Chapter Text
Hawks usually just flies to the balcony of his penthouse apartment and lets himself in, but occasionally he goes through the apartment complex entrance since he does need to check his mail (if he is giving his manager a break in hopes that Takahiro will stop bothering him about a possible movie deal, that’s his own business).
Still, it’s good that he did check the mail today, because besides the usual array of bills and ads, there’s a creamy white envelope addressed with looping calligraphy from Todoroki Natsuo and Mori Yukina.
(Took the kid long enough to get the wedding invitations out.)
Opening it in the elevator, he finds an elegant invitation with beautiful calligraphy (it looks actually handwritten, so probably courtesy of Yukina) printed on heavy cardstock paper and embellished with gold leaf. It looks like it’s to be a June wedding, with a traditional ceremony to be held at a shrine, followed by a more Western styled ceremony and reception, all of which he is invited to.
(He has to admit, he’s pretty touched to be invited to the traditional ceremony as well, although Fuyumi’s reaction is probably going to be epic when she finds out.)
He lets a few feathers balance his mail while he digs the keys out of his jacket to unlock his door, still reading through the details of the wedding (he’ll go ahead and RSVP now, no way he’s missing Natsu’s wedding), only to pause when he hears a familiar voice call out liltingly, “Welcome home.”
(If his chest automatically lightens when he hears that low, sarcastic voice—well, he can’t help but worry what mess Dabi throws himself into when he’s not around.)
“Hey,” Hawks says, setting his mail down on the counter and walking into the living room to see Dabi sprawled across his couch, dressed in hot pink sweatpants and a black muscle tee, idly flipping through a music magazine (one time while they were out, Hawks had seen Dabi picking through the music magazines of a magazine stand, and if he had happened to have picked up a subscription to a few of those magazines after the fact, neither of them have commented on it), “Nice pants.”
“You’re the one that picked them out,” Dabi replies, flicking a page of the magazine aside, “Are all birds colorblind, or is it just you?”
(With their height difference, Dabi can’t wear any of Hawks’ clothes, so Hawks just has a stash of clothes Dabi’s size.
Does Hawks take full advantage of this to force Dabi to wear trashy clothing, hell yes.)
“Birds can see in more colors than humans, so joke’s on you,” Hawks cheerfully informs Dabi, “It says ‘Juicy’ on the ass.”
“Of course it does,” Dabi mutters, stretching out, “With you picking it out, what else would it say?”
Hawks laughs, taking his coat off and tossing it on the back of one of his chairs, “You’re back earlier than I expected.”
“I heard my youngest brother finally dethroned you from the #2 hero spot,” Dabi says, tossing the magazine aside and looking up at Hawks with a smirk on his face, “Thought I’d come by and see if you needed any…comforting.”
Hawks gives a theatrical sigh and sits down next to Dabi’s head, “It’s so hard to compete with a hot, new single hero when you’re a taken man.”
Dabi snorts, shoving himself up enough so he could set his head in Hawks’ lap, “Sure, that’s what it is. And isn’t that angry explosion kid nipping at your heels too?”
“Aw, are you actually worried about my ranking, Dabi?” Hawks asks, placing a hand to his chest, a smile growing across his face.
“As if,” Dabi says, rolling over to get into a more comfortable position in Hawks’ lap, “It would just suck to see you fall to someone that I have actually kidnapped before.”
“Okay first off, you had help for that, and second, just for that, I think I’ll let him have it,” Hawks jokes, shaking his head and carding a hand through Dabi’s dark dyed hair, “Besides, being in the top 3 is such a pain, and I could definitely use a break.”
“You work harder than anyone; who do you think you’re fooling?” Dabi mumbles, leaning into Hawks’ touch.
“Well, I certainly could never fool you,” Hawks says dryly.
“You were a shit double agent,” Dabi says, looking him in the eye, “Who ever thought it was a good idea to stick you in covert ops?”
“Hey! In the end it worked out, right?” Hawks points out, gesturing around them at the quiet apartment, and Dabi lounging in his lap.
(At the time—
This would have been unthinkable, for a variety of reasons.)
“No thanks to your acting skills,” Dabi mutters, running a finger across Hawks’ wings, “Your jailbait manager isn’t still trying to get you that movie deal, is he?”
“Takahiro has a baby face; you know he’s actually around the same age as us,” Hawks says, shifting his wings a bit so Dabi can reach higher, “Jealous?”
