I Loved You First (Dabi X OC X Hawks)

Chapter 18 - A Familiar Face

Kimi's POV

The train ride to the hospital was long and cramped but Keigo lightened it up by texting me various cringeworthy bird puns. My favourite being "You drive me quackers". To which I replied "Hawkward....". Although our conversation made me laugh, the words of Recovery Girl kept creeping up in my mind. I don't really know much about him. Apart from his name which took him far longer than expected for him to tell me.

I pushed the thought to the back of my mind as I left the busy train and made my way into the quiet hospital. The calming smell of sterile air filling my lungs. As I walked towards the familiar research lab, the sound of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 drifted through the corridors. Which can only mean one thing. Kenji was annoyed. Although he had a love of classical music, his choice of composer always gave away his mood. Beethoven was annoyed, Debussy was relaxed, Mozart was excited, Tchaikovsky was playful and if he had listening to Mussorgsky ... you wouldn't want to be in the same room.

"I said I was sorry!" Umi's cries could be heard over the music.

"And I said I do not have time to listen to your regrets. Nor do I want your coffee apology. Caffeine does not sit well with my palate." Kenji spoke back in a somewhat bitter tone.

"Ignore him. He's just annoyed My Little Pony got rescheduled." Shinso chuckled.

I walked in to see Shinso patting Umi's back, whilst she looked down at the ground tearfully.

"The television station have no right to reschedule shows! This lack of time keeping ability is reflective of the ever growing state of anarchy we find ourselves in!" Kenji cried throwing a ballpoint pen onto the table in frustration.

"This a bad time?" I ask with an awkward chuckle as Umi rushes towards me and pulls me into a light hug before going off into a tangent of how her day has been.

"Hey Kimi, how was work?" Shinso asked. Taku Shinso was a kind man, who always had the ability to put people at ease, even without the use of his empath quirk. He often reminded me of Aizawa, with his tired demeanor, though he assures me they aren't related. I had known him for a few years and had strongly congratulated him on his son getting into UA, even if he didn't make it onto the hero course. In a lot of ways I could relate to that.

"Work was good, though they really have ramped up the security measures!" I smile placing my bag onto the table and accepting the latte that Umi gave me which was initially meant for Kenji as an apology.

"Tsk. Honestly, the funding that school gets just to produce mini versions of All Right." Kenji muttered to himself as he gathered the equipment he would need to extract my blood.

"I think you mean All Might there Kenji" I chuckle watching his brows furrow.

"Whatever! All Might, All Right, what is the difference? His name won't get me more funding. Arm." He says indicating for me to raise my arm as he hooks me up to the machine to fill up a blood bag.

"I see your bedside manner is as lovely as ever" Shinso said with a chuckle as Kenji continues to mutter under his breath about how his genius is wasted here, his extra limbs moving around the various papers scattered across the table.

"Kenji showed us the results of the previous tests run into your blood's effect on HIV Kimi. They look pretty impressive but we still have to work on extracting the exact aspect of your blood that neutralizes the HIV cells. This will probably require more blood than we normally take so you may start to feel a little woozy. If you do just let us know okay?" Shinso asked.

"No problem doc" I smiled. Upon answering the question I felt completely relaxed. Any worries I may have had regarding Keigo or UA, or even the machine slowly draining out a bag full of my blood, faded away and I felt myself giggle lightly.

"You know, you could start charging for this Shinso. I feel all floaty, is this what being high feels like?" I ask in an airy voice, relaxing back into the cushions behind me.

"I wouldn't know Kimi. I love to read, not take weed." Shinso said back in his classic 'dad' voice.

"Don't use your quirk on her Shinso, she was slow enough before, I don't need her to start acting like a hippie." Kenji said before he started humming along to the ever present symphony.

"Meanie" I mumble which causes Umi so stifle a laugh.

The procedure went as expected and within an hour I left the hospital feeling weak but relatively well. Shinso had offered me a ride home but I knew my apartment was in the opposite direction and I didn't want to put him out.

Walking home alone felt strange. I had gotten so used to a certain bird chirping in my ear on the way to work, that the isolated streets felt alien and a little sinister.
I decided to take the longer route home, as the shorter one consisted of too many dark alleys, and I would very much like to make it home in one piece.

I approached the long road that led to my home, it would take me another 10 minutes until I could snuggle up with Peanut and drink some hot chocolate. I could practically taste the cocoa but was pulled out of my blissful thoughts and into a darkened corner of the street by a short but burly looking man. He reeked of booze and held a devilish grin which made my blood run cold.

"Hey pretty lady, where you going?" He asked in a slurred voice.

"Away from you creep!" I spat back stomping on his foot and making a break for it. I avoided the short cut to my apartment for this very reason and yet I still have to bump into the creeps! The regret at not taking Shinso's offer of a ride home screamed in my head as I ran.

Just as I could see the warm glow of my apartment building I was pulled back by a long scratchy tongue. The skin around the man's neck had puffed out and his yellow eyes squinted at me like an angry lizard.

"Not so fast girly, you're going to regret that!" He hissed at me, his words somewhat muffled by his tongue still wrapped around my waist.

"I don't think so!" I say trying to appear as calm as possible whilst my mind races in terror. I lift my hand up opening my palm before bringing it down sharply onto his tongue, my force field activating at the last possible second.

A loud echoing blast was heard upon impact. The man recoiled crying out in pain and retracting his tongue back into his mouth. I didn't stick around and again began running towards my apartment building. As I entered my building and looked back out the window to ensure he hadn't followed me I could see nothing but a dark empty street.

The haunting noise of wind whistling down the narrow street permeated the walls of the building. I waited longer with bated breath until the lizard man came into view running up the street frantically looking around. I crouched down further into the shadows still peeking out at the man from the darkened hallway. The locked door between us did nothing to slow my racing heartbeat which pounded in my head painfully.

As I watched on in panic I debated calling Keigo. He is a hero, this is kind of his department. Before I could pull out my phone however the man spun around at another voice from behind him.

I couldn't hear what was being said but could make out the tall black silhouette of the newcomer as he approached the lizard man with a sinister blue glow emitting from his hands. His face was cast in shadows but his long black coat moved like liquid against the darkened street lamps. He spoke to the creep from earlier and I watched as he shook with fear. The lizard man opened his mouth, most likely to attack with his tongue once again, but before he could even open his mouth a blinding blue flame erupted from the tall strangers hand and engulfed him completely. I heard his blood curdling screams for only a second before the world went silent. Even the whistle of the wind seemed to fade into oblivion as I watched the stranger glare at the space where the lizard man once stood, only a pile of black ash remaining.

I choked back a sob and brought my hand to my mouth. I had never witnessed death before and yet here I was, watching silently as a man was burned alive. The stranger's head shot towards my direction upon hearing me and my heart seemed to stop.

Not from fear.
Not from horror.
But because in this new angle I could see his face. I could see his familiar ocean coloured eyes.
I could see Touya.