Chapter Text
Chapter One–Somebody Someone
“Fly faster, little chickie!” Hawks shouts to Tokoyami as they finish their patrol; heading back to Hawks’s agency.
“Yes, Hawks-sensei!” Tokoyami shouts in reply. The duo start flying faster, making it back to the agency in record time.
“Good job, chickie!” Hawks says, as they walk through the glass doors to Hawks's agency, the taller patting the shorter’s head.
“Hawks-sama!” A young woman, the receptionist shouts as she rushes up to the hero, panic edged in her words.
“Yes, dearie?” Hawks asks, tone light but eyes sharp. The woman, Matsumoto, blushes, but quickly gains her composure.
“There's a package for you.”
Hawks smiles, on edge. “Could it wait? I've got to give my little chickie here some pointers on today's patrol.”
Matsumoto leans in close to Hawks, flustered.
“The package is from… Yokohama,” she whispers.
Hawks’s eyes widen. He's never received a package from Yokohama, but he’s seen news articles about Pros receiving a package from Yokohama with a fellow hero inside of it.
“Little chickie,” he tells Tokoyami, “this package deal is serious. Do you want to come along, or do you want to go to your room?”
Tokoyami swallows. “I'll tag along, after all, I've got to learn how to deal with serious situations when I become a hero.”
‘This kid’s got a good spirit, he'll be a great hero,’Hawks thinks, smiling.
Matsumoto leads them to Hawks's office, where a large crate sits. Hawks walks up to the crate, Tokoyami in tow.
On the top, there is a large sticker that reads, ‘FRAGILE. From: Yokohama. To: Hawks's Agency, Kyushu.’
Hawks finishes reading the sticker, hearing the chickie behind him clear his throat.
“Hawks-sensei,” Tokoyami says, “this seems quite serious. I think you should open it.”
Hawks nods his head in agreement, picking up a pair of scissors off of his desk, cutting the binds on the crate.
The binds fall off, and Hawks lifts the top of the crate off.
Inside the crate is a ginger boy who looks roughly Tokoyami’s age.
The boy is completely beaten and bloody; his clothes completely drenched in blood and dirt. Hawks hears a gasp come from the little chickie and his secretary.
Hawks places two fingers onto the neck pulse of the boy and feels an all too familiar, ‘thump-thump, thump-thump’.
Hawks turns to face the two. “Matsumoto-san,” Hawks said sharply, turning to the secretary, “call the nearest hospital, then the local police.”
“Yes Hawks-sama,” Matsumoto says, bowing, before she leaves.
Hawks turned to look at his little chickie. “Tokoyami. Help me get the boy out of the box. Now.”
“Yes, Hawks-sensei,” Tokoyami replies, breath shaky.
Hawks and Tokoyami gently lift the boy onto the floor. Only when the boy is on the floor is when Hawks notices a slip of paper inside his pants pocket.
Hawks takes the slip of paper out deftly, so as to not wake the boy accidentally.
Hawks unfolds the paper, reading the words, scribbled in messy, childish handwriting, “Soukoku lolz.”
Hawks gasps, covering his mouth.
“What?” Tokoyami asks, panicked.
Hawks hands him the paper and sees the young boy’s eyes widen and jaw open.
“N-no way,” Tokoyami whispers shakily, looking at his mentor. “It s-surely can't be the Soukoku, can it?”
Hawks nods, a solemn expression falling onto his face. “It is. All the crates other Pros have received always have the same handwriting and the ‘lolz’. There's never been a victim this young though. They're typically dead; heroes that have crossed the border that separates the villainous city from the rest of Japan.”
The colour drains from Hawks’s face as a rather grim theory crosses his mind.
“Tokoyami,” Hawks starts, “the duo might've sent the young boy as a warning to not mess with Yokohama.”
Tokoyami draws in a startled breath and thinks for a moment before turning back to the elder.
“That's a plausible idea. But why would they want to hurt some poor, innocent boy?”
Hawks sighs. “Tokoyami, you’ve yet to understand the cruel world we live in. Villains hurt innocent civilians everyday without a care. It's the way the world works, unfortunately.”
Tokoyami frowns, shaking his head. “But that's completely unjust.”
Hawks sighs. “I know, chickie, I know.”
Matsumoto rushes into the room, interrupting the conversation.
“Hawks-sama, the hospital says the fastest way to get there would be for you and Tsukuyomi to fly there. The police say they'll meet you at the hospital.”
Hawks stands up carefully, so as not to disrupt the injured boy’s slumber-like state.
Tokoyami stands up too, not as carefully as Hawks, though.
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Hawks soars through the sky, carrying Tokoyami and the injured boy on his back.
Tokoyami had told Hawks that he would be able to fly, but was clearly over exhausted and would only slow the agile hero down.
Besides, it's a good idea for someone to be watching the boy, in case anything were to happen to him.
“Hawks-sensei!” Tokoyami shouts over the wind whipping around the duo; speeding through clouds.
“Yes, chickie?!” Hawks yells in response.
“How much more time until we reach the hospital?!”
Hawks looks at the city below them, spotting the hospital.
“Not that long, chickie!” Hawks shouts as he dives into the streets, slowing down as they reach the doors of the hospital.
Hawks lands, and Tokoyami clambers off of him, taking the boy off of Hawks's wings, struggling to lift him. Hawks takes the boy from Tokoyami's arms and carries him princess style as they walk towards the doors.
“Omigosh!” a woman shrieks, pointing at Hawks. People turn their heads, curious at the commotion.
“It's number three hero Hawks!” the same lady shrieks, and people start ambushing the hero and hero student.
Hawks smiles politely, but deep down, he's quite pissed. There is clearly an injured boy, yet all these people care about are getting the Pro’s signature.
Hawks waves towards the people politely, starting to walk towards the glass doors, Tokoyami in tow.
“I'm sorry,” Hawks addresses the crowd, “but we've got a situation on our hands. Well, my hands.”
People gasp at the sight of the beaten teenager in Hawks's arms as they part to allow the two–well, three–through the doors.
As Hawks and Tokoyami approach the doors, someone politely opens it for them. They step through and hurry to the front desk.
“Hello,” Hawks says calmly to the receptionist, “I believe my secretary, Matsumoto-san, called you about the emergency on our hands here.”
Tokoyami points to Hawks's arms, and the receptionist nods.
“Your secretary called us earlier, I’ll message your nurse,” he says calmly, tapping on his keyboard quickly.
Less than a minute passes and a tired woman rushes up to Hawks and Tokoyami.
“I’m the nurse, and I’ll be taking you to the ICU. Come along now,” she says quickly, gesturing to them to follow her.
The nurse, Hayashida–as she had told Hawks and Tokoyami when they asked her name–leads the two down a long, white hallway.
The trio, minus the injured boy, finally stop at the ICU after two minutes of quickly navigating, where Hayashida instructs Hawks to set the boy down on an examining table.
Hayashida turns to the duo, snapping gloves on. “It’s best for you to leave now, the police will be arriving here shortly.”
Hawks nods and puts an arm around Tokoyami's shoulder and whisks him away, leaving the boy with the nurse.