Resplendent as they are aureate, eyes layered by the seven circles of hell gaze through a polycarbonate and aluminum oxynitride window. The Hero Public Safety Commission installed this particular glass after a mishap with their ex-agent infamously known as Lady Nagant. Even her unique ammunition lacks the firepower to crack this bulletproof window, let alone pierce through or shatter it. Golden orbs as reflectant as the sun shimmering in the sky take in the cityscape view of Japan. None of the skyscrapers reach the heights of the HPSC's ivory tower. From the top level of the headquarters, nothing appears capable of reaching it.

Wooden doors adopting french architecture lurch open, barely making a noise as they do. Those aforementioned golden eyes of extravagance continue staring forward, but now look at the window's reflection to see who enters the boardroom. Keigo Takami, otherwise known as Hawks, warily steps into the office space. He glances left and right to see executives and other big wigs dressed in business suits. Notable faces occupy cush chairs at a long table; one of which is the newly appointed vice president, Yokumiru Mera. Hawks takes his seat next to him. A moment of silence passes, even as the french doors slowly swing themselves shut.

"I'm glad you could make it, Takami-tan. I was worried the traffic from the Sports Festival would have kept you", the owner of golden circled eyes speaks so softly that the quiet nature of the room somehow stays. It begins to become an eerie deaf tone, whispering in the ears of Hawks.

The hero swallows the breath that he realizes he's been holding before replying, "That's usually not a problem I have while flying first class", his joke falls flat even after he furrows his wings for emphasis. The rough landing makes him instinctively wince. The room's silence is still damning.

The woman at the head of the table smiles slightly before turning away from the window and facing the board. The braided part of her luxurious red locks sway with the movement, but her bangs remain still at eye level, a judgmental stare scaling the weight of her golden gaze. She wears a form fitting black dress that sets her apart from the others. As though just now noticing the difference between herself and everyone else present, her head tilts to one side. "Shall we begin", she lacks the proper punctuation to make the words she speaks an actual question.

Hawks understands that's because what the director of the HPSC says tends to be an order. Any sort of democracy the hero divisions had became null and void when she took on her position. This woman took complete control of the entire department and everyone here knows better than to challenge her authority. So, Hawks nods along with everybody else present in the room. When the director tilts her head to the opposite side of her lean, indicating that she's waiting for a verbal response, he speaks like everyone else as well. He swallows and says the same as the others.

"Yes, Miss Makima."

Makima settles into her seat at the head of the table, satisfied with the attentive response of her fellow chairmen. A precisional method of sliding them manilla folders the way a croupier deals cards comes with smooth swipes of her hands. When Hawks gets the remaining file slid to him, he wastes no time flipping it open to read its contents. He feels Makima's eyes on him while his take in what's been presented.

"The subject matter for today's meeting..", she pauses as though for dramatic effect. But Hawks already knows what she's about to say. If the photo included in his information packet wasn't enough, he's able to recognize the name on the handout after this year's Sports Festival. It's expected but the hero still feels a pang in his chest when he hears Makima confirm it, "..is whether or not Izuku Midoriya should be ordained into the HPSC Initiative."

One of the board members, Hawks didn't bother to remember his name, feigns a cough to clear his throat before using that same hand to signal for everyone's attention. He's one of the company's elders if his canyon deep wrinkles are any indication. Whatever hair he has left on his head is as dull a gray as his business suit attire. "It's quite clear this boy has a quirk that's not so .. 'glamorous' .. regardless of our influence, there's no plausible future where he'd be placed in the spotlight", the man glances about as he makes his point but comes across as unsure of himself by doing so. At one point, he even meets Hawks' gaze. That's when Hawks realizes the man is likely just avoiding making eye contact with Makima.

A second businessman, much younger than his senior, tries to be more confident with his input. "Tell that to hero influencers like Ryukyu or Gang Orca. Civilian and fan appeal have been in favor of 'scarier' looking heroes lately. Times are changing, the next generation liking gruff types like Endeavor more and more each day", the last part seemed below the belt enough to make the older businessman hunch over with embarrassment but everyone in the room otherwise agrees with that sentiment by nodding and murmuring with approval.

