5 Years Later
Hawks, the hero who's too fast for his own good, couldn't keep up with one thing. No, actually two things if he takes into account that there are two of them.
He couldn't keep up with his sons' antics.
Keishi, the firstborn of the two, has his mother's hair color and black wings but he has his father's personality. Cheerful and easy-going, not to mention, he's always been the main schemer when it comes to pulling pranks.
In contrast to that, Keita, who has his father's hair color and the same red wings as him, has his mother's personality. He's aloof and quiet most of the time, timidly watching his older brother. But perhaps because of being the second born, he felt like it's an unwritten rule to follow Keishi and his little schemes.
The two are five, almost six years old now. And Hawks had promised them something once they turned six.
He promised that he will teach them how to fly.
"Papa!"
But even now, when they still have yet to take flying lessons from their very own No. 2 Hero dad, they are already causing much trouble just by running around the house.
"Papa!"
Hawks don't know if he can handle it once they start flying around. He might seriously lose his sanity by then. He's almost already at his wit's end, almost.
"Papa, wake up!"
Hawks had just barely opened his eyes when a sudden force landed on his stomach that almost choked the living hell out of him and he coughed a few times, blinking his eyes open as his vision adjusted to the light.
"Today's papa's off-day! Wake up already!"
"It's not...off-day," Hawks muttered, already feeling drained and out of energy first thing in the morning. "It's day-off. Now get off me, you're killing your father."
"Ha! If papa's the No. 2 Hero, then I'm the No. 1 Villain!"
If straddling him wasn't enough, Keishi jumped up and down, landing down on Hawks' stomach and making him cough, he's not heavy but he's not exactly light either. The little boy continued doing that like his dad was nothing more than just a sandbag or a pillow.
"Shi-chan, stop it," a small voice came from behind. "You're...killing papa!"
"No! It's the Hero's job to beat up Villains. Come Ta-chan, help me beat this Villain!"
"Huh? But, he's not a Villain..." Keita said slowly, looking all worried.
"No, no, papa is the Villain today. Let's work together and defeat the Villain. Ta-chan is Shi-chan's sidekick!"
"Oh, okay, if Shi-chan says so," Keita muttered and in the end he followed his brother and started to pull his dad's arm.
Hawks just lie there, staring up the ceiling, eyes half-lidded in exhaustion while his sons are beating him up. He doesn't know who's the Villain or who's the Hero anymore. He just let things happen until the two are satisfied and ultimately stopped.
But they didn't stop until Hawks fell on the floor, face planted on the ground while Keishi stood on his back, arm raised up in the air.
"I defeated the Villain!" he proclaimed while his little brother, Keita, started clapping his hands, eyes shining in admiration.
"Shi-chan defeated the Villain, Shi-chan is really strong," he said. "That Villain is really weak."
While Keishi laughed, he jumped up and down and Keita continued to clap. Hawks lie there, forehead pressed on the cold floor, his energy draining from his body and it's barely nine in the morning.
"Remember Keigo, they're your sons," he muttered. "They're your sons," he repeated.
"Papa!" Keishi said, leaning down on Hawks' back, snuggling on his feathers. "It's papa's off-day."
"No, it's 'day-off', Shi-chan," Keita corrected his older brother. "Papa said so," he muttered as he sat there, tilting his head to the side trying to look at his dad.
"Right, day-off, what should we do today?" Keishi said.
Today, Hawks thought, is one of the very few days when he gets a day off from work. If possible he'd want to spend seven days a week at home with his sons. But he knew that's impossible. He barely gets a day-off nowadays, especially now that the twins are old enough and they can be left with a sitter.
As the No. 2 Hero, Hawks is always expected to do his duty as a Hero. There are crimes left and right, accidents here and there, Heroes cannot afford to relax or let their guards down.
At least most of the time, but they're humans too, so they are given days off from work. Like today, Hawks thought again.
"Papa?" Keita mumbled, scooting closer as he put his hand on Hawks' head while Keishi slid down from his back.
"Papa, what should we do today?" Keishi repeated his previous question and Hawks slowly sat up.
He brushed his hair back from his forehead and looked at his sons sitting in front. They're identical twins so they look like each other, apart from their hair and wing color that made it easier to tell them apart, they can be mistaken for each other. If they have similar personalities it would have been hard to distinguish the two.
They have the same wavy hair as Hawks, same eyebrows and eyes. "It would have been great if you two got your mom's features," Hawks muttered.
"Ta-chan, papa's muttering again."
"Shi-chan, what's papa saying?"
Hawks shook his head and he looked back at his twins before he put his hands on his knees. "Alright, you two, what we should do today is..."
"Is?" the two asked at the same time, eyes wide in anticipation as they waited for their dad to continue.
"Is to stay home for the rest of the day. I'm so exhausted," Hawks said, lowering his head down before leaning back on the edge of the bed, eyes staring up the ceiling. "Let's have food delivered here and then we'll have so much fun staying home."
"Eh?! We're not going outside?!" Keishi asked, standing up as he shook Hawks' shoulders.
"Papa, we're not going outside?!" Keita repeated his older brother's question as he too started to shake Hawks like what his brother is doing.
Staying home doesn't sound so bad, Hawks thought. He had always been outside, patrolling around the City. He only gets to stay home for the rest of the day like this on a few rare occasions. So he ought to make the most of it.
If they go out, people are just going to surround them again, asking questions, autographs, giving candies and sweets. Somehow, Hawks found it better to just stay home for once with his sons. Doing absolutely nothing, eating fast food delivered in their home, watching movies, lounging in the living room.
That sounds like music to his ears. Besides, it was his goal as a Hero. To create a society where Heroes can have so much time in their hands. So he can spend days like this with his sons.
He wrapped his arms around the little boys and stood up, carrying them as he walked outside his room.
"Alright you two, what do you want to eat for lunch?"
"Chicken!"
"Pork Tonkat—" Keita stopped abruptly when he heard what his older brother said. "Chicken!" he said in correspondence with Keishi.
"Alright then, chicken it is."
A society where Heroes can spend every day like this, Hawks wanted that. It was his ideal society. It would have been perfect if the family was complete, without missing a very important piece. The piece that Hawks had always been looking for the past five years.
You.
Before long the twins had drained their energy and right after lunch they both passed out. As Hawks carried them to their room, putting them carefully on their bed, he sat there for a while.
He looked at the twins sleeping soundly, his hands going up their heads as he rubbed their hair softly. "You know, your mom likes watching you two sleeping when you're babies."
The little breath they make, softly and lightly, the little twitch of their small hands. Watching them sleep peacefully like this is a reminder why Heroes should continue to do their duties. So children like them can sleep without a care in the world.
"Sleep some more, Keishi, Keita."
After that, Hawks stood up and headed to the door, closing it softly as he walked to the living room and sat on the couch. Maybe watching the kids sleep also made him sleepy, or maybe the accumulated stress and exhaustion from hours of duty had built up and when he relaxed he felt lethargic.
"The purpose of this day-off is to sleep the whole day," he said, closing his eyes. "Ah right, I have an interview tomorrow."
A/N:
Keishi (Shi-chan) – firstborn. His personality is much like his dad.
(hair color – black)
(wing color – black)
Keita (Ta-chan) – younger. His personality is much like his mom
(hair color – blonde)
(wing color – red)