DodgeyPigeon: Yeah, but more intense and violent stuff will come later. And sad.
PurpleOPlover: I'm sorry, I don't really understand what you meant in your review on chapter 8.
Halfway through the story! Enjoy~
Luffy had debated what to do with the wing, thinking burning flesh would be weird and stink. But he didn't want to throw it away in the trash like it wasn't something he'd treasured for seven years. But he did end up burning it on the roof so the smell would blow away. The wind kept the smell from turning bad, and it didn't take long. He scattered the ashes of it in the wind, fitting for ashes of a wing.
He cried a little bit, but he'd come to terms with the fact that it was gone. As long as the new one came in, there would be no difference. Hopefully. But it was growing back, starting to go quicker than before. He had to change sleeves, and more feathers had grown, making it less itchy.
He finally saw Ace, who finally came up for the first time. He hugged Luffy, careful with his wing even though it wasn't hurting or sensitive anymore. "I'm so sorry I couldn't come sooner," Ace apologized on the couch. Luffy assured him that he wasn't upset. "I'm proud of you for the interview. It was really brave to put yourself out there and be so honest and up front. From what I've seen, everyone likes you.
"Though there is still press downstairs, which is irritating, I'm sure." Luffy nodded, but said Hawks handled it well. "I saw the reaction video of you when Hawks was making his speech," Ace said with a laugh.
"It was a trainwreck that he somehow navigated. But people like him regardless of whether he doesn't exactly have the best manners. He's likable," Luffy replied. Ace looked at Luffy's sleeve wing and asked if he could see it. Luffy took it off to show the stump with the feathers covering the top half.
Ace asked if it hurt, voice quiet. "No, but it itches sometimes. You… saw the news videos right?" Of course he had and he nodded. "It was scary. But it was going to hurt other people so I used all of those quirks. My friends didn't have negative reactions, which I'm happy about. But… I didn't tell Hawks about it cause it only happened last night and the night before, but I have nightmares about it. That my wings were sawed off and never growing back. Or not being fast enough and getting run through with glass shards. I just don't want him to worry more."
Ace sat on the couch with his brother. "I'm sorry, Luffy. I can't imagine going through that. It was bad enough to watch, I can't imagine being the one who had that happen." Luffy nodded, feeling his wing. It still had a long ways to go before fully healed. Then he may have to do a sort of physical therapy, he didn't know what would happen after it was back.
Luffy slumped and said, "I'm worried. They sent the nomu after me. I killed it, won't it make them angrier? What if they send another one and I can't fight it off? It was hard enough the first time."
His brother looked down. "I can see why you're worried." he looked around at the window wall. Luffy nodded, looking at the window wall as well.
"It's regular glass. Easy to break. I flew through the windows of one of the buildings easily. Anything could break through these, especially since they can fly. I might be being dramatic, but anything could attack me here easily or take me. If I can't fly, I have no way to get away. I've never felt more vulnerable. Not like this in 7 years," Luffy confessed, looking at the glass in almost disapproval. Ace suggested getting the windows replaced with something else. "Like what?"
Ace pointed to Luffy's glasses. "That is unbreakable, right? You slammed into buildings, face first in the ground, and they didn't even crack. They might be tinted blue, but that's hardly a big deal."
Luffy replied, "That would be too expensive for me to ask." Ace frowned and told him he should tell Hawks his concern. They always told one another the truth. "Still, I just don't want to put any stress on him."
"Luffy, you're the one who's feeling the most stressed right now. Hawks would want you to take care of yourself. As a hero, you have to be able to manage your mental health in all aspects, not just not overworking or getting enough sleep." Luffy sighed. Hawks would want to know, but he still didn't want to waste money. But would it really be wasted?
Ace was still over when Hawks was off work and came up. "Oh, Ace! You're still here. Wanna have food with us?" he asked pleasantly.
The big brother looked at his watch and sighed. "I have to take my pills and I don't have them here. I gotta go. When Luffy's better maybe we can go out to dinner."
"Sounds like a plan," Hawks said, taking his jacket off. Ace hugged Luffy and mumbled, "Tell him." Luffy sighed and nodded. Ace left, telling them to have a good night. Luffy locked the door behind him, and Hawks asked Luffy what was wrong.
"What do you mean?"
"You have your worried frown on. What's up?" Luffy looked at the windows, and said, "Me and Ace were talking, and I'm worried about the windows. Aren't they regular glass, breakable?" he asked slowly. Hawks grinned and Luffy didn't know why. He walked to the glass and punched it as hard as he could. It didn't break.
"Got them replaced while you were in the hospital. There's no way anything is getting through these windows. It'd be easier for them to get through the concrete than the windows. You didn't notice the slight blue tinge?" Luffy's eyes were wide and he shook his head. Then he gave a small smile and thanked him.
"Don't feel bad about the price, I'm protecting myself, too. Y'know. That nomu was pretty scary," he said honestly. "Don't want either of us dealing with one." Luffy picked up Merry who'd just woken from a nap, and did as Ace suggested.
