I had fun with this one. Also, ily guys.

Interview with a Winged Hero

Chapter Three

Unraveling

—The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Six Years Ago — Tokyo, Shopping District

What in heaven's name am I doing here?

Miryoku stared after her two companions—one a friend, the other a recent addition to their news club in high school—as they walked through row after row of the current department store they were in.

Oh, that's right. I got dragged out.

Alright, maybe she was exaggerating but her current predicament certainly felt mildly forced by her friend. Miryoku hadn't seen anything wrong with Makoto wanting to spend some quality time with the newbie that entered their club. What was her name again? Hana-something Saori? Whatever her name was, she hadn't cared in the least. And apparently her friend saw that as a challenge. Makoto came as abruptly as she always did to add her into her impromptu plans for the afternoon, interrupting her gaming session.

There frankly wasn't a point in trying. The girl hadn't looked like she wanted to be at the clubroom when she showed up that morning anyway. And seeing how she was still fidgety despite Makoto's approachable demeanor now told Miryoku that she didn't want to be here either.

You and I both.

Miryokyu made her way out of the store bored as she was, wandering off to get some of that spicy ice cream she saw on the way to the store when something made her stop in her tracks. Though she stopped dead center in front of a rather flamboyant display of a children's show, what had caught her attention was one of the characters so shamelessly displayed with the rest. A white bunny with a pink hat over her ears and a white flower.

Going inside, her hands reached out almost instantly for one of the many pins of the character and examined it. It reminded her very much of a lunatically euphoric bunny. The cashier rang loudly in the otherwise quiet store as she went ahead and bought it, holding closely the little decorated bag with its cute little sticker.

I hope Rumi-san likes it.

Turning to her before actually finishing the transaction, the cashier smiled and picked out a shirt from behind the counter. "If you like the pin so much, you might be interested in this My Melody shirt we're selling to go with the pin. What do you think?"

At the sight of the bright pink shirt, she gave it some thought. When she realized that it matched with the pin, she nodded and let the cashier finish ringing her up. It'll be cute if we match, right? That thought swam in her head all the way out of the store where she failed to notice a couple of familiar faces waiting for her while in her daydream.

"What'd you got there, Ryo?"

Sunset eyes rose to meet a pair of quizzical looks from her companions. Being caught red handed set her face on fire, the warm blood rushing to her cheeks a clear telltale of how personal the items were. And that particular conversation was one she really didn't want to have with them.

"J-Just a pin and shirt. I-I-I think those characters are cute."

"You do?" Saori coyly tilted her head to gaze at the display over her shoulder before smiling. "They do have a certain kind of charm to them. Though you don't seem like the type of person, to be honest, Chimni-san."

As if on cue, Makoto strutted forward and swung her arm over Miryoku's shoulder. "It may not look like it but she used to be a total hikki when I met her. One that hoarded tons of plushies of everything you can imagine. You should've seen her room when I visited her house for the first time."

"Oi."

There wasn't anything stopping Makoto now that Saori's comment got her on a roll embarrassing Miryoku though. "It's been tough breaking her out of her shell but it's coming along just swell if I do say so myself."

Miryoku gave her a deadpan stare, unable to believe what she just heard. "I wasn't a hikki."

"No?" Makoto asked incredulously and pulled her in. "Your grandfather basically begged me to take you out of the house the first time I came over. You wouldn't even come down to see me you were such a recluse."

"First of all, you came uninvited. And secondly, the only reason gramps begged you for anything that day was because I refused to buy him taiyaki for dinner for the fifth damn time in a row."

"Details don't matter."

"Context does."

Their sudden bantering was interrupted by the soft chuckling that came from Saori. A warmed smile came to her lips as her reddish pink eyes looked at them both in kind.

"You two certainly get along well."

"Barely."

"Right?" Makoto swatted Miryoku's comment aside and smiled back at Saori. "Don't listen to her, she's being a sourpuss."

"Are you guys done window shopping?" Miryoku asked nonchalantly while pointing back with her thumb towards the food court. "There's a large mango ice cream with spicy syrup with my name on it."

Once done placating her friend's odd sweet tooth and getting some sweets themselves, the three girls sat on a bench to rest and watched the indoor fountain of the shopping mall while all three ate. Saori who sat on the other side of Makoto leaned forward to face Miryoku who minded her very little as she savored her ice cream.

"Say, Chimni-san, Tsukauchi-san and I were having an interesting conversation while we were at the last store. I wanted to ask you about it when we noticed you left. Mind if I ask you?"

"Not really."

Her reply was automatic with how rapt she was by her ice cream and how delicious it was. So much so that she didn't even see Makoto's suddenly tensing back or the way she was motioning for Saori not to. But just as Miryoku was too occupied eating to notice her, Saori seemed too interested in what Miryoku had to say to bother with the other's warnings.

"Say, what's your Quirk, Chimni-san?"

Miryoku stopped mid spoonful of ice cream, sunset eyes widening at such a left field question. Though Makoto tensed even further while sitting like a barrier between them, Saori leaned further forward to try and catch a glimpse of Miryoku's face. Such a thing only forced Makoto to try as she awkwardly could to change the subject.

"W-Whoa! Look, you guys! They turned on the fountain lights! Aren't they pretty?"

Her attempts to diffuse a situation she knew wouldn't end well were in vain though when Saori, after a moment of getting no answer, spoke up loud enough to not be ignored.

"Mine is very strange compared to Tsuakuchi-san's." She chuckled sweetly as she glanced down at the gold mark that circled her left wrist, diamonds interspaced like some kind of bracelet. "Though I suppose being able to make any two things that I touch switch places is odd compared to a human lie detector. Compared to those, I wanted to see what yours entailed."

"A-Ah, would you guys look at the time! It's later than I thought it was!" Makoto burst out and sprung out of her seat while hauling both off their butts to drag them towards the exit. "My brother's probably waiting for Ryo and I, Saori. We'll walk with you to where your car is waiting too if you want!"

