Heartstopper

'Enough of this, Hawks!'

Despite the message being made up of code, it wasn't difficult to decipher the anger from the President of the Commission. Hawks stood before them in the vacant room, exchanging codes and looks to each other as to not disturb the careful surveillance in his wings.

Hawks received another message, decoding it in expert timing. He surveyed the stern yet professional voice of the message, all while the President looked on.

'Six months ago, you were tasked with a simple order - to discern the Quirk of a lone woman.'

Hawks stood there as he scanned the message, gloved hands tucked lazily into his jacket pocket, downplaying the severity of the situation.

'Your first report yielded no results. Then you claim to have found her, but provided no context for your findings. Then your most recent report states she is no longer at the residence on file. What have you been doing, Hawks?' spouted the message. At the same time, she slammed the report on her desk with just enough force to make her point. 'We should already be aware of this woman's Quirk, and the potential danger along with it.'

Hawks glanced at the irate woman in front of him, and at the silent but equally fed-up assistant, offering them a mere shrug as a response.

The President's eyes squinted in frustration, her darting hand busy at work with another message.

'Need I remind you of your almost perfect record of solving cases such as these within days, many of which were far more difficult to achieve?'

At that, Hawks remained motionless, his eyes travelling up to meet hers, their tense forms locked in a stalemate.

'If I did not know any better,' her message read, 'it would be likely that the reason for your unusual falter in the case is due to personal feelings that may have developed for the girl. What are you concealing from us?'

Hawks had to restrain his expression to maintain a neutral façade, but it did nothing to stop his heart from thumping powerfully at the words that had just been written in front of him.

'And what's more,' the message added as the President observed with a knowing look, 'Are those new piercings?'

He should have known he was only delaying the inevitable, and there were only a certain few ways this case could be closed, to Hawks' dismay.

His lids lowered as he responded through the same code, seeking to take attention away from her accusation, his message reading, 'With cases like these, there's always some danger involved. There is a reason for her to hide herself from society - I'll admit that much. Although, why the League is so desperate to recruit her… that part remains unclear.'

The president blinked a few times. 'A reason? Have you got something to tell me?'

Hawks then thought for a moment. It was to be expected that this part of the job wasn't going to be easy, but what Hawks wasn't expecting was the powerful blow to his chest upon even contemplating spilling the secret of her Quirk. But it shouldn't matter, the other side of him argued, if it meant tipping the fate of the world in their favor.

Hawks' hands balled into tense fists at the thought, barely managing to stop himself from stating it out loud.

'I'm afraid so. This Quirk has the power to bring things back to life.'

The sound of wind blaring through the window roused Jun awake as Hawks quietly scooted into bed. With a deep, sultry sigh, he settled stiffly under the sheets, trying to unwind. He kept up an impressive poker face, but his body subconsciously allowed a little leeway with showing his true emotions in front of her, evidenced by the clear tension in his body language.

She had a feeling that his mind was refusing to rest. Turning over, Jun wrapped an arm around his chest and shoulder, delivering a swift peck to his cold cheek. That was all it took before he began melting into her affectionate touch.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"Talk about what's troubling you, bird brain."

"Hm?" Hawks peeked his eyes open at Jun before shutting them again and shrugging. "I'm good. Seriously."

"I'm gonna have to call bullshit on that, Hawks. I can feel it."

"Jun. It's my job to worry about you, not the other way around."

Jun stared at him accusingly, lifting herself onto her elbows. "Why is it that I had to try so hard to open up to you, but you can't do the same? Aren't these things supposed to be give-and-take?"

Hawks thought about it for a moment, realizing that she was right. Perhaps he was asking too much of her without offering much of himself in return.

"Hawks… what's eating at you, really? And don't try me with that 'I'm fine' nonsense, either."

His palms began to sweat. In truth, he was close to breaking the news of his meeting that morning, moments from confessing that her secret was no longer between the two of them, but what came out was something entirely different.

"I've… been tasked to investigate a current missing person's case, which is believed to be related to the Heartstopper cases, but our inspections don't usually take this long. I was advised to team up with heroes at other agencies, but that's not my style. I've never had to gather much of formal information. I leave that to the sidekicks. But this case… something about it… is off."

Jun jumped out of bed at the news, much to Hawks' surprise. "So you're hiring me to help you, right?!"

