Winds of Destiny: Rising
Chapter Eighteen: Clarity
Misaki bent to retrieve the can of sweetened coffee she'd just purchased from a vending machine in the lounge area down the hall from her office. As her fingers closed around it, she began to feel the familiar sensation of being watched suddenly creep over the back of her neck. She straightened and slowly turned her head to the side. Sure enough, facing her and leaning his shoulder against the wall with his hands tucked into his pockets was Hawks.
"Hey," he greeted her a bit timidly.
She just stood there, staring back at him in a state of nervous shock – as though she'd suddenly been put on the spot to answer a question that she hadn't been paying attention to. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish as she floundered to find the words to reply to the greeting that should not have been this hard to reply to! The awkwardness became more and more apparent as the silence continued to stretch between them. It wasn't like she didn't want to answer – she physically couldn't. Her throat had closed up just enough to let air into her lungs, but it stubbornly refused to let out any words. She was beginning to worry, as she continued to struggle to respond to his greeting, that her air supply was sure to be in danger if she didn't figure out some way to cast off her rabid nerves soon. She could tell by the look on Hawks's face that he was getting anxious, and she sent out a silent cry for help to somebody, anybody, to break her out of the awkward situation.
As if in answer to her plea, Misaki's secretarial replacement, Tadashi Nao, suddenly rounded the corner that led from the lavatories into the break room. He appeared to be completely oblivious to the hanging awkwardness as he nonchalantly strolled up to the drink machine, passing right between Misaki and Hawks, who were standing almost three full meters apart. He calmly scanned his employee ID badge and selected a can of black coffee. The machine seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to deposit the drink into the retrieval bin, an opportunity which Misaki gratefully took in order to gather her wits back about her. As he bent to retrieve his purchase, Tadashi seemed to finally notice that he was not the only occupant of the break room at the moment.
The happily married, former salaryman straightened and glanced over at Misaki, staring at her blankly for a moment before nodding to her. "Commissioner Torimodo."
Misaki returned his slow nod. "Tadashi-san."
Relief cascaded through her when she was able to speak his name and she let out a soft sigh.
Tadashi gave her a slightly conspicuous look before turning his attention to the other occupant of the break room.
"Hawks," he greeted with a similarly stiff nod.
The Wing Hero offered him a small, mock salute. "Yo."
The President's secretary turned and slowly began walking off in the direction of his desk, shifting his eyes between the two of them as he went while taking a long, slow drink from his hot coffee. As soon as he disappeared around the corner, the great feeling of tension that had been weighing her down since Hawks's unexpected appearance a few moments ago vanished.
Blinking a few times, Misaki swallowed heavily and cleared her throat before looking back at Hawks and finally replying, "Hi."
He turned his gaze away and grimaced slightly, reaching up to scratch the side of his cheek before sliding his eyes back over to her and asking in a somewhat hopeful tone of voice, "So, I was thinking, if you weren't too busy, that we could maybe give tails a shot?"
It took her a moment to figure out the reference, but she promptly remembered back to the coin flip he'd used to determine their karaoke date. Heaven help her if he had another excursion like that planned for them this time.
She drew in a deep breath before tightening her lips into a thin grin, nodding her head and agreeing, "Okay."
His eyes widened and he relaxed his stance a bit. "Really?"
"Sure. Just let me grab my stuff," she said as she walked toward him.
He moved to the side to let her pass, leaning back on his heels as he readily replied, "Yeah, sure. I'll just be here."
She kept her eyes focused ahead of her as she hastily walked by before turning to make her way down the hall to her office. 'Ugh,' she thought to herself. 'Could that have been any more awkward?'
The answer was a resounding no. She hadn't exactly been dreading their next meeting, but she couldn't say that she'd imagined it going much better. Stopping at her desk, Misaki braced her hands on the surface and closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath and slowly letting it out, hoping to expel the rest of her nerves along with it. If she hoped to survive whatever excursion Hawks had planned from them tonight, she needed to get a damn grip. She quickly shut down her console and slid her coat on before grabbing her bag and walking back toward the doorway, turning off the light and closing the door behind her as she left. Hawks was waiting for her when she returned, casually leaning back against the wall with his head tilted back and gazing up at the ceiling.