"I'm sure it's nothing to cause such an uproar about, Tsukauchi-san." Freezing at being so easily read, Makoto couldn't help but stop when Saori pulled her back. Miryoku followed suit simply because of the grasp Makoto still had on her wrist. "I'm sure Chimni-san's Quirk is very interesting too!"

Miryoku caught by the corner of her eye how Makoto fidgeted in her feet. She feels...guilty? There didn't seem any other way to describe what she saw. Makoto felt guilty for having unintentionally brought that conversation up even when it'd been when she wasn't around. Frankly, she didn't care. Despite how much the question surprised her, it really wasn't anything to hide. Even if she told herself that though, Miryoku knew what a big fat lie she was trying to convince herself of.

The sweet and spicy ice cream suddenly tasted bland in her mouth at the idea of having to say it. As her brain attempted to come up with a way to explain, her gut yelled at her not to. It cried and begged her to ignore Saori's question.

And she learned a while ago that only one of those knew what was best for her.

Idly walking to the nearest trash can, Miryoku tossed her half eaten ice cream in it before looking back at Saori and Makoto. The latter with a sour and apologetic look on her face and the former with an expectant, wide-eyed expression.

Time to do what I do best.

"I'm Quirkless."

Pink and green eyes went wider than before at the sudden declaration; one surely out of confusion and the other out of what she hoped was sheer embarrassment.

Cheeks molten as could be, Saori stuttered unable to keep her shame from showing. "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean—I shouldn't have asked—I didn't know!"

"Now you do." With that, Miryoku spun on her heels and started making her way towards the exit while waving back at them.

"W-Wait!" Makoto called out after her. "Nao's coming to pick us up!"

"I think I need a walk, Mako. Tell him I say thanks. I'll see you guys at school."

Not waiting for them to reply, she took longer strides than usual to get to the exit as quickly as possible while holding tightly onto the only things she had bought on that rare outing. Once out in the streets and as far from the shopping mall as she could possibly get, she let herself take a breather and leaned back against a lamppost to do so. Sunset eyes stared skyward at the twilight sky as her own words replayed in her mind.

"I'm Quirkless."

Miryoku scoffed and bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"If only."

Present Day, 10am — Tokyo, Outside an event hall.

"Alright, Makoto, write this down. If I die today, all my belongings go to Junji."

"Oh, come now. It can't be that bad."

Miryoku raised a dark eyebrow at her phone, the video call allowing Makoto to see the full extent of her deadpan expression. With a swift flip of her phone while holding it up high, she gave Makoto a glimpse of the same exact view of her surroundings.

A crowd gathered around the relatively small event hall rented out for the Billboard Charts. A crowd that exceeded her expectations. From what she could gather, half were reporters and journalists like herself, some coming along with their cameramen while others came alone. The other much rowdier half consisted of what she abhorred the most about her job: fans. Crazy fans to be precise. Miryoku knew it wasn't nice or even fair to label everybody the same, but after more than a few bad experiences, she knew not to expect much from them. Thankfully, the small event would only allow a certain amount of people inside the venue according to what she was told; so aside from news casters and journalists, there wouldn't be much room left for the fans.

It brought a smile to her face and some sort of cynical satisfaction seeing them get turned down at the door after she all but walked in like she owned the place with her fancy pass.

Good riddance.

"It does look a little claustrophobic."

Hearing Makoto's voice coming from her earphones, she angled her phone to stay as face-to-face as possible with her friend while security guided them to their respective zones.

"More like a lot." She sighed, rubbing the small of her back as it ached from the last couple of nights of slaving herself away over her computer. "I swear, it's like the damn gremlins from that one movie."

"You mean 'Gremlins'?"

"Whatever it's called." Miryoku patted the pockets of her jacket one last time to double check her things but never quite stopped complaining. "I hope nobody's feeding them shit after midnight."

"You sound a tad bit more annoyed than I expected you to be."

"You know I don't do crowds too well." Something quite ironic when she dealt with the masses for a living. Though, to her credit, she did a good enough job through her writing.

"Besides that. It's like something's got you on edge. Did they send you by yourself?"

"I would have bailed on them if they had."

"Ah, so it's about who they did send with you then." Miryoku sometimes hated her friend's sharpness. "Who'd you get stuck with?"

Miryoku clicked her tongue at the reminder. "They sent the cutesy ass gremlin that multiplies every time it gets wet."

"Excuse me?"

Soari's peeved tone brought Miryoku's attention to her as the shorter girl finally found herself with her. Heaving a sigh, Miryoku only gave her a sidelong glance before turning back to Makoto with a dull expression.

"Gizmo's here. Gotta go."

"Be nice! And good luck to the both of you!"

Not promising anything, she merely made a peace sign while slightly sticking out her tongue at her friend before hanging up. Miryoku hurriedly put her earphones and phone away while she and Saori made their way with the rest of the journalists to their seats.

Coming as close as she could, Saori glared daggers at Miryoku as she angrily hissed, "I told you to wait for me!"

"You took too long." You could've waited a bit longer, the logical side of her brain chided. A part she quickly shoved to the back of her mind to let the acerbic little snake that lived in the crevices of her mind rise. "Though I suppose a gremlin can't run very fast with stubby, little legs."

"You—" To her credit, Saori stopped herself before she fell for her taunting, instead turning to face straight ahead as if nothing. "No. Your insults are childish at best and I won't fall for them any further. Honestly, I don't know why you bother."

"It's fun," she admitted without the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice.

And honestly, it's one way I can let out steam right now.

She had no idea what Kojirou was thinking when he sent Saori to report on the Billboard Charts and gala with her. Honestly when he emailed her the news, he promptly received a very annoyed and angry call late in the evening that lasted a good hour and a half. Miryoku knew she wasn't going to change his mind, but if she was going to suffer in the morning because of the brat then so was he from an earful of passive-aggressiveness and lack of sleep. Still, the fact remained that Saori and her had to work together to make this work. And it had to be a success no matter how much she hated the company at the moment.

Work always came first and foremost after all.

