Chapter Five: Through Their Eyes
The day had started out perfectly fine.
The fact that Casy was feeling enormously overworked and well aware that he had a mountain of paperwork waiting for him at his desk, nope, that wasn't going to deter him. He'd dropped his daughter off at the daycare centre, and headed straight down the road to Moon Cone Coffee to pick up the usual order for everyone at the office.
Tsubame leaving the force—a part of him had always been a little prepared for it, in the back of his mind—but he'd not expected to end up the one being thrust into her front seat. It was daunting. He'd had no idea just how much work she did behind the scenes, negotiating with the heroes, and funnelling the villains around.
It was no wonder she'd always looked so strung out.
He had a good relationship with Canary. They'd been teamed up on patrol for four or so months now, but Hawks—
Hawks was mesmeric. When he was in the office, the atmosphere blended and melded around him as though his smile was the conductor, and they were the instruments being strung along. Now he was going to be Hawks' mediator. Somehow, he needed to get a handle on the man—
And his kid apprentice, who was just as wild.
Casy accepted the tray of coffee drinks and the bag of doughnuts from the small takeaway window. "Thanks so much!" He twirled around on his feet—
And ended up slammed into the ground, hot coffee scorching into his uniform.
That wasn't the most alarming thing.
The coffee burnt, yes, but it was the iron stake through his shoulder that was far more alarming. Casy struggled to raise his hand, searching for his radio.
His voice wavered. His hand barely managed to hold down the activation button on the radio.
"We've…we've got…a Code Fifteen, Zone Nine, by Moon Cone Coffee."
"Casy, are you hurt?"
That was Hawks' voice. Wait—did—was he—was he always listening?
Casy winced, glancing at the blood pool on the ground beside him. He heaved himself up, scanning the scene. Several civilians lay around him—
Dead—
Others were cowering behind cars and objects.
He barely had time to scramble for cover as another volley of mental shards rained down across the street, compacting pavement, shattering windows and piecing bodies. The screams were horrifying.
He blinked back tears, clutching at his radio.
"Hawks…fuck…fuck…no…no…"
"Okay. Casy, we're coming. Hold on."
Panic shot through him.
No. No. No. Hawks couldn't.
"Hawks! Don't come in hot. I…I think it's Porcupine. He'll hit you."
"Casy. Just stay calm, and stay down."
How—
How did he sound so confident.
Casy crawled his way towards a young woman cowering beneath a car. The poor thing was sobbing, holding onto a bleeding gash down her arm. Casy tried to smile, and he received an echoing, hesitant smile in return. That was the resilience built up in their society of heroes and villains.
This—
This had become their normality, the very notion that a perfect, normal day could be shattered at any moment. How had he ever forgotten that, when he'd gone into the police force because he'd lost his wife to a villain.
Oh no—
He froze in sudden fear.
He couldn't die here.
He'd leave little Lu-Lu all alone.
The young woman's face suddenly went deathly pale.
Casy grappled for her hand.
No. No. No.
Peering at them from beneath the car they huddled under were two dreadful yellow eyes, set in a mask of rusting metal, fused into a cranking jaw of sharp, bloodied iron.
"Oh, hello there Mr. Police-Man."
"No!" Casy scrambled desperately for the girl as she was dragged out from beneath the car.
"Fucking let her go!" Casy shouted, snatching for his gun as he scrambled up, attempting to aim over the top of the vehicle. The young woman dangled in the air, struggling against the villain that held her upside down by one leg. Porcupine waved her about, and she shrieked in pain.
Casy bit his lip. What—what was he supposed to do—
Porcupine suddenly launched backwards in a stagger as a red feather pieced straight through the metal plates encasing his frame. Hawks tore past, catching the young woman, skidding over the top of the car and landing right beside him.
Izuku launched off Hawks' back. "Casy!"
Hawks was breathing heavily, though, it didn't seem to be effecting him as he lowered the young woman onto the pavement. Izuku shrugged off his jacket, folding it up, using it as a cushion to prop her head up.
Casy winced as the kid moved to him, worriedly checking over his shoulder.
Hawks clasped the girl's cheek, smiling as he gently rubbed away her tears.
"Hey, you're alright, shh, it's okay. Baby bird. You're okay. What's your name?"
"Ren."
"Okay. Ren." Hawks bent forward, pressing his forehead against hers. "I need you to be very brave for me." Hawks motioned to Izuku, throwing a medical kit at him.
Izuku unpacked it, crouching down beside the girl.
Casy swallowed bile.
Oh—
The girl was missing half her leg.
The villain still held it, and he was laughing hysterically as he swung it around.
