Standing above the city, Dabi and Hikari looked down from the rooftop they inhabited before the girl raised her hands towards the sky with an anxious stretch. "Well, it looks like they're here. Took long enough."
Then she pointed to the row of heroes making their way inside of the very building they were standing on, obviously too focused on the fake mission the league had called in for them to find. Stupid heroes, they didn't even fact check their sources.
Dabi glanced over to the blonde haired girl before lowering his eyes towards her back, already sensing the emotions in her stance. "What, don't tell me you're going to chicken out on me princess?"
"Seriously? When are you going to quit it with that stupid nickname?"
Although the man couldn't help but smirk at her annoyance, knowing he'd never stop using it. "If it keeps getting a reaction like this I can't say when I will."
Rolling her eyes, Hikari scoffed before using her palms to push her hands into the man's chest playfully. "You're an ass, you know that?"
"And yet you're still here. Seems like your taste in men is just as terrible as it always is. "
This caused the girl to laugh to herself bitterly before looking over the side of the building to see the heroes filter inside. As much as this kind of chit-chat always got under her skin, this was not the time for his bastard behavior. They had work to do.
"Shove it. The only reason I'm here is because I owe you. Don't think of it as anything else Dabi."
And yeah, maybe those nights that they had shared had given the man a crazy amount of confidence but now was not the time to boost his ego. He had enough of that as it was. "Besides, it's almost time."
She then moved past him to prove her point causing the purple skinned man to watch as she went, scanning her up and down as he usually did with a smirk. "Wouldn't dream of it. You gotta stay focused, remember?"
Rolling her eyes once more, the two made their way down the stairs before overlooking the heroes from the landing above as they searched for a missing kid that would never reveal itself.
Hikari then leaned over the railing before scoffing at the scene. "Those idiots sure are adamant today. So, what's the plan to get me down there? It can't look suspicious and I gotta have enough injuries to be sent to the hospital for Kei to find me."
Sure they had a plan but the minor details were still to her desired, Dabi reassuring that a little surprise here and there would make the job far more interesting.
Yeah, well Hikari wasn't really kind of person so she couldn't help but be a little concerned about how they were going to pull this off.
And heroes were stupid most of the time but this really had to look convincing, otherwise they would be majorly screwed. "Dabi, are you even listening to me? We are running out of time. I gotta get down there..."
She watched the group start to move their way towards their area, just a floor below, before Dabi's mind immediately started thinking as a cruel smirk crept onto his lips.
That was never good, she hated that look more than anything, especially when it was directed to her.
"Hey princess, do you trust me?"
His tone seemed slightly sinister, causing Hikari to turn her brow in concern. Trust wasn't really a thing for her, and he knew that. "No, I don't actually."
Although that only seemed to make the villain chuckle under his breath before taking a step behind her and whispering low into her ear. "Good."
Then he took his hands before pushing the blonde haired girl from the balcony, Hikari's eyes widening in surprise as she watched his silhouette start to fade almost immediately.
That asshole really threw me off the railing. Are you actually kidding me right now?! That idiot is going to pay when I get back, I swear Dabi. You crusted skinned piece of shit..
But before she couldn't finish the list of insults in her head, Hikari felt her body smack against the hard ground, something inside of her breaking before the girl let out a heavy groan.
Her vision began to flicker in and out before she vaguely heard someone call to his teammates. "Hey, hold on. I thought I heard something over here."
And as the footsteps started to make their way towards her, Hikari sucked in a pained breath before beginning her script, calling out brokenly for the heroes to come closer. "H-Help me..please..someone.."
She sounded pretty pathetic, causing the girl to roll her eyes in annoyance before the steps appeared right in front of her, someone shining their light in her eyes as Hikari's body began to relax. Ah good, if I had to call like this is for nothing I'd be pissed.
"There's someone over here! Hey kid, you are okay?! Someone call an ambulance, I found a girl. I think she hit her head.."
He tried to speak to her some more but the girl only groaned before letting sleep overtake her.
Well, this was annoying but she was sure the hospital would deal with her injuries and heal them. Stupid Dabi, I'm not thanking you for this but it worked I guess.
Closing her eyes once more, Hikari then drifted off to sleep before thinking about what would happen the next time she opened her eyes, knowing that she'd find her brother after so many pointless years of longing for him to come back to her.
