"I seem to have loved you in numberless forms,
numberless times,
in life after life,
in age after age forever."
-Rabindranath Tagore
The next day, the League and I waited in the wings of that very same stage, waiting for the cue. I learned that the headquarters was this really nice series of buildings hidden away in the mountains, not far from Jaku General Hospital, called the Gunga Mountain Villa. To be fair, I wasn't really too far off from calling it a mix of an office building and a hotel because that is exactly what it looks like.
The locations were nice, sure, but the money and resources were better. We all definitely took advantage of the money that the Army provided, as we all looked clean and fed and well kept for the first time in a very long time. Toga and I were finally able to take care of our hair properly, and we all had new clothes or our old clothes cleaned. I finally got a new pair of boots, as the soles were literally falling off of the other ones, along with new jeans and a new black long sleeve. Dabi, Spinner and Twice just opted for their clothes to be cleaned, and Compress got a new jacket. Tenko finally let me tame his hair a bit so it wasn't sticking up all over the place and got a new jacket since his winter one had long since been destroyed that he stored away for safekeeping. His buckled one did survive however, thankfully, since I wear it more than him.
Tenko also was wearing a suit. Re-Destro suggested it, and I guess he wanted to humor him. I also think he wanted to try out what it felt like to be all proper and in charge. This morning he came to me, beyond irritated, asking for help, and I thought he was going to rip his tie in half. He had no idea how to work a tie, so I tied it for him, and pulled him close by tugging on it, kissing him.
He told me he was going to wear ties more often.
Tenko glanced over, catching my eye, and I saw him grin under the hand on his face. He purposely and rhythmically tapped three specific fingers on the arm of the chair, cocking his head to the side so slightly, nobody else would notice it. I looked at his hand, and saw that the fingers he was tapping were his thumb, index and middle fingers.
I dipped into his thoughts, and immediately exited his head, face hot, when I saw that he was thinking of the day before, when those fingers were doing something other than tapping the arm of the chair.
I covered my hand with my mouth, shielding my embarrassed smile, shaking my head, and I saw his body shift with laughter. Re-Destro was standing beside him, confused as to why he was laughing, and they were waiting until the buzz of the now crowded basement quieted. Dabi nudged me and I leaned over so I could hear him.
"Hawks is down there."
My eyebrows shot up.
"Really? Well shit. That means I've gotta go down there and talk to him and keep up, the uh, appearances, yeah?" I grimaced. Keeping up our little flirty "fling" is even more awkward now that Tenko and I seem to be back to normal.
"Yep. I'll go down there and talk to him with you before giving you guys your alone time." Dabi snickered and I pushed him away with one hand, shaking my head. I was so glad that Dabi and I were back to normal too, since he wasn't acting all weird around me anymore.
"Ew, Dabi. You know it's fake." I sighed, looking at him, serious this time. "Do you trust him? Because I think I do. I just can't get a read on his thoughts."
"I don't really trust anyone, Y/N." Dabi shook his head, almost scoffing. "Especially not the number two hero that just suddenly decided to flip the coin to the villain side. I don't trust him but I do think that he's working with us genuinely. For now. I just wouldn't trust him to not rat us out."
"Ouch." I giggled. "You don't trust anyone?" I was immediately met with an annoyed side-eye.
"You're different." Touya grumbled.
"Well thank you."
Re-Destro began to speak, the crowd finally quieting down. He spoke of Destro's will and his goals and blabbered on about a bunch of bullshit relating to that, until he finally redirected his attention and speech to Tenko.
"I was mistaken about Tomura Shigaraki. In our attempt to seek Destro's will, we did not realize that Shigaraki himself embodies the very freedom that Destro spoke of. We also did not realize that even a villain such as Y/N L/N, Ghost, also embodies that freedom, a hero's child that fell from grace in order to seek her own liberation." He motioned me out onto the stage and I nodded, walking out and standing directly besides where Tenko sat. The crowd reacted well, at least.
