Hawks woke this morning with a giddiness he hadn't had in weeks.
It was Tuesday, and he'd be having his first meeting with Zuri in weeks.
As he got up and worked to get ready for the day, he wondered if he should act like it was a regular Tuesday that he'd spend with Zuri and meet him at Ammi's.
But Zuri was probably under a lot more surveillance by the commission now that his civilian identity was public knowledge...
Hm, Hawks might need to meet him in the park and hope that Zuri would bring him something more filling than normal.
He was used to the hunger pains he constantly got from not eating enough meat, but frankly, he really wanted to have some fresh meat again.
The slices of deli meat was nowhere nearly as enjoyable as taking a bite from raw living flesh.
Hawks looked himself over in the mirror and preened his hair more than he normally did; he wanted to be even more presentable today.
His wings flapped a bit from his excitement for later, making them look even puffier than normal.
Hawks's eyes caught the small glimmer of the mics and cameras hidden amongst his feathers and allowed himself a small purse of his lips.
It was hard to forget about them; he could feel their tug on his feathers and the weight of each one, small as it was, but before now, it had mostly fallen to the wayside as something that he'd gotten used to.
Now though, the fact the Commission had eyes on his every movement wasn't so easily shrugged off with his growing paranoia about them.
However, there wasn't anything he could do about it.
He couldn't just shed his feathers without drawing attention; even if he did find a reason to get rid of his feathers, they'd put more in his new wings once they regrew.
His day at the agency went on like normal, arriving and going through some of his paperwork before he left for his patrol, a couple of the mandatory sidekicks following him the best they could.
He was able to avoid talking with them that much since he had already set up his patrols as ones where they were supposed to follow him as best as they could.
Stopped only a few times to speak with reporters, still asking him about Zuri.
Whom he managed to defend himself without resorting to violence, which he thought that Zuri would have been very proud of him for.
Zuri complained to him enough about his students being too willing to get violent to defend him.
So, even if he was mentally imagining clawing their eyes out, Hawks flew away from each encounter with his head held high for not letting the true depth of his annoyance slip in any form.
Hopefully, he'd be able to keep this up until people stop talking about Zuri in this way, even if he felt like he should have defended Zuri much more than he already was.
But he couldn't really argue Zuri's case since that would reveal how close they were and out of character for a 'chill' hero.
Still, at least he could defend Zuri at all without fearing the commission's wrath for doing so.
Patrols had been going more smoothly now that Mirko had left for another area, he would not be missing the 'bets' the two of them seemed to have near daily.
Between her and the Vespas Hawks found himself really connecting with the 'Daffy' character struggle with Bugs bunny.
As he sat on the edge of a roof munching on some peanuts he wondered if there was a connection there.
Mirko did have a rabbit quirk and having a hero in the field would give them a lot of information.
But there would be the problem that Mirko was the only person who could regularly bring the Vespas in.
Wouldn't that be like a big no-no in a tight-knit mob family?
Maybe it was a cover though, a really deep cover thing where she only turned in 'certain' members of the family?
He'd need to talk to Zuri about it, he'd probably know about that.
The sound of a store's alarm brought him out of his thoughts, and he leapt into action, getting back to his patrol.
At the end of his patrol hours Hawks made sure to dispose of the slimy kaisou salad, he wouldn't be needing it, and he was quite good at disposing of the meals he would not be eating.
Which he had to do because he didn't need the commission thinking that he was skipping meals.
They would be very suspicious if he wasn't eating, and Hawks did not need them looking any closer into his life than they already were.
Then he sat down to finish off the rest of his paperwork and internally chirped when he saw a confirmation email from U.A. about Goldman coming to intern with him in a few days, which he was happy about.
It would be another thing he could talk with Zuri about later, he would likely need to adjust his schedule, and asking Zuri for what he might need to take into account for the boy would probably be for the best.
What kind of diet stuff would he need to consider? What would a kid like that need with a quirk like this?
When he finished for the day, he headed on home to the apartment and after making it look like he was 'napping' got dressed as Tweety.
The clothes gave him a sense of security as he slipped them on, their weight settling something in his mind and it was probably because it reminded him that he would be with Zuri soon and that he could be Tweety again.
With a spring in his step he started walking to Ammi's, his eyes darting about looking for either Zuri or any commission's goons that could be around 'watching' for Zuri.
Reaching the shop he didn't see Zuri, but he didn't let that discourage him and entered the shop and looked around, hoping to find Zuri somewhere in the isles, only pausing in the live prey section to drool over the animals.
Hawks waited for a few minutes only to become dejected when Zuri still hadn't arrived, Zuri was always very punctual.
Hesitant, Hawks walked up to the counter; Zuri was on pretty good terms with the older elf-eared woman behind the counter, the two of them talking a lot when Zuri was checking out.
Hawks hadn't paid her much attention before now and was admittedly more focused on the prey he was going to eat.
"Um, Mikio?" Hawks timidly called after double-checking her name tag, and she turned to him with a soft hum.
"Do, do you know if Zuri will be here soon?" Hawks asked, unsure if he should even be doing this.
She smiled at him. "Zuri's already been in, started a tab for you so you could buy what you need, and he said you'd know where to go after picking what you want, kiddo." Mikio explained to him.