"Are you JPWs reporters?"

Miryoku simply showed off her badge while Soari gave a curt 'we are'. The usher pointed them towards the middle of the third row where a couple of seats stood ready for them with neatly taped JPW logos. Taking the farthest seat and settling in quickly gave Miryoku ample time to scope out the place and ask questions as she did so.

"Heard Kojirou-san sent you here 'cause you've been to one of these before."

Saori gave her a sidelong glance, glaring at her for the couthed attitude she was taking, before clearing her throat. "I have."

"What's the rundown?"

"Of what?"

"Everything," Miryoku said, sitting back properly on her seat to stare blankly at the well lit stage that stood so close in front of them.

"That's quite a broad request, Chimni. Care to specify?"

"No, but you won't speak otherwise so I'll dumb it down." Not caring how snarky their back and forward sounded to those sitting around them, Miryoku carried on with the same blasé attitude if only to try and bother Saori as much as her presence annoyed Miryoku. "I've seen the broadcast of the charts before. Is that any different here in person?"

"They're practically the same." Saori's lack of detail got Miryoku to raise a rather irked eyebrow at her coworker and perpetual thorn on her side. Getting the hint, Saori continued despite the ever growing redness of her cheeks that surely arose from frustration. "They usually announce the top ten and give a little speech at the end. Frankly, the rankings aren't what is important during the Billboard Charts for us. What's important are the briefings afterward."

"They have briefings here?" That was news to her. Though she supposed that the articles she read after every biannual billboard chart had to get more info from somewhere since they tended to have more meat than she thought possible to obtain from just attending a top ten countdown. "When are those?"

"After the rankings." Saori fished her phone from the brand bag that hung over her shoulder to quickly unlock it and scroll through something to show to Miryoku's face. "Nagano-san sent an email two days ago with the specifications. Did you not read it?"

"Didn't finish," she said while grabbing Saori's phone to do exactly that. Frankly, after reading that she and Saori had been paired to report on the event and her fiery phone call thereafter, she had completely disregarded the rest of the email.

And it precisely said all that she was asking Saori right now.

Well, don't I feel stupid.

Clearing her throat, Miryoku passed the phone back before leaning back on her chair to wait for the event to begin.

"Who's getting which briefing room?"

Now that she had more information to work with, her questions were much more direct. According to the email, the top tens got split up for better management with journalists and newscasters. Top five got an hour long briefing split in twine while the latter half got 20 minutes max. Quite a disparity but it was understable. More attention was always paid to the top five, especially when that's where All Might would be. But with the briefings happening simultaneously, it'd be hard to get even a bit of the latter half of the top ten if they spent the whole hour with the top five.

At her question, Saori's shoulders visibly fell and as her gaze followed dejectedly. "There won't be any splitting up."

"What?"

"Nagano-san specifically ordered those of us in charge of each crew to focus on the top five. Said that the latter half of the top ten would be covered by somebody else who would watch the broadcast. Orders from the higher-ups, apparently. Mentioned something about the ratings."

"Oh."

It made sense now. JP Weekly wasn't the top news conglomerate for nothing, after all. Focusing on what would add to their numbers was the logical move. And following their logic, anything that fell below a certain standard wasn't worth reporting on. Quite frankly, though, those kinds of stories ended up being the most bland and boring ones every single time.

Displeased as she was, Miryoku muttered under her breath, "That's not right."

Soari refused to answer but she could see from the corner of her eyes how her hands gripped her bag a little tighter.

When the lights that had illuminated the event hall so well suddenly dimmed down, both women turned towards the stage where spotlights hit the announcer of that year's charts. A prim young woman stood out as she began the yearly spiel that Miryoku had all but memorized over the years of watching the live broadcast. It impressed even her how well she'd learned to tune out the unnecessary chatter after the few years in her field. It was something she was grateful for, especially now since it let her surf the net on her phone while the idly chatter continued. It'd be easy to tune back in when the only thing that mattered, and the only reason anybody was there anyways, finally began.

"And now, for our top heroes!" The cheerfulness that the announcer conducted herself with seemed tiring to Miryoku. She really couldn't see herself standing in the poor girl's shoes having to be all sweet, nice and smiles for the whole of this charade.

The first three heroes called out weren't that surprising. Gang Orca, Ryuku, Yoroi Musha. They'd remained in their spots for the most parts. In Ryuku's case, she climbed a couple of places to get to ninth. As did Gang Orca. Seeing their young faces got Miryoku seriously wondering what kept such an old man like Yoroi Musha from retiring though. Numbers 7 and 6 hadn't changed in the past year either. Old reliables tended to get their way like that and stay on their pedestals for what they were worth.

Top five wasn't any different.

"Nothing changes much, huh?" she muttered under her breath.

Saori nodded. "It would appear so."

Miryuoku counted down under her breath along with the announcer, "Number five, Edgeshot. Four, Best Jeanist. Three, Hawks. Two, Endeavor. And,numero uno is, surprise, surprise..."

All Might—for who knows how many times in a row now. Miryoku wondered why she was there again when this was such an easy task for one person.

Thankfully, this mindless torture didn't last longer than the twenty minutes it took to announce the ten of them. That only meant, though, that a new kind of hell awaited her in the tiny room that they were now filing into. Miryoku followed Saori's lead since she knew most of how this whole thing was handled and took a gander at the room they were led into now.

It really was just a gathering room annexed to the main event hall, and certainly not the only one. Back before the crowd parted and the media headed to the briefings, she noted the clear divide between the latter half of the top ten and the top five. Surely, the only reason the other room would be filled would be because they maxed the capacity on this one, sad as that was.

To her dismay, JPW's section was upfront where all the action would be. Miryoku sighed at the thought of having to deal with all this without a shield of others in front of her. Taking a seat, she slumped against it already exhausted after having spent more than two hours waiting for twenty minutes of what she could've easily watched on TV. No use mulling over that now. She was there and she'd have to get through it however she could. That it took a good ten minutes to settle the crowd of media and journalists into the room, though, didn't help with her already souring mood. Rubbing the side of her temple, Miryoku grumbled under her breath as she leaned to one side for Saori to hear her better.

