They said there'd be no rain today, just slight wind. The thick clouds above still made Carissa anxious, so she brought her umbrella with her. She held its handle loosely and let it swing from her fingers. A few people were on the park trail today, so she wasn't completely alone. It was Sunday and she felt a lot better after getting more rest time than usual. It's been a rough few weeks, but thankfully her hard work was paying off, at least. But despite a clearer head, Carissa still considered returning to work. Her dad kept trying to convince her otherwise, but she kept saying she'd only think about it. Her mind kept changing, but if the job got rougher again, Carissa just might take her father up on his offer.
The air still smelled like rain, yet there was none. It helped soothe Carissa, though. Walking in this park always soothed her. She came to this park a lot with her dad when she was little. There were many paths to explore, some even going off the paved paths and up to higher ground, almost luring people onto hiking trails. Depending on the year and its weather, those trails could look gorgeous.
Even on the paved paths, stepping under several tree branches clumped together made it appear you were walking through a tunnel. Especially with the lack of sunlight. Carissa walked through a part of the path with thick trees covering any light there was overhead, creating a thick darkness on the path. She found no issue with this, having used to be fascinated with the mysterious yet natural darkening the trees provided. She emerged and continued onward. A happy couple wearing exercise outfits and wireless headphones passed by, laughing to each other about something while passing Carissa. The young woman paid them no mind, though it was uplifting to see some happy folks for a moment.
When she was young, it felt like it took a while before making it to the actual park itself. Getting older, that time shortened. It felt like she was there in five minutes. That didn't make the scene any less beautiful. The park was still big, surrounded by pine trees. There was a jungle gym sitting nearly in the middle of the clearing. Two really large and old tires for children to hide in were randomly lying on the side of the jungle gym area. There were some picnic shelters sitting next to a stream under a short bridge that led to a trail leading to a different park.
Carissa hummed lightly, breathing in the cool air while walking along. There were a few people in the distance of the park, but no one close by. A part of her liked the distance between her and other people, but another part wished someone would accompany her. When her dad was available he'd still do it, but he had work today and couldn't take another day off since he missed yesterday. She felt bad for wasting his time with her lack of sleep.
While walking around the park, Carissa caught sight of one of those stray trails within the actual woods of the park. Deciding on a different change of scenery, the woman turned on her heel and entered on the path. It was rare for her to walk on these trails nowadays. The trail seemed a lot smaller from when she was a child. She recalled sometimes running up the trail while her father called for her to wait up. A strong breeze made the trees ruffle and throw leaves and twigs all around. Carissa lightly moaned at the sensation of the cold air blowing into her hair. She stopped for a moment to feel it.
"You like the cold, huh?"
An instinctive, horrified gasp erupted from Carissa as she breathed in a large hunk of cold air. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the close proximity of the light, masculine voice. The startled woman's head already jerked around before her whole body could.
His red and gold appearance stood out from the gray-green atmosphere. Those huge red wings of his were slightly curved, but still big in appearance. His arms were crossed over his chest, standing tall. He gave her a sly grin, having successfully caught her off completely guard. If this were an animal situation, she'd have already been in his clutches.
Carissa's eyes widened. "…Why are you still here?" Was all that came out.
Hawks's grin dropped, showing clear fake-offense at her question. "Geez, I just flew by to see my friend." He said playfully. "You're not happy to see me?"
Carissa shook her head in confusion. "Friends? Since when did that become a thing?" She asked.
Hawks pouted. "Eesh…I thought you were in a good mood today."
"I was- I mean, I am. But I thought you would've gone back to Japan by now." Carissa said. How long has it been? Four days?
"Still here. Still searching." Hawks said, playful yet with obviousness.
"…But shouldn't you be, like, I don't know…searching in the city?" Carissa asked. "Why are you out here?"
"Like I said, I wanted to see my friend." Hawks, said, his sly grin returning. He tilted his head as if confused.
Yeah, and I wanted to jump into the stream. Carissa said but held her tongue. Then a thought popped into her head. "How did you even know I was here?"
"I'm the number two hero of Japan, sweet bird." He practically boasted. "I can find anybody."
"Okay, well…"
Any other person might've been fascinated with this whole encounter thing, but Carissa only found herself uneasy. Her eyes slowly shifted around them, realizing she was alone with this man. She wasn't comfortable, it being only the two of them like this. The whole situation was weird. Him saying they were friends when they never agreed to that. Him showing up randomly twice.
"…It was nice seeing you. Have a good day." Carissa tried to end the conversation and turn around.
"Wait, wait." A few red feathers swiftly floated in front of Carissa, making a 'Stop' motion. "Where're you going?"
"Back the other way."
"C'mon, don't go. I just got here."
It felt like cold needles were prickling into her skin. Carissa glanced back at Hawks, revealing her discomfort for a moment before trying to maneuver around the feathers. What was this guy's deal? Why was he being so persistent? Did he usually act this way with others?
"I just wanna go."
"How 'bout I go with you?"
Carissa let in a shrilled gasp through her teeth at the closeness of Hawks's cheerful tone. His voice was right behind her, his breath practically breezing her neck. "No thank you." She replied, unable to hide the growing distress in her tone.
"Mmm? Why not?"
Something pressed into Carissa's left side. She glanced down and saw a black glove slowly snaking around her waist. Her face became red while her heartbeat quickened faster than what it was already going. "W-What're you doing?!" She snapped in question, sharply turning her head to look at the man. He had a playful smirk on his face. "D-Don't touch me!"
Carissa jerked her body, trying to get away from him. Their knees collided and both of them lost their balance. The woman let out a small yelp as they fell to the floor. Unfortunately Carissa's back hit the ground while Hawks landed right on top of her. His palms hit the ground first, catching himself before his full body weight could crush Carissa.
The young woman's face fiercely reddened while staring up at the young man in shock. After recovering from the state, Hawks stared down and gave another sly grin. "Whoops."
There was a tint of redness in his cheeks.
"Oh shit." Someone chuckled in surprise.
Both Carissa and Hawks turned their heads to see a few hikers standing there. All of them were giving smiling expressions, two of them holding their phones up. Carissa could hear the sound of camera buttons being pressed, flash noises coming from them. Realization caught on, her face getting redder than it already was. She threw her hands up and forcibly pushed Hawks off by his shoulders, causing him to fall backwards.
"H-Hey, don't!" Carissa begged, getting up. "I-It's not what it looks like! Please delete those!"
None of the hikers listened to her, all of them laughing at the photos they took. Carissa gritted her teeth and ran after them, all of the hikers exclaiming in surprise and trying to dodge her. Hawks got up from the ground and sent his feathers out, having them float around everyone and getting them to freeze.
"Hey now, guys. Don't you think it's rather rude to take pictures without consent?" Hawks asked. "How about we delete those and I'll take a few pics with you guys? I'll even do autographs if you want."
The hikers became excited by this and all agreed, opening their photo app phones and deleting the pictures they took of Hawks and Carissa immediately. Once finished, Hawks started doing whatever they wanted celebrity-fan-based.
Carissa took this opportunity to hurry out of there and make it back to her car. Once getting in, she sighed in irritation, turning on the car and stepping on the gas. She was still frizzled on what just happened, her heart rate still speeding like her car itself. Whatever. At least she was about of there.
"I'm the number two hero of Japan, sweet bird. I can find anybody."
Those words lingered in her mind.