A coin toss between some friends and I decided whether I posted this or not. Tails 'post', heads 'don't'.
Guess who won.
Interview with a Winged Hero
Chapter One:
Coincidence
—The world is so unpredictable. Things happen suddenly, unexpectedly. We want to feel we are in control of our own existence. In some ways we are, in some ways we're not. We are ruled by the forces of chance and coincidence.
Paul Auster
Ever since their advent and acceptance into society, Quirks have been heralded as an extraordinary part of a person. With them, one could do good. One could make their lives and those of others better. Quirks became blessings in the eyes of future generations when they had only been seen as nothing but blights in the perfection that was humanity. Until time changed history and by proxy how others viewed them.
But any blessing abused can easily become a curse.
For times such as those—when Quirks bring more pain and misery than opportunity and fortune—and for those poor souls who possess them, it truly would have been better to never have known power at all.
"Please…" Her voice was broken, tired. Like her. "Please, don't send me back."
Present day - Kyushu
Another loaded box fell with a heavy thud onto the floor of the barren living room, falling in line with the rest already unloaded. Wiping away the beads of sweat rolling down her brow, the young woman brushed back strands of wavy hair from the mess of a ponytail she sprung together and looked about the place.
This was it. Her new home.
The hint of a smile curled at the edge of her lips from the thought alone. It was a bit run down. Nothing a new coat of paint couldn't fix though. Taking into consideration how cheap she'd gotten it for—not to mention the ridiculously short notice—its appearance was the least of her worries. It being a cramped two-story studio didn't bother her much when it had a generous backyard. Definitely made up for the lack of space. It wasn't perfect, and it certainly held no candle to where she used to live, but it was different. And different was exactly what she needed now.
"Oi, Ryo, where do you want this?"
Whirling on her heels, Miryoku cringed at finding her friend carrying the heaviest box she had packed with tensed arms and buckling feet. Instinctively, she ran to help her when it seemed to almost fall from her grasp when a shocked gasp escaped her. Miryoku heaved a long sigh the moment she caught the box while her friend took a moment to steady her footing with a playful chuckle.
"Didn't I tell you to wait for me, Makoto?"
Makoto's brilliant green eyes peeked from over the box and met Miryoku's peeved glare before flashing her a bright grin. "What for? This ain't nothing compared to the ones with your clothes."
Miryoku rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the laugh from rushing out of her. There really wasn't any use arguing with her. Years of knowing Makoto taught her that. A part of her secretly hoped to one day get her to listen to a modicum of common sense. Though that appeared to be less and less likely each passing day.
Resigned to her friend's whims, Miryoku helped Makoto gently place the box down alongside the others. Both leaned against the taller boxes they had carried in to take a much needed break. It'd taken them most of the morning to move Miryoku's stuff out of the van and car and into her little house. A miracle, really. The trip to Kyushu had been a long one for sure but certainly not as long as she dreaded it could've been. The mere prospect of getting away had been enough to encourage her through the long hours of driving. Seeing the house once there invigorated her enough to put her back into a moving-in mood too.
Recalling those long and rather rowdy hours, Miryoku's brow furrowed after searching the empty house and not finding whom she'd been looking for.
"Where's Junji?"
"Out back." Miryoku jumped when Makoto sprung out a boxcutter from god knew where to open a random box, a rather creepy smile tugging at her lips. The flaps flew open unceremoniously and she paused long enough to point at the glass sliding door that separated what looked to be her new kitchen/dining room from the backyard. "The instant I let him out of the car he started marking his territory, so I thought letting him out back would be better."
Miryoku scoffed. "Typical."
Sliding the door open greeted her to the sight of her year old Malamute doing laps around their new yard, dashing through the open space and barking as he did so. And here she thought he would have trouble acclimating after the long trip. It looked like, if anything, she would be the last one getting used to this.
"Hey."
Miryoku tensed at the sound of Makoto's voice. Close behind her to be noticeable but not far enough for her to be comfortable. Without even checking, she knew quite a few things from just her voice. How far away she was from her. Where in the house she was. And most importantly, how long it'd take for Makoto to catch her if the conversation got too awkward for her to bother with it. Not wanting for her immediate response to be to flee, Miryoku walked out into the yard and plopped down onto the wood veranda that separated the grassy field from the house. Makoto came and swiftly took a seat beside her with just enough distance between them to not be bothersome.
"How're you holding up?"
Miryoku shrugged and focused on Junji as he sprinted across freshly cut grass, blades rising in the air briefly as he leapt through it before falling all over his back. Unconsciously, she toyed with her left hand, her fingers turning an empty space on her ring finger.
"Alright."
"Did the distance help?"
"I'd say so."
"Do you feel safe here?"
The question earned a dry chuckle from Miryoku. "I just moved in, Mako."
Makoto didn't think it a laughing matter. Neither did she, frankly. But thinking about the reason she moved didn't quite feel like the right housewarming gift from her part. Miryoku wrung out an answer knowing Mako wouldn't leave well enough alone.
"Relatively speaking, I guess."
A grin split across Makoto's face, toothy as ever. The gravity of the moment disappeared as soon as that familiar brilliance popped out, getting a smile out of her too. "Then that's already a win in my books."
True enough.
Miryoku scoffed and leaned forward to rest her forehead against her bent knees. "Next time, though, try coming up with an idea that doesn't drain my savings."
"Totally worth it in my opinion." Makoto sprung up like a toy and caught Junji's attention as he rolled around on the fresh grass. His ears perked up the moment Makoto made her way to him, the roughhousing commencing almost immediately. "Kyushu's lovely! And most importantly, I'm sure there's loads of gossip for you to write about."
Miryoku groaned at the reminder. Her mouth fell agape ready to counter that point when her phone rang. Fishing it out of her pocket and peeking at the number on the screen wrenched another groan from her, this one far louder than the last.
Makoto let out an apologetic chuckle, pausing in her dancing with Junji at recognizing that painstaking sound. "Did I jinx it?" All she got as a response was another peeved glare before Miryoku answered the call.
No use ignoring it forever. No matter how much I wish I could.
"Chimni here."
"Miryoku, good to hear from you. How's the move going?"
"It's going." Not wanting to beat around the bush but knowing that she would hate herself for asking, she took one long breath before opting for the least of two evils. "Is something the matter?"
