A/N: A bit of a filler chapter, but there is a fun plot twist at the end that I am curious what you will all think when you read it! Let me know in the comments!

You will be moving through time in this chapter that's distinguished by the bold time markers. Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 10

The Hawks Hero Agency - 4 Years Ago

Asami chews at the skin nearing her nailbeds nervously as she waits in the hallway with her leg bouncing wildly. She winces when the familiar taste of iron touches her tongue from biting too hard. She groans, instinctively thinking of her father slapping her hand out of her mouth and berating her for her disgusting habit. She pulls her finger from her lips and makes a conscious effort to stop biting her nails since she's already ruined the light pink nail polish she painted on this morning.

She jumps when she hears the door next to her open, as an attractive brunette walks out of the room with a clearly dissatisfied look painted on her face. Asami takes in a deep breath as her name is called by the secretary. She lifts herself up from her seat, brushing her sweaty palms against her pale pink pencil dress with ruffles that flare at her hips.

Her nude heals click against the glossy floor loudly as she walks into the large office. Her eyes instantly land on the large red wings that flare out before her. She clutches onto the dossier in her hands that holds her credentials and she looks onto the blonde man that watches out the large windows onto the city landscape.

"Please come in, take a seat, would you like some water?" he asks her monotoned, with no fake inflection in his voice while his back remains pointed at her.

"Thank you, no thank you," she returns awkwardly as she winces at her response. She gracelessly sits at the chair across from his desk, holding onto her file for dear life as she sits at the edge of her seat.

The secretary closes the door behind them and he begins, "Himari Nakumora, graduated top of your class in Public Relations at the Hero's Business School of Kyoto. You have high recommendations from—"

"Excuse me, Sir," Asami anxiously interrupts the blonde from his unenthusiastic dialogue. "But I believe you have the wrong file. My name is Asami Hatsuse," she says with a quivering tone.

The blonde stiffens, and after a moment of hesitation, he finally turns around slowly, his golden eyes catching her lilac ones. His eyes quickly scan down her body then back to her eyes, locking onto them once more.

"Your file?" he asks her simply and she jumps out of her seat, handing it to him. He takes it from her, glances down disinterestedly at her file as his golden eyes flash back and forth over the page.

He hums as he looks down at her credentials, "Asami Hatsuse, graduated with no honors in Managerial Studies from UA with no field work experience," he says unimpressed. "How old are you?" he asks her as his head cocks to the side, curiously searching her file for the information.

"Legally you're not allowed to ask that, Sir," she blurts out. Her eyes widen to the size of dinner plates before she tactlessly tries to regain his favor by answering him, "I'm eighteen, Sir."

He chuckles at her awkwardness and his sinister desire to continue to watch her clumsily fumble through the interview takes over. He glances back down at her credentials, "Looks like you're highly underqualified compared to Ms. Nakumora. And much too young to spring into an agency seeking a fulltime role rather than an internship."

Asami feels her blood boil as she tightens her fists atop her thighs. "Respectfully, Sir, I have internships under my belt during my time as a student at UA and—"

"Those are required to complete your certification and graduate effectively. Those are not professional work-related experiences," he tells her as he drops down her file on his desk. He inhales exhaustively, "Seeing as how this is an up-and-coming agency, I need to surround myself with a solid team; one that knows what they are doing and are willing to grind to the pavement around the clock to ensure my public image is a positive one."

She swallows hard, hearing the harsh tone of his voice and the exhaustion in his shoulders. He's clearly not interested in dealing with these interviews, and based on his body language, no one seems to be up to the standards that he's placed for the role.

"That is totally understandable, Sir," she begins, "But what I lack in experience, I make up for my dedication and willingness to learn," she tells him with a large smile on her face that he returns with a tired look.

"Why do you want this role, Hatsuse?" he asks in a flat tone as his golden eyes watch her, as if undressing her confidence with his gaze.

"Well, firstly, working for an agency such as yours would be a valuable experience for me, and—"

"Of course it is," he interrupts her. "Working for any agency is a valuable experience for someone as underqualified as you," he returns harshly.

He sighs, already exhausted with the same rehashed corporate appropriate responses she's regurgitating to him as so many of the others did before her. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Hatsuse," he says motioning her to leave.

She swallows hard, feeling her heart drop in the pit of her stomach. Her body temperature rises with embarrassment and she feels her cheeks redden with the overwhelming feeling to cry.

Asami lifts herself to her feet and bows down respectfully at the hero while he returns by turning away from her and looking back out at the cityscape with his hands dug deeply in his pockets.

She takes her dossier from his desk into her shaking hands and begins to walk towards the door when she turns back at the blonde man. "Your public image is a nightmare," she begins, feeling strength in her words with the knowledge that he's not going to hire her.

He turns his head towards her as he lazily looks back at her over his shoulder.

"You're young—only eighteen yourself—and no one has faith in someone as young as yourself to be a strong hero. Your team's first plan of action should be ensuring that you are ready to resolve any case handed to you with professionalism and severity. People are saying that you are already moving too fast, and that scares the public, because they believe that you will be unable to understand the gravity of real-life situations before you."

