Arriving at the hospital, Izuku kept his hands in his jacket pockets as he stopped to look up at the building.

A week had passed since Mina had come by his home to provide her own special brand of help for the man she loved. They weren't fucking like usual, but her being there to provide Izuku with her presence was more than the ideal aid to help him snap out of his depression. The others who felt that their presence was warranted had been none other than Momo, Jiro, and Ochaco; them providing company in a way that didn't involve self satisfaction for the one they wanted to help.

Only after he managed to motivate himself to get out of his house for the first time in a month did Izuku finally manage to check up on his older brother figure, Hawks.

The hero's condition had improved enough after a month in traction for someone to accompany him home for the first time in a while. Since the registered home wasn't actually the home he wanted to return to, Izuku dropped a message to the young man to see if he wanted company when Keigo decided to head back.

His timing had been impeccable as Keigo had been due for discharge from his room at about the same time Midoriya messaged him. He invited his kid brother to come and walk with him after he got discharged from the hospital.

There were a good number of visitors who were coming to either pick up or check up on their loved ones from the hospital after the devastating loss from Bloodsoaked some time ago. Although it was busier than usual, that didn't translate to unmanageable for the young man.

"Excuse me, are you available?"

"Oh, apologies. How can I assist you today?"

"Room B20?"

With that minimal amount of information, the nurse seated at the desk consulted her computer for any scheduled visits for the patient assigned to said room.

"Ah, yes! Midoriya Izuku?"

Verifying his identity with his provisional hero license, Izuku was given a visitor's sticker with a blank space for him to write his name. The nurse reiterated that whether or not he wrote his name down didn't matter as much in comparison to the fact that he needed to keep the sticker with him until he left the hospital. There was a special electronic id associated with the sticker and he would become a monitored threat if he were to lose said id. It was more out of convenience than anything for the hospital that he didn't lose his nametag.

After writing his name down and slapping the piece of paper onto the front of his jacket, Izuku observed the layout of the floor he was on so that he could better navigate the second floor where his surrogate brother was currently.

His astute observation of the building's layout did indeed pay off as he found the assigned room in no time.

When he opened the sliding door, Hawk had already packed his things and was waiting for Izuku while fiddling around on his phone. Their eyes met with a sympathetic air between them.

"Heya, kiddo. Thanks for meeting me here."

"No problem, Hawk-"

Izuku's moment of hesitation did not go over Keigo as the younger of the two briefly corrected themself.

"-Sempai."

"... Sempai? Don't be going all formal on me cause of dad. I get it; so don't let this divide us, kay?"

Feeling the firm hand of his older sibling on his shoulder did a lot for Izuku in terms of his recent insecurities. More than anything, it helped stave off that deep sense of loneliness from…

"Anyways, I'm starving! There's a good noodle place nearby here. You up for some udon?"

Strangely enough, Izuku did feel compelled to have some thick noodles even before coming into the building. The subtle nod he gave Keigo let the older man know that he was going to treat Izuku to some damned good noodles today.

Half an Hour Later

"How is it?"

All the slurping from his left was more than enough of an indicator for the high ranked hero. Although he needed a crutch under his right arm to walk comfortably enough, he still was as sharp as usual.

They were eating in relative peace alongside one another while Hawk just kept acting nonchalant about recent events. The casual nature of their conversation began to grate on Izuku in a way that not even the young teen expected. Not even Midoriya wanted to feel the way he did while trying to enjoy his lunch with someone he valued highly in life. Yet every attempt at conversation that Keigo made with Izuku was met with nothing but stark silence.

"... Kiddo, talk to-"

"Don't call me kiddo, okay?"

There it was.

Not quite a breaking point between them; but more of a tipping point for them to start discussing the issue at hand.

"... Leave us."

Every single patron in the restaurant immediately got up and walked out of the place without hesitation. Only the proprietor, who also was the restaurant's head chef, remained within the establishment without a care in the world.

"... I get it. I really do…"

A lack of background noise somehow made all the words coming out of Hawk so much more impactful for the young man.

"One thing I want you to know, however, is this…"

Without warning, the feathers in Hawk's wings suddenly launched themselves at Izuku and sent the junior hero out of the restaurant. None of the feathers were hardened, so the unsuspecting Izuku didn't suffer any unnecessary lacerations when he was violently ejected out through the flimsy front doors. Traditional sliding panels tend to be flimsy by nature.

Thanks to his experience and training, Izuku managed to regain his footing while squaring off against the one who attacked him unprovoked.

"You stop me from finishing my meal…"

Numerous feathers began to float in front of Izuku in a threatening manner. Each and every one of them were aimed at Izuku with the quill pointed directly at him.

"... And maybe, you get to talk to him."

Hearing the last bit left Izuku deaf to the entire world outside of said agreement.

Suddenly, a burst of green electricity erupted out of Izuku as he faced down the numerous feathers floating in front of him. For some outlandish reason, Hawk decided to make this innocent lunch into a test of sorts with his quirk being the thing he would use in testing his kid brother.

Yet, something about what he said compelled Izuku to play along. Something about this had Izuku activate his quirk and challenge his proxy brother while they sat inside of a noodle restaurant.

"... He's wrong."

It was said instinctively by Izuku at that moment.

Compulsion somehow put together everything Izuku wanted to say to Hawk.

"Then prove it."

In his response, Keigo deployed the feathers in his wings into a wall of death awaiting their call. Izuku knew how deadly of an ability his older brother possessed; but knowing that someone had made the ability far more deadly with their training had Midoriya nervous. This was the number two hero in the country.

The number one hero was nothing short of a literal inferno capable of melting half the city.

Hawk never revealed his real abilities to Izuku.