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She stood in the kitchen, washing the cutting board and bowls she’d used to prepare lunch. Her TV played in the background. The billboard chart had been broadcast live the other day. She’d missed it, having had classes to attend. Being a biology student came with many responsibilities, but she wanted to make sure to watch everything he appeared in - the supportive girlfriend he deserved. She’d recorded the show and was listening to it while walking around the kitchen, occasionally checking on the torikatsu. Ironically, the 22-year-old winged hero was a great fan of chicken-based meals. It made no sense, but few things about the man did.
Her apartment wasn’t big, which was the price of living with no roommate. To have one’s own castle during university often meant for it to be a small one. Still, she treasured the space greatly. A typical studio apartment, where everything but the bathroom was the same room. She’d had luck, finding a rather modern one, so the kitchen was a matte gray with enough space for a fridge&freezer combo and even a shiny new stove. By the wall across from the cabinets and gadgets, which was an attempt of making some kind of division between the kitchen/dinning room and the bedroom/living room area, was a middle-sized round table with three black wooden chairs with beige cushions. She leaned back to hear better when it was the fourth hero’s time to say a few words. It would be him soon. Wiping her hands on a kitchen towel, the woman checked the torikatsu one more time before moving to the other area of her studio. The living room and bedroom was also adorned in grays, though it had some red accents as well.
One wall was taken up by a large closet and desk set, matte gray. The chair at the desk was black with a red cushion. Against the opposite wall was a gray loveseat with two red pillows and next to it a queen size bed with red sheets and gray pillows. In between the two was the sliding door which led to a decent sized balcony. In front of the loveseat was a coffee table and in front it was a TV stand. It was a bit cramped, but more that enough for a college student.
She sat on the arm of the loveseat, watching the TV as the No.2 hero interrupted the previous one’s interview. Impulsive and flashy and somehow miraculously hers. She watched the man, awestruck as ever, admiring his majestic wings which she always caught herself doing, no matter how many times she saw them, in person or otherwise. As the new No.1 hero - Endeavor - was handed the mic, a knock came from the balcony door. The student turned her head to see a single red feather, knocking on the glass gently. Smiling to herself at the silly announcement of his arrival, she got up and slid the door open. Tilting the TV towards her bed, she dropped the remote onto a pillow before going back to the kitchen to start setting the table.
A few moments passed before she heard the familiar flap of wings outside her apartment and a thud of him landing on the balcony. Her smile only got wider and sillier as she opened cabinets, getting the plates and utensils. Two gloved hands squeezed her hips, the front of his body meeting the back of hers as he leaned over, biting the juncture where neck met shoulder on her right side gently.
“You’re feral,” she chuckled, gently pushing him back with her right elbow.
“I’m hungryy~” he whined, refusing to let go and biting over the same spot again, with a bit more strength this time. He was the older one of the two, the No.2 hero to boot, yet acted like such a child at times.
“Feral. Go wash up, lunch is ready,” the woman giggled, pushing against his shin with a heel of her right foot.
“Buzzkill,” her boyfriend commented, letting her go and heading towards the bathroom, pulling his gloves and headphones off on the way. She watched him go with great fondness making her heart swell. Shaking her head, the student resumed her task, placing down side dishes, glasses and utensils. The hero returned quickly, taking his usual seat as he watched her move around the small kitchen.
The rice cooker beeped and she placed the two plates next to it, grabbing a shamoji to plate it on the bottom. Enjoying the smell of fried chicken cutlets, Hawks watched his girlfriend, already getting bored of doing nothing, yet very pleased with the sight of her backside.
One plate done, the woman slid the other one closer when an outstretched wing delivered a slap to her behind. She jumped in her spot, shocked but also endlessly amused with his antics.
“You dirty bird! Stop that, I’m handling hot rice here,” she chuckled, nudging his wing back with a foot and shaking her head at his devilish smirk.
“Don’t worry, if you burn yourself I’ll kiss it better,” he said with a wink.
“Oh, I have no doubts about that.”
She plated the rice and the torikatsu, while he fetched the iced tea out of the fridge and filled their glasses.
The two had lunch in comfortable silence, save for the slew of compliments the hero had for his girlfriend’s cooking. It made her heart dance with joy, since it was usually him taking her out to lunches and dinners and never letting her pay. The only way she could force him to let her spend some money on him was either to invite him over for a meal or wait for him to catch a cold or something so she could take over grocery shopping and cooking for him until he got better.
“I wanted to ask you something,” the hero mumbled through a mouthful of food.
“Does it have something to do with the fact that you’ve been brushing your wing against my leg since I sat down?” she asked, raising an eyebrow with a small smirk.
