There was a bunch of feathers coming out suddenly. They lashed towards Twice. "She's coming with me."
Twice wasn't able to dodge the attack in time. The feathers pierced through his skin in a few areas, causing him to howl in pain.
His knees buckled from beneath him. The feathers made him unable to move much because every time he moved, more blood was lost. He lifted his head to look at Hawks. "What are you doing?!"
"Stopping you from harming any more students." Hawks whipped out his feather blade and pointed it towards Twice.
His eyes looked a bit cold. "I don't want to fight you. Please, get out of here, Bubaigawara. Forget this so called mission of yours."
(He wants to stop him?) Satoko felt confused. "If you didn't want to fight, then you shouldn't have hurt him!"
"No!" Twice yelled. He wouldn't stop struggling even though it only brought him more pain. A sense of desperation was taking over his mind. "I thought we were friends! You wouldn't kill a friend, would you?!"
"I'm giving you a choice. End this now or face the consequences." Hawks pressed. "I don't want to kill a friend, but I can't let you guys do this anymore. Not when you have Sunset. Leave or fight me. It's up to you."
"I'm not leaving! I'll do what I want in life!" Twice's body shook with sobs. It was clear that he wouldn't be spared. He wanted to live, but in his eyes, he had already lived a good life. "You can't take Takahashi either! Not if she doesn't want to go with you! You heroes think you can control everyone else's lives, but you can't!"
Was it painful at times? Of course. No life is ever perfect. Everyone suffers. Everyone dies. Somewhere in between life and death, a person can discover their home if they're lucky enough.
Twice had found his. He had a group of people who he could consider as his family. He was happy with them even after everything he had been through. He thought that was enough to make any life worthwhile.
Satoko went over to Hawks. Her hand placed on his wrist. "Leave him. I don't want anyone to die."
Hawks can feel the compassion and care in her touch. This woman that has tenderness towards these villains, despite her fierce nature. She really was a good person.
A better person than them all combined. For a moment, he gave her a soft and sad smile.
Hawks lowered his feathers and let Twice go. "You can do what you want, but leave these kids alone. Stop hurting innocent people. Go now."
Twice stood up. His wounds were bleeding through his outfit. He cursed in his mind. "I told you that I'll do what I want!"
Twice was relatively hopeless against someone like Hawks. Still, he lunged towards him with the intention of inflicting damage.
"You don't listen, do you?" The pain became apparent in Hawks's eyes.
"Sto-" Satoko's voice got cut off by a splash of blood.
Hawks's feather blade had pierced into Twice's chest. "I didn't want to do this. Why must you be this way?"
It was either Twice or choosing the lives of the students. He had to prioritize their safety over Twice's life. He hated seeing Satoko's stunned expression from that moment.
Twice felt a slimy, warm substance shoot out of his chest. His breathing stopped immediately. There was overwhelming pain, but then it was peaceful. All of the sounds around him started to fade away into nothing.
The fear of death gave him a bellyache. He couldn't help but be a little scared when his death was inevitable. The fear wasn't able to persist for long though. Not when its host was gone.
...
Toga was wandering around. She kept looking for Ochako. Maybe run into her dear Izuku! All she wanted was to see his freckled, cute face. Covered in his sweet blood.
While skipping with her knife, she noticed a body up ahead.
(Oh!! Is someone dead?!) She ran ahead and found Momo.
(Burn marks. Looks like Dabi got to her. His way of attacking is boring. Not a lot of bleeding in it.) She grimaced.
Knowing she could fix that dilemma, she got out her equipment to suck Momo's blood.
Ochako and Katsuki were walking. Katsuki still had a hold on her wrist. After a while, Ochako stopped walking. "There she is! She's going to hurt Momo!"
From where they were standing, it was impossible to tell if Momo was alive or not. Ochako automatically wanted to assume that she was. Losing a classmate would be unbearable.
Toga turned to see the familiar voice. "Oh! Ochako! Momo seems to be releasing a pleasant smell."
Her knife then stabbed mercilessly into Momo's arm. It was rather deep. Her eyes sparkled from the sight. "Beautiful!!"
"You're really getting on my nerves!" Katsuki yelled as he let out a warning blast towards Toga. That made her leap away from Momo.