Oh, Keigo. You're going to wish you never found me.
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When Hawks got the call about his sister, it was almost as if time stopped.
It happened as he was sitting at his desk, filtering through some paperwork before one of his sidekicks walked into the office with an uncertain look of their face. 'Hawks, sorry to bother you but you have a call on line one. They say it's urgent."
Twisting his brow in slight curiosity, the hero stared down at his phone before throwing a fake smile at the woman in question. "Thank ya, I'll get right on that.
She seemed to buy it, bowing in response before leaving as Hawks quickly picked up the object, expecting it to be some other pro hero or someone asking for his help on a case. That's always what it seemed to be.
Although he was extremely surprised to find that the place of the other line was the hospital. "Hello, am I speaking to pro hero Hawks? I'm calling from the Hosu General Hospital.."
Well that was something he didn't expect, the bird leaning back on his chair in question. "The one and only! Although I wasn't expecting to get a call like this. What can I do for ya?"
His demeanor quickly changed though when he heard the doctors' next words. "This may seem quite strange sir, but we have a patient that was admitted last night and she keeps calling for you. It just wanted to see if you knew this individual."
"Hmmm. That's interesting. Sounds like I got a fan over there."
Hawks didn't really think of it at the time, thinking that this person he was talking about wasn't mentally well or maybe they were just really big fans of his work. He was pretty popular in the news nowadays.
"In a way. She was adamant that I call you for some reason, it's the only thing she will speak to me about actually. Because of that, I just wanted to see if you in fact did know her."
"Well, I'm flattered really, but they don't really sound familiar to me. What's the little birdie's name by curiosity?"
Leaning further back in his chair, Hawks waiting for the man to say some random name, something he could dismiss easily before getting back to work. He didn't even know that many people so the fact that they were calling for him was strange enough.
Although the man's next words caused the man to immediately sit up, processing each one as he said them. "She says her name Takami Hikari sir."
And all the once, all of the fake joy and carefree nature to his voice immediately drained away as he pushed the phone closer to his ear. "What did you just say?"
"The patient that told us to contact you is named Takami Hikari, or at least that's what she replied with when we asked her. Do you know her sir?"
Know her? That was one the stupidest question Hawks had ever heard. Of course he knew her, that was the name of his sister.
But it couldn't be, Hikari couldn't be alive. She died six years ago, the president even confirmed it. "Y-Yeah, something like that..."
His mind was just playing tricks on him, that had to be it. There was no way his sister was alive this whole time. He looked for her, he searched for her even after the confirmation of her death. If she was alive he wouldn't have found her.
Someone must have been using her identity, that had to be it. He wouldn't allow himself to hope again, to believe in the idea that she could actually return.
Although that was reason enough for the bird to immediately stand from his seat before his wings fluffed out as he opened the window next to him. Whatever this was, he had to get to the bottom of this.
"I'll be right there."
Then without another word, Hawks jumped out of the window before making his way to the hospital as fast as he could, hoping that fate wasn't actually that cruel.
That it actually had given him his sister back.
-----------------------------
Pushing open the door to the hospital, Hawks panted heavily before quickly finding the nearest nurse, his wings outstretched in absolute panic. "Where is she?!"
Although the nurse didn't understand anything he was saying, watching the frantic hero before holding her clipboard a little tighter to his chest. "Umm I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about.."
"Takami Hikari, the girl that I just got a call about. Where is she? I need to see her."
His words were so fast that the man barely had time to utter them before the nurse seemed to raise her eyes in newfound clarity. "Oh, last I heard the patient was in room 302 but..."
That was enough was the bird though, his feathers twitching with newfound anticipation before running off in the direction of the room. "Great, thanks."
The nurse tried to call after him but Hawks was far too fast, rushing through the hallways before stopping at the door labeled 302 a moment later.
Pausing his steps, the hero then looked towards the door before letting out an anxious breath. He needed to be prepared for whatever was in there, to whatever person was using his sister's name.
He didn't want to have hope but Hawks still couldn't help but feel that tiny bit of emotion in the back of his throat, the kind he always had when he allowed himself to think about his sister.
And he had tried to fight it so many times but it seemed like the smallest moments brought the heaviest grief, and it was the same now.
He couldn't do this again though, it would crush him all over again when that reality painfully came crashing down.