Quite a strange introduction for the both of us, but I'll take it based on the cheers.
I projected my thoughts into Tenko's mind and I saw him smirk.
"That being said," Re-Destro continued. "I hereby give the title of Grand Commander to Tomura Shigaraki. The Meta Liberation Army and the League of Villains are now a joint venture in order to seek a more profound path to liberation."
The crowd applauded, and I found myself strangely uncomfortable, like I shouldn't be up there. Fortunately for me, Tenko immediately eased that feeling, introducing the new name I helped him come up with as opposed to continuing to use the name "Meta Liberation Army."
"This joint venture, as he put it, will now be named the Paranormal Liberation Front." He addressed the crowd, tugging at his collar, still somehow looking bored, but I could hear in his thoughts how he was masking the pain from the battle he still felt.
Scars ran up his forearms, I saw them before he got dressed, and I could tell that even though his left hand was fully healed by the doctor and fitted with those prosthetic fingers, the nerve damage was killing him. His leg was also clearly bothering him. I glanced at the cast, and grinned, as the cast was completely blank except for where I drew a little smiley face near his heel. I did it while he was sleeping since he wouldn't let me while he was awake.
"If I'm your Grand Commander, then Ghost will be your Executive Commander. She is the second in command and you will answer to her before you answer to me." I waved a little and the crowd continued to cheer. It was strange. I'm not typically very likable. "The following will be your lieutenants for each little team they will run..."
As he named each of them, they stepped out onto the stage as well, except for Re-Destro, since he was already up there with us. The eight other lieutenants were Dabi, Compress, Toga, Twice, Spinner, Geten, Skeptic and Trumpet. Tenko briefly introduced them all before grabbing his crutch, the one I finally got him to start using until he healed instead of limping around, and getting up without a word. Re-Destro scrambled up, pulling a conclusion for the gathering of the Front out of his ass as we left the stage, quickly followed by our lieutenants.
We walked down the hall towards the elevator, Re-Destro running to keep up with us. He finally caught up to us and went to walk beside Tenko and I, but I held out a hand and he slowed down to be a couple paces behind. Know your place.
He immediately started sucking up to Tenko, gushing about his speech even though, as much as I love him, he barely said anything.
"Scram." Tenko hissed, cutting him off and Re-Destro paused, mouth open like he was going to continue but lost his words. I giggled and Tenko actually cracked a grin in my direction.
I dipped into his thoughts and heard him call me a bitch, among other things, and turned around. He kept up that suck-up attitude and that bright smile and I laughed. I kind of respect his ability to maintain that while thinking such angry thoughts.
"Yes ma'am?"
"I heard your thoughts and I actually kind of respect you a bit more."
His smile dropped a little and he chuckled a little bit.
"Fair enough."
We continued walking, but once we were almost at the elevator, Tenko collapsed. I caught his crutch before it hit him and stood in front of him, back to him and facing the rest of the Front approaching us, giving him some time to recollect himself. Re-Destro attempted to step around me to speak to him and I lifted the hem of my shirt a little bit, showing my gun, and he took multiple steps backwards.
"<Paranormal Liberation Front? I like the new name.>" Ujiko radioed in, and myself, Tenko and the rest of the League winced, taking in the loud audio of his voice in our ears. Trumpet, Geten, Skeptic and Re-Destro looked a little confused until Compress motioned to our earpieces and they nodded. "<It's better than 'The League of Villains', which in my opinion always felt kinda tacky.>"
"Enough about the name. You promised me more power once I tamed Machia." Tenko groaned, slowly making his way back to his feet. "Are you still good on that promise?"
"<When you're fully healed, we will talk. But yes. I am good on that promise, Shigaraki. However, I do have one more thing to ask of you.>"
Dabi nudged me, motioning with his head back towards the crowd. I muted my earpiece, nodding. I almost forgot about Hawks. I handed Tenko back his crutch and projected where we were going into his head. He looked at me meaningfully and I sighed, walking away with Dabi.
