Lazy tomorrows

Series: Boku no Hero Academia

Pairing: Kagome x Hawks

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or series.

There was a certain art to ignoring the world around her, and Kagome had liked to believe she'd fully mastered it by now, and yet just as always, it didn't work when he was involved.

When they first met, he'd been nobody, a young upstart hero who'd gotten hurt only a few months into his debut in the hero work. Honestly, she'd wanted to just keep walking and get herself and her new hydrangeas out the unforgiving cold wind that came with a storm she should've paid more attention to, even after she saw the teen lying in the middle of the street above a growing crimson tinged puddle.

He was a hero, she could tell by the eccentric outfit, and the last thing the priestess wanted to do was get involved in that part of their world.

In those ever persistent dreams that told a story of a naive girl traveling through time trying to piece back together an ancient relic while fighting against a cruel half-demon they'd never called themselves heroes or their enemies villains. People were just…people, complex, and flawed and hurt and they'd had to act to stop others from harming those around them. For fifteen years those not-quite-memories had filled her nights with the good and the bad, and made seeing people reduced to a single label feel just as wrong as having to bite her tongue when villagers would insult her companions for the mere fact that they weren't human.

Not to mention, the way quirks were treated had always left a bad taste in her mouth. Those who were lucky to be born with a powerful or useful ability were treated as someone special with little regard for their actual behavior, and Kagome had been forced to face that easily forgotten fact of their world since she was born.

Up until the day she turned fifteen, she might as well have been quirkless, a painfully slow and weak self-healing ability was pointless. After all, what could she do just because her bruises faded one day earlier than most people's would?

Mocking laughter, cruel jokes and petty bullying had followed her since she could remember, she'd been expected to be useless. Honestly, she was sure at times the whole should probably have been called straight out harassment, but no one seemed to care enough to point it out, even her family couldn't stop themselves from being more interested in her younger brother's potentially brilliant future than in their eldest's painful present. They tried, Kagome knew they did…that's just the way their world worked. So when her dreams proved to be more real than she'd thought, when strangers she met in a dream came to her on the day of her fifteenth birthday and offered her a place to belong to, the priestess had been quick to agree and she'd vowed to never step into the world of costumed heroes and petty villains, even when they realized her quirk had been sealed all along.

Putting on a sparkly disguise, shouting a fake name and hunting for glory or money made the whole hero business feel artificial when she'd felt first hand the entitlement of those who'd one day become lauded heroes. That said, she wasn't spiteful or childish enough to call herself a villain and start hurting innocent bystanders for the sake of self satisfaction coming from a pathetic level of emotional intelligence.

No, the last thing she'd wanted to do was get herself tangled in that manufactured world… but it had looked like a lot of blood, Kagome hadn't seen anyone patrolling the area and they were too far from a hospital.

That day she'd saved his life, and gained a heroic stalker.

Forcing down her annoyance, the woman pulled on the hood of her jacket as she pretended she couldn't see the insanely popular hero following after her while trying to convince her to lend a hand. Seriously, the man was supposed to be a bird, but right now he acted more like a puppy with separation anxiety.

"Come on, just this once." To his credit, Keigo was trying to keep his voice low, but there was no way he could hide the bright red wings on his back. "I promise I'll be right there with you."

"Not interested," she said, speeding up.

"I could really use the help." Undeterred, he kept up with her pace. "And I just know you'd do great."

"Are you sure we're speaking the same language?" This wasn't the first time he tried to get her to help with hero work, and this wasn't the same time she refused.

"There's nothing to be scared of, Kagome." Attempting to block her way, he stopped right in the middle of the path, causing more eyes to turn towards them. "I'll have your back, no matter what."

"Right now, the only thing I'm scared of is having my face plastered all over the papers and news stations before the day ends." The media had taken to follow the man obsessively these days.

Sesshoumaru could easily help her relocate, and her pack would move with her of course, but honestly, she liked this place, and all the other demons she'd come to know since she moved here almost eight years ago.

