Chapter Text
"Dabi, don't do this." Hawks was on the floor pushing himself backward and away from Dabi, who was on fire, getting closer and closer with each step. "You're the one who messed up, Keigo." Dabi maliciously chuckled. Hawks got his game face on. He adjusted his visor and stood up. "I don't want to do this..." said Hawks, he genuinely did not want to fight Dabi.
Over these last months that they had worked together, they had developed some sort of friendship, if one could call it that. But the commission made Hawks do the unthinkable. From one day to another, he had to turn on the league... crushing every bond he had established. And the one most affected... was Dabi. He considered Hawks a partner, perhaps a friend even. And the traitorous acts on the league from Hawks's behalf reverted him back to the cold-hearted man he was before.
"Scared you'll lose?" Dabi's expression was a mix between disappointment, anger, pain, and insanity. It was a kind of crazy smirk, while it showed the pain Hawks had caused him.
Hawks put his left foot back, in a stance as if he were about to run track. He propelled himself forward, ramming Dabi in the stomach. But as he flew forward, pushing Dabi, he realized that something was holding his wings. Dabi's hands were on his wings.
"No more feathers, no more Hawks." Dabi's hands lit with potent blue fire. Hawks instantly grunted and stopped flying, if he continued with dabi'snfire on them, they'd burn to crisp. Then he dropped Dabi on the ground, but he kicked him, tripping him and pinning him (hawks)on the ground, his stomach facing down.
"Say goodbye to your fame and reputation, Keigo Takami." He gently placed his hands on hawks' wings, and then his arms set ablaze again. Hawks's flammable wings continued the fiery blue burn in a split second. Hawks was Wincing and yelling on the ground, he was in absolute agony. He couldn't stand the pain.
"Now you get to feel what I felt, lying bitch.Just that you get to feel that pain physically." Said Dabi, clear anger in his voice. Hawks was now restless on the ground. His feathers were gone. Only 5 remained, and they were at the League of Villains hideout, in Dabi's possession. Hawks was on the verge of crying. He had now not only lost Dabi and his status with the league, but he had also lost his place as a hero, he had lost his dignity and pride. It all went down the drain. This, was the last day the pro hero Hawks, would stand.
"I... I'm sorry..."
"Should've thought 'bout that regret before you turned on us. I should kill you right now. But seeing you lose everything feels much more fitting." He huffed and chuckled sadistically as he turned around and simply paced out into broad daylight. Large crowds watching him. He smirked and snapped his fingers, in a flash, a warp gate opened under him and he fell into the warp.
Not much later... Hawks weakly paced out. His best friend, pro hero Mirko, rushed to his aid. "Keigo!" She noticed, in a moment, burn marks on his back. "Keigo... your wings... he..." Hawks nodded in shame and disdain. "Get me out of here, Mirko..." Hawks pleaded. Mirko nodded and carried Hawks out of the scene, avoiding the media's overwhelming questioning.
A few hours later, Hawks was at the commission building, getting a scolding from his higher-ups. Meanwhile, at his agency, his sidekicks were deciding what to do now. Mirko was with Hawks, during his scolding as emotional support. However, Hawks was numb. The words went in and out of his head, he was too busy thinking about Dabi.
"Hawks! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!" Hawks snapped out of his deep thinking after that yell from one of the men scolding him. "Yes sir..." Mirko tightly hugged Hawks. He laid his head on Mirko's shoulder. The man huffed "you may leave... we'll contact you if we find anything you can do." Hawks nodded, he walked out with Mirko.
At Hawks's apartment, he laid on his bed just staring at the ceiling. Mirko was pep-talking him, as he suddenly felt a touch on his wings. He sat up and checked his back, but no wings. He sighed, but he still felt tapping... he realized... Dabi still had those five feathers. This was probably his way of reminding him of how he had lost. How he was now a worthless nobody to the hero community. He fell from the peak to rock bottom in a matter of minutes. He grabbed his head, in stress, Mirko sat beside him and hugged him. "Everything will be ok, Keigo." Hawks let go of his head and he laid it on her lap. Once again, falling deep into overthinking. Mirko stroked her hand through Hawks's hair supportively. "Everything will be ok..."
A few hours later, Mirko was in pajamas. "I'm staying over, I'll be in the other room, k?" She asked Hawks. This was normal. She would stay over every time Hawks felt self-conscious or anxious. And this was probably the worst she'd seen him in years. It wasn't a situation that she could skip. "Mhm..." replied Hawks, with a droopy tone. Mirko was quite concerned, she usually has plans and ideas to cheer Hawks up, but it was usually some sort of hero party or event. But doing that with this situation would probably make him feel worse. "Wanna watch a movie? Comedies always cheer'ya up." Mirko smiled, showing that she really just wanted him to be happy
Hawks slightly smiled "sure, thanks Mirko." Mirko nodded and walked to the kitchen, to get some buttered popcorn ready. Hawks loved popcorn, and no, not just cause its corn and he's like a bird. Minutes later, Hawks was on the living room couch, as Mirko brought the popcorn and drinks. The truth was, not only did Hawks like comedy movies and popcorn, he loved being pampered and cared for, and luckily for him, Mirko was a pro at this. But he still had that odd empty feeling... he used to watch movies with Dabi like this sometimes. He'd make the popcorn with his fire, but he'd usually burn it on accident. He was trying to get his mind off of it, and Mirko was helping a lot. But it didn't fully fade, the feeling lay deep inside him... and it was horrible.
