Winds of Destiny: Rising ~ {Hawks x OC}

Chapter Seventeen: Misdirection

Hawks stood in his usual spot before the crescent-shaped conference table inside the Liberation Villa's largest meeting room. He'd been called down in the early morning after he'd gotten back from his karaoke date with Misaki to discuss the intel he'd gathered from her little black book.

"What is this? Code?" Spinner asked, staring down at the image on his laptop screen showing the pages of Misaki's schedule book that Hawks had flipped through while she'd been in the restroom.

"It's probably shorthand," Dabi's bored tone drawled.

"Exactly!" Hawks quipped, leaning back on his heels. "The first character is a threat assessment code. The Commission uses them to determine the level of hero that would be necessary for larger joint police task operations. The next set of numbers corresponds to the current hero rankings. Multiple numbers mean a team-up mission. The last set of numbers is a date and time, followed by a location if a meeting has been set."

"This number is a location?" Mr. Compress asked, tilting his head to the side in a quizzical gesture.

Hawks reached up to scratch at the side of his head and explained, "It's a precinct number. Most joint task meetings are conducted either at a hero agency or a police station."

"So, these circled hero numbers mean the meetings are being held at that agency?" Spinner asked, glancing up at Hawks questioningly.

"You catch on quick!" Hawks replied jovially.

"There's about a week's worth of scheduled operations in here. We'll be able to keep a closer eye on their movements with this. Exceptional work, Hawks!" Re-Destro commended him with a wide smile stretched across his face.

"About time," Skeptic huffed derisively. "We could have had this intel a week ago if you hadn't given up at the first sign of resistance."

Hawks held up his hands in front of himself in defense. "Hey! I'm not trying to run her off. If you're too persistent you'll end up being hated, you know?"

"You're not supposed to be trying to date her. The entire purpose of your meetings is to obtain intel on the Commission's higher-ranking operations," Skeptic groused, slamming his hands down on the table as he shot up from his seat.

Re-Destro held up a hand and waved him down, speaking in a level tone, "Now, Mr. Skeptic. Hawks is right. Women can be rather fickle creatures." He glanced over at the only female in their party. "No offense, Toga-san. We need her to like him so that she'll trust him enough to keep spilling pertinent details about hero operations. Have patience."

Skeptic flopped back down into his seat with a huff, crossing his arms and turning his head to glare off to the side.

Re-Destro turned to Hawks with a pleasant expression and said, "Please keep up the good work, Hawks. You're dismissed."

Hawks saluted them as he backed away before turning and exiting the room. He let out a small sigh of relief after the door had shut behind him. It appeared as though they'd fallen for the ruse. Unfortunately, that meant he'd have to keep meeting with Misaki at least once a week in order to obtain a new list of planned operations.

Hawks let out another, more despondent sigh, and shoved his hands into his pockets as he turned to wander off down the hall, his face a mask of stern concentration. No amount of introspection had helped him justify his actions last night. He had completely and undoubtedly screwed up. He'd known from the beginning that it was a bad idea to approach her. Subconsciously, he'd been fully aware of the dangers involved with "dating" the woman he was still head over heels in love with while being fully unable to confide in her about the extent of said feelings. But there was no turning back now. They were already in over their heads at this point. They had no choice but to continue their volatile game of cat and mouse as long as it took for Hawks to gather the necessary intel needed to take down the PLF once and for all.