phoenix ✦ k.takami (hawks)

Fifty Eight

"It's beautiful isn't it? How it all hurts, but we never give up."

Track 59; Lady Jesus by UPSAHL

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The wind that cut through your hero suit was icy cold. It felt like tiny razor-lined whips were lashing into your skin at whatever mile per hour you were at. You almost felt like a hummingbird with the rate your wings were beating per minute; yet they didn't look that way if you checked on them over your shoulder. You would've had to have been blind to miss the jet trail following behind you. Having one made no sense, you weren't using any part of your quirk to make it to your top speed. But something was fueling you. The grey cumulus you flitted through concealed your line of sight, so you dropped down underneath in order to regain it. The more you lowered your altitude, the thicker it got.

In frustration, you reoriented yourself to aim up. It only took a few seconds for you to break through it once again. You knew you weren't at a high enough altitude to be mowed over by a plane so that was a relief. That didn't quench the anxiety filtering through you. The air was much thinner up here than at sea level, so you had to maintain an even pace of breathing in order to not pass out. If you inhaled too quickly, it was lights out for you. You couldn't let something silly like that be your downfall.

Not after all the shit you'd been through.

Your anger was palpable, though you weren't sure who it was for or why you were so angry. More than likely, you were mad at yourself. Mad for believing everything Keigo had told you from the beginning. You should have known the truth. It was practically written on the wall—you just chose to ignore it.

But, how could you see the truth if you didn't know it in its entirety?

Before you could try to get the answer to that question, you notice a bright light beneath the clouds. You stop your flight, but your inertia throws you off route by quite a ways. Now having the glowing behind you, you rotate quickly and dive below to follow it. You aren't sure what it is, but logic told you to investigate.

You're forced to slow down when you get closer to the ground. Without getting within range of being sensed, you decide to glide above the scene below you. Your anxiety skyrockets, but you do your best to quell it. What fuels it the most is the fact that the light you spotted from up above the clouds was actually Denki Kaminari acting as a lightning rod. Beyond the electricity he's absorbing into himself, it doesn't take you long to identify the people surrounding him; Cementoss, Edgeshot, Midnight, Kamino Woods, Gang Orca, students from class 1-B, Sun Eater, Tsukuyomi and Fat Gum. There were plenty more that you could have put names to had you truly tried, yet you focused on the oversized man leading Sun Eater and Tsukuyomi towards an opening that led underground.

You were on the front lines. You can faintly pick up on the sound effects of each person's quirk as they use them—the sensations were overwhelming. Anticipation prickles at your skin, leaving a numb tingling sensation to travel through your body. It doesn't suffocate the feeling of sudden implosion. In order to prevent yourself from truly combusting—not like it would actually happen—you had to let out some of this steam. The last thing you wanted to do was harm your side of the combatants below, so you had to be smart about this.

You spot movement in the corner of your eye. You look twice when you realize at first that it isn't Fat Gums trio at the source. The entryway they were heading towards was beginning to plug up with enemies. They were piling up towards the front, nearly trampling over their allies with their desire to win. Without thinking twice, you collapse your wings and dive. Your shadow flits across the ground as a silent, nearly invisible warning. The people it crosses over pause momentarily at the sudden darkness, only casting you a glance before returning to the foe they had in front of them.