The next day, Ashley had finally been discharged. Aizawa had already left early in the morning for the first year training camp; giving her current recovery she was unable to attend. Midnight had to pick her up and took her straight home to rest. Rest wasn't something she really enjoyed, the last weeks being already too much on her. Ashley stepped into the home as she waved goodbye to Midnight and closed the door behind her. She waited for Midnight to be out of sight before she ran to her room, got changed and snuck out of the house. Being able to be back outside made her relaxed, being cooped up in a hospital for so long had made her yearn for fresh air. Walking in the direction of the hideout by the docks she slowly placed around, appreciating the little things she missed about the outside. She craved every second of it growing up; she'd be allowed out only under surveillance and for missions so she savoured every second.
It really sucked that bother her brother and Shoto had left the same day she was released, but it was only a few days. In the meantime she was going to dedicate herself to gaining her strength back and getting back on the field, but first there was something she had to do, somebody to find. As she approached the tall black skyscraper she felt a weird tense sensation build within her. Walking through the cold corridors she followed the feeling to the upper training room. From the other side of the door she could hear a load of commotion and one consciousness. She used both hands to push the doors open and saw the red winged hero land after hitting the target across the room directly on the bullseye.
"Jeeeez, what did you have for breakfast this morning?" She teased him. Hawks whipped his head around, he looked surprised but also somewhat sad.
"Aren't you meant to be resting?" He asked her turning his attention away to his bandaged hands and tightening them.
He's acting weird…
"Aren't you meant to be filling out reports?" She responded in a joking manner and Hawks seemed to concede to that.
"Touché…" he whispered.
He's acting really weird…
"Right… erm… are you ok?" She asked him, expecting him to turn around and say he was just pretending to have a stick up his ass.
Hawks sighed and turned to face Ashley with a look of dread plastered on his face. "I'll be fine, just been a bit weird around here the last few days… I've been weird…" he confessed.
"Like leaving sunflowers on my bedside every morning while I'm sleeping and not even saying "hi" kinda weird?" She asked him with a half smile and half look of worry on her face. Hawks whipped back to face her as his stomach dropped.
"H-how do you know it was me?" He asked her.
Ashley sighed, "Cause my dad doesn't do gifts and I asked Katsuki and he said it wasn't him… so that just leaves you." It made sense.
Hawks looked back down and the ground feeling a sour burn in the pits of his stomach. "What about your boyfriend? Doesn't he get you flowers or whatever?" He sounded annoyed, mad. Ashley cocked her head in confusion while still looking at the man.
"S-Shoto doesn't know about the sunflowers and he would have said something… is…is that what this is about? Shoto?" She explained and asked coming to the conclusion.
Something in Hawks snapped. "It doesn't matter." He growled. Ashley was taken aback by his tone, she could feel an internal conflict within him.
"It seems to matter, actually." She pushed.
"AND WHAT IF IT DID? WHAT IF IT MATTERED TO ME? HUH?" He fully snapped back at her.
Ashley had never seen his like this. "I'm sorry what?" She laughed nervously, thinking he was still somewhat joking. "Why are you getting mad at me?" She asked him. Hawks refused to look at her or say anything else. "Wait… is it actually about me and Shoto? What, you're playing the overprotective brother now?" She now had a mix of confusion and anger boiling up inside her, in her state she didn't realise that Hawks had swiftly moved toward her and next thing she knew, she froze. She felt a hand grab her arm and a pair of lips on her own. He was kissing her. Hawks was kissing her.
It took all of 5 seconds for Ashley to react, as she moved her head back and swung a slap on his cheek. The slap echoed through the room, then all the could be heard was Ashley's erratic breathing. She turned away and took a few steps to Hawks' left, refusing to turn around until she had processed and collected her thoughts.
Hawks knew he had messed up now. "Ash-" he tried to call to her; but she partially turned around, still refusing to look at him, and raised one hand up to signal to him to stop talking. She looked and on the verge of tears. She tried to calm herself down before she went completely ape shit on him. Taking one big breathe in before turning to him trying to control her anger, she walked back to him. Hawks didn't move one inch as she came toward him.
"First." She half shouted, trying to compose herself. "I'M 16." She said firmly. He had royally messed up; Ashley stared into him eyes and the anger and pain was visible. "Second." It was as if her heart broke. "I have somebody who I care about VERY MUCH." She took one last breathe before speaking one last time. "And third." He braced himself. "Don't you EVER dare do that again." With that she turned away and walked away. The room fell completely silent and Hawks processed what had just happened, what he had done, what she had said.
"Shit…" he whispered to himself.
Two days had passed, Ashley hadn't heard from Shoto or her brother due to the remote location of the training camp being top secret. She kept away from Hawks and the commission in fear that she probably pummel him in front of everybody. She lay in her bed dreading the thought of getting up and the commission calling her in. She knew she'd have to tell Shoto what happened, which she wasn't exactly excited about, he would probably kill Hawks. Ashley sighed and looked out the window to her right, she missed him a lot. She wanted to work on her relationship with her brother bur now she had this tainting it all.
BANG BANG BANG
Ashley shot up at the sound of somebody pounding on the door downstairs. She hurried down to the front door and opened it to see Midnight standing there.
"Your phones off." She stated sounding panicked.
"Yeah.. I've… I've not been feeling well." She lied.
Midnight ignored the fact that she knew that was a lie and pushed passed her tov walk into the house. "Have you heard from Aizawa?" She asked in a hurry. Ashley was confused at the sense of urgency that was emanating from the hero in front of her.
"No… why? What's going on?" Ashley asked her.
Midnight stared into her eyes, Ashley could feel the uneasiness, sadness and panic in the room build.
"It's your brother…" Midnight started, Ashley's eyes widened and her heart stopped.
No.
"The League of Villains took him."
