Strings (BNHA x OC) [Rewrite]

14 || Mission with a Winged Man

—Sunday Afternoon, 4:46pm—
——

Puppet walked down the stairs to the bar. Her face twisted into a frown as she saw the winged man sitting on the couch in the room.

"What is he doing here?" she hissed.

Hawks turned in his seat to look at her. "I'm right here, you know."

She gave him a small, narrow-eyed glance, but no verbal response.

"You're going on a mission with him," Shigaraki responded blandly, speaking up from, as per usual, his place sitting at the bar.

"Why not have Dabi do it?" she asked. Her voice still had an edge to it.

"Dabi is currently unavailable," Kurogiri, who was also sitting at the bar, answered.

She groaned. "Fine."

"Well"—Hawks stretched his arms and stood up with a sigh—"then let's get going."

"Go wait outside; I'll be there in a minute." Puppet waved a hand towards the winged man. She looked at Kurogiri and Shigaraki. "Can I talk to you two?"

"Sure." Hawks left the bar, but before he did, he slyly left behind one of his feathers next to the couch.

Once the door to the outside world closed, Puppet waited for a few moments before speaking.

"Why me?" she asked. "His quirk counters mine."

"It's because he seems attached to you. We would have sent Dabi, but freakin' staples is doing something 'more important.'" Shigaraki emphasized his statement with air quotations.

"Fine, I'll do it." Puppet sighed. "If I don't come back, then kill him."

Shigaraki hummed in confirmation.

"I do have something for you if things go wrong." Kurogiri held out his hand, and in his palm was a small, square, computer-chip-like object.

Puppet took the small object from his hand. She examined it, turning it over in her hand curiously, unsure of what it was.

"We bought a few of these from Giran; they're small tracking devices. They are waterproof and heat resistant. If you begin to get an uneasy feeling about a situation, turn it on to give us your location. I will be able the only one to receive the signal given off by the tracker," Kurogiri explained. "The signal should not be able to be either detected by others nor blocked or interrupted — no matter where you may be."

"Got it." She nodded in understanding, slipping the tracker into her pocket. "Let's hope I won't have to use it."

"Yes, let's," Shigaraki agreed.

"Here's the meetup point." Kurogiri handed Puppet a small slip of paper. "They agreed to come alone; make sure they keep their word."

"Will-do." She turned and started towards the door. When she reached it, she opened it and stepped out, closing the door behind her.

Waiting for her was Hawks. He'd been able to 'hear' the whole conversation between Kurogiri, Shigaraki, and her via the feather that he'd left back in the room.

"You still don't trust me?" he asked.

"No." There was no hesitation in her answer. "Did you think I would after you dropped me from a fifty-story building?"

"You asked for that," he countered. "And you and I both know that you were going to catch yourself."

She shrugged dismissively. "You still dropped me."