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When a rumor started going around that Hawks had a date to that year's Hero Gala, the media and his fans hunted for anything they could find about anyone. They came up empty handed. No other heroes knew about it when they were questioned either. It was a mystery until that day.
The top 50 heroes gathered in one place to basically party and show off new merch or brand deals. It was a place of celebration and remembrance for heroes lost. Heroes dressed up in designer clothing that usually matches their branding. So when Hawks dropped down without his usual bright red and gold suit, everyone was shocked.
Hawks was wearing a kimono, something way fancier than anything he'd worn before. It had an open back for his wings. It flowed off his body properly and surprisingly looked well kept for flying. But the most shocking thing about it was the color. It was snow white with blue and black accents. The obi was black with blue threading, tightened tastefully around his waist. It was nothing Hawks would've worn before. There was no sign of his supposed mystery date, so everyone went about with their night.
Until the call of villain rang through the night. The heroes all looked towards the blaze of blue flame heading towards them. Hawks grinned and approached it as it landed gently on the path, burning in place.
And from the fire rose a man. Dressed in a kimono. Eight fluffy, pure white fox tails shifted and twined behind him, alight at the tips with ethereal blue fire. His kimono was jet black, contrasting the snow white of his hair and ears. Similarly to Hawks', it had accents of white and blue, the obi white and threading blue. His long white hair was completely loose, falling around his fox ears. He approached Hawks, who wrapped an arm around his waist.
The man walked with the elegant grace of a kitsune, and proudly proclaimed himself to be one. He didn't introduce himself, but did kiss Hawks in front of a camera, proving just who he was. He was attached to Hawks' side the entire time, occasionally nuzzling into his neck.
Hawks didn't seem concerned by it, just wrapping a wing around his date. Until Mirko arrived that is, dragging Hawks away to talk. Leaving his date to the wolves.
It was surprisingly Edgeshot who approached the kitsune first. He walked up to him and was about to ask him a question
The kitsune, Touya, turned around, fixing a piercing blue gaze on him. “Edgeshot, isn't it?” He said, tails swishing behind him. “Hawks told me about you,”
The other man paused. “He did?”
Touya hummed. “Yeah, Number Three now,”
It was all small talk that Touya hated, so he eventually excused himself to find his lover, fondly remembering just the reason he'd been invited. It was just after he'd revealed his kitsune to Hawks.
Touya perched on the edge of the bed, stripped of his illusion for the first time in years. He shook his hair from his eyes and glanced up at Hawks.
“Holy shit,” Hawks said, looking him up and down. “This is your true form? You were pretty before, but now…”
Touya shifted uncomfortably. “Now what?”
“You're gorgeous,” Hawks breathed.
Touya felt a blush rise to his cheeks and he turned away. He knew this fact, but hearing someone he cared about, someone who cared for him, say it. It was embarrassing. Hawks touched his face, and Touya raised his eyes, now their natural blue rather than the bright yellow they'd been.
“They're like the sky,” Hawks said softly. “bright and clear,” pressed a kiss to Touya's nose. Ran a finger over the piercings in his nose. “I'm kinda surprised these are real,” he said.
Touya nodded breathlessly as he was touched reverently. Like he was worth more than the precious stones he knew Hawks had. “They're real, the ones in my ears too,”
Leaned into the touch as it trailed across his cheek and up to his ears. The touch lingered as a tender kiss was pressed to the corner of his lips. Touya made a noise in the back of his throat. This was different than any time before. He was being honest with Hawks.
He pulled away. He hadn't even told the entire truth yet. “I have three forms,” he said, and Hawks leaned back, showing he was listening. “human, which is this one. Fox– the ones you see in paintings. And half form,”
“What is half form?”
Rather than answer, Touya showed him. Let his body move, and flow into the shape he wanted for it. His tails unfurled from his spine, as white as snow as his ears pushed from his skull. He looked up at Hawks through his bangs once the shift was complete.
“This is half form,” he said.
“You look like a god,” Hawks breathed. “angelic and bright and…beautiful,”
Touya smiled. “My family gets that a lot,”
“All of them?”
“Except my father,”
Hawks paused for a moment. “Do you want to do anything about him?”
