Michie and Hawks had agreed to meet on the current day's evening. They still hadn't agreed on the place where they'd meet up but he had said that he'd text the location or let her know in some other way on the said day before it would get dark outside. She trusted that he'd do that.
Michie also had another problem; she would be working alone today. Hoshi had gotten sick and had decided to stay at home to rest so she could come to work tomorrow if possible. That would only be if her state had got better. Hopefully her huge cat will get her to heal as quickly as possible, she thought to herself as she thought about Hoshi's huge, golden colored Maine Coon. His name was "Lion".
Michie remembered him to be cuddly but also a small troublemaker. At least that had been when he had been younger. She didn't know how he acted after he had aged up a bit but she was sure that she'd get some information if she'd just ask about him from Hoshi; when it came to cats and her pet, she wouldn't stop talking.
She then arrived at the agency and clocked in before she went to change into her hero uniform. She would need to bring her winter season uniform to the work place soon. It needed to be ready when Michie needed it to stay warm during the cold climate of the winter. But now, she enjoyed her last moments of wearing the normal uniform before she'd have to store it into her wardrobe.
As she got out of the women locker room, she noticed a red flurry in her peripheral vision and immediately took a defensive stance. That came as a natural reaction from her; one of the many things how her quirk affected her reactions and behavior.
"You surely react extremely quickly to different changes! That's good! One thing off of our list of agility training," said Hawks after he had just barely stopped before he had practically tackled Michie to the ground. Or then he did it on purpose, Michie thought to herself and sighed.
She then looked up at Hawks and huffed as she settled her hands to her hips. "Do you greet all of your workers like this on mornings?" She said with a small grin, making it obvious that she wasn't seriously offended or annoyed; which caused Hawks' small, confused expression to turn into his usual grin once again.
"Well, we're birds of feather so I treat you like a pal," he grinned as he hinted at their quirks by nudging Michie's wing with his own, much bigger, wing. She rolled her eyes and then looked around to see where his today's sidekicks were; she didn't see them anywhere nearby. Did they lose him or are they changing into their uniforms still? She thought to herself as she then looked back at Hawks.
"Did you lose your sidekicks already?" Michie said cheekily. She regretted her tone of voice immediately. Why'd you say it like that?! What the f- she panicked and tried not to blush so her embarrassment wouldn't be clear. Hawks didn't seem to notice this as he was enjoying their conversation that was different from their past ones.
"Well. You're standing right in front of me," Hawks said casually with his usual expression. Michie was confused at first but then the realization set in; I'm the sidekick for today?! She thought with a shocked expression.
"Wait- I don't remember seeing me in the sidekick shift for today? What happened to that?" Michie asked with a confused tone. Although luckily, she had calmed down from the first shock.
Hawks just tilted his head slightly before he flicked his wings. "Well. The other one got sick and I decided to put the other one to another team of patrollers for today. I thought that we'd both benefit from this; since you can train now even by the day and I can analyze your skills during the day before the evening," he explained wisely and matter-of-factly. It didn't leave much to say for Michie who nodded thoughtfully and approvingly.
"Well, let's go then! We have the whole day in our hands!"
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Michie flew after Hawks as they patrolled above Kyushu. She felt the slightly colder air and wind blow past her and she felt her skin go into goosebumps. Let's hope that it won't get colder. Otherwise I'll be regretting my decision of not wearing my winter uniform yet.
Hawks then turned around in the air and looked straight at Michie. He looked like he was about to say something so she also slowed down and they both came to a stop as they were still hovering in the air. "So. I need to at first hear a bit more detailed version of what you can do and what you're best at," he explained swiftly.
Michie thought for a while. She went through her years of education and studies at Ketsubutsu and also... That other place. Michie shook her head. It was better if she didn't mention the things she had learned there. Some things were better to be forgotten. Maybe she really should have gone to therapy a lot of time ago. But she hadn't been able to bring herself to do it.
"Well. I'm good at dodging and defending so I'm more of a supporter than attacker. Although, I'm also good at attacking. But I've got more training in fighting on the ground since no one in my class, other than Chimera, had any flying -related quirks so I may need a bit of training in aerial combat," she explained vastly and slightly in detail. She'd tell more about the things that Hawks would ask more about.
He rubbed his chin as he thought about what she had just said. His red wings flickered slightly and he hummed before he snapped his fingers, indicating that he had come up with something. "We can focus on aerial combat then. I already have a few ideas," he said with a nod. Michie answered with a nod of her own and a hum.