"I'm afraid. With me being unable to fly, I'm so vulnerable. I feel so vulnerable without them. I know I'm not weak, but still I feel naked without them functioning. And who knows how long it will take for them to both work again?" Hawks told him gently that he hadn't always had the wings. That he'd lived without them for three years and stayed alive. "It's different now. Everybody knows about me. I have no way to get away or have the upper hand."
He reached back and touched his wing, but his fingers brushed against the back of his neck and he felt a familiar stinging. He pressed harder and let out a hiss, feeling it was more raised than usual. Great! Just what he needed. But he hadn't acquired any new quirks. He was sure of that. "What's wrong?"
Luffy said, "My neck hurts. Where I got the surgery." Hawks face grew white and he went behind Luffy to see that where the quirk nerves were was swollen. Hawks asked if he could use any of the quirks they knew had been removed. He nodded and attempted the bubble feet. And they worked.
Luffy sighed, his face crumpling. "I don't need that, too," he whispered. "Not right now. Did they grow back?" Hawks asked if he felt out of control. "It doesn't matter, if they regrew then I could lose control at any moment. We have to go back to the quirk hospital."
Hawks gave Luffy his glasses and put a jacket on before grabbing the keys and his phone. They were leaving immediately. Luffy got his own phone and put a hoodie on, Hawks helping him get it around the wings. They left and drove straight to the quirk hospital, ignoring the press, not commenting on anything.
They were in the normal car, not the convertible now that Luffy's wing wasn't in critical condition and was steadily getting better. Their wings were usually pressed to the car tightly, but the car was custom made with higher ceilings. It looked really weird but was necessary.
When they arrived, they walked right in. Luffy was recognizable and those there grew worried. Hawks asked their Luffy's doctor, and he was taken in almost immediately. "Luffy, what's wrong? Why are you here?" Dr. Ito asked in concern.
"The back of my neck is swollen and painful, and I can use one of the quirks that was supposed to be gone." Immediately, he got an x-ray of the quirk nerves and was brought back into the room, where Hawks was waiting nervously, jiggling his leg with his hands clasped in his lap.
She put the x-rays up. "It looks like they've regrown but in a clump. I don't know how this happened, I've never had a patient have their nerves reform after being severed completely. Luffy looked closer at where he knew most of the removed nerves had come from. "But this clump of nerves looks thinner than they all should be."
She pressed on the back of his neck, asking where it hurt the most. "The lower left side."
"That's where we severed the quirk nerves. But this could be good for you. Having them clump together should make them easier and quicker to remove. It would be a removal of all of them in one surgery."
Luffy asked if she thought they would regrow. "They have this time they may do so again. Having them removed may be a recurring event. We took out 20 separate ones last time that took two months. Removing this clump should take one surgery."
He turned to Hawks, who asked what he wanted to do. "Can we get them removed again?"
"Yeah, of course. We don't want to have you go out of control again," Hawks said sincerely. They both looked to the doctor.
"I want you to stay here tonight and we'll have the surgery tomorrow morning. If this goes how it did last time, it may be messy again. It's been a little under three months since your last surgery. I would like you to come in every two months and we can monitor the regrowth of these nerves." Luffy didn't want to sleep here, tired of hospitals, but he didn't want to ruin his bedroom again.
Luffy nodded, saying he was fine with that. Then he had a question pop into his head. "Doctor, could someone sever quirk nerves not in surgery? From the outside, would it kill a quirk nerve?"
Dr. Ito asked why he would ask that. "Anxiety. Having my wing ripped off really shook me. I'm afraid of losing them."
She answered honestly. "The bundle of nerves is in one very specific spot, that's the area where they could be severed. Between the last and second to last vertebra in the cervical area of the spine," she said. "If someone were to stab in that one spot, it's possible their quirk nerve could be destroyed. However, that information is not well known, so people don't know how to attack that spot for anyone."
She pressed gently on the area where she was talking about. He put his own finger there, feeling where it was. "So I don't have to worry about someone stabbing me there?"
The doctor replied that it's not a place on the body that anyone would aim for, so it is very unlikely that anyone would attack that area. "Quirk nerves are hard to sever on accident. I've had very few patients come here due to an accident or attack that damaged their quirk nerves, luckily. Sometimes they can be reattached, but the quirk will most likely not reach the level it had before.
"A dulled quirk. Yours have grown back, though we didn't want them to. I'm sure if someone managed to get that spot it would be deliberate and skilled. I wouldn't worry about that if I were you," she said reassuringly. Luffy asked if most people could heal on their own. "No, surgery would be necessary."
Hawks said, "I never knew any of that," in surprise. She asked them not to spread it around. "We won't. Why did you tell us?" She said she trusted both of them, and Luffy deserved to know more about what he was getting surgery on. His stomach rumbled. Luffy sighed, since he'd had a dish he really wanted to cook that night. "We'll have that next time."