"Ew. You're not my type. Go away!" Toga hissed while she nimbly slashed at Katsuki.
Ochako hit Toga's arm directly in the middle, causing her arm to involuntarily bend. (As long as she doesn't trap me again, I can still fight!)
Ochako moved to the side with Katsuki to dodge Toga's strike once she had recovered. Ochako did her best to block another attack. "Stop trying to hurt us! We don't even know you!"
"How could you say that about your friend? I'm hurt, Ochako!" Toga still kept her smile on her face, despite what Ochako did.
Before she could make any more movements, a blast of fire came out towards her.
The attack came from Endeavor. He had been helping students escape. Most of them had got out from as far as he knows.
He was desperately looking for Shoto only to be disappointed not to find him once more. Toga saw there were more heroes behind Endeavor.
Katsuki grumbled that he couldn't have any more piece of action. He won't admit he was slightly relieved.
Toga clicked her tongue in irritation. She knew she had to escape, especially with Aizawa showing up from the distance. (I need to find Shigaraki. This operation is a bust.)
Suddenly, she disappeared.
"Coward!" Katsuki yelled out.
Aizawa's eyes widened when he saw the condition that Momo was in. He ran past Ochako and Katsuki and put his hand close to her nose to feel for breathing. He sighed with relief. "She's alive. She will need to go to the hospital as soon as possible."
He turned his head towards the students and Endeavor. "We should call an ambulance to get her there faster."
Endeavor nodded while getting out his phone. He looked towards Katsuki and Ochako. "Have you seen Shoto?"
"Tch. Not my problem." Katsuki scowled with a not so helpful answer.
Ochako felt a little anxious. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen Shoto at all. She hadn't heard about him either. "I haven't seen him at all...I hope he's okay."
Endeavor felt a wave of disappointment and worry. Where could his son be?
...
Satoko watched Twice's lifeless body on the ground. Hawks sighed as he pulled his bloodied feather from Twice's corpse.
"Why...." Satoko gritted her teeth while balling her fists. "You killed him! You heroes just don't listen! Why must you go this far?!"
"He was attempting to attack me." Hawks firmly said, trying to mask the sorrow.
"Did nothing I said to you before not matter? I was going to help all of them open their eyes!" She shouted. "You need to open yours too!"
She went to lash out towards him. Her fist was coming to him at full force. Hawks didn't move nor made any attempt to dodge.
Realizing that, she halted her fist in front of his stomach. It was trembling while it shook there. Her head hung low, trying to fight any pain. Trying to suppress anything from forming in her eyes.
He could tell she was hurting. This woman that he wanted to understand so dearly as in pain because of his actions. Her hatred towards heroes must have grown more because of this.
Pulling her into a gentle embrace, his breath tickled her ear. "I'm sorry. The last thing I want to do is hurt you and make you not trust me."
She could tell by the way she was being held, it was sincere.
Tender.
His fingers even went through her hair in attempt to comfort her. "I don't want to be a spy anymore. I want to protect these kids. Mostly, help you live a good life. I didn't want to kill him either."
Satoko could tell he wasn't bluffing. Especially the way his voice cracked slightly when he spoke. In return, her arms wrapped around him too.
"Sunset-" It caught him by surprise she had done so. That only made his heart fall for her more. She felt so soft and warm, yet he could feel her body tense up.
It's like she was afraid of getting close to anyone, but she was letting him in. Wanting to push him away, but also yearning to be held like this.
"Moron... you dumb chicken...!" She couldn't cry. Not at all. She wanted to stay like that for a good bit.
...
"Hey, heroes! Are you missing somebody?!"
Everyone turned to see Dabi. He was holding onto the back of Shoto's shirt still. Shoto was completely unmoving. The bandage on his head was burnt off to reveal dry blood. He had severe burns.
Some of the people in the group of students and heroes gasped. Others stood in shocked silence.
Ochako felt as though she might throw up. "Is he...alive?" She whispered.
Katsuki called Dabi a profane name before he spoke more. "You stapled freak! What did you do to Half n' Ha-"
Endeavor put his arm out towards Katsuki as a warning to stay back. He swallowed down his anger, but couldn't bring it to a halt. Seeing Shoto in such a severe condition cause his emotions to swirl. His concern was outweighed by his fury.