Hawks' attention snapped towards him. Casy choked as he was suddenly grabbed, dragged further behind the car as an iron shard pieced straight through the vehicle, getting lodged in the engine. Casy blinked. Canary had shielded him once, but it hadn't felt anything like this.
Hawks' wings felt like they had weight, they felt like a protective barrier that could not—would not—ever be broken.
"Bubbles," Hawks took a quick glance around the scene as he spoke. "I'm going in for a full takedown. Have first responders ready, we're dealing with severe casualties."
He was slowly removing two of his largest feathers. The air around them felt oddly charged. Suddenly, the car they hid behind splintered, shattering apart in a cascade of parts as Hawks ripped through it. Izuku flung himself over the girl as several iron rods were hauled their way—none of them made it—sliced up by a few dozen feathers that had remained behind like a protective shield.
Hawks danced around the villain, his feather blades glinting as he matched the metal armoured hulks every corresponding strike with overwhelming ferocity. He did not pause, not for a second. Soon, the villains metal shell oozed not just steam, but blood, as sections of it began to crack against the assault.
Then—
It was over.
Porcupine sidestepped and vanished.
"Goddamn fucking areshole!" Hawks shouted at the now vacant road. "You do not flee from a flight you are losing."
"Where…where did he go?" Casy choked out.
Izuku shook his head. "Porcupine is working with some other villains. One of them must have a quirk that can help him move around the city."
Casy groaned, leaning against a wall. "Great…that's just great…a mass murderer who can freely move around the sectors…great…"
Hawks was scanning the area, still tense, but his fanned-out feathers were gradually returning to him and his demeanour was ever so slowly shifting.
"Clear!" He called out.
Movement rippled through the street. Civilians began rising from hiding, horrified cries rose, and Casy closed his eyes against the sobbing of a nearby child clutching at their unmoving mother.
The young woman that Izuku cradled began to cry uncontrollably.
It had been a perfectly normal, mundane day.
And then—
It just hadn't been.
And this was their world.
How would he have ever forgotten that he lived in a world where monsters were unleashed upon their streets.
His gaze settled on Hawks, and he watched the hero direct first responders. There was a terrible sorrow about him, and his movements as he walked amongst the ruin in just the small area around the coffee shop. He moved with all the authority of someone so much older than his true age. Was it just the hero title, or had he always been this way?
00000
Tsubame slowly came awake. She'd been sleeping a lot since the—the—the—incident. Even after leaving the confines of the hospital, and returning to a half-way house that Gran Torino had set up for them, she found herself sleeping.
She was trying not to feel too awful about it, telling herself that her body was healing itself. She needed the rest, but it was difficult, after years of always being in a near constant state of manic movement and work-rush.
She sighed, glancing towards the bedroom window. Flickers of a soft pastel sunset danced through the blinds, highlighting the opposite wall where Haia had suck up dozens of artistic pieces that he'd made over the last few days. She'd never been aware he was so into art.
With a shuffle she crawled out of the covers, staggering into her slippers. Somehow, despite her arm still in its sling, she manoeuvred into a dressing down that sort of hung over her pyjamas. Alright—that'd do—
She thumped her way down the stairs, growing curious at the sound of voices and laughter from the living room and kitchen. The half-way house had been very void of such sounds of happiness since she'd returned from hospital, as if her presence sapped it all away. She hesitated at the threshold of the doorway, not entirely sure what she had been expecting.
She certainly hadn't been expecting Hawks—
And—
Oh gosh-
That glowing young woman—
Rilo, right—her name was Rilo—
That must have been—
His wife.
Tsubame covered her mouth, sucking in a deep breathe.
Hawks in plain civilian clothes was jarring. A simple pair of cargo pants, a black woollen, knitted jumper, was such a stark contrast to his hero's costume. She'd gotten so used to him always wearing his costume, that the notion that he was someone else beyond that was alarming.
Hawks was playfully stirring a wooden spoon around in a bowl as Haia sat on a chair beside him, adding handfuls of chocolate into the bowl. Nearby, Rilo was in soft, long blue skirt, and a similar black woollen jumper—which had to have been Hawks', due to its open back. She busily worked a delicious smelling meal within a large wok over the stove.
"Hawks, you cannot keep adding chocolate to the pudding." Rilo commented over her shoulder.
"Phfff." Hawks slapped the woman on the backside, making her squeak. "It's a chocolate pudding, we can add all the chocolate we want, can't we Haia?"
"Yeah!" Haia dumped another handful of chocolate into the bowl. "More chocolate! More, and more, and more!"
"Yeah! More!" Hawks stirred the pudding rather enthusiastically.
"Okay, that's enough, Hawks, stop encouraging him. That's enough chocolate. It will ruin the consistency."
Hawks chuckled. "Alright, Haia. The almighty kitchen queen as spoken. Let's get this pudding into the oven."
