Ch. 10- Touya Age 13

It has been months since Touya first arrived in Hiyasaki. He's in class listening to the drawl of the professor as the sun from the barred windows cast down on him making his eyes wilt. He looks over at Hirano, who looks as bored as he is, balancing his school supplies on his antlers. The look on the boy's face as he crosses his eyes to try to see what he's doing, yet fails miserably- given the impossibility of it, makes Touya suppress a laugh. It amazes Touya how this boy can so effortlessly lighten up any atmosphere.

The other catches his stare and gives a silly grin before turning away giving a short embarrassed cough, which causes the materials in his antlers to clatter down to the ground. All eyes turn to him, and he grins sheepishly as he rubs the back of his eyes and apologizes to the class, reminding him of Nat or Izu.

He hasn't heard about his family in a few weeks since they are watched like, well, hawks. But with everyone under Midoriya's care, he isn't really thinking about them too much. Instead, he is thinking of a certain red-winged soulmate of his.

Since they found out they were soulmates things went back to the way it was. That's thanks in part to a certain deer boy who helped them calm down the little times they got into petty arguments or disposed of the awkward atmosphere that popped up any time they both were together at first. Now that he thinks of it, the little deerling rarely leaves their sides. He has been glued to one or both of them since that day and has been a rock to their newly formed relationship.

He wonders why as he stares at the flustered boy as the teacher tells him to pay attention or he will be in trouble. He did joke that he was going to be the third wheel of their relationship but Touya didn't actually think he meant it. He literally clings to them sometimes, not in a romantic or creepy way, but the normal way you see two friends touch each other like shoulder bumps, arms or elbows on shoulders as they walk or talk, playfully messing each other's hairs up.

The Deerling had only Birdie for so long that it makes sense that he's clingy toward him, Even before they realize they are soulmates the boy was always shoulder to shoulder with Hawks. Then when he himself came into the picture and Birdie took a liking to him for some unknown reason, the Deerling didn't resist change like Touya would have but changed with it.

He cheerily puts an arm around his or both of their shoulders, mashing them together with all his frail strength, or playfully messes up their hair, or tugging on the back of their shirts when he gets too far ahead of the deerling.

So no he can't pinpoint why the deerling has such an attachment to them. It could be a million things, this place in particular, that makes him into a desperate, clingy, don't-leave-me-behind mess. But to be honest, he thinks Birdie is the same way as them, hell, even he has caught himself reaching for them. He just plays it off as the social norm to stay in packs here. This whole place makes everything feel off. With everyone having to be on the lookout, eyes always on their backs, watching from the shadows has a bad omen about the place. Especially since what has been happening after-

His attention gets sharply pulled back as papers get waved in his face from the desk occupant in front. He sharply grabs them with a sneer and passes them back. He side-eyes the deerling again. The boy has his head down on the desk. His face is squished but the half he sees sends a corner of his mouth rising, his deerlike nose is pulled up exaggerating his deep frown probably from being told off.

Touya's thoughts drift again back to that special day under the tree. Something about it seems off too. Like he is missing a piece of it but can't grasp it. Something he needs to remember. Yet, this isn't the first time this thought has come to him and he still can't recall what he needs to remember, he just sighs, tapping his pin on the paper before putting his chin in his hand, and zones out again.

They said weeks back that they were going to start causing chaos. So far they have started fires and blamed it on quirk dysfunction and several times more Touya got himself into fights, which led Hirano to join in and for Hawks to fall back and make sure no officials came to stop it.

Which ends with two bloodied and beaten boys and another cleaning their physical and metaphorical wounds. He smirks at them and prides himself on his wounds, showing them off like a medal. Hawks just rolls his eyes, letting out little chirps of disapproval. While Hirano always ends up in worse shape and sounds like he's coughing up a lung after these fights. Touya isn't surprised by how skinny the boy is; any punch or kick to the abdomen would send him to the nurses, or he locks himself in the restroom stalls afterward.

Touya's not fit himself but since he's not a mut he receives better food that's proportioned small but still edible, unlike the other two's meals. That's why he sneaks some of his food out and gives it to the two later.

Although by now he guesses everyone knows what he's doing no one is telling since they know it'll end in a fight and weeks of chaotic torture from the three of them. The adults are probably keeping quiet because it's inconsequential in the long run this little rebellious act they are pulling since most muts don't make it to adulthood here, so having two make it out might be advantageous for them. It's funny to Touya because it just shows how fucked up this place is and it isn't really rebellious anyways, but that's the category it falls under to the Controllers.

Touya wakes up, rubbing his eyes to clear his fuzzy head. He groans realizing what happened. He sits up to look around to see who's gone. Everyone is a lot slower to rise than most days and a lot grumpier than normal with a sullen atmosphere in the air.

