Chapter 10: The Man With the Eyes of a Hawk.
On your next date, a week later, you and Toshinori go for a stroll in the park. While walking through the park, your hand keeps brushing against his until you finally give up and intertwine your fingers with his. You see a light blush appear on his cheeks and you give him a huge smile.
As the two of you walk hand in hand, Toshinori says to you, "I have something I need to tell you."
You look at him curiously, "What is it, handsome?"
"I'm going to be teaching at UA in a few months as well."
"Really?" you ask him in excitement. "What will you be teaching?"
"Foundational Hero Studies."
"That's great! What do you have planned for the first day?"
He rubs the back of his neck with his free hand. "I'm not sure yet. I was thinking about having them go up against each other in teams of two. A team of heroes versus a team of villains. The villain team has to protect a fake bomb from the hero team. The hero team can win by either capturing the villains or the bomb. The villains can win if they capture the heroes or if time runs out."
You're impressed, "That's a really good idea, Toshi-kun!"
"My former mentor, Gran Torino, put my class through a similar exercise during my school days." A shiver runs through his body at the thought of the older man. "What about you? What do you have planned?"
"Well, I have to get it approved by the principal first, but I was thinking about showing the class how intense a fight between a hero and a villain can be. Of course, we can't have a real villain at the school, so I'll have to ask some other hero to fight me."
"Would you like for me to be the villain?"
"Good God, no! I want to fight someone I actually stand a chance against."
Toshinori laughs, "Now where's that hero spirit of never backing down from a fight no matter how muchof a disadvantage you're at?"
You chuckle, "There's a difference between being brave and being suicidal."
Toshinori stops and you come to a stop as well. He turns to face you and brings your hand up to where it's between the two of your chests. He wraps both of his hands around your hand, "I would never hurt you in any way."
You smile at him and place a chaste kiss on his lips. "I know. And that's another reason why I need to find someone else to play the villain. Someone who not only looks the part, but is willing to go all out against me." The two of you start to walk again, hands still intertwined at your sides. "Of course, it all depends on if I can get permission or not."
A month passes by and, unfortunately, with the UA exams now only two months away Toshinori really needs to concentrate on training Izuku, which you completely understand. So the two of you haven't been on anymore official dates. He keeps apologizing to you and promising to make it up to you, but you just tell him that it's fine and that you understand that Izuku's training comes first. You will always give him a kiss afterwards to reassure him that you aren't mad at him. Besides this gives you plenty of time to search for an apartment.
You still go with Toshinori and Izuku for tea after Izuku's training at least three days a week. One day, the three of you have just left Sakura's, the teahouse you usually go to, when a deep male voice calls out, "(Y/N)."
You all turn around and see a man approaching you. He's 6 foot 6 inches tall with a sword taller than he is on his back. He's wearing grey pants and a long black coat with red sleeves. The coat is open, exposing his muscular chest and abs. His hair is short and pitch black in color. He has a very unique anchor beard that connects with his sideburns. The man is without a doubt handsome, but his most beautiful and unique feature is his sharp golden eyes. You grin, "Dracule!" You shout, releasing Toshinori's hand in order to wave wildly over your head.
Izuku looks at you curiously, "You know this man, aunt (Y/N)?"
"Sure. Do you remember the time I told you about my friend that when we tried to be more than just friends it ended up being a disaster? He was that friend."
"So you two used to date?" Izuku asks you.
"Yes, for a little while. But now we're just friends again."
"He's not the one who left you when you lost your arm is he?" Toshinori asks.
"I am not," a deep male voice answers "and I am deeply offended at being mistaken for that scum." Dracule is standing in front of you and you can now see that he is carrying a package. He stares at you with his piercing gold eyes. "Although, I did run into the slime a few months ago and I introduced him to Yoru." He tells you while stroking the grip of his huge sword.
You laugh, "Still defending my honor, I see. Even though I asked you not to."
"I didn't do it for you. The idiot woke me up from my nap."
"Dahahaha!" You burst out laughing. "We should grab a couple of drinks while you're in town, Dracule!" Toshinori fidgets uncomfortably, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Dracule is the very definition of the whole tall, dark, and handsome thing and Toshinori can't help comparing himself with Dracule. You see the look of depression on Toshinori's face and immediately hug his left arm, pressing yourself flush against his arm. You lean up to whisper in his ear, "Stop it."
He whispers back, "Stop what?"
"I can see it in your eyes...you're comparing yourself with Dracule. It's you that I want and you're now stuck with me."
You hear Dracule scoff, "Believe me when I say that my intentions here are pure. I have absolutely no interest in being romantically involved with (Y/N). That's one rollercoaster I would rather not ride again." His gold eyes are now on you and Toshinori. "Besides I have no use for a one armed woman who is unable to protect herself."
