Feather Bound

Chapter 33

"Yes," he said with a sigh, turning his head back to the monitor. "We've tried everything. She just says she wants to go home. That she misses her dad and mom." He sighed in response, pushing his chair backward.

"Well, that just won't do, will it?" He asked, and Mamoru quickly shook his head in response. Jiro sighed, straightening his suit before walking towards his office door. He paused, turning around to look at him, "You coming?" he asked, and Mamoru was quick to scramble up, following him out of the office as they slowly made their way down to the Commission's basement.

They hadn't used the room down there in a long time, not since Hawks had turned thirteen, when he finally stopped fighting his training and didn't require little "timeouts" anymore. The room had become a necessity during Hawks' training, a perfect form of punishment when he wouldn't listen. Hawks had a terrible habit of trying to resist the harder parts of his training, and it had taken forever to beat that weakness out of him, much to his frustration. He had taken time, but he certainly had become much more compliant than Nagant had ever been. It was the only place he could think of to keep Himari; she certainly wasn't going home with him. He hadn't told anyone else she was there, secretly afraid of the possible backlash he might receive from the President if she were to find out.

She had insisted on trying to cancel the program more times than he could count, saying it wasn't worth putting Hawks through the stress. That a successor wasn't that important; there would always be another hero to take his place when he eventually retired or died. But she was wrong. Hawks was a superweapon; his quirk was perfect in all aspects. He was unmatched in his speed, his stealth, and his feathers made the perfect spy tool. They would never have another quirk like it in their arsenal. To lose it because he didn't want children was unacceptable. No, canceling the program was not an option, not in the slightest. Especially not after everything he'd done to make this happen; if the President ever found out, he'd be in deep trouble.

He paused outside the door, steeling himself for the tears he knew were waiting for him on the other side. He looked over at Mamoru with a sigh, shaking his head slightly.

"I need you to call someone to bring her something to eat. You know the drill, just say it's for me. McDonald's or something else you know she can't resist," he said, and Mamoru nodded, quickly pulling out his phone and stepping down the hall slightly. Turning his attention back to the door, he took one last deep breath before pushing it open, stepping inside softly as the sounds of her sniffles filled the air.

"Himari?" he said softly, crouching down to her eye level. She turned to face him, her little green eyes wide and scared.

"Mr. Jiro?" she asked softly before pushing herself up and running over, throwing her arms around his neck. "Please. I'm scared. I want to go home. I want my Daddy."

He grimaced as he felt her tears wetting his shirt, forcing himself to return her hug. "I know, honey, you'll get to go home soon, just a little bit longer. But hey, you like heroes, right?"

She sniffled, pushing away from his chest and blinking up at him before nodding. He smiled down at her, forcing a smile across his face. "Well, guess what? If you wait just a little bit longer and eat all your food like a good girl, I'll take you to meet Hawks!" He frowned as he felt her suddenly tense, pushing away from him, taking a few steps back before shaking her head.

"I don't want to meet Hawks," she said, the anger in her voice unmistakable as he blinked at her. Why the hell was she acting like that? Hawks was the number two hero; he was always outwardly friendly. He was trained that way. They'd worked so hard to create that image for him, so why was she acting like he was taking her to meet a villain?

"Why not?" he asked her, clenching his jaw as he felt his frustration rising. "Hawks is very nice; he's the number two hero, after all."

"He took my mommy away. I don't want to meet him; he's going to take me away too." She said, her gaze dropping to the floor, and he swallowed, anxiety twisting his stomach. Who the hell had told her that? If she refused to go with Hawks, this plan was going to go to shit, and that thought was enough to almost make him want to gag. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, she turned her gaze back to him, her eyes wide. "Why are you scared?"

"I'm not scared," he lied, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her.

"You are too!" She insisted before frowning. "And when I told you I didn't want to meet Hawks, you got mad. I don't know why you're mad at me. He took my mommy, I just want my mommy back." She said, starting to sniffle again as she looked at him. He furrowed his brows, trying to make sense of how she could possibly know any of that. Could this be her quirk? Why the hell hadn't he looked into it earlier? It had to be from her father, but for some reason, he couldn't remember what his quirk was either. He had only really dug deep enough to find out about her and the drug ring he had been running. He'd have to go through those old files later. He sighed, glancing up as Mamoru entered the room, a McDonald's bag in his hands.

"I'm not mad at you, I promise, and I swear I won't take you to meet Hawks," he said, glancing over at her doll in the corner before smiling. "But maybe I can take you to meet Endeavor, but you have to promise to eat first."

"Will Endeavor get my mommy back from Hawks?" She asked softly as Mamoru kneeled down and held out the bag of food towards her. He smiled gently as she looked at him, her unease obvious in the way she shifted her weight.

"Maybe we can ask him," he said softly before nudging the bag forward towards her. "I got you chicken nuggets. You gotta eat, baby; you're losing weight. I'm sure your Daddy would want you to eat. I would want my little girl to eat for sure."

Jiro forced himself to feel some type of concern, not wanting to set off whatever her quirk was as she gingerly took the bag from Mamoru, quickly sitting down and reaching in for the food. He let out a sigh of relief as he watched her start to nibble on it, and he was just about to start pleading Hawks' case with her when his phone suddenly rang.

He frowned, pulling the device from his pocket, his eyes scanning the notification before he cursed. "Mamoru," he said, drawing the man's attention away from Himari. "We need to go now."

Himari blinked up at them wide-eyed as Mamoru stood, scrambling up as they turned to walk from the room. "Wait, no, please don't leave me down here alone. Please! PLEASE!"

Jiro clenched his jaw, shutting the door firmly behind them and muffling off her screams. God, she was worse than Hawks ever was when he was thrown down here. He'd only cried and screamed like that the very first time, but he'd been able to beat that shit out of him quickly. After that, he at least had the sense to just curl up in the corner. He couldn't risk marking her up, though, not if he was going to use her as leverage. Hawks would lose his little birdy brain if she was hurt, and that was the last thing he needed. Mamoru frowned as they walked down the hallway, her screams and cries fading into the distance as they approached the elevator. They stopped as he pressed the button, Mamoru shifting uncomfortably next to him, and he turned to face the other man with narrowed eyes.

"Do you have a problem?" He asked, his annoyance palpable, and Mamoru swallowed nervously, casting a glance back at the room before shaking his head. "Good. You need to get a hold of Hawks at once. The Gala is going to have to be canceled. There was a massive landslide in Southern Japan, and requests are already pouring in for help with search and rescue efforts. Tell him a car is coming for Y/N and that the driver will have his hero uniform. He then needs to report to his agency before heading out. I'm not sure how long he will be gone, but it's late enough in her cycle now that it won't matter if he's there or not."

"Yes, sir," Mamoru said, quickly pulling out his phone and starting to make the necessary arrangements. Jiro sighed as he leaned against the elevator wall, tilting his head up and sucking in a breath to quiet his racing thoughts. If he was lucky, Hawks really was telling the truth, and when they went to test her at the end of the week, this entire situation would be over. He would have his successor safely secured in her womb, and he could quickly release Himari back to them before the President found out about any of it. Never in his life had he been so nervous about anything, but he was doing what was necessary.

This had to work; there was no other choice now.