Katsuki called you the second his eyes peeled away from the window. The phone rang once...twice...three times...
"C'mon, idiot...answer it," he gritted to no one in your room.
"Hello?"
"Oh, thank God. Are you okay? Where are you?!"
You were sitting next to Endeavor who looked at you with a confused raised brow from overhearing Katsuki on your speaker. The two of you were about to reach the main road with low alternative music playing in the background.
"Um...in the car? Didn't you just watch me leave...?" You asked your boyfriend, confused. "Did you hit your head or something?"
"I..." Katsuki blinked a few times before rubbing his forehead with two fingers, his scarlet eyes scouring the view from the window with detail. There was nothing out of the ordinary...and nothing to be worried about. "I guess I was just seeing things. Alright, I'll uh...see you later?" Katsuki muttered, embarrassed that he called you for no reason.
"Missed me already, huh? Cute. You're a softy Kacchan. Anyway, Endeavor says hi- I didn't say that - yup he specifically told me to tell you hi! - You're a disaster (y/n) - ANYWAY! I'll talk to you when I get home. Try not to kill Deku while I'm gone!"
The call ended, but the suspicious feeling in Katsuki's gut lingered. He sat on your bed, soaking into your soft sheets and the sweet scent of yours that remained as a marker of your presence. Scrolling down his contacts list, he texted a number that he had only used once.
Hawks. Keep an eye on her today for me. I have a bad feeling.
~~
"Hey there babybird! Long time no see!" The cheery go-lucky hero was waiving at you while he was in full costume, a few stray civilians stopping in awe over seeing the rarely present pro. You raised an eyebrow, crossing your arms over your chest with a crooked smile.
"You saw me just a few days ago dummy."
"And it's been far too long! Oh, hello to you too Endeavor! You're looking as miserable as ever!" Hawks grinned brightly at the unimpressed behemoth of a man named Endeavor. The three of you were in full costume and working on the clock since you were meeting in public. A few people came up to Hawks, asking for pictures...and you were pleasantly surprised to see a few people wanted to take some with you as well. You felt bad for Enji who was just standing there bored, waiting for you and Hawks to be finished with meeting fans.
"Astral! I'm such a big fan...take a picture with me hm?~" A rather average looking man who couldn't have been taller than five foot eight grinned at you while holding up his phone. You felt a little awkward about all of this...strangers taking your pictures...always feeling watched...maybe it made sense why Hawks rarely wanted to be seen in public and why Endeavor was so rude to fans. How did All Might deal with this before his injury?! I'd go nuts!
"S-sure!" Hawks and Endeavor both narrowed their eyes at the man as he held the camera up for the two of you to take a picture together...his hand sneaking its way lower down your back. Just as he was about to grip you in an unsavory place, Endeavor gripped his wrist hard enough that you could hear it crack.
"Taking advantage of a young hero's generosity is the fastest way to an early grave." His voice was low and guttural, and you could tell that Endeavor was livid. The civilian yelped in pain with tears springing in his eyes as he quickly nursed his broken wrist.
"I-I'm gonna sue!" Endeavor's cyan eyes were as cold and icy as his wife's quirk.
"Go ahead and try. Three pro-heroes against the word of a pervert. This is not the hill you want to die on, but I can arrange that if that's what you wish." The civilian didn't need to be told twice and bailed as quickly as he came. You rubbed your arms, embarrassed by the whole situation. It wasn't like you've never dealt with it before, but it was usually on a mission where you could kill the person that bothered you. This was a stranger...a civilian you have sworn to protect. To just blatantly try and make a perverted move on you in public was just...wildly demeaning and uncomfortable.
"Are you okay?" Endeavor asked you as he placed a hand on your shoulder as All Might would do. Each and every day that passed, Endeavor started reminding you more and more of him. You grinned at the hero, smiling to show that everything was alright.
"Thanks Endeavor. I appreciate it." He nodded, dismissing the situation before walking towards Hawks who had shooed away his admirers.