"Get your hands off of him this instant!" He stomped forward towards him.
Dabi put his free hand down near Shoto's head. "I wouldn't step any closer if I was you. Although, I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm going to kill him anyway."
Dabi smiled as he looked directly at Endeavor. "You should know who the man is that's going to kill your son. My real name is Toya Todoroki."
Clearly stunned, but also in denial, Endeavor stopped. His bottom lip trembled a short moment as his heart felt like it stopped a second.
"No... Toya is...dead." He was struggling to say. It was impossible for anyone else other than his own family to know.
Even Katsuki's face gone pale. He had visited the Todoroki residence with Izuku before. He knows about Shoto's deceased brother. It didn't make any sense to him either.
Dabi attempted to use his quirk to finish Shoto off, but nothing happened. He noticed that Aizawa's hair was floating. He must have erased his quirk.
"You won't lay another hand on him or any of my students." Aizawa glared at Dabi. He motioned for Endeavor to go ahead.
Endeavor walked towards Dabi. His expression wouldn't change. There was disbelief in his eyes, but he wouldn't look at Dabi.
In a way, he didn't want to believe it. He took Shoto away from him, ignoring the piercing glare Dabi gave him.
He carried Shoto back near everyone. They feared he was dead, but Endeavor could see him faintly breathing.
"My son..." He felt too alarmed and scared. He didn't want to lose Shoto as each second passed. "Someone call an ambulance right now!!!"
Dabi felt a strong feeling of jealousy. Endeavor had that look of actually caring for Shoto. What did Shoto do to deserve that?
Aizawa and the others were in the way of his plan. Perhaps if Dabi could find Satoko, her quirk could help him. There was an uncomfortable feeling in his chest as he realized that he had no idea where she was.
He turned away from the heroes and began to look around. Eventually, he came across them.
Satoko was in Hawks's arms. That did not help his jealousy one bit.
"Get away!" Dabi's flames lit up in an instant. He sent an attack flying in their direction.
Hawks was fast. Dabi wasn't too worried about Satoko getting hurt. If she did get hurt, maybe it would teach her not to get too close to Hawks. That's what Dabi thought, at least.
Hawks instantly used his wings to shield Satoko from danger. A lot of his feathers burned off. He could even tell by Dabi's motives, his envy was very obvious. He didn't let any embers hit Satoko. Her eyes widened, seeing how burn marks appeared onto him.
He was clearly badly damaged.
He let go of her and made sure she was safe before he weakly turned towards Dabi. "Chill out. I was comforting her." His voice became cold. "You could have hurt her enough to kill her. Stop being so reckless with your actions."
Dabi smiled once more. He didn't pay any mind to Hawks's cold demeanor. "I knew you would take all of the hit for her. You care about her approval that much. Anyway, I came here for a reason. Takahashi. I need you to get Eraserhead to leave. He prevented me from what I was trying to do."
"What were you trying to do? Kill someone? I will not help you with that." Satoko's eyes averted away sadly.
"See? You heard her." Hawks said and he offered his hand towards her. "Come with me. I already have betrayed the league so I could keep you safe from now on."
Satoko couldn't even answer him. She felt a bit torn on what to do. She felt a little attached to the league, but also the same with Hawks. If only these sides weren't so opposed to each other, it would be so much peaceful.
The past her would have brush them both off. She didn't know anymore. That isn't her anymore. She cared about them as a whole.
Dabi eyed Twice's corpse on the ground. Any normal person would be horrified at how brutal his death was. Dabi, on the other hand, was so used to seeing death that it barely bothered him. "Do you really want to join the guy who murdered our friend?"
"Dabi- I don't want to join-" Satoko tried to speak.
"I didn't have a choice." Hawks retorted. "Don't listen to him. Dabi has killed more people without any conscience. He may kill you too the longer you stick around him." He went to touch her face. "I don't want that to happen-"
Dabi grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away from Satoko. His fingernails dug deep into the skin on Hawks's wrist. He forcefully pushed him away. "Is it a competition now? Who killed the most people and why? It seems to me like if you have to justify it that way, you're just as bad as I am."
"It doesn't matter. I'm not backing down anymore. Not when it comes to her." Hawks's eyes challenged his, ready to attack. "Don't get in my way."
