Chapter Text
There were three central priorities in Todoroki Fuyumi’s life. She had plenty of concerns and things to do, but only three things directed her everyday life:
Natsuo, Shouto, and keeping their family and its troubles a secret.
The first two were common sense, an urge to help and protect her family that probably came from her mother. She simply wanted them to be okay, and she’d do anything to make that possible.
Once, there'd been another name on that list. He was gone.
The final piece was less explainable, but it made just as much sense to her. It was easier if no one knew about the mess of their lives. Safer. Her father was a hero, their lives would be made into ruins if anyone knew how much of a mess they already were. People didn’t badger any of them, and it let them pretend their lives were normal.
It had been an obsession to keep it all secret when she was younger, when the ashes of Touya were still fading and her mom vanished in Shouto’s screams, but it had turned into one of the thoughtless motivations that guided her actions.
Sometimes, when Shouto actually cried to her or when she and Natsuo held onto each other, she would wonder if it would have been better to tell someone.
She’d always brushed aside the thought. There was no other possible choice.
She went to school every day, cooked dinner, cleaned, and did whatever household chore was required of her. She helped Natsuo with his homework, and they’d sit and talk about their days. He was the only friend she had, and she was beyond thankful that they were still close.
The only thing she could do for Shouto— because she was a weak, petulant girl— was bandage his wounds. So, it was what she did every chance she could, and she never delayed it when she knew he’d need it.
There was another important person, one who took much precedence and she’d made her Wednesday schedules around, but she wasn’t on Fuyumi’s list. She’d go back to Natsuo or Shouto immediately if they called, as much as it hurt her to say it.
She was walking to the hospital where her mother stayed. It was a weekly activity, and she was already planning her night to get everything done. She was well accustomed to the long walk between the train station and the hospital, but it always proved to be incessantly annoying.
And, she hadn’t eaten her lunch. She had to walk it over to Natsuo after he forgot his.
If she walked into the hospital lightheaded and weary, the nurses would know. After two years of visiting they must have figured out she wasn’t exactly coming with parental support— from the parent who was still in her house, at least— so they tended to watch her closer.
She paused, glancing at the time on her phone.
She usually arrived early, so it wouldn’t hurt to get there right on time. Her eyes darted around at the streets nearby, finally feeling regret at her lack of attention to them.
Several minutes later, she was holding a cold pastry and looking for a place to sit down. She had half an hour until her appointment.
She’d been close to giving up and simply standing against a dirty wall when her eyes caught a staircase. It was leading up to parking for inhabitants of the building it was attached to, but it also happened to go to the roof.
It wasn’t illegal to sit on a roof, she was sure.
Her backpack was heavier than she liked, so she was looking forward to finally sitting down.
The roof, however, was not the peaceful emptiness she’d been expecting.
The person laying near the ledge shot up, looking at her like Natsuo did when she discovered his stash of unhealthy snacks.
That was odd.
He couldn’t be older than her, with messy blonde hair that looked like it had been through a fan. Yet, the thing that caught her eyes was the large red wings sprouting from him.
“Hello?” he asked meekly, sitting up properly and looking around anxiously. Fuyumi understood the sentiment.
There were several food wrappers and a can of coffee spread around him. He had a windbreaker jacket spread over his lap.
“Um,” she mumbled to herself, her lack of socialization with anyone save for adults backfiring, “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
He shot out his hands, “Oh, no, no! You’re fine! This is just my snack spot.”
Most schools had gotten out less than an hour prior, but he wasn’t in any sort of uniform. If anything, his plain t-shirt and sweatpants were the exact opposite of the stiff uniform she was wearing.
Who was this guy?
In the end, it didn’t matter. She had roughly thirty minutes until she would speak to her mother for a fleeting hour, and then she’d go home to make dinner and tend to the house. She’d still be doing her homework by midnight, but Natsuo and Shouto would both be tucked in bed.
A random winged teenager whom she’d probably never see again wasn’t one of her concerns. She wanted to eat her snack and sit down.
“Okay. Can I sit over there?” she pointed to the opposite ledge that he was near.
“…Sure.”
“I don’t have to if-“
“No! You’re fine, once again! Sorry!” he smacked one of his hands against his face. “I’m just not used to seeing other people… Around here.”
She smiled awkwardly and nodded, walking over to examine the least-disgusting place to sit. She didn’t really want to talk to this guy, but he was still watching her with a perturbed look on his face.
The pastry was good, at least.
She ate it quick enough that she could begin her homework, but it felt like her brain was going to melt if she tried to do any more work. It would be inconvenient for her later, but she was content to stare at the clouds. She sighed with the realization that it’d be raining by the time she left the hospital.
“Did you get that from the place on the corner?”
Her head shot up fast enough to create a small wince, but she looked at the other teenager. He motioned vaguely to the empty container that had been her snack.
“Which corner?”
She could talk to adults easily, but everyone else was making trouble for her. She didn’t like it.
“To the left. Your left.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
“Is it good?”
Why was he so talkative towards a stranger? Everyone at school had learned that she wasn’t social, but he wasn’t taking the hints that she wasn’t exactly giving.
“Sorta. I like my recipe better.”
It was only after the words left her mouth that she realized how conceited they’d sounded, even if she was being honest. She was more than accustomed to lying, but that was about serious things, so when it came to speaking about food, she hadn’t thought far ahead enough to filter her thoughts.
He burst into laughter.
“I didn’t mean that-“ she tried to say, clapping her hands over her mouth, but he was already cackling.
“I mean,” he started through laughter, “At least you’re honest.”
She shook her head, fully aware that her face was red.
He continued with a smile, “I’ve never been. I guess I won’t go now.”
“No! It is very good! I’ve just made this particular thing a lot, so I’m more used to my own version. If you’re able to go, I fully suggest it!”
His laughter had finally faded, “I’m not sure I’m allowed, but maybe one day.”
She nodded, unsure of how to speak anymore now that the laughter over her misspeak had faded.
“I should probably go, actually,” he said as if she knew him whatsoever. “It was nice talking to you, though.”
He gathered all of his trash, stuffing it into obnoxiously large pockets with little grace. His jacket was too big for him. It was only once he was stepping up to the ledge and his obnoxiously large wings spread at least over two meters on each side that she realized he wasn’t about to walk down the steps.
Against all better instincts, she listened to her first thought, “Woah, woah! Don’t do that!”
He had wings. He definitely wasn’t about to jump off the ledge.
She didn’t know that, though, and she was almost offended at his expression as he turned around.
“What?”
He didn’t sound judgmental, only curious, and that felt even worse.
“Um… Isn’t that… Illegal?”
She didn’t really care that much, but it was less embarrassing than stating what her first thought had been. His eyes widened for the fraction of a second, before a smile that almost rivaled the one from before spread across his face.
It felt like looking in a mirror; the smile was as fake as her own.
“Can we keep it a secret, then?” he asked with the plastic grin, lifting a finger to his mouth.
