**I do not own these characters or the world, that belongs to our lovely author of MHA, Kohei Horikoshi. Also, cover art was a commission by me from the artist Krumbs. Follow them on if you'd like! They are extremely talented!

A/N: Fuck's sakes, I would've FAR preferred the manga to end at 429, 430 was kind of…lame. And here's another chapter for everybody. Do enjoy! Thanks for any and all comments and favorites. Always appreciated. Have a great day!

Twenty-Eight
Wherein Hawks Catches Feelings

It'd been nearly midnight when he had stumbled outside of that seedy, smoke-filled shit hole of a bar. He'd spent a lot of the day with Twice giving information as well as casually and covertly collecting it. Twice had grown to trust him quite a bit which made it far easier for him to accidentally spill tidbits here and there that Hawks soaked up like a sponge. The remainder of the day and into the evening had been spent with his least favorite villain, Dabi. It was intel delivery time and Hawks was there to deliver.

They'd started out just playing pool which Hawks hadn't actually minded. Two games later though and a few beers in, they moved to the bar where over several more drinks Hawks delivered an alarming amount of information on pro heroes. It was all vetted by the Safety Commission of course, but it was still more information than he was truthfully comfortable with.

He'd even provided information on several of the students at UA, Tokoyami included. That information was limited but some was better than nothing. It seemed like a reasonable amount of information based on Dabi's response.

Hawks had also reluctantly provided a vast amount of intel on Mirko. While he'd felt far worse about giving even vetted information on the students to the Front, he still felt extremely uncomfortable providing information on his friend. It almost felt as bad as being asked to rat on Endeavor, though truthfully, he didn't really have much to provide on the number one hero. Endeavor was his sometimes partner but he kept Hawks at an arm's length at all times.

"This is a lot of good stuff you got here. I'd say good job but judging by the blush in your cheeks I'd say that you weren't exactly keen to hand over this so casually," Dabi purred, his long and slender finger tapping the large folder of revealing information about both pro heroes and students alike.

"Or maybe it's from all the beer and four shots of whiskey I've had," Hawks had said and practically batted his eyes at the icy eyed villain.

The patchwork monstrosity snorted. "Sure." He casually flipped open the folder to gaze at the first file. "Rumi Usagiyama the number five hero aka Mirko, the rabbit hero. Won't that be an interesting read, don't you think?" His slender fingers ran over a picture of Mirko that was paperclipped to the file.

"Couldn't say, don't know her beyond occasionally bumping into her," Hawks lied. He'd kept his gaze on Dabi, not risking to look at the file or at Mirko's picture. It was safer if he stared at the fiery villain than at something that could possibly cause him to react in a non-playful manner.

"Is that so? Aren't you heroes all fucking each other? One big circle jerk, that kind of thing?" Dabi asked and turned those cold blue eyes toward Hawks.

Hawks couldn't help but laugh. What a ridiculous notion. "Is that what the Front and the League think the pro-heroes do when they aren't doing hero work? One big orgy?" The room had started to spin not long ago and he had grown more and more concerned that if he stayed much longer, he'd get drunker and unintentionally let something slip. That could not happen.

"For some of them, yeah, others not so much. That Mt. Lady for instance, I'd wager that that would be her kinda scene," he said softly as he pulled out a cigarette and lit up.

The bar already stunk like cigarettes that the added stink of Dabi's cigarette barely fazed Hawks, though he still didn't like it. He was beginning to feel a greater and greater desire to leave. He'd delivered his information so this was now entirely social and Dabi just wasn't someone that he'd ever willingly socialize with.

"Mt. Lady isn't so bad. Bit of a princess but otherwise not someone I mind working with," Hawks said honestly.

"I'm not a fan of any hero though I will admit that Mt. Lady has a nice ass," he paused as he took a long drag on his cigarette and then blew it into Hawks' face with a cruel smile. Hawks was getting really tired of every interaction he had with Dabi resulting in getting smoke blown in his face. "What? Not a fan of the big lady's ass?" Dabi teased when he'd seen the pouty expression on Hawks' face.

