Chapter Text
You look up to the building before you. Tall and bustling with countless floors dedicated to different types of work and activities. One of those floors was a beast you had to face. A publishing company, one of the more notable ones in Japan awaits your arrival. You look down, making sure your semi-professional attire is presentable. Looking back up with a determined huff you begin your journey. Checking the buildings directory you make your way to the elevator intersection and catch the next one going up. With every stop the elevator exchanges people with the floor it meets with. As the crowd in the little 6x7 space begins to thin, the floor of the publishing company appears. Swiftly sliding out you make your way to the reception desk.
“I’m here to pitch my pilot comic.” You try to mask your nervousness with pride over your work and hope for your appointment.
“Name please?” The bored secretary asks.
“(F/n) (L/n). Appointment for 1:30.” Cracks form on your facade as the lady looks at you from over her slim bifocals.
“Twenty minutes early?”
“Oh,” you sneak a glance at your cheap watch flickering between 1:25 and 1:26, “well… I guess I overestimated how long it takes to get here” A nervous laugh escapes you. You’re not gonna let your dinky watch be the excuse for your premature arrival.
“You’re in luck. The boss came back early from lunch so he may meet with you sooner. Take a seat, I’ll let him know you’re here.”
“Alright. Thank you.” And with a small head bow you take a seat in the small waiting room. It wasn’t until now you notice what the publishing office looks like. Besides the branding of the company there are framed posters of their various properties decorating the walls. Cardboard cutouts of recognizable characters standing proud next to shelves of awards and figurines of the same protagonists. ‘It’s a weeb wonderland’ you think you yourself with an internal giggle. Pulling out your phone you go to the group chat with your friends to pass some time. Seeing all the good luck messages again brings a smile to your face.
...
12:50 PM [tep tep]: Good luuck biiitch <3
12:51 PM [Scrubward]: Youre gonna do great!
12:54 PM [Mangaka to be]: Thanks guys <3
1:16 PM [Mangaka to be]: Guys this office is what my dreams look like. jk, but its really cool here! Anime stuff is EVERYWHERE :’)
1:18 PM [tep tep]: fucking weeb
1:20 PM [Mangaka to be]: uh YUH
A figure walks in front of you minutes later which snaps your focus upwards, switching your phone off and putting it back in your pocket. A man of medium stature wearing a crisp white button up and a third eye on his forehead extends his hand. You wonder about the eye and his quirk for a moment, but quickly you stand, meeting his hand with your own.
“(L/n), nice to meet you. I’m Hirose Itsuzuki.” He lets go after a shake. “Let's talk more in my office.”
You comply and follow him. He leads you to a square office which looks like a sophisticated businessman clashed with an anime fanboy in terms of decor. Behind a classic mahogany desk (littered with anime knick-knacks) is a wall of full length window that gives a nice view of Fukuoka. “Have a seat.” He smiles, motioning to one of the two upholstered chairs in front of the desk. You do as suggested. Immediately you go to your bag, grabbing the folder with your comic and placing it on the desk as Itsuzuki sits down.
“Getting right to the point, eh? I like your enthusiasm.”
“Something like that.” A sheepish smile finds its way to your face.
“I’ve seen works from your online portfolio. I liked most of what I saw. Interesting ideas and illustrations.” He grabs the pilot chapter, “Lets see if they translate well to the pages.”
The room gets quiet as the boss reads. His third eye seems to focus more intently than the pair below. Minutes go by, but to you it feels like an hour. His facial expression hardly changes as he flips the pages. In time he sets the folder down.
“You’re from America, right?” He asks looking up again. “Your japanese is surprisingly good for a foreigner.”
“Thank you. I’ve been studying japanese through highschool and college. I’ve had a lot of practice with it.” You take pride in your weeaboo phase never quite going away.
“Commitment. That’s a good quality to have.” He trails off, face growing more serious. “This comic… It’s not bad, however,” he pauses, “ it doesn’t meet our standards. It's not for a demographic we cater to. Too dark and mature for our magazine.”
“Ah, I understand.” Your heart sinks a tad. Another rejection. You hold in a sigh.
“I have faith in your work though. I can email you-” Something catches your eye outside the window.
“What the heck is that?” You cut the man off. A strange black creature with equally strange wings approaches the building at a concerning speed.
Itsuzuki swivels around in his chair as you’re eyes widen in shock. The massive winged being crashes into the building a few floors down by the restaurant levels. The building shudders. The both of you stand up, Itsuzuki walks towards the windows to try and get a better look. The floor shifts and the glass cracks. Another more violent tremble moves the building. Horrific cracking and crumbling sounds creep from below.
