Our passion ignites us. Rapture spawns the inferno in which we perish, entwined. From smoldering coals we are formed, from our ashes, we rise. Discovered in the aftermath, our memory, our birth scars; third degree madness. Identical imperfections. Forever branded.
~ Lennon Hodson
Track 27; The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy
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After Kamino Ward, a few months flew by like they were seconds. Perhaps that was because you were training almost five days a week with Aizawa and Shinso unless otherwise stated by the Underground Hero. Your body was sore, battered, and bruised by the end of the day thanks to your hand-to-hand sparring practice but you felt like you could take on the world. Autumn was almost over, and winter was rapidly approaching. It was obvious by the colder weather and threats of snow off the shores of Japan. During those freakishly quick months, the day for you to get your provisional license came and went, and you got it.
You sat up the next morning and looked over at your boyfriend sleeping soundly, a slight snore coming from him as he inhaled.
You really hadn't expected Hawks to be the one you were fighting against for your provisional license. You were pretty sure that the pro-hero had suddenly showed up wherever Aizawa was one day and harassed him into saying yes. What most likely happened was Aizawa just wanted the flying chicken to shut the fuck up and leave him alone, so he agreed.
So when you and Shinsou had stepped into the arena, you weren't prepared for vermillion feathers to come flying at you individually.
"Say hello to our willing volunteer, Hawks." Aizawa said from behind you, his voice dripping with annoyance and sarcasm.
"Hey, stardust!" Hawks called as he flew above you and Shinsou.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" You shouted back at him, unable to hold back the smile on your face. Shinsou looked at you with an exhausted expression and rolled his eyes so hard they almost went into the back of his head.
He didn't answer, instead shooting more vermillion feathers at you which you dodged easily, Shinsou doing the same.
"This feels more like a test for you and not me." The purple-haired teen grumbled underneath his breath. Over the past few days he had put in a request for a support item, and he got it within 24 hours. It was a mask that resembled a voice box, the design not surprising for such an emo kid. There was a small crank on the left which allowed Shinsou to adjust the voice box as needed, and he sighed as he rose the mask from his neck and covered his mouth with it, narrowly avoiding more feathers.
Eventually Hawks was perched on a rock across the arena, letting his feathers float around him like a protective tornado.
"Alright, Shinsou." You cracked your neck. "I have a plan." He took a few steps towards you and listened eagerly as you explained. He understood that you had much more knowledge of Hawks' strengths and weaknesses, and you knew his quirk better than him. After you finished, he nodded and pivoted on his heels, finding something to take cover behind.
Thankfully the kid had learned that he was not a hero that was up close with hand to hand combat, though he knew he could if he found himself in that predicament. If anything, he was a support hero much like Aizawa, commonly used for backup in case things went awry. His mind processed the plan as you took off into the air towards Hawks.
Your boyfriend hadn't expected you to come charging so valiantly and it had caught him off guard. He barely managed to process and predict your moves until he saw your support item tail steady in the air behind you. Keigo knew your quirk through your own explanations as you remembered more and more during your training, but he hadn't expected you to sweep up above him and plummet like a meteor with your feet aimed at his head.
He narrowly dodged your kick, using a leg sweep to knock you off of your feet as soon as you landed, but he missed because you took right off into the air again. He narrowed his eyes and looked up at you only to see that you were gone. Quickly his mind had connected the dots when he realized that your first attack had been a fake-out. You knew he was going to dodge and attempt the leg sweep, so you had used a majority of the ricochet of your landing to shoot you back up into the air. Of course, he thought to himself, she wouldn't tell me all of her secret moves. He grinned to himself, stepping off the ledge he was standing on and letting his wings glide him down to the ground.
You were across the arena, weaving in between obstacles to find Shinsou scaling a wall. He saw you coming out of the corner of his eye and pushed off the wall, flinging himself into the air. You caught his hands with your own and dipped down before slamming your feet into the ground and throwing Shinsou sky high. If only you could read the students thoughts. He would've never agreed to this plan if it hadn't been for your relationship with Hawks, but he never really had the chance to be thrown in the air, so why not start now? He knew you would catch him anyways.
