PAUSE! [MHA x OP!Reader]

3. My Hero

--- Hawks' POV (a few moments sooner) ---

It was now the third night in a row I was following the young girl with the Phoenix wings after she flew by my window, and the fourth night since I had seen her for the first time. The last two times she had been too fast. So fast that I had lost track of her after barely 5 minutes. Now, why was I even following her? I was amazed by the majestic aura she radiated, and the genuine joy she seemed to feel whenever doing her dangerous tricks, but that wasn't it. My instincts told me there was something else behind her confident and joyful aura, a poor soul that wasn't letting herself feel the sorrow that was bottled up and locked away on the inside.

Tonight, she wasn't as energetic as usual and flew steadily at a slower pace. I kept my distance as she flew past the high skyscrapers. I now had the time to observe some of her features. She had h/l h/c hair, and a well build body. Based on her height and the little of her face I had seen through the window, I presumed she was around 15 or 16. Then I noticed how her flying lost steadiness more and more, until she suddenly turned, flying fast towards a completely different direction. Had she noticed me? No, I don't so. She lost balance but managed to regain control and land on a rooftop. She sat down and buried her face in her knees and covered herself with her wings. I was barely a building away from her now. I observed her, as pained cries filled my ears. I made my way towards the poor child that was crying her heart out on the roof.

--- Normal POV ---

"Hey, N/n... There is someone behind you.", I heard Doshi's voice ring in my head. She usually didn't like to talk at night, only if it was to warn me of something.

'Someone behind me? You know what? Screw it. I don't care. I can't even stop crying right now.', I couldn't care less right now. They wouldn't be able to hurt me anyways. My Phoenix wings are blazing hot y'know? I continued to cry my heart out until I heard someone call out to me.

"Hello."

I turned around, wiping as many tears off my face as I could before facing the unknown man standing in front of me. He had red wings on his back. He looked at me calmly, as if waiting for an answer. Should I say hi? I kind of wanted to just cry though. Tears were still streaming down my cheeks. I wanted to be alone, however, he had this calming aura that made my chest feel a little lighter, making it easier to breathe.

"H-hi.", I managed to mumble through the tears.

The man walked over to me with a small encouraging smile.

"Good job", he said, sitting down next to me and looking at the stars.

'Good job? What's that supposed to mean?', I remained silent.

"You let those feelings out in freedom instead of keeping them bottled up inside of you. I'm proud of you."

'We are so proud of you.'

As I heard those words, I broke down again, this time, letting it all out. It had a hard time breathing, when I couldn't stop pushing out all of the air in my lungs, barely giving myself time to catch a breath. My head was pounding like crazy, and it hurt too, a lot. I desperately started banging my head with hard punches until I felt a warm embrace pulling away my fists from my head.

"Hey hey hey, don't hurt yourself now.", the man said calmingly.

That must hurt really bad, wrapping his arms around the flames on my back like that. I fell for his comforting embrace and wrapped my own arms around him as I let go of my wings. I pressed my hands against his back and cried on his shoulder. How long was it since I had been in such a warm embrace?