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The first thing that greeted her that morning was a phone call. It was by her best friend, Hawks. It was at ungodly hour, way before her usual waking time. Of course, she was pretty pissed about it; she had spent the entire night taking down villains to make up her lost time in the morning. But she didn’t manage to give Hawks a piece of her mind because he spoke the instant she picked up the phone.
And his words?
“I’m so dead.”
And he kept repeating the words over and over again. At first, she thought he had done something embarrassing, like tripping on his feet right in front of Endeavor and in an attempt to save himself he instantly did a breakdance before realizing he can’t breakdance so he was a twirling heaping pile of mess, right in front of his Hero.
It turns out it is much, much worse than she initially thought.
“I got Tsukuyomi hospitalized.”
She knows the bird boy who is currently working under Hawks. He’s Eraser’s kid who’s Quirk is incredibly powerful and very uncontrollable. Of course, no matter how powerful, how strong he is, regardless of Quirks, they all become secondary when he is injured.
Because Eraser can and will move mountains (Mt. Lady might be included) for his kids, especially when they are injured.
So the moment Hawks told her that he had gotten Eraser’s bird kid hospitalized, she can only do nothing but pray for the poor birdbrain of a Hero.
What’s even worse?
“Eraser hasn’t found out about it.”
Yet, she stressed.
If she had not met Eraser in person, and also witnessing the “lecturing” a while ago, she would’ve scoffed at the idea due to how ridiculous it sounds. Right now, she couldn’t help but think that it was the dumbest idea Hawks could have pulled.
“I know! Fuck, man! I panicked, okay!? You’ve got to help me, Miruko. You’ve been hanging around him for a while now so maybe you know how to, you know, lessen the blow?”
Yeah, she didn’t want to get involved in this. She had seen enough evidence to know that she should get away from this as far as possible. And besides, Eraser is still a mystery to her. And no, she had not been hanging around Eraser. She had been hanging around UA a lot more lately, and Eraser is her main target.
“They’re basically the same thing.”
No, they are not.
“Look, just come here please. I need someone to hold to. I can’t do this alone!”
She really wanted him to call someone else. She really didn’t want to get involved in this.
“Remember that time when you drunkenly mistaken a plywood as a civilian in need of saving and you ended up bawling in the alley when it broke in half thinking you snapped the civilian and then you decided to have a therapy session with the dumpster?”
Alright, fine! Jeez, he didn’t have to bring that up!
So here she is, in a room at the hospital. The sun is already raised from the horizon yet Hawks have not stopped pacing since she arrived about an hour ago. He’s also sweating profusely, biting his nails. It is safe to say that he is very scared right now.
Eraser’s bird kid is on the bed, wearing the hospital gown. He has fairly thick bandages wrapped around his head, an IV drop connected to his arm and a monitor right next to him. He’s not as bad as she initially thought, but it is still far from good. What the fuck did Hawks get the kid into for him to fare this bad?
“Miruko, I’m fucking dead.”
Also Hawks has not stopped muttering the same sentence since she arrived.
“Miruko, I’m fucking dead, Miruko.”
“Hawk-”
“I am so fucking dead, Miruko.”
“Hawks-”
“I AM SO FUCKING DEAD, MIRUKO! I AM SO FUCKING DEAD!”
“Stop shouting, birdbrain! Calm the fuck down!”
It is a big fucking hypocrite of her to say that because she herself is far from being calm as well. She had been fidgeting with her fingers since she arrived, repeatedly telling herself that this is a bad idea to get involved but too late now that she is here.
“Okay, calm down calm down,” Hawks mutters as he insistently slaps his cheeks thought it seems to help very little because he is still walking in circle. “Maybe it’s not as bad as I think it is.”
“It is much worse than you think it is.”
“Maybe he is feeling kind today.”
“He will feel seven layers of hell if one of his kids is injured.”
“Maybe he won’t give me the disappointed dad stare.”
“He will give you the disappointed dad stare with Quirk activated.”
“Could you please fucking stop?!” Hawks shouts at her, fingers digging into his hair looking he’s about to lose his mind any second now. “I’m trying to cope here, not for your blabbering bullshit of a mouth to spout shits I don’t want to hear!”
“Well excuse me for telling you the whole truth instead of trying to lie to yourself!” she shouts back, hands raises in mock surrender.
“I fucking know!” Hawks shouts louder.
The pair instantly freezes when the door suddenly slides open.
And entering the room is none other than Eraserhead himself.
He closes the door behind him so very quietly that it barely screeches against the sill. The lower half of his face is covered by his scarf. The upper half is partially hidden behind his black hair. He doesn’t even give her or Hawks a single glance as his silent feet (again, it’s very creepy especially to her sensitive ears) carry him to his kid’s bed. He stands there beside the bed, looking down at his kid before he gently places a hand on the kid's hair.
Holy shit the beeping machine is so loud. And is that her heart beating? Why is it so loud?
Despite the docile gesture, he is emitting an astounding presence. The amount of tension in this room is through the roof that even she is sweating, and she had nothing to do with this except for moral support for Hawks. And the birdbrain of a Hero is even worse than her. He’s already shaking in his boots, partially hiding behind his own wings as a last resort of defense to what Eraser might throw at him. The Underground Hero barely makes any other move beside his hand ruffling bird kid’s hair.
…
…Is anyone going to say anything?
She doesn’t know how long the time has passed since Eraser arrived, yet not once had he said a single word. She’s not taking a chance to look out the window the gauge the sun’s position in the sky but she’s a little too scared to tear her eyes away from Eraser, not sure what he will do. From the corner of her eyes, she sees Hawks’ wings slowly part as the number two Hero begins to speak.
