Being left alone in the apartment gave her a lot of time to think. Her thoughts ranged from ideas for her manga to strategizing an attack plan if there was a break in to pondering her own rehabilitation. Hawks had his methods of trying to rehabilitate her. Aizawa had his own ideas about it.
She had been going with whatever they thought would help her move past her traumas, but she gave little thought to what she imagined would actually help her. As she sat on the couch, staring at her sketchbook, she frowned and began chewing on the end of her pencil. She had, once again, found herself sketching Shigaraki. Along with several dead birds.
The past isn't something I can just forget, she determined. I know that's what Hawks wants me to do. He thinks that if I just don't think about it, everything will be okay. It doesn't work that way, though. I still have all of these memories and they're not going to just disappear.
Tilting her head, her glasses slid down a little. She tapped the tip of her pencil against the paper, beside Shigaraki's face. I'm never going to become a new person. It doesn't work that way. I have too many memories as "Yori" to just move on as a new person called "Nozomi". I am Yori.
Her pencil lifted from the paper and she let her hand drift to the margin of the sheet, hovering over a clean area. She began a rough sketch of a face. A male face with a mask that resembled a bird's beak. Her pulse quickened as she did this, but there was also a small flicker of relief that came with it.
Hawks wants me to be "Nozomi" the mangaka. Aizawa wants me to be "Hiyori", Eri's mother figure. But…I need to be what I want to be. I need to be my true self if I really want to be able to heal. The "Yori" that Shigaraki relied on for support. The strong "Yori" that did everything she could to keep the people important to her safe. That's who I have to be.
Glaring down at the sketch of Overhaul, her tails lifted. The tip of her left stinger drew a light X over the man's face, trailing dark venom over it like ink. A smirk curled her lips and she had to stifle a laugh.
When the apartment door clicked unlocked, she tensed and leaned down a little into a defensive sort of pose. The sketchbook was hugged against her chest as she watched the door open to admit Hawks. She relaxed when she saw him and frowned. "What do you have?"
The winged hero seemed almost surprised by her expression, but soon grinned. "Want to see? It's pretty exciting. I got a call from the publisher and-!" His eyebrows raised when she rushed forward and he let her take the box from him. "They gave us two dozen copies and they're shipping some to stores around Tokyo. I had to improvise the bio section for you. Hopefully I got it close enough."
She carried the box over to the coffee table and eagerly opened it. Inside were, as he promised, two dozen copies of the first volume of her manga. A glossy cover, featuring her artwork. Black and white pages with one page near the front in full color. A summary on the back, composed by a staff member of the publisher to try to catch a potential reader's attention.
When she got to the bio at the back, she tilted her head. "Tsukihara Nozomi. Scorpio, blood type A positive. Her favorite color is purple and her favorite food is chocolate. This is Tsukihara's first book, but she's been a fan of manga since she was a teenager." It was a short, simple description.
"Did I get it right?" Hawks sat beside her on the couch, putting a few takeout containers on the coffee table in front of him.
"Why do you think I'm a Scorpio?" she asked, her stingers clicking together in faint agitation.
"I don't know your birthday and you have stingers, so…" He trailed off and saw her frown. "What? If you're upset, I can call and tell them there's a misprint, Nozomi-chan."
She slouched, her arms wrapping around herself. Her nails dug into her skin and she bowed her head. "Listen. We need to talk."
The hero tilted his head, his wings twitching slightly behind him. "What's up? Was it a rough day?"
"Nozomi…can be my pen name. That's fine. But it's never going to be my real name. Can you just…call me Yori?" The girl's sharp amber eyes shifted to the side and she saw him running his fingers through his hair.
"Yori, huh? I guess. If you're really okay with it." He sighed and leaned back, his wings moving to let him rest against the couch. "Hey. How long's it been since I brought you in?"
Her pulse started to race and her eyes narrowed. This is it. I pissed him off and now he's going to just take me to jail. I'm not going to apologize and grovel. I'd rather rot in prison than do that. Her nails sank a little deeper into her skin. "It's been a while. Like a month and a half? What? Are you tired of me already?"
"Nope! I just thought maybe it's time I tell you my name," he admitted, grinning. "We've been together this long and I think we're probably friends now, right? What do you think?"
Yori blinked in surprise and turned to actually face him. "Really?"
"Yeah! I mean, unless you don't think we're friends."
For the longest time, she had thought he just saw her as a project. Something fun to work on when he was home from his hero duties. A hobby. The idea of actually being friends felt a little strange. Especially since she was pretty sure friends would never lock friends in an apartment alone all day.
"…friends are cool…" she finally mumbled, looking away again.
"So let's reintroduce ourselves." He held out a hand to her, his head still tilted and that carefree grin still on his lips. "I'm Keigo Takami."
She felt herself actually blushing a little from how embarrassing this situation was, but took his hand. "Mori Yori."
"So…can I get you to autograph a book for me?" He lifted one of the books out of the box and his grin turned kind of sheepish. "You can sign it however you want."
The ex-villain took the book in her hands and flipped to the bio section. Her tails came around and she signed "Mori Yori" using the tip of a stinger as a pen, her venom spelling out her name. Offering it to him, she was unable to keep herself from smirking. "Takami, huh? That's unexpected."
Shift P.O.V
Mori Yori. Was that how Dabi introduced her when we met? He yawned and stretched his wings out at his sides. He was exhausted from work, but even more tiring than that was his meeting after Yori had gone to sleep on the couch.
