Chapter Text
“Do we have visual on the target?”
“Visual confirmed. The deal has been completed and target is on the move.”
(Name) hums, narrowing her eyes when the target round the corner to the path her car is parked across from. “I’ve got eyes on the target. We’re in the clear.”
Then, as if those very words were a trigger of some sort, their target—Hanamiya Kenta—pauses halfway down the sidewalk, freezing much like a deer in headlights. From where her car is parked, (Name) can just see the tension that enters the man’s form as his head swivels around in search of something. Abruptly, his eyes zero in on her, and she stills from the shock of being noticed for the millisecond before Hanamiya breaks into a run.
“Shit,” (Name) curses, throwing the door of her car open to all but fling herself out into the open. “We’ve been compromised!”
There are various sounds of confusion over the comm. link as everyone is thrown into a flurry of unexpected movement. What was supposed to be a distant stakeout to get a better idea of Hanamiya’s movements and associates has now turned into a chase that could potentially jeopardize the operation they’re trying to orchestrate.
“Must’ve been the bastard’s quirk,” someone seethes into their earpiece, but (Name) is more occupied with trying to make sure she doesn’t lose sight of Hanamiya as the criminal tries to shake her off his trail by running straight into a crowd, dodging around the masses to make it harder for (Name) amidst the chaos.
She’d scoff if she had the time. Like she’d let some two-bit drug dealer outsmart her.
“Kyushu RPB,” she announces to the crowd, yelling as loud as she can without wasting too much breath. “Move!”
Maybe the people milling about have the sense to actually listen to the police. Her colleagues will probably tell her they listened because she’s terrifying, but (Name) doesn’t care as long as they’re not getting in her way.
She grins, baring her teeth when she begins gaining on Hanamiya. With only a few more meters between them, she’s confident she has the man.
As it turns out, she did not, in fact, have the man. She would’ve had him if not for a scarlet blur swooping in at the last second, startling her enough to nearly make her trip over her own feet while she gapes at Hanamiya who is now groaning into the cement of the footpath.
This is because the one who does have him is none other than Wing Hero: Hawks.
The crowd breaks into cheers once everyone else has also registered what just happened, shouting praises at Hawks while he grins coolly at all of them, pulling Hanamiya off the ground to zip-tie his hands together.
“Hawks,” (Name) grumbles, dragging her feet in the process of pushing through the crowd to get to the perpetrator who was supposed to be her arrest.
Over the comm., the team that had been assigned to today’s stakeout expresses their sympathy for her predicament. If asked, the Kyushu Regional Police Bureau will blatantly deny disliking working with their city’s patron hero.
They would also be blatantly lying.
“It’s okay,” Minatozaki Momo tries weakly. “Maybe (Surname)-chan can convince him to hand his paperwork in on time.”
(Name) doesn’t really register what her colleague has to say, too busy with elbowing people out of her path. “Get out of my way,” she seethes, glaring back at the few dirty looks she gains. It only takes one look at the scowl on her face for most people to scamper out of her way, unwilling to test the woman who looks like she’s on some kind of warpath.
A few blocks away, Minatozaki Momo and Takeda Shun come to an abrupt pause on their way to the location of the younger detective, exchanging looks of horror.
“(Surname) will be the one to lead the exchange of the perpetrator, right?” Takeda asks slowly, eyes wide.
Minatozaki nods shakily. “Oh, dear,” she mutters, hurrying to connect to the comm. again. “(Surname)-chan? You can’t curse at the bigshot hero, okay? You can’t.”
(Surname) (Name) huffs at the plea in Minatozaki’s voice, finally pushing her way to the center of the crowd where Hawks is stood, waving at his admirers indulgently while Hanamiya sits petulantly at the hero’s feet, struggling against the binding on his wrists.
The criminal catches sight of her first, letting out a yelp and wilting under her glare, attracting Hawks’s attention as well. Following Hanamiya’s gaze, the hero traces it to the woman who flashes her police badge at him very briefly before ducking to haul the villain to his feet, impatience clear in the way she very nearly lifts Hanamiya clean off his feet.
Hawks watches with mild amusement as the detective snaps on a pair of quirk suppressant cuffs to the villain’s wrists as well, blandly reciting his rights to silence and a lawyer in the process of declaring that Hanamiya Kenta is being taken into custody on accounts of unlawful possession and distribution of opiates.
Finally, she turns her attention to the hero himself, her lips pressed into a thin line as tension enters the furrow of her brow in unhidden irritation.
“Hello, detective,” Hawks greets, eyes gleaming with what she thinks might be amusement or interest even behind that tinted visor of his.
“I had it under control,” she informs him shortly and without any preamble, exercising the bare minimum of control over her distaste. “However, it’ll be recorded as your arrest,” she continues, her jaw tense, “so remember to send in the paperwork for it.” Levelling the hero with a pointed stare, she emphasizes, “On time.”
Looking amused, Hawks hums, lips stretched into a wide close-lipped smile as he leans in closer to peer at her. “My, you’re a prickly one, aren’t you, detective?”
