Chapter Text

Chapter 2

White Lies 

***7:13am***

“ Whaaa!? I thought you guys were having hot wings today?!”

“Sorry Hawks, the chef decided to switch to tonkatsu for dinner,” replied the server on the other side of the glass as he lifted and handed Hawks a full plate of rice, cabbage and pork. The smell of rice vinegar and soy sauce flowed into his nostrils, and the pro pouted while reaching out for his meal. 

A small shove to his left arm caught his attention, and he placed his plate down on the counter’s edge. “Hey at least it isn’t fish sticks this time,” stated a HPSC agent who stood in line next to the blondie. 

The number two hero looked at him, rolled his head back, and sagged—face tilting upwards with a toothy frown. “Yeah, but I was really hoping for some wings today…”

The agent to his right placed a hand on his own forehead and sulked. “We can’t have chicken every-day, Hawks!”

“But it’s been 36 hours since we last ate anything chicken!”

The server and agents sighed—only one or two co-workers in the distance chuckled at the hero. “We’ll have some stored for you tomorrow, Hawks. Promise.” The pro gave them a simpering smile, grabbed his food, some chopsticks, and groggily stepped backwards out of the line.

“Hey man, where’ you going? Aren’t you going to get a drink,” inquired the agent who had been on his right.

“Nah, I’mma just buy a can’a coffee,” the winged hero said as he pointed his thumb, over his shoulder, to the coffee dispenser across the cafe. With that being said, Hawks pivoted on one foot and headed towards the machine.

“…”

“ He’s been hitting caffeine a little too much lately ,” whispered the left agent to the one on the right. “ He just drank some like two hours ago.” 

“‘ Can’t blame him, I’ve heard that he’s been working double time …”

“ Why is that? ”

Hawks put down his plate on a table near the dispenser, dug into his pant pocket, and inserted 120 yen into the machine’s slot. 

“ Who knows, maybe it’s ‘cause the crime rate’s gone up? ” 

The dispenser drops a can of expresso, and the pro bends down to take it. 

“ Well, whatever’s happening to him it’s not helping his face—have you seen his dark circles? He looks like a raccoon- ”

“-I’m a bircoon now!?” Hawks added out loud while turning around with a cheeky smile—coffee can in hand. The startled agents—who were still in line—jumped at the unexpected response. Their plates nearly slipped out of their hands. 

The red winged hero caught the attention of the majority of the people in the cafeteria. Some of them raised their eyebrows in curiosity or at the absurd distance of the confrontation between the three. 

‘I forgot he has superhuman hearing…’ one agent thought as both agents sweatdropped at the pose Hawks was in. He was still bent over—left wing up in the air and torso twisted in order to see them. 

“W-we just thought you should take a nap or something,” stuttered back the one on the right.

“Yeah…” the number two stood up to face his body towards them and gazed down to his canned beverage, “you’re right, at some point this coffee won’t do…” He pouted his lips.

The agents let out a breath of relief, but it was cut off by another retort from the feathered hero.

“Maybe we can switch jobs for a day,” Hawks’ dark eyes closed as he smiled brightly. His wings fluttered and stopped. The two agents slightly gawked at him in confusion—they weren’t looking for more work and they didn’t know whether he was joking or being serious. 

Buzzzzzzz

Not moving a single muscle, nor changing his expression, the pro hero sent one lightning fast feather to kill the fly that was trying to land on his food. The fly, which stopped buzzing, got nailed to the wall. Goosebumps rose up on both of the agents’ backs and they just stared at him.

The cafeteria went quiet—only a few grins here and there from those who had more experience working with Hawks.

“Welp, see ya’ guys,” the 22-year-old—without opening his eyes—cheerfully waved at them, grabbed his food with the same feather that killed the fly, and walked out the exit. 

“…” 

Outside, in the hallway, the number two hero laughed—their reactions still playing in his head. The woman who had saved him from the meeting earlier that week walked past him. He perked at her appearance and said, “heyo—I forgot to give you the present I got you for getting me out of that meeting early.” 

             With his non-occupied hand, he pulled out a small gift from his jacket and handed it over to the lady.

             “Oh Hawks, thanks but you really didn’t have to-“

              “Just take it,” the pro said with a ugh— what a typical response. After they shared a brief conversation, the red winged hero made his way to the stairs that led up to the roof—his plate following him while he held his coffee. 

                Still thinking about the bircoon incident, he finally reached the last door and entered the top of HQ’s building. When he tried to close the door behind him a foot jammed between the threshold and the door.

His mirth turned into annoyance… “Man… I was really hoping you’d go to the top floor instead of the roof, Mera.” 

Said old man put a hand on the metallic door to open it further. The old man stuck his head out—white hair twirling in the wind. “We need to talk.”

“Aw- come on,” the committee’s spy swayed his head to the side, “can’t a guy eat in peace? We’ve already had three meetings today,” he whined. 

Mera entered the roof and closed the entrance. “Your shift ends in thirty minutes,” the license instructor monotonously stated, “you still have yet to give a report of your patrolling to the committee.”

‘My daytime shift ends but my night time shift starts thirty minutes after…’ Hawks’ visage turned into a poker face as he jumped up and sat on the structure of the exit.

The elder man’s upper eyelids sank. Mera trudged himself far enough from the door so that he could make eye contact with the prodigy and so that his hair wouldn’t get in his face. The young hero, with one leg hanging over the edge, placed his plate and drink on the concrete. 

“Do you really have to be up there,” the white-haired man said while rubbing the back of his neck. 

Hawks gave him a dull glance, “yes,” and broke his chopsticks apart. Then he went back to his food. 

To Mera, this pro was a pain in the neck—literally. He was starting to feel his neck ache from having to just look up at the spy. 