Thankfully—or not—he didn't either.
"I've got an urgent matter on my hands."
There it is.
"It's my day off." He hadn't even asked yet but she wasn't that dumb. Why else call? Besides, the excuse came out without her even having to think about it. A lame excuse, yes, but a valid one nonetheless.
"I know, but we've got to nail this interview if we want to finish the piece before the Billboard showcase."
"You know the staff's made up of others aside from me, right?" Miryoku knew arguing only put him in a worse mood. But she asked for the day off for a reason; all she wanted to do after unpacking was snuggle with Junji with a hot cup of coffee and a good book for once. Work was the last thing she wanted to deal with at the moment. "Can't you get someone else to do it?"
"They're all busy with their work."
And I'm not? "What about Saori?"
"She's got her hands full with the main piece."
How in the—she's had two months to work on it?!
A grumble or two escaped her out of annoyance but other than that she managed to keep her mouth shut. Complaining wouldn't get her anywhere. Not unless it was a reprimand she wanted. It certainly didn't mean it didn't irked her though.
"I don't know, boss. I've never asked for a day off before. Was kind of hoping I'd get it for once."
"I'll double your bonus for the hours you work on the piece."
Mm...
"Triple the bonus. And give me first pick and free reign on my piece for the spring issue."
The click of his tongue came from the other line rather promptly. "That's quite a handful you're asking."
"It's quite a handful you're asking of me on my day off that you authorized." Miryoku pursed her lips in an attempt to hide her giddiness, something useless seeing as it was a phone call. But if he wanted to gamble, she'd play. She loved a good gamble. "I suppose you could get someone else to do it if you're not up to it."
"Cheeky brat." Through his words she heard that typical surly scoff and could imagine the amused look on the old man's face.
Just thinking of it and what that meant caused her nose to scrunch up when she smiled. "You called me for a reason, boss."
"Better get to the office soon then. The interview is at three."
"Debrief me now and give me the address. I'll be ready at the respondent's in an hour."
Five years earlier - Tokyo
"Ta~da!"
Miryoku raised an incredulous eyebrow at Makoto as she held a flyer at her with the widest and goofiest grin she'd ever seen on her friend's face. She slurped her matcha shake noisily and gave Makoto a droll stare over the rim of her red glasses. Pouting at the lack of reaction, Makoto exclaimed again and this time shoved the paper into her chest.
"Read it!"
Miryoku fumbled with the crumpled paper and her shake before setting the latter down and smoothing out the wrinkled flyer. It was amazing to witness just how far her brow furrowed the further she read. By the end though, a small glint shone in her eyes. Makoto's smile beamed at the change of expression on her friend's face, smug pride painting every inch of her face.
"So? So? So?" Makoto asked, bouncing on the balls of her heels expectantly with each word. "What do you think?"
"It's not gonna happen, Mako."
Makoto's enthusiasm deflated faster than a popped balloon. She flung her arms in the air along with the hope she'd placed in that flyer. Unfazed by her friend's characteristic overzealousness, Miryoku went about picking up her cup intent on returning to her peaceful drinking when Makoto abruptly swiped it from her hands.
"Hey!"
"Ryo, you've gotta at least try!"
"Like hell I do," she responded, snatching the shake back. Taking a big slurp while all the chagrin quickly multiplied in her, her cheeks shaded slightly pink at her insisting as her glasses slipped down her nose. "I already told you I'm not doing it."
"Please!" Makoto crouched before her and directed that kicked puppy look at her.
Miryoku drank from her shake unfazed.
"No," she deadpanned.
"Ryo-chan, think about it. Like really think about it. You want to be a journalist, right? Be the creme of the creme?"
Miryoku bit down on her straw as she let those words sink in while still shooting her an uninterested glance. "And?"
"And—that requires a damn good resume! Wouldn't an internship and getting a piece published by one of Japan's most notorious papers give you one helluva ride to whatever school you wanted?"
"That's considering if I win, Makoto."
"Oh, come on!" Makoto shook Miryoku's knees violently and the rest of her along with them. She didn't mind it all that much. She learned a long time ago that any encouragement only incited more of Makoto's zealousness. "You and I both know you could sweep the floor with all the other applicants."
"Not with this prompt." Miryoku slurped once more before shoving the flyer into Makoto's face for a change. "Read it and weep, Tsukauchi."
Makoto's eyes swept across a paper she'd read at least twenty times over. "It's just writing some column on a current hero, their achievements and how they could change the world," she recited before shrugging her shoulders with a coy grin. "What's so difficult about that?"
"I don't want to duke it out with thousands of other applicants writing about how cool and wonderful and world-changing All Might's been to Japan and the world at large for the last couple decades."
Makoto shrugged her shoulders again. Taking the cup from Miryoku's hand, she took another gander at the flyer as she slurped from the matcha shake herself. "I still don't understand what's got you shooting it down. You're top of the class in English and Japanese, president of the journalism club, and head writer in the school newspaper." Makoto counted off each with a finger until she only held the shake with her index finger and thumb. It was easy taking it back with the precarious hold her friend had it in then, something Makoto didn't mind much.
"Don't compare oranges to apples," she rectified, crossing her arms out before her chest in a big, fat 'X'. "Club activities and school newspapers are nothing compared to actual published articles. That I do well in one does not mean I won't wreck the other."
"Certainly not with that attitude." Makoto folded the flyer all the same and slipped it into the pocket of Miryoku's school blazer. Miryoku only watched her with a slight frown. "But seriously, Ryo, think about it. Chances are a dime a dozen but nothing will come of it if you don't ever try. So, c'mon, give yourself a chance."
Those words bounced around Miryoku's head that night.
She laid on her bed scrolling through social media on her phone minutes before dinner. The flyer laid a few inches beside her a crumpled mess from being all day untouched and forgotten in her blazer's pocket. The contest and prize that came with it swam in her mind as she scrolled through the recent news.
All Might. All Might. Best Jeanist. All Might. Endeavor. All Might. All Might. Some debutante, Miruko. All Might. Wait, what's that? Oh, more All Might.
Yeah—there wasn't a doubt in her mind that the contest would be full of nothing but grandiose stories about Japan's number one hero.