“Sure.”
She didn’t say that her father was the second-ranking hero, nor that she knew his smile was as strong as steel and as fake as the food he’d been eating.
Only once he’d given a thumbs up and ran off the roof, disappearing into the sky, she realized she was still smiling, just as fake as he had been.
Fuyumi stood and walked to the hospital, prepared to see her mom.
Hawks slipped through the window of the large building and into his small, sterile room. He could use the door, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t gotten careful and very strict permission to go out, but the window was more fun.
It also meant he didn’t have to deal with any of the downstairs attendants, and that was always a reason to do something.
He tossed the itchy jacket down and stuffed his snack wrappers into the small trashcan in the corner. He needed a new jacket again. Finding the perfect one to fly around in and still be comfortable on the ground was proving to be difficult.
He fell back onto his bed, curling onto his side and looking at the faded Endeavor plushie peaking out from beneath his dresser.
He didn’t talk to people his age often— or ever. The girl had been nice.
He was certain that he wasn’t supposed to be talking to people, he wasn’t even supposed to let anyone see him, but it hadn’t been on purpose. Flying away the moment she got there would have been even more suspicious, and he’d been told he could talk his way out of anything. It was a much better skill than anyone else made it out to be, it seemed.
Talking to her had been fun, though.
There was something off about her, and it wasn’t the red specks in otherwise white hair— not that odd hair colors were too uncommon. He couldn’t blame her for being less than willing to talk to a stranger on a roof, but something about the way she spoke was weird. She was like a formal adult, despite looking to be around his age.
Besides, he was quite sure that anyone who went up to a roof simply to eat some food wasn’t on the side of normal.
Maybe she’d be there tomorrow.
If she was, and if he got caught talking to her, he’d probably be restricted to the compound and supervised outings for the next two years. He’d only had the privilege for a few months, and he didn’t want to lose it.
What was the point if he didn’t even have fun, though? He smiled to himself.
He’d be careful, and he’d make sure not to get caught. Everyone knew he was a good enough liar to fool even his handlers, even if he’d never used it before. He didn’t intend on lying to them now.
Besides, the girl might not even be there again. She never had been before.
She wasn’t there the next day. He pushed down any disappointment and ate his snack, enjoying the nice weather and the fact that it wasn’t raining. It was probably a good thing, in the end.
That was, until a week later when she walked up to the roof yet again, on the same exact day and time as before.
He grinned and waved as if he knew her at all, and she smiled awkwardly. She was holding a homemade container this time, probably with her own preferred cooking than the place on the corner.
“Hey!”
“Hi.”
She turned to her side of the roof and sat down, not giving him another word. It wasn't any more or less friendly than she’d been the last time he saw her, so he simply nodded and turned back to the sky.
One of his trainers for public appearance always warned him that his gaze could be perturbing to strangers, and it had occurred to him only after meeting her that he probably shouldn’t have stared. Really, if he was discovered talking to her, he could just call it practice. Another mistake had been made, and it was before his debut, so it wouldn’t happen again.
It turned out that she wasn’t very talkative. It wasn’t very long before he was standing to go back yet again, and she only offered a kind goodbye with a bright smile.
The same thing happened the next Wednesday.
At least he wouldn’t be getting in trouble, he supposed. It had been fun to talk to her. He’d laughed harder than he could remember doing in a long time.
“I’m sorry, Todoroki-San. Today’s not a good day, so I don’t think it’d benefit you or your mother for you to see her.”
Fuyumi forced herself not to bite her lip as she nodded. This wasn’t the first occurrence of such a situation, but it never got any easier. She put on an appropriate smile, reasoning with it in her head as she had every time this happened.
If she were just a bit stronger she could help her mom-
She stopped the thoughts before they showed on her face. She could fool teachers and classmates, even Natsuo, but this was a trained nurse. On top of that, she spent time with her mother, and Fuyumi’s similarities to her were undeniable.
“Thank you. I can come in tomorrow if she’s better?”
“It would be best to wait until Wednesday and see how things are going. Take care of yourself, Todoroki.”
“All right, thank you. Have a good day.”
Her face was showing far too much pity for Fuyumi’s liking, so she turned and headed for the doors without another word. She wasn’t fully capable of actually hating anyone or anything— part of her ‘weak constitution’— but the way that the nurses made her feel small and helpless came pretty close.
They were doing their jobs, and they were helping her mother in the best way they could. It just hurt that she couldn’t do anything.
The sky was gray and cloudy, a draft of wind blowing past her. It seemed quite fitting. She raised her chin and took a breath, looking up at the tall buildings in the general direction her mother was in.
A red dot in the sky caught her eye.
She’d sat on the roof with the winged teenager several more times, but she hadn’t spoken much after the initial day. She was always pretty stressed and busy, so it had continuously fallen out of her mind, and her social skills weren’t exactly polished. It was easier to be quiet, and he seemed content with it. At least she had a place to sit.
She had considered bringing food for him several times to replace the snacks that he always ate, but she already had a lunch for school and her snack in her backpack, so it was heavy enough. If he asked she’d provide, but he didn’t seem to be doing that. He looked healthy, anyway.
It felt like all of the energy in her body had been drained out of her. Her eyes followed the outline of the red wings and the way they turned, so much unlike the flame quirks that she was used to seeing.
She really didn’t want to go home yet.
It would be the smart thing. Natsuo had soccer for the next two hours, but she still had plenty of things to do. Going home now would mean she could get a relatively large amount of sleep at night— if she fell asleep within an hour, which never happened— and finish more than what she’d planned.
Even if she’d never admit it aloud, mostly for Natsuo’s sake, she did hate being in their house. Their father wouldn’t be home, but the silence always stretched over her like a never-ending flame regardless of his attendance. At least when Natsuo was there they could act as a buffer for each other, providing comfort in the dark place.
She walked to the staircase and made her way onto the roof, looking at the empty space. The winged boy was still soaring around above. It was only once she was on the roof and at a higher altitude that she saw how he was turned; he was looking towards her.
Against all common sense that she lived off of, she brought up a hand and waved.
She didn’t usually want to talk to people when she felt this way. She didn’t really want to right now, either. It wasn’t as if she could say anything.
She didn’t have friends. She didn’t talk her emotions out, since there was no one to talk to. That wasn’t the goal here. Maybe she could get a distraction to keep herself from wallowing in the mess of her family for the whole train ride; she hated when that happened. She wasn’t sure why she waved, but she did know that he was flying closer.
He landed on his usual ledge with perfectly balanced steps, his wings folding in. His jacket was fleece now.
“Hey!”
“Hi.”
“You’re usually gone by now.”
“So are you,” she shrugged.
She didn’t mean to be defensive. It didn’t seem to deter him, at least.
Her eyes were stuck on the ground, where she kicked a small rock a few meters away. She still had homework to do.
“What’s up?” he asked with a tone of awkwardness in his usually confident tone. “You aren’t usually that talkative.”
“Yeah… I was just bored.”