Until Makima raises a hand to hush them, the bare palm she presents much more evocative than words. "Both notions have already been regarded during this selection", she makes most of the board stir in their seats when they realize they have to squirm for something else to comment on, "Rather than open up the table to discussion.. I would like for us to consider what has already been determined."

Nobody makes a move. Not one person dares lift a finger or raise a hand. The only movement of mouths is the clenching of jaws. Makima waits nonetheless before continuing. "Unlike our much adored number two who's currently present with us…", Hawks feels his own cheekbones tightening with the rest of his body tensing upon being singled out, "My goal is not to glorify Midoriya as the next big hero."

"Rather, while taking steps as not to repeat former mistakes, I would like for us to focus our efforts on making Midoriya the next Lady Nagant" Makima's proposition muzzles the board, leaving them more speechless than they were before. She smiles when there's no verbal opposition. Then she clasps her hands together, like a true exec would. "It's not typical for a gun to be associated with a hero, much less a chainsaw. However, an operative who works outside of the spotlight and in the shadows as an assassin… Midoriya would make an excellent attack dog."

Hawks struggles to fight against how hard his teeth clamp together. He wants to say something in Midoriya's defense, make an effort, do anything he can to somehow divert this fate. He needs to. But there's a pressure weighing him down that keeps his mouth closed. The heaviness is so much that he bites his tongue. The pain that suddenly flares up makes his jaw untighten for the slightest of seconds. It's enough. Like the words that wish to escape his mouth, so does his throbbing tongue. "He's just a boy!", Hawks blurts out what he wants to say while he can. Which earns him a bunch of looks. But he doesn't care. Because now that the attention is on him and not Makima, he can finally speak. "Midoriya is only a child, not an animal, not a wild dog."

But Makima has an answer for that, "Not upon closer examination", and all eyes are drawn back to her. "During his evaluation, how he handles his quirk was inspected. Several reports acquired from U.A helped us determine just what kind of animal Midoriya is… and a wild dog is as accurate a description as any", Makima procures a manilla folder that wasn't previously made available and unveils the file's contents herself to support her statement.

Hawks hardens his stare when he sees pictures of mutilated and mangled bodies. "These are a result of Izuku Midoriya", she flips from one photo to the next in order to provide the board with a closeup shot of the damage, "We didn't need to perform autopsies to figure out what caused this kind of injury" Hawks has seen the difference between the clean cut a blade makes and the jagged curve a set of claws can leave behind. Whatever this is, a misshapen carving with no pattern, leads his imagination to chainsaws.

"These were villains participating in the USJ incident, but even so, you can only imagine the repercussions Mister Midoriya would have faced had this gotten out to the general public", Makima closes the folder when several board members gag at the images, "The HPSC struck a deal with U.A's principal to avoid mass hysteria in favor of Midoriya's hero record remaining unhindered. It is now time to capitalize on this arrangement."

Hawks forgets to fold his wings when he leans back, the rough edge of his chair applying pressure to his spine as it straightens. He blinks back the shock of what he just heard, realizing that things only make more sense now, that this shouldn't come as a surprise. Makima had her eyes on Midoriya since before even the Sports Festival. She had just been waiting for an opportune moment to make her move. He can imagine the woman playing U.A's principal in a match of chess, Nezu losing a very valuable piece off the board now. Unless, the HPSC hadn't even had to resort to blackmail, and Nezu proved his nature more of a rat than just his appearance. Hawks shakes his head, trying to stay ever the optimist, no matter how difficult.

"In that case, we should avoid applying any more attention to him than necessary, no?" Hawks resists the urge to scratch the itch of his feathers rustling when Makima fixes him with an intense stare. He instead drags his nails against his scalp, feigning to be picking through his hair. "I mean.. An internship with the number two hero would only be shining the spotlight on him", he tries to rationalize the situation in his favor but can't help but doubt himself under the director's glare.

"Unlike your unfortunate paideia, Midoriya would benefit from the tutelage of his predecessor" The rings illuminated by the luminescence of Makima's eyes focus like the crosshair of a sniper's scope. "Would I be mistaken under that assumption?"