“Of a boy who keeps trying to get you into movies even though you’re a terrible actor?” Dabi asks, raising an eyebrow, “Dream on. I at least get you out of situations you don’t want to be in.”
Hawks lets his wings brush against Dabi’s leg, “That’s true, but let’s reiterate: I’m not fucking around on you, and you better not be fucking around on me.”
(He’s pretty sure Dabi wouldn’t, not after all they’ve been through but—it doesn’t hurt to emphasize the point.
After all, belonging to someone has to go both ways.)
Dabi snorts, “Don’t worry; you’re the only person who would want a guy with half his face burned off anyway. You have fucking terrible taste.”
“Excuse you, I have great taste,” Hawks retorts, tugging at some of the earrings around the shell of Dabi’s ear.
“Yeah, and that’s why all the robes in this apartment could double as costumes for a Las Vegas cabaret act,” Dabi mutters, looking pointedly at a robe bedecked with brilliantly green feathers lying across the back of the couch.
“And you love them,” Hawks says smugly, using one of his feathers to drag the robe over to tickle at Dabi’s feet (to be completely honest, he only started buying these obnoxiously colored clothing to annoy Dabi, but he’s grown fond of them over the years).
Dabi kicks the robe away, “Given that whenever you’re wearing that monstrosity, you’re usually wearing nothing else underneath, of course I like it,” he smirks, “That’s not part of the costuming for that movie is it? I prefer to be the only one to see you like that.”
Hawks brightens up, using a few feathers to float over the wedding invitation, “I think I’ve come up with a way out of the movie! See, the shooting schedule for that movie is all in June, but Natsu has invited me to his wedding in June, and how could I ever miss his wedding?”
Dabi reaches out and takes the invitation from Hawks’ feathers, looking over it, “Huh. So he’s finally making it official with that volleyball setter girl? Good for him, I like her.”
(They’ve both caught a couple of Yukina’s matches, with the girl setting up spikes and plays with unerring pinpoint accuracy, the terror of the court, but always melting whenever Natsu came to greet her with flowers.
They’re a good match, he thinks.)
“Smart and deadly, you Todoroki boys have a type,” Hawks says with a quirk of his mouth.
Dabi rolls his eyes, “Yukina definitely has more sense than to take up with a villain like you did, bird for brains.”
“Ex-villain,” Hawks corrects, keeping his hand tangled in Dabi’s hair (his roots are starting to show again), “Turned vigilante.”
Dabi shrugs, “Semantics, and really it depends on who you ask.”
(That’s for sure; the government still has an outstanding arrest warrant on Dabi, even if he had kind of helped bring down the League of Villains.
Still, sometimes Hawks thinks Dabi likes calling himself a villain just to be the edgelord he always is.)
“So I think I count as family since I’m invited to the shrine ceremony, so I’ll up the amount of gift money, but what real gift should I get your brother?” Hawks asks, getting a pen and starting to fill out the RSVP card, “They’re starting up a whole new household, and I want to help out.”
“An air-conditioner,” Dabi automatically replies.
Hawks pulls a face, “That’s like the most un-sexy gift you could think of.”
Dabi shudders, “Don’t use the word sexy anywhere in a sentence with my little brother.”
“You know he’s like twenty-eight right? Almost twenty-nine?” Hawks points out, poking Dabi’s shoulder, “In fact, your youngest brother is almost twenty-five.”
Dabi groans, burying his face in Hawks’ thigh, “That can’t be right—god, I feel old.”
“There, there, old man,” Hawks says, petting Dabi’s head, “I’m here to be your pretty arm-candy no matter how old and decrepit you get.”
“And how are your thirties treating you, pretty bird?” Dabi asks with a malicious flicker in his eyes.
Hawks shrugs, “Well, my fellow pro-heroes keep getting younger, and I’m competing against my boyfriend’s youngest brother in rankings, and my boyfriend keeps veering off into mysterious dangerous missions he won’t tell me about, but on the plus side, I’m doing a KFC commercial with free wings for a year, hero work has been pretty laid-back since Deku’s been on the scene, and my boyfriend’s home.”
(It’s—nice, to have someone to come home to, sometimes.
And yeah, it’s not as often as he would like but—it’s better than all those years spent alone in various government funded apartments.)