Haia scrambled off his chair, running around the kitchen bench to bounce with pure glee in front of the oven. Hawks crouched, opening the oven and sliding the bowl in. He cocked his head to one side as both he and Haia stared into the oven with despondent looks.
"Guess we wait." Hawks ruffled Haia's hair.
"It'll be the best pudding ever!" Haia burst out.
"Ah, yeah, naturally. Because we made it." Hawks assured confidently. "Now, off you hop and work on that colouring book." Hawks tapped him gently. "Go, go. Izuku! Set Haia up, will you."
Haia squealed, throwing his arms up. "Endeavour colouring book! Yay!"
Hawks attempted to stand, only to falter, his wings rattling. "Oh, fuck, my knees." He grabbed the kitchen counter, steadying himself. He remained crouched; hands clenched tight against the granite countertop.
From where Etio and Jaku were sitting by a fancy gaming system, Hawks' young apprentice stood to join Haia by the table. "You know, Hawks, maybe you should see Recovery Girl about them."
"And listen to her lecture me. No. I'll buy some new gear." Hawks' head poked over the countertop, his eyes sharpening.
"What, gear you can wear all the time?" Came the tarty retort from Izuku.
"Listen, I am perfectly capable of deadlifting the weight of my own wings. I am just sore, okay. I'm just sore." Hawks huffed back his fridge.
Rilo turned away from the stove top, looking down at him in concern. "I'll massage your legs after dinner. You probably hit the ground without remembering to shock absorb, again. And it's inflamed all your old injuries."
It was fascinating. Hawks didn't use his legs, or his arms, to lift himself, he used his wings. Tsubame had never seen him perform the action before. She'd never known he could use them in such a manner, but they took his weight and he arched up with a wince. The smile he gave the young woman was warm—no—no—it wasn't just warm—it was full of tenderness. His arm snaked around her waist, and he kissed her neck. He planted his feet on either side of her, leaning back wearily on the kitchen island and he idly pulled out his mobile with one hand, while the other remained on the young woman's hip like a protective grasp.
Tsubame rubbed at her eyes.
Right.
So, this whole thing wasn't drug induced, was it?
Hawks was in a kitchen.
Her two eldest sons were playing happily on their gaming system, and Haia was at the kitchen table, happily scrawling in a hero's colouring book with Hawks' apprentice. Then there was the young woman preparing dinner. Hawks was practically draped over her, wings and all, bearing the heaviness of a very exhausted, utterly spent man, and Rilo simply worked around him as if it was a common occurrence.
The Hawks she'd known had tolerated people touching him. He'd endured her boys because they were children, and he had a soft spot for children. Something she knew she'd abused over the years.
Tears dripped down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away. Tsubame put on a smile, stepping into the warm light of the kitchen. "Well, this is an interesting sight." She tried to sound confident as she clutched at her arm in its sling. She knew what she looked like, and how it disturbed the boys to see her bruised and beaten.
Hawks raised his head from his mobile, tilting to one side to stare at her with his eerie, unblinking gaze. It was little wonder people often thought he was a bit dense, when he wore such a blank expression. "Finally decided to stop gawking at us. You've been there for ten minutes, Tsu."
Right. He'd known she was there, because how could he not have with his quirk. He was still a brat. At least some things did stay the same.
"Hawks, don't be rude." Rilo elbowed him in the stomach.
He winced. Tsubame highly doubted that the motion of elbowing him did anything, but he made the action as though it did.
"Oie. Gentle, babe, gentle."
Rilo looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "Do you want me to kiss it better?"
Hawks grinned. "Yes."
Etio gave a long groan, raising his game controller in the air. "Oh my gosh, you guys just never stop!"
Hawks purposely leant towards Rilo.
She slapped up a hand, holding it against his mouth.
"Help Tsubame into a chair, get her a coffee or something. Make yourself useful."
"As you wish, babe." Hawks swept past her.
Tsubame managed a hesitant smile as Hawks pulled out a seat at the table for her. "Sit your arse down, Tsu, you still look like shite."
"I still feel like it."
"Yeah, Gran Torino said you've been sleeping most days. That's good." Hawks headed for the coffee machine, pulling open a drawer and picking out several small pods. He started searching around for mugs. "Oie, Etio, where are the mugs in this kitchen?"
"Top cupboard, to your left."
"Thanks."
"Where is Gran Torino?" Tsubame looked around.
"Ah." Hawks cranked on the coffee machine. He turned, leaning back and crossing his arms wearily. "He offered to take my night shift so Izuku and I could catch up on some sleep."
"Wait…wait he can…he can do that?" Tsubame sat back.
Hawks nodded. "Yep. Your old man is still a working hero, with a hero's licence. After the shite-show that was today, he called up and…I do believe he ordered me to take a break."