"It's happened again," Hirano says, walking over from his cot before flopping down over Hawks, who is woken by the impact and lets out a grunt, rolling over in a failed attempt to dislodge the older boy.

Daisuke pops his back and yawns before calling for everyone's attention, "Alright, most of you know the drill but for the few newbies who haven't figured it out yet here's the laydown. As you know, we get nutrition pills and other stuff for our well-being. Well, every once in a while they give us sleeping pills so that we do not know who will be taken next. What happens when we're taken is unknown. But they take kids that don't keep their grades up, participate or do what is expected of them. So as long as you stay in line and keep a high grade, you should be good."

He leaves to get ready for the day. When he is out of earshot the whispers start.

"They probably took them to the basement."

"You know they did. No one has come back from there anyway."

"They might have let them out?"

"Seriously? You really think they did that?"

"Come on, don't be stupid, they'd tell what has gone down here and this place would have been shut down already if so."

The whispers continue as Touya blocks it out. But that kid has a point. They knew that once people left, either of their own volition- which was probably in a body bag, or as an 'official pro hero', they never talked. Probably since they are under the commission's control until they die or are no longer worth controlling.

They don't say how people are beaten for no reason. How they have to run around the complex until they can't anymore and topple over, vomiting, fainting, and in some cases seizing. Or how they decided to take some 'misbehaving' kids who 'can't be reformed' (all muts) down to the cellar and they don't come back up.

When he arrived he was of course told the horror stories of what goes on in the cellar to get him to avoid it but no one knows for sure what really happens down there. They are only rumors.

So of course that just makes him want to go check it out more.

"I hate when they do this." Hawks grumbles.

"I don't mind, it's the only way I can sleep through the night." Touya jokes. His insomnia and nightmare-filled nights are how he knows when he has taken the drug. No haunting memories to keep him up at night.

"I'm surprised we weren't taken with the trouble we've caused. We knew that they were getting closer to our rooms so it was just a matter of time before we were up. Yet we just had to continue causing trouble." Hawks mutters as he worriedly bites his lip as he ponders what they have done and what could have happened.

"Maybe that's not the reason why they take people."

Hawks and Touya stare at the deerling as he drags himself out of hawk's cot with a stretch.

"Well don't just stop there deerling, explain yourself."

"Hm. I don't know, I just said it. But it is curious what exactly they are doing. It used to be only once or twice a year and now it's two or three times a week. You have to wonder what is going on."

"Oh yeah now that you mention it, it did increase." Hawks sits up but looks like he'll fall back to sleep any second.

Touya pulls him up so they can get to breakfast in time, "We could sneak into the basement and find out ourselves," He laughs when two ghost white faces whip around to face him, "or the records room. There might be something in there."

They snuck into the records room for a few minutes except they weren't able to see anything. Even in this modern age, the record room is filled with file cabinets, unlucky for them each one is locked. All they could tell was that the cabinets were arranged in a certain way that grouped them in whatever manner they organized them. He reported it to Mr. Midoriya but didn't have time to wait for a response.

A few nights later Touya's insomnia streaks again so he reads in the dark. He has already re-read this book so many times since coming here he has memorized it. It is still his favorite. A story about this angel and a demon and how the demon got the angel to see how corrupt heaven has gotten. They work together to bring heaven down and fall in love in the process. He can't say what exactly he likes about the book so much as to have it as the one possession he's able to keep, yet that along with Hirano and Hawks keeps him steady and sane in this messed up facility.

He hears coughing across the room as he does most nights. He can't pinpoint who exactly it is but it's always the same area. Considering they aren't allowed to be up right now he waits still as stone for the coughing to settle to start reading again.

He is almost done and finally getting sleepy when Hawks makes a strained screaming noise as he quickly sits up in bed, scooting so far up his cot making Touya scramble over to even the weight. While he does this the younger boys shaking hands come up and grasp thin air and then flop back down. He stares at them with blank eyes, trying to get back into reality and out of his nightmares.

Touya slowly reaches out for his birdie, trying not to scare him. He gently sets his hand in the boy's hair and when he sees it won't be pushed away he begins to pet his birdie. A soft whine breaks free of the bird and it's as if he's watching a balloon deflate. He sinks into his hold and shakes with silent tears.

He feels the cot move again and pressure on his back as the deerling comes over to help. Together they are able to settle the bird and wrap their arms around him. Once Hawks has calmed he tells his nightmare of when he was younger mixed with fears of today. They end up curled around one another on the small one-person cot and this time it's easy for Touya to fall asleep.

From there whenever one of them can't sleep or has nightmares they push Hawks and Touya's cots together, talking and comforting each other all night. The others in the room do not report this or even look at them anymore, probably knowing it will get them into a fight. The three of them have earned a reputation around the facility and they strive to keep it. No one wants anything to do with them now, so it helps them when they don't want to be seen.