"No, just not a fan of you blowing a cloud of smoke in my face," Hawks said with a wave of his hand in an attempt to disperse the smoke.

Dabi laughed, dry and rough. "Look around, this place is one big cloud of smoke."

Hawks had had enough.

"Well, this has been a great first date Dabi but it's late and I do have to actually get up early tomorrow to do actual hero work." He rose from his chair and stretched.

Dabi put his cigarette out on the bar, threw back the last bit of his drink and then turned to face Hawks. "That's why you should give that shit up entirely. Villain work doesn't demand you rise with the sun."

The two exited the bar shortly later. Hawks had thought that they'd go their separate ways then and there but Dabi hadn't been done just yet.

"Make sure you use that information wisely," Hawks said and gestured down toward the thick folder of files tucked under Dabi's arms.

"Don't worry, it's in safe hands," Dabi said with a chuckle and once again went about lighting up another cigarette. Hawks had watched him and barely managed to contain a sneer of disgust. Dabi smoked way too much.

"See you around Da—"

Dabi surprised him then by grabbing hold of his hand and pulled the winged hero toward him. The motion had been so out of the blue that Hawks didn't even try to resist when he'd been pulled in toward the patchwork faced villain. Before he could react, he was suddenly face to face with that horrible patchwork face, his two-tone skin pulled up in a sadistic smile, his eyes narrowed with cruelty.

An instant later and Hawks felt the dried and chapped lips of Dabi on his in a most unwanted kiss. It wasn't a kind or playful or romantic kiss, it was savage and brutal—it was unlike any kiss he'd ever received or given before. He was so in shock by the gesture that he just stood there, too surprised to react.

The chapped lips suddenly parted and there was the abrupt sting of teeth on Hawks' lower lip. It was a bite that wasn't meant to be playful or cute, it was meant to be cruel and to incite pain. The sting of Dabi biting him broke the shock over him and he jerked back, breaking free of the dark haired villain who simply stood there laughing at Hawks.

"What the hell?" Hawks asked, genuinely shocked.

Dabi continued to laugh maliciously. "Thought I'd sober you up before you go flying drunk. Boss wouldn't be happy if the Front's favorite little rat died because I got him too drunk to fly straight."

Hawks could only stare at Dabi in alarm. His lower lip was bleeding, he could taste the thick and irony taste of blood on his tongue. What the hell was wrong with Dabi? Was he actually making a pass at him? It was common knowledge that Hawks was both a stamen and pistil type of man, but he'd never been into the kind of cruelty that a person like Dabi generated. He certainly didn't think he projected that.

He struggled to regain his cool but swallowed his alarm at the situation and managed to drudge up a snort. "If I'd known you wanted a kiss goodnight, all you had to do was ask."

Blue eyes were still narrowed and glaring despite continued chuckling. "Don't flatter yourself. I just wanted to fuck with your head before you go fly off to your next booty call."

"And here I'd gotten my hopes up." Easy reply. Cat and mouse game was back.

"Keep dreaming," Dabi had said as he took another drag on his cigarette before flicking it onto the ground. He turned to leave but then paused and turned back to look at Hawks and said softly, a clear undertone of malice in his voice, "Tell Rumi I said hi."

Hawks had watched in growing alarm as the lanky blue fired villain pulled up his hood and stalked off. He'd continued to stare in that direction even after Dabi was long gone. There was a chill in his belly. What did the patchwork villain know? Did he know that Hawks and Mirko were fucking? That wasn't exactly public knowledge. He'd never told the Commission that though he was fairly certain that if anyone knew it'd be them, especially the commissioner.

What does it matter if he does know you're fucking Mirko? It doesn't matter. It's not like you two are in love, he thought to himself though that last thought didn't ring true within his mind.

Regardless of what he felt for Mirko, if Dabi knew that they were seeing each other fairly regularly for sex, it might mean that he knew other things as well. He'd have to be very cautious from now on. Anything he said while interacting with other heroes or with the villains would have to be closely monitored. He needed to be careful.