Tsubame covered her mouth to contain her amusement. "Hawks, you've never listened to anyone about taking a break."
"Old men are scary, they're up there with wives."
"Oie." Rilo held out a spatula. "I am not scary!"
Did—
Did she crackle? Was that some sort of lighting she was emitting.
Hawks' hair had become a fuzzy mound, making all three of her boys, and Izuku, crack with laughter.
"Yeah, so, I rest my case." Hawks turned around, pouring out two coffees.
Rilo puffed out her cheeks. Hawks walked past her, carrying the mugs. He winked playfully. "Careful, babe, you keep waving that spatula around, I might get ideas."
Etio grabbed a pillow from the couch, throwing it at Hawks. It stopped short of hitting him, halted by a feather.
"Nice try, Etio." Hawks neatly kicked the pillow back at him, only for it to hit Jaku instead.
"Hey! I'm mid-game!" Jaku protested.
"Keep playing that thing, and you guys are going to end up with slushy brains." Hawks placed the coffee mugs down. "I'm sure that's half of the reason why Canary is the way he is."
"Says the guy who is glued to his mobile phone." Izuku retorted.
"No, the mobile is glued to me." Hawks leant on Haia's chair. "There is a difference."
Izuku rolled his eyes. He started helping Haia gather up the assortment of pencils and crayons back into their case to clear the table.
Hawks ruffled Haia's hair. "Look at all this amazing art, Haia."
Haia beamed proudly. He held up a picture of Endeavour.
"Yes, totally your best work yet." Hawks took the sheet.
"Will you hang it in your office?"
"Absolutely."
Tsubame swallowed nervously. She felt like a stranger amongst her own children, with a young man she thought she'd known so well. This wasn't even her house—she never wanted to return to—that—that—house.
She had no house—
She had nothing—
Oh gosh—
She was going to have to start all over again.
What was she?
Who was she?
She breathed in. "Is…is that a new colouring book, Haia?"
"Oh yes!" Haia beamed. "Uncle Dabi got it for me, because Endeavour is ugly and should be scribbled on."
Hawks choked on his mouthful of coffee.
Tsubame heard a clatter from the kitchen as Rilo spun around. "Oh, Dabi is so dead."
Hawks was struggling to recover his composure.
"Can you imagine, a kid to running up to Endeavour and saying that to his face." Hawks bent over, laughing. "Your face is ugly, and you should be scribbled on." He sucked in a deep breath. He held out his hands, grinning wildly, and there it was—the teenage boy he had once been. "Okay, when next I see a billboard with his face on it, I'm getting a permanent marker."
"You're impossible." Rilo turned away, but Tsubame noticed the hint of a smile on her lips.
Hawks hoisted Haia off his chair. "Off you go, put your things away."
Haia bounced happily, carrying his pencil case and colouring book. Hawks swung back towards the kitchen, shuffling around Rilo to pop open the rice cooker, waving away a gust of steam. "Hey, look, I didn't burn it."
"Your culinary skills have improved by one percent." Rilo praised.
Hawks grinned. "Still better than dry ramen."
His mobile started ringing and he tugged it out, glancing at the screen. His expression immediately dropped. Tsubame watched as Izuku's relaxed stance shifted, stiffening up.
"Sorry, babe, I gotta take this." Hawks shifted past Rilo, his hand on her hip squeezing tight as he pushed past her to get the other side of the kitchen. "I'll be back in a moment."
"Okay." Rilo nodded. "It's fine. We'll be alright."
Hawks glanced to Izuku as he headed for the back door into the garden. Something unsaid passed between the two and Izuku walked to the door, standing beside it as Hawks exited. Rilo's lips pressed thin. She clutched at her skirt for a moment before shaking her head, seeming to decide to busy herself by picking up the large wok.
"Etio, could you come and help set the table."
"Sure thing, Auntie."
Tsubame admired her eldest son as he leapt up. He had none of the twitchy, anxious and strung out fear that had been haunting him for months. A weight had dropped from his shoulders. He wasn't hunched over.
Free—
He was free—
By the time Hawks slipped back into the house, the table had been set. He handed a note to Izuku, who gave it a quick glance over.
"What? That's the spin they're going with? Hawks, we got there in two minutes. I should know, I still have a splitting headache."
Hawks sighed, leaning on the door. "You taken anything for that yet?"
"I don't want to get used to medication. Encase I end up like you."
Hawks nursed his head. "That is stupid logic."
"Everything okay?" Rilo interjected, pulling the two away from their conversation.
Hawks shook his head. "Bubbles is trying to work out tomorrow's schedule. A few media outlets are coming down rather harsh. Poor Bubbles is having a meltdown."
