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“Look over there! Is that Hawks!?”
“Where?”
“Over there. He’s walking this way!” the taller of the two young boys pointed to a lone figure in the distance, distinguishable by the large scarlet wings protruding from his back, outlining the figure of a man leisurely strolling down the deserted sidewalk.
“No way! That’s him! Let’s ask him for help!” the smaller boy jumped up in his excitement, shaking the tree branch they were resting on, sending a cascade of yellow and orange leaves falling to the ground.
“Careful Shu, you’ll make us fall!” scolded the older boy as he grabbed his brother by the wrist pulling him back down into a sitting position “and we don’t need his help we can do this ourselves! Besides, he’s a hero! He’s probably busy anyway.”
“Haruuuuuu,” the younger boy whined, stretching out his older brother's name to emphasize his frustration “we’ve been here foreverrrrr and she won’t come down!”
“She’s just scared is all.” explained Haru, “We just have to be patient and she’ll come down when she’s ready.”
“We’ve been patient for 100 years!” Shu exaggerated, dramatically throwing his arm over his eyes and leaning against the sturdy trunk of the tree. “Maybe I can try to hover up there again and grab her!”
“We tried that already Shuhei, and you nearly broke your arm. I don’t want Mom to kill me!” the older brother pressed his hands into his little brother's shoulders as if to hold him down “Besides, you can’t hover more than a few inches and she’s way near the top!”
Shuhei furiously crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his older brother, sticking his tongue out. “Whatever, Haruto.”
Haruto stuck his tongue out at his little brother in response.
Noticing that the winged man was much closer now Shuhei jumped up again suddenly, catching Haruto by surprise causing him to sway and cling to the branch in fright. “Hey! Mr. Hawks!”
“Hey, there.” Hawks grinned up at the boys occupying the tree branch hanging over the sidewalk. He stopped and rested his arms on the low concrete wall below the tree. “Whatcha doin’ up there?”
“Hime’s up there and we can’t get her to come down!” Shuhei explained, eyes wide in excitement at talking with the Number Two hero.
“Hime?” Hawks asked.
“Our kitten.” Haruto explained, “She ran up there earlier but now she’s scared to come down and we can’t climb any higher.”
“I tried to hover up to her but I couldn’t reach! Then she climbed even higher!” the younger of the two boys exclaimed.
“He only got his quirk a couple weeks ago so he’s not very good yet and he fell out of the tree.” added the older one.
Hawks peered higher into the tree, after a few seconds of scanning he found two frightened green orbs gazing down at him. A trembling orange kitten blending in with the autumn foliage was frozen in place on a thin branch several yards above.
“Let me see what I can do.” Hawks grinned brightly at the two brothers, swiftly sending half a dozen crimson feathers high into the tree.
Shuhei and Haruto followed the feathers with their eyes, mouths agape in wonder at seeing The Winged Hero in action. “So cool…” Shuhei gasped.
Hawks winked at him before turning his attention back to the kitten above.
Overhead they heard a sharp hissing sound. Hime was swatting angrily at the red feathers attempting to surround her small kitten body. Protracted claws swiped through the air expertly keeping the feathers from getting too close.
Hawks' smile turned into a thoughtful pout. He knew he could forcefully snatch the kitten out of the tree with his Fierce Wings but he didn’t want to traumatize the poor terrified cat any more than necessary, or the little boys watching for that matter. “Looks like I’m going to have to do this the old fashioned way.” he sighed but smiled again as he recalled his feathers to plant themselves neatly back into his magnificent plumage.
Taking a step back Hawks extended his wings and slowly began to rise into the air, flying gracefully toward the top of the tree, Haruto and Shuhei drinking in his every move.
“Hey there, kitty cat.” Hawks landed lightly on a spindly branch about a foot below the quivering cat. “It’s okay little Hime, I’ve got you.” he said, slowly extending his gloved hands toward the orange ball of fur.
Hime screeched and hissed and sputtered as she scrambled even higher into the tree, desperately trying to get away from the large winged creature before her.
Hawks sighed, “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” he willed his wings to slowly carry him upwards toward the still sputtering kitten.
Gingerly he extended his hand toward her again in an attempt to soothe the anxious kitten, but was met with a swipe of razor sharp claws followed immediately by a painful sting, sharp pointed teeth biting clean through his thick gloves. “Fu--” Hawks hissed, biting his bottom lip quickly censoring himself, acutely aware of the watching eyes and listening ears in the branches below.
With her back arched and hair standing on end, still spitting, Hawks could tell she was trying to make herself look larger and more intimidating than she was. He would have found it funny if he wasn’t so annoyed with the cat. He knew she was scared, but why was she so afraid of him?
Then it hit him. “Ohhh.” he said in realization. “You’re afraid of big birdies, aren’t ya kitty cat?” He watched as her large jade eyes focused on his unfurled wings.
“Fine then.” He groaned. Although the branches at this part of the tree were very slim he managed to pick out a few within arms reach of Hime that looked strong enough to support his weight. Hooking one arm around the trunk of the tree, he planted his feet near the base of those branches slowly transferring his weight from being suspended by his wings to being supported by his legs. With narrow eyes he looked up at the cat “don’t you dare tell anyone about this, alright?” And suddenly-
*THWAP*
In a flash of red hundreds of feathers dropped to the ground propelled by force, landing with a satisfying thud upon the pavement below.
“Happy now?” Hawks peered at the kitten. Slowly her claws began to retract and her pupils returned to a normal diameter. Her fur now flat against her skin, she sat down on her branch and studied Hawks curiously. Once again he warily extended a hand toward her, keeping a close watch for claws and teeth, but was met with no resistance. Instead, Hime nuzzled her head into his open palm. “Alright kitty, come here.” Gently he scooped her from per perch and situated her against his chest inside his fur lined jacket. “Hang tight.”
With one hand he carefully picked his way down the tree. A branch snapped beneath him and he fell a few feet before catching himself, irritated, and continuing his descent. He sat on a branch adjacent to where the two young brothers were still perched. They watched him in awe, eyes wide and sparkling. Gently he pulled the (now purring contentedly) kitten from his coat and handed her over to the older boy.
“Wow! That was so cool!” Shuhei cheered, throwing a fist in the air. In his excitement he began to hover unsteadily over the branch where he was seated.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Hawks!” Haruto cradled the kitten in one arm and pulled his younger brother back down with his free hand. “I’m sorry she bit you.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Hawks shrugged and flashed his cheesiest grin “All in a day's work. Maybe keep that little one a way from trees from now on, though.”
“Yes sir!” Shuhei saluted clumsily with his small hand, grinning wide.
Hawks laughed. “Just call me Hawks.” Cautiously watching the kitten, who had seemingly fallen asleep, he gradually summoned his feathers back into arrangement on his back.
“I’m going to be a hero too, one day!” Shuhei buzzed with excitement.
“Oh yeah?” Still smiling at the young boys, wings intact, Hawks jumped gracefully down to the sidewalk below. “I can’t wait to see that. I bet you’ll be awesome!”
Shuhei smiled and punched the air again “Yeah!”
“Thanks again Mr. Hawks!” Haruto called to the hero below.
“It’s just ‘Hawks’!” The Winged Hero corrected as he waved back at the boys. He continued on his way, mumbling something about cats and birds and hoping no one nearby had a camera pointed at him.