"It's been ten minutes...I don't think I'll make it through an hour with these people."

"Too bad," Saori hissed back. "We were sent here to get information for the article on the billboard charts and that's what we'll do."

"There's no need to remain here the whole hour to do so though."

Saori turned to her then and was about to ask her what she meant when the announcer from before welcomed in the top five to have a seat before the readied table for them. Though it didn't look like it, the table was long enough to sit them all. From left to right it came down to Edgeshot, Endeavor, All Might, Hawks, and Best Jeanist—a fitting arrangement, she thought, since it'd give the right spotlight to everybody that needed it.

"Now, we will take questions in an orderly fashion from all the sources present and we'll open the floor thereafter."

Like horses off to the races, everybody's hand shot up in an instant including Saori's the moment the announcer finished her sentence. Miryoku physically jumped in her seat, her eyes wide as she glanced over her shoulder at the multitude of reporters and journalists clamoring like children to be chosen. So much for 'orderly fashion'. Good thing I'm only here as decoration.

During her time spacing out in the actual top ten countdown, Miryoku took the time to read over the email sent to her by Kojirou, noting something different compared to Saori's. The sole reason she was there was to assure that things went smoothly and to step in if she saw the need to. Other than that however, her only real purpose was to babysit Saori so she could conduct the whole event by herself. Nothing new, she surmised. That they worked under the same company didn't change the fact that Saori was still the CEO's daughter and that Kojirou was still her highly paid mentor.

What she took away from that email was to keep an eye out for Gizmo and keep her out of trouble without getting in her way. Miryoku could do that. Sure, it was certainly unpleasant to be used as a glorified babysitter but it also meant that she was getting paid for doing practically nothing. It's not like she was in charge of writing the article, either; Saori was. Sure, she'd be printed as co-author, but aside from that, there wasn't much to collaborate on with her hands tied behind her back as they were.

"Can't this end any sooner?" she mumbled and received a peeved glare from Saori from overhearing her comment.

"You are working. Can't you be a little more professional?"

"Professionalism is needed when the attention is on you, Gizmo. One-on-one's get that. This clown fiesta doesn't."

"Clown fiesta?"

Miryoku dismissed Saori questioning her lingo with a shake of her head. "All I'm saying is that they won't remember us from the crowd even if we are from JPW." She shut her mouth the moment someone from the crowd got picked, their question, of course, directed at All Might. His booming voice allowed her to continue speaking under him, just loud enough for her to listen. "We're a grain of sand on the beach for them here. Which makes this all the more tedious."

The crowd roared back to life after the question ended and the next reporter asked his question.

"Well, too bad. It's work—our work. Now stop being such an impudent child and do it."

"It's called being practical—" And bored. "Besides, I could ask fewer questions than you, still get the info needed to write that article and be out in record time to catch the briefing of the latter five."

"There is no leaving early," Saori told her. Another couple of them got chosen and asked their questions. More All Might and some to Best Jeanist. "They don't allow us to leave until it's over for safety reasons."

"Are you serious?"

She nodded as she jotted down something from All Might's answer that interested her before turning back to Miryoku. "I've only known of people leaving because they got kicked out after asking controversial questions."

Sunset eyes locked with reddish pink as Miryoku's eyebrows raised. For a moment, both women stared at each other as horror slowly spread across Saori's face the moment a smug smirk tugged at Miryoku's lips. Miryoku's hand shot upward like a bat out of hell, Saori a little too slow to stop her but grabbing onto her arm to try and bring it down all the same.

"Chimni—don't!"

Small as she was though, nothing she did could bring Miryoku's hand down. Saori, realizing this, hung from her arm to lower it as much as possible and keep out of the announcer's sight. But even with her arm shaking, Miryoku kept it straight as she could as the announcer finally turned to them.

"JP Weekly, you have the word."

"Thank you," she enunciated politely, getting Saori to release her and act like she wasn't dying of embarrassment ten times over. Miryoku, ignoring the putty that her coworker was turning into, smiled sweetly at the five heroes before turning to the one sure wick she knew she could set ablaze. "Question for Endeavor."

Said hero heaved a sigh before leaning forward to the microphone that was set in front of him. He didn't say a word, not like she expected him to, but she took a moment to think of a way to phrase her question without making it sound too out of line.

Just out of line enough to get booted out.

"It's been known that you have been after the number one spot ever since your debut and it's been quite the story to have seen someone as yourself push through the rankings to land yourself where you are. That being said, this is the eighth time you have obtained the number two spot and there are those who wonder whether you have any intention of relenting what some call your 'fruitless' endeavor to the top."

The room fell silent. Almost as if someone had just smacked them all across the face. Saori herself looked ready to die and dig herself into the ground. Miryoku, however, smiled politely as ever. Though she could tell Endeavor was more than angered by the question, he didn't bite the bait like she'd hoped for. Something she could tell simply by the way he looked at her from the stage.

Damn, those eyes hadn't changed in all those years. No matter how old he got, they still sent a chill down her spine. The years truly hadn't changed that sour expression on Fuyumi's father's face. It was still the same one she remembered reproaching her despite letting her stay when he found her at their home quite unexpected and uninvited. But surely he wouldn't recognize her. She'd gone the extra mile to distance herself from the little girl from all those years ago. At least, she thought she had. But by the somewhat calm demeanor he answered with, she was thinking that maybe he did recognize her, after all.

He took a hold of the microphone in his hand, a bit of smoke rising from it as he leaned forward to answer. "I'm not stopping."

Miryoku blinked a couple of times. That's it? By how the announcer tried to downplay the situation and continue the briefing seamlessly, it appeared so. She clicked her tongue indignantly but before she could settle back into her seat, a hand smacked her arm with a bit of force earning a small 'ow' from her.

