Thanks so much for the reviews! I'm glad people are excited about this story. This is the last we'll see of Hawks for a while, since the next chapter starts Tokoyami's POV (which will last approx. 4-5 chapters).
Some parts of this chapter contain journals written by Tokoyami. I don't speak or write Japanese, so -italicized text- is written Japanese and -regular text- is written English. You'll see more about why he writes in English later. I'm an English teacher, so the mistakes he makes come from personal experience.
Summary: Hawks analyzes his surroundings for clues about Tokoyami.
Ch. 2: Letters from a Ghost
The next time Hawks opens his eyes he's alone and no longer shackled to a chair; instead, he's lying on his side on something soft. He shifts to get a look at it, and a black feather tickles his nose.
Tokoyami!
Hawks gasps and bolts up, nearly sending himself to the floor in the process. His wounds protest the sudden movement, and he's forced to lie down again and wait for the throbbing pain to subside. Hawks knows he's been weakened and needs to rest, but he can't let himself slow down until he finds out what's become of Tokoyami. He's failed his student a hundred times over already. At the very least, he needs to know if he's alive.
When he can breathe evenly again, Hawks eases himself into a sitting position. The wound on his side pulls and his wings are sore, but this time it's bearable. He uses his arms to turn himself and lets his legs hang over the side of the low cot he's been laying on. The cracked floor tiles are cold beneath his feet, but apparently the League was kind enough to let him keep his pants and socks on. "All the better to slip and break my neck," Hawks mutters.
He takes a moment to scan the room, annoyed that his vision is fuzzy. He's used to eagle-eyed precision, but whatever drugs they pumped through his system have left him feeling dizzy. There doesn't appear to be much to see, anyway. There are no windows to offer natural light, but there are enough lights embedded in the ceiling, drilled into the cracked concrete walls, and scattered around the floor to subdue a shadow monster. Most of the lights are off now, except for a few in the ceiling that emit a low hum in the otherwise silent room. The League has clearly made adaptations to hold Tokoyami's quirk, both here and in the room where he first found Toga. That means Dabi wasn't lying when he said killing Tokoyami was not their intention.
The room appears to match the one in the photo Dabi showed Hawks just after Tokoyami's disappearance; there's even a video camera in the top corner of the opposite wall. The room contains the cot, a table, and two chairs. One of the chairs is bloodstained, with shackles still attached to the arms and legs. Hawks really hopes that blood is his own. The table looks more promising: there's a water bottle on top of it, as well as a thick book and scattered papers.
There's also a TV sitting on a wheeled stand beneath the camera. Hawks doesn't remember the television being in the photo. It could have been out of frame, or the League might have rolled it in for Hawks' personal torment. There's no telling how much access Tokoyami had to the outside world.
Hawks carefully gets to his feet. He'd say he felt like an old man, except he knows old pros like Gran Torino would be running circles around him right now. It's embarrassing, especially for the self-proclaimed "man who's a bit too fast." He's certain the League is having a field day watching him struggle just to stand on that security camera. Well, let them laugh, so long as he heals as fast as he usually flies.
Once he's on his feet he manages to grab the edge of the table and balance himself there. It's surprisingly sturdy for a card table the League probably found dumpster-diving. His heart is drawn to the papers first, which are covered in writing, but his hands reach for the water. The moment he confirms it's unopened, he cracks the seal and takes a long drink.
It's tempting to drain the bottle in one go. There's no telling when his captors will see fit to give him more water, however, and Hawks can practically here Rumi's voice in his head: "Jeez, slow down! You're gonna make yourself sick chugging it like that!" Hawks really hopes that she stays away from this, that she wasn't involved in his doppelganger's attack. He hopes that she's still out there and that maybe, just maybe, she's realized that the Hawks on the news wasn't him.
Hawks closes the bottle with shaking hands, then sets it down so he can comb through the papers and the book. The title of the book throws him: EZ Japanese-English Dictionary and Thesaurus. Was the League planning to use a code or translation? Why would they leave it in a room with their prisoners? He flips through the book, and the spine nearly splits under his hands. It's a well-used copy with dog-eared pages and markings throughout it. If there's a code, it's going to take him some time to tell the difference between villainous intent and the notes of an earnest language learner. He sets it aside for the moment and picks up the topmost paper, bringing it close to his eyes to make up for the blur. The first sentence nearly makes him drop the paper.
-I know you are reading this.-
Is the League watching him now, laughing as he gets excited by a dictionary and a handful of notes? Hawks shakes his head. He knows better than to jump to conclusions. He thinks he recognizes the writing, anyway. The lines of the characters are shaky, but their forms are otherwise precise and evenly spaced, just like the reports from his one and only intern. Not that he read much of those reports. The majority were handed off to his sidekicks, once he'd scanned them for any further clues on Tokoyami's observations of the League. Hawks swallows down his regret and continues reading.
-It does not matter. I have not answered your questions verbally, and I shall not answer them in writing either. I will not betray my friends, even if they have forgotten me. Not for heat, not for freedom, not even for the smallest bite of an apple.
You face not one will, but two. If any hero or civilian should find this, know that I, Tsukuyomi, and my quirk, Dark Shadow, resisted. Anything they have gained from me was without my knowledge or intention. Know also that I am alive.-
Here the language switches briefly from Japanese to English, the characters changing over to the Latin alphabet:
-I live. I exist. I endure. I survive. I-
The writing ends there. Hawks searches for the next page in the papers spread out across the table, but there are more scattered over the floor and they appear to be out of order. Hawks gathers all the papers together and returns to sitting on the cot, then begins to sort through them to see what he can learn. A few pages have dates, and others suggest events that must have happened in a certain order.
-They say I've been here for six days. It feels like longer.-
-I refused to eat until Dark Shadow reminded me that I must keep up my strength if I intend to survive this. Today Dabi gave me an apple. I take that as a sign from fate that we will survive.-
-Twice said that Dabi knew of my fondness for apples. I must be more careful.- (Hawks winces at that. It's another betrayal on his part, however well-intentioned.)
-I know they'll come for me. My heroes will not give up, so I mustn't either.—
Most of the notes are written in Japanese, but there are a few attempts at English sentences throughout, and sometimes whole pages of it. The English phrases Hawks found on the last page are repeated often, synonyms used with varying degrees of success.
-I live. I occupy. I conscious.-
-Today was good. Again I talked Twice. He is not bad and his quirk is same mine. He knows my head He understand (Here, the language switches back to Japanese.) Sorry, teacher. I don't know how to say this in English and I cannot find it in the dictionary. I'll try again later, but I have to write it before I forget.-
-I live. They think I died. Everyone thinks I died. No one will come. Write it. I've got to write the truth, so someone will find it. I not die. I live. I breathe.-
Then, finally, Hawks stumbles on a page with a title, and realizes that what he's been reading is not really a diary, but the world's most depressing school essay:
What I Did This Weekend
Tokoyami Fumikage, Class 1-A
My name is Tokoyami Fumikage. My hero name is Tsukuyomi. I need write truth my story. No one will read. But However I must write. Teacher if you find this, I tried.
It was Sunday. I took bus. I went to music store…