“Well, if you’re planning to eat now at least give me a summary before you do,” the old man insisted. 

The pro hero stuffed a slice of fried pork in his mouth. Mera’s left eye closed slightly as Hawks observed one of the clouds—chewing in thought. 

“… It was pretty normal today,” the number two mumbled through a full mouth. He put a fisted, gloved hand against his lips and swallowed. “You know, a few robberies here and there… a kitten stuck in a tree,” to Mera’s further annoyance, he gorged another piece of meat in his mouth, “‘phew ‘uggings, phires, a Nomu o’ two-” 

The black suited man cut him off, “about the incident with the Nomu… The president needs to hear details about this herself.” The tired hero was about to protest—since he just perched himself on top of the entrance to eat—but when he saw the miniscule look in Mera’s eyes, he nearly hesitated.

But he played it off. “Ughhh, can I bring my food then?” 

“No, you know the rules.”

The spy moped as he grabbed his coffee and, once again, used a feather to carry his meal. He dropped down to the roof. 

“Leave it in the microwave near the lounge area, that way you won’t have to go from floor to floor.”

“Fine…” muttered the 22-year-old as he opened the door with Mera in toe. 

***

“-with that being said, I think the appearance of Nomus in the city is on the rise.” 

“Did you scout around the suspected facilities that have the 45 Tesla Hybrids,” asked the president who was standing by the window—looking outside. 

“Yep,” the red winged hero answered—trying to hide the jitters he got from drinking half a can of coffee. “There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, and—as you know—I can’t send my feathers to sense what’s inside the buildings. It’d be illegal without a search warrant or an emergency,” the most popular hero reminded her. He was sitting at the end of the meeting table. 

The license exam instructor, who was sitting in one of the chairs adjacent to the pro, crossed his arms. He looked at the number two without moving his head. “Why couldn’t you sense the objects from outside then?” 

“I did,” Hawks held his palm out but quickly choose to put it back on his leg due to how shaky it was, “but each lab has soundproof enclosed walls and flooring, and their windows are double-glass and tinted, just like this conference room… looks like the machine’s loud…” 

The white-haired man noticed the younger one's gesture. Then he looked at all the buildings outside the window while Hawks put his hands in his pockets. 

“On the topic of my undercover mission, president,” Hawks tilted his head to the side, “why did you decide to get Endeavor involved?”

The president, who was watching citizens mingle below, turned around. “Because he had suspected something fishy in Fokuoko. His suspicions would have escalated if we had asked him to team up with you without a reliable reason. Everyone knows you can effortlessly fend off a couple of thugs, but with the possibility of the League being involved it could be dangerous. During your nightly missions, you are always on guard—always watching our enemies—but during the day anything unexpected can happen regardless of whether or not you are alert. And considering Endeavor’s temperament, if he had found out by himself that you put him in harms way it would have caused him to blow your cover.” 

“Okay, valid point,” the winged pro leaned forward in his chair, placed his elbow on the table and put his cheek upon his hand, “but now the guy won’t even talk to me-” 

“Elbow, Hawks,” the president remarked. The spy put his arm down and leaned back into his chair—feathers ruffling in irritation. 

“He’ll get over it, isn’t that how Endeavor is,” questioned Mera. 

“Yeah well, this time he was kinda different... then again I wasn’t so pleased myself when I heard I had to go undercover.” Hawks side-eyed the president. “And after a while I tried to talk to him, but he didn’t reply to any of my quips,” the 22-year-old regrettably said—missing the furious reactions he’d often get from the flame hero.

“Right now, that does not matter,” reoriented the president and Hawks’ face went flat. “What matters is that we have only a few months before the liberation war begins,” she put both hands together atop the lap of her dress, “you are too busy to worry about acquaintances. For now, you need to come up with some sort of way to spread the word that there is going to be a war soon.” 

The number two leaned back against his seat, “I’ll be sure to send the message by the end of this week.”

“Good. Our next meeting will be tomorrow at 7:30 am. By then I expect you to have the location of where the mass production of Nomus is being done at,” ordered the president as she walked to the nearest desk that held a large folder. She picked it up and headed towards the exit opposite of the one where Hawks and Mera had entered. “You are dismissed.”

The second her foot reached the door frame—the second he knew that she wouldn’t turn around—Hawks sprung onto his feet, and stretched every muscle in his body towards the ceiling. 

             Had the roof to the committee’s HQ been lower his wings would have grazed said ceiling. Without skipping a heart beat—or reflecting on Mera’s disapproval of the sudden action—the winged hero left the conference room and made a beeline to the microwave in the hallway. 

             A plumage opened the mini door and—once again—slipped under the plate of his dinner. There was no time to heat up his food. He had been so focused on this one task that he hadn’t acknowledged the footsteps behind him until he had taken his food out…

“What is it with you following me around today, Mera? Did someone stick another ‘kick-me’ post-it on my back?” He twisted his torso and his wings almost slapped the license examiner in the face. Mera, used to the young one’s shenanigans, moved his head out of the way just in time. The number two patted the spot between his shoulder blades and obviously found nothing. He then looked up at his mentor. “Whoops,” the 22-year old smiled—tucking his plumes behind his back and standing up straight. “Sorry, ‘almost caught you on the cheek.”

Yokumiru Mera knew that the prodigy did these things on purpose… Today, at this point, he was kind of tired of reprimanding the hero. Which is why the license instructor chose to ignore the act all together. Instead, he brought his right hand to the back of his head and rubbed his scalp. “Don’t worry about Endeavor, I’ll make sure he understands,” Mera uttered while gazing to the side. Then he brought his eyes back to the pro who was somewhat surprised. The pro thought Yokumiru had forgotten about the little complaint he made during the meeting… or at least ignored it… Before Hawks could come up with another snazzy one-liner, Mera began to walk away.