Saori's cheeks were molten as she raised her hand to be picked again with the rest of the reporters present. In the midst of it however, she didn't fail in reproaching her. "Are you crazy? Do you want to get us kicked out?"

That was the plan. Was being the operative word there.

She really thought pushing Endeavor's buttons would be the ticket out but she supposed that he at least could behave himself in public. Something worth two shits when at home though. But he wasn't the only one there. There was still a handful whom she could pester to get kicked out.

Which brought Miryoku to the million yen question: who would be the lucky winner of her torture? She took a moment to ponder. Edgeshot was straightlaced enough to be a good target, but she wasn't well versed in his affairs to know what buttons to push. Best Jeanist was a similar story. Not like she couldn't give it a shot with either of them though. Endeavor was still an option but after that question, he would be wary of her if JPW got picked again. All Might was a lost cause, honestly. There didn't seem to exist a thing in this world that could trouble the behemoth that was the No.1 hero.

So that leaves—

Bustling red wings caught her attention as they spread behind him while Hawks leaned forward to answer a question directed at him.

The precocious man.

Miryoku heaved a loud sigh at her predicament. Of course that'd be her last resort, having to pick a fight with a giant red pigeon. But if that's what it takes… Taking a moment to take him in as he answered, a sudden through struck her.

The simple idea of having met him more than once in less than a week was truly unbelievable to her. Having him up close again only reminded her more so of those events. Interviewing him and so conveniently forgetting how she'd shoved the idea of the winged hero to the back of her mind was one thing. It was a whole other thing bumping into him during a robbery that same night. And now this. With Saori present no less. Karma had a grand sense of humor that she would never comprehend.

"Alright," the announcer's bubbly voice came loud and clear over the people in the room. "We'll be opening up the floor for questions from anybody who may have them now."

Damn, has 30 minutes already gone by? The way that fewer people now lifted their hands answered that question. They had ran through all the media here and were just letting them duke it out between them for attention. Beside her, Saori raised her arm high in the air, bouncing in her seat in an attempt to make herself visible. Guess she wasn't done yet, Miryoku thought while taking a gander at the lineup once more. That meant another half hour of this hell. Something she wouldn't allow without fighting back.

At least it was amusing to see Saori's eyes basically popping out of their sockets the instant she lifted her hand over hers. Like a feral cat, Saori hissed at her while trying to bring her arm down and raise hers higher. "Chinmi, don't you dare!"

"You said to do my job...and that's what I'm going to do." Eyeing the unguarded notebook that rested on her lap, it was easy for Miryoku to slap it and her pen off of it with a playful smack. Saori cursed under her breath, cheeks turning bright red as she hurriedly bent down to pick it up. That window of mere seconds was enough for the announcer to notice Miryoku and pick her out of the crowd.

"JP Weekly, go ahead."

"Thank you," Miryoku replied and chuckled when beside her Saori could only slam her face against her lap and notebook. "This one's for Hawks, if you'd be so kind."

Those red wings of his seemed to perk again under the attention before laying right back. Sunset eyes turned to said hero and caught him already looking her way while resting the side of his face against his open palm. He smiled at her, the flashing cameras making him unnaturally dazzling and his wings a blinding bright crimson.

"Shoot," he carelessly called out, the microphone sitting in its stand just a few inches in front of him.

Indeed, let's give this a shot. It both amazed and frightened her how quickly her mind concocted the question that barely bordered inappropriate.

"It's widely recognized that your Quirk is one if not the deciding factor that allowed your unrelentless climb to the top at a young age. I don't think there isn't a person here present that doesn't recognize what has been as of recently such a historic accomplishment. That being said, it is greatly debated in some spaces whether this success and image you have are mere fabrication intended for the peace of mind of younger generations."

Behind his visors, Miryoku could've sworn catching his eyes narrowed slightly. "Kind of lost me there, sweetheart."

His tone suddenly caught her off guard. It wasn't gruff nor catty but there was a hint of something that she wasn't quite comfortable with. A smile was still plastered on his face, his chin now resting on his hand, but that tone paired with the way that he looked at her sent shivers down her spine. Despite what little attention she gave the other reporters, she could tell that this was odd compared to a few minutes ago. Almost as if he was studying her with how those eyes of his just barely narrowed down on her. Taking all that into consideration, she highly doubted he misunderstood her question.

He's pulling my chain. Two could play that game.

Before she could open her mouth and rephrase her question though, Saori stepped in quicker than Miryoku thought possible. "What we mean to ask is if you would consider your success as the third ranking hero to only yourself or if you would also include your agency's hard work in the equation?"

Almost instantly, sunset eyes glared down at Saori who disregarded her the best she could to keep up appearances with a sweet smile. Hawks stared at both for a moment before his smile broadened and the flashing lights bombarded him again.

"Of course I do! For as much of a one-man show that I am, I owe a ton to the guys who work with me. Wouldn't be here without them."

Miryoku blew out a tired raspberry as the hands shot up anew, her serious tone more than blown off the table thanks to Saori's interruption and Hawks' reply. I could've gotten him to kick us out. And since the thought wouldn't stop turning in her head, she decided to run with it. Risking Saori's miniature wrath, Miryoku kept raising her hand and getting called on with how much she stood out by being right in front. Though she deviated by asking others a few questions to not seem too obvious, she focused most of her fire on the winged hero. But in spite of how and what she asked, he kept deviating the subject by feigning ignorance, something that Saori used to butt in and calm the waters. The few times she got through before she could interrupt weren't any better either. It was like she was back in that interview with Ito watching as the poor girl got gaslighted like there was no tomorrow. Only now it was happening to her. And even when she knew this and was actively fighting against it, she couldn't find an opening. Not with the annoying roundabout way he went about responding.

Failing yet again, her hand shot up instantly along with the others only to be quieted when the announcer took to her microphone.

"And with that we'll wrap this briefing, folks!"

Miryoku froze, eyes growing wide as she realized too late that she'd literally spent the last half hour antagonizing the guy to kick them out only to accidentally spend that time actually working. Fucking hell. Security guided them out before long as the heroes themselves were escorted off-stage. Grumbling all the way out, she made her way behind Saori whose shoulders slumped down exhausted.

