Anxious, Izuku tugs at the collar of the tie taut around his neck. It's been roughly three hours since Hawks ordered him up to the roof of the hero's agency. Yet, as the boy glances about, the man is nowhere to be seen. Izuku refrains from sighing in exasperation as he approaches the building's ledge. More times than he can count on two hands, he's already paced from one side to the other. This time is no different, he sees nothing different from the brightly sunlit city below that beckons him for a patrol yet to come.
He hadn't met the hero responsible for his tutelage yet. Upon arrival, he only worked with other interns to settle into his temporary residence at the agency. As time continues to wane, Izuku can't help but become impatient. He shuffles his feet as he fidgets in place. The basic uniform that makes up his hero suit makes him aware of how hot the day is. He's already rolled his sleeves up to his elbows but that's hardly enough to alleviate anything. Only the occasional breeze of wind that ruffles his unruly green curls of hair serve as a saving grace.
The next wave of air that rolls through carries something tangible. Izuku squints to see what. Riding the wave, like a surfboard, is a single red feather. His eyes widen as he reaches out with a hand to catch it, his fingers plucking the quill from the sky. The sun radiates off the crimson color, reflecting upwards. Izuku tilts his head up to see several more plumage floating from the heavens in a golden glow. With the wing span responsible for the discarded feathers, Hawks isn't far behind as he glides down to land himself across from Izuku.
Hawks uses one hand to remove his eye visor while using the other to slick back the strands of blonde hair hanging over his forehead. "Took you long enough", a smirk etches its way across his face when he sees Izuku still in awe.
But that stupor quickly shifts to a new state of shock. "Me?!", Izuku incredulously points at himself.
Hawks nods, the smile on his lips parting to flash pearly white teeth. "I was starting to grow restless", his wings rustle behind him as though they're displaying some sort of emphasis.
Izuku recoils, doing a double take. "I was the one waiting for three hours!", the boy gestures wildly with his arms to the area around him as though that'll prove his point. It doesn't.
Hawks raises a brow, "You were? Why?", his head tilting with the motion. "Didn't you think to look up once during that whole wait?"
Izuku stares, his mouth agape. "You mean–", his jaw closes and shuts like a broken hinge until he slaps his cheeks to fix it, "You were watching me that whole time?!"
Hawks switches from one eyebrow to the other, "You didn't know?", his head shifting to that opposite side as well. He sighs while rubbing the back of his neck. "Boy, we've got more to work on than I imagined…"
Izuku leans forward, prepared to say something, but stops short. It's a fair point. Had Hawks been a villain or an assassin of some sort, he would have been taken out without ever realizing what happened. Embarrassed, Izuku lowers his head. "Sorry for doubting you", he reverts to his usually bashful demeanor when he realizes his outburst was out of line.
Hawks laughs, waving it off. "Don't sweat it, kid! I'm sorry for expecting more", his smirk continues to upgrade and next becomes a grin.
"That's somehow a lot worse", but Izuku isn't quite as amused. His shoulders slump as he sulks.
Hawks begins backing himself towards the building's ledge. "Either way, we've already wasted enough time! Wouldn't you say?" Izuku looks up, surprised, but nods. "No time like the present to get things moving, and I mean that quite literally", Hawks claps his hands together as his wings spread themselves out, "Think you can keep up?"
"Uh–", but Izuku doesn't get the chance to reply.
"Follow me, kid!" Hawks falls backwards as he slides his eye visor back over his face. Then, the hero takes flight. Izuku only has enough time to run up to the ledge from which Hawks used as a launch pad before seeing the man's increasingly receding back.
"Wait– HOW?!", Izuku cups his hands around his mouth as he cries out, "I can't fly!" But Hawks doesn't slow the beat of his wings, each flap carrying him further and further away.
Izuku exhales more than gasps, realizing that he'll be left behind at this rate. He slides a finger through one of the gaps between the buttons of his dress shirt, finding the pull string that dangles from his sternum. One tug is all it takes. With the motion of yanking it forwards, he thrusts his body off the roof.
Chainsaws lacerate tendons, the metallic odor of blood giving way to the stench of burning gas. Revving themselves up as they arch down, Izuku's arm bars split his forearms in half. His motorized mouth cackles as an elongated tongue slips out to flap in the wind. The chainsaw protruding from his forehead slashes at the air when he bends his body back with the full force of the free fall he's thrown himself into.