Dabi looks away, the pale skin left on his cheeks turning a bit pink, “…it’s good to be home,” he murmurs softly.
Hawks smiles and runs a hand across Dabi’s cheek, “Yeah,” he says as Dabi slowly places his own hand over Hawks’.
(They’re—not soft people. With their backgrounds, it would be hard to be.
But he has to admit that having this quiet moment, here and now, with someone who owns his entire heart—
Well, he gets a little mushy inside, he guesses.)
“Anyway, an air-conditioner?” Hawks says after a pause, “Can’t the two of them just make it cooler on their own?”
“Their quirks make them cold-resistant, but in the heat they’d have to continuously use their quirk, and that would be tiring,” Dabi points out, “So, a good A/C unit is essential.”
“Man, you guys and your elemental quirks,” Hawks says, shaking his head, “Is that why you’re always here more during the summer? You’re using me for my A/C?”
“Among other things,” Dabi says languidly, deliberately running his hand up the inside of Hawks’ thigh.
“You want to remind me?” Hawks asks, not bothering to hide his shiver at Dabi’s touch.
“Always happy to as many times as you like, pretty bird,” Dabi says with a sharp grin as he rises to capture Hawks’ mouth with his own.
--
“You’re invited to the Todoroki wedding?” Miruko demands, sitting next to him, “Make me your plus one.”
Hawks rolls his eyes, or as much as he can with a makeup artist getting him ready for the shoot, “Is this about your weird crush on Fuyumi?”
“It’s not weird!” Miruko protests as another makeup artist begins to do her up, “She’s super pretty and so sweet and soft—”
“It’s not weird because it’s Fuyumi, it’s weird because you still haven’t asked her out,” Hawks interrupts, looking up so the makeup girl can finish off his eyeliner, “Didn’t you manage to get her preschool to invite you to give a talk about pro-heroes, and you still don’t even have her number?”
“I froze up,” Miruko sulks, straightening out her leotard, “She looked so cute with her kids, I didn’t want to ruin the moment.”
“Sure,” Hawks says, giving her a doubtful look, “I still think there’s a better way for you to see her again than show up to her brother’s wedding as my plus one.”
“It’s not like you’re going to bring anyone else,” Miruko argues as her hair stylist does up her hair, “And she knows you’re—you know, with her oldest brother, so there won’t be any misunderstandings there.”
“Yeah, but Fuyumi really doesn’t like me,” Hawks points out, “You’re not going to be doing yourself any favors by going with me. Besides, is Fuyumi even interested in girls?”
Miruko smirks, “I’ve found that most girls will make an exception for me.”
“Gross,” Hawks snarks with a grin, “What if she shows up at the wedding with a date?”
Miruko crosses her arms, “Her Facebook status says she’s single.”
“Some people don’t update their Facebook statuses,” Hawks counters, leaning back to let the makeup artist cover up the hickey on his neck, “Or she could just meet someone between now and the wedding.”
“I’m the top heroine in the country; I think I can deal with a little competition,” Miruko says, with an arrogant toss of her head that makes her hair-stylist swat her shoulder to make her be still.
“That would be so much more impressive if you’d ever managed to have more than a passing conversation with her,” Hawks laughs, nodding his thanks to the hair-stylist, “Her brothers are going to kill me if any of them find out I let a pro-hero friend mess around with their favorite sister.”
“I don’t want to mess around, I want to take her out on an actual date,” Miruko says emphatically, her ears standing at attention.
“It would definitely help then if you could actually say more than three words to her,” Hawks says, examining himself in the mirror as the makeup artist finishes her work, “But anyway, how’s this: I run it by Natsu and see what he thinks, since it is his wedding.”
“If it’s you asking, I’m sure he’ll give the okay,” Miruko says flippantly, standing up, “What’s one more pro-hero after all?”
--
“You too?” Natsuo asks, leaning back, “Shouto wants to bring Deku. And Yoarashi is a big fan of Yukina’s, so he’s invited. At this rate we’re going to have the whole top 10 at our wedding.”
“Shouto’s bringing Deku? Cuuute,” Hawks says with a wide grin, “How excited is Yukina?”
“Over the moon,” Natsuo grumbles, taking a cracker and eating it, “Even all the drama over his breakup with Uravity hasn’t stopped the fangirling.”
“Well, that’s been brewing for a while, and anyway, they’ve both said that neither of them really faults the other right?” Hawks points out.
