"Hey Tweety, do you think you can slip away for one night?" Zuri asked Hawks one day when they had met up one Tuesday.
He had nearly choked on the rabbit he'd been eating at the time.
"Why?" He asked back confused, and a touch concerned.
Was this going to be a part of Zuri's plan to free him? He hadn't thought at Zuri's plan would be put into motion so quickly.
"Next week on Tuesday is going to be the last day of the day of the dead festival, Día de los muertos and I would love for you to come join the rest of my friends to celebrate it at the South Side." Zuri informed him.
Hawks mouth fell open slightly, a soft thump coming from losing his grip on his prey out of his surprise.
"You, you want me to come with you?" Hawks asked, even more shocked about Zuri asking him to join him and the rest of his friends.
Zuri's beaming smile and nod would have made his wings flutter if they were on his back.
"But how would we get there and back, I could fly us but-" Hawks questioned once he remembered how far the South Side was from Kumamoto.
Zuri chuckled and patted his arm "You don't need to worry about it Tweety. Just come here straight away and I'll get you there and back without anyone noticing." Zuri promised him with a wink.
"So, do you think you can sneak away for a night?" Zuri asked again.
Hawks had never agreed faster in his life.
He'd spent the rest of the week thinking about this special day trip he was going to have, especially since he had no idea what would be expected of him when Zuri picked him up.
Or what would Zuri's friends think of him?
Somehow them not liking him put a larger stone of worry in his stomach than the idea of them figuring out he was Hawks.
Zuri's friends clearly knew of Zuri's work since they would all be meeting at the South Side, but would they really be comfortable with Zuri hanging out with someone like him?
Well five years wasn't the biggest age gap and both of them were 'legally' adults but they might not feel the same way.
And what if he freaked them out with how he ate?
Not everyone would be comfortable with him eating live animals and it took Zuri a while to stop flinching himself.
What would he even wear? The jeans and hoodie that he normally wore probably would not be appropriate for this festival.
He hoped he'd be able to talk with Zuri about it before they left, maybe Zuri would have it all planned out and everything ready for him.
Hawks really hoped so.
Different variations of these thoughts swirled in his mind and made him nervous though he was also excited at the thought of having fun with Zuri and his friends.
Would the day of the dead festival be like Halloween? That was the only holiday he actually experienced before he was bought by the commission.
He doubted it though, Zuri would have just called it Halloween then.
Leaving to pace uncertainly as he waited for Zuri to arrive the following Tuesday, little chirps and clicks leaving his mouth as he allowed himself to worry out loud.
"Tweety," Zuri called out fast approaching him from deeper in the woods around them.
Hawks didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Zuri, chirping as he nuzzled Zuri, the boy hugged him back.
"Hi." Zuri said with a giggle, nuzzling him back before Zuri tugged him towards the woods.
"Come on, I have someone with a teleportation quirk that's going to help us get there and back." Zuri informed him.
Hawks couldn't say he was surprised about Zuri having connections to someone with access to a teleportation quirk, it certainly made sense of how he got around like he had.
And watching the swirling black and purple mist made his brain light up especially when he saw the occasional white speckles.
"Make sure to hold your breath." Zuri told him right before they both went through the misty portal, the familiar scent of ozone hitting him, the mist rolling over him the same way clouds had the few times he flew through them.
Well, it was less wet than a cloud, and his stomach flipping from the sensation of being displaced before his feet found the ground again.
He had steadied himself rather easily, his training helping him stay on his feet and then he looked around.
Finding himself standing in a decently looking lobby, with Zuri holding his hand.
"You okay Tweety? I know that the portal doesn't agree with everyone." Zuri asked a bit concerned.
"Oh yeah I'm fine, been hit worse by gulf streams in the air Zuri. But where are we?" Hawks reassured before looking around again.
He couldn't see far outside the windows, but he could see quite a lot of orange and yellows.
And was that music outside? It was hard to make out.
"This is the lobby of my apartments in the South Side, I could have dropped us off outside, no one here really cares about that, but I thought you would appreciate getting dressed somewhere more private." Zuri told him then motioned for him to follow after him.
Bringing Hawks to a bathroom and giving him a bundle of clothes, motioning to use one of the stalls so he could change.
Hawks took the clothes and then walked into the stall, they were mostly black in color with neon red, orange lining the trim and the back sporting blue highlights, making the patterns of birds, flowers framing the skull depicted there.
He didn't find a hat so he could probably keep wearing his beanie, he also didn't find another mask, so he kept on his current mask while walking out of the stall.
Zuri surprisingly had a case of makeup case spread out on the large, conjoined sinks.
Wearing his own bright clothes, his eyes especially drawn to the shiny black and green of Zuri's short cape before Zuri spoke up.
"You look great in that Tweety, now come over here so I can paint your face, it's non-toxic so you don't have to worry about eating any of it later." Zuri told him, waving for him to come over.
Hawks's eyes widened and he hesitantly went over, kneeling so Zuri could have better access to his face.
Zuri quickly removed his mask and grabbed a palette of black and white paint, then started using a brush to begin coloring his face in the slightly chilly wet paint.
"Once we're done we are going to meet up with my friends, Awase, Uraraka, and Shoji. Though Uraraka prefers to be called Uki and Shoji will probably tell you to call him Jiji." Zuri informed him as he spread the paint over his cheek.
"Everyone is currently getting ready for the parade; we're going to watch that before heading to the shrine and clean up the cubbies there and having a meal together." Zuri stated moving on to Hawks's eyes.
