ICARUS - Hawks x Reader

SIXTY SIX: In...

"(Y/N), as much as I appreciate your concern, you need to remove yourself."

I stead of doing as I was asked, my arms and legs tightened around the number one, my face squishing into his chest.
"You better stay safe, dammit! Kick that doctor guy's ass, and then burn him to ashes! Extra crispy!" I was stalling, I knew that, but my nerves had reached an all time high. I had already lost my own child to this war, along with Best Jeanist. I couldn't lose anyone else.

"You don't need to worry about me. Keep yourself safe, and that bird brain of yours..." Sighing, Endeavor forcibly pried me from his body setting me down on the ground and patting my head. "Good luck to you. We're going to be victorious." Watching him leave, flanked by Eraserhead and Mirko, I almost choked up. Since when had I been such a crybaby?

"Come on, Sunshine...It's time to go." Hawks took my hand and pulled me close, licking the pad of his thumb and using the moisture to wipe away a smear upon my cheek. "In and out." Nodding, I sucked in a deep breath and followed his lead. That was basically our entire plan. He would do what he needed to do, and I'd be there for backup. Dabi would have to wait.

Everything hurts already...

The dark side to my quirk made me feel colder as we started our aerial journey towards the mansion, rising above the thick fog that cloaked the forest below once we left the city. Down there, hundreds of heroes and students alike were waiting, watching, preparing to fight. To the death, if the situation called for it.

There was so much at stake. The world as we knew it. One slip up, one thing missed, and everything was as good as done for.
"Bubaigawara." I could hardly hear Hawks over the whistling wind smashing against my ears, and I swooped closer, moving beneath him in hopes of getting a clearer listen.
"Come again?!"

"Bubaigawara. Twice. He needs to be neutralized at any cost." Hawks almost sounded robotic, like he was relaying a prerecorded message instead of speaking for himself. It sent a wild shiver down my spine.
"Keigo..." The one person he had truly bonded with. I had already known that Twice was a threat, but I hadn't been made aware of the fact that he was the prime target.

"In and out. You cover me, that's it, and only when I ask for it. Apart from that, just defend. Keep yourself safe." His words carried ominously on the wind, and in that moment every single fibre of my body screamed at me to grab him by the arm and drag him back home.

No...We've got this...In and out...

During the hour of flight, I started thinking about everything behind us. My little brother, who hadn't the slightest clue of what was going on. Natsuo, who would have been blissfully unaware, still not ready to wake up for classes. Endeavor, who was on his way to fight his own half of the battle. Akitsugu, whose ashes sat upon the centre of our mantle. Every one, and thing, we were trying to protect.

When the mansion came into view, my breath seemed to get caught in my throat, and I was almost sent into a coughing fit when Hawks caught me by the scruff, yanking me back and holding me against his hip as he hung from the side of a tree.

"We wait for the others to strike first, then we sneak in. It's safest." He murmured, staring hard at the grounds ahead. He was shaking, and not from holding our combined weights. It was a shiver, almost a constant, heavy vibration, and it rippled straight through him and into me.

"Keigo, look at me." I had to repeat myself more than once to get through to him, but once he turned to acknowledge me, I pressed a deep, passionate kiss to his parted lips, refusing to release it until long after he began to reciprocate. "I love you. This is just another challenge. In and out. Together."