But sometimes that backfires. As when they decide to break into their instructor's computer and mess with the grades and every person in the facility's information. Just when they are in the middle of changing everything a girl comes in and immediately yells out into the hall what they are doing and who they are. They end up getting punished by separating them for a week with a rule to not talk to each other and having to clean the dirtiest parts of the facility.

Mr. Midoriya managed to get permission to see him one day in November. He updates him on his family and then tells him the greatest news he has heard. The two of them are sitting in the mess hall because this place doesn't have any private place since no one is allowed to visit, although a lot don't even have anyone to visit if they could.

Mr. Midoriya side-eyes the guards around before nodding. "I just used a quirk to let us talk freely. Now, I've been digging into Hawks' family history." He steepled his fingers, bopping them against his lips, "I followed both his parent's lineages and was shocked to learn that we're related from his mother's side. Turns out my brother had a kid right before he died. I do not know when exactly this happened. You see, since I had a meta-ability my parents didn't want me around. These powers were fairly new and my parents didn't know how to deal with someone like me. Although they didn't throw me on the streets like I thought they would, they instead sent me to the Center.

The government, in order to help control and get a handle on what these new meta-ability people could do, was collecting anyone who had one and storing them in a facility not too unlike this one. At first, they gathered all the unwanted people that were on the street or in facilities and such. People who could go missing and no one knows or cares. Then once that was done they went for ones with loved ones, the ones who will be missed. They did so by sending out ads and such, paying high amounts for a 'study participation group'. However when the number of people with abilities kept increasing they couldn't control it or hide it. So they forced people into these concentration camps. Experimented on them too. If you go in, body bags are the only way out.

Two weeks later I found out from my brother that my parents died when a kid got his ability and he blew up a whole block. I never blamed them for putting me in the Center. They did what they thought was best. Even though the Center was one of the first holding facilities, the residents were treated better than the newer ones who believed they could cure them with all sorts of inhuman tactics. No problem right? These new generations of people weren't human after all. Can't be inhumane then if they aren't human. This continued for a time.

By then I was nineteen and my sixteen-year-old brother was going to be put in our grandmother's custody. I couldn't let that happen because she was not a kind person. Before the abilities the war caused her to believe the worst in humanity and when the abilities arrived she believed that humanity was at its end and that the next generations were all demons being birthed by the last of the human race.

Thus to escape his fate he pleaded for me to save him. So I escaped via those lovely body bags and we spent the next five years on the streets trying to survive. Secret wars around the world started because of these abilities and more people were forced out on the streets for various reasons. This made it easy to capture ability users to bring to their facilities. It became a vicious cycle.

This left us without much to do to survive. My brother was always sickly but he was a sweet talker so he always managed to get us food or temporary shelter. We'd never stayed in one place for too long, Less people would start looking where they shouldn't. For my part, I designated myself as a consultant and butted my nose into everything I could. I learned so many tricks of the trade because of it.

However that didn't last long. When I thought we were on our last leg and wouldn't make it another week I found an ability that could sustain the user through anything but age and death. So I tried to give it to him. He refused and we squabbled. I got mad and in my delirium, I forced the ability on him. As you might know, people can't take more than one quirk unless they have quirks from both parent's genes. But since they were new this knowledge wasn't around plus there were no older generations to base this on since we were the first generation."

Mr. Midoriya sighs and looks down at his folded hands, opening them and examining the holes in each palm before rubbing his nose as if he wants to stop there and not continue.

"He turned out to have an ability all along. One that can transfer abilities. But neither of us knew. So I locked him up in a timevolt ability I received years before that I used to store food and supplies. For years I kept him there. The second and third generations came and went. What they called these abilities varied each generation; Abilities, given their bad rap, quickly changed to potentials, a decade later they became skills with most users given a number for names. By then most of the world had various powers and saw this word as a negative connotation and turned it into legacies. This surprisingly stayed around for a while until the term quirks gained traction from a bad meme. Nonetheless they were all the same. Worked the same. I could take them the same way too.

I found a kid who wanted to go to the moon. I took his ability to slow down time in trade for a job at NASA. Though that was a lie. When he found out, he jumped from his school's window. That gave me time still I wasn't immortal. When I was one hundred and ten I met this Doctor with an immortality legacy. I had acquired many businesses by then and a solid amount of wealth. So I recruited him in exchange for a copy of his power. But in order for it to work my body had to kill itself and start anew. So it did. But that just left an opening in the vault's doors.

My brother escaped and started his own following. He fell in love and had twins and later taught the oldest how to use his quirk once he gave it to him. This continued to this day with eight holders. Bringing it back to the beginning, the family path breaks up in several directions. Interestingly enough, one is oddly the Bakugous-Mitsuki's family side. Lucky for you two it is also traced to the Takami family."