Miryoku couldn't blame anybody. Those stories practically wrote themselves. The man wasn't number one for nothing. All the things he did, all the lives he saved—no doubt any given case regarding him would be a page-turner in itself. But that was the problem. All Might gave journalists a handicap. A safe go-to when a story was needed. No one would diss an article written about the man, after all. And he'd done a thousand and one heroisms to keep Japan's papers fed for years.
Makoto hadn't been wrong to think that it'd be easy to write for the prompt. Miryoku didn't have a doubt in her mind that she could do it if she put her mind to it. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that she could do one of two things with it. One, she could go for what Mako considered the 'easy win' and write a column on All Might. But that easily brought her to the first obstacle: oversaturation. If she wanted to catch that particular fish from that river, they'd be lots of other fishers competing for the same thing. And that would only bring more unnecessary competition her way.
The second option wasn't any better. How did that saying go? If you can't join them, beat them?
No, other way around.
Regardless, the point stood. If she couldn't afford duking it out with other All Might articles, the only other option was to write about someone else. But how in the hell was she supposed to find someone just as amazing as Mr. Number One?
Miryoku sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time during the night. From downstairs, her grandpa's voice called from the kitchen. Apparently, they'd be dining out by the sound of it. Grabbing a jacket on her way out, she checked the trending on her phone one last time and stopped a bit short. For once, it wasn't All Might. Instead it was a blurry picture. Something bright red flashing in a blur with speed she couldn't fathom sped through the photo. The headline read, 'Striking as fast as crimson lightning, a new hero arises!'
A whole train wreck. Whoever this striking crimson fellow was, he just saved the whole train wreck that happened not far from where she lived. A bullet train nonetheless. As she strutted down the stairs, she reloaded the trending page over and over as new information came out. More photos, quotes from bystanders and victims, various angles from many videos.
The guy just saved 306 people aboard that train in a matter of seconds. From the looks of things, he wasn't any type of power house of All Might's or even Endeavor's caliber. He was lean and a little on the short side, and those wings…
"Put that thing away!" A smack of a cane on her hand got a yelp from her and took Miryoku's attention away from the picture she'd been lost in. "Seriously, kids these days."
Shaking the pain away, Miryoku took a small peek at the screen one last time before trotting after the short old man who motioned for her to follow after him.
"Hey, gramps, you heard anything recently about some hero with huge crimson wings?"
"Wings?"
Miryoku nodded expectantly.
"He goes by the hero name Hawks."
Present Day - Kyushu
Her foot tapped furiously against the tiled floors of the agency's lobby. Lips pursed ever so slightly and clearly peeved by her current predicament, Miryoku stared at the young intern. From what information her boss oh so distinctively left till the end, they were not only new but would shadow her to get a more 'hands-on' experience for an indefinite period.
Miryoku called bullshit.
She never got to shadow anybody during her internship and she'd been slaving away for the damn publication since her third year of high school. But old resentments aside, this was the worst of the worst. There was a good reason why she always asked to do interviews alone. Most at the office called her prissy because of it but given the fact that she was allowed to do field work on her own, someone up the ladder agreed with her to some extent. That was a plus...until it wasn't. Like when they expected repayment for the liberty given.
Exactly like right now.
A long sigh passed through her nose as she took in the intern. Poor thing was nervous. That much was obvious by how she struggled with her clipboard and camera after almost dropping them a couple of times. She gave Miryoku a meek smile which she felt compelled to reciprocate. She had to remind herself that she'd been in her shoes once. First time interviewing was the worst.
Giving her a break or two won't hurt, I suppose.
So long as she didn't mess up the interview.
"Chimni-san?"
Miryoku turned to one of the sidekicks at the agency who held a clipboard of his own. With a quick glance to double check, he pointed back towards the elevator. "Boss is still out at the moment but you're welcomed to wait at his office while he gets back."
"He's not here? Seriously?" Her brow knitted after pulling back her sleeve to peek at her wristwatch. "The interview's in five minutes."
"I wouldn't worry too much." He dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Our boss doesn't break commitments that easily, especially without previous notice. If he hasn't called us well beforehand to cancel, then it's pretty certain he'll show up."
"Better be on time." Thankfully nobody heard her grumble under her breath. Without further ado, the sidekick led them up the elevator and through a long hallway into the office that ended there. Opening the door, the two of them entered without much preamble.
"If you require anything while you wait, let us know." He motioned to an intercom on the desk and pointed at a button before taking his leave.
Miryoku stepped further into the office, examining and stashing away the details in the recesses of her mind. Spacious came to mind first. Tall came in second. Unlike the lobby five floors below, this one room had a rather high ceiling. It looked tasteful. Notably because one half of the room was walls that were nothing but high window panes that looked out into the city. Surely gave off an awe-inspiring view once dusk fell. But just when Miryoku lost herself thinking what sunset would look like when hitting so many panes of glass at once, the sudden sound of papers and notebooks falling startled her enough to spin about.
The intern scrambled on the floor in a panicked rush to pick up all that she dropped. Miryoku abstained from letting any harsh remarks leave her lips. This wasn't the time to berate her. She still remembered her first interview and if the girl was half as anxious as she'd been all those years ago, then she pitied the poor thing. Walking over, Miryoku carefully crouched to help clean up the mess and quickly quieted the nervous babbling of the girl with a quick smile.
"Relax," Miryoku told her under her breath before helping her up once all the papers were back in their hands. Taking the ones she already had, Miryoku guided the young woman back to the pair of couches set aside for waiting and sat her down. "Now take a deep breathe in," the girl followed her quiet orders, inhaling deeply along with her, "and out."
Once only a few traces of her nervousness were left, Miryoku eyed the papers and notebooks the girl had brought with her for the interview.
"Do you have a recorder?"
"M-M-My phone has one."
Miryoku nodded before plucking from the breast pocket of her blazer a black fountain pen and waving it a few times for emphasis. "Try to get a physical one later. Wouldn't want to compromise info because of an app that didn't save things, believe me. This one's a tad bit on the expensive side but any recorder will do find."
"Y-Yes…"
"Also, it's alright to be nervous," she said smiling before winking at the girl. "The trick is in not letting it show."
"Not letting it show?"
"Mm!" Sitting straight, Miryoku took a deep breath before running her hand down just a few inches in front of the middle of her face. Her face deadpanned with a polite smile for a split second before the caring one from a moment ago beamed out and replaced it. "It's easy once you know how to trigger it. Poker did the trick for me, but don't get into any vices by my account."
