Beautiful Disasters- Hawks x OC

Chapter 8

Mariko had been careless, and because she'd been careless she made a mistake. She had been trying to keep Sakura in the dark about her friendship with Hawks after their impromptu introduction on the street. Not because she would do something bad with the information, but because she knew the brunette would not leave her alone after finding out. The hero had called her during lunch break- which was being spent with the female in question- to request that she "join him for dinner. Of course, she refused. She knew that "join" really meant "cook for me at your place because I'm too lazy" (she learned from experience). When she declined, the blond- much like Sakura- started whining into the phone, trying to guilt-trip her into accepting by stating that "If we were really friends," she would accept. Mariko just hung up the call before he actually did convince her to cook for him. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. Her phone volume had been just loud enough to allow Sakura to hear the entire conversation. Now, the short-haired female was determined to get any private information she could about the winged hero.

"You're his friend right? What kind of underwear does he wear?" she asked.

"I'm his friend, not his maid," Mariko sighed.

"Yeah, but you've been to his apartment, right? Maybe you saw some laundry lying around or something?" she pressed.

"I haven't. and I wouldn't tell you even if I had, so stop asking me these things. It's weird," she scolded her.

Sakura pouted and crossed her arms, "You're so stingy."

She didn't respond and continued to look through the documents she had placed on the table in front of her. It was a patient file filled out by an intern and the head doctor wanted to make sure everything was in order before filing it. Her friend, however, was ignoring all the signs she was putting out to be left alone. She sat across from her, blabbering on about her favorite blonde hero. Although it didn't bother her that Sakura was going on a rant about Hawks, the questions she asked were exceedingly personal (Mariko didn't even know the answer most of the time) and made it difficult for her to concentrate on the task at hand.

"and those eyes I just- "

"Sakura," she interrupted. "I'm busy, talk to someone else about it," she told her.

The brunette threw her head back and released a loud groan. "But no one knows him like you do!" she whined.

A tick mark appeared on Mariko's forehead. It was times like this when she had to remind herself that Sakura was mentally five years old instead of an adult. "This is all your fault Hawks," she thought bitterly.

"Can you at least tell me his name?" she asked hopefully.

"Hawks."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "No, his real name. Not his hero one," she clarified.

The brunette paused. Surprised, she realized she didn't know his name either. "Does that make me a bad friend?" She wondered. "I mean, he never told me... but it's not like I ever asked either."

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

Her friend, of course, didn't believe her. "Ugh... you're such a bitch," she pouted. Wanting to ignore the older woman, she pulled out her phone and earbuds, most likely to watch some anime and tune out the rest of the world.

The rest of the day Mariko contemplated asking Hawks about his real name. She was curious, but she understood that they hadn't known each other a very long time and had only recently become friends. She didn't want to put him in an uncomfortable position. She was so lost in thought, that she hadn't noticed the blond waiting for her outside the hospital entrance when she got off work at the end of the day.

"He'd had his arms spread out, a bright smile on his face as he expected to receive a hug, and she'd walked right by him.

Given her emotional state the last time she had ignored him, Hawks was immediately concerned. It took him a moment to shake off the surprise, and she was already several steps ahead of him by the time he came back to his senses. He jogged to catch up to her and, in an effort to gain her attention, placed a hand on her shoulder.

Although she had been doing an amazing job at not harming the hero when he approached her, she'd been so lost in thought that she hadn't even felt his presence like she usually did. As a result, she'd been startled and grabbed her "attacker's" arm and pinned him to the nearest wall.

Not expecting to be received with violence again, the hero had no time to prepare for the impact and slammed against the wall painfully. "I thought we'd gotten past this already kid," he groaned painfully.

"Shit, I'm sorry!" she squeaked, releasing him immediately.

Hawks rolled his shoulder uncomfortably, "S'all good chickadee, no harm done," he told her.

The brunette raised an eyebrow at the nickname. "That's new," she thought. "Chickadee?" she wondered out loud.

The blonde smiled sheepishly; a bit embarrassed that she had pointed it out. He'd hoped it would go unnoticed.

Noting his discomfort, Mariko smirked. It wasn't every day that she saw her friend so uncharacteristically bashful. "How on-brand of you," she commented.

"Of course, gotta keep with my theme after all," he said, shaking off the awkwardness.

Mariko nodded in understanding and continued walking back home. Hawks fell into step beside her and looked down at her constantly with a concerned expression. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"You okay today?"

She raised an eyebrow and looked up at him, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

The blonde shrugged, "You just seemed a bit spacey for a while back there. I mean you didn't even notice I was waiting for you outside the hospital and totally ignored my hello-hug," he said, complaining a bit.

Mariko cracked a small smile at his childish attitude and was brought back to the conversation she had with Sakura that day- the source of her pensive mood.

"What's been bothering you?" he pressed.

"What's your name?" she asked suddenly. She figured now was as good a time as any to ask.

Hawks quirked an eyebrow. "My name? That's what's been bothering you?" he asked. He hoped that was the case. She didn't ask him personal questions, and although he appreciated being able to keep things to himself with her, it did sometimes make him feel like she wasn't interested in him. It was a nice change to see her wanting to know more about him.

The woman shrugged, "I wouldn't say I was bothered by it. I was thinking that it's a bit weird that I keep calling you by your professional name since we're friends. It's fine if you don't wanna tell me though," she said quickly.

Hawks gave her a crooked smile, "Professional name? You make it sound like I'm some stripper," he joked.

"My bad. I didn't mean to insult any strippers," she deadpanned.

He laughed at the insult which allowed an unexpectedly peaceful silence to fall over them.

"Takami, Keigo Takami," he said after a while.

"Huh?"

"My name. It's Keigo Takami. Call me Keigo though. Takami's my old man," he said waving his hand dismissively.

The brunette cracked a small smile, "Mariko's fine, too," she said softly.

The blonde looked down at her for a moment, his eyes widened for a fraction of a second before beaming at the woman and pulling her into a tight hug. "Because you are the greatest person ever," he thought. "I never got my hello hug," he justified.

Mariko snorted and lightly wrapped her arms around him, reciprocating the gesture. Though it was a bit stiff, he appreciated the effort nonetheless. "Hello," she greeted.

"Hey" he chuckled.