She quietly stepped up next to him and asked, "Ready to go?"
He swiftly turned his head in her direction and pushed himself off from the wall before replying in a jovial tone, "Let's do it!"
His eyes widened, a horrified expression crossing his face as he immediately rushed to cover his unintended double entendre. "I mean—! Not like, do it, I just meant—! As in, like, going! Let's go... Is what I meant to say..."
Misaki couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up out of her at his frantic attempt to cover for his poor choice of words. It felt like the clumsy rhetoric had released some of the tension hanging in the air between them, of which she was very grateful.
She walked up and hooked her arm through his, shaking her head as she giggled. "Okay, Casanova. Let's go."
"Okay," he sighed as he hung his head.
As they made their way out of the main entrance of the Hero Public Safety Commission headquarters, Misaki asked, "So, are you gonna tell me what tails is or are you gonna make me wait and see for myself?"
He glanced down at her from the corner of his eye with a sly grin. "I thought I might let you dangle for a minute."
Narrowing her eyes at him, she reached over and dug her fingers into his side to tickle him. He cringed away from her as he called out, "Okay, okay! How do you feel about checking out a movie?"
She pulled her hand back away from his ribs and shot him an incredulous look. "Really? That's it?"
"What, you wanted more?" He replied in feigned shock before casting her a sidelong glance. "So greedy all of a sudden."
She pushed against his arm. "Shut up! I just meant that seems kinda tame compared to what heads was is all."
He cringed suddenly, reaching up to scratch his cheek as he averted his gaze and trailed off, "So, about that..."
Ten minutes later, Misaki and Hawks stood side by side in a large hotel suite, complete with one large king-size bed, and a double-seated lounge chair sitting in front of a wall-to-wall projector screen that was surrounded on each side by theatre-style red velvet drapes. There was even a small concession stand with popcorn and candy displayed over a mini refrigerator with a clear door that housed several kinds of drinks, and even a few ice cream bars.
Misaki turned her head to glare over at Hawks suspiciously. "This is what you meant by "checking out a movie"?"
He held his hands up in front of himself defensively and immediately assured her, "It's not what you're thinking!"
She cocked an incredulous eyebrow and asked, "How do you know what I'm thinking?"
He grimaced, turning his head to look at her from the side as he hesitantly asked, "What are you thinking?"
She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms. "I'm thinking that you better start explaining before I catch the next cab home."
"The rooms in this hotel all have movie theatre quality projectors and surround sound, so it's like having your own private showing all to yourself. Plus, they have access to all of the movies that are still in the regular theatres, and you can watch as many of them, as many times as you want," he quickly explained before lifting his shoulders in a shrug and asking, "So... What do you think?"
She stared at him carefully for a moment before asking, "What are we watching?"
"Whatever you want!" He replied enthusiastically, holding out the remote to her. "Lady's choice."
She took the remote from his hand and walked over to stand in front of the lounge chairs, waiting a minute for the projector to finish warming up. She scrolled through the movies in the list before settling on one and pressing the button to select it.
"King of the Monsters? Really?" Hawks incredulous toned voice sounded out from her right a second later.
"That a problem?" She asked, glancing over at him dryly.
He shook his head and said, "Nope! No problem at all!"
They both settled down into the large lounge and Hawks held out a small bag to her as he asked, "Popcorn?"
She took it from him with a grateful smile and said, "Thanks."
Everything about this excursion didn't sit well with her. How were they supposed to pass any intel back and forth if all they were doing was watching a movie? Unless he was going to pass her another recorder or more napkin sketches or something. She didn't suppose they could have gone to just any movie theatre, given his status, but something just didn't feel right.
She reached out for the remote and hit the button to mute the sound. Turning toward him in her seat she asked succinctly, "What are we doing?"
He looked between her and the screen for a second before replying in a questioning tone, "Uh… We're watching a movie?"
Misaki shook her head and said, "Yeah, I know that. But why?"
He grimaced as he asked, "Is this a trick question?"
"No," she replied flatly.
He cringed. "I'm not sure I know where you're going with this."
She rolled her eyes and flopped back down in her seat before turning the sound back on and grumbling, "Never mind."
