one of her parents registered quirks had been anything like his. However, as Misaki knew from personal experience, it was possible that her quirk had been a variant; what kind, though, was the question.

There was little she could do with the information herself, though. She hadn't been given clearance to pursue any kind of investigation into the matter, and she didn't want to overstep her boundaries on this case. All she could do at this point was pass on what she had found to the police and the heroes working on it and leave the investigating to them. Sitting forward in her chair, she quickly drafted up an email and sent her findings to the appropriate authorities before sitting back in her chair with a heavy sigh. The more she dwelled on the case the more it upset her, and she didn't need to be going on a date while feeling all depressed about a situation she had no control over.

Putting the matter aside for the time being, Misaki busied herself with anything else she could work on as she impatiently awaited the clock to read that it was time for her to leave.

Misaki and Hawks stepped off of the elevator into the Sky Lounge restaurant inside the Fukuoka Tower. All of the tables were empty, the overhead lights turned down to set an intimate mood. The plexiglass floor beneath their feet glowed with thousands of tiny pink lights, giving the impression of a blooming cherry blossom tree stretching out underneath them. She must have stopped to stare for too long because she felt Hawks reach out and take her hand a moment later.

She glanced up into his laughing eyes, letting him pull her away from the elevator and into the lounge of the restaurant. She'd been surprised when he'd picked her up at the station in plain clothes. The black leather jacket he'd been wearing was open at the front just enough for her to catch a glimpse of the faint gold paisley pattern spread across the expanse of the black button down he had on underneath. She supposed that was what passed for a dress shirt for him.

It was still pretty warm out for the end of September, but she'd left a lightweight, dark blue dress jacket out of her luggage, along with the visor he'd had made for her and a pair of earmuffs. Even though the temperature was still that of late summer, she knew it could get chilly the higher up into the sky they went; and the speeds at which he flew sometimes could make even the summer air feel biting. Since she hadn't known where he'd intended to take her, she hadn't wanted to leave anything up to chance.

She didn't suppose she had much room to criticize his choice of pattern. Her own dress was paisley patterned dark blue lace over white chiffon, the full skirt barely hitting above her knees. She'd chosen a pair of heels that buckled at the ankle, knowing that they'd be taking flight from the station and not wanting them to fall onto any unsuspecting passersby below. The only jewelry she'd chosen to don were a pair of diamond studs and her wristwatch. She'd kept her hair pulled back in a flat clip so that it wouldn't get tangled in flight; a lesson she'd unfortunately had to learn the hard way.

As they stepped into the main lounge area of the tower restaurant, they were led over to a corner table where a waiter stood holding a bottle of champagne. He poured them both a glass, placing the bottle in the bucket of ice on the table before walking away and leaving the two of them alone. Hawks moved behind her to remove her coat, draping it over the back of her chair as he pulled it out for her. She chuckled a bit at his graciousness and slid down into the seat, tucking her dress underneath her legs, and crossing them at the ankle when he pushed her closer to the table. Walking around to the other side, he laid his own jacket over the back of his chair before taking his seat across from her.

He reached out to twirl the stem of the champagne flute on the table in front of him between his fingers as he gazed over at her expectantly. "You've been pretty quiet."

She leaned forward in her seat, resting her chin on her palm, and stared out the wall of windows to her right at the city skyline, illuminated with bright lights in the early evening darkness. Her cherry blossom colored eyes were wide and full of amazement as she marveled at the sight, reminding her of the first time Hawks had taken flight with her in the park not too far from there. The edges of her lips tilted upward at the sudden sense of nostalgia that washed over her at the thought.

Her gaze slid over to his after a moment and she spoke in an astonished tone, "When you said you wanted to take me to dinner, I wasn't expecting it to be all the way up here. How did you swing this?"

He grinned back at her, shrugging nonchalantly as he replied, "I know a guy who owes me a favor or two."

Misaki smiled, sitting back, and shaking her head. She tossed him a sidelong glance and asked sarcastically, "Just how many guys are there around here who owe you favors?"

Hawks laughed out loud. "A few!"

He'd said much the same thing to her not too long after they'd met, when she'd mentioned being surprised that no one had reported on her involvement in the apprehension of the villains who had tried to rob Tythan Savings and Loan—both times. She wasn't exactly sure what had happened to the villain she'd turned into an infant during the second robbery. The police hadn't requested her to give a statement, and no one had asked her to reverse the process, not that she would have been able to, given the concussion she'd sustained at the time.