When the world changed to include quirks, youkais had taken advantage of it, using it to explain away their less human anatomy, but that still wouldn't explain away their unnaturally long lifespans. The Taisho corporation, along with a few others, had taken charge of the demon population and managed to create and control large areas within cities to serve as youkai territory. What she found when she came here was a warm and welcoming community that didn't care for pro hero scandals or quirks and she didn't want to lose that just because the man that kept finding her whenever she visited the botanical gardens outside of their territory didn't seem to care about the problems he brought her when he sought her out in public spaces like this damn park.

It's not like she hated the man.

On the odd occasion they could have a private conversation, they'd argue about the legitimacy of heroic acts when they were used as a business, chat about the latest movie they'd seen, almost fight about moral issues and joke around the most inane thing that had happened to them that once had she felt judged and she could admit to being a little too hard on some of her stances.

Unlike most humans she'd met, Keigo wasn't bothered by her less than stellar opinion on heroes or treated her like just another resentful quirkless person, it was something she appreciated, even if he kept badgering about maybe giving the job a try before knocking it out. She liked him, she really did, but she was not about to give up on any and all sense of privacy because of hum.

"Would being seen with me really be that bad?" His tone sounded vaguely offended, but Kagome knew him a little too well to believe it was genuine. "You know, this could help you too."

"Help me get stalked by paparazzi, maybe," the priestess huffed as she walked around him.

"Help you stop hiding," his words were gentle as he kept following her. "That's no way to live."

"Sure it isn't, I'd be doing a crappy job at it considering I just went to a botanic garden." Lifting the hand carrying her new flower pots, the young woman quirked a brow.

If the full details of her quirk were to get out she'd be put on every list from every side. Sesshoumaru's work had given her a good picture of the lengths the government was willing to go to keep those they deemed dangerous under control and she wasn't interested in her pack being targeted when they learned how dangerous she could be. It was one more reason to stay inside the safety of demon society.

Perhaps her actions were a little limited right now, but it was better than the alternative. Besides, this world didn't had more than enough heroes.

"We both know that's not what I meant, Kagome," Keigo said, walking backwards now, keeping his gaze locked with hers. "Your quirk can do more than just turn back the time on an injury."

This time Kagome was the one who stopped.

Even after they became friendly, the priestess had tried to pass off her ability to heal him as just another medical quirk, waving away his questions with apathetic answers. He wasn't supposed to know time manipulation had been involved in any way.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He knew her too well to miss her change in demeanor, or the warning lingering under the surface of her words.

"Do you really think I wouldn't do some research on healing quirks after you saved my life?" He was tentative, careful with his tone, as if he was talking to a scared animal. "We've known each other for five years now."

"Keigo…"

"I know you care." His hand came to grab her chin, it was a gentle touch that still wouldn't let her look away. "You didn't have to help me back when we met. I was a nobody, and even if I wasn't, you don't care for the fame that saving a pro hero would bring you. If you're truly as indifferent about other people's lives as you pretend you are, you would've left me there to die, just another stranger who got in over his head, but you risked your anonymity to save someone you didn't know."

"This isn't…" she trailed off, azure eyes looking away to find a small crowd forming.

They were attracting too much attention, of course they were. The pro hero Hawks was standing in the middle of a path on a Friday afternoon and civilian clothing did nothing to make him less recognizable.

Hesitation scrambled her thoughts.

She didn't want to get herself involved in whatever mess the hero society had most likely created for themselves. If she got tangled in it, Sesshoumaru, Shippo, Kouga, Jineji, they would all jump right after her because even if she wasn't the version of herself they'd met five hundred years ago in the Sengoku era, they loved her all the same. They'd accepted her with open arms when even her mother struggled to care for her the same way she cared for her brother.

Her mistake five hundred years ago had such a heavy price, so many lives were lost because she'd failed to keep the Shikon safe…could she really ask them to put themselves in danger once more just because she wanted to help one person?

"Let's talk somewhere else."

Guilt wasn't something he often felt after lying.

Morally speaking, it was wrong. A hero should've feel comfortable with lying and deceiving others, but he'd been taught how to do just that, and Hawks had done an excellent job in pretending his past didn't exist. At times, sacrifices had to be made, and he was willing to both, do and be the sacrifice it it meant he could create a tomorrow where heroes would have more free time in their hands than they knew what to do. The most important thing was to keep in mind the full picture, and while it wasn't fun, he was happy to corrupt himself do and as whatever was necessary.