“Just focus on the task tonight.”

***12:33pm***

“Hey Red, what are you doing?”

Hawks was sitting sideways on a couch. He took his golden orbs off the pages of the book he was highlighting and found himself face-to-face with a masked villain.

“Whoa, a little close there aren’t we Babugawara?” The number two raised an eyebrow. “Do you want a kiss or something,” smirked the undercover agent as he placed the yellow marker down with his book.

Twice threw himself backwards while lifting his arm between the both of them. “Wha- EW- no-“ was followed by a, “you can kiss my ass,” and Hawks couldn’t hold his laughter. The masked villain slapped himself and—with barely an audible mutter—scolded his other persona for saying such a rude comment to his friend.

“Ah-haahaha!” The winged hero’s hands awkwardly floated in the air as his mirth slowed down. “Thank you, but I’d much rather tell you what I’m doing.” Twice stopped talking to himself when Hawks placed a finger on one of the marked passages in the book, “I’ve been reading the Meta Liberation War and found that some of the predictions seem to be coming true. I wanted to highlight them in case they actually do come to pass.” 

The masked man practically scurried to the side of the couch where Hawks’ legs were—his hands clutching the arm rest. “Ooo, what’d you highlight?”

“Well for starters,” the pro’s right palm flopped upward, “there is this one idea where it states that the next generation of quirks is going to be too wi- a- ACHOO-“ 

The book fell shut. The pro swiftly brought an arm to his mouth as Babugawara peeped out a, “bless you.” His wings bristled a bit but the other man didn’t notice—which the pro was grateful for. Usually he was able to suppress the urge to fluff up like a chicken when he sneezed, but this time he hadn’t expected it. He then rubs his nose with the same finger he used to point out the sentences to Twice.. 

“Uh, is it just me or is it kind of dusty in here?” Guilt had creeped up his back when the other blondie had given him an innocent bless you. Which is why he couldn’t bring himself to say thanks.

“Nope, maybe you have allergies,” Babugawara suggested and then he shoved a thumb towards the panes behind them, “the windows are open.”

“Yeah, I’m not allergic to anything though,” Hawks said while he finished rubbing the bottom of his nose. 

“Lucky,” Twice said while recalling the times he’d sneeze around flowers, “maybe you’re getting sick? DYING!”

The winged hero took his eyes off of the guy, grabbed the book, sat upright on his seat, and stared at the thermometer in the room. Underneath 4:26 am, it read 59 degrees fahrenheit.

“Nah, it’s kinda chilly in here…” disregarded the blonde spy. “At least it isn’t as cold as that Nomu’s quirk from this morning,” he egged on.

“Oh yeah! I heard you had a little help from the number one.” Twice’s voice changed, “what a bummer! I mean,” Babugawara cleared his throat, “you know, you don’t have to fight them. You could just say that you were busy elsewhere.”

“I would if I knew where to stay low…”                             

****7:43am****

A finger pointed at various spots on a digital map. “He mentioned here, here, here, and here.” Arms splayed out across the entire map. “Meaning that the machine used for the Nomus isn’t anywhere in this vicinity,” Hawks retracted his hands back to his pockets before they started to tremble.  

“Great, so we’re back to square one,” one of the chairmen of the committee sighed out. 

Hawks withheld himself from melting on the surface of the table because—honestly—he felt like deflating. The feathers on his wings were. Instead, he slanted his body onto the table’s rigid edge—suppressing his shaky hands. 

“Hawks,” reprimanded one of the handlers—said hero quickly stood straight.

Mera—who also saw this—knew that something was off. It hadn’t been nearly twenty minutes into the meeting and the pro was already looking tired. The dark circles under his eyes were expected, but the pro not keeping his composure for at least an hour was not.

“Cough- cough.”

Plus, the insistent coughing…

It was the fifth time he’d coughed during the meeting thus far. Something was definitely off, and—of course—Mera wasn’t the only one who had noticed. 

“Hawks.”

Blinking out of his minor trance, said hero made eye contact with the president. His wings closed behind him and he cleared his throat, “madam president.”

Everyone in the room watched as the leader of the HPSC simply scanned the young adult’s face. She could see that he was a bit paler than normal. “Are you sick?”

“No,” he automatically said—knowing full well that they would take the healthcare expenses out of his paycheck if so. He somewhat stood up taller in an effort to look less disheveled—not that he generally wasn’t… 

“I highly suggest refraining from lying, Hawks,” she responded—hands interlaced and laying atop the table. 

“I’m telling you, I’m fine,” replied the 22-year old. He pounded his chest twice with a fist while he said, “maybe- cough-cough- I still got a feather in there or somethin’.”

The president’s pearl earrings flashed as she placed her palms on her lap.

Mera’s eyebrow rose slightly. In a dull tone he adds, “you’ve been coughing since yesterday night…”

“…”

They all could hear the ticking on the Mera’s wrist watch…

The spy crossed his arms and matched his mentor’s eyebrow, and then he glanced at his boss once again. Hawks tried to hide the incredulous look in his eyes with what met him.

The president, who had a warning gaze, had inclined her head forward as if she were scolding a child. 

A child .

At this, the pro felt his body temperature rise, his feathers fluffed, and what appeared to be a minuscule frown fought with his facade. For the love of- he was 22!

Hawks thumbed his right bicep. “When I say I’m fine, I’m fine—no one knows my health better than I do.”

Mera could see where this was about to go and—for his own sake—intervened, “we’re getting off topic—where else in Japan can we presume that they are manufacturing the Nomus.”

Hawks kept his eyes on her, and so did the president. He didn’t care about being degraded—no—what mattered to him was that they were treating him as if he were that same boy that they picked up on the streets. Which meant that—despite him being a professional and having his own agency—they didn’t change!

