Hawks x Dabi

Chapter 23

A/N: totally off topic... I drew the image for this chapter. His name is Angel Dust and he's from Hazbin Hotel.

Toga hadn't left the room for longer than 20 minutes when a blood curdling scream had her up and racing down the hallway. "Kyoko!!?" She cried, worry pushing her forward. The screaming continued as she burst into the bathroom. Kyoko was crouching in front of the sink, screaming as she forced herself back. Toga turned to see a half disintegrated body lying in the tub. Rage swelled as she grabbed Kyoko and half pulled half threw her out the room. "Twice!" She shouted. "Yes?" He was already in the doorway, Dabi and Hawks close behind him. "Get Shigaraki. Now." Rage forced the chirp from Toga's voice, making her sound inhuman. Twice was gone and a sleepy Shigaraki stepped into view moments later. "Hmm?" He sounded agitated that his sleep had been disturbed. Toga stood, and with a quick stride was across the room, tearing the hand from Shigaraki's face and punching him. Hard. He stumbled back and slammed into the wall. "I've had it with you're bullshit. I'm only staying here cause I need the money, but once I have what I need, I'm fucking done. Understand?" Toga's voice was unsettlingly quiet, but rage burned in her eyes. "Clean that up and keep your shit in the basement like everyone else. If it isn't gone by morning, you'll regret it." Shigaraki simply stood, grabbed the hand off the ground, and gave a tiny nod before heading back to bed. The hallway was silent. Hawks was holding Kyoko, trying to calm her down as his wings quivered behind him. Dabi and Twice had known what Toga could do when she was angry, but surprise was sprawled across their faces. Toga turned to Kyoko, walking towards her and picking her up. "Change of plans." She hissed, attempting to force the chirp back into her voice. "You're going to sleep with Twice and I in the living room. I don't want you sleeping alone for a while and my bed doesn't have room for two." Kyoko barely responded, she was shaking. "I'll clean this up. You guys go." Hawks pointed to a puddle of vomit on the floor. He grabbed some cleaning supplies from the bathroom, ignoring the gruesome image behind him. He placed everything down, turning to see slight surprise on people's faces. "You seem calm about this." Twice muttered before yawning and slipping off to the couch, where he plopped down and soon was snoring. "I was a hero." Hawks responded to no one in particular. "I see things like this quite a lot. I've seen worse. Suicides are usually just as bad." He turned and started cleaning. Dabi patted his shoulder, then turned and went back to bed. "I'll be right back." Toga carried Kyoko over to the couch, placing her next to Twice. He groaned and opened his eyes. He looked at Kyoko, placed an arm over her, and went back to sleep. "Twice'll keep you safe. I'll be right back." Kyoko still didn't respond. She has regressed back into the shaking, mute mess she had been when the had first arrived only a few hours ago. She turned to look out the window, hearing birds chirping nearby. "So much for sleeping. Another all-nighter here we come." She shook her head and headed back towards Hawks, who was still cleaning up. "You seem pretty good at cleaning. Hanahaki disease or past experiences?" Toga giggled as Hawks jumped slightly. The chirp still hadn't returned in her voice, and she felt no motivation to try bringing it back. "Do you normally sound this old or does it depend on your mood?" Hawks turned slightly. "Both. And I don't sound old." Toga responded, a fake pout in her voice. "There's your answer then." Hawks smiled grimly. Toga saw a hint of loss in his eyes. "So what were those past experiences?" Hawks didn't respond, and continued cleaning up. They stayed in silence for a minute until Hawks stood. "I'm done cleaning. I'm gonna get a few minutes of shut eye before everyone gets up, I suggest you do the same. You look ready to drop." Toga smiled blankly. "I don't usually sleep much. Insomnia and blood keep me going. I'll grab some from the basement..." Toga trailed off as she looked to the bathroom. "He didn't clean anything up. Looks like I'll have to fix that. I'll deal with it later." She yawned and walked into the living room, turning as she headed towards the basement. She's like a mom. Was she the oldest one in that hospital or something? Hawks shook the thoughts from his head, putting the cleaning supplies away and dumping the vomit down the toilet. He turned to look at the body. "Must've hurt. There's no way he could've been that quiet. How did it even get here?" Dread crept over Hawks the longer he thought about it. "I'll talk with Toga later. Let's sleep for now." He muttered as he headed into Dabi's room, plopping himself down comfortably on the pile of pillows and blankets he'd shoved into the corner. "Who'd have thought this floor was so comfy?" Hawks closed his eyes and faded out as sleep met him.