He blinked at her a couple of times before shaking his head and turning his attention back to the movie screen.
A couple of minutes later, she muted the sound again and sat up in a huff. "I just mean! What is the purpose of all of this?"
"This?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The dinners, the karaoke, the movies." She cringed slightly as she asked, "Doesn't it kinda feel like we're dating?"
"It's kinda supposed to feel like that though," he replied with an expression of mild confusion.
She frowned. "I don't remember you asking me if I wanted to date you."
His eyes widened before he suddenly doubled over with laughter.
"What's so funny?" Misaki huffed, crossing her arms, and glaring at him.
He managed to gain some control over himself and looked up at her, wiping a stray tear from the corner of his eye as he said, "I'm pretty sure I was upfront about my intentions from the beginning. Did you forget?"
She shook her head. "No, I didn't forget. I just didn't think you were serious. You were pretty forward."
He nodded. "Uh-huh, that was intentional. Didn't expect you to take it as a joke though. My bad."
She narrowed her eyes at him sardonically and asked, "What happened to "nothing complicated"?"
He shrugged. "It's not that complicated, is it? We're just getting to know each other. We'll see where it goes from there. That's kind of how dating works, ya know?"
She wasn't picking up on any concealed meaning behind any of his words or actions. As she'd suspected, this was another one of his detours. Why he was taking them was something she'd have to wait to grill him on until after they'd settled things with the Liberation Front. However, now that she was aware of his intentions with this outing, she could relax and respond accordingly.
She turned the sound back on and sank back down in her seat, grumbling in reply, "I guess I'm just out of practice."
It was Hawks's turn to mute the sound as he turned to her and incredulously asked, "Wait, hold up. Out of practice? Are you trying to tell me you haven't gone on any dates? Long enough ago that you forgot how to?"
She slid him a sidelong glare. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a bit of a workaholic. I don't have time to date."
"You're here, aren't you?" He asked with a shrug.
"Against my better judgment," she replied with a wry smirk.
He grinned back at her and asked, "Does that mean I'm special?"
She tossed a popcorn kernel at him as she warned him, "Don't let it go to your head."
He caught it, flipping it up into his mouth as he drawled, "Nah, I'm glad."
"Why?" She asked, cocking her head to the side curiously.
He reached out to turn the sound back on, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as he replied, "Less competition."
...
Hawks lifted the remote and turned off the projector as the scrolling credits came to an end. He reached over and gently shook Misaki's shoulder to wake her as he softly called out to her, "Hey."
She slowly began to stir before lifting her arm to rub the back of her hand over her eyes as she asked in a sleep-laden voice, "Did I fall asleep?"
"Yeah, not long after the movie started," he confirmed in a low tone.
He'd felt her head hit his shoulder about half an hour into the opening sequence. While she'd been asleep, he'd done his due diligence, flipping through her schedule book for the cameras before dropping it, and a small recorder, back into her bag. He'd settled back down into the lounge chair to watch the rest of the movie she'd picked afterward, content to just let her rest there next to him.
He'd been caught a bit off guard by her sudden interrogation about their dating status earlier, though he couldn't really blame her for being confused. He'd been playing several different angles during his interactions with her. On the one, most important hand, was their exchange of coded info. On another hand, he needed to keep up appearances for the Liberation folks that he was trying to get closer to her for the sake of gathering more important intel. And on a more personal hand, he'd selfishly been enjoying just getting to spend some time alone with her; well, as alone as they could be with 'big brother' watching.
"So much for the date, huh?" She said as she yawned and stretched her arms tightly above her head, pulling her blouse tight across her torso.
He stared at her, transfixed, as he replied in a low tone, "Nah, I'd say it was worth it."
"Really?" Misaki asked as she dropped her arms and turned her head in his direction to blink at him curiously.
He shook his head and stood. "Don't worry about it."
Following their accidental kiss, he'd been forced to grudgingly come to terms with the fact that he was incapable of remaining objective when it came to her. His plan to bury his feelings for her so that he could concentrate on infiltrating the League had been completely obliterated the moment he'd run into her at the Safety Commission headquarters. Instead of fighting it and potentially putting them in another situation like the one they'd been in outside the karaoke bar, he'd resigned himself to just accept it. That realization had actually felt incredibly liberating.