Mirko played one of his favorite movies, Hawks was a true softie when it came to movies, he loved Disney. Actually, Mirko had given him a year subscription of Disney+ for his birthday. So they scouted a movie to watch, from marvel to bird documentaries to princess movies. Everything Disney, he loved. In the end, Mirko went with one of Hawks's absolute favorites, Bambi. He loved animals, and Mirko did too, so they decided it was the best movie to play. They watched for a while and Hawks forgot about the void and bad thoughts lingering endlessly in his head, until again, he felt the tapping on his feathers. "Why, Dabi...why." He thought to himself, as he faked a smile for Mirko, who was doing her best to cheer him up. He had to keep up the act that he was now better and that Dabi wasn't terrorizing him. Now more than ever, he had to seem strong.
Hawks had fallen asleep on the couch last night while watching the movie. So Mirko had carried him over to his bed. When he woke up, he went over to check the room Mirko was in. She was still fast asleep. He smiled softly, happy that she had stayed. He walked over to the kitchen, to make his morning coffee. He'd send his feathers to get what he needed to make it, but he remembered. No more feathers... he walked over to a cupboard on the other side of the kitchen and grabbed some coffee powder. He put it in his coffee maker and easy peasy, coffee. But it wasn't as easy as usual... he, with a sigh, went over to the couch and turned on the tv. He'd watch a movie, the news or a TV show to distract himself of his problems. As soon as he turned on the TV, was the news. Showing his defeat. This made him feel like absolute shit. It was official... but soon, something good was going to happen. Now, was soon. Hawks now recieved a phone call. He checked who it was, it was an unkown number. Hawks answered. "Hello?" It was the commission. "Hawks, this is the commission of public safety. We've found you a good job." Hawks was intrigued "Yes?" He replied, curious. "We believe, that you could be a great teacher. We've spoken to Nezu, and he'd be glad to have you as a teacher to the hero courses." Hawks was confused. He'd never considered a path in teaching. Suddenly, mirko woke up, he walked over to the couch where hawks was. "Hey, keigo." Hawks put the phone down. "Good morning Mirko." Mirko noticed he was on a call, and smiled and walked away, over to get some coffee for herself. "I'll consider the offer. Thank you." He hung up. Mirko came back.
"Who was it?"
Hawks sighed. "The commission."
"Oh... and?"
"They... offered me a job... as a teacher at UA..." hawks was unsure of what to do.
"Thats great! You can shape the next generation, Keigo!"
"I still don't know if to take it..."
"I'm sure you'll find what you want to do soon."
"I hope so..." here came the memories of when dabi spoke to him about this... about their future...
For the next few hours, and days... hawks was in denial and contemplation, he was clueless about everything, it was as if his life had lost its purpose and meaning. and to him? it had. but this job offer lingered in his mind, much like the thought of dabi. he still felt bad for turning on the league. on may 18th at 9:18PM he decided what he would do the following day. he would get his shit together and act like a human being that isn't addicted to alcohol and his couch. With a sigh, he curled up in his bed, stress flowing through his body, but somehow he managed to sleep...
And the next morning, that, was the day our favorite bird got his shit together, it would've been much easier if dabi weren't a man with the power of premonition or who knows what because somehow he knew that today hawks has stuff to do, and he decided to torment keigo with his feathers this morning. But he had to ignore it. he had to at least try... So he got into some clothes, and walked to UA.
"you can do this,keigo. its easy. just walk in and talk to nezu, get the job." Pep talking himself was always, and when i say always i mean every single time, useless. it just made him stress more. He had to keep it together, the touch of dabi's hands on his feathers had apparently stopped, so this helped him calm down a bit, he hoped that he wouldn't return to making him feel like shit during the interview, that way he could at least go through that without being bothered, but he would be worried over it happening all throughout the interview. He just had to hope
with seemingly confident steps, he walked inside UA and to principal nezu's office, he was going to take the job. Now the question is, can he handle both the interview and the job? We'll see how it goes,but first....
"I'll make your life hell, keigo... you don't deserve to get another job. Out of all the people, once you lost everything, I thought you'd understand... apparently I was wrong." With the end of that sentence, a light blue flame lit at the tip of dabi's hand "I'll see you soon, birdy..."