Strings (BNHA x OC) [Rewrite]

29 || Favor

Puppet walked back into the main room. "Does anyone have any idea where Hawks is?"

Kurogiri didn't look up from wiping down one of the tables. "I believe he is upstairs."

She walked over and called up the stairs. "Hawks!"

"Can you stop yelling?" Twice snapped at her from his place on the couch with Toga. "Shut up."

"Why're you looking for him anyway?" the teenager chimed in. "We were better off without him."

Puppet brushed off the comment. "I just need him for a few minutes," she said back.

"Someone call me?" Hawks' voice asked. I turned and saw him coming down the stairs.

"Yeah, I did." Puppet gestured to herself. "I have something for you to do. Come with me."

"Sure." He walked the rest of the way down the stairs.

She led him from the main room and over to the room where Present Mic and Eraser Head were imprisoned. "I told Eraser he could speak to you for a few minutes."

"About what?" he questioned as they came up on the door of the room.

"Don't know, don't really care." She opened the door and held it open for Hawks to enter. "Just don't give him information."

He walked into the room. Eraser Head looked up at Puppet briefly before turning his attention to the winged man.

"Two minutes. I'll come back in when your time's up," she informed.

With that, she closed the door, leaving the two alone.

Hawks looked at the erasure hero, eyeing his fresh injury. "New scar?"

Eraser Head's jaw set.

The former hero left the clearly sore subject alone, instead looking to the other hero in the room — the unconscious Present Mic. "What happened to him?"

"What do you think? She didn't want to deal with him," Eraser Head answered coldly.

"So what did you wanna talk about?" the winged man asked. "We don't have all that long."

"I'm just gonna cut to the chase." The erasure hero knew that the time he had was ticking down quickly, so he spoke fast. "I know Puppet's outside listening to everything, but I don't care. I want to ask you one single favor."

"What do you need?"

"Eri, the girl Shigaraki wants, protect her," he breathed out. "She's only a kid."

Hawks felt bad for him. He understood that, to the erasure hero, the girl was like his own daughter. Tokoyami had filled the former hero in on the events of Overhaul and the Shie Hassaikai, so he knew the girl had been through a lot.

"As far as I know, we don't plan to hurt her," Hawks said. "Even if they wanted to hurt her, there wouldn't be much I'd be able to do. I don't have much of a say in anything."

Hawks could see the other man's hope deflate. He went to say something else, but the door of the room opened, cutting him off.

Puppet walked in, leaning against the doorframe. "Time's up."

Hawks swallowed what words he was going to say and started to walk away from Eraser Head without so much as a goodbye.

"Hawks," the erasure hero said, catching the winged man's attention right before he left the room.

He looked over his shoulder back at the restrained hero.

"Take it into consideration," Eraser Head urged.

"Sure," Hawks responded, turning and making his way out of the room.

Puppet caught his arm in her hand, halting him before he could step out.

"Wait outside," she said to him quietly, releasing him.

He nodded to her. When he stepped out, Puppet closed the door, keeping herself in the room without a further word.

Eraser Head swallowed.

She turned to him. "You were right about me listening in on the conversation."

"And?" he questioned bitterly.

"We're not like Overhaul — we actually despised that he was torturing a toddler," she said. "We don't intend to hurt her for fun. We'll get what we need and be done with it."

"She's not a toddler," Eraser Head muttered.

Puppet sighed, looking to the still unconscious voice hero. "In case you were wondering, Mic should wake up in the next hour or so."

Eraser Head just gave her a monotone hum in response, though he had indeed been wondering how long the sedative would last.

Having nothing else to say, Puppet exited the room, leaving the erasure hero alone with his thoughts.

—

Outside of the room, Hawks stopped talking to Kurogiri once Puppet stepped into the hallway. He had been talking to the warp villain about a rather serious topic — something that he knew that the other League members wouldn't take well.

Kurogiri cleared his throat, excusing himself by plainly walking away.

Puppet skeptically watched him leave. She looked to Hawks. "What was that about?"

"Just a friendly conversation." He shrugged and masked the lie with a smile. "What'd you talk to Eraser Head about?"

"Not much. He seems dead-set that we purposely intend to hurt the girl. I told him otherwise," she answered. He was glad she allowed him to shift the topic of discussion so easily, not prying into what he had been talking to Kurogiri about.

She sighed. "Anyway, we should get some sleep; it's late. Tomorrow we go find the kid."