Winds of Destiny: Rising ~ {Hawks x OC}

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Full Circle

Their arrival at the venue where the press conference was to be held had been a zoo. The reporters who hadn't gotten there in time to secure a spot in the conference room were all huddled together in mass at the gates of the building, hoping to get some kind of scoop from the arriving heroes. Luckily, the state-of-the-art tinting on the windows of Jeanist's car kept the flash photography and the video cameras at bay, but it had taken a veritable army of police and security guards to hold back the crowd so that they could get through. They'd been able to avoid being ambushed at the entrance to the building by coming in through a service elevator located in the underground parking garage. Exiting the elevator and making their way to the prep room, however, had not been as smooth sailing.

The heroes had been very professional about refusing to comment and assuring the flocking reporters that their questions would be answered after they'd given their statements. Misaki had studiously kept her head down until they had gotten to the prep room, walking a few paces behind the others and quickly slipping through the door when Hawks held it open for her before any of the reporters had a chance to question who she was or what she was doing there. The last thing she needed was for someone to recognize her and start questioning her about the status of the Hero Public Safety Commission. She had gotten the subtle impression when they were speaking at the hospital that addressing the media in any capacity would be frowned upon by her new employer.

Endeavor's family had already been waiting in the prep room when they'd walked inside. Misaki had been a little surprised to see them there, but Hawks had told her that their presence would help send a message to the public that the family had accepted Endeavor's desire to atone for his sins and they were supportive of his efforts to better himself. She'd questioned if that was the truth or just an act for the press, but he'd assured her that they were all on board with the plan. He hadn't exactly answered her question, but she'd let the issue slide; it wasn't really any of her business how the family decided to handle their personal affairs after all, and she agreed that presenting a united front would probably gain them more support than ridicule after the announcement Endeavor was about to make.

The immediate reaction from the reporters and on social media was a mixture of shock, disappointment, and outrage. Many people were criticizing Endeavor's decision to come clean, saying that it would have been better for him to deny the allegations in order to reassure everyone that their faith in their number one hero hadn't been misplaced. She had expected most people to feel that way. They'd been coddled by the mainstream idealism of the hero industry for so long that they didn't even care anymore what was real or fake, they just wanted the heroes to make them feel safe. It was probably going to take a lot of time and effort on the parts of all heroes to give the people a new reason to put their faith in them, starting with getting the current villain outbreak situation under control. They had a very long road ahead of them to get back to some semblance of normal.

"Torimodo-san?" A female voice suddenly addressed her from the left.

Misaki turned her head to look over at the two people standing next to her and replied, "Yes?"

The pale haired, bespeckled woman placed a hand on top of her chest and smiled. "Sorry for not coming over to introduce ourselves earlier, we weren't really sure it was you at first. I'm Todoroki Fuyumi." She reached out to pull the tall, pale haired man standing next to her closer as she said, "And this is my little brother Natsuo, who's been a big fan of yours ever since your press conference with the Hero Public Safety Commission."

Misaki blinked at them in surprise. "Really?"

"Nee-san!" Natsuo exclaimed, his ears flaming as he raised his hands and asserted, "That's not—! I mean, I am a fan, but," turning to his sister, he barked out, "I have a girlfriend!"