“Huh. What do you usually do up here? Since it’s always on the same day, same time? School stuff… Or something?”
There were things she was used to saying. Things that she could spin into a perfectly formulated lie, ones that she could almost make seem truthful.
“I visit my mom.”
Most people had some sort of reaction, but he only nodded. His sharp eyes didn’t even narrow.
“Oh, that’s cool. Is she busy?”
“Yeah. What about you?”
He shrugged, “I just go out for a fly. You know. Fun stuff.”
Fuyumi was really, really tired.
While she was generally exhausted, she also felt the weight of everything sitting on her shoulders, and her terrible day had topped it off. She’d done quite bad on a test, and Natsuo got into some sort of argument that had him stomping off to her during lunch. On top of it all, her mother was doing badly yet again.
The boy across from her whose name she still didn’t know was definitely lying. Just like her.
She was good at keeping it together. An old memory unfolded in her head, one of Touya saying that it ‘was her thing’ to keep herself together.
Fuyumi burst into laughter.
She didn’t have enough time to will herself not to, because suddenly she was holding a hand over her mouth and blinking tears out of her eyes. It was as if there had never been a funnier thing in the world than the fact that both she and the nameless teenager were lying about their business. Maybe there hadn’t been, she wasn’t sure.
She didn’t laugh very often. She did whatever she could to make Natsuo laugh, and she laughed sometimes at his antics, but it wasn’t like the girls in her class. It wasn’t like people in television shows.
This wasn’t, either. It was too unhinged.
Thankfully, she had enough sense to put herself back together and force down the laughter that the nurses back at the hospital would bring her in for. He was standing there awkwardly, a forced half-smile on his face and his hand on the back of his neck. She must look insane, she thought to herself.
“What’s so funny?”
Nothing seemed funny anymore. Whatever had happened was gone, and her sense had returned. She should go home.
“Ah, just- Everything. I thought of something from school, sorry.”
His eyes narrowed this time, and his wings twitched. Now, he knew she was lying.
“…Did I do something?”
He was a stranger, and he didn’t know her surname, nor that she was related to a hero. He didn’t know the town she lived in or who her brothers were. He didn’t even know that one of her brothers was dead.
“We’re both lying.”
He stiffened, his eyes widening this time. She laughed to herself, squeezing her eyes shut and angling her head upwards. This was all ridiculous. She needed to be at home doing her homework, and then cleaning the baseboards, and then forging her father’s signature for a school paper that needed signing.
“That is a little funny,” he quirked a smile, and it might not have been as fake as the others. It still wasn’t real. “What makes you think that?”
“As I said, I’m lying. It’s not hard to tell when someone else is doing the same thing.”
It looked as if he was going to protest, but suddenly his shoulders slumped even more so than they already were. She’d done the same thing after walking out of the hospital.
“That sucks.”
“Yeah.”
“Mostly that I didn’t know you were lying, honestly.”
“It’s a talent,” she said, the sliver of a genuine grin on her face. It wasn’t out of happiness, but she’d given up for the moment.
“Yeah. I gotta learn that.”
She couldn’t think of a proper response to such a statement, so she nodded and asked the thing that had been irritating her the most, “What’s your name?”
When he inevitably asked her name in return, she’d give her first name. It wasn’t proper and it would be somewhat uncomfortable, but she wasn’t giving her family name. Especially not after he saw her laughing maniacally and heard her admittance to lying.
He stared for an obnoxiously long time— did he have a third eyelid?— before slowly opening his mouth, “Hawks.”
What?
“Are you a hero?”
He looked her age, and he didn’t wear a noticeable uniform, and anyone would recognize those wings. She didn’t pay attention to heroes very much, but she would recognize someone like that, Right? Her heartbeat had sped up and was beating in her ears.
Her father didn’t care enough about her for her to think he had something to do with it, but what if it was some outer hero thing? What if it affected Shouto? She didn’t want to make things worse for him-
“No. Honestly. It’s just a nickname, and I prefer it. Do you have something against heroes?”
He rocked back and forth on his heels, the perfect image of ease and honesty. Too much so, if someone asked her.
“No,” she said quickly, although honestly. “I’d just be embarrassed.”
He nodded, “What’s your name?”
“Fuyumi.”
“Nice to actually meet you,” he stuck out a hand.
She returned it with grace, “You too. Sorry about… That. I’ve had a terrible day.”
“It happens. Are you actually gonna talk now, whenever you’re up here?”
He was rather blunt, and she almost felt offended.
“Maybe. It depends, I guess.”
“Well, I’m gonna talk, so tell me if you’re gonna, like, try to push me off the roof or something.”
Did he think she was a criminal or someone like one? Her reaction to thinking he was a hero had been blunt and uncontrolled— showing how much she needed to get home and to privacy— but she didn’t think it went that far. Besides, she technically didn’t have anything against heroes. He was the one in what could be pajamas so recently after schools let out.
“I won’t. I think… Considering whatever just happened, I need to get home.”
“Maybe take a nap or something.”
“I’ll try, thanks. Have a good day, Hawks.”
“You too!”
The idea of actually napping was laughable. She didn’t think she’d intentionally taken a nap since she was a toddler.
She certainly wasn't a toddler anymore.
Hawks walked in through the doors to the Commission building that he resided in, glancing up at his window. He was only able to sneak in through his window because he always got home early, but he’d nearly gone to his deadline this time.
He was bursting with the unkept energy that talking to someone nice had given him, but he shoved it down to a normal level as he walked in.
Fuyumi wasn’t just a random teenager on a roof anymore. She had a name, along with what must be some problems. She was also terrifyingly good at lying, although only half as good at noticing his lies.
He’d have to work on both of those. A villain would be even more skilled at lying than her, so if she’d learned how to notice it in others, they would have as well. Being able to tell if a possible villain was lying didn’t even need explaining; it was essential.
Maybe she’d give him some practice. He was already trying to figure out in his head if she’d been honest about taking a nap or not.
He still didn’t know much about her, but he was interested. It wasn’t as if he knew how an average conversation with someone his age went, but that couldn’t possibly be it.
He didn’t know her deal, and she didn’t know his, but he was still looking forward to talking to her more. Hopefully, it’d stay that way, seeing as he wasn’t going to tell her his circumstances. Regardless, she was nice, and he liked talking to people. Having someone who was new and actually willing to speak to him was like a holiday for a normal kid.
Halfway through his daily combat training, he wondered if Fuyumi was taking a nap like she’d said she’d try to. The idea of him taking a nap was laughable.
The rest of the week went by normally, and he made sure not to spend too much time focusing on his new snack buddy. If anyone noticed he was acting different, he’d have to explain why, and he didn’t want to do that.
Soon enough, after an averagely long and exhausting week, he landed on the rooftop. She usually took a bit to get there, so he laid back and stared at the birds that flew overhead.
Eventually, his wings twitched with the vibrations from the steps.