“I think,” Touya said softly. “I want to be angry at him. I want to make him hurt and suffer like he made us suffer,”
“I sense a but,”
Nudged him with his shoulder. “But, I don't have the capacity for that,”
A wing wrapped tighter around him. “Elaborate,”
“My inner fox wants fun and chaos. It's curious and makes me curious too. It won't let me stay mad at him,” he paused. “It likes the confusion when I prank someone. When I mock and taunt someone just to piss them off. It's funny,”
“Is that why you were such an asshole?”
“Yeah, you got me. You just make funny faces when you're mad. Ow– don't smack me, asshole,” he shoved the wing away playfully. “kitsune are mischievous, not malicious,”
“But you aren't sure how to do one without the other,” Hawks finished.
“Yeah,” Touya said lamely. “I want to torment him and make him miserable. But I just, don't know how,”
Hawks grinned. “I have just the idea,”
Shook himself from the memory with a fanged smile as he approached Hawks. Pressed himself against his back with a clicking noise on the back of his throat. His ears twitched at the thump from the rabbit hero.
“So, who's your boyfriend?” She asked.
Touya nuzzled the feathers at the back of Hawks' neck before propping his chin over his shoulder. “I'm Touya,” he said.
Mirko grinned ferally. “You said you're a kitsune right?”
He nodded, uncertain of where she was going.
“Touya…”
“Fight me,”
Blue eyes blinked at the woman. “Fight you? A hero? Seems a bit unfair,” Touya's tails were perked up though, curious and excited.
She scoffed. “Oh please, we won't actually use Quirks, it's just a little wrestling,”
“Rumi…” Hawks warned. “Don't fight him, please,”
Touya yipped, and matched the rabbit’s grin with one of his own, just as feral, and much more sharp. “Alright,”
He didn't give her any time to move. He leapt over Hawks, twisting gracefully and landing a kick to her shoulder. She swung at Touya, but he dodged and tackled her, bringing them both down in a flurry of white hair and fur.
Hawks let out a squawk as he flew up to avoid being caught between them. He laughed though, watching his lover and best friend fight. Rumi wasn't holding back, and neither was Touya, who tangled his claws into her hair and yanked. It was a cheap move that she replicated not even a minute later.
Hawks just let them fight, heading over to grab some food. Eventually his boyfriend joined him, red-faced and grinning.
“Lemme guess,” Hawks said. “No one won?”
Touya shook his head with a breathless laugh. “No I ran away,”
Let out a laugh. “Of course you did,” pressed a kiss to his forehead.
A tail brushed against his back, ticking the space between his wings. Hawks shivered, gently batting it away with a fond huff.
“Have you seen him?” Touya asked, pressing against him to snatch a piece of chicken from his plate.
“Not yet,” Hawks said, slapping his hand as it came for another piece. “get your own— I know he's here though,”
Touya hummed, grabbing his own plate. “Well, we'll see him when you take me for a dance,”
“That or announcements,”
Announcements happened first, and Hawks only had one chair. As though to stop the rumors Touya shifted fully into fox form and curled up in his partner's lap, licking his hand when it paused its stroking of his fur. The announcements were uneventful, just a last memorial to All Might and the welcoming of Endeavor as the new Number One. Touya growled lowly when that was mentioned, slipping out of Hawks' lap and darting off under a table, likely to cause mischief.
He returned after a few minutes, so Hawks wasn't too worried about it. Then the actual part of the Gala started, the dancing. It was more to show off the designers outfits, but Touya and Hawks were planning on actually dancing.
The Gala was open to heroes’ partners too, which was why there were options to bring a date. Plenty of heroes brought their partners, and they were even dressed to match, much like Hawks and Touya were. The dancing was usually only taken up by couples. Touya scowled as he spotted the hulking figure of his father, without a date once again, since he'd shoved Rei into the hospital.
Hawks tugged him to the center of the dancefloor as the music began playing. They didn't pay attention to anyone else, just spun and twirled with smiles on their faces. Neither of them actually knew how to dance, but they didn't need to. Hawks stepped on Touya's paws more than once, resulting in short quiet yelps from him interspersed with laughter.
Touya's tails billowed behind them, swirling with bright blue fire that spat embers into the air when he got excited. Hawks tripped and Touya twisted to catch him, tails fanning out for balance. Hawks' wings flared out also, making him look almost like an angel. Touya yanked him into his arms and their lips met. They stood there, swaying to the beat, and pressing fleeting kisses to whatever they could.