Hawks shivers like a newborn chick. "No. No, ma'am" He wonders whether or not Lady Nagant would have had an influence on him had he been trained by her. Perhaps he'll be able to help Midoriya in a way that she would have been unable to help him. Maybe, still being ever the optimist, this will be a good thing.

Yokumiru Mera raises his head, appearing almost as though he had dozed off during the meeting. Considering how low the bags beneath his eyes are hanging, he may very well have. "We can always consider the alternative", he removes a paperclip from the collective sheet of papers in front of him before pushing a particular page to the table's center, "We might want to think about taking a direct approach as we had done with Takami afterall" Hawks resists the urge to react to his own name and origin being mentioned. But when he leans forward to see why Mera never closed his file on Midoriya like the others had, he understands the correlation.

Makima responds with a single nod first, a silent affirmation. "Mister Midoriya recently lost his mother to illness. With his father's residence in America and Midoriya's pursuit of education being here in Japan, we may have yet another opportunity to take action as Mera suggested", she compares the shared center document with her own copy before nodding a second time, "This is certainly an avenue we'll explore. However, I would still like for Takami to offer Midoriya with an internship. Consider it a form of insurance."

Hawks mumbles his agreement with the rest of the board, the motion carried. He had hoped to spare Midoriya. Another student of U.A showed signs of a bird related quirk; he had planned to go with the unassuming angle of birds flocking together. But he knows that suggestion would be overruled now. Even if he were to request a dual internship, Makima would make Midoriya his priority. All he can do now is hope the kid is well rested and ready for what's about to come.

Makima turns her back on the board, her dark dress a shadow that trails behind her. Clouds have gathered overhead, blotting out the sun. The city appears to be asleep. Buildings hang low and high, a hospital at the epicenter. Windows glisten but don't reflect what the world holds in store. All anyone can do now is wait for the wake.

Izuku sheds his sleep slowly. Before he opens his eyes, he first registers what he hears. What sounds like somebody scratching at the door to be let in has him turning his head to see who it could be. The boy's eyelids fully flutter open when he sees Kyoka Jirou. The girl is sitting next to him. The noise he heard is her pencil scratches in a notebook. Izuku gradually recalls his location and figures out why his classmate would be present at his bedside. The final match of the Sports Festival had put him in the recovery ward. She must have been worried.

Still slightly sluggish, he barely raises his hand to wave before it flops back down. "Hey.." But he does enough to get the girl's attention. She jumps at the sound of his voice, clearly having not expected him to wake up yet.

"Midoriya!", she snaps the notebook she's holding shut. The pencil she had been using drops before bouncing against the hard tiled floor and rolling away. "Ah! Crap!", she motions to go after it before deciding not to, "I'll call for a nurse or-"

"No, no.. Not yet, please" Izuku strains to sit up in an effort to stop her but fails miserably. Kyoka moves back to his side, if not for the sake of his request then out of concern for his weakened state. "I just woke up and I'm not up to it yet", he sinks back into the cushioning of the bed and pillow as he gives in to his body's protests against moving.

"Okay.. fine", Kyoka hesitates but ultimately gives in when she sees how big and round his pleading eyes are. He's like a damn puppy in one of those rescued animal commercials. "Recovery Girl did say her quirk without a blood transfusion this time would do a number on you", she sits back down and prepares to fill him in on what he missed.

But Izuku musters up the strength to shrug it off, showing her that he doesn't care to know much more. She recalls the moment before his matches and figures she'd feel the same way if her mom died. The boy's eyes drift downwards. For a moment, she thinks he's dozing off again or becoming lost in thought. But then she realizes his gaze is on her lap and what she's holding in it, "What were you working on?"

Kyoka shrinks in on herself, wanting to hide when she feels her face heating up. "S- Stupid.. How could you just ask me that?", she mutters to herself her complaints since she can't actually take it out on him during his time of distress, "I was.." Her voice catches in her throat. Something that usually only happens when her parents try to make her sing in public. If she could give some of Izuku the blood that's rushing to her face, she would. Kyoka slaps her cheeks before mumbling, "I was writing you a song.."

