𝗙 𝗔 𝗟 𝗟 𝗜 𝗡 𝗚 （ｔｏｇｅｔｈｅｒ）

06. 𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝

Another boring day at work.

Hawks and I practically didn't talk at all last night. I assumed he was just tired, and even though I desperately wanted to talk to him, to hear his laugh, to have him console me in a way that hardly helped, but was the best he could do, I resisted. After all, he's a pro hero, and everyone knows that the ones at the top work themselves to the bone for their spot. Last night he did mention something about the hero ranking ceremony being today, so I definitely didn't want to mess up his schedule.

Also, I got a call from my mom today.

Id texted her two days ago that I was fine and was just spending a couple nights with a friend, which got her off my back a little bit, but now she was calling me relentlessly.

When I finally picked up she screamed, and she cried, and she blamed. All the usual things when I started having any sort of happy life away from her. It made me cry, as most things do, and as soon as I hung up, Franklin tried to console me. He'd wiped my tears away, brought me tissues, and even got me some ice cream from the lunch room. It was hilarious, however, that his feather was better at handling human emotions than Hawks himself was.

I'd gone for lunch earlier than usual, planning to not stay away long in order to resist the temptation of quitting my god awful position. I could've sworn I heard some teenage girls gushing over some hero that had been patrolling a little earlier, but decided not to pry or check it out for myself.

Little Franklin didn't join me for lunch, instead stubbornly staying at my desk every time I motioned for him to let go. I was scared that Hawks, being the occasional douche that he is, would take the opportunity to play some sort of horrible prank, maybe hide some of my office supplies, something like that. But much to my surprise, when I returned, it was the opposite. My desk was more organized than it had ever been, and the little stripe of crimson stood proudly, admiring his work.

I giggled a bit, thanking the little thing, then returning to my work. He helped me out more than usual, making me believe Keigo really had too much time on his hands today. Franklin would sense me reaching for something, rather it be a paperclip or a pencil, and would deliver it right to my hand before I even got the chance to grab it. I gave him pets in return, which he seemed to enjoy most of all.

Out of nowhere, the crimson feather started to go berserk, flying all over frantically, before falling limp and landing with no control a few seconds later. It worried me, considering how cheery and put together he'd been all day, but I just assumed Hawks was dealing with something, and didn't have the concentration to control him anymore, so I let it go, tucking the feather away in my purse.

But when my heart really started to go 100 miles per hour was when I heard screams and explosions coming from outside, followed by fire alarms ringing, and someone shouting, "Evacuate! Now!"

Everyone else made a beeline for the stairs, but I ran towards the windows, curious of what was going on. It was too much of a coincidence that Franklin had stopped working right before this. My eyes trailed up, towards the building directly next to ours, only to see it collapsing, as if it'd been sliced in half.

I must've been staring for a little too long, caught up in all the streaks of red. I knew that red all too well, and as I looked, I could see him, floating in the sky next to a ball of flames, and something that looked like a shadow. He was doing his job, saving people, fighting, and I knew he knows what he's doing, but I couldn't help but worry. Hawks seemed the type to be careless about himself if it meant he could save someone else, he was selfless, but selfish at the same time.

The battle looked intense, Hawks darting around left and right, his feathers helping people out of the building as he tried his best to provide assistance to the hero who was fighting the monstrous creature, who I'd assumed was Endeavor. It caught me in some sort of trance, wanting to know if he'd be okay, wondering if they'd win, hoping they could take down the villain.

But, I didn't get to watch for long. Our building was collapsing as well, and I could feel the floor below me start to shake. I was finally able to draw myself away from the window, realizing I had to get out of here. Before I could even begin to locate the nearest open exit, i noticed everyone else had already left. It made me freeze. I was all alone, and before I could process what to do next, I was knocked to the ground.

My head hit the cold floor, and I could feel the warm blood spill out of my head. The ache in my chest was present as the air left my lungs, and I could almost feel my bones being ground to dust by whatever had fallen atop me, before I finally gave into the pain and fell unconscious.

I was woken by none other than the annoyance himself, or rather, his little representative, poking and slapping me, along with tickling my nose. My head was pounding, and I couldn't feel my legs, thank god considering I've probably broken every bone within them. I chose to ignore the copious amounts of blood that had left my body, spilled onto the surrounding floor, and instead  focus on the fact that I could still move my arms, as much as they may hurt. I tried to wiggle out from whatever the hell had sent me crashing to the ground, but to no avail. It was too heavy, and I was far too weak.

The little feather didn't give in though, and while I was thankful, I knew that Hawks was fighting as I spoke, and all of his concentration should be on that. "Ouch..." I breathed, laughing a bit to try and ease the obvious nerves that the fluffy feather was exhibiting. Franklin frantically was trying to pull me up with the only strength I figured a little feather like him could muster. "Don't waste your time on me, dumbass." I told him, batting him away from me, hoping and praying Hawks could hear my cry.

He sped out of the building, and just as I had thought he had listened to my request, he returned with three more slivers of vermillion. Tried as they might, it was clear they couldn't lift up the debris on top of me. Just as I'd almost slipped out of consciousness, I felt the soft fibers of his feathers on either side of my cheeks, the third coming to give me what I'd call a pitiful hug by snuggling by my collarbone. With the hands I had free, I came to meet them.

The heat the feathers emanated was heaven to my ice cold hands, and it felt nice to know that I'd technically die in someone's arms. I closed my eyes, a poor attempt to distract myself from the pain constantly jolting through my body like horrible waves of electricity. Usually, pain had been a comfort for me, but now... it felt different. I wasn't sure if it was because I knew there'd be someone to cry for me when I was gone, but I no longer wanted to leave. I wanted to hold on, to see him again, see that confused face he makes all the time, or his reaction when he'd lost at Battleship for the third time in a row. The heat that came from him just being in the room, or the way he shielded me from the world when we hugged. I wanted to see all of that again, so I held on.

For as long as I could, I just stayed there, bathing in the comfort of the thought of his goofy smile, until I finally heard footsteps. They were accompanied by a voice I wasn't familiar with calling for backup, and finally I felt like I could rest. Drifting off into that sweet sleep that tempted me so.

——
(A/N)

Hehehe :)