"N-Now, Erase-" Hawks’ sentence instantly stops when Eraser exhales loudly while keeping his gaze on the kid. Hawks swallows hard and loudly and he is a lot stiffer right now. Eraser has yet to utter a single word. The atmosphere is a lot more stifling than ever before.
She finally decides to take a chance and glances out the window from the corner of her eyes. The sun barely moved from the last time she saw it, meaning there’s barely time passed since Eraser had arrived, yet it felt so long.
Is this what Ryuukyuu and the other Heroes felt before in front of Eraser not too long ago?
And how long is he going to stand there silently? How long will he keep them waiting? Is he really just going to stand by his kid’s bed and leave Hawks standing as stiff and straight as a plank and she stands by the side sweating for ten minutes or so? Is this their punishment? Or is this the calm before the storm?
She really shouldn’t have gotten herself involved.
She startles when Eraser suddenly releases a quiet sigh. He removes his hand from the bird kid’s hair and shoves it into his pocket. He straightens his back but has yet to turn towards them.
“Explain.”
His voice washes over her like cold water; emotionless, monotonous, no trace of hint of what he is thinking right now, what he is feeling right now, no idea what he will do to them, especially Hawks. The number two Hero shrieks quietly as his wings quiver before he swallows in encouragement.
“W-Well, you see uh… Eraser…” He swallows again. “We were on a patrol. One night.”
“Nighttime?”
“Yes. I-I know that his Quirk is aggressive at night but Tsukuyomi has better control of Dark Shadow recently! They can work together with less trouble at night now. So uh…” Hawks trails off, as if waiting for Eraser to interject or something.
All he met is total silence from the older man.
“W-We uh…” Hawks starts again, stuttering. “We were on the roof last night. On a fairly high building. And I asked him about his bird related Quirk. I asked if he could…”
She looks at Hawks when he pauses a little too long. The amount of sweat he is producing has now doubled, and his bottom lip is quivering between his teeth.
“…fly…” he mutters out quietly. She gives him a raised eyebrow look, not quite believing what she is hearing.
‘He did not mean that he…’ She slowly turns her attention back to Eraser, gauging his reaction, wondering if he also catches what Hawks had implied.
A few tips of his hair start to float. She could see him rolling his shoulders, as if trying to keep himself from lashing out and calm down.
“You told him to fly even though he said he couldn’t numerous times,” He states with even voice.
“Yes…” Hawks affirms quietly.
“But you pushed him off a building anyway.”
“Yes…”
“And you ignored his cry for help until the very last minute but still left him injured.”
“Yes…”
“And then you tried to hide it from me?”
“…Yes…”
Eraser slowly turns around to face Hawks, finally giving them a full view of the absolute rage dominating his deeply scowling face.
“Are you even a Hero?”
Hawks winces, drawing his wings closer. She watches as Eraser tries to smooth his feature, trying to push down the scowl but having a hard time. Once she witnesses his eyes glowing red for a split second, with his hair floats in the air before he squeezes his eyes shut. He takes a slow deep breath, holding it for a moment before releasing it.
“I am removing Tokoyami from your care. I would’ve done more severe actions due to your misgivings, but doing so will throw the country in disarray. Instead, I will let Tokoyami decide what to do with you when he wakes up. You will be extremely fortunate if he forgive you. But just so you know, you’re on my marked list. Understood?”
“Yes…”
“Understood?”
“Yes sir, Eraserhead, sir!” Hawks answers rigidly, even standing straight like a soldier. It seems good enough for Eraser, seeing his feature eases slightly.
Then, his eyes turn towards her. Now it is her turn to be stiff as a board, but the look he is giving her is not as hard as he gave Hawks.
“I hope you will not following his route with my kids, Miruko.”
“I will never,” she replies instantly. Eraser blink slowly and his feature relaxes a little bit more, accompanied by a quiet sigh.
“Will you be coming to UA later, Miruko?”
At the question, she manages to ease her spine so she doesn’t have to be so stiff.
“What, preparing for a date?” she manages to tease with a smirk.
“More like to prepare for the migraine you will cause.”
And just like that, the tension instantly dispersed. She quickly finds herself relaxes and the smirk is easier now.
“Ouch, man.”
“At least, you’re not as braindead as this Hero.”
“You don’t have to say it like that,” Hawks mutters at the side, curling in on himself with a little pout.
“Are you refuting me?”
“No, sir!”
“Sorry Eraser, I’ll be busy today so I don’t think I can make it,” she says, accompanying her words with an apologetic smile. Eraser blinks again, now his posture relaxes and is back to his usual slump posture.
“Just don’t miss out Bakugou’s internship.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not as braindead as this Hero.”
“Miruko!”
“What? He’s right, you know,” she gives the number two Hero a toothy smirk. He gives her a look of betrayal.
Eraser merely hums as turns around and grabs a chair. He pulls it to the bed before sitting down right next to the bird kid’s head.
“The two of you can scram. I already have enough headaches just for today and I don’t want to see Hawks’ face for a week.”
Hawks flinches at his words before slumping in defeat with drooping wings.
“Sorry, Eraser…”
“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to him when he wakes up. Now go.”
Hawks shuffles his way out the door, dragging his wings behind. She lingers a little bit before walking over and stands by Eraser’s side. The way he sits there reminds her of the time the frog girl got hospitalized.
“I’m sure he will be fine,” she tries to reassure. She takes a dare to put her elbow on his head, mimicking the same thing from not too long ago. He doesn’t bat her away, merely huffing. She takes that as a win.
“He will be,” he replies with full confidence. “Tokoyami is a strong kid. A fall like that won’t deter him, though I thoroughly wished he didn’t fall at all.”
“Yep.”
“Now go. You have Hero stuff to do.” He pushes her arm off from his head and shoos her away.
“See you tomorrow, Eraser.”
“Yeah.”