We caught the subway to the train station, then changed in the restrooms.

"Fukuoka?" She asked, checking the boards, "There's a train leaving in ten minutes that should take us there."

"Platform?"

"Nine."

We sat in the emptiest car and I stilled my shaking hands.

"Tell me the situation." She instructed.

"Hawks has been missing for nearly three weeks." I told her, "I… know he's in the midst of a dangerous mission, so there's a possibility he's simply gone deep undercover. However, I might have found evidence that suggests he could be in trouble."

"In Fukuoka."

"Right. He conducts his patrols from the top of Fukuoka Tower. Around the time he disappeared, a phone fell from the top, which should be impossible."

"So that's what we're going to to check? Isn't it broken?"

"Very broken, I imagine. But if we can identify it as Hawks'…"

"Well, we could take the SD card to any tech shop if it's still intact. They should be able to read the info from that."

"And that's why I brought a partner."

.

By the time we arrived to Fukuoka, I knew I was due to show up home.

"About to pull the pin," I said, "Ready to start the timer?"

"Do it."

Juniper: Investigating with Froppy. Will be safe. Sorry. Be home as soon as I'm done.

Then, I turned off my phone.

.

We jogged to Fukuoka tower, which was actually open, with a handful of tourists taking the elevator up. I went straight to the front desk. Henry was unsurprised.

"Well, you sure are quick for someone who's not local."

"So I hear."

"And who's this?"

"Froppy. She's here to help."

"Well, I'm not sure what you'll be able to make of this." He emptied out a plastic baggy. It looked like a generic black phone, the screen shattered, the insides crushed. It was a long fall.

Froppy took charge, searching the pieces. Then, carefully, she held up the SD card.

"Can we take this?" She asked.

"If you think it'll help."

"Before that, Froppy, there's one more stop we have to make." Henry handed me a keycard to gain access to the top floor.

We rode the elevator to the top and, ignoring the viewing platform, I showed Froppy into the little closet.

"You can wait for me here." I told her.

"Not a chance."

"If you say so." I carefully pushed the painting and it swung open, revealing the abyss, "We have to climb to the top from here."

"Easy with my tongue." I tentatively tested the new grip of my gloves on the outside glass. Perfect.

"Ready?"

"Let's go."

.

I let Froppy go first. She secured her tongue to the top and climbed up the glass like it was nothing. I inhaled and floated out, pressing my hands against the glass and pushing up. I reached the top platform and braced against the base.

Whoosh! I felt unsteady, but I was up. Froppy joined me, seeming a little alarmed at the height.

It was windy too, and cold.

"How often did you come here?" She asked, half yelling.

"Hold tight, it's a long way down."

"I can't believe you still like him after this."

"I know right." She stayed seated for stability, while I shakily got to my feet. I looked around for clues. There had to be something. Scuff marks where he always perched, but that could be from any take-off.

"Look down!" Froppy called.

"I may not be afraid of heights but there's no need to push it."

"Trust me!"

Not at the edge, but closer to the base, something red was whipping in the wind. I crouched beside it. A feather was caught in the kinks of the metal platform. That wouldn't happen normally. Gently as I could, I pulled it free.

Instantly, I flew out of my hands. I inhaled sharply to slow it down.

Out of reach. But I was able to see where it was going. It flew south and dipped into the city, in what looked like an industrial complex. I exhaled and pointed.

"That's where we're going after we check the phone."

Froppy snapped a picture. We climbed back down.

.

"Oh, I recognize you. Solstice?" The cheery employee guessed.

"Close. Solace."

"Right, right, we saw you around town with Hawks a few times. On the news. Is this one of your friends?"

"Froppy."

"Oh, I'm always so excited when new heroes come out of the woodwork. Are you here full time now? We could use the help now that Hawks is MIA." I was once again surprised at the authority just being in costume provided.

"Just for a little while."

"Well, I don't know if this'll work." She tapped her finger impatiently. She'd replaced my SD card with his. "Oh! Here we go. What's the passcode?"

"Um…"

"It's store policy. You need to prove the info is yours." Froppy gave me a helpless look.

"It slipped my mind."

"Hm… what about the wallpaper?"

I knew that one. Unless he'd lied or changed it since.

"It should be a picture of Endeavor and Hawks in front of a window."

"Correct!" She said cheerfully, showing it to us, "I can't unlock it for you, though. You'll have to do the forgot my password process."

"That's fine." I whispered, cold. It was his. It was really his phone.

.

We sat at a small restaurant, eating though we weren't hungry. I stared at the picture.

"Finish eating." Froppy instructed, "We need our energy. So this confirms it then?"

"I'd say there's a high likelihood that he was in a scuffle, yes."

"Do you know with who?"

No use keeping secrets now.

"The same people who gave me this scar." I tapped the back of my neck, though it was covered by my shawl, and lowered my voice to a whisper, "…the league of villains."

"But…"

"I'm not sure." I told her, "But Hawks and I were, well, we spoke to a few members, trying to gather information. If our covers were blown, then we'd both be in danger. That's why I thought maybe he was okay. Because they haven't come for me."

"Juniper," She dropped the hero pretense, "How did you get involved in something like this?"