"I've already got the rabbits prepared for you and if you want, we can have some candied skulls too. Mange-San shared a fantastic recipe for candied skulls, and we were even able to put some mice in some of them." Zuri enthusiastically told him.
"Will they be okay with me eating in front of them?" Hawks timidly asked, particularly because of what the answer would be and the other half because he was worried speaking would mess up the makeup that Zuri was doing.
Zuri paused for a moment "Oh, oh the live prey thing. They won't mind. Uki is still a bit squeamish about the live animals' thing, but no one here is ever going to judge you for eating live in the South Side. You are far from the only carnivore here." Zuri informed him waving his hand dismissively.
"Now don't talk, I don't want to mess up the details on your face." Zuri warned him.
Zuri then presumably added the details layering on paint on top of each other.
"Alright, I'm done what do you think Tweety?" Zuri inquired letting go of his face.
Hawks's eyes opened and upon looking in the mirror, he started chirping when he saw the white skull painted over with black filling the gaps and covering most of his face, with bold red lines on his cheeks and under his eyes.
Bright blues dotted on his face as well, all of which looked rather pleasing to his eyes.
"I'll take that as a yes," Zuri said with a chuckle "I'm glad, with this face paint you won't have to worry about being recognized without your mask on." Zuri told him.
Hawks's eyes widened, not realizing that had been the reason why Zuri had painted his face but looking back in the mirror he indeed find it hard to recognize his face as his own.
"Face painting is common for the festival so no one will look at you, and I didn't want you to have to hide behind a mask when you meet my friends, or anyone else tonight." Zuri further elaborated before he started to paint on his own face.
"I wasn't able to look up the day of the dead festival on my own, so what will we be doing exactly?" Hawks asked, unsure if he should offer to add the face paint to Zuri's face in return, he'd done enough cover up makeup to be confident in putting it on someone else.
"Mainly the festival is about celebrating life, remembering those whom passed and welcoming the dead back to the land of the living." Zuri informed him.
"Today we're going to watch the parade like I said, and then we're going to honor and care for those who've passed by offering them traditional food, cleaning the shrine and then sharing a meal and stories of those who've passed all together in or around the shrine." Zuri elaborated even further before putting down the face paint and putting it away.
Hawks stomach knotted itself.
"But I don't," Hawks tried to protest since he didn't know anyone that had passed away recently... or well anyone that he wanted to remember.
"It's okay if you don't have any stories, coming and helping with the shrine will be more than enough," Zuri reassured him taking his hands in his and helping Hawks back to his feet.
"Now let's go join my friends, Tweety." Zuri told him before he led Hawks out by the hand.
Hawks was going to say something else, but his words never came as once they stepped outside his mind became consumed with the sights around them.
The South Side was clearly an old war zone, and maybe he'd worry about the burnt or half demolished buildings around them but that had taken a back seat today.
Instead, his eyes followed the long garlands of bright orange and yellow flowers strung up, the various candles spreading soft and warm light from everywhere they were set, the hundreds of paper decorations giving even more color to the world around them.
The soft music before much louder and clearly being played live by a group sitting on the crumbled remains of a wall.
Their music also accompanied by the sounds of laughter and conversation.
And the people, Hawks half wondered if he stepped through the doors into another world.
He knew that people could look very different from each other due to the mutations caused by quirks, he heard Zuri ramble on about it weekly, but he hadn't seen so many heretormorphs in one place or dressed so flamboyantly.
Everyone seemed to be dressed in the same loud and bright colors around them and more than one had their faces either fully painted like himself or highlighted with color like Zuri's face had been.
Even without sniffing he could smell the scent of baked goods and cooked meat in the air and making his mouth water.
"Oh, Izu-Kun! Over here!" a girl called and turning his head he saw a girl rushing over to them with a pair of boys.
All three of them dressed up for the holiday as well.
"Hi guys, sorry for taking so long. I had to help Tweety get here." Zuri told Uraraka before the two of them hugged, then Zuri motioned towards himself.
"He's my friend from Kumamoto I've mentioned him to you guys before." Zuri said introducing Hawks to his friends.
One of the boys, the one wearing a bandana and had his face painted stepped forward with his hand out.
"Hey dude great to meet ya! Zuri mentioned you before, all good things I promise." The boy greeted him beaming at him with an airy chuckle.
Hawks shook the offered hand smiling back at the boy.
"Thanks, Zuri's told me about all of you guys as well." Hawks timidly replied, surprised by his own timidness but he was nervous.
The commission had taught him how to interact with young fans as Hawks.
But he didn't want to be Hawks today, or be Hawks with Zuri's friends.
And though he had talked a lot with Zuri as Tweety, Zuri had done most of the talking then and he found himself unbalanced and unsteady at interacting with someone without some kind script to go off of.
"Izu-Kun said you couldn't make anything for the altars, but you can help make us frost some cookies over at Minty's! Mange-San made a bunch for the people that couldn't make anything." The girl, Uki, happily told him as she came over, her smile creasing the webs she painted on her face.
Hawks felt a calm flutter of excitement over that, happy he would be able to do a little more even if it wasn't made completely by him.
"That's a great idea, we can head over after the parade. Let's go find a good spot to watch it." Zuri said, then he started leading them all away down the street closer to where the people playing music were.
Hawks following, still anxious but excited to go and have fun with them.
I've never celebrated the day of the dead in person but from what I read about it the holiday sounds like sound that would fall in line with the beliefs of most of Shintoism in honoring and paying respects to those who've passed.
So, the idea of Izuku helping the South Side set up a big festival to celebrate just felt right and sharing this magical first time with his friends and Keigo just brings a lot of fun thoughts to mind that I might write one day.