BNHA | Oɴᴇsʜᴏᴛs

Love & Hate (Hawks x Reader)

It was always like this with him.

The push and pull. The fire and ice. The way he smiled like he hadn't just broken her heart, the way he touched her like he wasn't the one who had shattered her trust.

She hated him.

She loved him.

And he knew it.

"You always look at me like you're deciding whether to kill me or kiss me," he mused, arms crossed as he leaned against the railing of her apartment balcony. "It's kind of hot, not going to lie."

She exhaled sharply, gripping the edge of the counter. "Do you ever take anything seriously?"

He grinned. "Oh, plenty of things. Just not the things you want me to."

It was a game to him, all of it. The chasing, the pushing, the way he had this uncanny ability to make her feel like she was the only thing in the world that mattered, until he disappeared again.

She crossed her arms. "You could've at least told me you were alive."

His wings ruffled, just a fraction, and there was something unreadable in his golden eyes. "You wouldn't have believed me if I did."

"Maybe I wouldn't," she snapped. "But you didn't even give me the chance, did you?"

Keigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair, and for the first time since he showed up at her place tonight, he looked like he felt it. The weight of it. The weight of her. "I couldn't," he admitted.

"Bullshit."

"It would've been worse if I did," he said, his voice quieter. "For you. For me."

"So, you decided for me?" She scoffed. "Typical."

There it was again, that slow smile that wasn't really a smile, the one that said he knew exactly what she was thinking before she could even form the words.

"Are you trying to hurt me or is that just something you do naturally?" she demanded.

"I don't want to hurt you." His voice was smooth, but there was an edge beneath it. "I never wanted to. You just make it real hard not to."

The nerve. The audacity.

"Oh, I make it hard?"

Keigo didn't say anything at first. Just stepped closer, crowding her against the counter, his wings shifting behind him, sharp and sleek. His golden eyes flickered over her face, and despite herself, she felt her pulse stutter under his gaze. He was so dangerous.

Not just because of what he was. But because of what he could do to her.

How he could push her into hating him, make her want to punch the smirk off his face, and then somehow, in the same breath, make her heart race too fast and her thoughts scramble.

"You're the most frustrating person I know," she said through clenched teeth, turning away from him.

"Back at you, babe." His voice was low now, a murmur meant just for her.

***

He didn't believe it at first.

Not really.

She had walked out before angry, frustrated, slamming the door so hard his feathers rustled from the force. But she had always come back. Always.

This time, she didn't.

And Keigo felt it like a blade to the gut.

***

A week passed.