"Well that was annoying. He acted quicker than I did," Hawks smiled as a single feather removed itself from your back and reattached to his wing.
"Awww you both LOOOOOOVE me," you nudged the two heroes on the arms. Enji looking away with an annoyed look while Hawks stuck his tongue out at you. The civilians that passed by were in awe over how gentle Endeavor was with you, how he clearly had some sort of parental affections for you. It was completely unheard of...but short videos and pictures of him cracking a smile eventually at you were eagerly posted on social media with comments flooding as the day went on.
"Who knew Endeavor had a heart?! "
"Wow, he actually does have feelings."
"I thought he was supposed to be a dick?!"
"Endeavor is hot now. No, I don't take criticism."
You remained blissfully unaware how much your interactions with Endeavor were helping raise his popularity, which was fine by you.. Eventually, the three of you stopped at a nice high rise restaurant to have lunch and prepare to talk about some information Hawks had on the League of Villains. Neither hero knew that you were friends with one of their most violent members...having only seen him yesterday.
Unbeknownst to you, Dabi has been trying to distract the League from targeting you...but Shigaraki wanted revenge. You had cut off All for One's arm and was part of the reason why the man lost to All Might...and Shigaraki never forgot that. He was convinced that stealing the quirks from you that were originally supposed to be his mentors was one of the only ways he could break him out of Tartarus Prison. Dabi was assigned to take you or at least samples of your quirk while you were imprisoned by The Doctor...but the man ended up falling head over heels from you instead.
So Shigaraki knew that there was only one option left.
~~
"Hey, uh...do you guys have yakitori?" Hawks eagerly asked the waitress that must have been in her early thirties.
"Yes, we do we have ginger-soy flavor and barbeque-"
"Yeah I'll take five sticks of each and a chuu-jockey of uh...let's see...Asahi Dry on draft?" Hawks picked out rather quickly as you stared at the rather large and fancy menu.
"You're getting a jug of beer at noon while we are working?!" Endeavor gritted annoyed at the younger pro-hero. Hawks seemed completely unaffected by Endeavor's outburst.
"Relax old man it's just one with my meal like any grown ass man would get," Hawks flashed his signature smile at the number one pro and a wink at you. You shook your head amused as you ordered some tempura udon with some tea. Endeavor ironically enough ordered the same type of jasmine blend that Shoto liked most, but got a hot soba meal instead of Shoto's typical cold soba. You giggled at the realization after the waitress left, drawing the attention of both Endeavor and Hawks.
"What's so funny?" The elder man spoke in a gruff voice, unsure why you were amused by him.
"It's nothing. Just that you and Shoto like the same foods." Endeavor's lips curled up in a soft but happy smile at the thought.
"Well, I am the boy's father after all..." Endeavor remembered the family dinners that Rei used to make for everyone...how all of the kids would eagerly sit at the table and excitedly eat her cooking...it's been so long since he's had a meal made by his wife... "Hey...you two...when Rei comes home from her stay...you two should...um...you two should come by for dinner sometime."
You and Hawks looked at each other as if to say "Did Endeavor really just invite us for a family dinner?!" Hawks broke character first.
"Oh Endeavor you already know I'd be anywhere with free food with my trademark top speed!" You laughed at Hawks' joke and the fact Endeavor rolled his eyes.
"I'd love to. I'd actually get to meet Fuyumi and thank her for making that salve for me all those months ago. Hard to believe the first day we met, you asked me to marry your son. HAH!" You cackled while poking fun at your boss who placed his large palm over his face to hide his embarrassment.
"Wait you're kidding!? Which one?! At this point, I'm pretty sure you'd be able to bag any of them," Hawks teased you. Endeavor remained silent despite his chagrin.
"Look bird boy, it's not my fault everyone loves me. I watched Cowboy Bebop. The man loves a girl that can kick his ass and so do you and like ninety percent of the people I freaking know."
"True, true. Maybe that was the big man's way of adopting you since All Might did it first," Hawks commented in a snarky manner that seemed to rile up Endeavor past his silence.