He'd been constantly walking on eggshells around her, afraid to let himself get too involved in the ruse. He had completely disregarded one of the most basic principles of espionage: never let yourself get caught in a lie. A certain level of fabrication was necessary, but a story was only as good as the author's ability to maintain it. Embellish, don't invent. The best lies were those that were rooted in truth. And the simple truth was that he was still head over heels in love with her. No amount of time or distance had lessened his feelings for her; if anything, they'd only grown stronger.
He hadn't been lying when he'd said that he wanted to get to know her. He'd been curious to see how much she'd really changed since he'd broken up with her. Thankfully, he hadn't discovered anything fundamentally different. All of the things he'd loved about her from the beginning still made up a big part of who she was. And everything new he'd come to learn about her had only impressed him even more. Plus, there was the added bonus of discovering that she hadn't been seeing anyone else while they'd been apart. He couldn't deny that he'd been a little worried about that after eavesdropping on her phone call just before Christmas.
"Want me to fly you by your place?" He asked, holding out his hand to her.
She placed her hand in his and let him pull her up from the couch as she smiled shrewdly and replied, "I think I'll just catch a cab."
As usual, she elected to find her own way home instead of letting him escort her. The way she'd said it this time though gave him the impression that she didn't quite trust his intentions behind the offer. To be honest, she was probably right to be wary.
He ducked his head to hide his rueful smile as he asked, "Still not gonna let me take you home, huh?"
"That is too forward," she replied dryly, sliding him a sidelong glare as she pulled on her coat.
"What do you mean?" He asked in an overly innocent tone, raising his arms in an exaggerated shrug. "I was just gonna drop you off."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "And then I'd have to invite you in for a drink, one thing would lead to another, and you'd end up staying the night."
He dropped his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels, smirking down at her with a hooded gaze as he said, "Got me all figured out, huh?"
She stepped into his personal space and lifted her hand to rest against the middle of his chest as she leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his left cheek. As she pulled back, she glanced up into his hooded eyes with her own and said in a husky voice, "I'll see you next week, Hawks."
He swallowed heavily as she turned to walk toward the door, lifting his hand in a small wave as he replied, "Yeah. Later, Misaki."
'Damn,' he inwardly cursed, running his eyes up the back of her slender, shapely legs as she walked away from him. He'd never really considered that he had a preference for any particular part of a woman's body, but when it came to Misaki he was definitely a leg man. From the first moment she'd teased him with the sight of her crossing them at his agency a week after they'd met, he'd found himself markedly attracted to the rear view of everything below her waist. Just the sight of her walking away from him left him shuddering all the way to his feathers.
Considering all of the provocation she was throwing at him, if they didn't end up crossing the line into erotic territory during this assignment, she had better be prepared for what was coming after. He'd been waiting almost five and a half months to be able to hold her again. Once he finally had the opportunity, it would probably be a few days before he would let her out of bed longer than it would take for her to eat, bathe, or pee.
"Knock, knock," Misaki called out softly as she peeked around the door leading into Eri's room in the teacher's dorm at UA high school.
"Misaki!" Eri called out excitedly, waving to her as she walked in.
She and three of Eraser's first-year students were seated around her short round table playing a card game. Misaki had met all of them a few times before while she'd been visiting Eri over the past few months. The one she was the most familiar with was Midoriya Izuku, mostly due to his involvement in the Shie Hassaikai incident. The other two, Uraraka Ochako and Asui Tsuyu, had been involved as well, though in a more supportive capacity. Since it was Sunday, they were all dressed casually, sitting comfortably on several large, colorful cushions around the wide, low-set table.
"Hey, guys. I don't want to interrupt," she said as she approached the table.
"Don't worry! It's no trouble!" Midoriya assured her, waving his hands in front of himself animatedly.
"We're playing Go Fish," Eri explained, holding up her cards for Misaki to see.
She smiled and cocked her head to the side. "Really? Is it fun?"
"Mhm!" Eri hummed with a small smile and nodded.
"You've never played before, Torimodo-san?" Uraraka asked as she scooted to the side to make room for Misaki to join them at the table.
Misaki shook her head as she sat down between her and Eri. "Will you teach me?"