“Nah, we’ll get to that later,” he grinned like a child who couldn’t contain his excitement, “I was gonna ask you to come with me on a three-day trip to a resort,” he said simply, stuffing his mouth some more.
Her hand stilled, the woman blinking in confusion before placing her chopsticks down and looking at him.
“Why that all of a sudden? When would we go?”
“Next weekend. I was thinking I should spoil my darling.”
“Ne-,” she faltered, noticing the way he smiled at her.
The No.2 pro hero, Hawks, was a master of deception. He could be telling the biggest lies while smiling the kindest smile and his interlocutor would never know it. After three years of being with him romantically, five years of knowing him total, the woman observed no clear tell. It was nearly impossible to say when or what the man was feeling. Unless he let her see it. And the slightly too-tight-lipped smile was one of those indicators.
“Keigo, is everything okay?” the woman asked, folding her hands onto her lap as she looked at him, concerned.
“No, yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” He kept smiling, eyes turning into crescent moons, though his wings fluttered a bit closer to his body.
“Is it something you can’t talk about?” his girlfriend asked softly. The hero lowered his gaze to the plate in front of him and plucked a tomato out of a bowl gingerly.
She watched him for a moment, before taking a deep breath and forcing a smile onto her face.
“I would love to go on a trip with you, Keigo. I can skip the lab on Friday so we can head out as early as you want. Oh, but I’m paying my half,” his girlfriend said sweetly, reaching for his hand.
“Good. And no, it’s my treat, I’m the one asking you to take time out of your week,” the hero responded, seizing her hand easily and leaning in to kiss the back of it.
“Keigo, we’ve been over this. You never let me pay for anything. I want a boyfriend, not a sponsor,” she insisted, pulling her hand back. The couple rarely fought, but when they did it was always something along those lines.
“What’s the point of having my own agency, if I can’t shower you with gifts,” Keigo responded with a shrug.
“And I appreciate it and I let you. But you have to draw the line somewhere.” She crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair.
“I let you pay for stuff,” he mumbled, plucking a piece of torikatsu from her plate casually.
“Yeah, once every 10 times.”
“It evens out,” he shrugged, “you go overboard with my birthday gifts, you make me food and buy me meds when I’m sick, you’ve booked me a massage after almost every even slightly strenuous mission I’ve had this year and so on.”
“That hardly evens it out,” she argued, picking up a strip of torikatsu from her plate, dumping it onto his and nodding her head in the direction of the newly replaced bouquet of roses. He must’ve done that while she was plating their food.
“You also help me with my wings, let me crash no matter how late at night or early in the morning it is when I knock on the balcony door, you send me snacks at work and those cute little videos to cheer me on when I’m tired. These are all things that matter more than money, things that are worth way more than an occasional flower arrangement or box of chocolates. On top of all that you bought my merch even though I’ve told you multiple times that I can just give it to you for free, had my headphones repaired while I slept through the day, bought me new boots when my old ones were worn out and I didn’t have time to get them myself. Also I spend more time here than I do in my own apartment and I don’t pay any bills. I could keep going, but I’d prefer to stop there and spend the rest of my free time enjoying your company, rather than going over this argument again,” the hero concluded before biting into the torikatsu strip she’d given him.
Hawks was also exceptionally intelligent, which occasionally proved quite annoying, as it was very hard to win an argument against him. The worst of it being that he never got heated, never raised his voice, nothing. He argued with facts and a slight manipulation of her feelings, so most of their fights ended with him not only having the last word but also making her feel either guilty for starting the fight or so in love she wished she hadn’t.
“It’s unfair how you do that.” She pouted, relocating the rest of her meal to his plate. Her boyfriend could eat a lot, especially when chicken was on the menu. She, on the other hand, was not a big meat person, so it worked out quite well when they ate together as she would give the meat to him in exchange for his carbs, usually some type of potato or bread. She loved carbs.
“When my mind is set on something I want, I can’t stop myself, it’s just my nature*,” he shrugged, “and I want you to have anything you lay your eyes on.” He didn’t grown up rich, so now that he had money, the No.2 hero wanted to spend it on the people he cared about the most.
“That’s excessive, Keigo,” the woman shook hear head, stacking her dishes as he munched on the rest of his food, “besides, having you around makes me happier than anything you could ever buy me.” She didn’t miss the frown on his face.
The student downed her drink before transferring her pile of dishes to the sink.
“I know that. But I also don’t have that much free time. So I like to make you happy in other ways as well, sue me,” he mumbled, stacking the rest of the dishes to bring to her. “You sure you don’t want a dishwasher?”
“Keigo!”