He sat up and looked at her, smiling. She didn’t look so worn this time, which he took as a good thing. She smiled at him, and he wondered if it was real. He was intimately familiar with fake smiles.
“Hey!” he said, waving.
“Hi.”
“Are you having a better day?”
She stared for a long moment, standing closer to the center of the roof rather than her usual corner.
“Yeah, I think so. Thanks for asking.”
He didn’t think she was lying.
“Nice! The weather is so great today.”
She hummed in agreement, sitting near him and pulling her backpack open. She had another home-brought container, although it was more full than usual.
“Do you want some?”
He hadn’t eaten his snack bar yet. His coffee was nearly drained, unfortunately.
“Really? You didn’t have to bring me something.”
“It’s leftovers, and my family won’t eat it. You’re usually eating junk food, so I figured it’ll be better. I promise it tastes good.”
“Did you make it?”
“Yeah.”
He pulled a fork out of his pocket and grinned at the immediate wrinkle of her eyebrows, reaching towards the container. It was some sort of noodles, with a lot of other things in it. He didn’t know much, or anything, about food. His meals were made by a chef and based on giving him as much nutrition as possible.
He turned to actually look at her as he ate it, widening his eyes melodramatically and nodding.
“That’s really good,” he said once finished chewing.
“Thanks. I’m glad to hear it.”
“Do you cook every night?”
She shook her head— quickly, without missing a beat; was she lying?— “Just sometimes. I enjoy cooking, though, so it’s a choice.”
He was almost entirely convinced that she was lying. Her answer was confident and ready, like she’d said it a thousand times before.
“That’s cool. I wouldn’t even be able to tell you the difference between… One food thing or another. I really like chicken though.”
“Chicken?”
He nodded, taking another bite, “Fried. There’s nothing better than it, even if it's not healthy, or whatever.”
She laughed airily, and it was nothing like the manic tear-filled laughter from the week before, “I like cooking chicken. I don’t eat it fried much.”
“Are you serious? It’s the best!”
“I’m fortunate enough that most of my meals are home-cooked. I honestly couldn’t even tell you the last time I had fast food.”
It didn’t seem to be a lie, but something about the way she said it was off. She was definitely cooking more than she said.
“One of these days you should get some before you go see your mom.”
She froze for a short second as if she’d forgotten she’d told him that. She’d claimed it to be a lie, and he’d believed it, but now he wasn’t sure. Maybe it was more complicated.
“Maybe. I eat lunch at school, too, so that might be too much food.”
He’d forgotten about school. She wore an obvious uniform, but it wasn’t as if that was something his life revolved around. He had lessons every morning, ones that ended long before he got to go out; he didn’t need all of the useless classes that most students apparently had. He was confident that his learning experience was nothing like school.
“Oh, I didn’t think about that.”
He didn’t say something about his falsified made-up school experience, despite the words forming on his tongue. She’d probably know if he was lying.
They continued idly chatting as they finished the food she’d kindly brought, and he found himself staying longer than usual. She only stayed for around twenty minutes, giving herself time to get to wherever she needed to go, and he found himself wishing it was longer.
She was nice, and talking to her was even nicer. He never got to talk so casually with people, ones who didn’t know him and the finer details of everything around him. Even with both of them giving dodgy answers and lies that the other may or may not be aware of, it was an experience he enjoyed.
He was looking forward to next week.
Hawks reminded her of Natsuo.
Fuyumi hadn’t realized it at first. He was bubbly and talkative, but Natsuo wasn’t like that all of the time. He was that way with her because she was his sister and they were beyond comfortable with each other, but she knew he was one of the quieter people in his friend group. That didn’t make him an actual quiet person, and he was still considerably goofy and loud, but it wasn’t to an extreme.
She’d known that her lack of socializing was a detriment and made it hard to talk to people, but she hadn’t realized the other inevitable effect of the situation. She was accustomed to taking care of everyone. Natsuo might as well have been her best friend, and she took care of him over everyone else.
Her mother's health and status were always more important than she and Hawks’ actual conversation, and it was always the priority in Fuyumi’s mind. The same went for Shouto.
She’d always been that way, supposedly. It was how she’d treated Touya, and she vaguely remembered being that way with her friends before she’d cut them all off. She’d been what her classmates would call the mom friend, and she didn't mind it.
So, she’d slipped into the same idea with Hawks. She didn’t even mind that much.
It was him who seemed to mind. He wasn’t visibly annoyed by it, but he seemed unsure of how to handle it. It wasn’t as if she had people taking care of her. She wasn’t sure she’d know how to take it, either.
As she packed her lunch for the school day on a Wednesday, she fought with herself over what to do. A sort of anxiety had arisen over the idea, and she didn’t really want to act like a big sister to another person— not that there were that many brothers anymore.
She packed leftovers that she’d purposefully made into two small containers. He’d liked her cooking, and it wasn’t as if it had taken her any longer to make. It was on her father's paycheck, anyway. If it kept someone from eating unhealthily, she was perfectly willing to do so.
It wasn’t in the way of Natsuo or Shouto, so she had no qualms about it.
Speaking to Hawks had actually turned out to be fun, even if it was reminding her why she stopped having friends in the first place. She was accustomed to being so cagey with her answers, and it was hard when it was someone she actually enjoyed. For the first time in years, she didn’t want to lie to him.
There wasn’t a choice. He clearly knew that she was frequently lying, and she’d noticed the same about him. It was fine. They spoke for twenty minutes once a week, so it wasn’t a big deal. One of them would probably stop showing up one day sooner or later.
Regardless, she showed up on the roof which a heavy backpack and two small containers of food. Hawks turned around and waved, as always.
“Fuyumi! Hi!”
As she’d figured it’d be, it was uncomfortable to hear her given name from a near stranger, but she plastered on a grin that didn’t feel quite as artificial as the one she’d worn all day and waved.
“Hi.”
She still wasn’t sure how to properly converse, but if he minded, he didn’t show it. She sat near him and pulled out the containers.
“How’s your day?”
It felt a bit like speaking with a customer service worker when he said that, and she didn't like it.
“Pretty average.”
“Oh, cool. I love it, the weather is so nice.”
“It’s too hot for me, honestly.”
He wrinkled his face, pulling out another mysterious fork and taking a bite of the chicken dish she’d made the night before, “Really? I mostly like it because it’s hot enough to not be cold when I fly, but it’s pretty nice down here, too.”
She shook her head, “I hate the heat. I wish it was winter all year round.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Do you really want to eat food made by a crazy person?” she smiled, and it felt more and more real by the second.
“You’re crazy about the weather, but not cooking. Is this chicken?”
“Yes, it’s chicken!”
“I told you I don’t know anything about food!”
Those turned out to be her favorite conversations. Ones that didn’t involve dancing around a subject, but where they could simply talk about what was going on and keep a conversation going. The thought of keeping things a secret was always in the back of her mind, and she pushed it forward with subtle words sometimes, but it went from tense fun to genuine fun.
