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Like everyone else, Keigo made his debut fighting villains.
Unlike everyone else, he was trained by the Commission in secret. He didn’t have teachers to recommend him to agencies, mentors that would invite him to join them, or even a sports festival to get his name out there. He was just given a license, told his own agency would be built soon, and told to raise his ranking.
So, Keigo thought, What better way to climb the leaderboard, while also getting to finally travel, then to take a tour around Japan?
Fighting villains as he went, Hawks was rapidly becoming a household name. And Keigo loved it! Finally getting to put his training to use, getting thanked for the first time, and seeing the outside world, it was amazing!
Of course, this also allowed for the eighteen year old to get real experience with hostage situations. It was something he was trained in before but not something that simulations could really emulate.
It was during one of these situations that Kegio met Greenie.
The villain that caused their meeting was a petty thief in the grand scheme of things. He just blew up the wall of a jewelry store and stole everything inside. As soon as the alarms went off, there were around five heroes on the scene but none of them seemed to be able to leave a scratch on the guy.
His quirk apparently made him invincible, according to the villain, and attacking him was futile. Despite that though, he didn’t have much of an offense and so was going to be easily apprehended.
That’s when he grabbed a kid who happened to be nearby and held a gun to his head.
And that was the scene Hawks flew into. Everyone was in a stand still. Not wanting to attack in fear of harming the kid but not wanting to listen to the villain’s demands.
As everyone was arguing on how to take down Achilles, the villain who announced his name and was now monologuing his tragic back story, Hawks noticed the kid was trying to say something.
It seemed as though he was pointing to his feet as he mouthed something subtly. Occasionally his hands would move from their pointing to make two gestures repeatedly before going back to pointing.
Now watching carefully, Hawks saw the kid was also lifting their foot slightly as they tried not to make their movements noticeable to the villain. After the hero tried to mouth the same thing and copied the gestures for himself, it finally clicked.
Heel! The kid was trying to sign heel.
Signing back, Keigo asked, “What about heel?”
The greenette’s eyes widened, seeming a bit shocked that someone finally picked up on their message, before relaxing slightly. Looking to Achilles for a moment to make sure he was still monologuing, the kid signed, “Weakness. Heel.” before pointing down again.
Taking in the information, Hawks contemplated the situation.
So far, none of the heroes' quirks worked on this guy. It was as if he had a barrier just around his skin keeping him safe. If what the kid was saying was true however, then it would be possible to maybe disrupt this barrier by attacking Achilles’ heel.
Seeing little risk, Hawks nodded and sent a feather to each of the villain’s heels. As soon as they sliced at the man’s ankles, a subtle glow appeared and seemed to shatter like glass around the villain. It caused the man to stop his monologuing, eyes widening as his face paled.
Seizing the opportunity, the kid pulled the arm with the gun away from himself. Then he spun around and shoved the villain as hard he could.
Achilles was frozen in his shocked state, allowing himself to just fall on his butt before the other heroes finally noticed and moved to arrest the thief. Hawks however made his way to the kid, subtly checking for any injuries.
Seeing none, the hero smiled as he exclaimed, “Hey kiddo! That was kinda scary huh? Why don’t we bring you over to the EMTs to be checked out?”
Grabbing his notebook from where it fell, the kid turned to him with a nervous smile, “Ah, that’s okay! I wasn’t hurt or anything. Thank you for saving me though! Your quirk is really cool! Can I get your autograph?”
Chuckling at the greenette’s enthusiasm, Hawks took the notebook and pen. “No problem, bud! Just doing my job. Besides, I couldn’t have done it without you. Say, how did you know to target the guy’s heels?”