The song ended and the two breathless men made their way to the drink table, where the large figure of Endeavor was. Touya saw the flash of recognition flash in near identical blue eyes. Completely ignored his father and kissed Hawks' cheek, taking the glass handed to him. He felt Endeavor move towards him, and flicked a tail slightly, triggering the trap he'd set up earlier. Endeavor was suddenly very, very, very pink. Covered with a stationary illusion Touya had left, activated with a flick of his tail.
He heard people start laughing as Endeavor tried to wipe what looked like paint off his clothes. Sparkles exploded over his suit next, in bright neon colors, matching the confetti that appeared through the ‘paint”. He snickered as his father made a noise of disgust and ran off, most likely to the bathroom. Hawks hid his smile in his glass of champagne, but the trembling of his wings gave away his amusement. All eight of Touya's tails were wagging waving back and forth with his own glee.
Endeavor returned, no damage done to his suit and they spent the rest of the night avoiding him. Touya laughed, always one step ahead of his father. Hawks shook his head at his partner’s antics, happy he could keep the mischievous spirit inside of him alive. Touya had admitted to the strange itchiness that bothered him if he wasn't able to engage in mischief. It was part of being a spirit of chaos.
It was why he had a record of thefts and breaking and entering. Hawks had gotten away with saying it was a part of his Quirk, which thankfully– since there was never any real damage done– meant the charges were dropped. The minor arson charges were unfortunately not dropped and Hawks had to pay bail for his boyfriend. Touya had even offered to help fix the damages, since he himself had no money.
It ended up all right though, Touya didn't have to do anything, and was pardoned once they found out Hawks was vouching for him. (This was the only acceptable way he'd use his hero privilege.) Hawks didn't mind that Touya was technically a villain. Because Dabi only appeared once with the League of Villains during the summer. And even then he'd been wearing an illusion, covering his body with swathes of rotting skin and staples. Touya did have scars from the fire, but they were healed to a healthy pink color that only made him look more beautiful.
He'd told Hawks the circumstances surrounding his birth and heritage.
“He bought my mother. He somehow knew she was a kitsune,”
“Why would that matter?” Hawks had asked, running a brush gently through silken fur.
“He wanted to train immortal heroes,” Touya's ears flattened. “and a Quirk to balance out his overheating problem,”
Hawks pressed a kiss to his temple. “I'm sorry you had to grow up like that,”
Touya shrugged. “I'm the eldest of four. He tried to force my tails to grow in before they were ready,”
Hawks paused in his ministrations. “Don't those come in when you get old?”
“Yeah,” he spat, his three tails lashing. “but he thought it wouldn't matter. He tried to force all our tails to grow faster,”
“You're not the only kitsune?” Began to brush through bright white fluff again.
Shook his head. “All children borne of a kitsune will be kitsune,”
“Huh, I didn't know that,”
“Yeah, most people don't,” Touya had replied. “just like they also don't know the reason they don't see us all anymore,”
“Why's that?”
“They started hunting kitsune. No, I don't know why. Power, money, to sell our tails, whatever. Most of us have to stay human to stay alive,” he leaned against Hawks, getting a kiss pressed to his temple. “That's what my mother said anyway,”
“Your mother told you to stay hidden?” Hawks asked softly. “But can't you protect yourself?”
Touya hummed. “Yes and no. Kitsune live for hundreds of years, and we grow tails just as slow as we age. I should only have two, but emotional maturity, or the desperate need for survival could force them to grow in early,”
“That's interesting,”
“I'm pretty sure my youngest brother has six from being forced to mature,”
Hawks' hands once again still. “Your father didn't stop?”
“No,” paused before he went on, turning his head to look into those golden depths. “my father always chases his ambition, even if others get hurt. It's not a very good trait for the new Number One Hero to have,”
“Endeavor… he's your father?”
“Mhm,” Touya frowned. “Does that change anything?”
Vermillion wings flared. “Other than how I see him, no,”
And that had been that.
They left the Gala early, no one questioning it. Touya fully shifted and raced away, Hawks laughing as he gave chase. It was caught on the news that night, fastest here unable to catch his mysterious lover. When Touya did let him catch up, he pulled him into a messy kiss. The last thing anyone saw from them that night was their red, breathless faces as Hawks flew them home.
In an interview, Hawks let Touya take center stage answering questions about his heritage. He watched with a dopey grin as his boyfriend got passionate when the interviewer got something wrong.
