Chapter Text
Hawks hates the expression “if only”. If only we had been notified earlier. If only we had more time to evacuate. If only we had more heroes on the scene. If only All Might hadn’t retired so early. If only, if only, if only.
They’re all excuses. Living in the past, like Ryukyu was so intent on bragging about during the billboard charts. Hawks hates it when his fellow heroes use those two words to express their regrets, to mourn four-hundred deaths from the Kamino Nightmare, to hide away their own ineptitude. It’s frustrating, seeing all his coworkers holding themselves back because of their refusal to acknowledge reality. Hawks hates the words “if only”.
He much prefers action instead.
Hawks doesn’t ruminate over the somber feeling he gets when thinking about Twice getting sent to Tartarus. Instead, he acknowledges it and plans accordingly, arranging things with the swiftness he’s known for. Hawks negotiates with the Commission— can we pardon someone who helped me with gathering information? —and after much arguing the president breaks. It’ll be a hard trial in court, the commissioners say, oblivious to the fact that it’s Twice the S-Class villain Hawks is trying to save. Hawks will need liable proof of this informant’s deeds, recordings of their fruitful conversations and a detailed log of their good character.
The winged hero arranges it quickly enough, dismissive of how biased his accumulated documents are. He’ll leverage his own public favor as much as possible for the court case, plea to his fans for help in reducing his friend’s sentencing. He’s sure to lose favor with a portion of the population, citizens turning their backs on the Number Two hero for daring to stand up for a villain. But Hawks is hoping to play the pitiful approach, pull sympathy from civilians who believe Hawks to be so pure-hearted he’d find goodwill in a villain. He hopes he’s garnered enough trust in Japan to have most of the public put their faith in his decision to save Twice from irredeemable consequences. Life-imprisonment in Tartarus, never to let poor Bubaigawara Jin see the light of day again. Or worse, capital punishment. The more Hawks looks over Bubaigawara’s record, the more likely it seems. Or perhaps the Commission would like to get their hands on the villain, under the table and out of sight. He’s aware of a few unsavory things the Commission has done away from the eyes of Japan, and he does not want someone as pure-hearted as Bubaigawara being sentenced to that fate.
Hawks has experienced it firsthand. The Commission is merciless in their ambition.
By the time the raid comes around, Hawks has everything done. He has the file locked in the most secure location he could find—a coin locker in an abandoned corner of his Kyushu district—and Hawks has wheedled promises laid in writing out of the Commission president. But Hawks is missing the most crucial aspect of his case for Twice, the keystone in the entire project that would definitely grant Bubaigawara a chance to appear in court.
Hawks needs Twice’s surrender.
You utter fool, that same small part of him whispers as he makes a proposition to review Liberation ideology with Twice in the hallways. With every passing day, that inner voice is starting to sound more and more like the Commission president. It’s pointless. Forget the case, Twice is an integral member of the League of Villains. You really think he’d give up everything for you? Especially after the heroes come and the winged hero subdues him by force?
Shut up, Hawks whispers to that small part of him, following Twice up the winding stairs to their room. A room only visited by Hawks and Twice. The room that’s seen the bulk of their growing friendship, a site of laughter and smiles and hugs. Bubaigawara has been looking to be accepted by society for as long as he remembers. I’m offering him that chance, the chance to start over and carve a more respectable place in society.
How utterly self-centered you are, Hawks.
That whispering critic inside Hawks’ heart stabs its stinging talons into the beating muscle when Twice looks up at Hawks with confusion, trapped by razor sharp feathers on the ground as the mountain villa is torn apart by Cementoss. The look of betrayal slowly spreading across his mask is eerily similar to Best Jeanist’s, and the vulnerable part of Hawks’ heart grows cold. His critic digs its talons deeper when Twice’s hysteric sobs suddenly still, replaced by a cold-hearted edge that chills the air between them by several degrees.
“You call yourself a hero?”
“I thought you were a hero…” Best Jeanist whispers, wet gurgles spilling into his mouth as he falls to his knees on the floor. Hawks is unable to answer, breaths restricted by the fibers in his suede jacket that he had picked out precisely for this day upon finding out that suede was the hardest material for Best Jeanist to control. “Why would you walk the path of villains, Hawks?”
“It’s the only way. I need to gain favor with the League.”
“You’ll damn yourself to hell if you continue on this path. The boundary between heroes and villains is thin.”
“I don’t care,” Hawks whispers as he watches Best Jeanist take his last breath. The suede fibers fall away from his skin, leaving behind a searing burn for him to inspect later. “If it can bring a future free of fear and uncertainty to the rest of the world, I’ll gladly burn my wings in Hell.”
“As for what happens to me, I stopped giving a damn wayyy, way back!”
It’s a twisted form of karma, Hawks can’t help but think. He dared to play god, to choose who would be the sacrifice, and in return the one person he wishes he could save has rejected him.
You thought he’d give up the League for you, that haunting voice scorns as Hawks focuses his feathers on destroying every clone that sprouts from his body. You never understood him. Bubaigawara Jin has already found his place in the world. The League is his family. And you thought Hawks, a fake hero he’s only known for three months, would be enough to tempt him away? A flightless bird who’s only spoken lies and slander to sell his worth to the enemy side?
Shut up! Hawks hisses to that voice, standing atop Twice’s prone body as he positions his blade over the forehead of the ghostly clone struggling to emerge from Twice’s body. He’s unable to fully shove the voice down when fire blasts powerfully into his back, scorching his wings and forcing him to grab Twice’s body and retreat. From there, Hawks is on the ropes, unable to spare any thoughts as he finds himself in a terrible match-up against Dabi’s fire. Shut up, shut up, shut—!
Twice wrestles away from his hands. A clone traps him in its hold. Blue fire blasts straight into his face. Hawks follows the flow of the heat, speeding through melting cement and busted walls to meet Twice head-on.
“OUTTA MY WAAAY!!”
You forget how powerless you really are—
“TAKAMI KEIGO!!!”
The chill of his name coming out of the person he least expects to know startles him out of his frantic desperation. Instantly, his mind falls back into hero-mode, locking in his objectives and adding a new one into the mix as he flies through the cover of Dabi’s flames. Burning his wings to follow the hazy shadow of the good-hearted man he wished he could consider a friend.
I wanted to give him a chance. Like the chance they afforded me.
Remember your place, Number Two.
Hawks flies through the fires to follow Twice, the duplicating, S-Class villain Hawks is tasked with containing to keep the raid on the PLF in the heroes’ favor. Cloaked in the burn of Dabi’s fires, Hawks sinks his feather blade deep into Bubaigawara Jin’s body and watches as the streaming bursts of blood splatter across the villa’s crumbling floors.
Stop acting like you can save everyone, Hawks. You are not a hero.