"So. What are the basics that you know from aerial combat for now?" Hawks asked as he looked interested towards her next words. Michie thought for a moment. She was good at flying and agility. But her wind attacks were sometimes so powerful that she couldn't hold herself still with her wind, which caused the attack to lose power a little.
"Well. The only problem that I am facing right now is that when I use my wind attacks while in the air, the power of the attack causes me to get sent back a little. And when I move back because of the attack, it also loses some power due to knocking me back," she tried to explain in a way that was more clearly understood well enough to Hawks.
He hummed and rubbed his chin before he pointed at Michie's wings. "Why don't you use your wings to stop the knockback?" He asked with a questioning look. Before Michie could answer, he had figured it out already; "It's because of that scar on your left wingstem, isn't it?"
Michie was baffled by his thinking speed. She blinked a few times before she shrugged a bit slowly. "Well, yeah. Kind of. It's, uh... Let's say that I did something stupid when I was a kid," Michie said, hoping that her white lie had gone through. It's not a complete lie though. It was caused by a dumb act from the very start, she thought to herself.
"Well, it looks pretty bad. As if it's got slammed by something sharp," he pointed out as he looked at Michie's wing a bit more closely by flying right next to her. Michie felt a jolt run down her back and she steadied her flight so she wouldn't practically dive bomb to the ground. He's just curious and confused. Nothing wrong with that, she assured herself when her quirk instincts caused her to think of escaping.
"Well, yeah. I did crash on my dad's stuff in the garage. I guess my dad was right about it not being a good idea to practice flying in there," Michie explained and laughed nervously. She didn't want to discuss the topic at hand any longer. It wouldn't stay this nice and she would probably have a breakdown. That's one more reason for me to go to a therapist or someone, she thought to herself.
"Well, you know what they say; parents are always right," Hawks said with a cheeky grin. Michie answered it by smiling back. It looked a bit sad probably since Hawks tilted his head and narrowed his eyes a bit, as if trying to read Michie's thoughts. She let out a nervous 'heh' and landed on one of the building's roofs that had been below them.
He landed next to her and eyed her up and down as if trying to figure out why she was acting so weirdly. Michie shrugged at him and he seemed to just let his suspicions drop for a few moments. "Well. We have now more time on our hands. Our patrol is coming to an end after another hour or two. Now we can focus more on training you because I doubt there will be anything big happening anymore," he explained.
Michie nodded and felt the slightly colder wind hit her which made a shiver go down her spine. Oh no, she wrapped her wings around her body to stay warm and to hold her wings together so her quirk wouldn't act up. Hawks looked a bit confused at first but seemed to get a hang of what she was trying to do.
"Your quirk almost took you flying, huh?" Hawks asked with a small smile. He looked curious and a bit amused. Michie huffed and looked at him. She nodded. Sometimes it's hard to be me, and sometimes I really wish I wasn't me, she thought to herself since she didn't want to say it aloud.
"My quirk can be a hindrance. I thought it wouldn't be this cold today," she explained to him. He hummed and looked at her with a tilted head. I wonder if 'Owl' would have been a much better hero name for him, she thought to herself as she stared at his eyes.
"Don't you read the forecast? You could benefit from that a lot, you know?" He asked with a small smirk. She looked at him with a pouty expression which made him stifle a laugh which came out as a cough. Not you too, Hoshi gives me enough of that, Michie thought as she huffed at Hawks.
She then felt warmness around her as Hawks had suddenly put his jacket on her. She looked at him with a surprised face and wide eyes. He had a friendly expression. And his smirk wasn't cheeky or smug; this time, it was warm and caring. "It's better if we stop training for today. We've already done a lot, right?" He exclaimed.
Michie answered by nodding. She felt warm all over and she felt her wings fluff up a bit. She felt all giddy and shy. What am I doing – acting like a damn teenager, she thought to herself and shook her head to clear her thoughts. She looked back at Hawks, answering his warm smile by smiling back warmly.
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"Who are you two? Were you brought here as well?"
"Yeah. Michie was robbed from her home!"
"You don't need to say it so dramatically... I'd rather not even talk about it."
"Sorry... I was trying to lift the mood."
"It's alright."
"Do you know if we'll ever get out of this place? The adults here are quite nice though... I don't know if I want to go back home."
"I'm sure that we will be saved! Our parents would never leave us to a place like this."
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