My Hero Academia: Aspirations

Chapter 56

Aspirations
Chapter 56

"You keep asking me about Miss Shuzenji. Is there something I should know?"

Hawks kept his eyes forward as his serious protege flew by his side. Of course, to Hawks it felt more like gliding at the current speed but at least they were going faster than the week before. Tokoyami was a quick learner and the more he practiced, the faster he could get Dark Shadow to go.

"Do you still like her, sir?"

His wings twitched at the question. The supposed break up hadn't been that long ago. If he told Tokoyami that he didn't like you anymore, it would seem suspicious. As well as untrue. And Tokoyami had already noted that Hawks had brought up a lot of questions about you. Doing that about someone that there was no appeal for or reason would seem odd. At the same time Hawks didn't want to make you a target, especially not one of Dabi's personal interest projects. He wasn't sure if the League of Villians or the Meta-Human liberation front had tapped into his work comms yet after all. Since he was on patrol it wasn't like he could shut them off. 

Still it wasn't like he could dodge the direct question and expect Tokoyami to give him weekly updates...he had to tell him something.

"I've been thinking about inviting her to be part of the team," Hawks embellished. "Like a perk for all my hard working sidekicks. Knowing that Endeavor finds her good enough makes me want to be the first Hero to officially snatch her up. Maybe we work things out, maybe we don't. Either way, I want to give her the chance to stretch her wings a bit."

"I see," Tokoyami reported dutifully. "That is generous of you."

"I'm a generous kind of guy," Hawks replied happily, though in a calm sort of way.

"I fear she may not accept."

The easy going smile only faded from Hawks' lips for a second. Thankfully an updraft caused the two of them to split up around one of the metal poles.

"Why do you say that?" Hawks asked.

Tokoyami made a sort of sound that set Hawk's feathers on edge. It was the sound of contemplation. The one that people used when they were trying to decide how much to say. Or what the right thing to say was. It meant that Tokoyami believed he knew something and just wasn't sure if he should repeat it.

"My lips are sealed, scouts honor," Hawks pressed, pantomiming zipping his lips.

"Many students in class 1A believe she and professor Aizawa have worked out their differences."

Hawks looked forward intently. That wasn't something he had wanted to hear. He had known that Eraserhead had been circling you for a while. He'd been able to pick up on that rather quickly when he'd swooped in that day to bring you lunch. Sure at that time he'd just been trying to convince you to carry on the next generation of designer heroes for the Commission but that didn't mean he hadn't been paying attention. Some might call following you back to U.A to see the confrontation at the gate that day as spying, Hawks liked to think of it as gathering intel.

After all, if he was supposed to let you carry and raise his kids...he needed to know what kind of a person you were. Especially since it wasn't likely he'd be there in the future to see them for himself. Everything he'd seen of and experienced with you had made him comfortable enough with that future.

Sure he wasn't looking forward to dying off trying to take down the latest bad guys but if it had to be done, it had to be done. Double agents didn't exactly have the safest job roles. He'd accepted that a while ago. The silver lining had started to appear after he had met you. You would be able to help save a part of him, help him live beyond his life, help him leave a better memory than Hawks felt he might have deserved. He had been shown a scenario where he would have mattered to someone...not just mattered as the hero Hawks.