Death and love are the two good wings that bear the good man to heaven.
~ Michelangelo
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As the early morning rays of sunshine pierced through the curtains blocking your bedroom window, your phone vibrated on your nightstand. You rolled over to grab it, putting in your passcode and reading a text that made your heart skip a bear.
6:52
EraseUrButt
I'm sure you're still sleeping but I've got information on what happened to your bar. I know who burnt it down.
Your fingers scrambled across your screen as you typed an answer back, placing your non-dominant hand over your chest as you sent it.
6:52
(Y/N)
Thank you again for assisting in the process. Are you able to meet after class today?
The typing bubble appeared at the bottom of your screen, informing you that he was typing a reply. You thanked him mentally for his quick replies.
6:53
EraseUrButt
Yes. Does 16:30 at Asako Park work?
Asako Park was directly across the street from your burnt down bar. The thought of going there left an ache in your chest but you understood the notion since he was still running nightwatch on the place.
6:54
(Y/N)
I'll make sure to be there.
Read
You put your phone back down on the nightstand, rolling back over onto your back and rubbing your face with the palms of your hands. Yoshio rose at the foot of your bed and chirped, stretching his body out as he approached you for attention. You scratched him behind the ears as you sat up, brushing a stray lock of hair behind your own.
A few more days had passed since Hawks asked if he could take you shopping for some necessities. That meant that the time you'd been out of your old apartment had extended into a week. Unfortunately there wasn't much to do around the penthouse and you discovered you were going a little stir crazy as the minutes dragged on into hours when Hawks wasn't home. You'd considered leaving to go for a walk but you were unfamiliar with the prefecture you were in, too worried about getting lost even though you knew that the pro-hero you were rooming with could find you within a few minutes.
As you walked into the private bathroom attached to the guest bedroom Hawks had let you stay in you began playing music on your phone before you set it down onto the counter. Your thoughts wandered to far away places as you went about your routine with robotic motions, wondering how your life would play out from this moment forwards. You mulled over the idea of going out to see if you could find another job. You only really had experience with mixology since that was pretty much the only thing you had done since graduating from U.A..
You stepped out of the shower, putting your hair up in a towel after drying yourself off and making your way back to the closet to find an outfit for the day. You only had a minimal selection of clothes to build a look with—none of them were fashionable thanks to your haste of emptying the drawers of your dresser instead of picking through your closet during one of the scariest moments of your life. After scolding yourself for not being more concerned about how you presented yourself around the man who saved your life, you grabbed the top and bottoms you thought would be the closest thing suitable for wandering the streets with a pro-hero.
You hadn't realized Yoshio was no longer on your bed until you exited the bathroom for the last time after brushing your teeth and making your hair presentable to eyes besides your own. You were curious to where the grey feline had disappeared to, your mind settling on the fact that he was most likely harassing Hawks out of bed if the winged hero wasn't up and moving already. It didn't take you long to figure out that his work schedule was wildly unpredictable. The first four days you had stayed with him he had always picked up a regular day shift to ensure that he could make sure that you had eaten at least once a day. Though yesterday and the day before you didn't see him awake until the afternoon. He'd informed you that first afternoon that he was switched to evening shifts for the weekend, causing him to return home at ungodly hours of the morning.
Singing along under your breath to the song stuck in your head, you grabbed the few dirty pieces of laundry you had and tossed them in the washing machine as you perused down the hallway towards the kitchen to feed your cat. To your amusement as soon as you came around the corner from the laundry room you noticed Hawks crouched over Yoshio's food bowl, scraping the last of the wet food can into his dish. The Maine Coon paced around the pair of vermillion wings on his back, occasionally attempting to shove past Hawks impatiently but the man would elbow him away until he finished mixing the wet food with the kibble.
It wasn't until he rose to his feet that you realized he wasn't wearing a shirt.
'Don't fucking stare, don't fucking stare.'