This is the greatest thing Touya has heard all day. There is a familiar connection between them and thus they are able to use the Soulmate Act to save them.

"I can tell what you're thinking by seeing your face. We can go ahead with the papers but the trouble is that you will have to go to court and also get examined just like your siblings. I doubt that this place will let you go. It's going to be more complicated and taxing than any of your sibling's cases ever was. I'll let you think about it."

He's ecstatic as he races back to tell the news to the others. His excitement dissolves however when he steps back into the room to see Hawks and Hirano side by side on the cot, just like the first day they met. They are chatting, heads together whispering to one another so the other boys in the room can't hear. Hawks laughs at something Hirano says, causing a snicker that sounds more like a small bleating chime to escape the other's mouth. This puts a small smile on Touya's face as he just watches the moment unfold.

He is reminded that they won't be able to hear that joyous sound from one of the three after this. They will leave the deerling here to survive on his own. With no connection and no way to adopt the boy, he will have to be left behind in this horrible place. Touya truly doesn't want this still it is the only way out for Hawks and himself so he will take it.

The next day Hawks leaves on his first mission. It is a trial run to see if he has the potential to be an asset to the Commission or another failure. He is not told when he will be back but as they say goodbye they share their first kiss. A camera flash makes them look at their friend who grins at them and shows them the picture on his camera.

"Give me that!" Hawks snatches the camera and squishes himself between the two, pointing the old camera at them with a grin. He examines the photo after as the two peer down at it too, "Perfect."

Hirano draws the boy close, squeezing the smaller boy under him until the other pats his arms to release him to breathe. Once his birdie is gone a stone settles into his throat. He is not going to cry damn it. He turns away from everyone but ends up facing Hirano who is a snotty mess. "Sorry. I-"

He takes in a shaky breath to try to calm himself yet this just makes him harshly cough, "I just realized he's gone. I've always had him by my side since I arrived here. I couldn't even speak Japanese yet and he just befriended me so fast I didn't have a chance to think of befriending anyone else. To not know how long he'll be gone and then to realize I'm alone…" He sniffs and coughs some more as he covers his snot-covered face with his arm in embarrassment, " 'm sorry. He's your soulmate, not mine. You must feel awful that he's gone." He starts wheezing while more tears escape, "We have to get to class anyway, I'll-I'll see you later."

He runs down the hall and around the corner so fast that Touya doesn't have time to respond. Which annoys the hell out of him. He sighs, scratching his head before heading to class too.

As Touya returns to their room that night he stops at the door, not sure what to do now. He is used to the three of them together, except for that one week they have never been apart. He feels awkward standing there not knowing what to do, having grown used to having two bodies by him in the night.

Then what happened that morning flashes across his mind. Annoyance comes up again. Doesn't that stupid deerling know he gets that? He knows their bond is stronger than his own. They have been together for so long that they might as well be twins.

People stare at him still in the doorway, probably looking like he will commit murder. One flicks the lights out in a huff but scrambles back to his cot so as to not receive his wrath. He frowns deeper and resigns himself to a sleepless night alone in his cot.

A smaller hand laces into his and he turns around to look at the deerling who doesn't look back but guides them through the dark to their cot. When they lie down Touya doesn't feel alone. He thinks that Hawks must feel alone by now. Maybe from the moment he rounded the corner and out of sight. He hopes his birdie will fly home to him soon.

The first half of the week is the same as all the rest of the days. Lonelier without his Birdie though passible with Hirano by his side. As before they never leave each other for long. They put a halt to the chaos they have been causing until all three of them are back together.

He can't find it in himself to tell either boy of what he's learned or their imminent removal from the facility. But he hopes that they will forgive him for it when the time comes. He doesn't think he can forgive himself. Not after this week. Not after seeing what just one of them leaving has done to the deerling. Of how he silently cries at night, how he disappears into toilet stalls for an extended amount of time or hides in the medic room. How his demeanor has changed from a jokester to a sullen quiet boy. Touya doesn't like it, but he gets it. He feels the same.

Nearly three weeks later Hawks has yet to return. Touya tells himself that his birdie will come back and that it is different from the missing kids. But he doesn't know for sure.

The disappearances have gotten worse. They are more blatant with the sleeping narcotics now. They inject everyone with it before bed, saying it is for everyone's health because everyone is looking thin and malnourished. Like they ever cared. Every night everyone gets this shot but only on certain nights does it cause this deep slumber.

This night is no different except, Touya notices, the pink liquid is more clear than normal. He whispers this to Hirano on the way back. He already feels more sluggish. The other boys in his dorm look that way too, but they probably mark it off as just being tired. Looking at Daisuke, he doesn't show what he is thinking but wears a frown on his usually jubilant face.

