The only things the young hero could smell were ash and smoke, while blue flames danced around him, searing his clothes and wings, burning his flesh. He couldn't hear the explosions or the yells coming from the other heros who fought against the many villains, he couldn't concentrate on anything other than the man in front of him. Not even the pain in his arm made him avert his eyes.
Dabi, the man in question, just stood there with his arms outstretched and his signature smirk on his face until Hawks feather made it's way onto the villains neck. The feather was pressed tightly against it, already drawing a small amount of blood, while the fire surrounding them faded.
None of them did anything for a few seconds, they just stood there panting while they stared at each other in shock. Both thought the villain would be the one gaining the upper hand, the heros quirk wasn't made to fight against fire after all but he seemed to be lucky for once. Hawks knew he had to kill the man, he knew he had to murder the first person he had felt close to, the first man he ever loved because he was a villain, a murderer, a danger to society.
Even tho the young hero knew all of that, understood and agreed to all of it, he still hesitated when he saw the look in Dabi's eyes. The villain looked scared, for the first time since Hawks knew him he didn't look cocky or angry. He just looked absolutely terrified at the prospect of dying here, in the rubble of the city both men call their home. His eyes were blown wide and shining with unshed tears, his body was completely stiff and his breathing was slightly ragged while he stared right into Keigo's eyes.
Noone moved for a while, both just standing amongst the collapsed buildings while ash and dust swirled through the air, making it hard to breath or see. Loud noises from the other people fighting and dying were heard all around them but they didn't react to them at all. With every passing second the Villain looked more and more scared, shaking slightly while his hands twitched. He was defensless, he lost and he knew it, both of them did.
Slowly Hawks drew in a shaking breath before he let his feather glide to the ground. The hero knew that he had to kill Dabi but everything inside of him screamed at him not to do it, to let him get away, to save him and for the first time in his life he listened. He ignored his orders by the commision to eliminate as many villains as he could and did what he wanted to do instead.
Dabi looked at the hero with confusion before pure relief clouded his features. The young villain took a few deep breaths to steady himself while continuing to look at the hero who just continued to stand there, unmoving. Both thought about saying something, doing sonething but they did neither. After a few seconds a loud explosion ripped them out of their stupor, both flinching a little at the loud, unexpected noise.
Quickly and with pressing urgency the young hero said, "I know I should kill you but I- I can't, so please just leave. Leave and don't come back alright?", Hawks tried to look calm and collected but the tremor in his voice and the tears in his eyes portrayed how terrified he truly was.
Dabi nodded slowly, like he was in a daze and said with a small voice, "Thanks Keigo." With that he turned around and stepped over the rubble, leaving his former lover standing amongst the ruins of the City. The winged man trembled and silent tears ran down his face as he watched the man he loves go. He ran his shaking fingers through his hair and turned to leave but stopped when he saw Dabi had done the same.
Confused the hero looked at the villain before his eyes went wide in shock. Standing in front of Dabi was his younger brother, Shouto. The young hero looked at his brother with a mix of sadness and resolution before his hand moved towards the surprised villain.
Sensing what was about to happen Hawks dashed forwards, willing his feathers to move towards the brothers while screaming for Shouto to stop but neither his feathers nor his words reached the brothers in time. His feathers were only halfway there when he saw a chunk of ice pushing through the villains back, making Hawks stop in his tracks, his feathers howering above the ground, a few feet away from them.
After that everything went by in slow motion for the winged hero. He couldn't hear anything other than the slow pained noises coming from Dabi and the heartwrenching scream coming from Shouto as the ice was pushed deeper and deeper into the villains chest. He couldn't see anything other than the slow stream of blood seeping out of Dabi's wound, coloring the ice and running down his back. The hero felt nothing but dread as he saw how the ice melted, making the villain fall to the ground with a dull thud.
The feathers still in the air moved then, to catch the falling mans head before Keigo himself rushed forwards just a split second later. With shaking hands he cradled Dabi's head with his hands and placed it on his lap before starting to run his shaking fingers through his lovers hair in a soothing manner. Shouto just stood there watching silently as his own tears streamed down his face but the younger hero couldn't bring himself to speak as he watched the scene in front of him.
Hawks started talking to his dying love and told him in a low, soothing voice, "It's going to be alright Dabi you hear me? I'll fix you right up okay, everything is going to be just fine." They both knew that the winged man was lying but the words helped them to relax slightly nontheless.
A shaky smile made it's way on Dabi's lips as he spoke in a quiet, weak tone, "Call me Touya." The words were spoken with fondness making the blonde smile shortly before he let out a wet sob. "Alright Touya. You're gonna be just fine. I'll go look for something to help alright?" Keigo answered fast and tried to stand up but Touya grabbed his arm and stared at him with wide, horrified eyes. "Stay, please.", His request was nothing more than a whisper but Hawks heard it clearly.
The winged man carefully rearanged Touya's head on his lap and continued to run his fingers through the black strands of hair. Shouto was still staring at them but he was kneeling on the floor by now, his eyes showing uncertainty and a slight hint of regret but the two older men didn't acknowledge him, too busy with each other to look at the youngest Todoroki.
"It's a shame you weren't a real member. I liked you, ya know." The villains voice was hoarse and nothing more than a broken whisper at this point, making it hard to understand him in the midst of the battle still going on around them but Hawks didn't seem to be bothered by that.