For whatever reason, that never seemed to apply when it came to Kagome. That's why he'd given in and shared a name he'd promised to forget when she refused to use his hero name because she wasn't interested in a fake identity polished to appeal to the public.

He'd promised to stay by her side and keep her safe if she was his partner for this mission, but all he'd done was stand by the side and watch.

Oh, they'd expected something like that would happen sooner or later. Kagome was a complete unknown and any research done on her would show a pointless quirk, of course they'd demand to see proof that she could be useful. It had been her idea to keep the full extent of her abilities hidden and restrict her time manipulation to contact with an organic object she wished to manipulate, but it did nothing to stop the antic he felt when that fucking Noumu claws pierced her body, blood spraying out and painting the ground red.

Not that anyone could tell if they were to look at her now. Her skin had stitched itself back together, time reversing in an instant and leaving behind only the tear on her dress and the darkening crimson stain on the dark blue fabric as proof that anything ever happened. As far as anyone could tell, Kagome was the image of perfect health despite having been forced to come face to face with a monster that gave the previous number one so many problems. Hell., he wasn't sure he could even call what happened a battle. The moment the flesh of the beast had pierced hers the fight was over, she had contact with it and there was nothing more to be done.

Time manipulation was a fearsome quirk.

After she ran away from him the first time they met, his curiosity had been piqued. The wound she'd healed had been fatal, that much he knew, yet she'd stopped the bleeding with a single touch and healed the damage before his mind could even comprehend what was going on. Young as she'd been she should've been a well know figure in the medical heroes arena, or at the very least, she should be making her way up the ranks there, yet no one he went to knew of a quirk that could do both. Just like that curiosity turned into intrigued, so he kept searching for her, approaching her no matter how many times she tried to brush him off. A little more research and observation later, he'd come to the realization that there was only one reason for her to be unknown in the medical community: her quirk had nothing to do with healing itself.

From there it hadn't been a huge leap of logic to arrive at time manipulation. Even a miraculous healing quirk wouldn't justify her essentially hiding from most of the world and the Taisho organization certainly wouldn't bring in someone whose only value would be as a doctor. Her quirk had to allow her to inflict considerable damage, and from how his wounds had been healed time had to be involved.

When the realization dawned, he'd been happy to stop seriously trying to convince her to get into hero business. He didn't regret his choice, Hawks was an identity he was proud of, and he was thankful to the Hero Public Safety Commission for the live they'd given him, but he understood the reason why the young woman had basically run away from heroes and villains alike. Honestly, it was habit that made him ask her to join him every now and then. Plus, she was sharp, she would notice it if he had a sudden change of heart, and he didn't want to lie or confess to all the digging he'd done on her. But he'd had no choice this time around, because no matter how strong a Noumu was, how many quirks it possessed or how resistant it was, at the end of the day, those monsters were still flesh, and flesh decayed.

That's the reasoning she echoed when she pushed for her adoptive brother's cooperation, and in hindsight, even that felt like a lie. Because the real motive behind his persistence this time was around was…even f he were to fail this mission, Kagome would be able to finish it.

As the soon to be number 2, Hawks was confident in his abilities, he was smart enough to pull something like this off, and he wouldn't have made it this high up the ranking if his quirk wasn't flexible and powerful, but the extent of damage the League could cause was just too much for him to not have a plan B. Higurashi Kagome, the unknown woman with a quirk that could probably stand up against both the last and soon to be number 1 was his plan B. That's why he broke about every single rule for this mission when he disclosed everything he knew about what was going on with the League and how much damage they'd be capable of, how it would affect the Taisho corporation all to get her to come along as his partner. If things went wrong he'd be effectively throwing her to the wolves, of course she'd end up getting hurt. They'd even been expecting a test of some sort when he brought her along. After all, everyone knew how strong and effective Hawks was, but no one had ever seen what Kagome could do and Dabi was a paranoid asshole.

Still, his gaze kept finding the ragged, crimson tainted spot on her dress even as he tightened his hold on her shoulders.