Touching the door handle with his shaky hand, the bird then closed his eyes before pushing it open and stepping into the room, slightly scared of what he would see when he opened them.
"Kei-chan?"
That one word was enough for Hawks to force his eyes open before staring into the eyes he had longed to see for years. Everything about her was almost the same when they were kids and Hawks immediately knew one thing for certain.
This was his sister.
Almost immediately, the man felt tears push into his eyes before he brokenly called back something he hadn't spoken in years. "Hika-chan..?"
It seems his words also brought an onslaught of emotions into the girl because her eyes also began to fill with a thousand unsaid feelings before clutching onto the blanket in front of her. "You're here."
Before she could even process it, Hawks had his arms around the small girl, clutching her tightly and the tears poured across her shirt. It couldn't be, this was too good to be true. "O-Oh god, Hika-chan, you're alive...I'm so happy you're alive..I thought...I thought you were..."
He couldn't even bare to finish the sentence, his grip tightening with each word before Hikari looked down at her brother with lowered eyes.
He couldn't see her face since his head was buried into her chest but the girl just looked extremely uncomfortable about the whole interaction, her hands hovering over his back with unsure annoyance. Geez Kei, look who's the crybaby now.
To be completely honest, she wasn't really sure how to handle crying that well, especially when she didn't feel the same with the reunion. In fact, if she had it her way Keigo would have never found out about her.
It was all that damn Dabi's fault for dragging her back here, now she had to deal with something she told herself she would never go back to. How annoying.
"Just thank you, thank you for being alive."
His words caused Hikari to raise her eyes in surprise before her lips turned up into a bitter smile. Oh Kei, you're gonna regret those words soon enough. In fact, it would have been better if I stayed dead for you big brother.
But of course that's not what she said out loud, the girl awkwardly placing her hand on her brothers back before tapping the surface like you would do with a dog or something. "It's okay Kei-chan. Everything's okay now."
Her kind words disgusted herself but it seemed to work on her brother, the boy pulling away from his embrace before staring into her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you..I looked for you...I really did but I thought you were gone...God, I'm so glad I was wrong though.."
Hikari then lightly grabbed his hand before giving it a reassuring squeezing as she hid her own malice for the man who never found her. Oh please, don't lie to me. We all know you left me Kei.
"I'm glad too."
Nodding back, Hawks then twisted his eyes in concern before checking the poor girl over for injuries, lightly touching her arms with fear. If she was supposed to be dead than what happened to her, where did she go? There were so many questions, many he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to.
"Hikari, what happened to you, where were you? Did someone take you, did something happen? It's okay, you can tell me..."
And this was something Hikari had expected from the beginning. It was a very heroic thing to immediately ask about someone's whereabouts right after waking up.
A little rude if you asked her but lucky the girl had planned for this, knowing exactly what to do..
Pushing her lips together, the girl started to make her body shake before squeezing her eyes shut in fake fear, like something had haunted her. "I..I don't...I can't....I..."
And lucky for him, Hawks eat it up, taking her motions as trauma before quickly grabbing her head and pushing to his chest, shushing her worries. "Hey, hey it's okay. You don't have to tell me now if you aren't ready. I'm right here though, I'm never going away again.."
As much as his words were sweet, Hikari barely believed them, snuggling into his warmth and trying not to feel how nostalgic it made her. "Thanks."
Nodding back, Hawks took in his sister's presence before finally letting out a shaky breath, almost like everything was suddenly right in the world.
He just couldn't believe it, he had gotten her back, just the same as she always was. It was like nothing that changed. She even had that cute voice like back when they were kids, like a perfect image of the past.
How naive he was though, blinded by his own grief that he couldn't see her true feelings. He couldn't help it, the hero was just so utterly happy to have her back, as foolish as it was.
Quickly pulling away from the man, Hikari then sucked in a breath before batting her lashes towards her brother in order to look as pathetic as possible. "Kei-chan, I'm really scared here. Can we go home?"
She then gripped his shirt tightly as Hawks melted at his little sister's display, immediately nodding his head before brushing a piece of hair from her face. "Of course we can. I'll go talk to a nurse about them letting you out here, okay?"
Hikari's eyes couldn't help but sparkle at that, a hopeful look in her expression. "Really? I can stay with you...?"