"I wish we met under different circumstances. I wish we had- I wish we had more time. I don't want you to die Touya." The last part was spoken just as quietly as Touya's own words and they were laced with sadness, love and regret. The man in question let out a small, weak chuckle before he said, "I don't want that either, little bird." He smiled slighty and reached for Keigo's face, wiping a tear away while smearing some of his blood on his cheek. Shortly after that he let it fall back on his chest, too weak to keep it on the younger mans face for longer.
Even tho the villain put on a brave face Keigo saw the terror in his eyes as the dying man stopped trembling suddenly. They both knew what that meant but none of them wanted to acknowledge what was happening. The winged man just continued to whisper sweet promises into Touya's ear while taking his cold, bloodied hand in a tight grip. He promised him to leave with him, that they would get him help before leaving Japan and that they would be fine as long as he kept breathing just a little while longer. Touya's answer was always the same. With as big a smile he could muster he'd mumble, "We'll be free from the league and the commision."
The blonde continued with his movements and his reassurances even long after Touya stopped responding, even after his chest stopped moving. The hero continued to stare into the now unblinking, blue eyes of his dead lover while the blood on the ground started drying.
Shouto didn't move either, he just sat there with his hands buried in his hair as he sobbed and cried for his older brother but Hawks continued to ignore him. The winged man only concentrated on the dull blue of Touya's eyes, the cold feeling of his hand and the strong smell of copper and ash swirling in the air.
They didn't move as the explosions stopped and the cheers of the heros rang through the air, they didn't move when they heard the Heros calling out to them and they didn't move when the shouting got louder and more urgent. The youngest Todoroki just continued to cry while Hawks gripped Touya's hand even tighter while pressing his lips onto his lovers cold forehead.
After a while they could hear footsteps coming closer and closer which brought Shouto back into the present. With shaky legs the young hero went towards the footsteps but Hawks didn't move a single muscle, still mumbling apologies and sweet nothings to the dead man laying in his lap.
He didn't move as the footsteps came to a halt in front of him, he didn't even flinch when a warm hand landed on his shoulder, he just continued talking as if Touya was still listening to him, as if he was still breathing, still alive. The young man only broke eyecontact with his lost love when a gentle hand took his chin to move his head upwards.
The winged man was met with the worried gaze of Eraserhead. The Underground hero seemed to be talking to him but Hawks didn't understand a single word of what he was saying, the only thing he heard was static intermingled with Touya's last painful breaths. The eraser hero seemed to realize this after a few seconds and moved to stand up, holding out a hand for Hawks to take but the younger hero couldn't, wouldn't, move away from the man laying on him.
Eraserhead left shortly after that only to come back with two other heros. Hawks didn't look at them tho, gaze again on Touya's lifeless form. He didn't react until he was grabbed and pulled upwards, the hero tried to free himself from eraserheads hold but his body was too exhausted to truly fight him. As the eraser hero dragged him away from the body the other two heros, present mic and best jeanist he now recognised, picked up the dead man and took him away.
Hawks stared after them and pleaded with them to let him go, to not take him away from him but they wouldn't listen to him, they just wouldn't stop. When the three of them were finally out of sight a broken sob tore through the young hero and he collapsed right into Eraserheads arms. Keigo screamed and sobbed until his voice gave out, all while the other man held and comforted him as much as he could.
Other heros showed up to see what was going on but they all left when they saw the number two hero breaking down in erasers arms. When his cries finally died down the winged hero felt empty and numb. His whole body was shaking while his mind tried to push the images of Touya's dead body away. The man looked so small and fragile while he was dragged away and it pained him that he was perceived as nothing more than an inconvinience to the other heros.
Eraserhead gently gripped Keigo's jaw and asked, "What happened, kid." At first Hawks didn't respond, too shocked at the question before he replied, "He- We fought. I let him go and then the kid- the kid used his ice to-", he couldn't continue after that as he chocked up again when images of blood stained ice made their way into his mind.
"Why did you let him go?" The words were spoken softly but Keigo could hear the confusion, the slightly accusatory tone in the older mans voice, still he replied, "He looked scared. He looked so, so scared." His words were quiet and weak but Eraserhead understood him still. The other hero looked at him, still confused but with more understanding before he opened his mouth to reply, to ask more questions but Hawks tuned him out again, not ready to talk.
Still Eraserhead continued speaking, continued to ask him questions and to try and comfort him but the only things Hawks paid attention to were the bloodstain and the burnmarks on the concrete. Without thinking the younger man brought one hand towards a burn in his jacket, fiddeling with the burned in hole at his elbow.
The thought that this along with the burnmark on his skin were all he had left from Touya burned itself into his mind, as well as the last few expressions of the villain. He would never forget the relieved look in Touya's face when he was let go, he would never forget the terrified expression he had when he was laying on the ground bleeding to death and he would never forget the look of sorrow when Keigo promised to leave this place with him.
He was still staring at the blood, thinking about what could have been, when Eraser took his hand and gently tried to get him to leave but the only thing Keigo wanted was to get away, to keep the promise he made, so he pulled his hand out of Eraserheads grasp. Startled the Underground hero opened his mouth to reply but he was cut of by Hawks scratchy voice, "Tell the commision I am done. I quit." With that the former hero expanded his wings and flew off, leaving a stunned Eraserhead behind.