"Okay. Can I just have a sandwich or something?" Dr. Ito said they had a good chef there now after the other gave the patients food poisoning. "Okay, thanks." He left the room with Hawks, both of them dressed like regular people, besides Luffy's hero costume glasses. They went to the cafeteria and ate the sandwiches which were indeed better than the food the last time Luffy had stayed there.
"It's good I'm already out on medical leave and can have the surgery at the same time," Luffy said in a tired, hollow voice.
"You don't have to pretend to be positive. This sucks, it's fine to admit it. This sucks a lot," Hawks said simply. Luffy nodded, quietly agreeing. After they ate, Hawks went to get some of his things. By the time he got back, Luffy was already asleep on the familiar bed that had been his for two lonely and long months.
When he woke up, it was to the doctor. "Luffy, you need to drink something and then we'll proceed with your surgery," she said. Luffy sat up and didn't change, it being useless if he was going to wear a gown anyway. Hawks was sitting in the hallway with a coffee and scrolling on his phone.
"Morning, sunshine," he said, standing up.
"Don't feel like sunshine," Luffy replied, sounding so sad. Hawks frowned, looking at him in sympathy and sadness. "Sooner I get this over sooner I can go home." Hawks quietly agreed. Luffy drank a bottle of water and then went into the room where the surgeons were waiting. Hawks could watch this time through the observation window which he never did before.
When he woke up after the surgery, he was tired and could tell he was drugged. He was on the bed again, in a new outfit. He sat up and saw on his phone clock that it was 2:30. The surgery had been at 9:00. He had been out for a long time.
He put his glasses on and sat up, feeling the back of his neck. It didn't hurt anymore. That was a relief. Maybe he could manage this. If they continued to regrow, then he would just have this surgery. They had insurance that covered much of the surgery's cost, which Luffy was happy with.
He found Hawks in the common area on one of the couches. Luffy walked to him and said, "Hey."
"Hey! How are you feeling?"
"Better. It doesn't hurt anymore," Luffy replied honestly. His wing itched less, but that wasn't what Hawks was meaning with his question. "Ready to go home." Hawks had his bag packed with yesterday's shorts, shirt and hoodie. He went to the front desk and checked himself out, signing some papers before he left the building with Hawks.
They were about the same height, but right then Hawks looked bigger with both of his wings there. Luffy had gotten used to the balance issue. He compensated it with a wide gait, probably looking completely unnatural. "The press didn't find us," Luffy said happily, letting out a sigh. Being surrounded by noisy people pushing microphones in his face wouldn't have made him feel very good after surgery.
He was feeling much better, knowing they had a plan that they'd stick to if the nerves regrew. He had to make sure to never absorb more quirks. He was at his limit. Back to 83 quirks, a handful of which he remembered having and even fewer than he'd ever used. Hawks stopped at a Starbucks for Luffy.
After his other surgeries, Hawks brought him hot chocolate sometimes. Luffy guessed it was part of the routine, and thanked him. It was getting chilly, as it was late November. Christmas would come soon. It always brought funny memories. The first time they attempted to get a Christmas tree, they couldn't fit it into the elevator, so they flew it up but it left huge scrapes on the windows of the lower floors.
When the workers asked Hawks if he knew what the scratched were from, he easily said it must have been stupid birds. It made Luffy laugh. He couldn't tell if it was a lie and Hawks said real birds made the scratch or if he was referring to himself and Luffy as stupid birds. After that, they got fake christmas trees. It was usually only them, and the presents they got each other were never really anything either of them would need to use.
The stupidest gift Luffy had gotten him had been a huge set of bows and other hair clips for women. But the next day, he woke up to Hawks with all of the bows and clips in his hair, just walking around like it was no big deal and he didn't remember putting them in.
The stupidest gift he'd gotten Luffy was a prank shampoo that was full of glitter that Luffy didn't know about until it was caked into his hair and he couldn't get it out fully for days. He wore a hat all that week, cursing Hawks everytime he saw himself in a stupid hat. Which he had cruely hid all of them besides the pink beanie.
Luffy assumed he was so ruthless because the kid, young at the time, had drawn flowers all over his costume glasses. It was after Luffy washed all of the glitter off that he told him the ink would be removed with vinegar. Hawks felt terribly guilty after that, but it was a fun memory.
When they got back home, Luffy had drunk the whole cup. They walked through the staff on the first floor to get to the elevator. Luffy would bake some muffins for the first floor and cupcakes for the upper floors. Muffins were quicker and easier to eat so they were made for the busy floor.
Luffy threw his dirty clothes in his hamper once they got inside. Usually they'd fly up, but Luffy obviously couldn't fly right now. He wouldn't feel right until he could fly again. And he was bored. Trapped at home because he was afraid to leave and unable to. Hawks went back to work, going on patrol and tackling the nomu sightings with Endeavor after the disaster that was the Luffy vs Hood battle.
There was nothing fun to do, so he just went on a reading spree, sitting against the window wall that he knew now was incredibly strong. He texted that to Ace, who was very thankful for Hawks being prepared for things, and helping Luffy even when he didn't know it.