She actually started looking forward to Wednesdays, and for more than just seeing her mom— which she did feel slightly guilty about, but she’d be happy for her, she hoped.
It turned out that it wasn’t terrible to have someone to talk to, one whom she didn’t consistently worry about the feelings of. She didn’t know him well enough to worry about his feelings, and they both seemed determined to keep it that way.
Regardless of secrets and dodgy answers, it wasn’t a bad situation.
Unfortunately, the rest of her less than lovely life was still quite prevalent, and it decided to show its face about two months after she first saw Hawks on the rooftop.
She ran up the stairs, any food in her backpack forgotten as she thought of everything going on— everything that was always going on.
“Hey- woah, you look terrible.”
Hawks reminded her more of Natsuo— and sometimes, in a painstaking way, Touya— every day.
“Thanks. I’m tired.”
She dropped beside him, pulling out her school binder and the package of food on top of it.
“School stuff?”
In part, yes, she wanted to say. It was also the fact that their father had told Natsuo not to cook anymore because his food was ‘too rich for Shouto’— a completely ridiculous statement— and Natsuo had marched up to him and started shouting the night prior. After the fact, he’d cried to her, because despite everything, they were both emotional when they got angry.
She’d been up half of the night and still hadn’t done any of her work. She was beyond behind in math class, and midterms were coming up. She wouldn’t be getting much sleep that night regardless, but if she could lower her workload by three problems, she would.
“Yeah.”
The look on his face was worriedly relaxed, but his lack of inquisitive questions proved what she’d feared. He knew she was lying.
She pulled out her math papers with more force than necessary, looking at him with the smallest smile she could manage.
“I hate math,” he said, changing the subject much to her relief.
“Me too.”
“What even is that?”
“Algebra.”
He made an ‘ugh’ sound, “That’s stupid. I only really learn the stuff that, I dunno, I’d actually need in the future.”
“I wish I could do that, but I need good grades.”
He laid on his back, staring at the sky as usual. She was only half-tuned into the conversation.
“Do you have strict parents or something?”
She opened her mouth, but promptly closed it again. She stared at numbers that made sense but took far too long to calculate and wished for the thousandth time that things weren’t like this.
Fuyumi decided to be honest.
“It’s more of a personal requirement than anything.”
The last thing her mother needed to worry about was her grades, and her father probably didn’t even know what grade she was in.
“You’re like a mom, or something.”
Fuyumi couldn’t stand it when Natsuo said that, and the words coming from Hawks’ mouth had the same effect.
She stayed quiet and did her work.
Somehow, she ended up being the one who couldn’t stand the following silence. He was always talking, and hearing him so quiet was unsettling.
“Are you homeschooled or something?” she asked, harsher than intended.
“Pretty much.”
She wasn’t jealous. In no mindset in her current life could she ever be jealous of someone having to sit at home all day. She could hardly make it through the weekends, but she’d probably lose her mind if she really had to sit in that house every single day. Yet, the idea of not having to deal with nosy classmates and teachers every day sounded nice.
She gave an affirmative hum, simply to not leave him hanging as she had before.
He was quiet for the most part, eating the food she’d brought and sometimes pointing to a bird or person on the street. She was grateful.
When her phone finally rang with the alarm she’d set to ensure she never lost track of time, she sighed at all of the work she hadn’t completed and stood. He was perched on his toes towards the ledge, looking back at her with a half-smile.
“Thanks for letting me do my work. I know it's not the most ideal thing.”
“No problem. You seem pretty stressed.”
She sighed, “Very.”
“Well, go take a nap, or whatever. Have fun with your mom.”
“We’ll see. Thanks, though. I’ll see you next week.”
“Next week!” he shouted.
She made her way down to the hospital, looking up in the sky for the large red wings only to find that the sky was entirely blue and white.
Hawks couldn’t exactly judge Fuyumi if she overworked herself or didn’t get enough sleep; he did the same thing frequently, and he could only imagine how much he’d do it once he wasn’t being watched so often.
Yet, she seemed determined to work herself into the ground. He didn’t know why she always talked as if she had a million things to do, or why she looked so exhausted, but he was admittedly curious.
It was her secretive business, just like he had his, but he was somewhat worried. She seemed responsible above everything else, much more than him, but how far could that really go in terms of herself?
So, he’d followed her. He hadn’t meant it maliciously, he just wanted to make sure she didn’t walk in front of a car. He’d gone through enough training exercises and seen enough news clippings to know that it wasn’t as far-fetched as she’d probably say it was.
He hadn’t expected her to walk into the psychiatric hospital.
Now he felt really bad.
They’d both been very careful about their privacy and lies, and he had accidentally discovered something that she couldn’t possibly want to tell. He’d only been trying to make sure she didn’t die of exhaustion. Instead, he’d found out why she comes to the city once a week.
He felt even worse because he couldn’t help but try to put the pieces together. She’d admitted once that she was visiting her mom, only to state that they were both lying a few minutes later.
Was she visiting her mom there? Was that why she had implied that her parents weren’t strict?
He clamped his hands over his eyes and groaned, trying to stop his thoughts from prying into her life. She didn’t want him to know, so he shouldn’t know. He had one maybe-friend, and he’d just violated a boundary.
He couldn’t possibly go a full week feeling this guilty. He didn’t want to upset her, but he had to tell her. He felt too bad.
So, he sat on a roof close to the psychiatric hospital and waited.
He’d get back later than intended, but he could always say he fell asleep. It wouldn’t be the first time, nor the latest he’d ever gotten back.
Roughly an hour later, he watched Fuyumi walk out of the hospital. She paused for a moment on the sidewalk, looking upwards for a moment. In the process, she caught sight of him.
A fresh layer of guilt washed over him. He just hoped that his snooping wouldn’t end whatever friendship they had.
He waved, flying to the ground and into an alley. He wasn’t supposed to be seen by many people, and the last thing he wanted was for someone to take a picture of him with a teenage girl and ruin his reputation before it started.
Across the street, he could see Fuyumi waiting to cross. She saw him staring and motioned outwards with her hands, but he couldn’t explain yet.
Moments later, she was walking into the alley. She looked a bit better than before, he thought.
“What are you doing?” she immediately asked.
Against all instinctive habits that had been ingrained into him for ten years, he let his expression drop. He attempted a meek smile, but she didn’t buy it— she wasn’t comforted by it, not like how someone should be. He wasn’t very hero-like today, he supposed.
It was another mistake that he’d never make again, now that he’d done it once. Usually, he was happy to have that confirmation and thankful that Fuyumi had lent it to him, but he couldn’t get past his guilt.
“I just had to apologize. Before a week passed.”
“For what?”
She was visibly concerned, but more for him than her, as far as he could tell. Her voice still held an edge that might have been worry.
He blinked for an obnoxiously long time, unsure of how to word it.
“I followed you. I saw where you go. I’m sorry.”
Her eyes widened impossibly large beneath her glasses, and she had gone as stiff as a board.