"Of course!" The girl replied enthusiastically with a wide grin.
"It's pretty simple," she began as they shuffled the cards and prepared to start a new game.
Eraser Head trudged down the hallway toward Eri's room, softly knocking on the door before opening it and addressing the girl, "Eri. It's almost time to start your train—"
He stopped short at the sight of three of his students, along with Misaki and Eri, sitting around the table playing cards. Misaki had told him that she'd planned on stopping by today, but he hadn't been aware that she'd arrived already. After Christmas, the Principal had given her a permanent visitor's pass which granted her access to the grounds without requiring a staff escort. She still called ahead whenever she wanted to come by for a visit, mostly to make sure that she wouldn't be intruding on their plans for the day, but she usually made her way to the dorm on her own anymore.
None of them seemed to have noticed him as they kept their attention focused on the game they were playing.
"Go fish," Eri said to Midoriya, who hung his head and reached out to draw a card from the draw pile.
"Eri?" Uraraka prompted, smiling warmly at the twin-tailed little girl.
Eri turned her head to look at Misaki and asked, "Do you have any sevens, Misaki?"
Misaki smiled and held out a few of her cards to the child. "I actually have three sevens."
"Thanks!" Eri called out enthusiastically as she took them, adding one of her own cards to the stack and laying the cards down on the table in front of her.
Eraser leaned back against the wall and patiently watched them play through a couple more rounds before all of the cards had been used up and the game ended.
"You win again!" Midoriya exclaimed.
"Great job, Eri-chan!" Uraraka congratulated her, holding up her hand to high-five the girl.
Misaki sighed and her shoulders slumped. "I didn't win a single hand, huh? So much for beginner's luck."
Eri reached out to lay her hand on the dejected woman's arm and told her in a comforting tone, "It's okay, Misaki. We can play again the next time you come over."
She smiled and reached out to rub her hand over the top of Eri's head affectionately. "Only if you promise to go easy on me next time."
"Okay!" Eri smiled and nodded.
"Thanks for letting me join you guys," Misaki graciously addressed the students as she stood from her seat at the table.
"No problem!" Midoriya called out with a smile as he collected the cards and placed them back in the box.
"We should probably be getting back now," Tsuyu said in a lightly dejected tone to her classmates.
"Yeah," Midoriya agreed, ducking his head.
Uraraka nodded and replied solemnly, "You're right."
Uraraka and Tsuyu knelt to give Eri a hug while Midoriya waved to her from behind them with a wide grin on his face. They turned their attention toward the door as they prepared to leave and all five of them finally noticed his presence in the room at once.
"Aizawa-sensei!" Midoriya called out in shock. "When did you get here?"
Eraser pushed himself off from the wall and walked over to them, dropping his hands into his pockets and fixing his three students with a disapproving glare. "You were so preoccupied with your game that you didn't notice when I knocked and announced myself. You all need more training."
He punctuated the last phrase by activating his quirk, causing his hair to stand up on end and his eyes to flash bright red.
"Yes sir!" All three of them called out as they snapped to attention fearfully.
He eased off when he noticed Eri cringe into Misaki's side at his harsh display. Sighing heavily, he reached up to scratch the side of his head and carefully explained, "You'll make me worry if you let people sneak up on you like that. You should always be aware of what's going on around you, even in times of peace."
They all relaxed before sheepishly bowing their heads and affirming that they accepted his rebuke. Eri relaxed as well, though she remained close to Misaki, raising her arm and sliding her tiny hand into hers. The three students hurriedly moved toward the door before turning and looking back at Eri with carefree grins on their faces, likely in an effort to reassure her that they were all okay.
"Bye-bye, Eri-chan!" Uraraka called out to her as she left the room with a smile and a wave.
"Good luck with your training!" Midoriya waved as he followed Uraraka out the door.
Tsuyu was the last to leave, assuring Eri as she left, "We'll come back to play again soon, kero!"
"Bye!" Eri called out after them and waved.
Eraser walked up to them and addressed the little girl, "Eri, are you ready?"
Eri looked up at Misaki and asked, "Are you helping today, Misaki?"
"Would that be alright?" She looked down and cocked her head.
"Mhm!" Eri hummed with a big grin.