"I can't believe you wasted our time with such idiotic questions and put us at risk of being kicked out."

"You're telling me? I just wasted an hour of my life on that fiasco."

"You made it a fiasco!" she finally screeched as the crowd dwindled down to a few groups that lingered around, most of them searching for a peek of the heroes that had left alongside them. "And I can't believe the kinds of questions! Nagano-san will hear of this."

"Tell me, do you ever get tired of tattling on others? Or is it innate at this point."

Reddish pink eyes glared up at her for a brief second before huffing and giving Miryoku her back. "That you refuse to follow the company rules doesn't mean you shouldn't be confronted with the consequences of breaking them."

"I don't think we're talking about me anymore, kettle."

"You're—You're—You're simply insufferable!"

With that last screech, Miryoku watched Saori's back as she stormed off and out of the view, more than likely leaving the event hall. Miryoku stood stranded for a moment as she thought about what to do. Angry as she was, Saori would certainly be at the hotel room that Kojirou had booked for their stay at the gala's venue. And since Miryoku didn't want to be anywhere close to her at the moment, her hotel room was the last place she would be returning to. It wasn't like she could hang far from the hotel though. Even if the gala was in the evening, she'd have to start getting ready early if she wanted to take her time.

Which only left the one good place left that would have her both as close and as far away from Saori as possible until the evening came.

Blessed be hotel bars.

"Maybe a Grog? Nah, Long Island's better."

Wouldn't want to show up at the gala too drunk.

Five years ago — Tokyo, Asuka High School. Near baseball fields.

"You lying bitch!"

Miryoku pushed hard enough for Saori to crash against the iron-linked fence, her fingers lacing against it as she slammed her arms on either side of the other girl's body. Saori visibly flinched as her face turned whiter than a sheet, eyes widening as she tried not to avert them. The clear anger that poured from the sunset-colored glare however made it impossible not to.

"Miryoku, stop!"

Easily pushing Makoto back, Miryoku went straight back to Saori as the teen finally dared to glare back at her. This only served to infuriate her further and push the fence to jerk her around.

"Why!?" It took that one word to stop the three of them in their tracks. Makoto couldn't pull Miryoku off as she too wanted to know the same thing. Miryoku most of all just wanted a reason. A simple answer to a very fucking simple question. Through gritted teeth, she narrowed her gaze as she hissed, "...Why did you do it?

Redding pink eyes averted for a moment and essentially lost all their vigor before meeting her gaze once more. As she dared answer, her lips trembled as a quiet voice spilled out of her.

"I...I had to."

The hands entrapping her against the fence pushed down and made her whole body jerk in fear. It was hard not to but Miryoku managed to not scream in her face next, earning her a low growl instead. "Bullshit you did."

"It's true!" Her voice returned to her then, high, coy and very much irritating her. "I-I needed to win that contest."

"You could've done it yourself, Saori," Makoto pointedly said. Despite her not wanting for Miryoku to maim the girl, she could very well see what was pushing her to do it. "At least you could've tried to win it fairly instead of doing what you did."

"I tried. I truly did. But I knew that nothing I did would be good enough for those people."

"It doesn't matter! You could've gone crying to your dad and it would've been yours." Miryoku's words seemed to have struck a chord with how Saori flinched. Seeing this only egged her onward in wanting to dig that nail further. "How shitty or not your skills are, there wasn't a damn reason for you to steal mine when you could have just gone and told them to pick you! Your goddamn father owns the damn place for the fuck's sake!"

"H-He has nothing to do with the choosing process," she argued weakly. "I know little of how that place works but I do know that he doesn't have anything to do with it. Only the editors and editor-in-chief do. And I knew that I couldn't let my father down—I couldn't!"

"Screw letting him down! You fucking stole my work, Saori! What I'd worked so hard to make—one of the few things that's mine—and you took it away from me!"

"I'll tell the truth," she cried, tears welling at the corners of her eyes now. "I'll convince them to give you the position, the recognition!"

"I don't care about any of that! I just care…" She stopped short when those last three words trickled out of her in a whisper. Pink eyes turned to see her hands slacking off from the fence as she slowly released her. Stepping back, Miryoku let her anger subside, the words finally spilling from her lips as a new emptiness tore through her. "I just...cared…"

Shaking her head made those regrets disappear as her fury returned full fledged. Without warning, Miryoku shoved Saori against the fence once more by the collar of her jacket as hard as she could. Makoto jumped at the sudden aggression but couldn't tear Miryoku's hold on the girl no matter what she tried. Hissing right in her face, Miryoku used her flaring anger to deliver one last threat.

"I hope you're fucking happy with what you did and that I never in my goddamn life hear you complain about what you gained by robbing it from me."

With a jerk, she released her, leaving Saori to slide down the fence to cry her eyes out and Makoto at a loss with a worried expression etched on her face. Miryoku hadn't known where she intended to go when she stormed off. All she wanted was to be as far away from that prissy bitch as humanly possible. So when she found herself slamming shut a classroom door, she was mildly surprised when at lifting her gaze she was met with their school's empty music room.

It was a regular sized room but rather empty compared to the rest of the classrooms. Numerous chairs were lined in a semi circle around a grand piano with the slightly opened windows letting the afternoon sun spill brightly into the rather cool space. Sitting on the bench, her eyes scanned the ivory and ebony keys as she bent forward to lean her forehead against the piano's closed top.

The longer she stared at them though, the more the words she'd said just seconds before her outburst rang louder than anything.

'I just...cared…'

There wasn't a reason for her to be this angry. Upset, yes, anybody would be. But livid enough to physically harass her? Absolutely not. Had it been any other piece for homework or for club activities, she wouldn't have been. It didn't make sense to the rational part of her brain. But she was, and she had no idea how else to show it. For everything that she was, her work meant the world to her. Writing had been the first way she learned of that let her express herself. A way to communicate without speaking. Ever since she figured out her passion for journalism, something Makoto said clicked more than anything as to the reason why. She made it. She created and molded it to what she thought right and what she thought needed to be said. For someone like her, it became a strange kind of power given simply by a pseudonym. A power that she knew no Quirk would ever give her—a way to say what she needed to say without fear of being punished for it.