You only caught a glimpse of his toned chest, forcing your feet to take you to the coffee machine as you prepped the beans for grinding. A feral part of you wanted to turn back around and drag your tongue across each and every crevice of his heavenly chiseled abdomen but thankfully the sound of the bean grinder kicking into action pulled you back to your senses. "Sorry about him, I was in the shower when his breakfast time came around." You greeted him, moving away from the machine and opening the cupboard holding the cooking ware.
"It's no problem." Hawks yawned, continuing the process of coffee making while you began preparing breakfast. "I figured I'd have an early morning anyways thanks to our date today."
You thanked whatever higher being that sat above the clouds that his back was turned to you when your feathers individually trembled against your will. For a second you choked on your words but quickly you were able to let a teasing reply roll off of your tongue instead of an unintelligible response. "Good thing I'm not interested in dating you."
'Nope, just fucking your bird brains out.' You mentally choke yourself out for these intrusive thoughts.
"Guess I'll have to step up my game, then." He retorted smoothly. Suddenly there was a mass of warmth inches from your back, a toned bicep brushing ever so slightly against your shoulder as Hawks set a cup of coffee down on the counter next to your workspace. The simple action left your throat dry enough that you felt like you needed to drink the contents of a lake to regain your bearings. "I made sure to take the daylight hours off just for you, y'know." He commented in a slight singsong voice.
You caught a glimpse of him taking a sip of his coffee, the groan he uttered under his breath sounded almost too sexual to be over the first taste of caffeine in the morning. "We should take off after breakfast then since I'm supposed to meet up with Eraserhead today, though you look like you still need to get dressed." You commented with the addition of giving him a look over your shoulder.
The cocky smirk that crossed his face made your stomach do somersaults as he waved to the expanse of his torso with his free hand. "I don't need clothes, I'm in all my glory." He shot back teasingly, the movement of his hand guiding your (e/c) eyes to drag from his pectorals to the grey sweats settled loosely on his hips.
"You wouldn't last three seconds on the street if you walked out looking like that." Your tone of voice was monotone though there was a sting of jealousy in your chest at the thought of other people seeing him in this exposed state.
"Oh, you sound a little possessive there, sweetheart." He antagonized you. "Got anything you'd like to say?"
'I wouldn't be speaking-'
Your mouth opened automatically to bring your runaway thoughts to a screeching halt. "Just that breakfast's almost done." You felt his presence exit the kitchen quickly, causing you to catch a glimpse of the tail end of his feathers disappearing down the hallway. You assumed he was going to get dressed so you dressed two plates before setting them down in front of a stool on the other side of the counter.
Just as you were sitting down to dig in he reappeared and took his spot next to you, fully dressed as you had guessed. "Thanks for the food!" He expressed before he started shoveling the mixture of rice and meat into his mouth. As you ate your own breakfast at a regular pace you watched the pro-heros golden-brown eyes drift from his meal to the large feline staring up at his plate with a predatory gaze. Yoshio knew he'd never get away with begging when it came to you. Hawks on the other hand never backed down from the cat's scrutinizing stare, always taking it as a challenge instead.
Your savior's relationship with your cat was entertaining, to say the least. They certainly had a predator and prey dynamic though at times you couldn't tell which one was supposed to be the latter. Both of them were headstrong with stubborn personalities; neither wanted to be bested by the other and it certainly added some livelihood to the otherwise tranquil penthouse. Just the other night when Hawks had returned from his first knock shift of the week he was greeted with a mass of grey fur on his mattress when he retired to his room in the wee hours of the morning. Needless to say you were awoken by a one-sided argument further down the hallway, only hearing something along the lines of "devil cat" over the sounds or Yoshio singing the song of his people in defiance.
Hawks waited patiently for you to finish the food you had made, taking your plate for you and rinsing it off in the sink before placing it in the dishwasher. You rose to your feet and moved towards the front door, stepping out of your slippers and into your shoes. He followed suit, opening the door for you when you turned towards him and closing it behind you once you had stepped through.