At that, Hawks inwardly facepalmed. He should've known to have picked a better excuse. "Heh, we'll talk about it in the morning, alright?"

"Sounds like a date!"

Jun's face immediately turned red upon waking up and finding that Hawks had snuck out and left for the day. He had stalled long enough to slip out and avoid talking about the case further, much to her frustration.

Still, juggling all this responsibility on his plate was something the hero had long since been accustomed to, but between this case, his agency, keeping Jun safe, and who knew what else – it clearly dampened his spirit. The lines under his eyes were proof of that. His stress-rimmed eyes sent a pang through her heart. It was then she decided to do a little investigating of her own. Jun had been training under Hawks, after all. She could handle herself!

Meanwhile, Hawks glided around the city on his routine patrol, his mind wracked with guilt after lying and leaving that night. He had enough time to write a letter and place it in a red envelope on the counter for Jun to find before leaving for the day. He only hoped that she would understand.

Instead of heading toward the counter, Jun made a beeline for the closed door of Hawks' personal workspace. She had seen him lock himself out once and used a feather to pick the lock open, which she did the same with one of the many strays littered around the house. On his desk was a stack of files hastily piled on top one another. Going down a few yielded no results on the case she was looking for, coming closer to the report of Hawks' meeting with the Commission earlier that week, only to stop short at a case file simply titled:

'CASE #6 - HEARTSTOPPER'

That name… it looks like the name of that missing person case Hawks was stressing about! It states that he was last seen in the outskirts of Fukuoka only a couple days ago, but his current whereabouts are unknown.

Jun took the case file out to the kitchen, slamming the heavy caseload onto the counter and unknowingly brushing away the letter addressed to her as it fell and got wedged in the crack between the counter and wall.

Hey, I think I know that place. That's close to the beach where Hawks took me… where we trained for the first time… and…

Jun forced the imposing blush away from her cheeks before it could spread any further.

Focus, Jun! This may be super important for Hawks' investigation! It's the middle of winter, nobody would ever think to look near that beach for anyone. This may be my chance!

Jun's first instinct was to call Hawks. Of course, he didn't answer.

The second most logical step was to notify the police. It led to her begging them to give her a ride to the beach to investigate further. They simply stated they were not a taxi service, but she was happy to give them directions to the place instead.

Apparently, 'That beach near Fukuoka' was not specific enough.

The call ended with them sparing Jun a weak, "We'll look into it," after searching the other suspected areas first, which they predicted would take over a week.

Irritation began setting in. Jun couldn't afford to wait until Hawks got home to tell him what she found. It wasn't uncommon for him to be away unexpectedly for days at a time. It absolutely ate her up inside to think she might have found where this man was but withheld it for Hawks' sake. That wedge of guilt morphed into an overpowering weight from imagining if that man had perished as a result of her inaction.

With newfound resolve, Jun began packing supplies, even if this was more so a scouting mission that would take about a day. A more experienced person would have been smart enough to read the rest of the case file rather than merely the headline – as that would have informed her that it was discovered that this particular missing person had connections with a known criminal who was wanted for the murder of five people. The Heartstopper.

Using the GPS on her phone, taking the bus to the destination took about half a day's time, using up all the battery power in the process. The beach was vacant. Patches of snow riddled the hardened sand as the overcast spread layers of fog around the area. It was at this point it struck Jun that it wouldn't make much sense for a missing person to be left at an open space like a beach. Her hands tightened against the straps around her shoulders, a faint green light radiating from them. Something inside told Jun this was the right place to be as she stepped toward the foggy unknown.

The search went for hours. There was nothing of interest, no body to report, nothing. Despondent, Jun was in the midst of turning around to go home – until a strange groan emanated from a cave in the nearby cliff, prompting her to dash toward it. Deep inside showed nothing but more sand, then indents in the ground which indicated a struggle, then pieces of tattered clothing…

…then blood.

Jun gasped and covered her mouth at the sight, trying hard from escaping any noise. Further in was the body of a grown man, his lifeless form slumped over against a wall, as if something deliberately put him there. Jun turned to run for help, the contents of her stomach churning and threatening to empty at the sight.

A raspy, almost inhuman voice then bellowed a short distance away, a menacing silhouette blocking the exit.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I-I got lost," Jun lied. "I'm expecting a – a friend soon. They should be here any min-"

"You're a horrible liar," the shadow interrupted and began stepping closer, cornering her in. "Liars piss me off."