"You should take her some pudding!" Haia burst out. "That'll help."
Tsubame brushed the—currently blond hair—of her youngest.
"You're right, Haia. I should take her some pudding." Hawks grabbed a chair, spinning it around so the back faced the table. He propped himself down with a heavy thump. Izuku did the same gesture with his own chair, though, Tsubame was sure—he—he wasn't an avian aviator, right?
Rilo joined them, handing the last bowl to Hawks, before gracefully seating herself beside him.
Hawks slapped his hands together. "Itadakimasu."
Tsubame smiled as her three boys echoed his thanks, and with a lot more dignity than they usually displayed, they attacked their meal.
0000
Five civilians killed, and twenty more injured.
Keigo's day had been devastating on him. Rilo had seen it the moment he'd met her outside the tattoo parlour. His costume had been soaked in blood, and the harrowed, worn look of self-disgust that all heroes tried to hide after the loss of life leaked between cracks in his perfect hero mask.
Izuku had slumped down on the sidewalk in a shaking mess.
The only reason why Keigo had made the trip to the tattoo parlour had been to fall into her arms and stay there. How long she'd remained pinned to the wall, she'd had no idea, it hadn't been until his headphones had buzzed that he'd stirred from his stupor.
A media briefing. He'd grimaced.
"I'll come." Rilo clutched at his arm.
"Babe—"
"No. Keigo. Wives don't just stand behind husbands, we stand with them."
His smile had been so small, but it had been there. His lips had found her forehead, and she closed her eyes against his soft caresses.
So, she'd ended up remaining with them for the afternoon, which was how, when Gran Torino had called with the offer to take the night shift, that she'd ended up making the suggestion that they spend the night at the half-way house.
Keigo had been hesitant. It had been an awful day, after all, and she knew he was probably more in the mood to roll into bed and sulk, but that—that was why the suggestion worked. Tsubame and the kids were leaving in two nights. This would be his only chance to spend time with them in a way he never had before.
Not as Hawks, but as Keigo.
And she was so glad she'd made the suggestion. He'd brightened considerably in the presence of the boys. Even Izuku had put on his All-Might smile for them, despite how worn down he was.
Keigo had spent time with each one individually, and then all bundled together in a pile on the floor, rough housing in absolute chaos. There had been much squealing from Haia, until he had finally succumbed to slumber.
From her spot in the kitchen, Rilo watched as Izuku attentively gathered the sleeping little mimic into his arms.
"Come on, Etio, Jaku." Izuku motioned with a tip of his head. "Let's go. You guys can read manga, and I can get some sleep."
Etio nodded. "You do look like you need it."
"Goodnight, Hawks, sis." Izuku inclined his head to them as he passed the kitchen.
Pausing from drying the dishes, Keigo gave a tired wave. "Goodnight, baby birdies."
Rilo watched as the boys vanished up the stairs, leaving them alone with Tsubame on the couch. The woman had been rather quiet all evening, seeming to observe and absorb what was transpiring with curiosity and wonder.
Right now, she looked as though she was drifting off to sleep on the couch. Rilo glanced over at Keigo, wondering if she should ask him to take the woman back upstairs to the bed.
Oh—
Nope—
Rilo winced as he knocked a drawer back into place with a sharp smack.
Ah—
There it was.
She'd been waiting for it all evening. For the day to finally boil up and over. It was never an enormous explosion with Keigo, it was a slow shimmer as he gradually lost his mediation control.
She steadied herself and reached up, clasping his cheek. "Do you want to talk it out?"
"Thank you…" he folded around her. "Thank you for staying with me, today."
"Always." She whispered.
He took an unsteady breath. "It's just. Now I have to write letters to families who lost loved ones. There aren't words to describe this level of grief. My city is supposed to be safe. People do not die in my city, and when it happens, it a failure on me."
"You are being extremely selfish and very egocentric, making this about you and your city." Rilo eased back, frowning as she studied his wide, disked eyes.
Hawks' wings ruffled. He made a ticking sound with his tongue, and she knew he was hovering between being irritated at her and contemplating her reasoning.
"When we, the average citizens, step outside, we know we are stepping into a world of villains, and yes, it is the hero's job to keep us safe, but to blame a hero for failing…no…no civilian would be so shameful. The moment we start blaming heroes, is the moment we lose faith in the very fabric that holds this fragile society together."
She clasped his hands, holding them to her chest.
"So don't you dare lose faith in your people, Hawks."
Hawks lowered his head, dropping it against her shoulder as he curled over her. "I just…I wish I'd gotten there sooner."
She wasn't entirely sure how much faster he could be.
How could he ever blame himself for anything, when he worked so hard.
"I know." She hugged him, soothing a hand down his back. "And I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. You did everything you could do; you know that. Keigo. Don't ever let them tell you otherwise."