(It definitely was a bit of a bombshell when the golden couple had broken up, but Hawks could sympathize with Uravity not always wanting to be in the shadow of the Symbol of Peace, no matter how nice he is.
The #1 hero role is more of a responsibility than a reward, and he is all too happy that he only had to serve as that for a brief period of time before Deku took it from him.
He’s not really anyone should be looking to emulate after all; people should look up to people who actually worked hard to become heroes, rather than himself.)
“Yeah, still, sounds rough, man. They had been dating since high school, right? Shouto’s been over there helping him, I think,” Natsuo says, “Miyako keeps telling him to make the push for #1 now, but that kid is never going to do that.”
“Is he bringing Deku as a favor to Yukina, or to cheer Deku up?” Hawks asks, tilting his head to the side.
Natsuo snorts, “Knowing Shouto, probably both. Either ways, at this point, the guest list is almost all pro-heroes and volleyball people.”
“How’s your team doing?”
Natsuo’s face lights up, a big grin spreading across his face, “They’re doing really great! I think they can make it to Nationals this year.”
“Dealing with high schoolers, between you and Fuyumi, I don’t know which one is more of a hero,” Hawks says half-seriously, chomping down on some chicken karage.
“Have you ever had to wrangle a bunch of tiny children with quirks? At least with my team, they’re all focused on winning the tournament. It’s got to be Fuyumi, hands down,” Natsuo says easily.
“Your sister still single?” Hawks asks casually (he should probably find out for Miruko’s sake).
“Why?” Natsuo asks, his eyes narrowing, “You and Touya are still good, right?”
“We’re good, we’re good,” Hawks says with a wave of his hand and pointedly not thinking about the livid lovebites twinging underneath his shirt (“To keep you company while I’m gone,” Dabi had hissed with a wide grin before going to town on him), “Don’t worry, he’s not about to divorce me until he can convert me from my ‘godawful taste in pop music.’”
Natsuo chuckles, “I don’t think anyone who isn’t a teenage girl listens to as much cutesy k-pop as you do.”
“Present Mic totally does,” Hawks argues, “Half the songs I got from his show. Anyway, I was just curious about who she’s bringing to the wedding.”
“As far as I know, she’s not bringing anyone,” Natsuo says with a shrug, “She always says it’s not my business. But anyway, did you tell—Touya about the wedding?”
“Yeah,” Hawks replies, drinking his beer, “He approves; says you chose well and that Yukina has a good head on her shoulders.”
“That she definitely does,” Natsuo says with a fond smile, “She’s probably going to make the Olympics again next year.”
Hawks raises his glass, “Congratulations to her, and to you.”
“More to her, but thanks!” Natsuo beams as he clinks their glasses together.
“Is that why you finally popped the question? Wanted to lock it down before she went off to the Olympics Village again?” Hawks teases, grabbing some more karage.
“Don’t even joke; there’s soooo many hot athletes at the Olympics Village,” Natsuo grumbles, stabbing at his takoyaki, “I trust Yukina of course, but—kind of want other people to know that she’s taken?”
“Understandable,” Hawks says, briefly closing his eyes to feel the one feather of his Dabi has in his possession, nestled in his edgy black coat, “You know I tried getting Dabi to wear one of my branded watches, but he said it looked tacky and made me try on leather pants instead.”
(Now that had been a fun night.)
“I fully support you guys, but I really don’t want to know,” Natsuo says with a shudder, pointing his chopsticks at Hawks.
“Never doubted it,” Hawks says cheerfully, finishing off his beer, “So, pro-heroes, volleyball people, and the rest of your family, huh? Should be a fun party.”
“Do you think—Touya will come to the wedding?” Natsuo asks slowly, looking at Hawks.
Hawks sets his beer down, “Do you want him to come to the wedding?”
“I mean—I know he can’t like officially show up since he’ll be arrested on sight, but—do you think he’ll at least sneak in, or something?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’ll be creeping on all you guys from the roof, but if you want him to actually talk to you guys—is Yukina okay with that?”
Natsuo snorts, “Yukina is cool with all the other Todoroki drama, why should she be fazed by my ex-villain older brother? But—if you could talk to him maybe—”
“I will,” Hawks promises, “I can’t guarantee that I can convince him of anything, but I’ll talk to him.”