He continued, trying to salvage whatever friendship they’d made, “You seemed really off, and I was worried you’d, like, sleepwalk into traffic or something. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I really didn’t mean to intrude, since I know we both have all of our secrets and that seemed okay, I didn’t mean to mess that up-“
“It’s okay.”
“What?”
Against all expectations, a small, tight-lipped smile split across her face. Her smile had always looked genuine, but this one made that seem pale in comparison. It almost seemed sad, and it wasn’t the bright force of kindness that she usually put off, but it was real.
“I get it. It’s okay. I’d prefer you didn’t know, but honestly, I’m surprised you hadn’t seen sooner. You seem pretty nosy, even if you also have your secrets. Besides, it’s nice that you were concerned.”
Any smile he might have put on was gone. Was she serious?
“But…”
“I told you I visited my mom. And I told you I was also lying. This was bound to happen at some point.”
“But I can’t tell you anything about-“
“That’s okay. I don’t care for payback, or whatever. Thanks for your concern, seriously. Most people wouldn’t care that much.”
“I’m sure you have a bunch of friends who’d do the same.”
She was nice and went to an actual school, and she obviously cared about people a lot. It was impossible for someone like that to not live a life like the ones he’d seen in the coming of age movies he was told to watch.
“You’d be surprised,” she smiled dully, glancing at her phone. “I really need to get home, now. But, thank you for caring, and caring enough to apologize. Don’t stress about this for a week, please. I’ll see you next week, yeah?”
There wasn’t much to say.
“Yeah. See ya.”
She smiled and turned away, her steps more hurried than they had been when she first walked out of the hospital.
He didn’t have time to process what had just happened yet, not as he flew into the air fast enough to nearly knock his visor off. He rushed back to the compound as if there was a villain attacking it and he was the only hero on call, and he arrived two minutes before his curfew.
He told his story about falling asleep perfectly enough that they believed it, even with one of his handlers able to hear his heartbeat.
“Why are you smiling?”
Fuyumi turned away from the pot she was stirring to find Natsuo in the doorway of the kitchen. He was still in his soccer uniform, including the general sweat and grossness that running in a field for hours came with.
She still had a lot to do, and it had been a bad day.
Yet, for some reason, what Hawks had done made her feel like smiling. It wasn’t a feeling she felt often, but she liked it.
She’d meant what she said; there weren’t many people who’d care enough to make sure she didn’t ‘sleepwalk into traffic’. Natsuo probably would, but he tended to lack the situational awareness, and she ensured to take care of him. That would go against the point.
She didn’t feel great that he knew she had a mother in a mental hospital. It was one of the looser-kept secrets, one that a teacher had once found out after an email went too far. It still hinted at the disarray in their house, and that fact filled her with extreme discomfort.
But, he’d told her he found out, and she could see the guilt on his face. They’d both let down their cleverly made masks, and she’d spoken to someone besides her family members with nothing but genuine intentions on both sides for the first time in a long time.
She had a friend.
The question was whether or not she wanted to tell her nosy little brother.
Despite all of her attempts to keep him from seeing any of her struggles, she knew it was impossible to hide entirely. They lived in the same burning house, and they’d held each other when they cried as children. He knew that she wasn’t living in paradise either, and he tried to care for her in the ways he could. Being thirteen didn’t give him the best leverage, and she didn’t make it easy, but he was there for her— even if she never willingly leaned on the crutch he provided.
His nose was wrinkled and he was asking with an air of disgust, but it might ease some of his worries about her if she told him. He made fun of her for having no friends, but she knew it wasn’t all mockery.
“I think I made a friend.”
Hopefully, the revelation wouldn’t backfire on her.
His face smoothed over quickly into an unhidden shock before a grin split his face in two, “You? No way, impossible.”
He’d walked closer, giving her the opportunity to lightly hit him on the shoulder. She rolled her eyes, offering him the spoon to stir the pot. He wordlessly denied it, and she regretted it as soon as she remembered the night before.
“Don’t be rude. I can talk to people sometimes.”
“Yeah, teachers. Who is it? Do I know them?”
She shook her head, nerves rising slightly.
“I actually met him in the city. He doesn’t go to our school.”
Natsuo physically backed up from her, his face wrinkling yet again.
“When you go see mom?”
“Yeah, I usually have twenty or so minutes to kill. I found a roof to sit on, and this guy is just always up there.”
Natsuo’s head was downturned, and if she didn’t know him, she’d say he was looking at her like she’d grown another head.
“Is he like… Old? That’s weird-“
“No! Jeez, Natsu. He’s my age.”
“Ew.”
“No, again! You know I don’t even like guys. Why are you so weird?”
“Because you sound crazy! Who meets a random guy on a roof and becomes friends with him?”
“Me, apparently. I know it's weird. But, he’s nice.”
“What’s his name?”
She bit her lip anxiously, “He uses a nickname.”
“And?”
“Hawks.”
“That’s really weird.”
“I know! But, I gave him my given name, just in case he knows our surname or something. So, it's all weird.”
“You finally made a friend, and it's the weirdest place and person ever.”
She swatted at him, “Stop it. He’s nice, really.”
“Whatever you say. Just don’t let him turn out to be a serial killer.”
“He’s not, Natsu. I’m not that stupid.”
“I know, I know. How was mom?”
She smiled down at the pot, envisioning the recipe that her mother had given her, so long ago. She’d changed it to fit her own cooking preferences, but it was originally made by her mom, and that made it special.
“She was doing okay. Better than she has lately. I told her about your soccer games, and she said she was happy for you.”
She always spared Natsuo the details of her visits. She didn’t tell him about all the times her mother had cried to her, or that they’d sat in silence. Her mother's empty stares, frantic words, and missing chunks of hair were certainly something to be kept a secret. The few times that the nurses had pulled her out were to be kept behind shut doors, ones that wouldn’t mess with his life any more than their circumstances already did.
He nodded, “Thanks. That’s good.”
“It is,” she smiled.
“Can you make chicken soon?“
“Why?“
“I want it.”
She drummed her fingers against the counter, a small smile growing over her face, “Can I on Tuesday?”
Before he could barrage her with questions and complaints, the front door opened, heavy footsteps echoing with it.
Natsuo’s face darkened, and he looked at the food that she was still cooking.
“We can eat in your room. I’ve got about ten more minutes to finish this.”
He nodded and hurried out of the kitchen. She turned around and lamented the smile she’d had before, her face now stiff and plastic as she listened to her father's steps echo across the house to his office.
She wished she’d had time to see Shouto before he got home. She tightened her fingers around the spoon at the thought, a feeling of guilt that she was intimately familiar with rising in her chest.
Once the footsteps had faded, she made four plates of food. One went on the table, another on the counter, and the last two in her arms. She could make her futile attempts to allow Shouto to eat in peace, even if she didn’t even know if they worked.
She was up until three that morning, finishing various chores and homework.