Handing the notebook back, the hero observed the starry eyed look the kid gave the signature before clutching it to his chest with a smile. “We happen to be studying Greek mythology in class right now and I was going to write my essay on the story of Achilles' heel. I already suspected the villain’s quirk was similar due to physical attacks being practically useless but when the villain said his name was Achilles I knew that it couldn’t be a coincidence! And since the only weakness Achilles had in the story was his left heel I figured that spot was vulnerable. But I had no idea it would completely nullify his quirk like that! Do you think-”
Cutting the kid off before he could ramble some more, the blonde placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder and started to move him forward. “Well, that was some quick thinking on your part! Still, you should try to stay a bit farther away from the action in the future. Don’t want to get hurt now do we?”
“Right! Of course. I promise to be more careful in the future, sir!”
“Good. Now, I’m going to leave you with these guys. Stay safe!” Hawks said, waving as he left the kid with the paramedics; he himself already making his way back towards the crime scene.
Giving a more strained smile than before, the greenette waved back his own goodbye.
Deflecting some debris that were heading to the greenette as he himself tried to prevent getting hit with a pipe, Keigo couldn’t help but think the kid didn’t know what “staying safe” meant.
The boy was honestly lucky that Hawks happened to spot him when he was flying home after his patrol. If he hadn’t, the hero didn’t want to think about what would have happened to the kid. The same kid he saved from a hostage situation not 24 hours ago.
Huffing as he finally incapacitated the last of the thugs, Hawks turned to the child. “You alright?”
Looking at the hero with an air of excitement, not seeming the least bit worried that he was almost smashed by a dumpster, the kid exclaimed, “I’m okay! They didn’t even get a chance to touch me.”
Eyeing the bruise on the boy’s cheek, the blonde lifted a brow and pointed to his own check.
Confused, the boy lifted his hand only to wince when he touched the tender spot. Looking away he muttered, “I mean, they didn’t touch me.”
“Then who did, Greenie?”
Momentarily startled by the nickname, the greenette absently said, “Just kids from school.” before thinking better of it and urgently added, “But they were just messing around! We were playing tag and one of them accidentally tripped me. I was fine so we kept playing but I ran too far. And my phone’s dead so I can’t check my location so I just started walking around hoping to find a familiar sign or something. But then I ran into these guys and they weren’t happy with someone walking in on their business but then you showed up and-”
“Alright, so you were just horsing around and got injured then wandered too far from home when you ended up here? Is that it?” Hawks interrupted. Sighing as the kid nodded, Hawks continued. “Okay. I’ll get the police to round up these guys then I’ll walk you home, sound good?”
Instantly, the boy had his hands up, waving them around like he could wave away the very idea. “Oh no, you don’t have to do that! I can get home just fine on my own. I don’t want to waste your time or anything. You were just heading home too weren’t you? I don’t want to keep you. I-”
“It’s okay, Greenie.” Keigo cut in again, this time having a small smile on his face as he ruffled the kid’s hair. “I don’t mind and you said you were lost, didn’t you? Besides, you seem to be a bit of a magnet for trouble.”
Blushing at the hero's words, the boy didn’t argue any further.
After dropping the kid off at home, Hawks kept an eye on the area. Flying by whenever possible, patrolling nearby, and even eating at local restaurants. It was because of this closeness that he was able to spot the greenette wandering around a lot.
The boy seemed to go on a mad dash right after school most days, only walking if he was held up by something beforehand. After stopping under a bridge to take a breather and look at his phone, he would either wander the city or go home. Keigo figured he was checking the time, and if it was six o’clock then he’d head home. But if it was before, then the boy would look for nearby hero fights to watch.
Sometimes, if Hawks was already in the middle of a fight when he noticed Greenie then he would sneak a feather onto the kid’s shoulder; the muttering sometimes helping with a take down. Of course, when that happened, the hero would be sure to wave in the direction of the kid as he recalled his feather. Watching the boy’s amazement every time he watched the feather fly past him was always a treat.
Obviously, these frequent run-ins also allowed for Hawks to save the kid from quite a few incidents. He seemed to truly be a magnet for trouble. Whether that be from just a quick trip to the store or debris flying towards him while he was distracted with his notebook.