"What is this?! Instigate Endeavor day?!" He growled.
"Oh Enji, that's every day," you responded playfully.
"Forget I asked..." Enji huffed.
A few moments passed and the three of you got your drinks...which led to Hawks kicking off his discussion about work.
"So I've been doing some investigative work lately and I've found some interesting news. Looks like the League is preparing for something." Hawks laid out a few pictures he either took or recovered of facilities holding something in human-sized test tubes...similar to when you rescued Katsuki and saw a whole factory of them.
"Nomu...there are dozens of them..." Your voice was low as you recalled that night and how close you were to losing not only Katsuki but All Might and your own life as well.
"If not hundreds," Hawks corrected. He continued. "From my studies, I've come to a conclusion these were pre-made considering I've been checking on these facilities regularly since you were captured (y/n). They were owned by The Doctor...and it looks like he was working with both Overhaul and the League. I've found there are more quirk extraction machines...and that a good chunk of these quirks he stole were experimented with these Nomu. There's something else too..." Hawks then turned to you in particular and handed you a picture of Kurogiri from the League of Villains. "The black market no longer sells your quirk...but it looks like there might be a copy of Kurogiri's quirk in the League's main experimentation facility. If we could get that data and sample to Whiz Kid..."
"Absolutely not." Endeavor's voice was jarring from your clear deep interest in the topic at hand. Your emotions were getting the better of you and your eyebrows furrowed in rage.
"What the fuck do you mean absolutely not?! If there's a chance I can get back my quirk-.." You realized you just openly admitted you were missing a part of your quirk...but Endeavor and Hawks already knew this...and luckily there was no other audience around to eavesdrop.
"Absolutely not and that's final. Breaking into a base owned by the League is the easiest way we lose you again. I am not going to risk you for a theory or a slim chance. You're more than capable of being a hero without that quirk," Endeavor gritted like a reprimanding parent.
"But Endeavor-"
"That's not good," Hawks cut in while looking out of the window. You followed his gaze and couldn't see anything...but both he and Enji stood up protectively. "(y/n) get down!" Before you could react, Hawks wrapped his wings around you and shielded you from broken glass as the window was shattered.
"You okay?!" He asked you as the two of you skidded to the other side of the room, his arms tightening their hold around your body. Endeavor stood in front of the both of you like a human shield as some sort of dark entity made its way into the restaurant.
"Who here is strongest?!" The creature called out to the three of you. Your eyes trailed up to Endeavor's muscular back as he prepared to protect you from the creature. It became an instinct to him, especially since he still blamed himself for the fact you were abused by The Doctor.
"I am," he proudly proclaimed to the creature. While looking at the creature, you noted its dark rubbery features...it was as if it were crafted with plastic.
"It's a Nomu Endeavor!" You called out. "Those ones have a regenerative ability. You're going to have to burn it to ash!"
"Got it." Endeavor charged the creature while barking orders to Hawks to evacuate the building and take you away from the fight.
"I'm not fucking useless you know," you growled as Hawks held you and jumped out of the window, flying the two of you to the rooftop.
"Watch my back while I evacuate everyone," Hawks commanded as he closed his eyes, using his Fierce Wings to send feathers into the building as it was getting destroyed by Endeavor and the Nomu. Two white Nomu flew to the top of the building, clearly as backups to the one Endeavor was fighting. Despite the rumbling and movement of the building, you defended Hawks with your blade.
"You won't touch a hair on his fucking head," you gritted through your teeth as you charged them, sliding under the one's legs and slicing him around the back of the knees. He dropped to the ground with an animalistic screech, but you quickly silenced him by stabbing through his eye and cutting in a c-shape to slice his skull in half. The other Nomu flew towards you and knocked you onto your back while gripping your neck to choke you to death in retaliation for killing the other...but you activated the cat claws on your gloves to cut off his hands at the wrists. The tanto was stuck in the corpse of the other Nomu as you tried to retrieve it, and that delay caused you to catch a kick to the ribs.
"F-fuck...!" You gasped out in pain as the building started falling apart.