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Your walk through the streets went pretty much how you expected it to: every few hundred feet a fan of Hawks' would show up either to get a picture with him or have him sign something of theirs. A majority of his fans were other women around your age, not so subtly flirting with him as they twirled their keratin locks around their fingers.
To your surprise he kept contact with each one of them short, expressing that he was in a hurry since he had a meeting with his agency. You knew for a fact that he was lying but it was the easiest way for him to be released from the iron grip of his fan base while he was with you.
After what seemed to be him giving a fan a wave goodbye for the millionth time, he turned to you with that signature grin of his before he sighed heavily. "Man, I can only take so much of this before I start losing my mind." He vented nonchalantly, encouraging you to continue walking down the street and keeping pace with him by throwing an arm over your shoulder. His gloved hand rested on the outside of your bicep as he guided you around another corner. You would never admit it but that small amount of contact ignited a flame underneath your skin. The looming shadow of the hero mall just a block away from his agency covered the two of you from the harsh rays of the late morning sun.
You watched with peaked interest as Hawks put a keycard through a scanner. "Don't worry about her," he commented to the security guard standing next to the entrance of the mall. "She's with me." The stranger nodded before swiping a card of his own which activates the doors to open.
It wasn't until you were inside when you opened your mouth to question the whole keycard ordeal before you realized that this wasn't just any regular mall. "Hawks, this is the hero mall. I can't afford anything here!"
He turned around to face you, stopping you in your tracks. "I can't waltz around a normal mall without being swamped by the public like we just were on our walk here. Besides, the rumors of us heroes having to pay more for stuff in here aren't true. This place just gives us the privacy to do our shopping." He smiled at you. "So don't worry about it."
Hours flew by within what felt like seconds as he guided you through the mall with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his signature leather jacket, happily cruising behind you as you wandered in and out of stores that caught your interest. The smile that made your cheeks rise as you met heroes of all kinds and found clothes and daily necessities you loved made his heart soar in his chest. Just the few hours of watching you mill about in a store reserved for what happened to be the current-day celebrities had Hawks questioning himself.
What was that term the kids were using nowadays? He had to pick his brain for a bit as he handed his card over once again to another cashier in a different store before it finally clicked in his head.
That's right: they'd call him a simp.
He wasn't entirely sure what the whole context behind that coined slang was but he didn't question the fact that when it came to you his heart was making decisions before his mind could. He'd jumped through some hoops when it came to the dating scene but none of those medial flings caused the same internal burn that started in the tips of his fingers when he looked at you. It felt like his whole body had been set ablaze when his eyes met yours. All he knew for sure was that now that he had you, he'd go through hell or high water to keep you all to himself.
Soon enough it was mid afternoon. Your feet were pulsing by the time you were exiting the main doors of the mall, exhausted from moving around so much compared to being the couch potato you had identified as earlier that week. "I think I ended up with more than necessary." You commented as you took in the expanse of bags between you and Hawks. "I'm sorry I got out of hand! I'll pay you back eventually."
He chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I'm happy to help and I can make up for what I spent here in the next few days."
As he brought up the topic of wages that set off the reminder in your head from earlier this morning. "Oh, I totally forgot to ask earlier but do you know of any bars that are looking for a mixologist? I'd like to get back on my feet here soon instead of having to rely 100% on you."
His heart dropped at your question but he covered it up with a smile as he pushed the pedestrian button at a crosswalk. "I can't think of any off the top of my head but I'll ask around and see what I can find, alright?"
"Thank you! That way I can definitely pay you back for all of this." The satisfied smile that crossed your face made Hawks' wings twitch as the bags on your arms shifted when you came to a stop at his side.
"As I just mentioned, you really don't need to." He expressed calmly, double checking the road when the crosswalk began beeping to signal that you and him could cross.