A trembling smile came back to the intern's face before she took a deep breath to calm her quivering lip. "Thank you, Chimni-san."
"No worries, um…" Miryoku chuckled and profusely apologized, "I don't think we've properly introduced one another."
"Oh!" the intern called and sat up straighter to bow her head. "I'm Ito Shimei, Chimni-san. It's a pleasure learning under you."
"The pleasure's mine, Ito-san." Miryoku, spotting her wrist watch as she waved her hand dismissively, groaned at the time. "Of course, it'd be much better if we could get you some actual experience with a timely interview."
"You called?"
The deep voice that flowed into the room from above made both of them turn their heads upward and over their shoulders towards the grand glass wall. One of the highest panes folded outward, locking when the pane stood a few degrees open. Just enough, she surmised, for the man that perched himself on the high window to enter whenever he wanted. Large crimson wings beat the few times it took to bring Hawks down from the perch on his window. And though he landed without a hitch, the same couldn't be said about the mess his floor suddenly became with so many red feathers strewn about after that show. He gave a quick 'my bad' before the feathers gathered and took their rightful place back on his wings.
Miryoku let out a long sigh as the current No.3 hero in all of Japan made himself comfortable, removing his jacket to let his wings span behind him freely.
"Sorry 'bout that. Things got a little hairier than I thought," he interjected as he went around to a mini fridge Miryoku hadn't noticed was in the office to take a bottled water from inside. He took a moment to drink but smiled at them after gulping down the liquid. "But I'm here on time, so no harm, no foul."
On time?
Miryoku was about to correct him but stopped short when a brief glance at her wrist watch showed her that it had just turned three on the dot. One end of Hawks lips perked up higher forming a smirk instead of a smile when she looked back up at him. If Miryoku didn't know better—and were she to have terrible work manners—she would've called him out for boasting.
"You must be my 3 o'clock appointment. Which means you girls are here for the interview, right?"
"Indeed." Unamused but hiding it behind a thin-lined smile, Miryoku simply clicked her pen before placing it back in her blazer's pocket and giving the intern a sidelong glance.
Flustered and still nervous, Ito jumped after a few seconds of scrutiny and stumbled with her words, repeating every other word at least three times as she struggled to get her notebook together. Miryoku groaned inwardly at the sight; she slightly regretted giving her the job of interviewing him under her supervision with every passing second. Regardless, though, she also knew that if she didn't get any experience and grow out of her comfort zone, none of it would change.
A little help never hurt anybody.
Miryoku stepped in after Ito fumbled with finding her own pen. Reaching her hand out, Miryoku smiled back at Hawks as she introduced themselves. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Hawks-san. My name's Chimni Miryoku and this is Ito Shimei-san; we come from JP Weekly."
"That was the name." He burst with a snap of his fingers. A chuckle left him as he leaned back against his desk, leaving the water bottle aside to shake her hand. "Well, I'm sure you ladies are pros at this, so fire away."
Taking another deep breath, Miryoku turned to Ito subtly and nodded when the younger woman made eye contact with her. Though she stuttered through the first few words, Ito managed to get out the first question of the list she'd been given. For as much as Miryoku wanted to get this over with and get back to unpacking, she also knew that there was no point in hurrying the intern. She needed to learn as painstakingly slow as she had back when she started, after all. So instead of opening her mouth Miryoku watched over her as the interview went on.
Thankfully, Hawks, whether he noticed Ito's unassuredness or not, made the process a lot smoother. Miryoku couldn't deny that the man was a charmer, something quite obvious by the way he easily swayed Ito back and forth on any single topic before seemingly getting over it and coaxing her to the next. It made her job easier frankly, but she didn't like that he was dragging Ito by the nose because of it. And it wasn't until after five minutes of nonsensical chat that she put her foot forward and decided to intervene with the first random question that popped into her head.
"Say, Hawks-san, if I'm not mistaken, ever since your start as a hero, it's been looking like a swift uphill climb to the top from the outside. But surely there's more to that than mere luck and talent. Would you mind elaborating a bit on how the experience of coming to be the No.3 hero after your debut at eighteen has changed or shaped you—or even if it hasn't, for that matter?"
Amber eyes bore into her as he seemed to stare a second too long. Miryoku stood as relaxed as she could manage under the scrutiny, her smile never faltering from her lips. As if nothing, he chuckled before his gaze went askance as he stretched out his arms in front of him.
"Change is subjective, in my opinion. Nothing much has changed about me. If anything seems to be changing, it's most likely everything surrounding me. Looking at it that way, it kinda just makes it seem like I'm the one moving, don't you think?"
For an instant, Miryoku's facade broke as her brow furrowed at the odd reply. A strange sense of deja vu washed over her at his words but before she could say anything in return, Ito stepped back in to take over. Miryoku didn't mind. In fact, she was thankful for the interruption. For some reason, she couldn't shake off the words he'd said. Have I heard that somewhere before? But whatever she might've or not forgotten turned out strenuous to recall now that every so often she caught Hawks peering over at her. It wasn't like he tried to hide it—neither was she, for that matter—but it didn't take away from the awkwardness it brought.
Just forget about it, Ryo. If it's not about work, no sense worrying about it.
Her brain was right. She had plenty of more things to worry about than some hero being weird towards her. It wasn't anything new. Work hazard, she supposed. Thankfully, Ito mellowed down halfway through and the interview sailed free of issues for the most part after that. Once done, Miryoku stepped forward again as she put her papers in order.
Stretching her hand out again to shake his, she smiled at him courteously. "I believe that's all the questions we have for you, Hawks-san. Again, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to us. We really appreciate it."
"Right back at ya."
Shaking hands, Miryoku began to pull hers back but stopped when his grasp didn't lessen. Her eyes veered upward to meet his and suddenly blinked, astounded by the look he gave her. Something between a pout and a pensive frown twisted his mouth to one side. A rather childish gesture for a man his age if anything. But before she could pull away and not think about it any further, his lips parted and he spoke his mind unbothered.
"Say, have you and I met before?"
What?
Sunset colored eyes went wide for a brief second as the question took her by surprise. 'Have they met before?' What kind of question was that? Just as she was about to deny it, a pricking feeling at the back of her mind stopped the words from escaping her mouth. The ache in her brain was bothersome, and though it had her brow scrunched down together in thought, Miryoku readily decided on her answer and parted her lips to speak.