No wonder why they wouldn’t allow him to speak during most of their meetings yesterday… 

‘As if having a babysitter wasn’t enough…’ seethed Hawks in his head—knowing full well that Endeavor was sitting outside the meeting room. He didn’t know whether he wanted to manually pluck his own feathers off or not. 

The agent squinted his eyes, and in the corner of said eyes he could see Yokumiru shaking his head… 

He held his tongue… 

“…”

The index finger of his right glove pointed at Japan’s largest city, “I say we start in Tokyo. That’s where the majority of their bases are placed.”

The chairmen saw their leader not move for a second before nodding her head in agreement. Then she said, “on another note, we will be raising security around our agents—in particular you, Hawks.”

Said hero all out frowned. 

“…”

***9:38am***

Hawks stared…

He stared at his mansion from the rooftop of another house—a sense of hopelessness and despair tugged at his heart. Past the trees and the bushes, more electricians stepped into his manor. Without his consent, the HPSC had decided to install their tech…

Without his consent.

He felt his face flush and mouth dry up. 

It was the one place where he didn’t feel chains around his neck—where he didn’t feel their constant sight on him as if he were their bird in a cage. A place where he could relax without having the possibility of a rebuking phone call breathing down his neck—and now they were installing cameras…

“…”

He wondered if they dared to put any in the bathrooms…

“Hawks!”

Said hero didn’t seem to pay attention when the number one had called him. Instead, Endeavor only saw the back of his head as the bird hybrid slowly pulled out his second phone… and coughed.

Oblivious to what Hawks was seeing and doing, the flame hero thought, ‘this will be the last time I agree to watch over someone…’ 

Endeavor would like to say that he wasn’t as inpatient as Hawks but some would say otherwise… just because he was a fire quirk wielder…

He was on the street adjacent to Hawks’ mansion and knew that that was where the sky urchin lived. He just didn’t realize how lazy the brat could be though. 

Lazy: because after Hawks had gone out of his meeting and met up with the top-ranker, he had somehow managed to drag Endeavor towards the moron’s house for a home-cooked-nugget break.  

Out of all the things they should be doing right now…

“Nevermind…”

And now, apparently, the buffoon changed his mind at the last minute… What was he doing on his phone anyways?

“…I think it’s best if we just go ahead and eat in Tokyo…” cheerfully squaked the agent as he put his cell back in his pocket. Enji couldn’t help but notice the minuscule monotone tone in his voice when he said this and wondered what he had seen, but—not wanting to show any ounce of fondness—the flame hero nudged off his curiosity. He stayed silent instead. 

This was one of the reasons why Hawks enjoyed staying in his company because Enji Todoroki didn’t delve into…  feelings . 

Coughing, the winged hero turned around—sauntered towards Enji while on the roof and leapt. He touched down next to the flame hero. The dust of the pavement around his feet flitted in the air and settled. 

Endeavor frowned—noticing that the moron was coughing a little too frequently—but chose not to say anything. He turned around. The flame hero decided to make a head start to the subway station since—last time he checked—Hawks was a fast walker. The flames on his back waved at each step he took.

Behind the big man, the 22-year-old followed—pulling out his cell again. On the phone’s open tab, the search bar read: apartments for rent. His thumb swiped up to change the page to the home screen and then to his contacts. He scrolled until the name Rumi appeared and tapped it. 

***11:01am***

The crimson door to a dojo slid against its wooden floorboards with a gentle woosh . The floor of the hallway behind Hawks glistened. He stood there for a brief second as a gust of wind from an open window traveled through his plumage. He shivered before a woman’s voice rang out, “ma-an, you look like utter crap.”

She sauntered her way to the red winged hero—realizing that not only did he have discoloration under his eyes, but his pupils (more like slits) were shrunken. Her tail twitched.

“Why thank you Rumi,” politely said the second ranker, “but,” he closed his eyes and placed a hand on his chest, “ cough- I don’t look as crappy as you do so I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Suddenly, Hawks became breathless—his wing inelegantly hit the threshold of the dojo entrance. The rabbit-hero had punched him right in the gut. 

“I’m sorry, what did you say,” she smirked—leaning a muscular arm on his shoulder as he hunched over. 

The number two mumbled to himself and then coughed out, “let me make it- cough- more simple for ya’ .” Hawks brought himself back up from his hunch as Rumi’s arm fell to her side. 

“Me? I rank higher than you when it comes to popularity- cough- which makes me more attractive.”

The rabbit-eared female put a hand on her hip. “Popularity has nothing to do with appearance and you know it.”

Hawks gave Rumi a lazy smirk, “are ya telling me that your personality sucks?”

She narrowed her eyes and put her right hand in her left. “Ooh- ho- oh, you’re so going down today, Hawks,” she said while she cracked her fists. 

“You two quit it,” huffed Endeavor who finally caught up to the 22-year-old. It didn’t matter whether the flame hero had a head start or not—Hawks always ended up being the first to arrive.

“You heard the big man,” quipped the youngest. Feeling the heat from the number one, he could sense Endeavor’s impatience. So, with his left foot, the spy stepped into the room. He was about to make his way to the ring of the dojo when he abruptly stopped. His eyelids fluttered as the ring formed a new bunch of ropes. Wait…

‘Ugh…’ Hawks could feel the floor slant—was there an earthquake or was that him? He held back from covering his head as the dizzy spill suddenly left. ‘Oh…’

“…”

‘Better hit a cold shower after this-‘

            “Uh… ‘you sure you want to do this Hawks?” 