He took to the air after that. The spinning world of intoxication had lessened, sobered by the unwanted kiss from Dabi. Mirko's face kept popping into his mind as he flew through the night. He began to wonder what she was doing, where she was patrolling today. Had he heard from her within the last few days? He couldn't remember.

When he'd been about a mile out from his apartment, he'd stopped to rest atop a neon sign that overlooked what looked like a car accident or possibly a drug bust. There were at least three police cars across the street, lots of cops, and a handful of other people he couldn't make out. Civilians maybe.

While he didn't really feel drunk, he knew he most certainly still was. The world was still spinning to some degree and even though he was safely perched, he felt like he might wobble at any moment.

Just as he was about to take flight again, he caught sight of two long, stark white bunny ears in the midst of the flashing lights and cops across the street. He knew those ears. Mirko was on the scene.

"Tell Rumi I said hi." Dabi's raspy voice echoed in his head and he felt a stab of fear in his belly. Hawks blinked and lost sight of the rabbit ears. Where had she gone? Was she okay? There were a lot of cops over there.

A growing urgency to find her had started to overtake him which led him to immediately taking flight and swoop down to the nearby scene. He landed beside one of the police cars that only had a few cops loitering around it. His landing had been almost entirely silent so it had spooked the policeman that were nearby.

"What's the situation?" Hawks asked softly. The two policemen that were in front of him had turned around and practically jumped out of their skin at the sight of the winged hero silently arriving, wings spread wide, silhouetted only by the street lights and neon sign behind him.

"Hawks! We didn't know you would be on scene," the taller of the two policemen said still wide eyed and apparently shocked by the number two hero's arrival.

"I was in the area. Saw the lights; thought I'd check it out." Hawks had hoped that he sounded like his normal relaxed and cool self. Not like the half drunk, shaken by an unwanted kiss from Dabi, desperate to find Mirko person that he felt like.

"There was a call about a drug deal going down and some small time villains getting civvies involved and the threat of innocent bystanders getting hurt, but by the time we arrived on scene the number five hero was here and had succeeded in subduing all of the criminals," the shorter of the cops explained.

"No civilians were hurt, though one of the criminals with a strength quirk that used a power enhancing drug did give us and her some trouble," the taller one added.

"What happ—" Hawks started but was interrupted.

"Number two! What're you doing here? You dropping in to clean up my leftovers?!" Interrupted a familiar voice that made butterflies suddenly develop in the pit of his stomach. He'd turned his head in the direction of her voice, an easy smile already on his face but it fell immediately when he took in her battered face.

She was her usual self for the most part but her left cheek was scratched up to the point of bleeding, her left eye black and blue and swollen—almost swollen shut. Her lower lip was split down the middle. Her right ear, while still that stark white, was spattered with red and he thought he could see what looked like bite marks indented into the soft pinkness of the inside of her ear. The glove of her left hand was completely gone and he could see bruised and bloodied knuckles. Her right hand was still gloved, though it was dirty and also speckled with blood. Her normally furry collar was practically torn off and he could just make out what looked like reddened hand prints from someone who'd had their hands around her throat.

"Mirko," his voice sounded too emotional and too breathy and he decided he needed to get whatever he was feeling under control fast. Be cool. "You look a little worse for the wear. They roughed you up good, huh?"

In typical Mirko fashion, she snorted and gave her usual competitive smile. "And you look like you've been hitting the bottle. Tough being alone on Valentines Day or just life kickin' your ass?" Hawks had smiled at that. Even with her eye nearly swollen shut and her face and mouth bleeding, she still was sassy Mirko.

Hawks had given her a little round of mock applause. "Touché. Looks like you handled it then. Need any help cleaning up?" He had hoped that she heard the meaning in his question in that he wanted to help her. More specifically, he wanted to take her somewhere safe.

"Nah, it's under control number two, besides it's all wrapped up anyway. Baddies are put away," Mirko replied with that same competitive smile.

"You can head out Miss Mirko. We've got it from here. You should get your eye looked at. Go rest up and thank you for all you did," the shorter cop added, surprising both Hawks and Mirko.