The next day felt like trudging through mud, but it wasn’t something particularly unusual. It did put a damper on the whole day, but for the first time in years, she had something real to look forward to: Wednesday.
By the time the day finally came around, she managed to have a normal day. It wasn’t good, but her days scarcely were, so she was content. At least it hadn’t been a complete mess like the week before.
“Hi!” she said before Hawks had even turned around.
“Hey! Was your train late?”
“Only by two minutes,” she said, sitting next to him and handing him a container of the chicken dish she’d made.
In the back of her head it occurred to her that he didn’t even know where her train came from, but she didn’t really care. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a ring from her phone. There were very few people who called her.
She immediately dug it out, her assumptions being proven correct that Natsuo was the one calling her. She held up a finger to Hawks and put it to her ear.
“Natsu? Everything okay?”
There was the sound of voices around him, “Practice was cancelled. It’s gonna rain.”
She accidentally looked at Hawks, who seemed surprisingly nervous. Sure enough, the sky was slowly filling with clouds.
“Is there anywhere else you can go? Didn’t you go to your friend's house last time it was canceled?”
“Yeah, can I again?”
“Of course. Send me the address so I can get you when I get home.”
“I can walk home myself, Yumi.”
“Send me the address anyway.”
“Okay,” he dragged the word out. “Say hi to mom for me. And to your weird friend.”
She looked at Hawks again, who was increasingly more confused.
“Will do. Love you.”
“You too.”
He shouted something at someone else and hung up.
“What was that?” Hawks asked.
“My brother.”
“You have a brother?“
The word three was seconds away from tumbling off her tongue, but she held it. It felt more painful than if she had actually said it.
She nodded.
“That’s cool. Is he little?”
She pushed thoughts of Touya and Sekoto Peak burning out of her head. The last thing she wanted was to walk to her mom while spiraling, and she didn’t want to freak Hawks out.
“Not physically,” she tried to laugh. “But, yeah. He’s thirteen.”
He began to nod before his head snapped towards her, something of interest obviously popping up.
“How old are you?”
Oh. She’d never shared or asked that, had she? She’d forgotten completely about it, even when Natsuo brought it up.
“Sixteen.”
“Me too!”
This was a normal teenager thing to talk about. The experience almost felt surreal.
“I figured we were the same age. When’s your birthday?”
“December twenty-eighth.”
She met his eyes, “Oh, really? Mines December sixth.”
A large smile broke out on his face. Her birthday wasn’t much of a spectacle, just something for her and Natsuo to go out to dinner for, but the coincidence was funny.
“Woah! I didn’t think we’d be that close!”
He was far more excited about it than her, but she smiled nonetheless. It was becoming apparent that, maybe, she wasn’t the only one with a less than average teenage experience.
She glanced at her phone to see a text from Natsuo, giving her the address of his friend's house. Hawks was still smiling enthusiastically, looking at her phone even if he couldn’t see the screen.
An idea formed in her head.
“You have a phone, right?”
His smile didn’t drop or stop reaching his eyes, but it did become less real, “Yeah. Why?”
“Could I get your number? Just in case one of us can’t come one day, or if something indefinite happens. I’d hate to be left hanging.”
“…I don’t think I’d be allowed to. There’s a lot of rules about my phone, and I’m not really supposed to know you.”
“Oh,” she said flatly, seeing the vagueness of his answer and taking it as part of a truth. “So, you don’t have any friends in your contacts?”
“No.”
She didn’t want to push it, but she also didn’t want to be left panicking forever if he stopped showing up. Neither of them knew each other’s full or real names, nor much identifying information.
Her father had never set limits for what money she could spend, and she didn’t spend it on non-necessary stuff. He wouldn’t notice if she had. Several years prior, she’d cracked her phone screen, and may have bought a new one herself.
“What if it was a different phone?”
His smile was all but gone now, but he raised an eyebrow, “What does that mean?”
“I have an old phone in a drawer. I know that’s a bit much, but it would just be in case of emergency, basically. You can have it.”
Staring for an obnoxiously long time seemed to be becoming a habit of his.
“Phones are expensive, though.”
“Money isn’t a problem for me, and it’s cracked anyway. You don’t have to if you don’t want to lie or hide it, I don’t want to force you to do that. But, the offer is there.”
Her anxiety had begun to rise at his silence. After several minutes, much to her relief, a small grin appeared on his face.
“How big is the phone?”
Hawks flew in through his window a week after Fuyumi offered him a second phone, perfectly early. He went through his normal routine before shutting the blinds, something that someone from the outside would undoubtedly document. Thankfully, he always shut them.
Once the room was dark and private, he reached into his pocket and pulled out an old phone, several large cracks running across the screen. There was a notification from Fuyumi, whom he’d labeled with a simple smiley face in the contacts of the phone.
:): fly safe!
He smiled, liking the message and ducking down towards the bottom of his dresser. He pulled out the old Endeavor plush, staring at it for a long moment. It had always been some sort of sign of hope, so now it could hold his way of contacting his one and only friend.
He grabbed one of his sharper feathers and made a simple, thin cut along one of the seams. It would look like it had just snapped from overwear.
No one had ever taken the plushie. He’d held onto it as a child, and the Commission didn’t exactly see hero paraphernalia as a bad thing. Now, they probably didn’t even remember he’d had it. It wasn’t in his file that he wasn’t supposed to have seen.
Without taking any of the stuffing out, he slid the smaller device into the plushie and tucked it back under the dresser.
He was nervous. If he got caught with a secret phone he’d be in a lot of trouble, and if they traced the contact, so would Fuyumi. He didn’t want her to get in trouble with whoever took care of her.
He’d make sure it stayed hidden. He was doing good keeping any unusual happiness out of his actions, and keeping a secret wasn’t too much of a burden. If anything, it was just more practice for when he was a hero. He looked at the plushie sitting under his dresser, the ‘just for emergencies’ phone tucked inside of it.
Out of responsibility to keep it a secret, he didn’t pull out the phone during the day. He was too busy for it, anyway. By the time he laid in his bed to sleep, his bones and wings felt like sinking into the mattress.
Even so, in the darkness, he pulled the phone out of the plush.
It was supposed to be only for emergencies, but he wasn’t good at listening to things like that. Besides, he was used to only talking to Fuyumi for twenty minutes a week, which sucked, all things considered.
hawks: helllooo
It was pretty late, but Fuyumi wasn’t exactly the epitome of a healthy sleep schedule, no matter how she acted. He shut his eyes, the phone beside him concealed from view of the doorway. He’d make sure not to fall asleep with it out; that would be a terrible way to start off hiding a secret phone.
After about a minute, the phone screen silently lit up.
:): is there an emergency
hawks: no i’m bored
hawks: what r u doing up so late
She took several minutes to respond this time.
:): trying to replace a light bulb
hawks: i don’t know how to do that
:): i do
:): but im too short for this one
He nearly snorted, too accustomed to speaking to her aloud.
hawks: HAHA don’t u have a ladder or whatever
:): i do but i’m trying to be quiet
:): most people actually sleep at this time
hawks: ur also awake
hawks: and i’m falling asleep
:): then go to sleep
hawks: so u can focus on ur lightbulb?