             Said hero turned back to face his acquaintances and was glad that they didn’t see his facial expression earlier. The look on Endeavor’s face seemed a bit too concerned for such a serious person such as himself…

             “You actually look pretty crappy,” Rumi said with a furrowed brow yet her smile was still there. 

            Hawks flickered his awkward gaze off of his idol and onto the 26-year-old. 

            “We can always take a rain check-“

“Nah, you’ve been waiting to have a sparring match with me since March— cough, cough— who knows when the next time’ll be when we get to do this.”

Even though the crime rate was currently very high in Musutafu—according to the Pro-Sight app—there were plenty of pro heroes on the lookout today. Plus the Hero Public Safety Commission had only assigned him to scout the Tokyo region—where Rumi fought the most. So of course he would take at least an hour to fulfill the promise he made to her.

Rumi’s grin turned into a toothy one. “If you say so…” she said. She made her way towards the ring before craning her neck to the left, to the right, and then dropped to a crouch to stretch her legs. 

Eyeing a seat on the edge of the room, Endeavor began to walk towards one of the metallic benches. Once there, his flames danced as he sat down and crossed his arms—piercing glare upon the two other pros. 

Hawks, who started to spread his wings in an attempt to loosen up his muscles, twisted his torso. After bending his back, and bobbing his head to the right to stabilize his balance, the blondie adjusted his headphones. He coughed again.

‘Seriously, how awkward it is ta’ have Endeavor of all people babysitting me…’

“You ready to get your feathered butt pummeled,” the rabbit hybrid spewed—ignoring the cough as they both walked to the ring. 

“You forget that hawks eat rabbits for lunch,” retorted the bird hybrid—flying over the ring ropes while checking his cuticles.

The rabbit hero jumped over the ropes with ease and began to hop side to side—preparing herself. “Whatever, let's get this party started.” Her cottontail flipped with amusement as she watched Hawks sloppily bend his back forwards. He straightened.

Inhaling and exhaling, he could hear the phlegm in his chest…

‘Gross…’

The blonde man readied himself. “‘Taking the words right out of my mouth.” He took a stance. “Endeavor, cough- would you like to do the honors?” 

“Just fight already,” the elder man said while pulling out a phone.

And with that the two pros lunged at each other. 

Arm on arm—they shoved each other back. 

Hawks skidded but Rumi let her feet make contact with the rubbery ropes. With enough force to knock an elephant down, she bounced herself off of it and launched towards the spy. She landed a fist on his thigh, or at least she tried to—Hawks had dodged at the last minute. 

An elbow met Rumi’s back as the wing hero drove his weight into it—driving Rumi to the dojo floor with his speed.

“ Ouff-“

“Who’s ass is getting pummeled again,” the 22-year old laughed out—pinning the rabbit’s back down further with his other plumages. 

Rumi grimaced, “oh good.”

Confused, Hawks replied, “what?”

“I was worried you wouldn’t play dirty since I’m a girl,” she said as—with full force—she bent her knees, made a scorpion pose, and kicked his shoulder and wing.

This sent the other hero flying and not at all in an angelic way. His stomach faced the edge of the ring, and—nearly tangling himself into the ropes—Hawks grabbed onto the red thick ropes. Using the ground, his wings ungraciously supported his body.

As this had happened, Rumi rolled onto her back and did a kip-up. She quickly dusted the feathers off and positioned herself into the peng pose—flicking her fingers on her right hand. 

The winged hero—almost seeing double—peeked over his shoulder at Rumi. “Tai Chi?” His eyes flickered. “ Cough- I thought we were playing dirty…” 

She, once again, hurled herself at him—only this time her foot was raised in a kick which aimed for his head. 

“We are-“ 

With speed like no other, the red winged hero evaded the attack, but not without leaving a few quills behind. Those very same quills darted at the young lady. They whizzed past her cheek—grazing it and cutting a few strands of white hair. 

“Would’ve caught you there, Rumi,” Hawks said from up high. 

She landed and touched the small cut on her visage. Droplets of red were on her fingertips.

“Ouch- You’re gonna regret that,” she ferociously grinned and balled her hand. She dashed her way to where the youngest was standing and threw out a punch. Again, she nearly hit him but was instead met with a sucker punch to her stomach. 

Rumi slid backwards a few inches as Hawks yelled out, “OW!” He flopped his hand in the air like a diva would. “You nearly busted my hand!”

The two kept at it but all Endeavor saw was a game of catch-me-if-you-can. It was like watching a cat chase down a mouse—Hawks being the mouse…

‘Ridiculous,’ the flame hero thought and then glimpsed at his phone. He was waiting for a call from his agency to see how they were doing without him today. 

While waiting, he scrolled through his emails. Mortgage, light bills and then a text popped up. 

‘We need more zaru soba.’

Endeavor’s flames grew. His eyeballs attempted to bulge out of their sockets…

In the middle of dodging yet another assault, Hawks startled when he heard his idol yell, “SHOT OOOO -” He didn’t know whether to blame it on his fatigue or his lack of extra coffee, but Rumi landed a hit—right on the side of his mouth. 

Her foot retracted back in an attempt to stop him from flying through the ring. Following the motion of his head, Hawks reeled to the side and finally collapsed with an, “OOF.” His feathers ruffled. 

“‘Should’ve paid more attention, Hawks,” the rabbit girl chuckled—putting both of her fists on her hips. 

For a second, she found humor in the situation, but when Hawks shook his head to the side it turned into minor concern. 

“Hawks?”

Endeavor peeled his gaze off from his cellphone and watched as the red winged hero lifted his back from the ground—using one arm. The 22-year-old quickly blinked thrice and tasted iron. 

“I’m alright,” he coughed out.

“‘You sure? You seem kinda dazed,” Rumi said while extending a hand out for him. “Are you even sleeping these days?”