"Sorry." Miryoku blinked in confusion once more when Hawks spoke ahead of her. Finally letting go of her hand, he chuckled and brushed a hand through windswept, dark blonde tresses. "I seriously thought we might've met before but I guess not."
Miryoku's perplexion didn't waver much though even after Hawks called for his sidekicks to escort them out. It had her sparing glances over her shoulder at the Winged Hero a couple times before giving up when the doors closed behind them.
What was up with that?
"Chimni-san?"
She blinked at Ito, returning back down to earth with the one call and assuring her that she'd done a good job for her first time. "Go ahead to the office and classify that. I'll walk you through how to start the column first thing tomorrow."
"Yes, ma'am."
Miryoku waved after Ito as she left in a cab and stood back once alone to stare up at the towering building that was the current No.3's agency in the heart of Kyushu. Deftly twirling her pen between her fingers deep in thought, Miryoku let out an exasperated breath before clicking off the recorder and pocketing it back in her blazer.
"No time for overthinking things," she mumbled to herself and turned on her heels to head to her car. She had a new home to furnish and they had finished considerably later than she had first guessed. It'd take long into the night to get anymore. Miryoku sighed again as she walked off to the parking lot, a certain doubt lingering in her mind.
He must've been mistaken.
Five years ago—Tokyo
The blinding blue light of her computer screen reflected back at her from the glass of red rimmed glasses tiring her sight and making Miryoku reach underneath them to rub at her tired eyes.
Fourteen straight hours of researching online about the up and coming 'Winged Hero' and the next eight writing up a rough draft of the article had snatched most of her day up without her noticing. She'd gotten too into this without meaning to. Much like everything else that caught her attention, it absorbed her and blinded her to her surroundings. Even gramps knew not to bother her when she was like that and had only left her some taiyaki for her to snack on when she waved off going downstairs to properly eat dinner.
But even that small period of starvation proved useless when she had spent the last couple of hours stuck on a writer's block. For as inspired as she had been, it proved harder the further she wrote into it. Each time she reread what she had, it only made it all the clearer how superficial it all sounded. It hadn't bothered her too much at first. It was just some lousy contest that she was writing this for after all. But she couldn't help caring now. No matter what it was for, this was still something she wrote. It was a piece she put heart and time into. It was something that—dare she admit—interested her for once. And because of that, it was easily becoming a work of pride for her. Just any half-assed written paper wouldn't do. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it the right way.
And that 'right way' continued to elude her way into the late hours of the evening.
Now at 3:54 in the morning, her stomach rumbled in blatant criticism of her poor health choices. She was dying of hunger which only added to her frustration. And surely gramps had only bought the taiyaki for dinner like he always did when she left him to fend for himself where food was concerned. There wasn't anything in the fridge either since she hadn't gone grocery shopping with how engrossed she'd become working on the dumb article. How is he still alive after living like this for all these years? Letting that be with a hefty groan, Miryoku leaned back in her chair to stare at the dark ceiling of her room for a minute.
"Guess konbini bento it is."
Jumping out of her chair, Miryoku snatched a spare jacket from the floor along with her wallet and quietly sprinted down the stairs of their home, making extra sure that her grandpa was asleep before shoving her shoes on and walking out the front door. Sprinting halfway there, Miryoku felt her chest burn as the crisp winter air entered her lungs finally making her continue in a brisk walk instead. Donning her jacket and pulling the hood over her head, she adjusted her glasses that had slipped down her nose and stared up and ahead through the empty streets of her neighborhood.
It was quiet and peaceful as usual. Despite being a short train ride from the apex of Tokyo, her grampa's rundown house was part of the more dilapidated part of town. More seniors lived around these parts than anything and though it had great dining options, they weren't many places that meritted going without company. Which is why she thanked her lucky stars that a konbini was within a fair walking distance from the house.
Miryoku didn't take long to pick out her bento, some apple juice and assorted candy before heading out with a hefty bag full of snacks in hand. It was while mindlessly walking ahead and struggling to put her wallet away in her back pocket that a chill ran down her spine a moment before a large hand snagged said wallet from her grasp.
"Hey!"
The thief didn't spare her a glance. He ran off at full speed down the dimly lit road. It took a moment of grounding herself before Miryoku sprinted after him too with her bag hanging behind her. "Get back here, you asshole!"
But keeping him in sight proved harder than she thought with how badly in shape she was. Soon, Miryoku noticed him getting further and further away and when she thought she'd definitely lose him and her wallet for good, she took a last ditch effort to stop him. Grabbing the bag full of snacks in both hands, Miryoku sprinted forward and hauled the bag and everything in it right at the thief's back with all her might. Though it missed his back which was her intended target, the heavy bag struck him squarely behind his knees and made him lose momentum. Regrettably, it hadn't been enough to make him stop.
No!
Just as she thought he'd surely get away, small flashes of red darted past the corner of her vision, the light from the streetlights making their color all the more vibrant as they caught the thief's clothes and shoved him to the ground with unbelievable strength, effectively pinning him in the street for good measure. Miryoku stopped in her tracks, breathing heavy and shallow as she adjusted her glasses again to get a better look of what'd happened. Half her groceries were scattered on the floor, and not far from the thief her wallet itself, but what caught her attention most were the large crimson feathers that pierced through the man's clothes deep into the asphalt street.
"Sorry 'bout that!" The carefree tone that floated above her made her turn skyward just in time to see a blur of red fall a few feet away from her. Miryoku covered her face from the rush of air that fell on her and blinked at the large crimson wings that unfurled as the owner turned to face her.
Amber eyes stared back at her and a satisfied smile spread across the face of the man she had spent the whole day learning about.
"Oh, here," Hawks said, sprinting up to her wallet that was the nearest thing to him and passing it on to her. "Gotta say, you're lucky I heard ya when I did otherwise there'd go your money. Nice hit, by the way, though your groceries might've suffered some casualties."
Miryoku blinked in utter disbelief as the man bend over to readily pick up the snacks that fell out of the plastic bag. Seeing him do this snapped her out of her stupor. Just when she was going to help him pick the rest of the sweets, she got caught off guard by the flurry of red feathers that effortlessly went about picking up the rest. In a matter of minutes, Hawks approached her with an open bag as his feathers deposited the items they retrieved and passed on the full bag back to her with a goofy grin on his face.