Hawks would have known that, since she'd explained to him how her quirk worked when he'd found her at the park after the first robbery. She could completely reverse the restoration within the first five to seven minutes, but the more time that passed, the less she was able to grab ahold of their lost time, until it eventually just disappeared, making it impossible for her to change them back at all. She wouldn't put it past him to have somehow explained away the phenomenon without mentioning how she'd been involved, along with convincing the police and the other bank employees to go along with it. He seemed to carry that kind of clout in this city, and the people sincerely trusted him with it.

"Well, however you managed it, I'm thankful that you did. This whole experience is amazing," she marveled as she stared out the window at the brightly lit city skyline below. Turning her gaze back to him, Misaki brought her champagne flute up to her lips, grinning at him over the rim as she teased, "You're setting the bar pretty high for me when your birthday comes around, now that I know when it is this year."

"You don't have to do anything for me, I'm just glad to see you enjoying yourself." He stared back at her reverently, resting his cheek on his palm before telling her, "You look beautiful, as usual, but I've always loved the way your smile lights up your face when you're genuinely happy."

She set the glass back down on the table and cleared her throat softly, looking down demurely. "I wasn't sure where we were going so... I was just hoping I wasn't too overdressed."

"You'd look perfect no matter what you wore. Honestly," he replied matter-of-factly, never taking his eyes off of her face.

She stared back at him for a moment before dropping her gaze, a small smile spreading across her lips as she accused him playfully, "Sweet talker."

"Is it workin'?" He quipped with the familiar comeback, cocking an impish grin at her when she raised her eyes back up to his.

"Keep it up and we'll see," she shot back, narrowing her eyes at him suggestively.

She could tell that he wanted to reply but his chance was stolen by the waiter, who rolled out a three-tiered cart filled with covered dishes. He lined them all up on the edge of the table next to the window before bowing graciously and rolling the empty cart back in the direction of the kitchen.

Misaki reached out to remove the lids from a couple of dishes, looking back over at Hawks in shock once again and asking, "You had them make my favorites? Even though I know you don't like vegetables."

"I'm a fan of all food groups," he said, narrowing his eyes a bit. "I just prefer some more than others."

Smiling to herself, Misaki examined some of the more unfamiliar dishes, commenting, "I've never seen some of the vegetables in these before."

"The head chef here has them delivered from his hometown in Kyoto," Hawks replied, removing the lids from the dishes on his side of the table. "They're pretty specific to the region. I figured they'd be something you'd like to try."

Misaki reached out with her chopsticks to lift a bite from one of the vegetables she didn't recognize, depositing it into her mouth and letting out a small moan of appreciation. "That's delicious!"

He smiled at her enthusiasm and pointed out a multicolored dish that looked to be made of thinly sliced stacks of potatoes. "Try this one. The tartin he makes from the yams is the best."

Once they'd finished off the main course, the waiter returned to clear the dishes, bringing over a lavishly decorated chocolate cupcake with a lit sparkler stuck in the middle of it. He set it on the table in front of Misaki before quickly and efficiently removing the empty serving platers, bowing again and walking off without a word.

Misaki looked down at the cupcake and then up at Hawks in wonder. "What is this?"

He just smiled back at her over the sparkler and said, "Happy birthday, Misa-chan."

"Thank you," she said timidly, reaching out to remove the sparkler from the center of the cupcake and dumping it into a water glass.

Hawks leaned back in his chair, scratching the back of his head sheepishly and turning his head to stare out the window with a grimace. "Ah..."

"What?" Misaki asked suspiciously, noting his behavior.

He turned his gaze back to her, reaching into the inside pocket of his coat and pulling something out as he said, "I know you're not a big fan of personal birthday gifts, but..."

"Keigo!" She exclaimed as he slid a long, thin box across the table to her.

He sighed. "It's as much for me as it is for you."

She tossed him a suspicious, sidelong glance as she asked, "It's not anything lewd, is it?"

Hawks slapped a hand over his chest in feigned outrage, staring back at her with wide eyes as he exclaimed, "Misa-chan, I'm offended!"

She laughed, shaking her head with a small smile as she reached out for the box and said, "Alright, I'll bite."

She carefully slid the string around the thin, black box off and lifted the lid. When her eyes lit upon what was inside, her breath caught in her throat and she sighed, "It's beautiful...!"