The flame hero’s intriguement spiked at what Hawks would say to this—icy orbs on the youngest.

‘Man, do I look that bad for people to be on my case…’ Hawks thought before smoothly saying “Yeah… jus’ been having insomnia is all,” and grabbed Rumi’s hand. 

Endeavor nearly forgot about Shoto because how Hawks had flat out lied befuddled him. It was one thing to be lied to and not know at the time, but to watch it in action…

The blondie could feel his gaze on him and felt the lingering guilt from the previous lie crawl up his back like a spider. He didn’t dare glance his way. 

“So, you ready for round three,” asked Rumi.

***1:04pm***

What Hawks had intended to be an hour turned into two when they had finally finished sparring. He wouldn’t say it was a waste of time… Well, maybe it was… Anyways, he was just glad that he hadn’t passed out in front of Rumi and Endeavor. 

“Let me know when we can spar another time,” Rumi told Hawks as the three of them exited the dojo—Endeavor silently pacing himself behind the two. Their reflections could be seen on the floor beneath them—something that made Hawks a bit nauseous for some reason.

“Sure thing, but that might not be as soon as you’d like,” said the second ranked hero and then he swallowed down his iron-tasting spit. He held an ice pack to his lip as he stifled another cough.

“By the way, what are you doing? You seem extra tired and busy these days,” she noted. Endeavor almost stopped in his tracks but Hawks didn’t seem at all phased by the question. In fact it seemed like he got a jolt of energy all of a sudden—despite looking straight up dead tired.

The bird hero raised his right palm—facing upwards—as he replied, “well the crime rate in Musutafu’s gone up like crazy, and my agency’s getting a lot of attention lately. There’s not a day that goes by weres I got a handful of villains to deal with. Speaking of which…” He shoved his right hand into his jacket—shuffling a few things in there. Endeavor’s left eye squinted watching the youngest lie to her. While pulling out a book, Hawks said, “have ya’ heard about the Meta Liberation War by Destro?” 

Rumi takes the autobiography. “Well, I’ve heard a thing or two about it, yeah.”

“ Cough- it talks about how there’s a rise of a new generation and the effects it has on our current political issues. I highly recommend reading it since-“ Hawks removed the ice pack from his mouth. “ Cough- cough- it’s got a lot to do with the crime rate we’re all facing—in particular the passages I highlighted.”

“Uh,” she skimmed through the description on the back of the novel. “Sure,” she assured as she opened it and flipped through the pages. Her nose wiggled for a second. “But you should really get that cough checked out.”

Hawks deadpanned at this as his eyelids slid downward. ‘If I hear another person mention-‘

“Anyways, I gotta go check on my agency,” she said as she shut the book and waved, “see ya.”

***7:01 pm***

A rat squeaks in an alleyway. It scurries across a pipeline overhead–displacing the beads of liquid that were sitting on top of the pipe. One large bead trickles down the side of the conduit and forms a droplet. It absorbs the remaining stream of liquid before detaching itself from the polyurethane tube, and falls.

Down…

Down… 

Down until it sizzled in mid air above blue flames. 

“Seriously,” Hawks’ voice rang out as he stared at his burning feather—the only light source around for yards…

Dabi had plucked a plumage off of Hawks’ wing when he walked past him—not breaking eye-contact with the spy. 

“Yeah- you still have yet to prove to me you’re allegiance…” the feather lit up further brightening the area around them. Hawks stared as it turned into ash. He could smell the scent but wasn’t sure if it was Dabi’s burns or the ashes… Dabi tilted his head. “Number two.”

Without so much as a cough—he’s been doing that a lot recently—Hawks replied, “you know that I want the hero profession erased…” Hawks didn’t know how much of that was crap spewing out of his mouth…

“…”

“I’m telling you, I’m on your side,” reaffirmed the 22-year-old. ‘Come on, how many times…’ 

The villain stalked around the hero and—as much as Hawks wanted to turn to face him—the hero stayed put. He needed to show the flame wielder that he trusted him enough…

Dabi’s long, worn out jacket frilled when a gust of wind traveled through the small alley. Finally, the villain made his way behind the pro. The double agent’s breath stilled—phlegm attempting to make him cough— while he mentally prepared himself to move.

“You know you can turn around,” the black-haired adult said. 

So Hawks did.

““It truly was no mere coincidence.””

And now he wished he didn’t… Not that his poker face was terrible—he was pretty sure he could win dozens of games of poker… It’s just that he had to put in extra effort due to his fatigue and the fact that he was suppressing a sneeze. 

“Our covert listening devices caught Endeavor saying that to you…” A tiny grin appeared on his burnt visage. “Care to explain?”

A frown graced Hawks’ features. ‘Great… now I’m gonna have to do this…’

“I already told Endeavor…”

“…”

“…”

“You what,” the grin on Dabi’s mouth grew as held his palm out towards the hero. 

***3:09 am***

The sound of snoring echoed throughout a twenty by twenty room when suddenly a sound went off. 

RING

RING 

RING

Enji Todoroki grunted in his sleep and woke up with a grimace. He quickly grasped his phone and brought it to his face. When his orbs glanced at the first letter of the name his frown deepened. Wasn’t babysitting the buffoon enough?

He picked up the phone call.

“This better be urgent,” he scowled. 

Chittering resounded out of the cell as the top ranker stayed mute. Then his eyes widened. He flung himself into a sitting position as he yelled out, “YOU WHAT!? ”

Sitting in a secluded soundproof room at the Hero Public Safety Commission’s headquarters was Hawks—informing Endeavor of what he just did.

“Ah, ha, ha, ha… yeah, so now you’re a part of the League of Villains!”

The bird hybrid waited for a response but when he was met with static on the other end he decided to speak.