“I’m asking - asking! It’s not like I bought and brought it without asking!” The hero raised his hands in surrender after placing the dishes down. She took them with a huff and grabbed the sponge.
It was Keigo’s turn to pout. So what, he paid for a few meals, sent her bouquets every now and then, bought her some clothes, jewelry only on birthdays - in his mind that wasn’t unreasonable. Especially considering how much she did for him. She gave him things money can’t buy, paying for a trip wasn’t even comparable to the time, love and patience she had for him.
“Of all the women in the world, I had to go and pick one so kind,” the hero muttered to himself before walking up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and bowed his head to nibble on her shoulder gently. For someone so bird-like, Keigo was rather… nippy. The nibbling made her giggle, as usual.
“I’m not angry,” she mumbled, failing to resist the smile tugging at the corners of her lips while trying to elbow him back without getting water all over the sink and her clothes.
“You sure?” the hero asked, tilting his face up to bite her earlobe.
“Y-Yes, I’m sure, go awayyy,” she whined, noticing how his wings started closing in around her which was what they unknowingly did when he held her, or kissed her, or even thought about having her to himself long enough. Sighing against her skin, the man leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“If you had a dishwasher-”
“Keigo!”
“Fine, fine,” he chuckled, taking a few steps back to avoid the wet shamoji he was being threatened with.
“Go lounge on the bed or something, I’ll be done in a minute,” she told him firmly, going back to her dishes.
With a pout and a sigh, Keigo obeyed, keeping his wings close to his body so as not to knock something over as he made his way to her bed. The space was definitely on the smaller side for someone with his wingspan.
Keigo had considered asking her to move in, but seeing as he had yet to meet her parents, he had decided to hold off on that for the time being. The hero flopped onto his girlfriend’s bed, lying horizontally, and noticed the way she had the TV tilted so that he could see it clearly from the spot. The remote was on a pillow and on the nightstand was the book he’d been reading. Keigo tried to spend as much of his free time with his girlfriend as his duties would allow. Often he would be around at very random times of day and some of those times she would have to study or cook or do some part-time work, so he spent it reading. The hero had his own shelf at her place and on it were books he intended to read or had read in the past year. He also had a drawer, a toothbrush, slippers, spare clothes - even a spare hero costume - and boots around. What he’d said was true. He really did spend more time in her home that he did in his own. As far as he could tell, she welcomed it. It was really their home.
They’d been dating for the past three years.
He was 17 when they met, she was a year younger and working part-time at a small, out-of-the-way cafe.
A villain had passed by, searching for potential hostages left and right, on the run from Hawks and two other hero interns. She was a quirkless high schooler in a nearly empty cafe - a perfect target. Despite that, as soon as the villain had seized her and a mother with her baby, the girl had resisted and the moment he’d gotten distracted she’d grabbed a stool from the bar and flung it at him, yelling at the woman with the baby to run. It had left her as the lone hostage of an even angrier villain.
To say that Hawks had been intrigued, would’ve been a great understatement. The three heroes managed to save her and apprehend the criminal. Since that day, Hawks would drop by her cafe when he had time and chat with the intriguing girl.
Little by little, they got to know each other. Little by little, they became close friends.
He was 19 when they had their first kiss. After two years of being good friends, it was Keigo who’d initiated the beginning of their romantic relationship. He’d helped her move into her rented studio and was there for the girl through the adjustment period which had been rather hard on her - living alone and away from family for the first time. Though those days had been hard for her, Keigo still remembered with fondness the nights he held her tightly, leaving little pecks all around her puffy face and whispering to her that it would all be okay.
She was one of the best things to ever happen to him. Rare were partners who could put up with a hero’s schedule, much less his schedule which was often way more packed than any regular or lower ranked hero’s. She was incredibly patient and understanding and that was only the tip of the iceberg of her good qualities. As for the bad, she had a tendency of letting herself feel guilty or bad if she ever thought he was doing more for her than she was for him.
‘I want to give at least a much as I am being given. Relationships are 50:50, I want to always meet you halfway,’ she’d said. The hero still smiled when he remembered those words. He’d decided next year he would start taking more steps to building a future with her. She still had a year of school left - well on her way to becoming the marine biologist she’d always dreamed she would.
Keigo would wait for her to graduate, then go about meeting the family and finally asking her to move in with him. He’d thought about getting a ring, but decided it was too early still. Surely she would want to find a stable job she liked first, then get into the habit of sharing space with him on a more permanent basis and after that he could propose. The hero had no doubts about her being the one, so he worked hard to make the world a place where heroes would have more time than they’d know what to do with. He knew what he would do with it. Most of it he would spend with her, undoubtedly.