"Let's just say, never eavesdrop on a hero's secret meetings. Last time, though, he managed to squeeze me out of the con. They still know my face, though, my school. They would be able to find me if they wanted to."

"Maybe they just don't think you're a threat." Asui shrugged helplessly, "We found out the hard way how often we're underestimated, right? So they'd be taking a big risk by attacking a UA student, and attract a lot of attention."

"I guess…" I finished my meal, "I still hope I'm wrong."

"Me too."

.

"If it gets too dangerous, we bail." I said as we walked, "If I say 'bail', I need you to get as compact as possible so I can move you without hurting you."

"Understood." I wanted to change the SD card and check my phone, since we hadn't been able to crack Hawks' passcode anyway. What had Moe been told? But this wasn't the time for distractions.

"Excuse me." We stopped. A police officer checked his phone, then looked at us. He spoke into his radio, "This Joshua on Main. I found the runaways." He glanced up at us, "I need you ladies to come with me."

"We need to get back to the tower." Froppy said, a little performatively, then glanced at me, "Bail?"

"Bail!"

She curled up and I inhaled. I scooped her into my arms and quickly moved several blocks away. We huddled in an abandoned storefront.

"Whoa, that was really fast."

"Thanks for being a good sport."

"I guess Eraser Head called the cops on us."

"Sure seems that way." I grinned and laughed, "Ha! Of course he did. Wanna call it quits?"

"No way."

"Then let's wait here to make sure no one's coming, and move when it gets dark. Should only be another hour or so."

"Good idea, ribbit."

...

With the night came the rain.

"If it's too sketchy, we can take pictures and gather info for the pros." Froppy said.

"That's probably what we'll end up doing." I agreed, "But we have to make the most of this outing, because I'm pretty sure I'll never be allowed to see the light of day again. That probably goes for you too."

"Mr. Aizawa will definitely kill us."

"Right. So since we've made it this far, let's push as far as we can while being safe, then we'll retreat."

"Okay, but how will we know which building to check? There are at least five blocks in every direction of potential locations."

"I know. If we could find another of his feathers, we could narrow it down."

"That's a long shot, ribbit. The only other one I've seen is the one on your back, and I'm guessing that's decorative."

Wait.

"The what?" She and I looked at each other, equally confused.

"When you were changing the other day, I was distracted by the burn, but I noticed the red feather on your shoulder blade too."

"No way!" I tried to look but of course my gaze didn't reach there, "I feel like I would have noticed…" I felt around until I touched something imperceptibly soft. I pulled, held it tight this time.

An innocent red feather.

"How long has that been on me?" I asked, alarmed. "Has he been keeping tabs on me?"

"Mayb-" The feather suddenly tried to yank from my grasp. I held tighter. It was strong; pulling my arms with it. "Whoa!"

"I get the feeling he noticed. Ugh!" I stumbled to my feet, heels digging into the ground, "This isn't guiding either, he's trying to rip it away."

"But why?!"

"Beats me!"

She grabbed my waist as I nearly lost my footing.

"Let go and follow it." She told me, "Fast as you can. I'll follow you."

"You sure?"

"Be careful not to slip." She released me and I inhaled. Then, I released the feather. It moved away, high into the air, trying to lose me. I followed as best I could, weaving between buildings, jumping to try and keep my gaze on it.

When I thought I'd lost it, I saw it, still, in front of a particularly nasty warehouse. Was it feeling for vibrations? I stayed very still. It slipped inside.

I dropped my speed. Three minutes later, Froppy joined me.

"Lose it?"

"Kind of. It went in there." I pointed. "No one seems to be guarding it. Let me do recon."

"Got it."

I inhaled and crept to the warehouse, peeking into the cracked-open door. It was too dark to see much. All I could see were cages. Riskily, I went back to real time.

An acrid smell hit me like a sucker punch. And I could hear barking. Some sort of puppy mill? Had the feather just gone in here to lose me? No footsteps or voices. I waved Froppy over. She wrinkled her nose.

"Looks like it might be a dead end." I whispered, "But we should check it out."

"Agreed." The door creaked, but we crept in. The smell was of waste and chemicals and of a lot of animals that hadn't been looked after.

The dogs barked their heads off, more so when we approached. The cages were stacked and not all of the animals were moving. It was a disgusting sight.

We moved further in, to some colorful storage containers. We froze when we heard chatter.

"I'm two seconds away from following Tommy's lead." A gruff voice complained, "And walking straight out of here."

"This job not fancy enough for you?" A woman's voice jeered, "Fine, go ahead. I'll take both your pay."

"Ugh, I'm going to be sick."

"Maybe using beer to dull the senses hasn't worked in your favor."

"Keep talking and you'll become intimately familiar with my nausea."

"How about you stop whining and play? I said Go Fish."

"I'm fishing, I'm fishing."

Froppy jerked her head toward the exit. I shook my head. She frowned, but nodded.

"I'm climbing on top of this container." She whispered, "If they notice anything, I'll close it and alert you. Finish looking quickly."

"Copy that."

So I was creeping through the dreary place on my own. It was dark and gross and I wasn't sure what the wet stuff under my feet was, cause it didn't smell like water.

I was almost fooled into thinking I was at the back of the warehouse, but it was a black curtain. I peeked through, felt ice in my veins.

And there he was.