Misaki smiled down at her warmly and asked, "Should we work with the rabbits again?"
Eri nodded in response and enthusiastically exclaimed, "I'll go pick one out!"
Eraser held the door open for the girl to exit as she ran toward him. Misaki followed after her while shaking her head at her antics, a fond expression etched across her softened features. He shut off the lights and closed the door behind them once they had all exited the room and turned to follow after the little girl when another of his students suddenly turned the corner in front of them. Normally the teacher's dorm was off-limits to students, but the training rooms at the school had all been booked for use by the other classes for the day, so he'd agreed to let a group of his students use the dorm facilities for the afternoon. The kid stopped in his tracks when he noticed them, and his eyes seemed to focus on Misaki before widening in recognition.
"Torimodo-san?" Tokoyami Fumikage asked in mild shock.
Misaki blinked and tilted her head to the side as she replied, "Tsukuyomi?"
He held up a hand in front of him and bowed his head slightly. "There's no need to use my hero name here."
Misaki smiled graciously in response and corrected herself, "Tokoyami-kun. It's nice to see you again."
"You as well," Tokoyami replied, tipping his head in greeting.
"You two know each other?" Eraser asked, tilting an eyebrow up at the odd level of familiarity between the two. As far as he knew, she and Tokoyami had never had an opportunity to run into each other at the school, unless it had happened during the times she'd visited while he'd been on one of his trips to Tartarus.
"We met briefly in Fukuoka recently. Tokoyami-kun saved me and a friend of mine from a suicide bomber during his work-study with Hawks Agency," Misaki casually explained.
Tokoyami slid his gaze to the side and grumbled, "I'm not certain I would consider my actions a rescue. All I really did was follow your lead."
"What do you mean? If it hadn't been for your quick reaction in that situation there's no telling how many people that villain might have hurt. I'm sure Hawks would be really proud of the way you handled yourself, Tokoyami-kun," Misaki assured the student, her tone heavy with compassion, the likes of which he'd only ever heard her use when speaking to Eri.
Tokoyami dropped his head and replied dolefully, "I hope so… I haven't had a chance to work with him at all since my last work-study assignment at the end of the summer."
Misaki dropped her own eyes, shifting on her feet a bit as she reached up to tuck a loose strand of her long, dark hair behind her ear. Her voice sounded almost sad when she sympathized with him, "Yeah… He's been pretty busy, huh?"
Something like a lightbulb flashed on in Eraser's mind all of a sudden as several of the pieces of a puzzle that had been floating around in his head for the past two months abruptly snapped into place. Misaki was from Fukuoka; he knew from when she'd told him her backstory after meeting with Eri for the second time. She'd just gone through a painful break up recently with someone who Eraser had assumed was probably a hero, given her behavior at the Christmas party. Her reaction while they'd been speaking about Shirakumo, about how she'd known a similar type of hero, struck him at the time as a deeply personal reference. And now her interaction with Tokoyami in reference to Hawks…
It all fit. Talk about a bombshell. Hawks was pretty well known for being elusive about anything concerning his personal life. The fact that they'd been able to maintain such a close relationship completely under the public radar for nearly a year was quite a feat, given how popular the hero was. They'd probably kept their relationship under wraps on purpose, to avoid any social scrutiny. Eraser wasn't sure why they'd ended things, but considering his suspicions about Hawks's involvement with the Safety Commission's plans to bring down the League and the Meta Liberation Army, it was probably a good thing that they were no longer associated with one another. Although, he also had his suspicions about Misaki knowing more about what was going on behind the scenes than she let on.
She tried, but she really didn't have much of a poker face.
"What are you doing here, Torimodo-san?" Tokoyami inquired curiously.
"Oh, um…" Misaki trailed off as she glanced over at Eraser.
It wasn't necessarily a secret that Eri had begun to undergo quirk training with the teachers recently. The only students who typically came by to visit with her were the ones who had been involved in her rescue from the Shie Hassaikai, though. Misaki was leaving it up to him to decide how much information about the matter was okay to discuss with his student. He knew she was apprehensive about sharing the nature of her quirk with others, and although they were already acquainted, he wasn't sure how much she'd told the kid about herself.