And she took that away.

"Here you are."

Miryoku didn't dare raise her head until she had wiped away the prickling tears that threatened to fall when Makoto's voice reached her ears. The bench she sat on creaked as a new weight was added and a warmth spread across her back as her hand soothingly rubbed it.

"Ryo, I'm—"

"Don't." She hadn't meant to snap. Thankfully, it hadn't sounded as horrid as she thought it had. Just mildly strained. "Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I forced you to enter. If I hadn't, none of this would've happened."

"You didn't make me do shit. I entered that stupid contest because I wanted to."

"Still…" Makoto's sorrowful tone lingered as her word trailed and her hand slowed to a stop. "I know how important what you do is to you. Especially when you pour your heart into it."

"Which is why I'm quitting. Writing, the club, journalism—all of it."

"What!?"

A long, tiresome breath escaped Miryoku as Makoto tried to gather herself from the sudden shock. Her lips upturned into a smile. A small painful one.

"I'm tired of it, Mako. People taking what they want from me whenever they want because they feel like it...I'm tired of it happening every time I find something good in my life. Maybe it's better if I don't give them the chance to hurt me anymore. If I don't do anything and have nothing, there won't be anything for them to take, right?"

"That's not how it works, Miryoku. This and that aren't remotely the same thing."

"No?" Miryoku scoffed, her hands gripping tightly the bottom side of the piano bench. "They certainly feel like it."

"They're not." Makoto's hand reached up to her shoulders and squeezed tenderly. "And you don't have to give up anything. You shouldn't have to just because of one rotten person."

"What's the point when there's always more?"

"There'll always be more. But that shouldn't be what decides whether you keep doing what you love or not. Your love for it should be what decides that. Because I can tell how much you enjoy it from that smile you get when others read your stuff, I can see that enthusiasm you have when you piece together a puzzle that everybody else was having trouble putting together, and I feel how much it hurts you now that it got taken away."

A chuckle bubbled from Miryoku's throat and a sob escaped with it. "I'm an idiot, aren't I? For feeling like this because of something so dumb."

"I don't think so," she replied. "Whether it's dumb or not isn't a legitimate question when it's about something we truly love. We love what we love, and nothing about it will ever be insignificant. And if you value your work as much as I know you do, then there's nothing stupid about how you feel. What Saori did was deplorable, and I can understand why you would feel the way you do."

Those words sunk in slowly but once they did, all Miryoku could do was lean against Makoto's shoulder as she sniffled and wiped away tears from her face. Her emotions settled after a long minute and once they did, she mumbled some words under her breath for her to hear.

"I'm never forgiving her for this."

"Maybe not now."

"I'm sticking to my guns on this one, Tsukauchi."

This made Makoto chuckle as she reached around to rub at Miryoku's arm. "I've known you since middle school, Miryoku, and I've seen how you are. I've seen you be tough, headstrong and sometimes nihilistic, but I've never once known you to be heartless."

"She could get run over by a truck and die and I'd dance on her grave."

"Doubt it."

"I would laugh in her face if her puppy died."

"You love dogs."

"If she got fucking kidnapped in front of me, I would bid good riddance to the damn bitch before lifting a finger to help her."

"Miryoku, you may hate her all you want, but I know if she's ever in trouble and you find yourself able to help her, you'll put all of this behind you to do so. It's just who you are."

"You think too highly of me, Mako."

"I think highly enough of you, Ryo," she said with finality and a pat to her arm. "And that will always be more than you think."

That evening, 10:40pm — Tokyo, Third floor of the Peninsula Hotel.

Hawks made sure that everything was in order for the gala with one last glance at himself in front of the mirrored door. Being suited in a slight tan tux accentuated with reds was somewhat uncomfortable to say the least. This truly wasn't his thing. Heaving a sigh, he let his wings spread lazy behind him as he plopped down on the nearby couch, his hands reaching up to untighten his tie a bit.

Throwing his head back, a stray lock coming undone from the slicked back style, he groaned audibly to be heard.

"What's with you now?"

Hawks didn't straighten when he heard Miruko's voice. With their hotel rooms next to one another and conjoined to boot, it was easy to leave the door open that separated them while the two finished getting ready for the lavish event. Though anybody would think them odd not to mention inappropriate for doing so, neither him nor Miruko cared in the least.

"You think they'll serve yakitori?"

"Doubt it." Miruko came in dashing as could be with her silver suit fitting just right. Definitely contrasted well with her skin tone too. He would have to admit that she was pulling the look off much better than he was. Turning to him, she gave his leg a playful kick that hurt all the same. "Why don't you leave if you're gonna be like this? You're gonna sour my night!"

Hawks chuckled at the insinuation as he rose from the couch. "I couldn't possibly do that, now, could I?"

"'Course you could! Just say 'fuck this' and don't go."

Wish it were that easy, Mir.

But it wasn't, much less for him. He had an image to uphold. One that was suave and compliant with society and their expectations. They expected the No.3 hero of Japan to attend the party they were throwing to congratulate him as part of the top ten, so he would go regardless if he was in the mood to or not.

"Wanna skip?" she offered and pointed her thumb out towards the door behind her. "We can go grab a few cold ones and chill."

"And waste your tux?"

Miruko shrugged with that smirk of hers plastered on her face. "I'd actually be properly dressed to hit Lux for once."

Though the sound of their usual fancy nightclub sounded delightful, Hawks knew better than to cave to his desires. He took one long breath before shaking his head, "Some other time. We got a gala to go to tonight."

"Suit yourself."

The conversation was over sooner than he expected it to be, but it wasn't like he was displeased that it'd ended either. He hadn't wanted to fight this more than necessary. And Miruko understood that. Sometimes it amazed him how a mere acquaintance grew into an actual friendship after a bad breakup in the last odd years. Well, as much of a friendship as he could have, anyway.