"Feel free to get in front of the media tomorrow and say that." He mumbled into her shoulder.
Rilo tugged away, grabbing his cheeks. "Do you want me too?"
His brow creased. "No, babe, I'm joking. I can handle the prissy media."
"I'm just saying, I'm All-Might's daughter." Rilo shrugged. "Pretty sure I could use the amazing powers you and Dad bestowed upon me for either evil or good." She slapped her hands on her hips, puffing out her cheeks.
"Oh no, I created a monster." Keigo raised his hands, trying to settle his puffy hair.
Rilo gave her best All-Might laugh. Keigo slapped a hand over her mouth. "That's extremely disturbing, don't do that, babe."
"What, like you wearing Endeavour undies."
"I can wear whatever I want over my own dick—" His voice hitched. Rilo smiled sweetly as his wings picked up around them, each individual feather flaying out. She lent in closer, tightening her hand against his crotch.
Keigo grabbed her around the hips, hoisting her up. "Babe, do not touch what you don't intend on finishing."
"Whoops, sorry." Rilo dragged her hands through his hair. Oh—his engine thrummed—she was so happy to feel it churning over again, hungrily grappling at her own quirk.
"You do not sound sorry."
"Yeah…yeah, I'm not." She whispered against his mouth.
"No, you never are." He chuckled. "And it is gorgeous."
They were startled by the sound of a throat being cleared in a purposely comedic manner. Rilo snapped her head around.
Oh—no—no—no—
She'd completely forgotten about—
Tsubame leant on the kitchen counter, looking back and forth between them both with a smirk. "Should I leave?"
Rilo quickly untangled herself from around Keigo, ignoring his grin. She tugged on the knitted sweater she wore and tried to reset her skirt.
Her face wasn't pink, it was bright red—almost the tint of Keigo's wings. He laughed, though, more than likely to hide his own sense of awkwardness.
"Go, go sit." Rilo pushed him out of the kitchen. "I'll bring you a coffee."
Keigo grinned at Tsubame. "Pervert."
Tsubame followed him back the couches.
"You're lucky I didn't film it." Tsubame mocked. "I could have made a fortune selling that."
"Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humour, Tsu." Keigo crouched beside his gym bag, pulling out his bulky, giant laptop. He flung it over the couch, and it landed with a heavy thud on the cushions.
Rilo set a tray down on the small table. Tsubame smiled, accepting the coffee with her good hand.
"Is it too heavy?" Rilo worried.
"No, no, it's fine. Thank you. You're very sweet."
Keigo's hand pressed against her hip, steadying her as he shuffled past to get to the couch. His wings took up most of the couch by the time he was seated, but she'd become very accustomed to tucking herself amongst them and they tended to naturally bend and fold around her, gleefully reacting to her electrical current. Keigo propped his bulky, giant laptop on his knees and cracked his fingers.
"Right, let's do this…"
Rilo had a feeling Izuku was beginning to see that hero work wasn't just the flashy fights he'd always looked at in awe upon the streets, or admired from afar through film. There was so much that went on behind the scenes that civilians had no idea about, some of it though, she was sure Keigo put upon his own shoulders. He didn't have to write personal letters to the family members of the deceased, it was entirely of his own choice.
Though the close connection he had to the people of Fukuoka, and even beyond it seemed, may have explained his steady ranking climb.
And he called himself lazy.
"You know, I'm surprised they're not taking the boy's away from me." Tsubame gave a long sigh.
"Stability is important, you know that." Keigo didn't look up from his typing. "Besides, Gran Torino's name carries weight."
Tsubame sighed. "I hate relying on him for everything. I feel so guilty. I spent a lifetime ignoring him, and he just…he is acting as if how I treated him never mattered."
"Because to him, it doesn't matter." Keigo replied. "What matters is that right now, you need him, and the boys need him, and he will be there, because he has loved you, and will always love you."
"He doesn't even know me."
"That doesn't matter. Love doesn't work that way." Keigo kept typing. "It just is. It is a constant, fundamental, unmoveable block that just is. Either you commit, or you don't."
Rilo lowered her mug. "Sorry, he can get a bit blunt when he's multitasking."
Tsubame shook her head, giving a smile. "Oh, I know. What is fascinating, is we've never had this discussion before…but then, I guess I never thought to ask you about the philosophy of love."
"Nah, you were too busy presuming I fucked every chick with long legs." Keigo quipped.
Rilo choked. Keigo caught her mug. "Careful, babe."
Rilo gave her chest a pat. "Thanks. Sorry. Mental picture caught me off guard."
"Ew." Keigo looked at her in sudden disgust. "No. Fuck no. Rilo!"
