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It's always worth seeing dusk, pastel shading the sky. Clouds were bouquets of white roses taking in the colors, Contrasted by the rough city building landscape. Every afternoon, you indulge yourself to this view before returning to your tasks. All of your activities were done at later hours and the morning the day after. You were more of a night owl to begin with. Luckily, your college allows irregular schedules to accommodate individuals who were technically nocturnal due to their quirks. Though, you aren't one. You do have an irregular biological clock because you fucked it up so bad as a teenager that it stuck with as a young adult.
You wake up in the afternoon. If you have the chance and time, you watch the sky from your small balcony. You had a better view of the setting sun, but the mornings are equally beautiful. Seeing the sky slowly change and the clouds pace with the breeze gives you peace. It's a tranquil feeling you need to keep yourself together for the rest of your "day".
There were times that the sky was so beautiful that you just want to set up and start painting the wonderful view. But you barely have the time or you are exhausted.
Lately, everything has been shit for you. Deadlines were creeping in. Bills needing to be paid, yet you couldn’t buy anything for your fridge. You woke up thinking of those nagging problems, planning to fix them all as soon as possible. Needing to get out of the gooey state of your mind first, you make yourself a cup of coffee, black and no sugar. It's not your preferred blend. Only for today. You don't want to doze off.
Holding coffee and one of your thicker jackets over your shoulder, you head out to the balcony. The street was always empty whenever you were awake. You look to the sky. Good, just in time for the sunset. Oranges, pinks, and purples blending together. All the thick, puffy pillow clouds reflected the rays while some seemed illuminating from the inside, like cotton lamps. It was an elegant sky, but you are too drained to appreciate it.
You continue to ponder. At the corner of your eye, there was something moving. It was flying low. You squint. It was red. Usually you could see further. You did just wake up not too long ago. Whatever that thing was, it grew closer. It has the shape of wings, feather wings, a bird— an over sized bird?
You could use your quirk to get a better look, but you just don't have the energy to do so right now.
It was closing in, you realize it was a guy with red wings flying over the street. He lands on the middle of the road then runs to the sidewalk and presses on walking, wings curled behind him. A mutant quirk and he could use it. A pro hero perhaps? You never saw him around your area before. Or maybe you have? Just not out and about patrolling. You don't pay too much attention to heroes, honestly. You keep your eyes on him while he strides alone.
The man had blonde hair, wearing a tan like colored coat. It had a high collar that hid half his face. He was just taking a stroll, checking out the street it would seem. Was he on patrol here? He unbuttoned the collar. You rub your eyes and squint again. Actually, have you seen him before? Your feelings was strong that you have.
Okay, you swear you've seen him before.
Should you use your quirk now?
Nah
You’ll figure this out without it.
You stare at him a bit longer, vision adjusting to see more details. The guy’s hair was swept back, messy but not greasy. He had headphones and yellow shades. They don’t look like regular shades, more like plastic molded onto his face. You take a deep breath and sigh as you watch him check his pockets. Your eyes aren’t helping you see anymore than you want to.
He passes in front of your building, looks up. You sense that under his shades he locks eye contact with you, staring at each other for a solid few seconds.
He looks familiar.
You are really close to activating your quirk.
The guy shoots a smile, nods, and waves. He sees you. Your eyes widen, blinking a few times and you press your lips together. It broke your train of thought as you realize you've been rudely staring at him. You give him an apologetic smile while rubbing your arms with your free hand. He stops walking, and grinned at you. His shoulders laughing and feathers puffing up slightly. It eases you a little and laugh along with him to save yourself from feeling too embarrass. Your mouth spells out you’re sorry to him. He gives you a reassuring wave of a gloved hand. You gesture your mug in return.
Wait.
He continues walking. He sneaks his hands back in the pockets of his baggy pants then stretches his red wings. With a single flap, he was off the ground and flew off. You stared blankly at his fading figure.
Wait.
You didn’t need to use your quirk to know who it was. You are just too fucking tired to remember.
The hair. The clothes. The red wings.
That was Hawks.
The 'a top pro hero' Hawks.
The ‘fastest rising hero whose the same age as you’ Hawks
Who you just… meet?
Wow
"Holy shit," you said.
You let out a sore laugh and face-palmed yourself, sighing loudly. Eyes drying up for staying wide open for too long. You were really impressed how your brain did not add up anything from his appearance to be Hawks, especially with your quirk. The red wings and the outfit were a dead give away. Was that how exhausted you were right now?
It didn’t quite matter to you at the moment. You were just musing over it. In fact, it was rather funny. You could only imagine what Hawks was thinking about when he saw a haggard college student in their pajamas just dumbly looking at him as if he was a strange object. You're a little embarrassed, actually. One, for seeming like you were spying on him. Two, being seen in your least presentable form by a pro hero. A high ranking pro hero. You hum out a tired laugh. But there's nothing you can do about it, just reliving that short moment in pure awe.