.
.
.
We sauntered through the crowd, people giving us our space and actually regarding us with respect. It was kind of weird, because even though I do have a position of power in the League, we never really needed to drive that point home. We all kind of knew our place.
I spotted Hawks right as he spotted me, and he winked, his big brown eyes lighting up. I internally giggled and shot him a sultry smirk. I attempted to read his mind again, but there was still nothing. Just silence. I hate not knowing what he's really thinking, but I do trust him so far. I wasn't lying to Dabi. However, Dabi is a little less trusting and feels the complete opposite.
"Hey there, number two." Dabi swung an arm around Hawks' shoulders. "You're looking pleased as punch, aren't ya?"
"Sure am. How about some introductions?" He grinned that model-perfect grin in my direction and I almost rolled my eyes. He knows he's a conventionally attractive person, let alone one of the most popular heroes with the ladies, and he tries to use it against me, unaware that I'm doing the same thing to him.
"No Shigaraki, unfortunately. He's recovering and they'll never let you get that close to him. They don't trust you like I, well, like we do." I caught one of his feathers as it floated towards the ground and tried to hand it to him, but he shook his head.
"You can keep it. Pretty, isn't it?"
I ran my fingers along the feather, as it was incredibly soft, but I also was studying the different shades of red throughout it. From afar it seems like a solid, crayon red color but up close, the feathers are almost ombre with all the different shades and tones.
"It is pretty." I smiled. I wasn't really being deceitful anymore, it was actually pretty sweet of him to let me keep it. I watched his cheeks redden a little and he turned back to Dabi.
"Who can I meet, then?"
"You can meet Twice, if you want. He's been wanting to talk to you either way."
I watched as Dabi ushered him away, and Hawks glanced over his shoulder, waving goodbye, and I actually felt a little bad for a second. He seems good-hearted, but that's not going to stop me from being deceitful to keep my League safe. At the end of the day, fuck the Meta Liberation Army or the Paranormal Liberation Front, because the League of Villains will always be my family.
.
.
.
A couple days later, I was leaning against a pillar near the main entrance of the Gunga Mountain Villa, head back, getting some air. Hawks also offered to grab me some coffee as he ran out for some as well, and I couldn't refuse that offer. I was wearing Tenko's jacket since it was so cold, but the cold actually felt really nice as it bit into my skin. It reminded me to take a second and feel it, since I had been so hopped up on pain meds for so long as I recovered from the Re-Destro fight.
"What are you thinking about, ma'am?"
I looked straight ahead and made eye contact with Slidin-Go, an obnoxiously go-getting hero that was fully committed to the Liberation ideology.
"You don't have to call me 'ma'am'." I chuckled.
"It's respectful. You're my Executive Commander, after all."
"Still. Not necessary." I shrugged. "I'm just thinking about everything that's happened lately."
Slidin-Go nodded, hands on his hips as if he was important in the slightest.
"Thinking about Destro's will as well, I presume."
"Uh, sure." I glanced at the sky as I heard the flap of wings, trying to avoid that topic, because to be honest, I haven't read Destro's book and I really don't care to do so either. It seems like a lot of fancy words for such a simple idea. Freedom to use quirks and exist how you want is all that the entire book is about. It could have been a paragraph.
Hawks gently touched down directly in front of me.
"I'm back." He grinned, handing me my coffee.
"Thanks, hun." I replied. Slidin-Go looked confused, and narrowed his eyes, looking at Hawks.
"Why were you gone? You're supposed to ask for permission to leave, we can't have you flying around all willy-nilly. In the Liberation Front, I rank higher than you, Hawks!" He crossed his arms.
"YES SIR." Hawks sarcastically saluted and I giggled.