Jun swallowed dryly. "You – you're a villain, I take it?"

"You know what else pisses me off? Labels."

"Wait, I-" Her lips began shaking harder, ignoring the violent rate of her heartbeat pounding against her chest. "L-Listen to me, I know how the League of Villains work. They want me. When they find out you touched me, they'll kick you out – or worse."

"League?" The man paused. "You think all villains are made up of one lone league?"

"I – uhm…"

"Ignorance," he howled, his bare feet dragging along the reddened sand as he got closer, revealing a pale, belligerent looking man with thick gloves. "Ignorance pisses me off the most."

Trembling hands reached for the two knife-sized feather daggers as Jun held them near her face defensively. "Wh-what did you do? What did this man ever do to you?"

The man snarled, an inhuman noise radiating from deep within his chest.

"He pissed me off."

He removed one glove, revealing a bony hand with unnaturally elongated fingers. His slow trudge toward Jun contorted into a rapid sprint, his one branch-like hand extending toward her.

Jun's fight instincts kicked in at the sight, her body acting before she could process it to lunge forward, blocking his fingers off with both daggers, holding there in a stalemate. Blood from his hand dripped into the sand below as her heartbeat pounded against her head.

One of Jun's knees then bent forward as her other foot jammed into his stomach, forcing the villain to release his hold.

She then backhanded him in the face with the dagger as he struggled back against her, having to bend forward to aim his arm at her chest. Jun's other dagger darted to defend from his outstretched hand, slicing off his pointer finger at the base as it pattered to the ground. He didn't even scream. All of his movements were hurried yet clumsy, like a trapped animal fighting to get loose.

Before he could react, Jun delivered a powerful strike to his jaw with the dagger, catching him off guard. The sound of his jaw cracking was deafening. She lunged, grabbing him by the arm to pull it backwards, threatening to pop it out of place as her other hand pressed his head into the sand.

"Give up!" Jun spat between labored breaths. "Come with me quietly or I'll fucking murder you. Do you hear me?!"

"Damn you…" he hissed out, Jun's hand already in a tight lock around his arm. "I can… I can almost reach…"

"You can't get out of this!"

"M-maybe I can-"

"Damn it! GIVE UP!"

The villain's head unexpectedly whipped backward, striking Jun on the nose and forcing her vice-like grip to loosen. He then gripped the handle of her dagger, pulling it free of her grasp. The jagged edge snagged against the necklace holding the feather to Jun's chest as it fluttered to the ground as he tossed the blade beside it.

Her backpack had fallen off in the struggle, and she bolted on her hands and knees for it. Strapped to the side was a backup sword, one of Hawks' strong two-handed primary feathers. Jun turned over just in time for the slithering villain to pounce on her, arm outstretched, teeth bared.

She laid on her back, using it as leverage to bounce onto her feet and attempted to dodge with a sidestep. The villain's bloodied fingers grazed her upper chest, just short of penetrating the skin. Jun's mind was racing almost enough to disregard the static shock that released from his grimy fingers and seeped into her skin.

He stood still, back slumped forward as Jun's legs were in a wide defensive stance, his back facing her. And he began to laugh.

It was a terrible laugh, a laugh that seemed to inflate his chest before faltering into childish bursts of hysteria.

Jun growled in frustration. "What do you have to laugh about?!"

"Three," he began, his back still facing her.

Jun's face was riddled with confusion, until he spoke again.

"Two."

Oh no.

"One."

Suddenly Jun winced, her vision snapping blood red as cold sweat pooled at her brow. The villain took delightful note at her now labored breathing and slumped shoulders. Despite exhausting her body to its limits, Jun found her heart rate beating much slower than it should have been.

"The… the hell'd you do to me?"

"Do to you? I'm merely telling you that you'll destroy everything you ever wanted if you go up against me."

"And you expect me to just do whatever you say? Even after what you did to him?!" Jun screamed, gesturing toward the fresh body of his latest victim. "And I guess you're assuming I'm as weak as you are, but I don't care what your Quirk is, I'm… I'm not a quitter."

"Then you will die and then I'll forget you existed. All that matters is that you get silenced."

Jun stood up with her arms at her sides and her fists balled. Her mind was racing, desperate for a way out. She bared her teeth, inhaling and exhaling through them, with each breath feeling like knives penetrating her lungs.