You gaze to the sky again, taking a sip and still smiling over the small interaction, remembering his grin. The view became a bit more sweeter. The effects of giddiness of meeting a celebrity finally hit you. Your heart raising and knees weak— or were you just palpitating? Whichever it was, you were more alert now and most definitely in a better mood. Well, you have to deal with your shit now, but you just meet Hawks earlier.
Sort of.
It was a silly encounter at best.
And you'll be cherishing this silly encounter for the rest of the week, or even month. How often do you just see a celebrity without being in danger or trying? For you, not at all. Perhaps, it was luck and you had it today. Hope that luck lasts enough to clear your list of work to do.
Once you emptied the cup, you head back inside. Stress was kicking in, though the high of being starstruck made it bearable. It felt as if you were floating half a foot over the floor. Your little interaction with Hawks kept popping up in your head for the rest of the day.
You thought it would only happen once, a coincidence that the pro hero was around.
Four days later, Hawks was passing by again, flying this time.
You just got up in the afternoon, sipping on your coffee (cream and sugar) and watching the sunset yet again. Not as tired. To your great surprise, you see him flying, his wings looked cooler in person than on a phone screen. Your vision is much more clearer than the last time. You waved when he was near enough to see you from the balcony. Hawks was quick to salute at you, smirking confidently. It brightened you up and warmed your shoulders. You watch him leave, starstruck again. Well, you're really lucky this week, aren't you?
You mind your own business after that, getting shit done. And lucky you were as you have finished some of your work early.
Again, you thought that it was the last time you’ll see Hawks.
Three days later, you see him again. The pro hero was walking down the street. You were excited to greet him. Third time in less than a month? You're starting to worry that your luck may be running out too quickly. Or, was he doing his patrols in your area? You probably should ask your more informed neighbors about that.
Once Hawks was just right under your balcony, you yelled,“Hey!”
It sounded louder than you intended. Hopefully, it won’t warrant a noise complaint.
The wing hero looks up, grins, shook his head, then pressed a finger to his lips. You covered your mouth, eyes and cheeks smiling back to him. You gestured your greetings to each other while Hawks pulled a phone out of his pocket. Wings flapping and lifting him off the ground, he hovers over the street for a bit. He says something to you, reading it as 'goodbye'. You tell him goodbye too, then off he was.
You were definitely sure this could have been the last.
Then, you saw Hawks after four days, two days, then five.
The two of you continued to acknowledge each other whenever you were both present, you at your balcony and Hawks passing by.
Your interactions with Hawks were always short. It wasn't much but it was enough and was more than what most of his fans would ever get (after your first encounter, you noticed who among your college acquaintances were fans, some more so than others). However, you'd be lying if you said you didn't want to have an actual conversation with Hawks. Or even just take a picture with him. But you can't because it's rude to have a chat from a balcony and you're too shy to ask. Plus, he was a pro hero. You’ve heard how hard the job is. Hawks was probably really busy and wouldn't put in the time to entertain a citizen for a chit-chat. But one can dream.
After a month or so of crossing paths at dusk, afternoon or morning― you saw him at random per week which is thrilling in a way― your short meetings with him became playful.
In one morning, you had a glass of iced tea at hand as you watched the sunrise, deciding to treat yourself before sleep. You saw Hawks striding by and had a canned coffee. It was the one he was usually seen drinking. Hawks notices you, he smiles and lifts the can to you. At first, it didn't click what he was doing.
"Oh, a toast," you thought, then doing the same with your drink.
"Cheers, dude," you said, despite him not hearing you. Together, you drank your beverages and he continued off.
Another morning, You were watering your potted plants sitting on the balcony floor when Hawks did a loop then flew backwards to bid farewell. The way his red wings closed as he flew up and over then spreading open to flap and speed up again amazes you, getting you on your toes. You wave back widely for him to see you even with how fast he was furthering away.
Each of your encounters with the pro hero was interesting as he seemed to enjoy putting on a small show. Hawks may be the one doing most of the fun stuff when you see him, occasionally, you have your own time to be silly.
You were out on the balcony again, more to just have some fresh air rather than to view the sunset. It was helping you to forget how much your body was aching and burning up of fever. You were holding the damp handkerchief to cool your forehead off, swaying with the breeze as you clutch it over the railings. When Hawks soars by, you wave it to him, like it was the early 20th century and he was a ship leaving shore. He appears to have a kick out of it based on how loud his smile was. He hovers for a moment to wordlessly greet you back then leaves. It cheered you up for the rest of the day in bed.
Another sunrise and Hawks walking down the street. Shaking your hands, you catching his attention. He raises a hand. You raise your own hand letting it hang up then smack something invisible. Hawks only miss a few seconds to know what you meant. You gave Hawks a long distant high five, to which he returned it, snappily slapping the air. It may have looked dumb, but you both enjoyed.
