𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐇 || ʜᴀᴡᴋꜱ

55 ➟ In which the watching world falls.

Rin's POV

"Turn the cameras off!" I shouted it without thinking, ignoring the hundreds of eyes that instinctively turned to me as soon as I made a noise. Hawks turned to me evident confusion quickly melting into realisation as he looked to the cameraman crouched directly in front of him Lelija, "Turn that camera off."

Lelija shook her head, quickly pulling away from Hawks and turning to look at her bridesmaids, "Kitsu." I assumed that was the one that wasn't [Y/N]. The older woman nodded, a wide smile bursting out onto her face as she side-stepped closer to [Y/N] and pulled her into her side as if she was just so excited about the whole ordeal she had to give [Y/N] a hug- but there was something in her left hand, a glint of metal that just briefly caught the light. I tensed, Hawks must've noticed it too, because there was an obvious shift in his stance, one he usually took when we would spar back at the training facility. Lelija looked back at him, "stop me and she's dead." She said it like she was telling him about her favourite flower, sickly sweet, before taking a step closer to the cameraman, addressing both him and the audience, "I think the grooms fighting back some cold feet," she gave a sweet sing-song laugh which garnered some chuckles in response.

I went to take a step forward but stopped almost immediately as Hawks held out a hand telling me to stop, his eyes trained on the bridesmaid- Kitsu, who had the knife now flush tight against [Y/N]'s neck. [Y/N] who still had a smile on her face as her eyes flitted between me and Hawks. There was a slight, strained movement as she shook her head ever so faintly. A 'no' from her had never been clearer.

I half expected a gasp from the crowd when they noticed the hostage situation but they were all staring intently at Lelija.

I could only see the back of her head, but that was a good thing considering that meeting her eyes meant a complete loss of free will- but I still heard what she said as she spoke.

"I am so grateful that so many of you took the time out of your day to be here. It means a lot to me and my family. You see, a few days ago, my grandfather passed away. He was a great, great man, who only wanted what was best for his family- but not only his family, the whole world.
I know he would've given anything to be here, but, unfortunately, he's not.
So I've decided to take on his wish to help heal the world."

She let out a long breath, taking in the venue and the impressive view a rooftop terrace granted her.

"Which of you are quirkless?"

About half the amount of people in the room put up a hand- all in eerie unison.

"Please stand up."

They all did.

"I want you to take in the view, don't you think it's lovely?"

They all turned. Those who were still seated looked straight ahead with dead, dull eyes, completely unaware of the situation around them.

"I want you to get closer, take in the view."

I looked to Hawks, who was standing, completely tensed, in front of me."What's she doing?" I asked him.

"She's going to make them fall." His wings ruffled and I noticed a few feathers had detached themselves from his wings, flying close to them so as to not garner any suspicion from Kitsu, whose eyes were trained on both of us. "You run behind the decorations-"

"but-"

"No but's Rin. I'll catch them and I'll get [Y/N]. Okay?"

He was dead serious.

"Okay." I took a deep breath in, looking at [Y/N] whose eyes were already on me, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Lelija turned to look at both of us, catching me off guard, a bright smile pulling on her cheeks- for the first time, she looked truly terrifying,

"Now jump."

She said it with unwavering finality and those standing at the edge of the rooftop, jumped, with that same inclination.

In less than a second, I ran, as fast as I could at the time, toward the wall of decorations beside the altar, looking back as I flung myself forward to see thousands of red feathers speeding in multiple directions, over the edge of the building, as Hawks himself lept toward [Y/N] and Kitsu.

He somehow managed to separate the two, both of them hitting the floor with significant force. It was enough for the knife to be knocked out of Kitsu's hand, scattering onto the floor and landing right beside [Y/N]. Her hand immediately reached out to the side and she sat up, the jolt must have knocked her out of the trance Lelija had put her under, and she quickly pushed herself behind Kitsu and lifted her up from beneath the shoulders, raising the knife up to her throat. The two are in the same position as before, their positions being the only thing to have changed.

There was a panicked look in Kitsu's eyes as if she knew this was the end for her- and with the look on [Y/N]'s face, I thought it was too.

Early update