Dabi held up both of his hands. He already activated his quirk like it was simply second nature to him. "I'll have to finish you off then. I guess I should have done that already."
The two both collided, but Dabi's flames were more victorious. Hawks felt his flesh was burning off in some areas. All of his feathers were burned to a crisp, leaving a stench permeating the air.
Still alive, he did collapse. Unable to stay awake any longer. Dabi was walking towards him while small flames bounced around him. Satoko didn't want to use her quirk on either of them.
Neither did she want to fight. She quickly went in front of Dabi. Her hands gently, but firmly grabbed his wrists. Her gaze was intense and compassionate. It was different to how she used to look towards him.
"Don't do this, Dabi. He's already down. I don't want another person to die." She pleaded.
Her touch made him pause for a moment. He almost let his true feelings slip out from his defenses. The heaviness in his chest made him want to destroy something with his flames. He wanted to push it away and destroy the source. The source, however, was something inside of him.
He pushed her away instead. He forced his eyes to look cold like he always did. "He betrayed us. Who knows what he'll do if he is allowed to live?"
"I won't let anything happen to you or anyone else." She replied sadly. "I just don't want to use my quirk on people I really care about. But... I couldn't even stop this from happening.... Sorry."
She was meaning Twice's demise.
(We need to leave here, but I... don't know. I'm really torn right now.) She hated the fact that she was caring towards a hero. The way she also wanted to go back to the league as well.
Their loss would be probably hard on them. She wasn't sure how Dabi even truly feels.
(What do I really want to do?) She knew that Dabi might lash at once more. It was surprising he even stopped because of her.
Dabi averted his eyes. The look on her face caused the heaviness to get worse. It felt as though he was being suffocated. "I won't kill him. If he kills anyone else though...it will be your fault."
Hawks was trying to become conscious again. His hand was struggling as it was subconsciously reaching towards Satoko.
The heroes arrived at the scene, seeing that. Endeavor wasn't present since he was with Shoto.
Aizawa, Fatgum, Mirko and other heroes had arrived. They saw how Hawks was reaching towards Satoko. He was uttering words that he would take her. Their assumption was that Dabi was trying to 'hurt' Satoko as a victim too.
"Don't worry, miss. We'll help you and Hawks!" Fatgum separated Satoko from Dabi.
"No, wait-" Satoko's voice was interrupted by Mirko, taking her into custody.
"We'll get rid of this villain for ya!" Mirko exclaimed. Excitement danced in her eyes as she prepared to attack.
(Of course the heroes would show up.) Dabi brought his arm back in preparation for when Mirko got too close. (And Enji Todoroki must be with Shoto. What a spoiled brat.)
He sent a fire attack that burnt part of Mirko's leg. The bunny hero only hesitated for a second before trying to attack again. "You won't get rid of us that easily!"
Dabi sent a look towards Satoko. He was too outnumbered. He really couldn't do anything, huh? He sighed in annoyance and then turned to run.
Satoko's apologetic eyes met Dabi's before he ran off from her sight. She felt guilty not to go after him. If she were to use her quirk anyway, Aizawa would have erased it.
"Hawks looks like in pretty bad shape. Let's get him outta here." Fatgum suggested.
"Will he be alright?" Satoko asked, worried for his condition. She sat next to him as he couldn't speak.
Aizawa sighed. He didn't know anything about the woman in front of him. She could have very well been helping the villains before. He could see in the way she acted towards Hawks that she was a good person though. In that moment, even though Aizawa was there for his students, he would have to play as a hero for one more person.
Aizawa sat down at her other side. That came as a surprise to her. It came as a surprise to him too. It was almost like he was talking to one of his students. "Hawks will be fine. There are ambulances on the way already." He paused for a second. "Why don't you tell me what you were doing with the villains? A few of my students got hurt too, you know. Most of the injuries, including Hawks, were caused by Dabi. So why come here with him and those other villains?"
(How did he know that I'm with them?) Satoko thought. She felt bad not going with Dabi and wherever the others are.
Once she makes sure Hawks is alright, she will go back. Dabi would be bound to taking her back anyway.
But then again...
The way Hawks held her earlier made it hard for her to consider it.
