Hawks x Dabi

Chapter 22

Yellow and grey wings. Kyoko sat shaking in the corner, tears streaming down her face, with yellow and grey wings stretching out behind her. The room reeked of vomit, and Toga saw a small streak of it in her garbage can.  "They won't go away. I'm sorry.... they won't go away. Get them off me. P-Please come back." She stuttered, her arms tearing away at her back like she was trying to rip the wings out of her. Toga couldn't move, her legs froze to the floor. Memories of long, painful nights after leaving her hospital room flooded her mind. Hawks pushed past her, a menacing grin on his face. Panic crept up Toga's unmoving legs. Hawks grabbed the girl's arms and held them, looking blankly at the blood that was dripping down her back and tinting her nails. "Don't do that hon." His voice was soft and soothing, and concern pushed the eerie grin away. Toga's legs relaxed and she slouched down, a sigh of relief escaping her. "Keigo... don't hurt her." Hawks looked at the girl, letting go of her hands and watching them slump to the ground. "You okay now honey?" Kyoko nodded. "Good. Your wings can't hurt you. C'mon." He stuck out a hand. Kyoko hesitated, then took it. "Y-you hurt my legs..." She whispered. Toga looked at Hawks, irritation spreading across her face. "It was when I first grabbed her. She kept squirming and I didn't wanna drop her. I didn't think my feathers would cut too much. I'm sorry dear." Hawks helped the girl back over to the bed, where she curled up next to the body pillow, a small look of content making Toga smile, but it quickly faded. "Now for the hard part." Toga sighed, sitting at the foot of the bed, while Hawks sat in the stool placed conveniently by her bookcase so he had something to lean on. Kyoko sat up slowly, the pillow still in her arms as Toga began to speak. "Now... before we ask any questions about you, we want you to know three things. One: you can ask us any questions you want and we will answer them." Hawks raised a hand, and Toga sent a warning glance at him. He put it down. "Two: these questions will be personal, so if you don't want to answer them that's perfectly fine." Toga paused for a moment, taking a deep breath to settle her nerves. "Three... we can stop at any time, and if you want us to leave the room we will... okay?" Kyoko's nervousness was practically radiating off of her. She nodded slowly. "Toga... could I... ask you s-something... before we start?" Toga nodded. "It's about your mom." She visibly tensed, but nodded for Kyoko to continue. "Do you know if she remarried?" Toga furrowed her brows in thought. "I'm not sure. But probably. If she saw everything on the news, then remarriage would've been the only way to start with a 'clean slate' I guess..." Toga saw Hawks shift. A look of discomfort met her gaze when she turned. He was picking at his knuckle, and it had started turning red as the skin was peeling. "Do you wanna go?" Kyoko almost whispered, turning to follow Toga's gaze, and seeing the peeled knuckle. "N-no... I'm curious as well, but if you want me to I will." Kyoko looked at him, then at Toga, (who's face gave away nothing) and shook her head. Hawks nodded and looked at his fingers. Toga and Kyoko resumed. "What was her name?" Toga paused for a bit of time. "I don't... remember. If she didn't change her name... then I think it's something... like... Mira Himiko." Toga has a questioning look as Kyoko's eyes widened, but she said nothing. "She did remarry..." Kyoko hoped Toga would take the hint. She didn't. "She didn't change her name..." Kyoko took a moment to settle her nerves, forcing them to relax. "She had another kid... who then killed her husband..." Kyoko felt tears well up and slide down her cheeks. She looked up and Toga's eyes were blank. "You're my stepsister..." she whispered. Her face lit up in awe and happiness. "You're my stepsister!!! I always wanted a sibling. What did mom say about me?" Hope flashed in Toga's eyes. "...She said you were interesting, and that she loved you even though you were always in trouble. She said she visited the hospital any time she could to see you, and she hoped you'd forgive her for...leaving you alone..." Kyoko smiled weakly as Toga somehow lit up even more. She was practically bouncing. "Yey!!" She clapped her hands and squealed. Hawks smiled in the corner, still leaning against the bookcase. Blood was slowly sliding down from his now three peeled knuckles, but he didn't notice. "Did he die when you got your wings?" Hawks blurted the question out before he could stop himself. Silence filled the room. "You don't have to ans-" "Yes." Kyoko cut Toga off with the short answer. "How much blood?" "A lot." "You take meds?" "Yes." "Got any night terrors?" "I don't know. Mom didn't let me out of room after dinner. She locked me in. I couldn't go anywhere, and she never came into my room during those times." The conversation wasn't short, and it was far from sweet. Hawks did most of the talking, Kyoko did most of the crying, and Toga did most of the listening. Kyoko's father's death was a gruesome one. Kyoko's wings had been throwing her around the room. He went to catch her and was thrown into the glass curio. It shattered and pierced his back. He was continuously slammed into the wall. His head was bashed in. He was dead by the fifth slam. He died in agony. Kyoko said that her mother hadn't sent her to the hospital to suppress her abilities, but Toga felt that locking her in her room wasn't much better. By the time they were done, Kyoko had run out of tears, the garbage bin was filled with vomit, and everyone in the room was tired. "Do you have any questions for us or do you want to wait until tomorrow?" Toga fiddled with her fingers. "Why did you bring me here? Why did you kill the others? Why not me?" The last question was practically whispered as Kyoko looked down, burying her face in the body pillow she had been holding the entire time. "First question: by chance. Second question: experimental purposes. And third: simple. I'm fond of kids." Toga yawned. "What do you mean 'experimental purposes'?" Kyoko looked back and forth between Toga and Hawks. Toga smiled her eerie grin as she answered. "We're villains. Inflicting pain is what we do. Keigo here is a sadist, so he likes hurting people at times. We wanted to see the extent of his... abilities. That's all. I promise." Kyoko's eyes widened as she turned to Hawks. "Oh." Was all she could muster. "You know what?" Toga clapped her hands together after a moment of silence. Kyoko flinched. "I think we could all use some sleep. We've been talking for a while and I don't know about y'all, but I'm tired. Kyoko, you can sleep here. Keigo can sleep with Dabi, and I'll steal the couch from Twice." With that, she grabbed Hawks and half walked, half chucked him out the room. She turned back to Kyoko. "I know a lot has happened. You should get some sleep. We'll all be here tomorrow. If you need anything I'm in the living room. Dabi's room is at the end of the hall and the bathroom is right next door." Before Kyoko could respond, Toga was out the door and skipping down the hall, calling out to Twice to have a conversation about sharing and caring. "Wonderful..." Kyoko didn't say much else. She looked at the bin of vomit at her feet. She sighed, picking it up and taking it to the bathroom. She knocked on the door and heard no response, so she walked in. She went to the toilet to empty the bin, and saw drops of blood. She turned to the shower, and screamed.