"That's the first I've heard of you being anything but a pawn, Slidin-Go." Skeptic turned the corner, clearly listening. I hid my smile behind my coffee as Hawks pretended to be the annoying hero, all stiff movements and military "discipline", while he was distracted by Skeptic's nagging. "Saying that in front of not only the number two hero, who has so much more reach than you'll ever have, but also in front of your Executive Commander takes a lot of guts."
Slidin-Go pretty much slid away, head down, and Skeptic turned towards us.
"Thanks, Skeptic." I still failed to hide my laughter.
"And after all the trouble we went through to stock up on black coffee." He grinned, and Hawks glanced at me, taking a sip of his own.
"Well, some like it sweet." He winked and I raised my eyebrows, biting back another smile. He definitely is laying on the charm thick.
Skeptic glanced between us, confused, and then shook his head and walked away, leaving us alone outside.
"I thought you and Shigaraki weren't a thing." Hawks said suddenly, and he was closer to me than before, his hand tugging playfully on one of the buckle straps hanging off of the jacket. "Or is this Dabi's?"
I shook my head, cheeks hot. Gotta play along.
"We aren't. And no, it isn't Dabi's either. I stole this from Shigaraki. It's cold." I gestured to how our breath appeared in the air. "I don't like the cold, and I don't have feelings for either of them."
"Whatever you say, Executive Commander."
"Will everyone stop calling me that!" I laughed, elbowing him. "And I'm serious. We aren't. I told you, I still have eyes for someone else."
"Is that someone else a dashingly handsome blonde with wings?" Hawks spread out his wings and jokingly gestured to himself. I found myself genuinely laughing. He's a good guy at heart, I really do think so. He hasn't made a single move to turn against us and gets along really well with Twice. Of course, I still am faking the romance angle to get intimately close to Hawks to make sure he isn't going to betray us, but I am starting to really trust him.
He stopped joking around as he noticed something, and he reached forward again. He shifted the jacket to the side so you could see the inner pocket, where the feather he gave me was kept. Hawks looked back up at me and I noticed how pink his cheeks were, and I don't think it was from the cold.
"Does that answer your question?" I shrugged, taking another sip of my coffee and pulling the jacket tighter around me, hiding the feather once again. He took another step closer and brushed the hair out of my face, his touch gentle. His expression shifted into that infectious smile again.
"I think it might."
"Oh yeah?" I mirrored his expression. "A villain and a hero, huh? Modern day Romeo and Juliet. How do I know you're not going to stab me in the back?"
"Out of the two of us, Y/N, you're the more likely one to stab anyone." His voice became much quieter. "And I'm not a hero, not anymore. Why would I risk everything to just double cross you guys? I killed Best Jeanist. There's no coming back from that, even if I wanted to. Which I don't."
My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open.
Holy shit. Is there even a reason for me to make sure he won't double cross us anymore? He's right. There's no coming back from that.
"You... killed Best Jeanist?" I couldn't hide the happiness on my face. "That guy has always been a thorn in our side. I didn't think you had it in you, Hawks."
"I'm surprised Dabi didn't tell you." He shrugged, glancing away. However, I didn't see an ounce of regret or guilt in his eyes. I'd need to tell Shigaraki as soon as possible.
"Yeah, me too." I shivered, rubbing my hands along my arms. "Can we go inside? We can hang out in one of the conference rooms or something. I just don't wanna be out in the cold anymore."
"Yeah, just one second." Hawks took the last step towards me and cupped the back of my neck, gently but quickly pulling me forward. My eyes shot open in surprise, my hand immediately going down to my gun, but I stopped when his lips were against mine. He kissed me briefly, before pulling away again. "Sorry. I just wanted to do that. Let's go."
I blinked a couple times. He managed to catch me off guard. I don't particularly like feeling like I'm not fully in control, especially with a situation like this where I'm faking that love connection, but I will admit, he surprised me there.
"Well look at that. I left the Y/N L/N speechless."
"As if." I rolled my eyes, turning and walking towards the door, and he laughed as he followed me inside.