Beautiful Disasters- Hawks x OC

Chapter 51

It had been a while since Hawks got to focus on hero duties. Things like patrolling the city and helping old ladies carry their groceries or find a lost child's parents were things that real heroes did. It'd been far too long since he was able to do all of that.

As a result, Keigo was in an incredibly good mood as he flew home, and it only got better when he thought about Mariko waiting for him, dancing around the kitchen as she cooked dinner like she had done that time. It was the little instances like that one that had him wrapped around her finger. "Only thing that would make it better was if she was wearing the Hawks sweater and making chicken," he thought happily.

Like he did whenever he was the last one home, he theatrically burst through the front door shouting "Honey I'm ho-" the sentence died in his throat when he saw that all the lights were turned off. He wondered if Mariko, had by chance gone to bed early. It didn't happen often at all, but there were some days when work really tired her out and she just slept when she got home. He looked and saw her purse laying on the counter, which calmed his nerves down a bit. He went into her room to check on her, but the bed was devoid of the familiar brunette. Frowning, he knocked on the en-suite bathroom door. "Mari, you in there?" he asked.

There was no response.

He turned the doorknob and it easily opened, revealing another empty room.

The blonde turned around and walked to his room. "Maybe by some miracle of God she missed me so much during the day she went to sleep in my room," he wondered hopefully. He held his breath as he opened the door and alarms went off when he saw it too was empty. The burse in the kitchen was no longer a good sign at all. He quickly dialed her number, and it became hard to breathe when he heard it ring in the main room.

Slowly, he followed the sound until he was looking down at Mariko's cellphone. It had been discarded on the kitchen counter, alight with a goofy picture of them with his contact name as it rang.

He was starting to panic now. His mind raced as he considered all of the possibilities. Had she been abducted? Did she run out to the store? Was there an emergency? Was she okay? Did she run away?

He called Sakura, hoping, praying that the brunette had some sort of answer. She answered after the third call.

"Who on earth keeps on calling?"

"It's me. Hawks."

"Oh! My bad I don't have your number saved! What's up?" she asked.

"Do you know where Mariko is? I know she came home because her bag's here, but I've looked all over the apartment and she's not here," he said quickly.

Sakura was silent for a moment. "Check under the bed and tell me if there's a bag underneath it," she instructed.

"A bag? What does that-"

"Just do it."

Keigo sighed and jogged to her bedroom once more. He looked underneath the bed, there was nothing. "No, there isn't. But that's not important right now. Do you know where she is or not?"

"I don't. But she keeps her go-bag under her bed. So if it's missing, she probably took it with her and knew she was leaving. That rules out kidnapping. She's probably fine," Sakura said. She knew she was lying. If Mariko had left with a go-bag, she was on a mission. She was probably not fine and getting shot at, but that was the last thing she was going to tell the panicking hero.

"You mean she ran away or some shit?" he asked confused.

"What? No. Mariko's not the type to do that. When she leaves, she comes back. She probably left you a message or something. Have you gotten any calls or texts today?" she asked.

The blonde's eyes widened. "She called me earlier today. I was busy though and couldn't answer."

"She probably gives at least a bit of an explanation there. Call again if there's anything else you need," she said and quickly hung up.

Keigo went to his voicemails. There was one from Mariko that had been made just past three o'clock. The first thing he heard was a string of curses. There was a lot of shuffling around and moving, Mariko seemed to be running through the apartment.

"Fine. Keigo I have to go for a little while. I'm not exactly sure how long I'll be gone though... hopefully not too long. I won't be able to talk either after this... Anyways, don't start a search party or anything. I'll be with Hayato and Araya, so you know I haven't been kidnapped, not technically anyway. I promise I'll try to come back soon. Stay safe out there."

Anger bubbled in his chest and he suddenly had the urge to punch something. "Why does it have to be those two? What the hell was so important that she had to leave with them suddenly? Does it have something to do with Mineko Shimizu?" That made sense. He knew Mariko saw herself as responsible for everything Mineko Shimizu had done. Even more so now that she'd found out the woman was still alive. She'd do anything to make it right. Knowing the reason for her departure didn't make him feel any better though; in fact, it made him feel worse. Mariko was deliberately putting herself in danger. She could be fighting her life god knows where while he was sitting on his ass, waiting for her to come home. "How can I protect her?"

Right now, he couldn't and that was the most terrifying thing of all.