Inside the box sat a thin gold necklace. Two golden feathers wrapped around an oval fire opal in the center that sparkled and shifted between red, gold, and purple in the artificial candlelight illuminating the corner table where they sat.

He grimaced as she removed it from the box and held it up to look at it closer to the candlelight. "I wasn't sure if the feathers were too much—"

She cut him off, saying, "It's perfect." Lifting her eyes up to his she told him sincerely, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied, smiling back at her warmly.

Her brow drew down in confusion a moment later and she asked, "But, you said it was for the two of us... There's not a tracking device or something in it, is there?"

He chuckled a bit nervously before replying, "No, nothing like that. I guess you could think of it as a kind of memento..."

She blinked, tilting her head to the side inquisitively. "A memento?"

He stood up from his seat and walked around behind her, reaching out to take the necklace from her and securing it around her neck as he explained, "A physical symbol to remind you of my feelings for you, no matter how far apart we may be, or for how long. I hope this will help give you peace of mind that I will always come back to you."

When he'd finished fastening the chain, Misaki stood, swiftly stepping around the back of the chair and lifting her arms to wrap around his neck. She placed a soft kiss on his lips before pulling back to gaze into his eyes. "I've never needed anything to remind me of our feelings for each other. My heart does a good enough job of that all on its own."

He laid his hands on her hips and stared down at her with a somewhat sad little smile before replying, "Then keep it for my peace of mind, at least."

"Why do you need peace of mind? Am I not doing a good enough job of reminding you how much I love you?" She playfully asked, turning the sides of her mouth down in a pout and tilting her head to the side as she gazed up at him in light concern.

His expression softened with affection as he told her, "No, not at all. But as I've said, you are a very beautiful woman, Torimodo Misaki. Inside and out. And I'm sure I'm not the only man around you who's recognized that. Since I can't be around very often to keep the bugs away," he reached down to grasp the pendant between his fingers, "maybe this will help."

She smiled up at him slyly and playfully commented, "Who knew you had such possessive tendencies?"

He smirked down at her with a hooded gaze and replied, "Well when it comes to you, I just can't seem to control myself."

Returning his stare for a moment, she reached down to lift the pendant away from her neck and glanced down at it appraisingly as she commented, "You know, it's funny. The President mentioned something similar to me when I told her I was having dinner with my boyfriend tonight. That I should think about finding a subtle way of showing that I was taken." She dropped the necklace and wrapped her arm back around his neck, staring up at him coquettishly. "Guess great minds really do think alike."

Hawks rolled his eyes and groaned, "Please don't compare me to that woman. I thought we were having a nice moment."

"We're having a very nice moment," Misaki crooned, rising up on the balls of her feet and planting a soft kiss on his lips.

He pulled back a moment later to ask, "You ready to blow this popsicle stand?"

"And go where?" She asked with a little chuckle.

He shrugged. "Wherever you want. You name it."

She tossed him a sidelong glance and thoughtfully asked, "Anywhere I want...?"

He tilted his head from side to side before hesitantly replying, "Within reason, yeah."

She lifted her arms from around his neck and stepped away from him, raising her hand to her chin thoughtfully as she walked over to stare out the windows. "Anywhere, huh?"

Hawks dropped his hands to his hips and sighed. "Misa-chan, you're not thinking like, out of the country, are you? There's a lot of red tape for that, even for me. I mean, if that's what you really want, I'll make it happen, but we may not make it back in time for you to go to work on Monday, and I'd have to work something out with the sidekicks—"

She whipped back around suddenly, cutting him off as she walked back over and draped her arms back around his neck. "I've got it."

"Where to, my lady?" He asked hesitantly with clear trepidation in his voice.

She leaned in to whisper in his ear.

His eyes widened for a moment before he scoffed, "Anywhere in the world and that's where you pick?"

She pulled back to look him in the eye, cocking an eyebrow at him as she asked, "That a problem? You said we could go anywhere I want."

Hawks quickly shook his head. "Nope, no problem. None at all."

Misaki smiled slowly and deliberately, her eyes narrowing salaciously as she drawled, "I didn't think so. Now get moving before I change my mind."

"Yes, ma'am," he quipped, sending a few feathers to grab their coats from the table. He gathered her up into his arms a moment later, taking off for the open viewing deck and flying out into the night toward their next destination for the evening.

- Author Note Section -

I wonder where Misaki asked Hawks to take her? I'll give you two guesses, and the first one doesn't count!

Much love for my reviewers and those who favorited/followed this story!

And thank you so very much for reading :)

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