She backed up a little bit from Aizawa. She still feels resent towards heroes. Especially ones she just met.
"What's it to ya?" She frowned. "Why should I tell you anything when you could use it against me? Or would you even believe me? Because I find it hard to believe there isn't a motive behind this."
She looked down towards Hawks with sad eyes. It made her a bit nervous he wasn't in good condition.
"It won't be used against you unless I feel that you're endangering people. Right now, that doesn't look to be the case." He turned his head to look towards her. She looked so sad looking at Hawks. She clearly cared for him a lot and he was a hero. "I'm not here to have innocent people arrested. My job is to save people. I'm just curious because it seems like your loyalties are torn."
"You act like you'd understand, but you won't." She mouthed. "You never will because to you guys, you pick and choose who's important."
She implied most part because she could see Hawks being a bit genuine when it came to her. It made her curious what his life was like growing up. There's so much she didn't know about him still. It didn't seem like the way he helped her wasn't for recognition or just a job.
It's because he truly cares for her.
"Saving people shouldn't be a job. There shouldn't be rewards for that." She replied firmly, like she was trying to suppress more negative feelings coming out. Her past would haunt her every time as a child, she would cry for help. "The people in the ghetto don't matter to you guys. They never will. They're dying too, but it doesn't matter to many."
No heroes cared enough to only because she wasn't someone important. A nobody. Only then when she became a somebody when someone gave a crap about her. Her 'grandpa' wasn't anyone with a title either. He helped her only because he knew what it was like to be treated less than a human.
Then she looked at Aizawa with fierce eyes. "You only pick and choose who to save. That's not how I work. That's my answer."
The sound of sirens in the distance caused Aizawa to stand up again. He wasn't getting anything out of her anyway, so he might as well leave her alone until later when things were sorted out more. "Well, I'm going to go make sure my students make it to the hospital okay. The other heroes will stay here with you and Hawks."
"You don't have anything to say. How surprising." Satoko commented as if she was used to that. She looked away and back at Hawks and held his hand. Making sure it was still warm.
It was impossible to tell what Aizawa was thinking. He watched as she touched Hawks's hand. After a few seconds, he went to go see how everyone else was doing.
Horrible. That was the only word that could really describe it.
Momo was being loaded into the ambulance. Her eyes twitched slightly, but she didn't open them. She still wasn't fully conscious yet.
From the distance, it looked like Shoto wasn't alive. The only indicator that he was were the paramedics at the side of the stretcher trying to get Endeavor to calm down.
Katsuki was yelling something at the paramedic who was unwrapping his hand, but Aizawa didn't care to process what he was saying. He did, however, note the fact that Ochako had a reassuring hand on his shoulder despite the fact that Ochako herself looked just as miserable as Aizawa felt.
Izuku and Melissa ended up showing up too. Izuku seemed shaken up, but he was clearly trying to stay strong. Melissa wore a similar expression.
Aizawa ran his hand down his face, trying to mask his worry. The sound of the paramedics talking nearby only worsened his worry as he started to become aware of what they were saying.
"One is in critical condition. Barely breathing. We need oxygen as quickly as possible. Fluids, too. He could go into hypovolemic shock."
"It seems that he is already there. His pulse is weak."
"How is the girl?"
"Holding up. She looks like she's trying to wake up now."
"And the student with the hand injury?"
"He lost a few fingers and a good amount of blood. He will probably never use his quirk with that hand again. At least, not without a lot of pain."
"There's a hero in need of assistance a ways away. Another burn victim."
"All done by the same villain?"
"All except for the hand injury, yes. It seems all of the villains have escaped."
Aizawa's mind immediately went back to his friend from high school. Oboro Shirakumo. He wanted to make sure that no more young heroes had their lives cut short. (Next time I come across those villains, I won't let them get away. I should have worked harder to capture Dabi when I had the chance.)
..
"Where did Takahashi go? Don't tell me you let her get hurt." Shigaraki, Dabi, and Toga were standing in the hideout as they talked. Their wounds were messily taken care of. It was more like a few bandages were slapped on at the last minute. "If you let anything happen to her-"
"Be quiet." Dabi, strangely enough, had difficulty meeting his eyes. There was an odd look of sadness that he didn't realize he was letting show. "She went with the heroes. She isn't coming back."