“Ende-“

Only to be interrupted by a loud comment. Hawks reeled his head away from the cell—ears too sensitive for such a shout but he heard exactly what Endeavor had said. 

He wished he had his headphones right now…

“ Cough- cough-“

“Listen here you buffoon, I will not be playing your games-“

“Hey man, I wouldn’t have gotten you involved if I could’ve-“

“Is this line encrypted?”

“Yeah-“

“Good. You got me involved the minute that Nomu attacked me!” 

“…” The red winged hero knew that they were going to have this conversation sooner or later. He felt a tickle in his nose but held back his sneeze as guilt—once again—crawled up his back… He knew Endeavor wouldn’t turn down a fight for his country, but being lied to was a whole other story.  

“Endeavor, let me explain-“

“The HPSC has already gotten me involved in safeguarding the likes of you—of all the things you could have said-“

“Endeavor- I couldn’t help it. It was the only way to guarantee further alliance with the League of Villains.” Hawks shook his head in an attempt to dispel the dizziness he was feeling. “ Cough- this isn’t something that I can control and-“

“I have my own problems to deal with, boy.“ 

“I know- cough- cough- trust me I know… this is something we have to do though for the sake of Japan. The HPSC already agreed to have you join their gang with me.”

“…”

The phone hung up.

“…”

‘Well that went smoothly…’ thought the double agent as he sighed. Hawks knew that Endeavor would play along… he just didn't know if the flame hero would be convincing enough for Dabi… He then let out another cough and got up from his chair.  

‘Why does almost everyone with a fire quirk have a short temper?’ He wondered if there was a gene in there that made them less calm than most…  

Holding his work phone, and his breath as he wanted to sneeze, he exited the small soundproof room. The entire hallway he was in was empty—a door to the left and another at the end of the right side. 

He gazed at the entrance to the stairwell…

Mera was probably waiting for him upstairs, but Hawks was sure that he’d fall asleep if he went… Mera wasn’t as strict as the madam president, so he decided to shoot his mentor a text instead. 

Hawks sighed but then it turned into a cough… and was it just him or did the hallway feel humid?

“Ugh…”

He wanted to check his forehead but not here. Not where they were watching… 

He began typing a message into the chat box under his mentor’s name. As Hawks walked towards the doorway on the right, he felt his wings become heavier but he made sure not to let them drag…

He really needed a nap…

The pro hit send, put the phone back in his pocket, and opened the door. Taking flight—when really he wanted to take the stairs—he flew towards the direction of his mansion. However, when he was sure that those lenses were off of him, he geared to the right—to the outskirts of the city. 

Biting the index finger of his right hand, he pulled off his black glove and placed the back of his hand on his forehead…

“…”

‘Fantastic,’ the blondie thought as his head felt like a hot bun straight out of the oven… He put his glove back on and made a mental note to get medicine in the morning.

His wings flapped as he soared through the starry night of Japan. 

Taking out his personal phone—almost dropping it—Hawks put his password and swiped to the tab that was last open on the web. He copied and pasted the direction of a location from the web and into the Maps app. Then he hit the start button. 

“Starting route…”

Hawks stopped in mid flight—the city lights and stars reflected off of his glasses and his wings beat as he waited for the GPS to load. 

“…”

 “Turn right on Ryoko street.”

He ignored it and saw where the destination was and began to fly straight towards the pinpoint.

There weren’t any clouds and the bustling noise of the city had died down to a white noise… He closed his eyes to feel the wind. At the speed he was going, it was like having a weighted blanket around his entire body… The breeze comforted him as it went against his piping hot head and… was he losing altitude?!

Hawks missed the corner of a skyscraper.

Aw geez, he was! He almost fell right out of the sky!

‘Okay, I’m definitely sick…’

He sighed.

Finally arriving at the pinned location, he landed on the front yard of an apartment complex. The pro hero walked towards the front door and wobbly checked under the mat. There laid a card key. He picked it up and swiped it through the slot of the complex.

The owner had argued with him on whether or not to leave the key underneath the mat earlier… of course, Hawks successfully persuaded him to. It was the only complex in Musutafu that allowed CoinExchange— an app that allowed him to pay anonymously to a real estate owner… 

The pro hero really didn’t want to be spotted tonight. 

“ Cough- A-achoo-“ he sniffled. 

The keypad on the door turned green and—turning the knob—Hawks shoved his personal phone back in his pocket. The spy entered the building and hushedly tiptoed through the hallways—hoping that everyone was asleep. 

Suddenly he heard a burp…

His wings frizzled.

“ H e y m anNnn, I d- i d n ’t O r da’ a c oS p laaa ya- hic. I oR da d A p i z sA!”

Hawks frowned and turned around. A dude—most likely drunk by the looks and sound of it—had hung from the threshold of an apartment door…

“…”

“…”

“Whoops sorry man, I think- cough- you’re pizza’s been stolen by your couch,” Hawks joked with a roughness in his voice.

“ A r G Hhhhh,” the man gurgled out as he slammed the door shut. 

Hawks blinked… he didn’t think he’d take him seriously… good thing he thought Hawks was a cosplayer…

Anyways, the blondie kept going in search of his room number. Going up a few flights of stairs, because—apparently—the owner couldn’t afford an elevator, he finally reached his room. 

525

He shakily tapped the card onto the scanner and the door unlocked itself to his new studio room. 

“Ughhh, finally,” he sighed out as he entered and turned on the lights. 

It wasn’t all that spectacular—which was odd given the fact that there were keypads in the complex—but, meh, who was he to complain. 