"We gotta go (y/n)!" Hawks called out to you as the handless Nomu prepared to flee, the entity flying towards the civilians on the ground level.
"Oh no you fucking don't!" You called out to the monster...sprinting towards the edge of the building fearlessly. "Let's go Hawks!" A long razor-like crimson feather flew into your hand as if it were no different from one of your katanas just as you jumped off the skyscraper, falling towards the flying Nomu. Your fall was graceful and you were determined to chase down this Nomu before it could hurt any civilians. As you fell, you saw several other clusters of white Nomu that were attacking the people and it filled you with rage.
These villains stole quirks...stole away the lives of innocent people...and turned others into these mindless beasts...This world is better off with the League of Villains dead and gone.
Dabi's face came into your mind...and you knew that when it was inevitably the moment where you would finally face the League...he'd be the one person you couldn't bring yourself to hurt.
"She's always one step ahead of me, huh," Hawks muttered as he casually walked off the side of the building, his feathers returning to his wings as he fell towards you. Thanks to the diving form you took, you fell fast enough to catch up to the Nomu and slice him in half mid-air with Hawks' feather blade. The number two pro-hero used his top-speed to swoop you in his arms just before you hit the ground and flew towards the next group of Nomu. Standing back to back, you and Hawks expertly and quickly moved around and sliced through the Nomu that fought viciously.
Ghost was so new and fresh again, using it would just be a waste unless you were truly about to die...so you ended up taking quite a few injuries as you fought. Cuts into your arms, a bruise the size of a baseball on your ribs, a claw mark on your back...neither you nor Hawks made it out unscathed, but eventually, the two of you narrowed it down to only one more Nomu left. A black one...a regenerator.
~~
News agencies had arrived on the scene, filming you and Hawks as well as Endeavor. Other heroes showed up to assist with evacuating civilians but having the top three ranked heroes in one spot deterred the unranked heroes from joining the fight. Endeavor was intensely focused on his fight, using firepower the likes of which you've never seen before. It was awesome in every sense of the word...and you believed fully that he would be victorious.
"This just in! Endeavor, Hawks, and Astral are locked in battle with monsters that appeared in the city. Our sources are telling us that the infamous League of Villains that attacked UA in the past and fought All Might are responsible for it. Check out this footage of the fight."
Katsuki was just finished with his homework when he came out into the lounge where Aizawa, Shoto, Deku, and several other students were gathered around the TV.
"Bakugo...you should watch this," Aizawa spoke with his hair up and out of his face thanks to a low messy bun.
"Uh...okay...?" He walked forward but froze midstride seeing the news banner and the side by side live footage of Endeavor fighting a Nomu...and you and Hawks surrounded by them. "What the fuck is going on?!" He yelled out to his teacher, his crimson eyes narrowed with fear and anxiety over seeing you in a fight. He was proud of your strength and he believed in you...but the last time you were on TV...
"It looks like Endeavor's been injured! The creature has thrown him into the ground!" Shoto sucked in a harsh breath as the news cut to only Endeavor as a massive gash on his face was visible...the Nomu posed on top of him as if he were defeated.
"ENJI!" You screamed out to Endeavor with wide eyes, desperate to head his direction...but the second Nomu blocked your path. For some reason, this Nomu didn't try to attack you...it just stared at you as if to just prevent you from saving Endeavor. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" You ran towards the Nomu to slice through it as Hawks was recollecting a few lost feathers, but the Nomu kept regenerating. It just stood there...staring...but the moment Hawks made a move to come any closer, the Nomu attacked just him.
Almost as fast as Keigo, the Nomu reached his fist out to slug him, but Hawks ducked just in time. Hawks just missed dodging the last left hook by enough to be thrown into a neighboring building, glass embedding itself into his skin which left crimson streaks of blood over his handsome face.
You didn't know what to do...run to Enji or run to Hawks? If you had to pick between the two to save, who would you choose?
Icy licks of terror raked at your heart in sharp stabs from the dilemma...your head swiveling back and forth between the two.