“Thanks Hawks,” Natsuo says with a grin, “You’re the best.”
“So I hear,” Hawks grins back.
“Oh, that reminds me, Fuyumi wants to talk to you when you have a chance,” Natsuo says, polishing off the rest of his soba.
“Fuyumi? Really? Does she want to ban me from the shrine ceremony?” Hawks asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Nah, you’re definitely coming to that, Hawks-bro,” Natsuo replies, “I don’t know, she just said there was something she wanted to talk to you about.”
“Maybe she wants to warn me off Dabi again,” Hawks muses, “Ask me if I’m really taking this whole thing seriously or not.”
(He feels like breaking the guy out of covert ops prison shows exactly how serious he is about Dabi, but Fuyumi has always doubted him.)
“I’m sure it’s just wedding transportation stuff,” Natsuo says loyally, “So, you’ll talk to her?”
“Yeah, tell her to come by like next week; I’ve got to catch up on paperwork,” Hawks says, stretching, “Mahou is going to hex me to kingdom come if I ask her for another extension.”
“Okay, thanks Hawks-bro!” Natsuo says, slinging an arm around Hawks’ shoulder.
“Anytime,” Hawks says easily.
(He’s an only child, so it’s nice to be able to kind of have a little brother—even if it’s kind of because he’s standing in for Natsu’s real older brother.
Still, Dabi has never minded, taking all his stories, photos, and updates about his siblings with a rare soft smile and always encouraging him to hang out with them more.)
--
Fuyumi’s arrival is heralded by Takahiro frantically stammering before she strides in with a big binder and shuts the door behind her in Takahiro’s face.
“Fuyumi!” Hawks greets her, leaning back in his chair, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Save the charm for the press, Hawks,” Fuyumi replies, setting the binder down on his desk and sitting down.
(His relationship with the various members of the Todoroki family is—interesting he supposes.
Endeavor of course is the classic case of never meet your heroes because you’ll be forced to tear down that pillar yourself and set it on fire, so the less said about that, the better.
He has yet to meet Todoroki Rei and honestly has no idea how she will react to him.
Natsu idolizes him for helping Dabi reveal exactly what Endeavor was to the world, while Fuyumi hates him for tearing to shreds any hope she had of making them a reconciled family with Endeavor, and Shouto has a kind of ambivalent relationship with him, probably because of Hawks’—close relationship to Dabi.
And of course, Dabi loves him because he actually gave a shit about what happened to him all those years ago and had his back after he found out.)
“Okay, okay,” Hawks says, placing his hands up in what he hopes is a placating fashion, “So, why are you here?”
Fuyumi doesn’t say anything and just stares at the binder for several seconds before finally saying, “…I need you to give that binder to Touya.”
“Sure, but what’s in it?” Hawks asks, picking up the binder, “Don’t tell me; it’s the wedding dress code, or—oh, it’s the floor plan of the venue so he can plot out his prime position to hang out creepily on the roof and watch through the windows.”
Fuyumi doesn’t move, her hands clenched on her knees, “…have you heard of the wolf hero, Direwolf?”
“I think so?” Hawks says, searching his memory (not one of the top twenty, or even one of the top thirty, but he thinks he’s seen the name in the top fifty), “The guy with werewolf quirk, right? I think I’ve seen a commercial he was in.”
“His son is in my class. Kei-kun is a nice, shy boy. Reminds me a little of Shouto,” Fuyumi says quietly, with a small smile that slips away, “Remarkably clumsy though. Always showing up with bruises, split lips, black eyes, and most recently, broken fingers.”
Hawks draws in a breath, “And I take it that—none of these injuries were actually accidents?”
“I asked him—what was going on. At first kept repeating the just falling down story, but eventually, he—he said that sometimes his father gets angry and loses his temper,” Fuyumi looks up at Hawks, mouth drawn in a tight line, “So I called the police, and I told the authorities—but Direwolf has friends in high places, so they covered it all up, and—do you know why I became a preschool teacher, Hawks? I wanted to help those kids the way I couldn’t help Shouto; I’m not letting all this happen again.”
(For all that Miruko rhapsodizes about how sweet and kind Fuyumi is, Hawks would like to point out that all of the Todorokis have a core of pure steel when push comes to shove, and Fuyumi’s resemblance to Touya has never been as clear as now.)
“And so you want—Dabi to deal with him?” Hawks asks carefully.