"What? I'm the one who read every article about you and the chicks with long legs." Rilo huffed.
"Well, I would establish how much I like your legs, but apparently sleep is more important right now." He snidely looked to the side. "So, sucks to be you."
Rilo rolled her eyes. She watched as he promptly took a drink from her coffee mug. Well, she wasn't getting that back. Settling her hand against his leg, she leant against him, and his wing tightened around her.
"So…so do you…do you know who is replacing me at the station?" Tsubame asked. "I submitted my resignation papers the other day. I didn't want a big fuss and farewell and all that. Felt like I'd had enough commotion made over me at the hospital."
"Casy Yu." Keigo offered. "Who is being a giant moron right now, and is refusing to take time off despite what happened today." He blew a rasp. "I think I'm going to have even more trouble with him that I ever had with you." He looked up, staring at Tsubame directly.
Tsubame tired to give an uncaring shrug, but it didn't really work all that well with her shoulder being strapped. "Casy, okay…Casy is a good choice."
"I have this feeling everyone kind of just shoved the role onto him, and that it was less about choice." Keigo shook his head. "A terrifying type of promotion."
"Hm, funny, sounds exactly how I ended up with the mediator job." Tsubame grumbled. "Things really don't change."
"Nope." Keigo still didn't halt his rapid typing.
His ability to carry a conversation while multitasking had always been impressive.
Rilo reached out to collect the mug that had been his, still remaining on the little table, only to halt her movement halfway there as a sharp pain pulled against her spine. Keigo's hand was immediately against the bare, scarred skin.
"Rilo?"
"No, no." She winced, pulling back and rubbing at the scar on her neck, hidden by her mountain of hair. "I'm okay. Just stiff. Dabi showed me some stretches to do, and I think that helped."
She hoped that was reassuring enough.
Keigo dropped his head to one side, though his attention had returned to his laptop screen, and he was still typing. "They weren't sex positions, where they?"
Rilo accepted her coffee from a feather that gave it too her, giving it a little kiss as it floated away.
"Um. They might have been."
Tsubame gave a laugh. "Wow. Okay. You know what, I was worried when I heard about this whole…marriage thing, but, nope. She gives out as good as you."
The obsidian centres of Keigo's eyes had narrowed into tiny dots. "Oh, you have no idea."
Rilo leant towards him. "Remember, the more you sleep, the better the reward."
"I did not sign up for this torture."
"Nah, I'm pretty sure you did." Rilo squeezed his thigh. "There is a reason you didn't immediately leave that first night."
He flashed a grin. "It's cause I liked your legs."
Rilo punched him as he dissolved into laughter.
0000
Dabi stared up at the quant little house settled amongst several dotted trees. He checked his mobile. Yep. He was pretty sure this was the address. Seems like Gran Torino was loaded if he could hire a neat little shack like this on short notice.
Dabi snorted. "The hypocrisy of heroes."
He tapped his boots, slowly heating the air, propelling himself upward until he could gracefully step out onto the tiled roof where Hawks was seated despondently by an open window. Judging from the soft glow inside, the princess must have been therein. Dabi bent, peering into the pocky room, sure enough, the princess was bundled up tightly in a little nest in a futon on the floor.
"You know, sleeping next to a soft, scrumptious, naked woman is peak bliss in life, so, what the fuck are you doing out here?"
Hawks was cocooned in his wings, and slowly, they folded back as he lifted his head. Dabi's neck crawled at the cutting viciousness of the eyes that studied him.
"Dabi, explain to me how Porcupine could just vanish in the middle of a fight."
Dabi leant back on the window. "Yeah. Sorry, pretty birdie, I can't tattle tale, as reigning king, I must respect the freedom of the villains who want to be idiots."
"He killed five civilians."
"So? Am I supposed to feel sorry about that?" Dabi shrugged. "Hawks, I don't care about five random civilians. If it had been broccoli-top, or the princess, maybe I'd get off my arse, but I'm not here to do your job."
Hawks rubbed at his face, grumbling something obscene.
Dabi sorted through the plastic bag he held, pulling out a beer can and offering it out to the hero.
"I don't drink."
"It's non-alcoholic, you dim-wit." Dabi chucked it at him.
Hawks snatched for it.
"You had a shite day. Drink it." He sat himself down beside the idiot birdie hero, cracking open his own can.
Hawks spent a few moments squinting at the contents of the can, which was hilariously amusing, considering how utterly shite the man ate, and the enormous amount of coffee he consumed. As if a non-alcoholic beverage would do anything to him.
"You're right, I should be sleeping." Hawks glanced at the window. "And she is very comfortable."
"Yeah, yeah, rub it in. You get sex, I get couch."
"Oh, do you want salt on that?" Hawks took a sip of his beer, only to pull a face at it. "This is disgusting."