"What?!" Toga exclaimed. "No. She wouldn't do that to us! Her scent is kinda fond of us!"
She tapped her foot for a moment and kept looking around. "Where the heck is Jin?"
"He's dead," Dabi stated bluntly. He furrowed his eyebrows. "Hawks killed him. Takahashi went with the heroes even after seeing that. She was never one of us. She's just as much a traitor as he is."
Shigaraki didn't believe it. There was no way that their friend was gone like that. "There's no way he's really dead. And there's no way Takahashi would do that to us!"
"No... He can't..." Toga's eyes became blank. It almost looked like she was going to cry. Or maybe stab someone. It was too much bad news at once. There was a heavy need for her to go after Hawks.
"And Satoko... She wouldn't betray us." She shook her head frantically and then looked up at Dabi with anger. "Because she's so fond of you and Tomura! I could smell that emotion! You're dumb to not even see that! She'll come back!"
"You didn't smell right, weirdo." Dabi turned his back to them. He wanted to head to his room. Their emotions were not something he wanted to face. "I'm leaving soon too. I'll tell you about it more later. I need to go think."
Think about the fact that he was going to die. That his little brother and 'father' were going to die with him.
He said all of those things that made Shoto seem like a horrible person. He tried to make himself think that it was true. In reality, he actually hated Shoto because he seemed perfect. He was just in denial of that for so long.
He may have the satisfaction of thinking that Endeavor would be burning in Hell along with him. But where they were going, Shoto couldn't follow.
The thought only caused even more bitterness to rise up in Dabi. (He somehow always wins. Even when he's going to die. But oh well. I'll just have to make sure he burns enough in this life to make up for it.)
Shigaraki didn't try to stop him. He was still trying to take in the fact that Twice was truly gone. It even brought him pain. Enough to make him want to cry, even.
"I didn't smell wrong..." Toga could tell Dabi wasn't lying about Twice. The numbness of her emotions washed over her. It finally hit her that Twice was gone.
All she did as time passed slowly was stare at the wall to cover up the pain she was feeling.
....
Satoko went with Hawks to the hospital. She remained at his side for two days. It was hard to see him not in good shape, but also the guilt of not being with the LoV.
This was more important to her. She wanted to make sure Hawks was alright. It was hard for her since he wasn't waking up.
Recovery Girl told her he should be soon. It still didn't rid of her anxiety. Squeezing a cool rag in her hands, Satoko started to wipe Hawks's face.
Studying his face, she didn't realize how handsome he really is. Was that always the case?
Even his eyebrows really made his face stand out. They kind of reminded her of tiny bird wings.
Softly and suddenly, Hawks's hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him.
"You're-" Satoko's eyes widened as she saw Hawks's eyes open up.
"Awake? Yes. I was faking it for a bit so I could get special treatment." He winked at her.
They were a bit close to each other, that made Satoko's heart thumped a bit. She pulled herself away from him quickly. "You jerk."
"Hey," Hawks chuckled softly. "Don't be mad."
"I am. How long were you faking it? Do you realize how worried-" Satoko's voice got cut off by becoming aware what she was about to say.
Hawks felt touched she would even do that for him. In all honesty, he started waking up once she put the rag on his face. Her touch was so soft and caring. It even embarrassed him a bit that she did that.
"Worried about little ol' me? Shucks." Of course, he would mask it with his sarcastic behavior. He tried to sit up, but the pain was still there.
"Don't move. You might not be able to walk for a while." Satoko urged, lightly placing her hands on his shoulders.
Since she was conveniently closer to him, he touched the top of her head. He didn't have his gloves on due to being in a hospital gown. Her hair felt amazingly soft that it made him not want to stop caressing it. "Thanks for staying with me, Sunset."
Truth to be told, he would have thought she were to go back to the LoV. He was very glad she's here. Right with him.
The way his eyes shined made it hard for her to look away. It made her scared, yet comforted. It's hard enough to gain affection like this, but she didn't want to resist it.
"You better get better." Satoko's eyes averted away with a blush on her cheeks.
"I kinda don't want to so you can keep by my side." Hawks grinned teasingly.
"Shut up." Satoko huffed.