There was no way he could tell her he was meeting with Dabi again. It had been about a week since the panda plushie was given to him and this was the first time Dabi spoke to him since then. If he told Yori that he was meeting with the villain, he knew it would send her spiraling back into panic.
For the most part, Dabi seemed like he just wanted to talk about the League of Villains and their activities. It was only around the end of their meeting that he asked about the stuffed animal. Hawks, without even blinking, told him he had kept it.
He tried to play it off as him saving it for the right fan; someone cute and sweet. Meanwhile, his heart was racing. To lie and say it was in the trash would be risky. There was no telling how closely Dabi had been monitoring him. The stuffed animal was in a plastic bag, tucked beneath the kitchen sink.
Hawks ran a hand through his wind-tousled hair, a quiet sigh escaping him as his wings stretched again. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the door was locked and then made his way to the bedroom. Shedding his jacket, he kept his eyes on the open doorway.
He left his shirt and pants bunched up on the floor near his boots and put on some comfortable pajama pants before he finally gave in to an overwhelming urge. Quietly crossing the bedroom, he stepped through the doorway and went to the couch. Hawks leaned over the back of it, peering down at his roommate.
Yori was dead asleep. Curled up on her side, clutching one of the couch pillows to her chest and breathing softly. Her tails draped over her legs and the curved stingers peeking out from beneath her blanket. She slept peacefully; completely unaware of the hero watching her.
The hero smiled and reached down. His fingertip gently prodded her cheek and he saw her eyes slowly open. When the ex-villain turned her head to look up at him, she squinted and frowned. "Come on."
"Nn? What…what time is it? You need breakfast?" she mumbled. The girl sat up, looking extremely groggy and yawning. It was clear she was still at least half-asleep.
Hawks reached out for her hand and urged her to stand up. "Come on," he repeated. Leading the ex-villain away from the couch, through the doorway to the bedroom. She grumbled a little, irritable from being woken up, but she was too tired to really put up a fight.
Thankfully, she was tired enough that she fell asleep almost as soon as she lied on the bed. The girl curled up on her side, facing away from him, and was soon sleeping as if she had been there the whole time. Hawks settled beside her, but remained awake for a while. Staring at the doorway and trying to not imagine Dabi burning through their apartment door and dragging Yori out by her tails.
Again, he ran his fingers through his hair and looked down at his roommate. She frowned and drew into a tighter ball, her tails curling so her stingers were in front of her and hanging over the edge of the bed. Hawks got up to close the door and when he returned to the bed, he lied behind her. His left wing moved forward, covering her protectively.
She's trying to get better and she's doing a good job. If she sees Dabi, it'll ruin everything. I'm not going to let him take her. No matter what. He closed his eyes and let his arm fall around her waist. You'll be okay. I promise.
Shift P.O.V
Her night began with dreams of blue fire. Intense heat burning away at her flesh as a hand reached for her through the flames. The sound of Shigaraki's voice penetrating the crackle of the inferno around her.
Now she was waking from a different dream. A simple dream about walking with a friend she had not seen in quite a while. Yori's eyes opened and she stared at the wall for a moment until it registered in her brain that there was an arm wrapped around her and a blurry red shape draped over her.
Wait. How did I get here? She looked over her shoulder and found her roommate's sleeping face. What was his real name? Takami? Keigo Takami. She smirked and began to think of all of the ways she could tease him for bringing her into his bed.
The growl of her stomach interrupted any thoughts of vengeful taunting and soon she was carefully sliding from his hold. He mumbled something incoherent in his sleep and slumped onto his stomach. Both wings twitched before settling against his back, neatly folded.
Okay. Breakfast. Yori pulled her hair away from her face and went to get started cooking. Does he deserve something good? He did get my book published. And he's been pretty nice lately. She smirked and shook her head. Omelet with rice, it is. Maybe I can draw a bird on top with ketchup.
She had plated the omelet and had some coffee brewing when she started looking from something to clean the kitchen with. Yori was looking under the sink for some cleaning supplies when she spotted the plastic bag. She opened it and locked eyes with the panda stuffed animal.
"Why were you under the sink? He said he would throw you away." The toy was perched on the counter and she leaned down to examine it, frowning. Yori half-expected it to smell like cinders since it was from Dabi, but it only smelled like the cleaning supplies under the sink.
When she thought about it, it was actually weird for Dabi to choose a panda stuffed animal. Only two members of the League of Villains knew that pandas were her favorite animal. Kurogiri, because he knew she collected panda photo books and she would sometimes share them with him, and Twice, because they had been pretty good friends and had talked about her favorite animal.
So the question now is…if Shigaraki knows. Dabi would only know I like pandas if he asked Twice. So Twice probably suspects something. Twice wouldn't hurt me, but if he blurted out that he knows where I am…Shigaraki won't want to waste any time. He'll send someone and…
"Something smells great. What's for breakfast? Oh." Hawks paused in the kitchen doorway, frowning and tilting his head. "Put it back in the bag."
"You should throw it away. I thought only crows collected trash as treasure," she taunted.
"Just…put it back in the bag and put it under the sink. I'll explain later." He watched her closely, making sure she did as he said. "Do you need anything while I'm out? I can pick stuff up after work if you want something."
"Hair dye." Yori smirked and handed his breakfast to him. She leaned in close, her face stopping inches from his. "I want a hair color that's more "Yori"."