You grin from ear to ear, about to call Dracule out on his unintentional sexual innuendo; choosing to completely ignore his insult; when you see the look of insecurity on Toshinori's face and decide against it. While you choose to ignore Dracule's remark about you being unable to defend yourself, it's clear by the clenching of his fists that Toshinori does not. You whisper in his ear, "Easy, handsome. There's no need to cause a scene." You then turn back to the black haired man. "Dracule, this is my nephew Izuku Midoriya," you motion to Izuku. "Izuku, this is Dracule Mihawk. And this handsome man," you lean up and kiss Toshinori's cheek, "is my boyfriend Toshinori Yagi." Toshinori's face turns red and he coughs up a small amount of blood in his hand.
Dracule sees the blood and raises an eyebrow at you. You just shrug at him and he looks over at Izuku who gulps when his eyes meet the older man's. "I must say I don't see any resemblance between you and your aunt."
Your words finally catch up to Izuku and his jaw suddenly drops, "Dracule...Mihawk?! As in Hawk-Eyes?! The greatest swordsman in the world?!" Izuku begins asking the swordsman question after question very rapidly.
Dracule blinks a couple of times in surprise. His surprise quickly turns into annoyance, "I see the resemblance now. You're both very annoying."
You chuckle and release Toshinori's arm before walking closer to Dracule. "So why are you here, Hawk-Eyes?"
He holds the package out to you, "I gave my word to a certain 8 year old boy that I would deliver this to you."
You smile at him and take the package. You see a note attached to the top. "Toshi-kun, could you hold this while I read the letter?"
"Of course," he takes the package from you.
After a few awkward moments of fumbling with the letter, you finally manage to open it with your one arm. You read the letter and a huge, brilliant smile appears on your face. "It's from the little boy that I saved over a year ago now. His name is Kisuke and apparently a couple of months after I saved him, he was adopted by a very nice family, who loves him and treats him as their own. It goes on to say that three months ago he asked his new parents if he could start doing chores around the house so that he could buy me this gift." You put the letter in the pocket of your trench coat. "It's wonderful to hear that his life has improved so much. Thanks for bringing this to me, Dracule. I owe you one. Now let's see what Kisuke worked so hard to buy." You turn back to Toshinori and rip open the brown paper covering whatever's inside. "Dahahaha! I love them!" You shout and hold up a pair of bright yellow pants with hot pink hearts all over them.
All three males sweat drop. Dracule closes his eyes and sighs in exasperation, "You truly do have the worst sense of fashion of anybody I've ever met, Red Force."
Dracule turns and starts to walk away, but stops when you call out to him. "Wait, Dracule." He turns around to face you, "I was wondering if you would help me with my first class at UA in two months."
You can tell that you've peaked his interest. "What would you need my help with?"
You grin, "I want to show the new students what a real fight between two powerful quirk users looks like. I thought we could fight just like we used to."
Dracule turns around and starts to walk away again. "Pass. I have no desire to fight someone who can no longer fight at their full strength. I hold nothing back when I fight and I expect my opponents to do the same. Battling someone far weaker than me is just a waste of my time." The comment makes both Izuku and Toshinori scowl.
Izuku takes a step forward to defend you, but you hold your arm out in front of him. You just laugh off what Dracule said, "It's good to see that you haven't changed, Dracule." You start to yell as he gets farther away, "Now about those drinks! I've heard that a bar called The Cantina serves excellent red wine!"
You see Dracule pause for a moment then say, "Fine. I will see you there."
Toshinori rubs the back of his head, "That guy is kind of a..."
"Jerk?" Izuku offers.
"I was thinking of a completely different name, but jerk works as well."
You laugh loudly, "Believe it or not, Dracule was actually being very kind." They both look at you in disbelief. You hold up your new pants, "He didn't have to personally bring me this all the way from America. He could have shipped it to me through mail. He wanted to make sure that I got it." You turn to Toshinori, "Would you like to join us tonight? It should be around 9 when we go, after Dracule wakes up from his nap."
Izuku tilts his head in confusion, "How do you know he's going to take a nap?"
"I've known Dracule since we were both teenagers."
Toshinori frowns, "I can't drink in my condition."
You kiss his lips, "Then come for your own peace of mind. I'm sure that they will have water for you to drink. I just don't want you to feel like I'm abandoning you for Dracule."
Toshinori looks depressed again, "He's everything that I'm not. Don't you want a man who's tall, dark, and handsome?"
"Nope." He looks at you in disbelief as you walk up to him and reach up to cup his left cheek with your right hand. "I prefer my men tall, sunny, and handsome." You then kiss his lips.
A/N: I was so unsure about adding Mihawk into this story, but I have a part planned out in a future chapter and he is just perfect for it. I want to thank everyone for leaving reviews especially RayneRoseDusk. I always look forward to reading every review this story gets. It keeps me motivated and I love hearing what everyone thinks about the story so far!