"Okay boss. Send the paperwork over to the Commission and they'll make sure it comes my way," Mirko said with a nod at the cop.

"I can walk you home," Hawks was quick to add quietly, meant for only Mirko's ears.

Mirko snorted and began walking away from the scene, Hawks was close behind. He had watched with a mixture of worry and anxiety as she wiped her bleeding cheek with her one gloved hand. "Not giving me much of a choice, are ya? Suit yourself."

They walked quietly for a few minutes until Hawks decided that walking wasn't really the greatest method of transportation. Not when he could fly.

"I can fly us to my place," he suggested casually, perfectly hiding his turbulent emotions.

She stopped walking to look at him with raised eyebrows and then laughed loudly. "I look like my face went through a meat grinder, can't see outta one eye, and here you are eager to sweep me off my feet, to fly me to your place to bang. Aren't you a knight in shining armor?" Mirko started forward again apparently uninterested in his offer.

Hawks was quick back at her side, undeterred. "We don't have to have sex if you don't want to, I could just fly you there since it's close and you can shower and sleep. I can also apply some first aide to your eye." Though other than ice, he wasn't really sure what kind of first aide should be applied to a swollen eye.

Mirko let out an irritated but defeated sigh. She was clearly tired and hurt and it was cold and as usual, she was hardly dressed. Such was the cost when your hero costume was nothing but a skimpy leotard and some thigh high leggings.

"Fine. Fly us to your place. If you can. I can smell the fucking booze and cigarettes on your from here so try to fly straight; I'd rather not die tonight," she complained and gave him an annoyed look.

"We'll be there in a flash," Hawks said with an all too pleased smile.

Before she could even protest, he swept her up into his arms bride groom style, and took to the sky. He was fairly certain that had she not been injured, tired, and cold she probably would've punched him for such a gesture but she did not protest or fight against him. Instead, she sat quietly in his arms and he flew at startling speeds the remainder of the way to his apartment. And just a short while later they landed on his patio balcony and both proceeded to go inside his darkened apartment.

By this point in the night, he'd been sobering up more and more but was also starting to develop a headache. The unpleasant side effect of too much alcohol and not nearly enough water.

Once they'd made it into his bedroom and he'd stripped out of his smokey clothes at Mirko's behest, they both went into his adjoining bathroom. There she'd sat on the edge of the tub, while Hawks had assisted her with cleaning and disinfecting her cuts and scratches. When it came to her eye, he wasn't really sure what to do so instead he went out to the kitchen and had returned with a bag of frozen peas that he told her to put on her eye. Begrudgingly, she'd complied.

After they'd cleaned up her face and her hands, they took a plutonic shower together. It was a curious situation to Hawks. He stood in his spacious shower with both of them stark naked yet there was no romance or sexual undertone. It was just one person helping the other. He had assisted with washing her hair—with only mild resistance from Mirko—and to his surprise, she'd then assisted him by running some shampoo and conditioner into his hair.

When they'd finished in the shower, Hawks had tried to find her some acceptable night clothes but she'd shrugged off that suggestion and had chosen to just wear one of his tee shirts. She chose to forego underwear altogether. Once they were dressed, he'd applied bandages to the cuts on her face and hands as best as he could and had her start using the bag of peas on her eye again. Finally, the two had found themselves in his bed, both clothed and not about to have sex for once.

Despite his growing fatigue and the swiftly increasing ache in his skull, he didn't want to sleep just yet. Dabi's words were still echoing in his head and he couldn't shake the tension it had created in him. He also couldn't help but remember his last encounter with Mirko, and how he'd been so smitten the entire time and how worrisome thoughts about being in love had popped into his head.

No. It isn't love. I am not in love with Mirko, he once again told himself as he looked over at the white-haired woman in the bed beside him.

"Didn't mean to intrude on your scene, number five, just saw the commotion and thought I'd check it out." I saw you there and I flew down in a heartbeat.

Mirko clucked her tongue and sighed. "Whatever, it was handled by the time you showed up. Asshole used a performance enhancer and smashed my face up pretty good. I took out most of his teeth though once I got out from under him."