“I don’t get paid to be nice to people,” she responds, turning to pull Hanamiya away to the police cruiser parked to the side. She’s expecting to be done with the conversation (if it could even be called that), so when the rustling of feathers follows right behind her, she pauses to stare incredulously at the hero by her side. “What are you doing?”
“You mentioned that he’s a drug dealer, right?” Hawks questions, nodding at Hanamiya. “Say, why would an entire team of detectives be after one measly criminal?” When her eyes narrow at him, he only shrugs. “You can’t say it’s none of my business. He’s my arrest, so I have the right to know.”
Unfortunately for (Name), he has a point in that he has the legal claims to ask for any and all details pertaining to the man he has apprehended.
She considers telling the hero to fuck off but thinks better off it just in case he decides to try and exact revenge on her by delaying his paperwork for as long as possible, thereby delaying her own paperwork because she won’t be able to hand it in without his report as evidence of the arrest. (Name) has never met Hawks in person before but he seems like he might do something of the sort if she got him feeling petty enough.
So, she only heaves a heavy sigh to really rub her displeasure in. “It’s not just about him,” she admits, jostling Hanamiya’s arm pointedly. “Drug dealers usually operate under entire networks, and we need to be prepared for every possibility, hence the team.” She pauses before adding, “We’ll need an interrogation separate from just his confession.”
(Name) doesn’t even need Hawks to open his mouth to know what he is going to ask next and she’s already dreading it because she has no ground to refuse him on.
“Can I sit in on the interrogation?”
Personally, she has nothing against Hawks. Or heroes in general for that matter. If anything, she respects and admires most of them for the work they do. However, she can’t deny feeling a little resentful of how the public has begun to look down on the police force simply because their involvement is more often than not behind the scenes when compared to daylight heroes.
Hawks probably stepped in because he assumed a petty crime must’ve taken place when he saw an angry woman chasing a seedy looking man down the streets. However, she knows that it will read as the police needing a hero to step in for even something as simple as this.
(Name) is aware that she has plenty of flaws, but incompetency is most decidedly not one of them and she hates that it is the label that so many have come to associate with the police.
Moreover, it just had to be Hawks. She knows he’s a great hero and fully deserving of his ranking, but the entire National Police Agency is wary of his involvement in any ongoing cases because the man’s handling of reports and paperwork is absolutely atrocious. With how many conflicts he resolves on the daily, his office is swamped with unfinished administrative works and the frequent holdup on his end puts everything else on pause for them too.
And it’s no secret that the hero is a bit of a control freak who feels the need to hold onto every detail of a case he is involved in until he has completely taken over it.
(Name) refuses to let that happen here too.
So, she scowls at him and turns away without answering, shoving Hanamiya into the backseat of the cruiser before rounding the vehicle at top speed to dive into the empty passenger seat, strapping herself in at almost inhuman speeds because it means getting away from Hawks’ shit-eating grin that much faster.
“Dri—"
“Drive.”
She isn’t the one who gives the heartfelt urging and she turns to blink at Takeda blankly, wondering why he’s just as eager to get away. It seems that Minatozaki understands his urgency on a spiritual level as well though because she floors it without needing any further encouragement, sending them cruising down the streets of Kyushu in no time at all.
“We’re proud of you, (Surname)-chan,” Minatozaki says, oddly sober for the words she’s saying. “You didn’t try to punch Hawks even once! That’s great.”
Rolling her eyes at her colleague’s theatrics, she shakes her head at them. “I have never physically harmed anyone before,” she points out. “I don’t understand why the both of you are so afraid.”
Two disbelieving looks are immediately sent her way and (Name) frowns before sighing and looking away.
“Okay, fine—I’ve never physically harmed anyone undeserving before.”
“I was afraid because Hawks looked like he kind of deserved it if your face was anything to go by,” Takeda inputs.
He earns a glare from Minatozaki. “Don’t encourage her to start!”
“Oh, I assure you, I will not need encouragement if I ever feel like someone needs a good punch to the face,” (Name) scoffs, turning to look out the window. Her gaze drifts upwards to peer at the sky and she frowns at the blur of red that passes by, heading for the same direction as them. “And if I’m right, then I’ll have more chances to give Hawks a shiner because it looks like he’ll meet us back at the precinct.”
Takeda groans. “That’s great. You know she’s never been wrong before, Momo,” he addresses Minatozaki. “What if she really does punch him?”
“I won’t,” (Name) chips in, earning bewildered stares from them. “It’s not going to deter Hawks in the slightest if the last few minutes have been anything to go by, and I’d rather not waste my time when there are so many other things to do today.”
Minatozaki looks at her reproachfully. “You won’t make your poor coworkers work overtime again, will you?”
Shooting her a challenging stare, (Name) clicks her tongue in disapproval. “Don’t make me say it if you already know.”
“I’ll never understand you, (Surname)-chan,” Takeda comments. “You just don’t ever seem to stop.”
She hums, lips twitching up in a smile that flits past just as quickly as it comes. “And I don’t intend to stop either.”
“She’s absolutely terrifying, Kenta-kun.”
“Is it too late to transfer departments?”
(Name) raises her eyebrows at him. “What—you want to get assigned to traffic control?”
“Ugh.”