She dares to glance over at the boy in order to gauge his reaction. She's shocked to see his eyes could somehow get even bigger and brighter. "Wha- Really? That's amazing, Jirou! Maybe I could sing it some time!", he only realizes what he's said after the words leave his mouth. It's his turn to flush completely red, all of whatever blood is left in his body making itself visible.

"D- Dummy..", Kyoka resists the urge to stab him with her ear jacks. She squirms in her seat while trying to avoid eye contact, no longer brave enough to look at him.

Trying to change the subject to save himself from embarrassment, Izuku clears his throat before asking, "Hey.. Didn't your original hero costume come with support gear?"

Kyoka looks back at him, confused. "Uh, yeah.. Why?" Her jacks lower from their poised position to untangle themselves and hang loosely.

Izuku smiles, "It was a katana, right?" He closes and reopens his hands into fists before explaining himself, "Kacchan said all I do is swing my chainsaws around.." The loss of his match makes his smile wilt a bit. "Maybe you could, I dunno, teach me some techniques? J- Just a few to get some kinda style established!", but his eyes remain bright and hopeful.

Kyoka has to look away again. "Sure", she tries to play it cool and not get flustered this time. "I mean, I don't know a lot, that's why I decided to ditch it.. But I think I know enough that I might be able to help you with that..", her nervous tick of twirling an ear jack on her finger makes a return, "I didn't think anyone would've noticed that about me.."

"I did", Izuku's response makes the jack coil and tighten like a tuned guitar string. But his followup makes her heart thump heavy in her chest like a drum, "You're a girl that's hard not to notice."

Before the two can continue tormenting one another with their accidental flirting, the room's door slides open. "I knew I heard voices! Midori, you're awake!", a familiar pinkette hurls herself onto the boy's bed to hug him. Followed by a pointy haired redhead with a signature shark toothed grin.

"Good to see you're up", Kirishima chuckles while helping Kyoka pry Mina off the poor bedridden boy, "We were getting worried for a while there."

"Quick! I heard that eating your get well flowers can make you feel better!", Mina breaks loose to lunge at a vase full of tulips placed by Izuku's bedside. There's no stopping the pinkette as she hysterically tries to force feed the boy.

"Yes. I heard this too", a voice contrastingly calm compared to the room full of yelling turns everyone's attention to the doorway. Another fellow hero student stands there awkwardly, his heterochromic gaze not revealing much emotion.

"Todoroki, you too?!" Izuku cries out with both shock and despair. That's the only opportunity Mina needs to shove the tulips down his throat. He gags as the flowers get crammed into his open mouth and he's forced to swallow or suffocate.

"What is all this ruckus?!", Izuku's only saving grace is the arrival of Recovery Girl. The nurse wallops each of them on the head with her cane to stop the rough housing. "Don't you know bed rest is the most important thing for a patient? REST! Get out if you're not going to contribute!"

"Sorry, Midori..", Mina rubs the throbbing spot on her head where she was whacked before retreating through the exit.

"Yeah, bro! Get better soon!", Kirishima mirrors the girl that he came with before dragging Todoroki with him.

Kyoka sighs as she collects her things to go with them. But Izuku stops her when he sees her grab her notebook, "Remember.. I wanna hear that song when it's finished."

She pauses, surprised that he's still so insistent. Then shakes her head. "You'd have to be a magician to pull that off", her soft chuckle makes the boy laugh along.

Until, he chokes. Kyoka looks down at him, her face scrunching up with concern as he coughs. She almost expects him to spit up blood again. But instead, something else comes out of his mouth. Landing right in the palm of his hand, are the white petals of the tulips that he swallowed. Though covered with saliva from hacking them up, Izuku presents her with flowers. "Tada!", he flashes her a cheesy grin.

That's it. His health and Recovery Girl be damned. Kyoka jabs him with her ear jacks, "Dummy!"

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Sorry for the delay with this chapter's release, I wanted to get it out sooner, but life decided that wasn't going to happen. I know I said I wasn't going to include any Chainsaw Man characters, but I realized there's nobody better to be in charge of the HSPC than Makima. While she won't exactly be like the canon lore of the character, you can probably tell there's stuff going on. That being said, thanks again for all of your support and patience with the release of these chapters as the story progresses!