It takes a little improv every now and then to discover new prospects to one's quirk. What he comes up with at that particular moment is a way to slow his descent while maximizing the potential of using his falling as a flow to move faster. Izuku swings an arm back so that the chainsaw protruding from it can catch the wall behind him. He feels restrictive force, a pullback, but the teethed limb doesn't dig deep enough into the building to stop him.
Izuku cranes, leans, and then switches arms. The drag force carries his weight down still but at a pace more refined to his own control. Then, as though pushing himself down a slope, Izuku uses both to carry himself from that building's side to the next. A cool breeze brushes past him and he glides along the wall thanks to his chainsaws as a grip. In a strange sense, Izuku begins using his quirk as a means to ski and terrain the city.
Hawks glances back when he hears the velocity of which the chainsaws rev and roar. Izuku carries himself with an extreme exertion as he tests his new means of mobility. The hero hums as he gauges the boy's movement. It's not enough to catch up, certainly not if Hawks were to actually put in some effort to his speed. However, it is enough to follow along that he doesn't completely get left behind.
Hawks looks away with a mirthless smile on his face. At this rate, he may be able to get through the internship with little to no concern after all. Makima may be displeased with both he and the boy's performance results, but it can't be helped. Besides, he'd heard firsthand that Izuku wasn't interested anyways. That makes his smile a little less mirthless.
Behind the chainsaws, a flurry of debris dust trails along. Izuku weaves to maintain balance on the sideways surface, alternating between his left and right arm bars. It takes a tremendous amount of effort, coupled with just as much concentration. Especially when the time comes to move from one building to the next. It's equal part velocity and equal part traction, but he's not a mathematician. The chains tread deep, grinding a groove into the walls he uses as his means of movement.
Hawks suddenly swoops down, a direct dive. Izuku blinks, the hero completely gone out of sight when his gaslit orbs rekindle. Izuku digs the chainsaw he's using as a crutch deeper into the wall he's sliding across. He comes to an abrupt stop. The chainsaw mounted atop his head whirs when he tilts his chin down to look at the streets below. There, he spots the red blur of Hawks' wings as the hero stops a purse snatcher.
Izuku pulls back on the chainsaw that he's using to stay mounted. He'd been so focused on his means of mobility and keeping up with the hero that he hadn't noticed his surroundings. By the time the intern drops down onto the sidewalk, Hawks is already airborne again. Hawks pauses to salute Izuku with two fingers before soaring into the sky. Izuku takes a step, prepared to follow, but then realizes what the sign was meant to indicate.
He glances about. A elderly lady clutches her purse tightly while a masked fellow groans from their place lying on the pavement. He's been left to deal with the aftermath of the hero's efforts. Like a sidekick, he's on cleanup duty. Izuku grumbles and groans but stays behind to take care of the situation. There's the matter of binding the caught criminal in capture tape, comforting the victim, and waiting for the police to arrive. It's grunt work but it's part of the job.
Fortunately for Izuku, Hawks happens to circle back around on his patrol route and he's able to jump back in. Izuku climbs the walls of buildings again, re-familiarizing himself with his newfound means of transportation. It's another challenge of trying to keep up. However, that only lasts for a short period of time before Hawks thwarts another crime and Izuku is left to deal with the collateral damage once more.
"Next stop is the cantina on Sakamoto Drive, where they've got a customer going wild. Catch up after you handle the rest here", Hawks waves another farewell as his feet lift off the ground.
Izuku huffs and puffs, breathing heavily as he tries to recover from his constant pursuit of the hero. "W- Wait!", he barely manages to call out to the increasingly familiar sight of Hawks' back.
Not that his shout does any good. "Can't stand around yapping while the next crisis is getting worse", Hawks yells back before he's one with the wind.
This continues to happen. Each and every time. Izuku arrives late to the scene, Hawks already having finished the job on his own. As the sun settles, so does the thrumming of the chainsaw boy's engine. The jagged links slow their spin until they stop. His pointed teeth have become as dull as his movements. Izuku falls to his knees, giving out.
Hawks watches from a bird eye view, satisfied with the day's results.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
In case I didn't describe it well enough, I envisioned Izuku's 'chainsaw skis' the way Denji glides down a building during the anime intro. I just thought it'd be a neat reference of sorts.