“You were seen with only three tails a few months before the Gala,” the interviewer said. “but you said tails grow with age,”
Touya hummed, aforementioned tails waving behind him. “Emotional maturity helps grow tails faster, whether that's by our choice or not,”
The interviewer frowned, her red lips pulling down unflatteringly. “So how did you get up to eight in a few months?”
Leaning into Hawks' embrace, Touya answered. “I fell in love,”
“Aww,” Hawks wrapped a wing around him. “I love you too snow fox,” pressed a kiss to the tip of his ear, and the audience awwwed.
Touya huffed as he slipped between the bars of his holding cell. His tails almost got caught, so he just lightly blazed, turning into a small ball of fire to escape. His claws clicked on the tile as he trotted away, tails held high. Heard a shout and footsteps before he leapt away.
The officer who'd been tasked with watching him gave chase. “Come back here, you delinquent,”
Didn't listen, just darted forward much faster than the larger human man. He cackled, a completely vulpine sound as he ran. He burst through the doors to the station and crashed into a leg. Vermillion feathers scooped him up and into strong arms. He yelped, before running a rough tongue over the hand hugging him to Keigo's chest.
“I'll take it from here, officer,” he said.
The officer let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you Hawks,”
Without further adieu, Keigo took to the sky, cradling Touya more gently to his chest. “You've been naughty,” he scolded Touya like a dog.
The kitsune huffed, but pressed his muzzle into Keigo's body, refusing to look down. His partner laughed when they touched down and Touya squirmed out of his grasp, twisting and shifting until he could press a kiss to Keigo's lips.
Keigo didn't budge. “I told you no kisses if you were a menace while I was gone,” he said. “I meant it,”
“Keigoooooo,” Touya whined, ears dropping to his skull. “c'mon, it was just a prank,”
“You ended up in jail,” Keigo deadpanned. “troublemaker, what am I gonna do with you?”
Touya smiled, blazing into the house. “Love me until the end of time?”
Keigo sighed like that was a difficult decision to make, before leaning over and kissing Touya. “I suppose I could do that,”
A snow white fox bounded over roofs, blazing over gaps too large for his nimble paws to reach. It made anyone watching gasp and cry out, seeing the stream of flickering blue fire. He was laughing, a wide grin on his face as he rushed away from the burning billboard. His boyfriend was somewhere behind him, chasing him down with a grim expression.
Touya pivoted, claws digging into roof tiles as he leapt down a fire escape. His body twisted, tails billowing behind him. He darted between passersby, laughing louder at the chaos he left behind. He darted through a group of schoolchildren playing some game, tipping at them. They startled, but laughed and started running with him. Touya weaved through their legs as he barked.
He felt free, as he nipped at the feathers Keigo sent after him. He jumped gracefully up a set of stairs, waving goodbye with his tails to the children. They called out their goodbyes and laughed as they went back to their game. Touya shifted as he reached the roof, taking his half form and perching on the side, waiting for Keigo.
He was tackled backwards and he yelped as his back hit the roof. His tails splayed out behind him, coming up to wrap around Keigo's wings as he held the kitsune. A kiss was pressed to Touya's forehead before Keigo let him up.
“What's all this for?” his boyfriend asked.
Touya grinned, letting his tails shift to the side. He'd prepared a picnic atop the roof they'd first met for their anniversary.
Keigo let out a gasp. “Touya, you didn't have to,”
He chirped, nuzzling into Keigo's shoulder. “I wanted to. You've been working so hard, and you deserve a break,”
A kiss was pressed to his ear, which twitched against Keigo's soft lips. “My snow fox, you're perfect,”
Touya twisted to press his lips to Keigo's tenderly. “Like I said, you deserve it,”
Keigo chuckled, spreading his wings and shaking out the feathers. “Let's see what you've made,”
Touya smiled, giving him another peck on the lips before sauntering over to the blanket laden with food.
They spent the entire night laughing and eating, sneaking kisses under the moonlight once it came out. It was a perfect night for two people hopelessly in love. And years later, when the spirits of a snow white kitsune and hero raced through the streets, only to end up on the roof with the Lover's Shrine, people would smile remembering the rise and fall of the spirits.
They lived for hundreds of years, never dying, but simply fading into less tangible spirits. Touya, the curious snow fox, always causing mischief, followed by Keigo, the quick hawk, always ready to catch him.