Let's clear some things up before we switch. It's like 4am. The gang and Kyoko got to the hideout at around 11 after the building went up... or down in this case. Last time we were with the heroes, it was the day afterwards. This is dealing with the villains after they got back. After seeing the mess in the basement at around 11:40, Kyoko was out cold for about an hour, so by the time that spiffy conversation between her and Toga and Hawks happened, it was about 12:40 or something. They talked until around 3, then they went off to bed. At around 3:20, Kyoko screams and this whole chapter takes place. By the time everything is done, it's around 4am. They don't get mentioned again until the afternoon at around 1 since we've already been over the morning with Midnight and the reporters. Anyways, hope that was cleared up and time for... Midnight and the others.

"They actually did it." Midnight cackled as she looked at her phone, scrolling through the over-the-top  description of that morning's events. "Midnight, the well-known hero, loses her patience after being overloaded with questions and slaps a reporter. This came after a short outburst between her and the involved reporter." Midnight looked up from her phone to see Present Mic flashing his usual goofy grin, and the usual emptiness that had filled Aizawa's eyes ever since the hotel the day before. Her cackle faded and a soul-crushing awkwardness fell flat across the room. Mic sighed and tapped Aizawa's shoulder, getting a slight nod in return. "We're gonna talk about you for now." Mix sounded like he was talking to a child who had just lost a parent, rather than his, now, distracted and emotionally crippled boyfriend. He didn't get a response. "He's been like this since I woke up about 2 hours ago. What did you say to him?" Midnight shrugged. "I told him that he should focus on you and try to find a way to move on. He can't be doing this and you know it. I'm not gonna force him to get over it or pretend nothing happened, but we have a job to do." Midnight saw a flash of disbelief fly across Mic's face. "A job to do? That's what we signed up for? I don't remember seeing something saying that I wouldn't have the time to grieve and mourn the loss of a coworker. I don't remember seeing anything telling me that people would be so FUCKING-" Mic paused as his voice rose. "Insensitive to us just because we're heroes. We're people too Midnight. I need a break. We ALL need a break. We're not perfect beings. We're just like them. Why can't they understand that? Why does it have to be-" He paused again, this time to wipe tears from his face. "Why does it have to be like this? When something bad happens we're supposed to forget about it and move on, but they can bitch and complain about it until something new happens. Why do people have to be so cruel to those they believe are better. We're the same." Midnight watched in silence as Mic, for the first time she'd ever seen, completely broke down. He sobbed and sat on the ground, hiding himself away. She watched Aizawa turned to look at Mic, and quickly slumped to the ground next to him. She heard calming whispers from him. "Let it out. It's okay. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." Midnight walked over, joining Aizawa in comforting Mic. "They were just as scared and surprised as we were. I know it's shitty that we have to be the ones who step up, and I know that this," she waved her arm around her, studying the empty lounge where people used to hang out and talk. "Isn't what we signed up for. It's annoying as hell when everyone acts surprised when a hero breaks down, or snaps and tells them the truth they themselves know. No one want to admit it, but they treat us like this because they're scared and we know how to put on a brave face and get it done. We're all they have. We wanted to help people when we chose this as our profession, and deep down, we knew this could and probably would happen. But it's hard when the time comes and you realize that everyone is depending on you because that's all they know how to do. That's all they can do. So-" Midnight stood and stuck out a hand. "We have a job to do." Emptiness met the outstretched hand as Mic lifted his eyes. They matched Aizawa's perfectly. He grabbed her hand, attempting to plaster on his usual smile, but all three of them knew it was fake, and it quickly faltered. "Yeah." Mic said, the emptiness spreading from his eyes into his voice. "We have a job to do."