Shoulder-checking Hirano, the two saddle up to Daisuke's cot where the older boy is pulling down his sheets to go to bed. He sees the two and gives them a curious glance, "Better get to bed boys, trust me you don't want to be up for this."

"Why?" Hirano asks, crossing his arms and glaring at the older boy.

"For your own good do it. Stop asking questions. I know you two are stubborn oxes and don't like listening to orders but I am telling you for your own good. Do not look into this."

They return to their cot when it is apparent they aren't getting any more out of the pink ex-delinquent.

"We're going to look more into it aren't we?" Hirano says with a grin that turns into a yawn as he falls face down onto the cot.

Touya snorts, following suit, "Of course."

"Ow! Touya what the fuck?" Hirano yelps one very early morning, six weeks after Hawaks' departure.

"I didn't touch you, you egotistical beast. Get off me, you're crushing my back."

"I'm not on your back, you're laying on my arm and it's going numb."

This gets his attention. He opens his tired eyes and sees red. Beautiful bright red. His favorite color. His eyes focus as the red splotches become red feathers, "Hawks?"

"Hmm." a tired answer is returned.

"Birdie!" He turns onto his back, careful not to dislodge his bird from their small cot.

Hirano sits up quickly before jumping onto Hawks, pinning all three of them down with all his strength. THey playfully wrestle above him for a minute but when he gets elbowed in the ribs he wraps his arms around the two to bring them into their normal sleeping position.

"I'm glad your back birdie."

"I'm glad I'm back." He nudges into Touya's neck taking deep breaths. Touya doesn't mind, he has his birdie back in his arms.

"This guy wouldn't stop crying though. Every night. You'd think you were his soulmate, not mine." He grins and shoulder bumps Hirano who looks down to hide his blushing face. But he doesn't deny it.

"Can you tell what happened? Where have you been?" Hirano asks as Touya looks over his bird and sees cuts and bruises but nothing they're not used to.

"I can't. Still… it was something else. I kinda liked it. The hero part. I liked saving people and getting thanked. It felt like I was doing something good. Using my quirk to help others."

"I'm glad birdie."

"Yeah that's awesome! I can't wait to do so myself." He squirms around excited. His energy is back which puts a smile on Touya's face. He kind of missed this version of the deerling, not the depressed one. He frowns when he thinks about what will come now that his birdie is back in a matter of weeks. How that jubilant energy is going to disappear from the world once they leave. It doesn't feel right somehow, having that ball of light crushed would sullen the rest of the world.

A black claw tilts his head up to look from the deerling into beautiful yellow eyes with silent questions in them. He forces a small smile on his face as he brings his birdie in for a quick kiss to his lips.

"My turn." The deerling says into their ears so quietly it's as if he didn't say anything. When they look over confused they see the deerling with duck lips kissing his own palm. They burst out laughing but try to keep quiet to not wake anyone as they pile together again to tell what they have done in the bird's absence until they have to get up.

He can't get a hold of Mr. Midoriya. He's tried all day since Hawks arrived but it seems like they cut off connection to the outside world for all staff and those few with phones. Something's off big time. Whatever they have been doing at night has increased and it seems to be at a tipping point. Which way it'll fall for Touya and his two idiots he doesn't know. He just hopes it's in his favor.

They are being escorted everywhere and their off hours are no longer. Touya hates this. He feels like he did in that house before Sho arrived. Always watched, always assessed, always shown being less than expected. They head to the field. They are being tested on everything they've learned so far. When they finish they will be divided up and moved based on their results.

"We've always gone by the median. Not too good but not bad either. That way we can stay together." Hirano says as he stretches his arms.

Hawks nods while pulling his arms from his back, "It's easy to scrap by."

"Hm, don't you think it's going to be different though." Touya looks across the field at the array of objectives and obstacles they will be doing in a few minutes.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Something is different. We've talked about it for days." He breathes out smoke to warm himself from the chilling December winds. It's close to Christmas and he suspects that whatever this place is planning will happen before the start of the new year.

"Yeah, but nothing has changed for classes. Same thing they're teaching, same courses they're making us run. Same day in and day out. Nothing new."

There is a whistle and everyone lines up in rows of ten by class. The whole school is out here for these exams and with the weather they also want to get this over as soon as possible to get back inside.

Waking up he can already tell something is wrong. There's less weight on the cot. He's groggy so he can tell they were drugged last night. It takes him a second to understand why there's less weight on the cot. He jerks up and looks over at a still sleeping Hawks. But no Hirano. He looks around and sees there's only five of them there. There's usually around twenty, even with the disappearances.

Shit. Shit shit shit shit. He leans over and pushes Hawk's shoulder trying to force him to wake. Nothing happens. He's still. Touya's heart goes into his throat. No. This can't be happening. He checks the bird's pulse and breathes a sigh of relief when he finds one.