"Since this is your doom, I have time to spare. Listen close, child. My Quirk is Decelerate. If I make skin-to-skin contact, I can force your heartrate to slow down to dangerous levels, effectively causing lack of oxygen to the brain. Slowly, and painfully, leading to death."

"N-no…!" Jun muttered, shaking her head as the corners of her vision began fading in and out of darkness. Her trembling legs shook with the effort to step forward to the smirking villain, unable to accept her fate, using both hands to drag her sword through the sand.

"You should be too weak to be any sort of threat by now," he said as Jun's legs shook and gave out under her, collapsing onto her stomach. He lifted Jun by the back of her shirt, dragging her form to slump against the wall beside his freshest kill as he turned to head for the exit.

The cold and damp hollow was then silent for a moment, the only noises coming from Jun's heavy breathing as she laid helplessly against the jagged tunnel. A lump in the dirt then caught her eye, identifying the object as the villain's finger that had been sliced off. It took all her strength to reach for it, tumbling back down onto her stomach in the process.

Jun lifted her head just enough to peer at it, outstretching a hand in a feeble attempt to curl her own fingers around it.

"It hurts," she gasped, the words hardly moving any air though, the pain in her chest preventing any movement of air in her lungs.

A low snarl emitted from the other end. "Yes, it hurts," he said and sauntered toward the exit.

"How long do you think you can keep this up?" Jun managed to voice weakly, prompting the agitated villain to pause. "Because eventually, you're going to be figured out. And until then, I'm not planning on letting you go."

He looked at Jun, an expression of disgust evident on his features as he twisted back around, approaching her with exasperation in each heavy step. He practically roared his disapproval. "Look at where you are," he demanded, bending down mere inches from her quivering form. As he spoke, Jun's hand had unknowingly clasped the discarded finger. "You will die here, and I will not feel a single ounce of remorse-"

What he wasn't expecting was her hand to sneak up as he leaned forward, brushing a thin, long object against his shoulder before her strength gave out and dropped it, bouncing off and rolling under the sand. He scoffed in amusement at Jun's pathetic attempt to harm him as he dug to retirve the object, only for his face to distort into sheer panic upon recognizing what it was.

She had distracted him enough to strike him with his own finger, making contact with his grimy skin. She watched with tears flooding her eyes as the villain wailed, repeatedly scratching at his chest with enough force to draw blood as he collapsed to his knees, his breathing now as labored as hers.

It was then Jun understood the reason why he wore gloves – to protect himself from his own Quirk. She discerned that he was not immune to its effects, nor was he able to speed up heartrates once slowed.

Once down, he did not bother speaking again. Fear still gripping her, Jun elected to force her leg up, pushing and kicking his body away. He was at a safe enough distance to where he couldn't finish the job, however, her heart became heavy at the thought that there was nothing more she could do.

Jun struggled to sit up, electing to lean back against the craggy wall, sliding down it before sitting in silence.

Is this… is this where it ends…?

It felt as though her eyes were sinking into her skull, the blood struggling to pass through her body. She didn't even have the strength to turn her head. There was no choice but to examine the lifeless body beside her, one she had failed to save in time.

"Hawks…"

Jun's eyes squeezed shut, the dire weight of her situation sinking in.

"What… what do I do, Hawks?"

"I'm home," Hawks sang as he fluttered from the window to the living room, clearly exhausted after being away longer than expected. Half of him was anxious about how Jun would react, while the other half was just happy to see her again. Only, all the lights were off.

A wedge of doubt struck Hawks' chest as he searched for her, his steps becoming more and more urgent after each vacant room. The last place he stumbled into was the kitchen, its contents empty save for the case file on the table, along with an envelope that was not his. In it was a hastily written note that read,

'Hey Birdie,

Didn't appreciate being ditched this morning, but I think I made a breakthrough. You're always helping me every chance you get – it's about time I return the favor. I'll help you with this investigation the best I can! Be back by 8pm today~

Your number 1 fan,

~Jun'

At that, the exhausted hero's grip on the note squeezed tighter, his breaths becoming ragged upon glancing at the clock on the wall, his pupils narrowing to thin pinpricks, the realization striking him down to his very core.

It was 11pm, the next day.

Time seemed to stand still. He felt his throat tighten, the avid strength of that grip constricted his airflow more and more after each shallow breath, as if the air he breathed itself were restraining and purging the life from his lungs.

"JUN!"