“That thing-!” Your voice is laced with panic and confusion. The floor feels like it’s sliding. In the blink of an eye some red dart flies through the glass, effectively shattering it. It snags the back of Itsuzuki’s collar and pulls him out quickly. A hero’s quirk? You reach after him, arms outstretched in hopes of grabbing on, but to no avail. The building begins sliding faster. ‘What.. What do I do? I have to get out of here, but...’ you stand at the edge of the room. Heart pounding, adrenaline pulsing, thoughts racing. You quickly consider your options. Staying in the building would probably end up with you getting crushed, so your only option really is to...
Jump. Your body yells at you. A hero will save you. With a few breaths of hesitation you leap as if your life depended on it.
“A hero will save me,” You try to whisper assure yourself, “...right?” Hysteria sets in. You can’t even bring yourself to scream. Feelings whip past you faster than the wind around your body. Is this what it’s like to have your life flash before your eyes? Suddenly an impact stops your vertical descent. A blur of red catches you.
“Guess I didn’t send out enough feathers. Sorry about that.” The hero says loud enough to hear over the wind and your pulse. Your mouth agape and utter shock puts your body in stasis. The hero veers into another direction and carefully lands several blocks away from the building and villain fight. The man in tan gently sets you down on the now evacuated sidewalk. Paramedics and emergency personnel rush past to assist in the rescue elsewhere. Once grounded your body is released from stasis. You look up to the hero in amazement once the situation settles in your mind.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Hawks.” He says with a smile crouched in front of you, “Are you hurt at all?” You look down at yourself and wiggle your fingers and shift around. Nope, no physical pain.
“I… I think I’m alright… I just need a nap at this point...” Hawks give a small chuckle at your attempt to make light of the situation, especially after nearly falling to your death moments ago. He raises his arm and flags down a paramedic. One speedily crouches down next to you and drapes an emergency blanket over your shoulders. You pull the metallic blanket around more snuggly, now understanding why they hand these things out when shit goes down. Hawks stands up and takes a few steps back.
“Welp. I gotta go help out Endeavor. See you around.” With that, a wink and a jump off the ground, he’s flying away to continue his heroic duties. Your eyes sparkle with wonder at your savior. ‘Holy cow…’
“Are you able to walk?” The paramedic asks you.
“Yes?” They help you up. Your legs wobble a little, but stable enough to walk. The medic escorts you to a tent with other survivors. A couple yards away stand reporters and other media folk trying to get the breaking news. They practically hound every civilian they see leave the medical area. Understanding the chaos and curiosity, you realize you might be there for a while.
One interview after another you finally slip away some hours later. With a tired sigh you open the door to your studio apartment. Luckily you didn’t live more than a thirty minute walk away, but the streets were hard to maneuver through. Many evacuees flooded the streets, trying to wait out the chaos or find another place to stay for the evening. You flick your lights on since the sun is setting and the room was growing dim. You head to your bed in the loft; one of the features that won you over about the place. Slipping out your phone you open your group chat with quite a few missed messages.
…
3:21 PM [Scrubward]: Soooo, how’d it go (Y/n)?
3:30 PM [tep tep]: They may be busy still
4:50 PM [tep tep]: ok they cant STILL be busy…
4:51 PM [Scrubward]: |@Mangaka to be| did you die?
4:57 PM [tep tep]: oh fuck they said they were in Fukuoka, right?
4:58 PM [Scrubward]: yea?
4:59 PM [tep tep]: some sort of villain shit went down there. A building got fucked and there was a whole evacuation
5:00 PM [Scrubward]: |@Mangaka to be| WHEN I ASKED IF YOU DIED I DIDNT MEAN LITERALLY
You laugh at your friends being dorks, and then the weight of what happens finally falls upon you. You did almost die. You quickly type out a message.
5:13 PM [Mangaka to be]: I jumped out of a building and got saved by a winged hero… so i have that going for me
5:14 PM [tep tep]: HOLY SHIT YOU WHAT
5:14 PM [Scrubward]: omg are you okay?
5:16 PM [Mangaka to be]: physcially im fine, but holy fuck my feelings are finally punching me
The day was so busy, so intense; you kept in all of that stress. Your hands are shaky and you let your phone slip from your grasp. You collapse onto the bed, sobs crumpling your body. Today was entirely too long and damn did you need to let it all out. You decide to finally cash in on that nap you mentioned.