Hawks reached a hand out to touch her bruised and battered cheek. She didn't resist him. "Looks like it hurt. You do always give as good as you get," he chuckled and let his hand fall from her cheek to her chest where he left it. He hoped that it just looked like he was trying to cop a feel and not that he was trying to feel the gentle beat of her heart…he was most definitely not doing that.

"I've had worse," she said with a sigh and surprised him when she took hold of the hand that rested on her chest and moved it down between her legs. Oh. So, they were going to have sex.

"Changed your mind?" He asked, bemused.

"I'm lying in bed next to my fuck buddy without any underwear on. Of course I'm going to jump you." She dropped her frozen bag of peas and rolled over onto him. "Now get naked."

Who was he to disagree?

His head felt like someone had been drilling nails into it. He dreaded opening his eyes for fear of the morning sun so instead he opened just one eye, keeping it at a tiny slit. Graciously, it was dark and gloomy and he realized that he was in his bedroom and that he'd remembered to pull the curtains closed.

Slowly he opened his other eye and let both his eyes adjust to the gloom. What had happened last night? He vaguely recalled spending a significant amount of the day with The Paranormal Liberation Front with muddied foggy memories of Twice and Dabi too. There'd been drinking involved in the evening, that much he could assume based on the horrible headache he had. He was barely in his twenties—he shouldn't be having such bad hangovers.

A grunt from someone in the bed beside him startled him and he briefly felt anxiety prickle at his memory when he couldn't properly recall who was in bed with him. He was lying on his stomach and facing the window, so he'd have to go through the motion of turning his head if he wanted to see who was sharing his bed. He attempted to start that but the needles in his skull hurt too much for him to comfortably turn.

Who had he brought home?

"Ugh, you got any ibuprofen floating around here number two? I've got a bitch of a neck ache," came the groggy but wonderfully familiar voice of Mirko.

Hawks felt himself let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It was Mirko. Mirko was in bed with him. Of course it was Mirko. Who else would it be? Fuzzy memories started to drift back to him of flying through the very late hours of the night while intoxicated and being worried about her. Why had he been so worried?

"Yo bird brain, you alive?" She called from beside him and he felt her hand slap at the exposed flesh between his wings.

All he could manage to do was grunt in response. He still didn't want to turn his head; it hurt too much. How much had he drunk last night? And why did he feel dirty about it?

More memories started to drift back to him, an evening in a seedy bar with Dabi—the kind of bar that only criminals and the scum of the earth frequented. A place where no one would care that the patchwork villain and the number two hero were sharing drinks together. An unwanted disgusting kiss by Dabi and a drunken flight home and getting sidetracked by flashing police lights and Mirko's battered face. Flying Mirko to his home and showering with her, dressing her wounds, and then oh yeah! Some pretty amazing sex before finally passing out.

Remembering rolling around in bed with Mirko made him smile despite his terrible headache. Even with a swollen eye and bashed up face, she was still the most entertaining lover he'd ever had before.

"Your feathers are everywhere," Mirko said from somewhere deeper in his bedroom, maybe the bathroom.

"If you're getting ibuprofen can you grab me some too?" Hawks practically groaned into his pillow as he at last managed to turn his aching head in Mirko's direction.

She'd turned on the light in the bathroom which seemed painfully bright to him, but despite the pounding in his head, he still enjoyed the site of her in his tee shirt scrounging around his bathroom for medication. He watched as she dug through his medicine cabinet and then heard her say, "Aha!" and then heard more shuffling, the water turning on in the sink, and she turned back toward him, one hand holding a glass of water the other a bottle of ibuprofen.

Hawks' eyes widened when he caught sight of her face. Even though it was dark in his room, with the bathroom light on he could see her much more clearly. Her left eye was completely swollen shut and colored a dark and ugly black and blue. She had dark purple bruising along her left cheekbone, her lip was scabbed in the middle where it'd been split, and her neck was colored a dark black purple with bruises from a villain having attempted to strangle her.

"Mirko, jeez, your face," he said softly and raised his head despite the pain.