At some point, Hawks didn't show up. Rather than checking the news or social media to know why, you simply let yourself wonder why he hasn't around yet. There were other things to worry about. You also weren't too sad about it. It's just that every time you were out sightseeing, you hoped for the winged hero to pass by then left with unsatisfied anticipation but the time the sun is up or down.
When Hawks came back after three weeks. As usual, he was soaring over the road, leveled to your floor. From the distance, you could see him waving at you. But instead of gesturing back warmly, you posed yourself with your hands on your waist and put on a (playful) stern face, tilting your head, like you were an angry parent about to question their child for why they were late. Hawks stopped and hovered in place with his red wings flapping gracefully, raised his hands innocently, playing along with you.
You shook your head while clicking your tongue and waving a finger to him. Hawks shrugged with a wide grin on his face. After you two had a laugh, he gestures back with finger guns and you shooed him goodbye.
You delight yourself to this little moment, searching through your memories to view it again. It was part of your quirk, but you never used it to remember these interactions with Hawks, nor do you use it at its best in your daily life. Just when you think it was necessary. Technically, your quirk was always on. It's just that you had to be in focus to use it in it’s best, or be incredibly fascinated. You haven't been using it at its fullest since it only adds to your headaches.
Until, in one particular encounter, you actually did.
One afternoon, blurry minded and deep in thought, you were looking at the cotton candy clouds and setting sun. You woke up more exhausted than you expected, having only a couple hours of sleep. There was so much that had to be done the other day. You hanged over the balcony’s railings, gazing at the richly colored sky while your head was preoccupied.
A whistle, lighthearted yet sharp, caught you off guard. Was it for you? No one else was around, you thought. You straightened yourself up and searched the street below, nobody.
The whistles called again. You followed the sound from memory and was greeted by Hawks, in the air leveling with the balcony but a distant far from it. He must have flown over the buildings from behind your home. Dumbfounded, you watch him, his flapping wings to keep in place. How long was he looking at you? Heat rushed to your cheeks and closed your dropped jaw, embarrassed.
He tilts his head and gestures, one hand pointing at you and the other a thumbs up. Are you okay? You gave him a worn out smirk and returned a thumbs up while scratching your neck. Hawks smiled back, nodded goodbye and flew away to the sunset.
Your eyes widen. breath on hold, stuck in your throat, released through a sigh. It was a spectacular thing to see.
You couldn't let yourself pass your chance on this one.
Focusing your mind and eyes, you took in all of what you could see. The heavy dilation of your vision dragged on the surface. Everything was clear and detailed. The amber sun dyed the skyline of milky gold and pigmented the blooming bushes of clouds with flush colors of peachy pinks and gentle purples. All outwardly transitioned to the creamy blue of the coming night sky. The hues were so kind today. The shape of Hawks' open wings gliding over the landscape were still clear from a distance, including the baggy form of his costume. Rays passed through the edges of his velvety feathers. He was a shadow soaring beautifully, complimenting the warm light colors of horizon. The city casts its own cool shades. Lights from the far of buildings twinkle lowly. The clouds shifted slowly, taking its time.
"Nice," you told yourself.
When Hawks was out of your line of sight, you stopped your focusing and stored away the memory. You might use it for reference one day, when you have the time.
Immediately after using your quirk, your eyes burned and shrouded by black noise. You lost your balance and held onto the sliding door's frame, head heavy. Eyes clenched shut. You rubbed your brows to the bridge of your nose then drugged your fingers over the lids to the very far corner of your eyes. Opening them carefully, the dark noise turned from white, gray, red, green, to black again. even with your eyes completely open, everything was a blurry. Your sight came back sluggishly, staying still as you leaned on the door. Taking deep breaths. It was like watching the screen of an old boxy TV clearing up. Some areas of your vision were still clouded, tge surface slowly drying up the longer let them gape. At the very least, you could see your living room. The headache came after shortly.
You were mildly disturbed. This happens after overusing your quirk, usually after a few hours of usage and continues reactivation, but not after a couple of minutes in the first round.
Either there is something wrong with you, or you needed more rest. You hope it was the latter. You couldn't afford it nor have the time for it.
You turned back to the sky, briefly recalling your record when you closed your eyes, entitled "mm/dd/yyyy ― Special Sunset no.14 - Hawks over the horizon".
It was worth it. You walk back inside to fix yourself breakfast
You stopped counting at some point when you started to have an idea on how frequent you saw the red winged hero. It was at least twice a week. The longest record was four days straight. You were more likely to see him on Wednesdays, least likely on Sundays.
It all became part of your routine, wake up or before bed, you do your usual sky gazing, enjoying its majesty and peace. And sometimes, if you're lucky and what hour it is, you see Hawks passing by and you greet each other.