As if summoned by those thoughts, she stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her black leggings. The hoodie she wore on top was a present he’d given her shortly after they’d started dating. It was well worn and he’d bought her other ones, but she refused to throw the red article of clothing away. She called it her prized possession.
Keigo rolled onto his side and opened his arms, inviting the woman to join him on the bed. She grinned widely, bending her legs before sprinting the short distance and throwing herself onto her boyfriend and bed. He caught her easily, wrapping his arms around her body and using the momentum to roll them over so she lied under him. It was a silly little ritual they had.
As long as they made her happy, Keigo was ready to do any number of silly things.
It made her giggle and attack him with kisses, trying to get him to let go. As usual, he didn’t, capturing her mouth in a fervent kiss instead. His wings did the thing where they closed in, reducing her sensory world to him and only him. All she could see, taste, touch, smell or hear was Keigo. Though she wouldn’t tell him that any time soon - she really loved how he unknowingly did that.
“Thank you, for the best meal I’ve had all week,” he whispered against her lips once they separated for some air.
“Mm, you’re very welcome. Thank you for finding the time to come,” she wrapped her arms around his neck, raising her head to kiss his jaw, ” Now, about that trip...”
“Hm?” the man hummed, leaning into her touch, chasing her lips which she evaded easily, chuckling when he pouted about it.
“Where are we going exactly?” she asked, letting her head drop back onto the bed.
“Well, it’s this place with a really long name,” the hero mumbled, wings fluttering as he adjusted his position, choosing to lay next to her on his side.
“Which would be?”
“InterContinental Manza Beach Resort.” Her gasp made him chuckle.
Keigo caressed her left cheek with the knuckles of his right hand tenderly. “They have lots of fun water activities if you’re feeling playful and if not, we can get a boat and chase whatever water critter you’re in the mood to study for the weekend. Granted, of course, that it lives somewhere around the area. Though I think the travel agent did mention something along the lines of whale watching.”
She brought a hand over her mouth, still wide-eyed and shaking her head in shock.
“Tell me you don’t mean the huge fancy resort in Okinawa,” she whispered.
“Yep, that one.”
“Keiigoo,” the woman whined, burying her face into his chest. “A cabin in the mountains would’ve been fine, jeez.”
“We’ll do cabins when we’re old. For now - fancy hotels and water sports!” The hero grinned, hugging her close. The ‘when we’re old’ bit set her heart aflutter.
“What am I gonna do with you?” the student mumbled, leaning back to look at her boyfriend.
“Well, I have a few ide-” She cut him off with a kiss, feeling equal parts playful and embarrassed. “Is my darling getting flustered?” The hero chuckled, rubbing the tip of his nose against hers.
“Can you blame me?” The girlfriend smiled sweetly, glancing at his lips as he leaned in for another kiss.
In that very moment, of course, her phone started ringing.
“Oh! I’ve gotta get that,” she muttered, rolling over to get off the bed and grinning at his disappointed face. The moment she tried to stand up a large red wing pushed her back, knocking her off balance and back onto the bed. “Don’t you dare scoop me with your wings, it could be one of my research project partners!” the woman said, turning to give her smirking boyfriend a little glare.
“Fine.” The hero rolled onto his back dramatically, pulling his wing away from her and spreading them both out so he was more comfortable.
The student hopped off the bed and towards her desk, grabbing the phone and answering the call right away.
“Yes? Yes, it’s me.” She started pacing around the room - a habit she had while talking on the phone. Keigo zoned out, not listening to what she was saying, but watching her walk around, biting her lip and nodding her head. The conversation went on for a while, he got bored and sat up, looking around the room for something to do. She must’ve noticed, since she walked to the bed, standing next to the side off of which his legs hung.
“No, via e-mail… Yes… Yes I can text it to you… Mhm…” He reached for her instinctively, it felt almost unnatural to be near her and not touching her in some way. His right hand rested on her left hip, thumb rubbing circles around her hip bone through the red hoodie. “Professor Hirano… I can forward it to you, mhm.” She ran her free hand through his hair, smiling affectionately at the man. He watched her, never bored of looking at her pretty face. Long eyelashes, the softest lips in the world and that cute nose she, for whatever reason, didn’t really like. To him she was perfect. The woman tucked some hair behind his ear, then proceeded to pinch his left cheek while making a kissy face at him. The hero snorted at that.
“I agree, yes… Yes… No problem, we have time-” She almost jumped out of her skin when her impatient and sinfully mischievous boyfriend reached around and squeezed her butt mid-sentence. Quickly, the woman grabbed his hand and pulled it away, giving him her infamous ‘how dare you’ look, as the hero tried not to laugh out loud.