As Shinsou's body cleared the building you had tossed him over, he got a clear view of the Pro Hero looking around, trying to figure out your next move. Just before Shinsou fell back behind the cover of the building, he used his mask, and your own voice exited the speakers. "Hawks!" It was a panicked scream.
As soon as Hawks heard your cry for help, his feathers automatically opened as his mind assumed the worst. Immediately he located the direction the sound was coming from and zoomed over there, expecting to see you crushed underneath something or stuck somewhere, but you were nowhere to be seen.
He heard your cry again, from the other side of the arena and his mind went into haywire. His brain forgot immediately that this was a test, as he thought you were in danger. Hawks mate for life, and his instincts took over when he heard your scared shouts. He was practically seeing red as you and Shinsou sent him on a wild goose chase all the way around the arena, and he was getting angry.
He was breathing hard, hovering in the air as he scanned the destroyed arena. It had originally been seamless without any damage, but little did he know that you were altering the layout to incite his protective instincts over you. The more you made it look like a villain attacked, the less control he had as he searched for you. His mind erased the fact that Shinsou was your teammate so he was surprised to see the student nonchalantly walking around with his hands stuffed in his P.E. uniform, kicking rocks as he whistled. Without any reasonable thoughts, Hawks dive bombed the purple-haired teen with an intent to kill.
The two made eye contact, Hawks' arms outstretched to grab the student. Shinsou smirked and the pro-hero faltered slightly. Why wasn't he scared?
"First Quarter!"
Before he could dodge your attack from above, he felt your talon pieces grab him by the base of the wings and your iron soles slammed down against his back. It forced him into a scorpion position and he was smashed against the ground, you crouched on top of him.
"Sorry baby." You cooed in his ear. "You shouldn't have bothered my mentor for this."
You stepped off of his back, leaving him laying there on the ground with a shocked expression on his face. You had brushed the dirt off of your pants with a happy smile on your face, running to Shinsou and pulling him into a tight hug. "We did it!"
The teenager lost his breath in your death grip and he felt like his eyes were going to pop out of his head. He tapped you gently on the left shoulder and you pulled back, remembering that he wasn't one for much physical contact with another human being. "I honestly didn't think that plan would work." He hummed, pulling the mask off of his face and letting it rest against his collarbones.
"Fun fact: Hawks mate for life, and when their mate is in danger, it's like they lose control of themselves." You rolled on the balls of your feet, ignoring the ashy blond who was slowly regaining feeling in his arms.
"Congratulations!" Hawks called, his face pressed into the ground. "I really shouldn't have underestimated you, stardust." He really didn't think that you knew of a way to immobilize him, but it turned out that your plan was flawless. You turned to face your boyfriend, grabbing his shoulders and rolling him over onto his back so he could look up at you. The look of adoration in his eyes made your heart skip a beat and you wanted to smooch his face. "You really showed me what was what, huh?" He laughed before his face dropped. "How long am I going to be like this?"
You shrugged and kissed your pointer and middle finger, pressing it against his lips as an indirect kiss. "Probably fifteen to thirty minutes."
He laughed again. "Awesome! Just stay right where you are, I have a perfect view." You giggled and crouched down, ready to plant a kiss on his face but you heard Shinsou gag from behind you.
You turned your head to tease the boy, but you saw Aizawa sluggishly crawling over on the ground in his sleeping bag. "Congratulations." He muttered, his tired eyes switching between you and Shinsou. "Once Hawks is mobile again, I'll go have your licenses printed." He fell asleep as soon as he finished talking.
It was idle chitchat between you, Shinsou, and Hawks as you waited for First Quarter to wear off. Eventually he regained feeling throughout his whole body and was able to stand up after about thirty-two minutes. Aizawa heard the commotion and sighed loudly, not wanting to end his nap so soon.
As the four of you walked out of the arena, you held Hawks hand in yours and swung your arms together, your head resting on his shoulder with a content smile.
"How about I take you out tonight, huh? As a celebration? Our place?" Hawks suggested and you looked up at him before leaning in for a kiss.
"That sounds wonderful. Our place?"
"Yeah, where we had our date."
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words; 1810
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