:): yes
:): and so u can sleep
hawks: u should too
:): homework
hawks: screw that
:): okay goodnight
hawks: bye!
He waited a moment for another response, but none ever came. He carefully tucked the phone back into the plush, ensuring it was as concealed as possible.
He was happy he’d accepted the phone. It meant he’d actually be able to talk to his only friend for more than twenty minutes a week.
Four days went by before he had a chance to pull out the phone again. It had hardly crossed his mind, considering all of his training and how exhausted it made him.
Yet, the next Monday, he remembered to bring the phone on his flight. He only went to his rooftop to snack now, instead of sitting down in that spot when he wasn’t flying. It was too lonely without Fuyumi.
He perched on an electric line concealed by trees and pulled out the phone.
From five days prior at two in the morning was an unread text.
:): got the lightbulb in!!!!
He’d never put a lightbulb in. All the lights in his room and living spaces were built into the roof and fluorescent, so he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen them go out. Even if he did have to change one, his height wouldn’t get in the way when he could fly.
It was better to respond late than never, he reasoned.
hawks: YAYYY good job
hawks: hopefully u slept after
Seven minutes later, she responded.
:): i did
:): i also woke up one of my brothers
:): but i didn’t know that when i texted u
One of her brothers? She’d only mentioned having one, and it was only because he’d called her. It was another one of the secrets, he supposed. It wasn’t as if she’d learned anything about him.
hawks: great job
:): thanks he ended up asking for food anyway
hawks: is that all ur good for
He hoped that the joke was conveyed over text. He’d mocked the same thing multiple times in person enough times for it to be noticeable.
:): sometimes maybe
:): are u out flying rn
hawks: yup
hawks: is this when you’d usually be on the train
fuyumi: yea i’m walking home from school rn
Oh. Right. He was supposed to pretend he attended classes at some point. Lying to her seemed to be getting harder and harder, and it wasn’t a good thing.
hawks: sounds fun
:): it’s nicer than walking through the middle of a city
hawks: i can’t relate
hawks: i don’t usually walk down sidewalks
:): lucky u
:): i need to go sign something now
:):bye! don’t get caught with this phone
hawks: i won’t
hawks: have fun!!
Time continued to tick, and Hawks continued to have a friend.
Soon enough, he’d known Fuyumi for about five months.
The weather was getting cooler, and his jacket was getting thicker. He still didn’t have a permanent one that would be good for his hero uniform, but time was ticking.
It was hard to believe that he’d had a real friend for so long.
The more he watched movies that he was told to watch, the more he found himself actually finding them slightly realistic. Before, he’d thought that the banter and conversations were artificial, but he could smile when he heard something similar to how he and Fuyumi talked.
Most of it was still far-fetched and completely non-relatable for him, but it was nice to feel even slightly regular. It helped that she clearly didn’t live a typical life, either. She probably wouldn’t relate to the movies any more than he did.
His feet touched down on the roof as he took a sip of his coffee, smoothly keeping it from slipping onto his shirt. It was colder out than he liked, but he had a feeling Fuyumi would prefer it.
It wasn’t long before silent— how did she step so lightly?— footsteps made their way up the stairs, and he was up before she even called out. He’d been texting her during her train ride, but he had a feeling she’d been doing homework. Her texts were always far apart and delayed whenever she was doing something, which happened to be always.
He wasn’t sure how she was so busy, nor how she finished everything she had to do. It made sense, considering her mother was in a hospital— he shut off the train of thought, reminding himself that it wasn’t his business.
“Hi-llo,” he said.
“Hey. That was a quick train ride.”
“Did you finish your homework then?”
She sighed, giving him a look that he’d come to know meant ‘you know the answer’. It almost reminded him of the woman who used to teach him math.
“Close enough. Natsuo has soccer today, anyway, so I’ll get it done then.”
“Doesn’t he always have soccer?”
She sat down beside him, pulling out the usual container. He took it from her hands happily.
“Most of the time, or he does extra practice.”
“Must really like soccer.”
“Yeah.”
They continued their chatter as he finished the food she’d brought, a smaller portion this time. He didn’t mind— it wasn’t as if he was malnourished.
Besides, he didn’t believe the bullshit she’d told him about not cooking every night, not anymore. It was partly because he’d learn how to read her better, but also because she always had a meal. Every Wednesday. She had also mentioned cooking dinner more than a few times over text, and he had to wonder if it was intentional information or if she’d gotten comfortable enough to say it.
Once finished, he laid back on the pavement, his legs dangling off of the roof. Fuyumi never sat down in such a reckless way, but she was leaning back on her arms beside him.
He thought of all the movies about friendships he’d watched— along with many other genres, so as to not show any obvious changes to his supervisors.
“Do you know what best friends are?”
It was a much more philosophical question than he usually asked. It wasn’t as if he could bring up hero society or how he wanted to give heroes more free time; she was oddly cagey about heroes, and she’d never brought it up. Besides, telling her would be a death wish if the HPSC ever found out.
“Not from experience,” she said, a smile evident in her voice.
“Is that what we are?”
She was silent for a long moment, in which he caved in and turned his gaze towards her. She was looking at a building in the direction of the hospital. Despite the cold weather, she wasn’t wearing a jacket. Maybe it was a quirk thing, something that she’d also never mentioned.
“If you want.”
“Don’t best friends tell each other everything?”
She tensed, her eyes widening even as they continued staring forward. He jolted up, not having meant it the way he said it at all. He’d been thinking aloud, considering the reality and the fact that neither of them knew much about the other. He’d simply thought she’d know more about it than him, but he realized how it seemed.
He continued, “We don’t have to do that, though. I doubt it's a requirement.”
Finally, she looked at him, a small genuine smile gracing her face.
“Yeah. It’s not like either of us have many other friends, so it just sorta defaults to best friend, right?”
He’d never mentioned his lack of other friends. It must have been obvious.
“Yeah,” he agreed, despite knowing that both of them were coming up with things on the spot.
She sat up straighter and turned to him, her smile growing.
“I like it. Do you only go out on weekdays?”
“Huh?”
He hadn’t expected such a sharp topic change.
“Like, for this two-hour period you have. Is it every day?”
“Yeah, why?”
“What if I come up if I get time on either Saturday or Sunday? I’m not one for sitting in the house.”
Lie.
“That’d mean more than twenty minutes.”
“Exactly,” his wings were brushing the ground, so he could feel her heartbeat anxiously speeding up. “Besides, if we’re best friends, it makes sense.”
“Sounds good. When?”
“Saturday. Same time?”
“I go out half an hour earlier than you get here, so it's up to you.”
“I’ll be here half an hour earlier, then.”
She seemed overly eager, but he supposed that was just how being friends was. Either way, he was happy with it.