He turns towards her now, body fully positioned at her as she speaks up to him. "If I were your team, I would challenge that assessment," she tells him strongly. "I don't see what the problem is with moving too fast," she tells him. "Maybe the true problem is that everyone around you is moving too slow," she says as his lips turn upwards at her words.

She turns to leave him, but she can't go without saying, "Also, you're kind of an asshole," she adds offhandedly which earns her a lift from his brows at her bluntness. "Which is exactly what people are expecting out of someone as young as you coming into the scene with no formal schooling. If you want to even graze the top ten, you should adopt a different attitude," she says with a strong sense of worth. "Thank you for your time, Sir," she bows at him. "I wish you the best of luck," she says in a tone that says otherwise.

"Hatsuse," he calls out to her as she turns from him. "Pro tip," he nods at her, "Don't tell assholes your plan of action before they hire you. They'll just steal your ideas," she nods at him, biting her lower lip from snapping at him.

He turns from her, glancing at the window as he says, "Lucky for you, I'm not as big of an asshole as you may think. You start at eight sharp. Don't be late," he says and she can hear the smile on his lips.

3 Months Later

Asami blinks her fatigued eyes as she sits at her computer, typing away as she takes over the narrative of an altercation Hawks had with a low-level villain.

The villain claimed that Hawks had poisoned one of his feathers that carried the man to jail, but through hours of research in locating the villain's true identity, Asami learned the man was severely allergic to birds as a child, and had an anaphylactic response to the Hero's feathers, which was unbeknownst to the blonde. She was able to release the records to the public and clear Hawks' name from the slanderous accusation.

She continues to click away at her keyboard when she hears someone approach her from behind, she jumps in her seat when she realizes that it's Hawks himself.

"Asami," he says her name with a chuckle in his tone. "What're you still doing here? It's late and I'm not paying you overtime," he teases as his eyes close in crescent moon shapes.

"Sorry, Sir," she returns softly as she glances around the office, noticing that only the security lights remain on. "What are you still doing here?" she asks him curiously.

"I was in the area picking up dinner when I noticed someone was still here," he begins. "I've noticed you staying over multiple nights and figured now was as good as any to ask why."

"People searching to slander your name don't work eight to five," she informs him with a soft smile. "I finally nipped those poisoned feather rumors in the bud, so I'm headed home now," she says grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair.

"Well let me give you a ride home. I've noticed that you walk home, and it's too late to walk alone."

"Oh no, that's alright," she sheepishly smiles at the blonde man. "I'll be fine," she giggles awkwardly.

"Come on, I'll give you a lift, you'll be home in no time."

"I don't think I've ever seen you drive a car," she says with a chuckle.

"I don't," he smiles wildly at her as he expands his wings, stray red feathers raining between them.

Her eyes widen at his suggestion, "Oh," she releases involuntarily. "I don't know, Hawks. I've never…"

"Perfect! I love first timers!" he lights up as he grabs her by the wrist and skirts her from her desk before she can argue.

While in the stairwell ascending towards the rooftop, she grasps onto her hands, wringing them uncomfortably as they ascend the stairs to the roof. She is unable to speak as her voice traps itself in her throat.

Once they are on the roof, her legs take her to the edge of the building and her eyes widen at the sight of the city twinkling at night. She's never been afraid of heights, but the idea of flying above the city without her feet planted onto solid ground absolutely terrifies her.

"Hawks, I don't know…" she says with a subtle whimper as she turns towards the smiling blonde.

"Come on," he encourages her. "It'll be fun!" he smiles wildly, only to quickly shift his lips downwards as he says, "Just don't squirm too much, because then it won't be fun anymore," he warns her in a tone that makes her heart drop down to her ass wondering if he speaks from experience.

"It's really okay, I can walk myself," she says, lifting her hands up in surrender at the blonde winged hero.

"Asami," he says with a soft smile on his face that melts away her reservations. "You've quickly become one of the hardest working people here. Hell, I think you are singlehandedly carrying this agency with the work that you do. I don't want you thinking that's gone unnoticed," he tells her with a soft tone as his brows turn upward with gratitude. "I know you can walk yourself home, and I could even walk you home too. But I want to fly you there because I want you to stop seeing my world from others' eyes. I want you to see my world from my eyes."

She blinks up at him, watching the cheeky grin take over the left side of his face. He looks so handsome in the soft night light, and there is a clear inflection in his voice that shows her just how important this is for him. The fact of the matter is that she does not know much about Hawks, and this would help her get to know the man all the better.

She doesn't know what he's like outside of work, she doesn't know what drives him to be a hero, and she doesn't even know his real name. She just knows what she reads about him and what she puts out there in the public to read about him.

A part of her wants to know more about the charismatic blonde that's taken over Japan by storm, and maybe that all starts here.