"Keigo, if you keep staring I will age you to an arthritic grandpa for a whole day, I promise." Her tone was dry as she spoke, but she didn't pull away. They could still be watching them. "I'm fine, there's no way I'd break that easily."

"I'll get you a new one, your pick." He forced himself to grin.

"You do remember who I live with, don't you?" the woman scoffed, pinching his cheek. "I don't need another dress."

"No harm in going in a shopping spree once in a while. If you don't wanna use my money we can always write it off as a business expense." The arm her had around her was tense as he did his best to make a joke of what had happened.

"I really don't need another person wanting to buy me a whole wardrobe just because my clothes got a little messy." Rolling her arms, Kagome leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm perfectly okay."

"Maybe I should just turn Dabi into a pin cushion next time, it's what a good, protective boyfriend would do." It's what he'd wanted to do when the asshole pulled him back with a smirk on his face.

"Thought we wanted them to like us." There was amusement in her words even as she rejected the idea. "Did we really have to go with that story though?"

"Eh? It's the perfect story."

"Feels a little cliche to me…"

"Which is why it's good." He smiled, doing his best to ignore her questioning tone.

Having the previous number three pro hero betray everything and everyone he'd ever worked for was a hard sale, and he'd known from the start he wanted someone there to take his place if needed so he'd found a good and easy solution.

Back when he was still starting as a pro hero, injured and ignored by the other heroes in the area, Hawks met her. A beautiful, mysterious girl who'd saved his life despite fearing being exposed for her quirk. Just like that he'd fallen in love, pursued her relentlessly and slowly got to know the truth about her past. One riddled with abuse and harassment, where she'd had no choice but to lower her head and accept the pain, ignored by all the good people who lived in this hero-centric society. Even after finding a semblance of a safe heaven in the sketchy Taisho corporation, Kagome had been forced to hold herself back, to restrain her powers and live in seclusion because there was a limit to the power her adoptive family's financial influence could get her. So deep in love and full of resentment towards those who'd harmed his beloved, Hawks now wanted to strike back, not just because he agreed with their ideology but because he wanted revenge. And if his cover was ever blown, it'd be easy to take the fall, make it look as if he'd been using her all along to gain access to both the Taisho corp and the League and it'd give her even more of a foothold in the organization, she'd be the betrayed lover.

A more believable story in his humble opinion, probably because most of either version would be true. Especially the first one.

Maybe it hadn't been love at first sight, but by now it certainly felt like it. He'd spent five years flying around the botanical gardens she liked, always hoping to at least catch a glimpse of her, slowly but surely chipping away at that mask of apathy she liked to present to the outside world.

He was Keigo when he was with her, when they talked about nothing and everything and it was Keigo who celebrated every single time he managed to get a genuine laugh out of her. It started with the desire to free her, he supposed, because while their childhoods weren't perfect reflections of each other, he'd recognized the fear in her eyes when he looked back to find him staring at her that first encounter and he'd be damned if he let it continue. Bit by bit, as he learned more about her he'd realized he wanted more than friendship or a business related partnership, but he had to be patient and he honestly wasn't sure bringing her along to this mess had been the right move to make that particular goal of his a reality.

Full picture, he reminded himself, what mattered was the full picture, and Kagome would be more than capable of taking his spot…she'd finally be able to stop hiding too.

"You're paying for oden tonight." Kagome's voice brought him out of his spiraling train of thought.

"Oden?" he repeated, it was her favorite but she was always cute when she got riled up over it. "Yakitori is way better."

"Excuse me? I should've known you've got horrible taste in food."

This time she did pull apart, leaving him to follow after her laughing.

A million things could go wrong with this mission, he was still breaking the rules by bringing her here, but he could pull it off. No one was faster than him after all.

A/N: So…it's been raining a lot where I am, and I do love it….that said, since whoever's in charge of my estate's electrical grid seemed to decide that maintenance isn't really a requirement, every time it so much as drizzles there's a 50/50 chance of a city wide blackout I haven't been able to complete this week's chapter…instead I remembered I never uploaded this so here we go.

As always, thank you guys for any and all reviews/comments/criticism, they're all greatly appreciated.