She simply shrugged at him as she hopped onto the bed beside him. "It feels lots better than it did last night. A good sexing can do that, ya know." She poured out three small brown pills for both of them took a swig of water before handing it off to him. Hawks did the same and then painfully rolled onto his back. He extended his wings fully out over the bed, the tips hanging off the edge.

Hawks closed his eyes and willed himself back to sleep until he felt the bed shift and became aware of Mirko's weight settled onto his lap. He opened his eyes and saw the number five hero staring at him playfully—all with one eye. As much as he wanted to fool around with her, he really felt terrible.

"Mirko…come on, I have a terrible hangover," Hawks said and tried to dislodge her but she didn't budge.

"I know," she said softly and leaned down so she was nose to nose with him. "I just wanted to say thank you for helping me last night. And the sex, always a good time." The smile she gave him made him forget his hangover for a moment because his heart felt like it was constricting at the sight of her. Something about the genuineness of that smile, her swollen and bruised face, and the twinkle in her good eye made his heart skip a beat.

It's okay if you're in love with her. You're allowed to love someone.

He watched almost forlornly as she climbed off of him and started digging through his dresser to find some sort of clothing to wear. Clearly, she was about to make her exit. The thought of her leaving made his chest feel heavy. He wished she could stay.

"You know you can call me by my real name, my given name, you can call me Keigo," he said softly as he watched her pilfer a pair of his boxer briefs and slide into them.

She turned to him and gave him a perplexed expression. "Did ya wanna start calling me Rumi then? I prefer Mirko, honestly." Mirko turned back to the dresser and pulled out a pair of leggings that she'd apparently left behind during one of their previous encounters.

"I'm just saying that when we're here alone with each other you can call me Keigo." She'd left his shirt on and was scooping up her dirtied gear from the previous night.

"What a softie you are, Hawks," she said with a sly smile as she moved forward to give him a tongue filled kiss. "One bad hangover and you're simping on me. What will we tell Endeavor?"

Now Hawks laughed though the laughter managed to make his head feel worse. "No idea what you're talking about," he said casually after he'd stopped laughing.

"It's super obvious you're a fanboy for him. You get the googly eyes anytime you're around him. You call each other by first names and shit too?" Mirko asked teasing.

"No, actually we don't. He knows me as Hawks and I only know him as Endeavor. I think if I tried to use his given name he'd incinerate me. Come to think of it, you're the only one I specifically asked to call me by my real name," Hawks admitted seriously. The seriousness of his tone made Mirko's playful face soften for a microsecond before it reverted back to its usual playful and competitive expression.

"I'm gonna jet before you get all mushy on me. See you around number two, Hawks, Keigo," she said the last word pointedly before giving him a wink with her good eye and then left.

Hawks listened as his apartment grew silent. He still had a terrible headache that wasn't going to get any better until the ibuprofen kicked in. He looked over to where Mirko had slept during the night and sighed before rolling over into her spot and burying his head in the pillow she'd slept on. It smelled like her. Perhaps he'd never wash this pillowcase again, or at least he'd wait to wash it until right before she slept over next.

You're in love with her.

No, I'm not. I just like her smell. That's all.

Lying face smashed into the pillow, he kept thinking about the previous night and how he'd flown her to his apartment bridal style, how that had given him a secret little thrill. How she'd allowed him to tenderly caress her cheek. Mirko from just a few months ago would never have allowed such an intimate gesture. He thought of lying naked by her side during the night and draping one of his large wings over her like a blanket, how warm and fuzzy that had made—

Uh oh.

Love. It's love.

"Fuck."

F/N: I wonder if Mirko and Hawks had kids, like what their kids quirk look like? Kinda low key wanna know but also don't. Like a fierce red rabbit bird? Sounds like some bullshit you'd see on A&E in a special about the Jersey Devil. Gosh. Anyone remember when A&E wasn't all Ancient Aliens?! Like, I think they started to flush themselves down the toilet sometime when I was a kid and I am now in my 30s, so yeah…long time they've been on the crazy train. Ancient Aliens and skinwalkers ooooooooo scary!