Slowly Hawks awakes but not fast enough for Touya's liking. He continues to shake the bird and pats his cheeks until he regains more consciousness. They were definitely put to sleep with more than normal amounts last night. He looks to the three remaining boys. Two Emitters along with Daisuke were the only others left.

"What's happening." It's not a question, it's a demand.

"I don't know." Disuke says, frowning and refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"Bull shit."

"It's true."

"The hell it is."

"Tch. Whatever."

The dumb boy sits crossed legged on his cot with his back against the wall and closes his eyes. Seeing he'll not get any answers from him, Touya brings his focus back to his bird. Hawks is sitting in shock as he realizes what has happened.

"Where-where is he?" He looks up with big unshed tears at Touya, expecting him to know.

"I don't know love, but we'll find him." He places a hopefully reassuring kiss to his forehead. But honestly it's to hide his scared and unsure face from his soulmate.

"Should we leave?" One emitter asks.

"We might get into trouble." The other responds.

Touya can hear them and feel their stares on his back as he holds Hawks close, afraid that if he lets go he will disappear too.

"It's locked." The first Emitter says.

"What will happen now?"

The question is left in the air.

It's a full day and night before the door is opened again. A guard is there to escort the five kids somewhere. He doesn't answer any questions Touya asks, just stares ahead as they move. As they make their way down the halls, more guards herd their group of kids into one big cluster as they wind through the halls.

They're brought into the mess hall. The tables that are usually out have disappeared. The remaining kids from each block are standing in rows by gender and quirk types with six lines total. They are told to get in their appropriate lines. Hawks along with one girl who seems to be half cat are the only muts left. Touya watches them quietly whisper to each other as they wait for orders in their respective lines. The girl looks at his bird as if he were prey, following his wings with her eyes, though Hawks doesn't seem to notice with all that is happening.

He hisses at her and that causes them to stop talking and to her credit the cat girl tucks her tail in between her legs and looks elsewhere in shame.

A clap brings his gaze to the front of the room. Ms. Akane, the director of Hiyasaki, stands at attention just ahead of the doors with two attendants beside her. He's seen them about but they tend to blend into the background with how little presence they admit.

"Congratulations. As you have deduced you are the last of the students in our facility. We have decided to do things a little differently this year. We only want the best and we have deduced that you all are the top tier performers in our program. We'll be shipping you out to join various wars for the World Heroes Association. Let me make it clear to you. This is a great opportunity. This means you are premium grade heroes. So we decided where you will go based on your abilities and skill sets.

If you show potential there and the will to serve your country as distinguished Heroes, you will be brought back and given your own agency to run. Unless we need something from you or your agency, you are free to run it as you see fit. The quicker you get those accolades the quicker you will return. Understand?"

Various mumbled replies and questions erupt only to be quickly shut down by the headmaster. You will return to classes tomorrow. So you do not run or do something unseemly, we will reinforce our security until all students have departed. Now each row will come forward going from the outside in to grab your assigned location and drop off date."

Touya does not like the sound of this and will have to find a way to contact Mr. Midoriya to get them out of here faster. Even so, he needs to stay to the last second to find out where they took Hirano. If he's still in the building he can't just leave him for the commission to do whatever they like to.

He stops his mind from wandering too far as his line makes their way to the man with slips of paper in his hand.

"Name?"

"Touya Todoroki."

The man gives him his slip as he turns to go back to the place they were standing before. Once there he looks at his slip. Killeen Texas, United States with a departure on the early morning of Christmas Eve. He makes eye contact with his bird and they immediately know that their destinations are not the same.

They are quickly dismissed and are escorted back to their rooms. Some he notices are more in number then his, while some only one or two remain. He wonders if they will stay in their rooms or will get reassigned and condensed to make it easier to patrol.

They climb into their cot and block out the three chatty boys in the room. It's harder to block out with less people- less of an annoying hum of a collective hive that he's used to and more individual voices amplified with the free space.

"What are we going to do?" With their backs to the wall he cuddles up to Touya and leans his head on his shoulder.

"Wanna go check the basement?"

Hawks looks at him with wide eyes, "That- do you even think he's down there?"

He shrugs, "Worth the try."

"How are we going to pull it off? We're going to be followed everywhere until we leave. You have only a week left and I have a bit more time but still not enough to figure this out. What if we get caught? What if they decide to do whatever they're doing to us? What if-"

"Do you want to save Hirano or not? He's strong and he'll survive whatever they do to him. And I don't think you care what they do to us as long as the people you care about are safe. So what's it going to be, Birdie?"

Hawk's feathers twitch behind him as he thinks. He already knows what he'll do. Has since the beginning. Just the commission has his thoughts so ingrained into their delirium that it takes mental effort to undo it enough to say yes to any of his ideas.