“He didn’t have a problem before, and he certainly still seems to be in that line of work,” Fuyumi says, pressing her hands together.
“He would never deny you anything, but—you know what happens if I tell him though, right?” Hawks asks, placing his fingers on the binder, “It will not be—it could get messy.”
“Kei-kun is five, and he has a broken arm.” Fuyumi says, turquoise eyes blazing like her brother’s flames, “Because of him—because no one took him away—he got hurt worse. That needs to stop.”
(And even if he personally did not have the best experience in government care, he would have had worse if he hadn’t been taken away from his own parents, and obviously the kid needs to get away from his father.
Still, it seems that even with the top-down cleaning of bureaucrats and handlers Mahou had done when she had taken over the reins of covert operations, some bad apples had been missed.)
Hawks reaches over to take the binder in hand, “He definitely needs to be stopped, but—can I ask you something I know Dabi is going to ask?”
“You can ask me anything as long as you get that information to him,” Fuyumi says, crossing her arms.
“What makes this different than what happened with Endeavor?” Hawks asks carefully, “You didn’t want—anything to go public back then.”
(In fact, right after everything went down, right before he went to go break Dabi out of prison that was when he had realized the storm of a woman that Fuyumi was, when she had confronted him, ice with sparks creeping up her arms, screaming at him about everything he had ruined.
He thinks that—at the very least he freed Dabi, so he had managed to fix that.
Everything else with Endeavor, well—Dabi was of the opinion that it had already been rotted to the core, so better to burn it all down.
He’s still not sure if it would have been kinder to let Dabi just kill Endeavor instead of depowering him—but, he still thinks that at the very least, he held Dabi back from having his father’s blood on his hands.)
Fuyumi laughs darkly, a harsh discordant sound that sounds scarily similar to her eldest brother, “You know—I think Touya and Natsu had it the easiest in some ways. It would be so much easier if I just hated our father, but I don’t. Or—I do but at the same time—he did terrible things to all of us, he hurt mother and Touya and Shouto, I know all that, and yet—I still love him. Do you know what that’s like?”
(His government handlers had treated him better than his parents had because after all, they wanted a perfect hero out of the deal, but it had always felt—like a business transaction, remote and removed.
Up until they had Mahou come train him, he had actually never shared a meal with anyone.
And yet—even with all those handlers and controllers long gone, doesn’t he still sometimes find himself wondering what they would think of him now?
These memories cling and surface at the oddest moments.)
“Kind of, yeah,” Hawks says, keeping his eyes trained on Fuyumi, “But here—just to be clear, you want Direwolf ruined? You want him teetering on the brink of death, his quirk erased, and his reputation in tatters? Because that’s what you’ll get if I tell Dabi any of this.”
“What I want is for Kei-kun to be safe,” Fuyumi says steadily, “Anything else—is a bonus.”
(And wouldn’t it be nice to help a kid not turn out like any of them?)
“Okay, okay,” Hawks says, taking the binder and carefully placing it in his bag, “I’ll bring it to him.”
“Thank you,” Fuyumi says formally, dipping her head, “I—I didn’t know what else to do at this point. I’ve—already tried all the legal routes, and—you’re the only way to get in contact with him.”
“I know,” Hawks says, with a wave of his hand, “Sometimes—things have to get done through extra-legal means.”
“If you really believe that, why are you still a hero then?” Fuyumi asks, looking at him, “Why not—run off and join Touya on his mad quest?”
“I feel that—I can do the most good by staying here in this role,” Hawks says, carefully picking out his words, “Here I have at my disposal all of the information, equipment, and contacts that the government can provide—and all those things come in handy for Dabi as well.”
Fuyumi shakes her head, “Still playing the double agent?”
Hawks snorts, “Your brother knows all my intentions and motivations—as he did in the beginning, really. And—if you think covert ops doesn’t know what he’s doing, you’re really underestimating them. They’re happy to let him hunt down the bad apples in the barrel.”
“While still having a warrant out for his arrest,” Fuyumi says, tapping her fingers against her arm, “Such a dirty business you guys are in.”
“That’s what you came to me for,” Hawks points out, holding up the binder.
“I know,” Fuyumi says, looking away, “I just—I know we’re never going to be a—complete, normal family, but—I want Touya to come home. Why does he only agree to see you?” she asks plaintively.