"Here ya go."
Carefully, she took it in her hands, thanking him under her breath and watched him from a few feet away as he dealt with the thief. Curious and without knowing, Miryoku mindlessly followed him back to the konbini where he and the cashier took care of calling the police. She honestly didn't know why she stayed behind. But she did, waiting with them for the authorities to arrive. But when they did and she gave her statement about what happened, Miryoku finally decided to head back home when she found him busy talking to the police. A small part of her wanted to talk to him if even for a few minutes. Just a few words to help her out of her writer's block. But that was too much to hope for. Even she knew that. And even if the opportunity had risen, Miryoku would've no doubt spoiled it somehow with her more than lacking social skills.
Decidedly leaving the konbini behind, she stared down at her feet as she walked through the empty streets. Her mind reeled with what just happened despite the quietness that surrounded her. The blur of red that had flashed right before her eyes—it reminded her of lightning, but faster.
Much, much faster.
"Miss, dontcha think it's unsafe to walk by yourself with what just happened to ya?"
Vibrant red blocked her vision for a moment before amber eyes met with hers. Miryoku yelped out and held a hand to her chest from the heart attack that the winged man gave her by appearing out of the blue in front of her. Mumbling under her breath, she kept looking to where she'd left the konbini behind and back to him questioning with a mere look from where the hell he'd come from.
A bubbly chuckle came out of him as he landed before her, his huge wings tucking themselves behind him as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Leaning on one leg, he tilted his head and grinned, "Sorry 'bout that."
"It's alright," she said. Looking back once more, she stared back at him confused. "Not to be rude but what are you doing here?"
"Oh, right!" The feathers on his wings rustled when he perked up, startling Miryoku a little from the sudden movement. "I came here 'cause I thought you'd want a ride home with the police after what happened."
"I don't need it," she quickly retorted.
"Ya just got mugged though."
"And I'm fine." Miryoku couldn't help being miffed at his insinuation. "I thank you for helping me back there but I'm not that helpless. So thanks, but no thanks about the ride. Besides, my house is pretty close by. I'll be fine getting back by myself."
Hawks' brow furrowed and his nose scrunched up as he frowned. Seemingly at odds with himself, he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck for a moment before his eyes widened in realization. Suddenly he smiled that goofy grin back at her again. That didn't bode well for her.
"Then let me walk ya back!"
"No thank you."
Not waiting for his answer, Miryoku sidestepped him and walked off on her own. It didn't take long before she heard the soft flapping of wings following behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she glared back at Hawks who stopped dead in his tracks, hovering a few inches off the floor as he followed after her with a nervous grin.
"Ya don't have to give me that look."
A small tick came to her jaw. "I already said no." She gave him her back and kept walking ahead despite still hearing the soft beating of his wings as he flew behind her. "And besides, don't you have a mugger to report?"
"The cops took care of him, so my job's done."
"Then you should head home yourself. It's quite late to be out and about."
"I could say the same about ya, missy."
"Yeah, well…" When she couldn't come up with anything, heat rushed up her cheeks and ears. Really, how stupidly pity could she be? Regardless of the obvious answer, she doubled down. "I seriously don't need you to accompany me."
"What kind of hero would I be if I didn't escort a lady like yourself?"
"One with too much time on his hands, that's for sure," she mumbled under her breath.
"Ha!" Hawks laughed finally flying beside her, his lower feathers brushing carelessly against her arm. "You couldn't be more wrong, missy."
"You really don't know when to be quiet, do you?"
"It's a gift," he coyly replied.
Miryoku couldn't help but sigh in frustration. Who in their right mind would've thought the youngest hero with an agency of his own, a prodigy of his generation, would be such a handful to deal with?
Thankfully, her house was only a short walk back and Hawks landed just at the foot of the few steps that led up to the front door of her house. Miryoku stepped back and nodded to it as she climbed the last step up, hand already on the doorknob.
"See? Not that far."
He scoffed but that cheeky, lopsided grin never left his face. "It's hard for ya to say 'thanks,' ain't it?"
"No," she rectified, more than peeved about that comment. "I said it before. I also said that walking me back wasn't needed. Quite a waste of your time, actually."
"Eh, that's kinda subjective if ya ask me." Hawks shrugged his shoulders before flapping his wings to get a good few feet off the floor. "Well, have a goodnight, missy." He saluted her with a couple of his fingers, "Be careful on your next late night stroll!"
Miryoku was about to retort at the cheeky remark but before she could, that heap of red dashed out of sight leaving nothing but the faint blur of crimson in her vision. She shook her head as she went inside and quietly headed to her room with all her food. Sitting back behind her computer, Miryoku stared at the screen where her article laid open and half written. But despite wanting to focus, she found herself thinking over and over about their small conversation in those few minutes of a stroll.
She leaned forward to cradle her chin in her hands and reread her article, his words replaying in her head as she concocted an image of the young hero.
Brash. Reckless. Chirpy.
Precocious sounds better.
"...the precocious man…"
She twirled a strawberry pocky stick in her mouth with her tongue and stopped at the sound of what she'd mindlessly spoken. Letting it sink and liking the sound of it, she bit down on the treat and stretched back before going back to typing furiously at her keyboard.
Present Day— Streets of Kyushu
A yawn escaped Miryoku as she made her way through the empty streets. Though it wasn't terribly late, her neighborhood turned out to be the quiet type. Returning home after that interview, she found herself working late into the day with and without Makoto to arrange her new place a little. Between that and having a few words with the couple of kind neighbors that welcomed her, it took most of the day to finish arranging just the master bedroom alone. But seeing as the two of them had work the next day, she dismissed Makoto, thanking her for the help.
Makoto had squeezed her hands, that grand smile of hers becoming tender as she leaned in to embrace her.
"No need to thank me. You know we'd do anything to help you, Ryo. Enjoy your new home and try taking it easy for a while. You deserve it."
Take it easy, huh? Miryoku doubted that was even possible. Between work and moving in, her days would be rather busy for the next couple of weeks. Well, better busy than preoccupied with worry, she supposed.
Work sounded infinitely better than letting her mind wonder and upset her. Tired as she was though, Miryoku only wanted to sleep. That had been the plan until her stomach rumbled incessantly. And with her fridge empty from the move, she found herself looking up the nearest place to get something to eat. Lucky for her, a konbini was only a few streets away.