His wings droop and curl into itself like he does whenever he relents to Touya's hairbrained schemes. "What's your plan?"

"This is a stupid plan." Hawks whispers as they make their way to class the next morning.

"We'll see what you think of it when it works."

They're walking with the rest of the kids that were left behind to class. Everyone is allowed to talk to each other and act like normal as they are ushered through the building. They were also told that morning that starting tonight sleeping arrangements will be made like he thought they would be yesterday. Which means more strangers' ears listening in that weren't used to his and Hawks' behaviors or living with his known vicious attitude. He can't trust any of them. For all he knows they are just waiting for something to happen to turn anyone into the headmistress in order to gain the little bit of credit it took to throw their friends under the bus.

This is the only time of day that they pass the door to the basement. It's locked of course and highly monitored but with sensors and such, a stray feather going under the door won't set off any alarms or notify anyone that something is off. Even if they connect the feather, Hawks could be going through his yearly molting for all they know.

Perfect alibi and perfect way to tell what they will be up against.

They make it to class and take their seats. Everything is going as planned. Hours later they're in the middle of class when Hawks sits up straight. The professor is quick to notice, "Is everything alright Hawks?"

"Yes Ma'am, a ghost just ran up my spine that's all."

"Hm. Alright then can you tell me the answer to the question on the board."

He looks sheepishly at the board and answers the question. The professor seems disappointed he answered correctly but continues anyway.

Later at lunch they are allowed to sit where they want to. The two boys quickly sit at a table farthest from the others. They know no one will come to sit with them given Touya's and in consequence Hawk's disposition.

"What was that birdie?"

"I don't know exactly. My feather was laying on the ground for so long. I couldn't feel anything around it except the building. Then someone picked it up and brushed it. They took it somewhere farther down. I think this place goes deeper."

"Hm. Well then when we have our matches later this week, I could accidentally self-destruct. It's close enough to the Basement to make a run for it but far enough that the fire won't get to it. I'll create a fire so large that it'll take an hour to put out and half the building will be demolished. It's an old building anyways, it'll go up fast."

"You're just making things up on the fly. You don't know what you're doing."

"True, but trust me a little, I'll get ourselves out. At the very Least I can send an SOS to Mr. Midoriya and he can arrive in seconds."

"Fine but if we get out of here we're going on a proper date."

"Of Course Birdie, I was planning that already." He gives a smug grin.

"Of course you were." Hawks tries to look exasperated but he can't seem to hide a small grin of his own.

The alarm is blaring and his skin is officially dead. White blistering burns adorn his body and his skin feels as if it is falling off. It probably is. The pain is blinding and almost too much as they run through the halls to the Basement doors. No one is around this wing of the building having all staff trying to gather the situation and take care of it.

Hawks uses his feathers to go behind the cameras and block them as they hurry past. They know where all the camera's are, which is good seeing as there is no other way around them.

They make it just in time hearing the sirens in the distance. Touya examines the lock but it is hard even touching it. Hawks shoves him out of the way and after a few seconds with their facility IDs and some finagaling the door bursts open.

They hurry inside which locks them in. No turning back. He lets loose a savage grin at this. They make their way slowly down the stairs and find a normal storage room. They turn a corner however and see an older elevator. They get on and see there are three stories underneath them. They pick the floor below.

The doors open to a blue fluorescent hallway that goes off into darkness with doors on each wall. Hawks steps out and tilts his head to try to see into the closest door without actually going, "Now this is what Hirano would call Horror movie central."

Truest sentence he's heard so far. It truly is out of a horror movie. Liminal space feeling to it too. Especially with the only sound being the lights and the smell of disinfectant. This is closer to what he imagined down here.

"I smell blood. A lot of it."

"Where?"

He turns in almost every direction. Getting his point he asks, "Do you know where your feather is?"

"Down."

"Let's check this place out first. See if Hirano is here."

They make their way from door to door. Most are locked and they are unable to see in, even with Hawk's eyes only varying types of objects and things he's able to make out.

They get to a door that is cracked open. Touya slinks up to it just in case someone is inside. A hand grabs his arm and jerks him back, scaring him and also causing him so much pain he gives a scream though no sound comes out, it's stuck in his throat.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to touch you. We really need to get you looked at. Maybe there's something that can help. Gauze maybe. I think this is where they experiment on them. So there's got to be something around here." Hawks says, looking back at the locked doors.

"Wait. How can you tell? I thought you said this part was empty save for the blood which could be caused by anything."

Hawks won't meet his eyes, "I lied. I saw kids in there. It was still hard to make out but I think I remember most of them. They seem to be all Transformation and Emitters in those rooms. But they didn't seem right. Like they were zombies or something. They just stared at the walls without movement. I thought they were dead at first but when I tapped on one of the glass windows in the doors one slowly looked at me with this blank face. I couldn't see their faces but their eyes reflected the little light in the room and they were… vacant. Dead vacant. I don't know. But none are Hirano so we need to continue and come back later for them."