“It works for me, yes… Right, I’ll keep you updated. Yes, talk to you then,” she said, ending the call before shoving her boyfriend back onto the bed. “I was talking to a project partner, you devil!”
Now that he could laugh out loud, Keigo did.
“You should’ve seen your face-”
“Oh you’re about to see a face,” she threatened, placing a knee by his thigh before throwing the other leg over to sit on his legs, “I can’t believe you did that!” She couldn’t even scold him without laughing.
“What can I say, that ass i-”
“Don’t you dare! Don’t make me attack you with kisses,” she said seriously, dragging the tip of her thumb across her throat threateningly.
“Oh what ever will I do,” the hero responded sarcastically as his girlfriend leaned over him to kiss his neck.
“Fine, watch me grab your ass the next time you’re being interviewed, see how you like it,” she mumbled teasingly, moving up to kiss his jaw.
“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Keigo responded, taking her face into his hands and holding her still as he kissed her mouth ardently.
By the time he let released her, she was breathless and his wings were wrapped around her and unbudging. He wasn’t going to let her go again.
“And now, about me brushing my wing against your leg before~” he mumbled, one hand sliding down to her behind again, the other taking hold of her chin as he bit his lip at the sight of her increasingly reddening cheeks.
In the next moment, another phone rang. That time it was his.
The woman burst into laughter, her boyfriend, on the other hand, groaned in disbelief.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he muttered to himself, lifting his torso up so he sat on the bed, girlfriend still on his lap. His wings gave a frustrated flap as he fished the device out of his pocket and answered the call.
“Hawks here… Yeah…” Her hands remained on his shoulders and when he looked at her she stuck her tongue out at him, getting nudged with a wing in retaliation for it.
She decided payback was in order and waited for him to start a sentence before pinching his nipple through his shirt. Keigo played it off spectacularly, a sharp intake of breath being the only indicator of his discomfort. Oh, but the look he gave her - she was in for it now. The woman barely managed to stifle a giggle behind a hand. She tried to wiggle her way back and off his lap, but his wings made it impossible. He raised his eyebrow as if to say ‘no, you don’t’, talking casually to the caller still. The girlfriend pouted, sitting on his lap, running her hands down his wings, smoothing out the stray feathers.
“Yeah, ok… I’ll be there.” Having said that, the hero hung up. “And you-” Once again she found herself flipped over and pinned down.
“What ever do you mean?” she chuckled, blinking at him in an attempt to look innocent.
“Oh, I would tell you - in great detail - if I didn’t have to go back to the agency,” the hero said, kissing her forehead when her smile faltered.
“Not our day today,” the woman mumbled, stealing a chaste kiss before he could lean back.
“Yeah.” Keigo pushed himself up and off the bed, then headed towards the bathroom, in front of which stood a little table which is where he’d left his gloves and headphones. Having picked those up and put them on, the hero turned towards the balcony door by which she waited, leaning against the wall, watching him, clearly enamored. That affectionate gaze never failed to warm his heart.
The hero walked up to her, holding her face to give her one last kiss for the day, before sliding the door open.
“I’ll see you when I see you,” she said, standing at the door and waving as he jumped up and into the air.
“See you then~!” the hero responded, winking at his girlfriend before flying away.
She stayed by the balcony door a moment longer, watching his silhouette shrink as he flew away. Once he was out of sight, the woman slid the door closed and placed a hand over her chest where her favourite thing in the world rested. She had a theory that her boyfriend payed a lot of attention to her neck and shoulders every time they were together to check if she was still wearing it. Smiling to herself, she pulled the necklace out of her hoodie.
It was a simple silver chain - which he’d insisted on getting, since she’d previously had the decoration on a simple black string - and off it hung a small glass vial inside of which was one of his tiniest feathers. She always wore it, even around the house. He’d mentioned it was something not only to remember him by, but also to help him find her and come to her rescue should another villain take her hostage. It felt silly at the time, but it eventually became the thing she treasured most.
Always having a piece of him with her, no matter how far apart they were - the only person who could think of such a thing was the precocious man she so loved.
Surprise one-shot!
* an actual Hawks quote from the manga, chapter 186
Hope you liked it, let me know if you did (or if you didn't, constructive criticism helps me improve) and thank you for reading!
Edit (25.1.2020): I've written a sequel to this called The romantic man!
More BNHA: Tamaki x Reader, Katsuki x OC, Katsuki x Reader, Kirishima x Reader, Sir Nighteye x Reader, Natsuo x Reader, Shōto x Reader, Dabi x OC, Dabi x (other) OC