The fact that she wasn't sure of his words made Hawks' heart break, the man already deciding to care for his sister in any way he could to make up for his mistakes. It was the least he could do for leaving her alone for so long.
Watching his eyes crumble down, Hawks nodded his head. "I wouldn't want anything else Hika-chan."
Hikari couldn't help but smile at that, knowing that she felt the same way, for a different set of reasons though. "Me neither."
Smiling as well, her brother then slowly let go of her hands before moving back towards the door, already aiming to honor their promise. "I'll be right back and then we can go home together, okay?"
The girl nodded in response as she raised her hand to see his red wings disappear behind the door, her voice sickenly sweet. "Okay."
After watching him leave her sight though, Hikari immediately dropped her fake smile before brushing a couple strands of hair from her face.
God, she sounded so stupid. No wonder their dad hated her when they were kids. Now she fully understood how utterly pathetic she used to be. Hopefully this would be over soon, for her sanity alone.
Looking out the window, saw her own reflection projected back to her, almost making the girl want to throw up from the sight alone. Her blonde hair was something that Hikari always hated after the accident and even seeing it now couldn't help but make her stomach swirl in that same hidden disgust.
I swear Dabi, you better be grateful for this. I already feel like I need to take a shower from this act already. I'm seriously going to kick your ass later.
Hikari then sighed to herself before her brother's voice snapped her out of her own thoughts. "Hikari, it's all set! We can get you out of here by tonight. How does that sound?"
The girl then closed her eyes before slapping her fake sweet persona back up, turning to her brother before giving him a small fragile smile. "Perfect."
---------------------------------
Stepping into Hawks' penthouse suite, his sister took one step into the space before staring at the clean and modern place as she let her mouth hang open. Shit Kei, this is way better than the usual abandoned alleys I've slept in.
And the hero could tell she was impressed as well, his wings lifting out before swirling around in a circle with his arms outstretched. "Not bad, eh? I know what you're thinkin, I got the perfect bachelor pad, right?"
He pushed his lips into a cocky smile before Hikari moved over to the kitchen, placing her hand on the marble surface in awe. "It's wonderful. How did you get all of this?"
Nodding back, the bird replied back plainly. "Well, the commissions been really good to me, you see. They've given me everything I could have ever wanted. Perks of being number three I suppose."
Almost immediately, Hikari's hand stopped before Hawks saw something pass across her face for just a split second before the girl smiled back a moment later. It looked like anger "I see."
Twisting his brow in confusion, the hero thought the expression was sort of strange, taking a step forward in order to uncover its meaning. "Something up?"
Hikaru couldn't help but turn her head at that. "What do you mean?"
Pushing his hands into his pockets, her brother couldn't help but narrow his eyes in response. "You seemed upset about something."
Yes Kei, I'm upset about a lot of things, pick one.
The girl stared back into his eyes for a quick moment before sighing out roughly and picking some kind of truth to make him happy, to make him stop prying.
"I just don't know anything about your life. It makes me sad."
Hawks picked up her genuine emotion before his wings began to deflate a second later. "Ah, yeah I know. Sorry about that Hika-chan. A lot of things have happened since we were kids."
Nodding back head back, Hikari hummed.
You don't know the half of it.
Then she pushed the thought away before getting down to business. The sooner she found out her brother's plans, the sooner she could leave. "I wanna know more about you, if that's alright?"
Watching his movements with lidded eyes, Hawks put a hand to his neck as something Hikari read as "shame" How interesting. "Ah, I don't know if you really want to know that. You might not like everything you see."
Yet that only caused the girl to turn her lips up into a small smile, hiding the intent between her lips. "I don't know about that."
But Hawks read her actions as kindness, pushing his hair out of his eyes before glancing at his sisters wingless back as memories of the past pushed into him.
"Alright, well if you want to know about me then I want to know about you little sis."
"What do you want to know?"
She said that, but inside the girl was internally panicking, not wanting to start a round of twenty questions with her brother in case she had to bring up something personal. What you're asking is very dangerous. I'm not sure you wanna know about me either.
Pointing towards her back, the bird then asked the one question he was wondering ever since he saw her in that hospital. "You never got your quirk, did you?"
And almost immediately, Hikari widened her eyes before past memories forced their way into her mind, a look of surprise and fear passing through her expression before she could even stop it.