After one particular incident where the kid was almost hit with a stray spike from a porcupine type villain, Hawks offered one of his feathers. Simply saying, “Trouble seems to find you a lot so I’d feel better if you take it. In case I’m not around, just break it and I'll be there.”
Despite now having his feather in case of emergencies the baby bird never let it break. Hawks even found him once in an alley where a drug deal was happening, clutching the feather to himself protectively. It was as frustrating as it was endearing. Especially when, while having lunch together at a Wacdonald’s, the boy explained that, “It’s precious to me. I don’t want it to break. Besides, there might come a day when I really need it.”
“And a drug deal with dangerous men isn’t one of those times?” he asked, before taking a bite of his chicken.
Fiddling with the feather, which was attached to a necklace that also contained a blue marble, the boy muttered. “...It was a gift.”
Blinking, the hero instantly understood the issue. Baby Bird thought he was only getting one feather. He thought that, once broken, he would lose the feather forever. Not realizing that Hawks would simply give him another.
So he laughed. “Oh Baby Bird! Don’t worry! I gave you that feather so that I could help you. If you ever break it, even accidentally, I'll give you another one to replace it. No sweat!”
The teen didn’t look convinced, so Hawks decided to prove it.
Anytime he saw Greenie, he would give him some merch. A new Hawks keychain, a fancy red pen, and he even once dropped a limited edition Hawks sweater on his head in a fly by.
He knew the boy loved hero merch and also knew that he wanted the boy to have everything in the Hawks line he could give. Plus, seeing the boy’s embarrassed yet excited little expressions every time was worth it. Surely, Hawks thought, the feather had to pale in comparison to everything else.
Baby Bird shouldn’t fear asking for help anymore.
Unfortunately, his time in Musutafu had to end sometime. So, not two months after meeting, Hawks had to say his goodbyes.
He made sure to give the boy a tight hug, assuring his Baby Bird that even with him going to another city, he won’t hesitate to fly back if needed. He wasn’t called the fastest hero for nothing and if his Baby Bird needed him, he’d be there.
Greenie promised to text often, teasing that he’d even send pictures anytime he got chicken. Telling the hero not to worry about him, that he’d be just fine.
Unfortunately, Hawks was very much aware of what “just fine” meant to Greenie.
He just didn’t think he’d be reminded of it two years later after feeling his feather be destroyed. Not snapped or trampled but turned to ash. He was very familiar with the feeling of a feather being burned and flew as hard as he could towards where it was. Hoping, praying, that Baby Bird would be okay.
His prayers weren’t answered though, seeing as when he arrived, it was too late. The building was destroyed and Greenie was nowhere to be seen. All he got were whispers from the civilians nearby talking about “the brat” hopefully burning up with the complex.
Due to not having been there when the place was on fire and not having any actual reason to be informed, he wasn’t allowed info on the prior residents of the apartment. All he was told was that two people had died and unless Keigo could give a specific name, they couldn’t tell him if the boy he was looking for was one of those two.
That’s when the young adult realized he never actually learned Greenie’s name, always referring to him as Greenie or Baby Bird. The topic of names just never came up.
He tried to call the boy, texting him what was probably hundreds of messages, but he never got a reply. At one point, the number was even disconnected before being given to someone else.
The man even spent his rare days off flying around Mustsufu trying to spot the familiar head of green hair but came up short.
Keigo was forced to assume the worst. After all, at this point, the only way he could know for sure was if he used his statues as a hero and that would just alert the commission to the situation. He couldn’t risk it. If Baby Bird somehow was alive, making the commission aware of him would just make him wish he wasn’t.
So days passed into weeks that turned to months and Keigo was starting to accept that he would never see his Baby Bird again.
So one could imagine Keigo’s surprise when, after almost a year of nothing, he saw on his tv a familiar boy, reckless as ever, as he flew through the sky.