"Back to the university diet for the next few days it is." She never understood how she and Makoto survived those months living off of konbini bentos, rice bowls and snacks.
The bell rang above her head when she entered the small establishment. The cashier cheerily welcomed her from his spot on the other side of the register and Miryoku nodded in the young man's direction with a smile before heading down a random aisle.
Bento or onigiri?
Miryoku dawdled trying to make a choice when she overheard the bell at the front ring again. Though she ignored it at first, she couldn't well ignore the unmanly shriek that erupted from the front and caught her attention in the quiet store. Instantly, her head snapped back over her shoulder. At recognizing what was happening, she instantly hid behind the nearest shelf.
"Don't try anything funny." The man that had entered brusquely shoved the sharpened knife he had as an arm, most likely activated by his Quirk, at the poor cashier who backed away from the weapon. With the other hand, the man shoved a bag into the cashier's arms who clumsily held it. "Now put all the cash in there, quick!"
Miryoku rolled her eyes before running her hands down her face in exasperation. It just had to be her luck, didn't it? Why do you do this to me, god? She crouched down and stared up at the small mirror that ran along the top of one of the shelves to watch the robbery take its course. It didn't sit well with her, but it wasn't like she could do much. Realistically speaking, her best chance was to wait it out.
But you're not that weak, are you?
This was an 'armed' robbery and as a citizen, she legally couldn't do anything.
I'm not using my Quirk.
Who said anything about using it?
Her orange eyes blinked at the thought. Helping without using her Quirk? She guessed that was an option. But how the hell was she supposed to do that? It wasn't until she lifted her gaze from off the ground and the shelf of soda caught her attention that an idea popped into her head.
It was a long shot, not mention dumb, but it could work.
Arming herself, Miryoku moved closer behind the aisles as far from the register as she could before crouching down just behind the last shelf that stood in front of the exit to wait. It wasn't until the robber made haste to leave with the bag full of cash in hand that Miryoku snagged her chance. Rushing out after him, Miryuko took a huge breath of air before shouting.
"Hey, asshole!"
The robber turned and before he could do anything, Miryoku threw a large soda she'd taken with her. Instinctively from the warning, the man raised and activated his Quirk, his arm sharpening to an edged knife and cut right through the large plastic bottle, the contents of it splashing all over his face. Miryoku took the small opening and rushed in with the other full bottle and raised it to swing at his head but the robber's hand, having let go of the bag, caught the bottle midair to stop her.
"You little bitch!"
Miryoku jumped back as fast as she could when he swung his knife arm around haphazardly, barely getting nicked on the arm by the blade. Holding her arm with the other, she turned up to see the robber wiping away the soda only to have her dead in his sight.
"You shouldn't have done that."
"On the contrary, you're the one who made a huge mistake hurting a young lady."
It all happened too fast for her to see then.
Flashes of crimson was all Miryoku saw rushing past the corners of her eyes before they caught the mugger by his clothes, pinning him back against the concrete wall of a nearby building and rendering him immobile. Taken aback, Miryoku spun around to find the source and only stopped when the wind around her got swept back by huge crimson wings beating down.
"Oh." Hawks' amber eyes widened a bit when spotting her as he hovered to the floor safely and tucked his wings behind himself. "You're the journalist lady from this morning!"
Stupefied as she was by her ridiculous stroke of luck, it took her a moment to respond. "Y-Yeah…"
"What a coincidence." Without notice, he approached her and reached out for her arm. Instinctively, Miryoku drew it back into the safety of her chest before he could even touch her. Hawks raised his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm just going to check your injury."
"It's just a scratch," she assured him a little too quickly.
"You're not bleeding that much from 'just a scratch'."
"I don't need stitches."
Hawks tilted his head mildly amused by her doggedness. "Wouldn't that be for a medic to say?"
Miryoku opened her mouth ready to argue that point when their banter got interrupted by the cashier from the konbini rushing to them with their cellphone in hand. Apparently the young buck had called the police the moment the mugger and Miryoku had exited the store. By the sound of the sirens and blaring lights, they hadn't been far from the place. Ready to split, Miryoku said 'to hell with food' deciding to walk back home to treat her cut instead. The moment she took a step out of bounds though, a curtain of red lowered right in front of her face and she yelped in surprise, getting a mouthful of downy feathers in her mouth.
"Where'd you think you're going, missy?"
"H-Home," she sputtered, smacking his overgrown wing away from her face.
"Don't think so." Hawks pointed behind him where the police were already taking care of handcuffing the culprit and where a small ambulance had arrived as precaution. "Might wanna take advantage of free help with that scratch of yours."
"Thanks but no thanks." Before Miryoku could even leave, crimson feathers tugged at her jacket pulling her back with a force she didn't think possible of such downy, light things. No matter how many she smacked away, more came and eventually dragged her to the ambulance despite her protests.
"There, see?" His satisfied smirk irked her as he stood by watching her get treated. "How hard was that?"
Miryoku grumbled under her breath but couldn't bring herself to bicker when her cut stung ever the slightest while being treated. It wasn't as bad as she had thought, but the medic did say that it was a good thing that they took care of it now properly than let the injury fester.
With a curt 'thank you' to the medic, Miryoku left the whole issue behind her while the police kept the hero busy. She had already given her statement to another officer while being treated, after all. There wasn't any need for her to stay despite what her grumbling stomach said. She held it for good measure the further she got from the konbini and was thinking that maybe just going to sleep would fight off the hunger when something fell from the sky atop her head. Cursing quote loudly, Miryoku spotted the packaged onigiri as it rolled off from her head just in time to scramble after it before it fell to the floor.
Almost knowingly, she turned skyward to find the winged hero as he hovered closer to her side before landing.
"Cashier boy said that's on the house," Hawks said with a nod at the onigiri she now held. "And thanks for the help."
Miryoku rotated the packaged rice ball in her hands before sighing, a small smile coming to her lips at the kind gesture.
"No good deed, huh?"
And he went ahead and ruined it.
"You don't know when to be quiet, do you?" Miryoku picked up her step to head back home. The minute of pause that gave her hope died pretty quickly when she heard his wings flapping as he flew over once more.
"Say, missy, have we really never met before?"