"I...didn't work this hard...I didn't sacrifice...the people I loved most...to let some monster beat me..." Enji coughed in pain as he knocked away the Nomu enough to stand up.
Thank god. Go get him Endeavor.
You sprinted towards Hawks as fast as you could, watching as the Nomu lifted him up by his shirt. Hawks' wings were half depleted due to him being in the middle of sending feathers to assist Endeavor and others were used as weapons. Keigo seemed out of it from the shock of the hit and the blood loss...and your heart ached at the sight.
"I'm not letting these monsters take any more of my family away. The League took my parents...I'm not going to let them steal away Enji and Keigo...No...All Might would fight harder than ever now...so I should too."
You focused your energy through your core, gathering the life-force of the world starting at your feet and letting it flow through your body. Circulating like the ever-present and revolving cycle of waves in the ocean, chi soaked through your pores until your body and eyes glowed gold.
"You're not getting Keigo." Your voice sounded off, like it was echoing itself. The news cut to you on one camera as you ran for Hawks with one of his feather blades in hand...the feather echoing your chi. Katsuki watched while gripping his fists tightly.
"C'mon baby...you got this...gut the freak...c'mon..." he cheered you on while the rest of your classmates had glued themselves to the screen.
"Let's go (y/n)! Kick his ass!" Mina cheered on the edge of her seat.
Shoto was holding his hands in a prayer formation with his fingers interlocked, sweat dripping from his brow at the sight of his father being near death and you on the attack. The whole situation had him shaking and his breath was held hostage within his lungs...
What am I supposed to do? I can't even do anything. I can't help anyone. I'm just watching it all happen and I can't do ANYTHING.
Katsuki watched with bated breath as you used your skills as Shinobi to jump on top of nearby vehicles, then on top of a building just to have an aerial shot on the Nomu. Without even thinking twice, you launched yourself into the air and struck downwards on the Nomu...slicing it in half. Your chi enveloped the creature as it screamed in agony...
...but it didn't regenerate. It was dissolving.
"H-Holy shit, kid...I uh...thanks...I owe you one..." Hawks breathily called out to you as he dropped to the ground. The Nomu was mewling like a wild animal that needed to be put down, and eventually, the chi reduced it to absolutely nothing. No ash, no blood, no residue. It was nothing at all.
"What...the...fuck..." Katsuki gasped as he and the rest of Japan watched in awe as the screen shifted from you, back to Endeavor. Hawks' crimson wings were no more as he launched the feathers towards Endeavor to help him as the number one pro-hero fought.
"It's up to him now...there's nothing else I can do..." Hawks grunted in pain as you helped him sit up, pulling out shards of glass that had embedded themselves in his skin. The world grew so much hotter as Enji burst like a supernova as a way to kill the Nomu...it was like he was self-destructing.
"GET HIM ENDEAVOR!" You screamed your heart out as you watched Enji in the air with the ever immortal Nomu that seemed resistant to even the hottest of flames.
"How did they make something so heat resistant? Who did they test this on-..." Your eyes widened in realization who must have set this up...who must have known where Endeavor was going to be...why the regenerative Nomu wouldn't attack you.
As Enji Todoroki fell back to the world after successfully killing an impenetrable villain, his own son emerged from the nearby alley with cerulean eyes that pierced your own.
~~
A/N
Hey everyone!!
What a day. This took me forever to write. Sorry it was a little late, I had to work today and ended up writing from 6pm til like 3am lmaoooo
Anyways.
Thoughts? Feelings?
Thank you so much nakeira13 for your ADORABLE fan art! Love it so much. If you sent a fan art and are wondering where it is, just know that I am only JUST NOW getting to the fan art that was sent in SEPTEMBER!
So please be patient. It will take time but EVERYONE will have their art shown. I promise!
Anyway, also I would love to thank my amazing Patrons:
Satan, Amanda, and VegetaLover for their patience and contributions to my craft. I love you!
Have a great week everyone and happy...Wednesday?
-v4k