"Oh." Hawks muttered, Zuri must not want to risk being seen together and must be waiting for him at the park.
Hawks returned to the prey section and picked up a few rabbits, then showed them to Mikio before leaving the shop. Zuri was no doubt waiting for him already, and he didn't want to keep him waiting.
Hawks... might have run instead of walking but he couldn't help the little bubble of anxiety that he might miss Zuri if he didn't.
Something he shouldn't have worried about because Zuri was contently waiting for him on their bench.
Hawks wasn't quite proud about how he just froze up at the sight of Zuri, the air knocked out of him despite having seen him only a few days ago, but even knowing that didn't stop how his heart leapt into his throat.
Then Zuri turned to him and waved.
The next thing Hawks knew, he had crossed the clearing and was crushing Zuri to his chest.
Laughter came from Zuri as he hugged him back, the sound being the best thing Hawks had heard in his life.
"Missed you too, Tweety." Zuri told him, rubbing his back with his hands.
Hawks chirped back and buried his face in Zuri's shoulder before he reluctantly parted from Zuri, so they were both just sitting next to each other.
Well, that's what he intended but Zuri gently took his face in his hands to move his head side to side "How have you been? I know you weren't able to eat properly since you haven't visited Ammi's." Zuri asked, his concern openly veiled.
Hawks wings would have fluttered from the care.
"I'll be fine, nothing I haven't dealt with before Zuri." Hawks assured, making Zuri pout at him clearly not thinking that was fine.
"You better have gotten at least one rabbit Tweety." Zuri said and Hawks huffed bemused.
"I got four." he happily told him and was about to show him but realized that he dropped the rabbits where he was at the edge of the clearing; the cage was still in there, thankfully, and seemed to still be alive.
A little flustered he went back to reclaim his prey and rushed back over to sit with Zuri.
"I think there are a few things I need to apologize for before anything else." Zuri told him and Hawks looked at him oddly.
Hawks was going to ask what he meant but Zuri held his hand up silencing him.
"First, I want to tell you sorry for hiding who I was from you, and that I was aware of you being a hero." Zuri said apologetically.
"Zuri, you don't have to-" Hawks tried to tell him but Zuri shook his head.
"No, I do. You're not just someone I happen to know, you're my friend and you deserved to know the truth from me and in person, not from whoever in the commission told you." Zuri countered.
Hawks privately admitted that he would have liked to have heard it from Zuri himself, but he didn't know if he'd react well to it even if he did.
"I also want to apologize for how the Vespas have treated you on your patrols, especially Raijin." Zuri told him.
He hadn't thought about that, but Hawks did appreciate him saying sorry for what the Vespas did to him, even if it wasn't all that bad, he didn't like the pills he had to take and Raijin's electricity always smarted.
Still Hawks couldn't say that he blamed Raijin or any of the other Vespas for how viciously they protected Zuri's identity, he would have done the same in their place and was even a touch envious he couldn't do that.
"Are there any questions you have for me? Things you want to know about my work?" Zuri inquired, being rather open.
Hawks looked away.
There were a few things he could think about that he wanted to ask.
When did you figure out, I was Hawks?
Did you know from the beginning?
Why have you been so encouraging of me eating live prey?
How did you find out about the commission buying me?
Are you really going to save me from them?
Hawks mind went around in circles a few times before he finally chose a question to ask and said "Do you know if Mirko is a Vespa?"
Zuri was startled a bit, not expecting that specific question.
"No, she's not a Vespa. I understand the confusion since she has a Hare quirk but she's not a part of any of the Vespa families." Zuri explained.
Hawks blinked "A hare quirk?" Hawks repeated.
"Yeah, it's not really obvious cause rabbits and hares are similar, but if you know what to look for, it's pretty easy to see." Zuri commented.
"Hares are larger, longer ears, more active runners, with stronger bodies and pretty antisocial compared to rabbits." Zuri listed off for him, his hands moving as he spoke like always.
"Huh, wonder if Mirko just calls herself a rabbit to throw people off." Hawks muttered, and Zuri groaned.
"Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if she didn't know because her counselor just 'assumed' she had a rabbit quirk instead of double-checking." Zuri scornfully remarked.
Hawks scooted closer and pressed their sides together with a chirp.
"I'm fine," Zuri muttered "Just so tired of incompetent counselors screwing everyone up." Zuri told him, as he slumped against his side.
"Would you mind telling me about Goldman then? He'll be coming to intern with me, and I wasn't sure what things I'd need to take into account." Hawks inquired, and immediately Zuri lit up.
"Goldman-San's quirk is so fascinating, I know you didn't see it at the festival but the way he's trained to use it for hero work is extraordinary!" Zuri said with stars in his eyes, launching into a long speech about how Goldman's quirk worked, with a few comments about things he'll need to do.
Hawks carefully listened, nodding his head and taking out one of his rabbits to start eating it.
Relishing the taste of copper and iron on his tongue, a second of bliss once he swallowed his first bite, the mouthful of meat and fur filling his stomach so wonderfully and diving back for another bite.
Blissfully listening on as Zuri spoke of his student while he ate his first good meal in weeks.