Dabi clanked the two cans together playfully. "That's why it's good."
"I should have been faster today." Hawks curled forward. "I should have gotten there sooner."
Dabi tapped a cigarette free of its package, lighting it with a flick of a finger.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but, don't you have a woman lying in that room who is capable of generating a continuous supply of fuel that is exactly tuned to your quirk."
Keigo wearily looked up.
"Ah. Yeah. It's called quirk compatibility. We have a reciprocal flow."
Dabi inhaled his cigarette.
"Okay, so, what's stopping you from attempting to…I donno…break the speed of light." He stood, drumming the ash of the cigarette out on his pants. "That's what you heroes do, right? Go beyond or some shite."
Hawks gave a near hysterical laugh. "You can't be fucking serious."
Something had been bothering him since he'd met the birdie hero, and seen him stick his landing so horrifically wrong it had been painful to watch. Yes, Hawks was an aviator, and yes—he had wings, making him avian in appearance, but he was not a mutant bird. Standing beside him when he shredded apart bodies, had been so stunning, he'd almost missed the reality of it.
Hawks shattered time.
"Why not? Hawks, forget about speed."
"Ah, we were just discussing the speed of light—"
Dabi held up a single finger, igniting it. He swirled it around in a pattern. "When you activate fierce wing over a short distance, it's as if you appear instantaneously." Dabi grinned down at him. "But let's step back for a minute…and think, what if fierce wing isn't actually a speed quirk."
"Yah, yes it is." Hawks looked at him with a birdbrained, blank expression.
"What if, it's a time quirk." Dabi blew a puff of cigarette smoke.
"What the fuck." Hawks deadpanned. "Dabi—"
"No, no, hear me out." Dabi pointed at him, holding out one of his feathers.
Hawks rolled his eyes, propping his chin up on a knee.
"Fine, whatever…I'll entertain your wild fantasies."
"Just think about it. Your feathers cut through time, Hawks. That's why they're fast. It's why you appear to be so fast. Technically, its still a speed quirk, I suppose." Dabi mused. "Just on a whole different level."
Hawks had gone quiet, his brow compressing in a tight frown.
"What is it?"
The birdie hero shifted uneasily. "When I was a kid, and we lived on the streets…there was this, really, really bad day, when the weather just fucking sucked. My mother was…she was a mess." Hawks breathed in. "She never beat me, not like my father, but she came close that day." He flicked his beer can into the air. "So, I flew off, you know, to get away for a bit, and while I was flying through the storm, my wings reacted. I couldn't ignore it. I had to follow it. There was this bus, full of school kids, all around my age. It went off the road, crashing down a ravine."
Dabi stared down at the hero.
Hawks shook his head. "I didn't even realise that I'd saved every single one of them before the bus hit the ground. It couldn't have been more than a minute. There was over a hundred kids on that bus, as well as their teachers…and somehow…I got each and every one of them out, without injury." He studied his hands as if he'd never seen them before. "The thing is," Hawks looked up. "I've never been able to achieve that level of speed, ever again. No matter what the Commission put me through, and they put me through hell."
"Hawks." Dabi crouched beside him. "It wasn't speed you tapped into that day. The Commission, they've been lying to you, trying to keep a lodestone around your ankles."
Hawks drew back, his chest expanding. Dabi raised a hand, warding off the slowly calcifying feathers that had begun to hiss like a million tiny snakes. He could feel it growing in his gut, a strange, twisting sensation—
Fear—
"Just give it some thought." He gave a shrug, twirling around. "I mean, you want to go faster, don't you?" Dabi grinned down at the hero. "And now you don't have an excuse, you have a refuelling station."
Hawks raised a middle finger up at him, only to snap it back as Rilo suddenly burst out of the window in a flash of light.
"What are you two doing out here?" She glared at them both, her face a very lovely shade of righteous red. "Keigo! You are supposed to be in bed sleeping."
Hawks pinched a finger and thumb together. "Babe, I am this close to losing my shite."
Rilo sighed.
Interesting. Dabi had rather expected her to put up some sort of hissy fit, and loose her cool at them, but she didn't. Instead, she hoisted herself up and clambered out of the window, creeping her way across the roof-tiles towards them. Hawks held out an arm, letting her crawl into his lap. She snuggled down into his wings.
"Okay. Let's just sit out here then and count stars."
Hawks kissed her forehead. "Thanks babe."
Dabi thumped down beside them, dropping back and crossing his arms behind his head. He smiled up at the night sky, raising an ignited finger and playfully drawing images between the stars. It'd be nice if the morning didn't come. Fire always looked best at night.
"Hey, Hawks."
"Hm?"
"Stop time for me."
"Shut up."