"Okay," she grumbles as his smile widens to his eyes. "But if you drop me, my family will sue!" she threatens him teasingly and he laughs genuinely at her.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" he returns as he approaches her. "The best way to experience it is in my arms, may I?" he gestures as his hands ghost over her hips. She reluctantly nods with a hesitant opposition in her chest.

He smiles warmly at her and wraps his arms around her hips, pressing her tightly against his chest as his wings begin flapping.

Once her feet are lifted off the ground, they involuntarily kick out for stability. "Don't squirm," Hawks chuckles at her and she bites down on her lip, willing her legs to settle down.

She takes in a deep breath, clutching onto his arms that snake around her hips, being mindful not to scratch at him. She keeps her eyes shut tightly as her heart flutters wildly with the feeling of the wind blowing through her purple hair.

Asami hears Hawks chuckling, feeling his chest rumble with his voice as her back is pressed tightly against his body. "Open your eyes, Asami," he challenges her. "It's a beautiful night."

She groans as she allows her eyes to reluctantly open at the sight before her, however, when she sees the twinkling of the lights below her, and feels the crispness of the air from up here, her grasp hitches in her throat at the weightless feeling in her chest.

"Wow," she releases a breathy chuckle as her eyes widen to take in every sight. "It's amazing!" she gleams as her head shoots back and forth between the skyscrapers they fly by.

"Yeah," Hawks smiles lopsidedly as his eyes are fixated on hers and not the scenery. "It is," he says noticing how wide-eyed and beautiful she is in this moment.

1 Month Later

Asami exhales as she looks at her white-haired friend's reaction; noticing the downturn of her lips to the right side of her face. Her brows are turned inward, and her eyes are fixated on the menu no longer taking in the words as she is lost in thought.

The purple-haired girl groans as her friend continues to think about the information that she unwillingly blurted out to her, and the sound brings Fuyumi's steely eyes back to her. Asami notices the turning of her brows as they lift in pity, and Asami quickly reacts by launching her face into the palms of her hands.

What the hell was I thinking?

"Asami," she begins in that smooth tone of hers that tells the dark purple-haired girl that she's in for a motherly lecture. "You're treading on some dangerous waters," she says simply, knowing that her friend is well aware of how dicey the situation is, and no further scolding is needed from her.

Asami lifts her head from her hands as she watches her friend's expression turn to a soft smile. "What else am I supposed to think, Fuyumi?" she asks her. "Every night that I stay late he insists that he fly me home. And days that I don't leave late, he insists that I stay late on some lame assignment that I can do the following day, so that I'll stay and he can fly me home," she tells her friend. "And he doesn't do it with any of the other girls," she adds before her friend can skeptically challenge her.

"Every day he compliments my outfits. Every day I catch him staring at me, and when I challenge him, he just grins at me and his eyes linger until I have to be the one to look away. Every night before he flies me home, he tries to buy me take out, and when he does, he insists on paying," she continues. "He says things to me like 'you're my best girl', and 'I'd be lost without you', and I don't know what to do anymore," she groans.

"Okay," Fuyumi begins with a heavy sigh, "Let's say that he's into you," she says, "Hawks is still your boss Asami. You're his direct report. Nothing can happen between the two of you; that's wildly inappropriate," she scolds her in that teacher voice of hers.

"I know that, Yumi!" Asami grunts, "But how the hell am I supposed to tell him that he needs to stop flying me home? What if he fires me!" she grumbles as she throws her head back in her hands.

"Then go to the media and turn that into a PR nightmare!" she tells her friend and Asami glares at her angrily, only to be returned with a wild smile from the girl.

"But what if I don't want him to stop flying me home?" Asami asks with a downturned pull of her lips in a 'yikes' expression.

Fuyumi begins wildly shaking her head at her friend's admission. "If you entertain that idea, you will get fired, Asami!" she tells her sternly. "No one is going to ruin Hawks' career over this, but it will ruin yours."

Asami chews on her lip with confliction, knowing that her feelings for Hawks are inappropriate, and she shouldn't act on them, but she can't help but feel the regret from her childhood for never acting on these same feelings when she was able to.

"It's just… when I think about my feelings for Hawks, and I think about telling him how I feel, I just keep thinking about him and how I never told him…" Asami faulters in her direction, "And now I never can," she whispers, seeing the sadness tug at Fuyumi's facial expressions when the purple-haired girl brings him up.

Asami sighs, hating herself for feeling sorry for herself when Fuyumi suffered far more than she did with his death. "It's just my biggest regret," Asami says with a lump constricting her airways as tears build in her eyes. "I've always had this horrible feeling in the pit of my chest that I could have done something. Like… If I told Touya how I really felt that night, he would have never gone into the woods," she says with tears building behind the barricades of her lashes that she does everything in her power to keep them from rolling down her cheek.

Fuyumi looks away, unable to see her friend this broken. Asami was never the same after Touya's death—none of them were.

"I don't want you to live with any regrets," the white-haired girl says, eyes fixated on the menu once more. "There is nothing we can do about what's happened in the past. But the present is before us, and if your heart is telling you to go for Hawks, then all I can say is be careful and don't regret a thing."