Keeping that in mind, Eraser elected for a more reserved explanation. "She stops by sometimes to help with Eri."
Tokoyami raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that the Hero Public Safety Commission had gotten involved."
Misaki smiled reticently and replied, "I'm not here on behalf of the Commission. My quirk is pretty similar to Eri's, so when I read about her situation, I reached out on my own to offer my help."
"That was quite magnanimous of you," Tokoyami responded.
Misaki let out a short laugh. "Magnanimous! You use some pretty sophisticated vocabulary for a teenager, huh?"
He dropped his eyes to the side as he replied somewhat diffidently, "Yes, I've been told that before."
She winced slightly, raising her hand to her chest, and covering her statement in a sincerely apologetic tone. "I'm sorry, Tokoyami-kun. I didn't mean to tease you. You actually remind me a bit of myself when I was your age."
"Hey, Tokoyami! You comin', man?" The boisterous voice of Kirishima Eijirou called out from the direction of the training grounds.
Turning his head in that direction, Tokoyami held up his hand and responded in an even tone, "I'll be along momentarily."
Kirishima chuckled and waved back. "Yeah, sure!"
Eraser noticed a few more of his students following behind Kirishima into the training room, one of whom immediately caught his attention. Mineta Minoru's eyes widened to the size of saucers as soon as they landed on Misaki.
"Who is tha—!?" He was halted in his tracks as he moved to head in their direction by Sero Hanta, who immediately grabbed him up by the collar when he noticed what was going on.
Sero held the mini lecher out in front of him and marched the protesting student forward into the training room. "Let's move along now! Nothing to see here!"
"Oh, my honey—!" Kaminari Denki suddenly exclaimed, rushing toward them with his arms held out and a sappy-looking grin plastered across his face.
Sero's tape shot out to wrap around the kid's face, effectively halting his pursuit. His admonishing voice called out from inside the training room as he hauled the boy in behind him, "You too!"
Misaki raised a curious eyebrow at the spectacle while commenting, "They're quite lively."
"Yes, quite," Tokoyami replied dryly before turning back to Misaki and slightly dipping his head. "I shall take my leave now. It was pleasant speaking with you again, Torimodo-san."
She smiled back at him warmly. "Yeah, you too. I wasn't kidding about helping you with your math homework, you know. Give me a call sometime. Even if you just want to talk."
The kid returned her smile with a small, appreciative grin and replied. "Thank you. Perhaps I will take you up on that."
After bowing his head to both of them, he turned and headed off down the hall toward the training room his classmates had all filed into.
"He's a good kid," Misaki commented endearingly as she watched Tokoyami walk away.
"They all are, in their own ways," Eraser agreed. He made an effort to keep his tone and stance relaxed while fixing her with a serious expression as he asked, "You're actually pretty involved in all of this, aren't you?"
She turned back to him fully, cocking her head to the side quizzically as she countered, "All of what?"
He narrowed his eyes and lowered his tone in reply. "The Hero Public Safety Commission's plans… And with Hawks."
Misaki's eyes widened slowly at his sudden accusation, her expression flashing quickly from shock to apprehension before finally settling on resignation. She dropped her eyes and said, "Wow… You picked up on that, huh?"
Eraser reached up to rub the back of his neck as he turned his gaze away from her before responding, "I've had a feeling for a while that you knew a lot more than you let on." He turned his concerned gaze back to her and asked, "Just how deep into this are you?"
Misaki kept her eyes trained on the ground for a moment before glancing up at him to say, "Let's focus on Eri for now. We'll talk later, okay?"
He silently regarded her drawn, and melancholy countenance for a moment before nodding in agreement. She offered him a small, appreciative smile before turning back around and walking down the hall to the common room where Eri was waiting for them. He followed after her a few paces back, unable to stop himself from wondering just how involved the woman really was in this mess, and how long she had been a part of it.
~ Author's Note ~
OOOooooooo! Eraser found out that Misaki's ex was Hawks! *le gasp* How adorable was Eri comforting Misaki after beating her at go fish though? So cute! The awkwardness between Misaki and Hawks and Tadashi 😆 (secretary-san has a name now! Banzai!). A lot happened in this chapter, sorry if it was a little long! 😅
As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
❤️❤️❤️
L0LSAT