“I never knew him as Touya; I knew him as Dabi first,” Hawks says quietly, “I think for him—it’s a little easier that way. That he doesn’t have to meet people who knew him—before.”
(Although, sometimes he wonders what it would have been like to meet Dabi before everything had blown up.
They would have both been teenagers, Touya would have been entering his punk phase, and Hawks would have been probably overly friendly since he had had few friends around his age back then.
Maybe Touya would have tried to improve his musical taste, and Hawks would definitely have had the biggest crush on the older boy with eyes like the sea and hair the color of Hawks’ wings.
It could have been nice.)
Fuyumi lets out a short bark of a laugh, “Does he—does he even know Natsu’s getting married?”
“Yeah, I told him,” Hawks says, “Also—Natsu asked me to tell him to come to the wedding, so—I’ll try to do so.”
Fuyumi’s eyes flicker, “I—I would like that. It would—mean a lot to all of us.”
“Like I said, I’ll try, but—you know Touya,” Hawks says with a shrug.
“As stubborn as everyone else in our family, I know,” Fuyumi sighs with the hint of a smile, “When you see him—could you tell him that—that we miss him?”
“I will,” Hawks says.
(God, if his parents had even a speck of the feelings Dabi’s family had for him—
Perhaps it’s for the best that they don’t.)
“Alright,” Fuyumi says with a nod, standing up, “Thank you, Hawks.”
“Of course.”
“I still think—Touya should have found someone more serious that didn’t enable him to run around so much, but—you’re not the worst he could have done either, I guess,” Fuyumi says quietly.
Hawks grins, lacing his hands behind his head, “Coming from you, Fuyumi, that’s practically praise.”
“Don’t get used to it,” she warns as she moves to leave.
“Quick question,” he calls out, holding up a hand, “Are you bringing anyone to the wedding?”
Fuyumi stops and turns around with a frown, “Not that it’s your business, but no. Why? Did Natsu put you up to something?”
“No reason, just curious,” Hawks says (score for Miruko, he guesses).
Fuyumi eyes him suspiciously, “I swear, if you turn up at the wedding with some jock guy that Natsu wants to set me up with—”
“I can definitely promise that I am not going to arrive with some jock guy,” Hawks replies, placing a hand to his heart (thank god she said guy; Miruko is definitely a jock), “Bird’s honor.”
Fuyumi rolls her eyes, “How does Touya not feel tempted to throw you off a roof?”
“Oh believe me, I’m sure he does,” Hawks says with a shrug, “I just convince him otherwise with other—incentives.”
Fuyumi pulls a face, “And that is definitely my cue to go,” she says, opening the door.
“Bye, Fuyumi! Apologize to Takahiro for terrifying him before you go!” Hawks calls out cheerfully.
(So, that went better than expected.
On one hand, he had surprisingly gotten Fuyumi’s approval, sort of.
On the other, that had kind of been in exchange for a mission that was going to bring up all kinds of sore points with Dabi.
Still, they were helping a kid, right?
What else were heroes for?)
--
“If you ask me what I’m wearing, I’m hanging up,” Dabi says as he answers the phone.
Hawks smirks, “Baby, I’ll just have to use my imagination then.”
“You miss me that much?” Dabi asks, and Hawks can hear the smirk in his voice, “The marks I left you can’t be gone yet, but don’t worry, pretty bird, I’ll be back soon to renew them. Shouldn’t take more than a week.”
Hawks lets out a breath while pressing his fingers against one of the bites Dabi had left across his collarbone, “As much as I would like that, hot stuff—sadly, I’m about to tell you something that might make you stay out there longer.”
“Oh?” Dabi asks, shifting noises in the background, “What’d you find?”
“Your sister actually came to me with this,” Hawks says, pulling out the binder and flipping it open.
“Fuyumi came to see you?” Dabi asks incredulously, “Must be serious then—there isn’t some pervert following her around, is there? Why hasn’t Natsu or Shouto iced him yet?”
“Nothing like that,” Hawks says, “It’s—one of her students. She brought me a binder with all the details.”
Dabi is quiet for several seconds, “…how bad is it?” he finally asks.
“Not great,” Hawks admits, looking through the records and photos Fuyumi has put in the binder, “The kid is Okami Kei. He’s been showing up to class with—a lot of injuries. Fuyumi notified the appropriate authorities, but the kid’s dad is werewolf hero Direwolf, and he somehow got people to cover it up.”