Touya stares at the boy in front of him for a moment, not recognizing this boy from the timid one he knows and loves.

He doesn't think this one is half bad.

"Way Down we go"

The upper floor seems humane compared to this one. It looks like a messed up jail cell. Floor to ceiling cages surround them full of Muts that seem to have lost their minds and become the animals and creatures of their quirks. The noise of various animals is defining. Nevertheless, if Hirano is anywhere he should be here.

There's only two rows of cells and only five cells are filled. Even he can smell the scent of blood and urine and excrement from these kids. From the little time they were down here all these kids were torn apart. They might as well be dead. He prays they don't find Hirano here and by some miracle he was sent somewhere or escaped or something. His chest clenches at his own self preserving lie.

"He's not here."

He can't believe it and takes in each kid again. But Hawks is correct. The Deerling isn't here. Hope sprouts in his chest. Maybe he was sent somewhere.

"One more floor. My feather isn't here either."

They hurry to the elevators, partly because they know their time is up and it'll be a matter of minutes before they think to look here. The other part because the only other options for Hirano is this last floor or the possibility he got out.

The door dings and opens. It's dark and so they look for a light. Yellow fluorescent lights turn on when Touya finds the switch, not noticing how still Hawks is beside him.

"Don't." Hawks whines as he quickly puts a hand up to cover Touya's eyes.

"What-"

"Don't look." His voice is barely there, the words coming out in chocked bubbles from unshed tears. "He can't be here. He just can't."

Now he has to see. What could be worse than upstairs?

He slowly lowers the bird's hand still gripping it tight to reassure him before opening his eyes.

Shit. He really wishes the deerling was one of those animalistic kids.

A morgue.

A fucking morgue.

It- it can't be. He rushes further into the room. No one is on the tables but they are covered in blood. Flowers cover the floor. Hundreds of them. His mind supplies the answer from his mom's favorite flower book. Purple Fire lilies and red spider lilies.

Fucking hell. It can't be what he's thinking. That is only a myth, right?

But then again so was his family's soulmate marks. And his own.

A soft cry makes him look up at hawks who is bending down into the piles of bloodied flowers. He picks up a bright red feather. He gags as he realizes that whoever took it this far down was alive not that long before they got here.

He walks fast over to the wall of steel crates they keep bodies in. None of the boxes are labeled. He yanks all of them open. Hawks runs over and tries to pry him away but he's too weak and emotional. With his skin as mangled as it is, the pain this causes pushes him further until there are six more left to search.

Hawks puts his bloodied feather to his throat, "Don't." He croaks out. "I don't want this. I don't want to know. I don't want you to know. Let's-let's go. Please. I don't want to remember him like this."

This time it's Touya who can't meet the boy's gaze, "I'm sorry Birdie."

He flings the door open.

A/N

If you're wondering, the reason he goes by Hawks this early on is supposed to show how much the commission has their devil's claws in him already. Unlike other muts, he shows potential because of his wings and how malleable and willing to please he is, especially if they threaten him with Hirano and now Touya. He's been in Hiyasaki for seven years now, since he was five and was sold to them like in the manga. Hirano came a few months later when they're both 6, before that he was in Greenview a few hours south of his hometown Helena Montana, the American version of Hiyasaki. As for the mission Hawks was sent on, it was a test of how he'd do on his own as a mut in a situation like they will put him in officially like the rest. Also, Touya won't realize this (and if I change my mind and he does years later) the real reason everything changed this year is because they were bought by another organization, who has control over WHA, for basically legal assassins and such.

I will do a time skip next chapter and I have redid and reorganized the plot detail list to better see what I have left. As I thought it'll be a total of 20 chapters for this prequel and this next part will cause these kids and others to pick the side of villainy. So glad we're getting into that finally.

Anyway since it's a timeskip if you have any questions, comments or concerns about this part please ask and send kudos and praise please. It really helps me write.

Sorry for missing July, even though this was the chapter that i've been waiting to write for a long time now, I honestly felt like this was going nowhere and my anxiety told me absolutely no one was reading it. Thus, I couldn't bring myself to write then it was suddenly the last day of the month and I was going crazy since I haven't written a word. I felt so bad and knew if I tried to get it done then I wouldn't be able to do it justice- this chapter I knew was going to be big which i was correct with since its 8,596 words. I tried to get it done quickly but it takes a month for me to write these so sorry for the laps in time.

I wonder if anyone can get all the easter eggs I put in. Anyway, Thank you for reading, I really do appreciate all of you. Have a good one and I'll be sure to post next month. -Fwgaltx