"But that would be detrimental to my mental health. I don't like having others get things for me, it makes me feel very selfish and dependent on others. So for the sake of my sanity please let me pay you back." You begged, frowning slightly.
How could he say no to the face you just made? He gave a heavy sigh of defeat which caused you to giggle slightly. It sounded like music to his ears. "Alright fine, but don't worry about paying me back immediately. You can take your time."
"Of course. Thanks Hawks." You whispered his name with a bright grin and his heart melted.
"Once we get back to the penthouse I've got to go run a patrol. Will you be alright on your own?" He questioned as you and him approached the street the building was located on.
Oh, yeah. I'm meeting with Eraserhead at 16:30 at Asako Park anyways." You reminded him and he nodded.
"I'm guessing it's about your bar?"
As a sullen look crossed your face at the topic, you came to a stop at the main doors of the building that lead up to the penthouse. He placed a hand on your shoulder which caused you to look up at his gentle smile. "There's no need to fret. I'm sure they've figured out the cause and will get it handled in no time."
You gave him a smile after he reassured you. "You're right, everything's going to be okay."
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The temperature had dropped considerably in the time it took you to put all of your new things away and make the trek to the park, relying on the maps app on your phone for guidance. Thankfully Hawks had made sure to put the address of his house in your phone and mark it as 'Home' so you could return back without any issues. It was 16:25 by the time you had arrived at Asako Park. You sat down on a bench that faced the remnants of your burnt down bar, wondering if you should've brought a pair of gloves as a chilly breeze blew by you while you waited for Aizawa.
It didn't take very long for the underground hero to sit down next to you without a sound. It always caught you off guard when he was purposely being stealthy since he was never this quiet when it came to interacting with you. The last time you had truly had a conversation with him face to face was that unfortunate night the week before.
"Hello." You greeted him curtly, catching his stiff weight shift in a silent greeting out of the corner of your eye.
"The police deemed it an electrical fire." He started, his eyes narrowing as he stuffed his calloused hands into his pockets. "At first I believed them until an eye witness reported that the fire was blue."
You tilted your head slightly. "Blue?" Could you have had a nightmare that caused you to lose control of your quirk? No, that wouldn't make any sense. You couldn't produce any types of fire, only make it burn hot enough to turn blue.
"I think it may be a quirk user who wields blue flames. Even though All Might's using Musutafu as his stomping grounds, that doesn't seem to have much effect on the criminals around here since that video of the Hero Killer blew up." He continued on, coming up with the most logical explanation in order to keep your mind from running haywire with overthinking what caused the fire in the first place. "It wouldn't surprise me if more small-time criminals were motivated by his perspective on society."
"That doesn't explain why Treasure Wing was a target though." You mentioned, still unsure of how all of this lined up with your business.
"You had a few pro-heros as regulars, more showing up as companions to those that frequented the place. It was a local hotspot. I'm guessing whoever did it cased the joint beforehand to figure out who showed up when." He was right, unfortunately. There had always been lots of traffic for heros and their sidekicks on their days off or when they had the chance to stop by during a rare break. The only regular civilians that showed up happened to live at max a fifteen minute walk away from your business. "I'm sure it was their intention to burn it down with all of them inside."
"Hawks said that we had to escape through the balcony due to the signs of a flashover if he tried opening the door." You informed the insomniac next to you. "They ignited the escape routes to barricade us inside." You finished breathlessly, the wind vanishing from your lungs when you felt that repressed memory slam it's fists on the forefront of your mind.
They wanted to burn you alive.
"If it wasn't for your cat and that hero you speak so fondly off, you would've faced that ending." Aizawa pointed out. "I'm glad you're not living on your own anymore."
"So that's it? That criminal destroyed my life in order to kill Pro Heroes?" Tears unwillingly began to fall from your (e/c) eyes down to your hands that had become numb from the cold. "Who would do such a thing?"
"Somebody who wants heroes gone."
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