Dabi’s breath has gone somewhat raspy, “Scan me the information now,” he demands, “And—she knows that—you’re coming to me with this?”
“She’s the one who asked me to bring it to you,” Hawks replies.
“And what does she think is going to happen when I meet this Direwolf?” Dabi asks, his voice sharp.
“She knows exactly what is going to happen, Dabi,” Hawks says, tapping his fingers against the side of his binder.
“Such a change of heart, is she going to stop talking to Endeavor now?” Dabi asks, a sneer in his voice.
“You know it’s not that easy for her,” Hawks says quietly.
Dabi makes a frustrated noise into the phone, “When was it easy for any of us?”
“For her—she said she envies you and Natsu your pure hatred?” Hawks offers.
A harsh, jagged laugh forces its way through out of Dabi’s throat, “She said that? Wow—fuck, has she got that wrong. You—you know what’s messed up? Even now—sometimes I think if daddy dearest would be proud of me. Isn’t that such a shitty fucking joke?”
(If there was some way for him to take on Dabi’s raw pain, he’d do it in a snap, but that’s not his quirk, and so he has to make do with what words he has to offer.)
“Touya,” he says, clutching his phone in his hands, “I think—it’s normal isn’t it? Even now, after all these years—I catch myself thinking if my handlers would approve of the ad I’m doing, or how pissed they are going to be that I approved a script for a dating sim, or what’d they’d think of my new patrol route—stupid stuff like that.”
“You weren’t hell-bent on vengeance on them for years,” Dabi argues, his voice slightly less raspy than before.
“Maybe, but I did get them all fired and half of them jailed for corruption,” Hawks points out, “Honestly, they’re probably all plotting vengeance on me at this point.”
“Let them try,” Dabi says darkly.
Hawks hums, “Down, hot stuff. They’re all gone now.”
“Obviously not all of them if this Direwolf has people covering for him,” Dabi says, his voice more or less steady again, “Does Fuyumi know who?”
“She has some guesses,” Hawks says, taking out a map of contacts Fuyumi had created in the binder, “You need me to hunt these down?”
“Would save me some time,” Dabi says, with some rustling noise in the background, “Besides, you guys probably want to root them out as well, don’t you?”
“Mahou won’t be happy about not being aware of them earlier, but I’ll give the file to her,” Hawks replies, setting the map aside.
Dabi lets out a breath, “Mahou’s never happy about my association with you. But anyway—what’s the plan for the kid? Is his mother still around? Should she go to a shelter with the kid?”
“All in the file, I’ll scan it over as soon as we hang up,” Hawks promises, using his feathers to lay out the various papers in the binder.
“Okay. Okay,” Dabi says quietly.
“You good out there, Touya?” Hawks asks, closing his eyes and moving the one feather in Dabi’s possession (god, he wishes he was there to hold him), “Staying safe? Not making poor choices?”
Dabi snorts, and Hawks can feel Dabi run a finger down that feather, “Not worse than you. That dating sim you agreed to was absolute garbage. They didn’t get your character right at all.”
“Oh my god Dabi, did you play a dating sim of me?” Hawks coos with delight, sitting up straight (who knew that terrible dating sim was going to be a goldmine), “Did you miss my pretty face that much?”
“No,” Dabi huffs, “I was just—I was bored. And Honda had it lying around, so I just—took a look.”
“Admit it, you definitely miss me, baby,” Hawks purrs into the phone, “Did you just stare longingly at the cut-scenes of me?”
“No, I was too distracted by all the corny dialogue they were having you spout,” Dabi says, amusement laced in his tone, “They have you call the player character ‘the wind beneath your fucking wings.’”
“Does that do it for you, Touya?” Hawks asks with a bit of a theatrically breathy voice into the phone.
“If you ever actually say that to me, I’m throwing you off the roof,” Dabi says dryly.
“I’m not actually hearing a no, there.”
Dabi lets out a small chuckle, “Whatever. Tell your manager to actually do his fucking job and look over the dialogue next time.”
“Aw, baby, thanks for the concern,” Hawks smirks into the phone.
“Anything else?”
“No,” Hawks says (he’ll save the fight about actually attending the wedding for when Dabi is actually here), “Just—stay safe Touya.”
“You too, pretty bird,” Dabi says softly before he hangs up.