"Highly doubt it." She had interviewed plenty of heroes through the years in her current company but they were all part of the more unknown crowd. The kind of heroes she liked bringing a spotlight to. Seldom were high profile cases given to her—except when they were, of course. "Also, would you please stop following me?"
"I'm trying to make sure you don't get into anymore trouble on your way home, missy."
"It's a few blocks over," she retorted. Her cheeks puffed up a little in mild annoyance as she mumbled under her breath, "And my name's not 'missy'."
"It was Chimni-san, right?"
Taken aback by the fact that he remembered for a split second, Miryoku's brow furrowed slightly when she turned to eye him over her shoulder. Hawks only held a satisfied smile that irked her further and got her to up her pace.
"Don't look so creeped out." Hawks let out a small chuckle as he hopped on the street, lasting a few moments longer in air every time before hovering completely off of it in the end. "I remember stuff easily."
"I highly doubt that when the journalists that interview you are easily far from a few."
"A few hundred would be right, actually."
Miryoku rolled her eyes as they turned the corner into her neighborhood. From here, she could spot her front yard light that she'd left on.
"My point stands. No one in their right mind remembers a name out of a few hundred for no reason."
"Well," he said rather mindlessly as he hovered on his back, facing the sky and folding his arms behind his head, "I suppose it'd be because I could've sworn we've met before."
"Is this the kind of pick up line used these days?"
This time his laughter resounded more than before, boisterous and a little airy.
"Hardly."
Miryoku finally stopped and Hawks stopped along with her, landing behind her as she stopped in front of her house. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he waited for her to walk through the short frontgate and take the few steps that led to her front door. Turning the key and unlocking her door, Miryoku thought of just going inside without another word but was stopped by her need to give merit where it was warranted.
He did save you, Ryo. Why did her consciousness always oddly sound like Makoto at times like these?
It was right though. She couldn't deny it that. Heaving a long sigh, she stepped back to meet his gaze.
"Thank you for helping me back there."
Hawks gave a small bow with his head, "You're welcome." Kicking off, Miryoku held her hair back from her face as the wind kicked up with the beating of his wings as they lifted him off the ground. "Take care when you're out on your next late night stroll, alright?"
With that he left and Miryoku found the peacefulness of silence in her home only disrupted by Junji bounding up to her to welcome her home. She mindlessly ripped the onigiri open and bit down on it as her other hand petted him, her mind wandering somewhere she didn't know.
Why does this feel like deja vu?
Distracted as she was with eating and petting Junji, Miryoku failed to see the small stack of boxes that she'd left haphazardly in the middle of the hallway towards the stairs and ran smack into it. The couple of boxes on the top toppled, their contents spilling over onto the ground making both her yelp in surprise and Junji bark out in high alert. Cursing her cluelessness, she wolfed down the rest of her onigiri before going around picking up her things and chucking them all back into a box without a care.
The more she eyed them as she went along picking them up, the more she realized that these boxes must've been her old keepsakes from her time living at her grandpa's. Those boxes had laid mostly unopened when she moved out of his house and she hadn't thrown any of them away when she started packing to move out of her old one. The collection ranged from school prizes to old newspaper clippings to binders of old works of hers. Even an old picture album or two from her college days too. Though reminiscing sounded like fun, she was plenty tired after what happened. With rest in mind, Miryoku was about to head off to bed when Junji trotted up to her with a piece of paper caught in his mouth.
"Oh, thanks, Jun. Such a good boy, helping me clean up." Junji barked giddily, releasing his hold on the paper the moment Miryoku tugged it out of his mouth and started mindlessly petting him with the other hand.
Curious about the lone piece of paper, Miryoku read over it, saying the words lowly under her breath. It was a letter. From JP Weekly. It was five years old. That's odd. She hadn't contacted her work to intern there until after she came back to Japan from abroad about two years ago. Why did she have this from them from before that?
"...we thank you for participating in our annual competition…"
Competition? The moment she read further, she froze and suddenly everything made sense.
"Say, have you and I met before?" "Say, missy, have we really never met before?"
"...ah, fuck…"
Miryoku crouched down into a ball while holding onto the old letter tightly in her grasp. Junji worried as could be took the few steps forward to stick his head between her folded arms to poke his wet nose against her face. But not even he could dig her out of the hole of embarrassment she was now in.
How the hell did I forget about this!?
Five years ago—Tokyo
"It's here! It's here! It's here!"
Miryoku almost choked on her drink the moment Makoto and the rest of their friends burst into their apartment, the former holding an envelope high in her hands. Her chest ready to burst from the excitement, Miryoku dropped everything and ran up to Makoto, jumping in the air to grab the envelope that her friend kept teasingly out of hand.
"Makoto!"
Makoto chuckled before finally giving her the envelope. To her surprise though, Miryoku froze and held it, reading the address of the company that she had entered her article written in beautiful cursive. Makoto held Miryoku by the shoulders as the rest of their friends huddled closer eager to see the results. But when Miryoku took a little too long, Makoto leaned her chin against her shoulder and quietly asked, "Everything alright?"
The eagerness that had shone in her face faded somewhat as worry began to etch itself on her features.
"What if...it wasn't good enough? What if all that hard work really was for nothing?"
A soft smile tugged at the corner of Makoto's lips as she took her hands and placed them over Miryoku's.
"Well, that's not something you can say, is it? Not until you read what it says in here."
Carefully, she helped her rip the envelope open but stopped there. With a long breath, Miryoku took out the letter and read it.
A/N:
First new story of 2020. I'm happy it's this one, to be honest.
Alright, cards on the table. I honestly had no intention of publishing this anytime soon (rewriting that old dgm story was actually something I wanted to do first). But after a chat with some friends, I decided to leave it to a coin toss. They were as excited as I (unexpectedly) was when it landed on tails. So here we are.
This will be my second my hero academia story, and though i'll be working on this one in the background while writing for GR and TM, it'll entice me to actually think about it now that's up and running. This first chapter might look somewhat familiar to some of you who're following Birds of a Feather Collection. I did publish it there first. It's taken down now, but i've changed it some from that post. This'll be the new and improved first chapter to IwaWH!
Let me know what you guys think of it! I'll be sure to work on the next chapter when I can (i've already got some idea of how it'll go down too).
So until then hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for the next chapter in this new story~
- Evie