"H-Help, someone...please...!!"
"S-Stop, no please..brother...Kei-chan..!! Please..!!"
Feeling her hands move towards her wingless back, Hikari sucked in a breath before she felt a hand touch her shoulder, the girl flinching the contact. "H-Hey, are you okay?"
At his voice, the girl gasped before, taking a step back, slapping her brother's hand away before quickly trying to shove down any real emotions and locking them away. You just had to ask the worst question, didn't you?
"N-No, I don't have a quirk. I'm sorry, are you disappointed?."
Watching her strange mannerisms, Hawks' heart melted at her saddened words before reading her attack as shame for her quirk. He supposed it made sense, their dad always called her useless without a quirk.
Maybe that's what her flinching was before as well? Perhaps she was just reliving their terrible terrible childhood with his words. Shame on him for letting her feel that again. He needed to be more careful.
"What? Of course not. Having a quirk isn't important to me. I'm just happy you're okay Hikari. I'm not our Dad, okay? Don't ever forget that."
Hikari just stared at him before nodding back slowly, her eyes clouded with emotion. I don't know about that one, you sure got the abandonment part right.
Sighing to herself, Hikari then forced her eyes to scan the rest of the space before asking. "I'm a little tired from everything. I think I'm going to get some sleep. I can take the sofa if you'd like.."
But before she could finish, Hawks placed a hand up before frowning. "What? No sister of mine is sleeping on the sofa. I already made up the guest room for ya. Come on."
Then he used one of his feathers to push his sister towards a room on their left, the bird turning the door knob so Hikari could see inside. "Here we are! You can put your stuff over there and.."
Although that's when the girl raised her hand, a small smile on her face at the idea. "Kei-chan, I don't have anything, remember?"
Almost like he just realized that fact, Hawks' winged immediately deflated before placing a nervous hand to his neck. "Ah, I guess you're right about that. It's okay, we'll fix it in the morning. Just try to get some rest, it's been a long day."
Then he pulled out something out of his pocket before plugging it into the wall next to him, a little pink narwhal night light now staring back at her. "Cause you were scared of the dark."
Hikari felt her face heat up with embarrassment before mentally taking the light off the wall and throwing it into his face. What the hell was he thinking?!
I'm not seven anymore, you idiot. I don't need a nightlight anymore, neither mind a pink one. I hate the color pink, Keigo you chicken wing dumb ass..."
But Hikari suffered through the action before forcing a smile into her face as she laughed, as fake as can be. "Oh, that's so sweet, but I'm not afraid of the dark anymore Kei."
Although this seemed like news to the bird, his eyes traveled to the light before leaving it alone. "Ah my bad. Just keep it then. You never know, besides I'll be right down the hall if you need me.."
Forcing another laugh, Hikari replied. "Thanks. I'll remember that. Goodnight."
Then the bird turned around before shutting the door as Hikari immediately fell into the bed with a heavy groan. God, so I'm tired already..
Turning towards the pink night light, Hikari then grumbled before ripping the narwhal off of the wall before throwing it in the trash can next to her.
You idiot, what makes you think I still use night lights? I'm twenty years old for god sake. You really don't know anything about me, do you?
Then her eyes fell before rubbing her forehead in a slight headache that was forming.This was going to be way harder than she thought. "What the hell Keigo.."
Flopping back onto the bed, Hikari's hand then moved to her back before a small bit of sadness coaxed the back of her throat, thinking about the words her brother had said.
It would have been better if I was quirkless. Then I wouldn't have any attachment to you, stupid bird.
Hikari then curled herself into a ball before letting her eyes drift close, her arms hugging herself as she always did when she lacked comfort or love.
Sure, Keigo may have been in the next room but she still felt so utterly alone.
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I loved writing this omg. I love that Hikari acts all weak and sweet but inside she's just dying while Hawks is misreading everything. Welcome to their relationship
Yes she is manipulating him but she's always a villain so she tends to do some morally grey things. I mean, she's friends with Dabi so that should tell you something.
Also footnote: From everyone's perspective, Hikari doesn't have wings, her back is bare. There is a reason for that but what they see right now isn't the truth. She's hiding them somehow because of the commission incident.
Next Chapter: Hikari begins her plan of finding out what Hawks is up to while Hawks indirectly annoys his sister without realizing it.