He was just grateful to finally have some privacy… 

I mean… the bed looked clean. Then again he remembered that he was in the ghettos of Musutafu…

He’ll have to go out and get his own sheets and pillows… 

The second ranker scanned the room for anything else he might have to buy. He looked into the mirror that was above the drawer and realized just how tired he looked. Not only were there bags under his eyes but his face seemed a bit redder than normal. That explained why Rumi said what she said earlier… He continued to scan the room when his eyes caught something brown outside on the balcony… 

“Hmm?”

He tried his best to walk to the object in a straight line—nearly failing—and slid the glass door open and coughed hard. There, at the bottom of his feet, was a brown bag. 

Hawks’ eyes squinted…

Was the League of Villains testing him? Or did the previous renter leave that there? He didn’t know which of the two it was but he sure didn’t like what he was seeing… 

Holding his breath, Hawks picked up the bag. “ Cough- cough.” It was greasy and dripping with who knows what… 

‘If the League of Villains left this for me then they’re probably expecting me to open it… but if it’s poisoned with an airborne pathogen…’

Suddenly, the bottom of the bag ripped open as its contents were too heavy for the wet bag to support.

Hawks, with lightning speed, covered his face with his jacket. When he was sure that any airborne particles wouldn’t get in his eyes, he uncovered them and was met with a display of food. 

‘Food?’

He coughed into his jacket and almost sneezed. A lightheaded feeling entering his body.

Observing it, he was about to turn to the bathroom to get paper towels when a whiff of said food entered his nose… 

It…

Smelled familiar…

So familiar that it brought him back to his childhood days…

Of when his father would try to cook for himself…

Hawks’ eyes peered out onto the nighttime landscape of the city. 

Someone out there knew about his past…

Leaving the food on the floor, he walked to the bathroom—sneezing on his way there. With a handful of paper towels—one on his nose—he brought it back to the food, crouched, and started to clean up the mess. 

He was going to have to postpone his nap time for tomorrow night… 

***4:27 am***

Flashes of red and blue lights splayed out on the streets as a villain—driving a stolen van at over 100 miles per hour—sped down a highway. 

“AHA-HAHAHA,” cackled out the maniac. She was having the time of her life as she threw bolts of electricity at the police cars behind her. In the back of the van was cash and loads of it. It was a typical sight nowadays…

Of course, Hawks happened to be in the neighborhood. He was trying to scout out anyone on the streets that looked familiar but to no avail…

Instead he found this chick robbing a bank… He swooped down and flew side by side against the black van.

“So this is how you spend your Friday mornings?”

The girl with the lightning quirk gawked at him. He smiled but it was ruined by another sneeze. 

His fierce wings spread out and shot multiple feathers in the direction of the vehicle—popping all four tires and causing it to skid on its rims. Sparks from the friction lit up the area as the can pitched to the left—money catching on fire and falling into the river below them as the van’s back doors had opened. 

The cop cars hit their breaks.

And, just as the vehicle was about to hit the barrier head on, the pro hero crashed through the windshield—glass scintillated in the air around them. In that split second, Hawks—inside the vehicle—grabbed the crazy lady by the waist and went out the back of the van with her. 

The black van fell into the water and the money—on fire—glittered the night sky.

The insane lady lurched herself from side to side to try to get out of his grasp. She was about to light him up with her when Hawks—with one hand—cuffed her with quirk stunting cuffs. The second ranker shivered…

“Nope, cough- you’re not going anywhere anytime soon,” he said in a strained voice while flying down. 

The cops, who were now outside of their cars, grabbed her as he landed.

“Thanks Hawks,” one of them said.

“No problem—‘s what I do- ACHOO-“

“You sure look sick…” 

“Yeah, I know. But it’ll probably clear up within a day or two…” he nasally said and as he took off the officer shouted, “take care of yourself!”

“Will do!”

‘More like will try to…’ Hawks thought—he was burning both ends of a candle at this point.

As soon as he left the scene, as soon as he was out of their sights, he let his body go. The pro hero’s wings were still working—although they felt very heavy—but he was so tired that his muscles were failing him. That whole stunt back there really put a number on him…

He flew there in the air for a while—dangling from his wings like a spider. He wanted to go to the apartment—he really did—but he knew that it’d be pointless to sleep for an hour and a half… his day shift started at 6 am… 

So he just decided to soar above the city in case there were any more crimes being committed. If he could have a bed up here just floating in mid air he would…

“Ugh-“

Abruptly, he sneezed and then put a fist to his mouth and coughed. 

He coughed again… and again… and again until it turned into a coughing fit. With his yellow orbs closed, he kept coughing and coughing and it just wouldn’t stop. 

Without warning—his shoulder and wing knocked into a telephone tower. The sharp edge of the tower’s ridges caught onto his jacket—ripping it apart as he continued in motion. The metal sliced a bit of his arm open.

He grabbed the cut with his right hand. “UGH-“

Days of little to no sleep, stress, coffee withdrawal and being sick was all enough to cause him to now go slant—the cut was just icing on the cake. He tried to fly again and was making progress until his wings started to cramp up. 

 “Wha-“ 

They seized as he lost altitude for the second time tonight. He tried his best to stretch them out, regain control, but it was for naught. Closer and closer did he get to the buildings when, all at once, he scraped his leg on a metal ladder. At this point he lost all control and—raising his arms to protect his head—unceremoniously crashed sideways onto the ground. 

CR-CRACK- 

Wheezing out—as his body, head, and left wing made contact with the red bricked floor—he saw a haze of black in the corners of his vision. His now double vision…

He grunted.

Oh boy… he wanted to throw up…

Hawks coughed and then almost hurled but held it in. He spotted a garbage can and tried to reach it when he felt pain shoot up from his wing. So much pain that it caused the black around his vision to grow… and it grew—covering every ounce of sight he had until everything became nothing. 

Nothing but black.

Thanks for reading! Here’s a drawing I drew: