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Throwing Stones

Chapter Four: Legacy

Pain was an everyday part of her life. Most days were a two but others could be a six on the pain scale. Today she was hitting a solid eight.

"You pushed yourself way too hard today." Hawks scolded her as he helped her into bed. "I thought I told you not to overdo it? You can't run around taking care of everything by yourself like you used to."

She fully understood what he was getting at.

Her body could no longer withstand even simple chores. Just bending over would make her winded and trying to do any sort of manual labor was out of the question.

Most people paid some sort of price for their quirks. This was the price she paid for hers.

"Can you take your medicine for the pain?" Hawks asked. In spite of his question, he was already pilfering through her medicine cabinet in search of her 'emergency pill'.

"I already took one this morning. It'll be a few more hours before I can take another dose." She answered honestly.

He stopped in his search, "You were in enough pain this morning to take your emergency pill and still went out?"

For just a second, he looked ready to faint.

Kagome shrugged her shoulders, "I thought it'd be fine."

She watched as Hawks' swept his palm over his face.

"I have no idea where to even begin with you." He gave an exasperated sigh.

The media often tried misinterpreting their relationship with each other as something sexual or romantic. However the answer was much simpler than that.

Hawks was family.

Her father had found him when they were children. He'd run away from his family and bore the bruises of their abuse on his back. So her father had decided to take him into their home as one of their own. To her, Hawks was more akin to a brother. They grew up together. Went to U.A. together and even became pro heroes together. He'd promised her the day that they'd graduated that if she ever needed him then he would stand by her.

Even now, Hawks was keeping that promise that they'd made so long ago.

"Are you really alright?" Blond brows furrowed with concern.

Kagome flashed him a warm smile, "I'll be just fine."

"You do realize that there's a difference between saying that you are fine and that you'll be fine, right?" He cast her an unenthused look, "I swear that you're trying to give me a heart attack at this rate."

She laughed then winced as the pain in her chest returned. A heavy pressure pushed down on her until she'd finally settled. She hated this. She had how very fragile her body was now. The slightest strain was enough to cause her chest to clench in pain. Even walking would leave her feeling as if she'd run a mile.

Hawks watched her for a moment, his eyes thinning with concern.

"I still think you should go to the hospital." He stated simply, his tone as sharp as his intention.

Kagome shook her head softly, "All they'll do and put a timestamp on my foot and dose me up. I'd rather be here."

She didn't need to clarify what she meant either.

This program was her responsibility now. Regardless of what happened to her body, she was going to see this through to the end. Even if it meant having her heart give out on her in the process. She pressed her palm over her chest. She kneaded the flesh in the vain hope that the pain would lessen. This was her reality now. Accepting it was something she'd come to terms with. She just wouldn't take it lying on her back.

Kagome's smile softened, "I hear that Touya really took control of the situation today. What'd you think of him?"

On the bus ride back to the dorm, Himiko had chatted the entire drive about how Touya had kept dividing his attention between everyone and helping them out. He fell into the role of a natural leader and brought everyone together as a cohesive unit. Honestly, it'd surprised her that he'd been so willing to lend his help to anyone.

The profile the prison had sent over for him had stated that he had a lone wolf personality and a deep obsession with causing his father pain. She expected him to be one of the hardest to deal with given his penchant for being both snarky and stubborn. Yet he'd managed to surprise her.

Out of all the participants, he seemed to be taking this program the most seriously. Perhaps out of his desire not to be sent back to prison or perhaps because he was just plain bored. Either way, she'd been even more surprised that he'd noticed her rapidly deteriorating condition. Instead of taking advantage of that, he simply steadied her and helped her out.

Hawks was convinced that he was trying to take advantage of her, but she hadn't gotten that feeling from Touya. At least not yet anyways.

"I think he needs to keep his hands to himself." Hawks folded his arms over his chest, "He's too touchy with you."

Her lips curled into a smile, "You think everyone is too touchy."

Despite them not being related by blood, he still had all the protective instincts of a brother. Dating had been virtually impossible with him around when she was a teenager. The few prospects she'd had quickly turned tail and fled when he started pressuring them.

"Him especially." Hawks glowered in her direction, "Try not to get too close to him."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes.

Now that really would be an impossible task. This entire program was built on the understanding that they were to all work together towards a common goal. It's inevitable that she'd get to learn more about the people she'd brought into her home in this situation and vice versa. Besides, she wanted to develop bonds with the people she would now call her charges.

"How'd dinner go without me?" Kagome decided to change the subject.

She was the one that'd decided to make attendance at the dinner table mandatory. So she felt somewhat guilty that she'd been forced to violate her own rule.

Hawks shook his head, "Jin and Himiko were on cooking duty today. They tried to replicate the curry recipe you had available to them." Golden eyes pinned her with a deadpanned look, "By the time they'd finished cooking it was close to 7pm and it'd bled."

Kagome blinked, "How did they make curry bleed?"

He threw his hands up in the air, "I have no idea! No one else did either and everyone was too afraid to eat. I ended up just ordering pizza for tonight so they're eating that now."

She pressed her palm to her mouth as she tried not to laugh.

A bleeding curry. Now she really was sad that she'd missed it. She'd have liked to known how they accomplished that in the first place.

"Are you certain that this is a good idea?" Hawks went back to their earlier subject. "These people could be released back out on the streets again within a year. Do you really think they're capable of changing in such a short time?"

Kagome clenched the sheets between her hands, "It's not a matter of changing them. It's a matter of proving to them that they're worth something." Her eyes lowered, "Mother was the one who taught father that his life had meaning because she'd treated him kindly. I think most villains are the same. They're just people who've been pushed too far."

She'd seen more than her fair share of tragedies in the time that she spent working as a pro hero. She'd visited clinic after clinic within the prison system and witnessed more horrid tales in the scars upon the prisoners bodies than she could ever forget. If offering what most people would call the dregs of society a helping hand changed just one person's life, then she would consider this program a success.

"As for their sentences being commuted," She tipped her head up to meet his gaze. "That's something only the Safety Commission gets to decide. They're the ones that will look over all of the participants' progress and judge if they're fit to return to society."

Hawks had warned her against trying to make such a deal. Yet she knew that if the prisoners taking part in this program had nothing to strive for then they wouldn't try at all. She also didn't want them sabotaging each other. This wasn't a competition but a facility meant to encourage personal growth in those who'd come here looking for a last chance. So she wanted them to foster a sense of unity among each other first before she told them about the possibility of their sentences being commuted.

The Safety Commission hadn't wanted to grant her request at the start. So she'd visited their headquarters every day and refused to leave until they'd heard her out. The first time she'd been laughed out the door. However she continued to fight, pestering the President of the Safety Commission over and over again until the woman finally agreed to add the stipulation that they would consider it if the prisoners really did fulfill all of their requirements and passed an interview with one of their skilled interrogators. It would be tough and she didn't think that the Safety Commission would entertain the idea of letting any of them out early. Which was another reason she opted not to tell the participants. A false hope was the cruelest of all.

She'd wrangled a written agreement from the Safety Commission so they could not go back on their agreement to the interviews at least. Now it was just a matter of fighting for their right to have that second chance. What came after would be entirely up to them.

"I was supposed to visit dad tomorrow," A wry smile pulled at the corners of her lips. "But I think I'll have to send him a letter instead."

Hawks' expression contorted into something caught between pity and pain. Eventually he sat upon the bed next to her and slung her arms around her shoulders.

Kagome pressed her palms against her face as she stifled the tears that'd threatened to fall.

Once, just once, she wanted her body to work with her.

This price she'd had to pay for the gift of healing others had come too steep.

"I'm okay," She assured the other man, although they both knew that she was trying to assure herself of that more.

He spoke nothing but simply kept his arm around her, a silent reassurance that he knew that she wasn't.

Come what may, she would do for these people what had never been done for her father.

That was the legacy she wanted to leave behind.