Making their way out of the elevator and into the hotel's lobby, he stopped short when his feathers perked seconds before the flashes blinded him. Who let them in here? His bet would be 'themselves' by how security was doing their damndest to keep them away from Miruko and him. Duty called, however, and he smiled their way with a wave of his hand. The cheers and swoons were enough to convince him he'd done the bare minimum to avoid any bad press for the night.

"Forget them. Let's go." Miruko never bothered with the media when she didn't feel like it. It was one of the many things he envied of her, but he brushed it aside to follow behind her as they headed into the private hall reserved for the gala.

Saying it was extravagant would've been an understatement. Those people from the commission spared no expenses whatsoever when it came to upping heroes' images in the public eye. He supposed that was why they allowed certain media reporters to attend the gala as well despite this being an event solely meant for heroes. Great, he thought sarcastically, already exhausted beyond belief. If they were there, there wouldn't be a chance to let his little charade slip anytime soon.

It's only for a couple of hours, he told himself. I'll book it after that and get some rest. Maybe a beer or two. At the thought of that, his wings fell a little which forced him to roll his shoulders to brush off any suspicion of how he truly felt being there. He groaned under his breath as they finally made their way into the crowd of heroes that lingered about. A lovely waitress meandered while carrying a tray of champagne glasses of which he and Miruko took one as she passed by without missing a beat.

His amber gaze wandered to take in his surroundings as he took a small swig of his glass. More than half the hall was occupied with tables and chairs while the latter half left was free space before a small stage. Huh, just another show then. Despite how many times they proclaimed this was all for them to enjoy a night out, Hawks knew that this, along with the top ten countdown and briefings, were nothing more than blatant publicity catering to different media.

Just more fuel for that perpetual flame.

Without thinking, Hawks downed the glass of champagne as the lights dimmed. Miruko let out a whistle as All Might stepped onto the stage triggering the blinding lights from the reporter's cameras.

There wasn't a point in paying much attention to his speech. It wasn't that he didn't care. He did...just not particularly so at that very moment. He'd surely read about it online tomorrow anyway so there wouldn't be much to miss. Rolling his shoulders back to stretch his tired shoulder blades, Hawks heard them popping not long before his wings bumped into something.

Or more like someone.

"Oh, damn," he said under his breath before a chuckle escaped him as he turned to the person he'd inadvertently hit. "I'm sorry about that."

"You're fine. Nothing happened."

Amber eyes lingered for a moment on the woman that barely even turned his way as she said those words before turning away and heading straight to the back of the hall where the long table with the buffet laid ready. The bright red dress they wore made it quite easy to tell where they were headed, really. Just as he was about to dismiss it though, Miruko spun about while pushing aside his wing.

"Watch it, jackrabbit." By how wide her purple eyes were though, Hawks could tell that she hadn't listened to a word he'd just said. "Mirko?" No answer. "Usagiyama-san." Not a peep. Curious about the sudden change, he waved a hand in front of her face to no avail. She was completely lost to the world.

Suddenly those wide eyes narrowed a second before basically bulging out the next.

What in the hell—

Miruko shoved him aside as if he hadn't been there the whole time and made her way right after the red dressed woman, leaving him dumbfounded as she did so. An eyebrow of his raised at the rather uncharacteristic action. Was she drunk? No, not possible. That woman was an endless barrel where food and alcohol would disappear without a trace. Anything other than spicy food would never faze her. She hadn't been tired either. She'd suggested to hit Lux just before that and lord knew that if his intentions were to remain in that bar till daybreak, she was his best wingwoman.

So what the hell gives, Mir?

Unable to give up on his curiosity, Hawks followed behind Miruko as she gave chase after the woman in red.

10:35 pm — Tokyo, Lobby of the Peninsula Hotel.

Kill me now, lord. Strike me with lightning if you have to. Just make it fast.

There wasn't any use praying. That much was clear to Miryoku the instant the elevator doors opened with a ding as it reached the lobby from their floor.

If she had thought the billboard charts were a dull event, nothing could've prepared her for the media circus that the gala was. They weren't even inside the event hall and a crowd was already gathered outside the entrance and clutting the hallway. Holding tightly onto the badge that hung around her neck, she took a deep breath to dispel as much of her disinterest as humanly possible. Despite the sea of people vying for entrance, the security placed at the event hall's closed doors was doing a fine job keeping them away. It took little under ten minutes to get them through, but once inside, Miryoku swore that it'd gotten a tad bit more claustrophobic despite there being substantially less people in there.

"This is unbearable."

"Deal with it."

Sunset eyes gave Saori a sidelong glance and gave the petite woman's attire a check. Cute. Hey now, her personal distaste didn't mean that she couldn't see how well she fitted in these sort of events. The faded coral color of her long dress clung to her body well and the white heels she wore gave her enough height to reach just at Miryoku's chin. Still shorter. But there was no denying that she looked the part and played it quite well as she took the lead towards the crowd that gathered near the stage at the front of the hall.

Unlike her, Miryoku could barely take a step without feeling like she was missing air. For however much she loved Fuyumi, now more than ever she seriously thought about taking the girl to some nutritionist or something because the size of this dress at their age was just unbelievable. That girl's too damn skinny for her own good. But she was the true idiot in the end for having agreed to the dress to begin with. Makoto had done some fixing to the bust, so at the very least it didn't feel oddly ill-fitted there. All that was wrong now was how tightly it pressed her abdomen and hips. That and the fact that she wasn't all that accustomed to the style. The whole off-the-shoulder shtick she could deal with; the exposed back definitely left her more than a little uncomfortable. That she left her hair loose helped somewhat, the curls falling behind her with the left side of it being pinned back against her head covering her upper back. An audible sigh left her as she tried to breathe again only to feel her stomach hurt a little. Well, at least the heels weren't a problem despite being a good four inches. Thank god, for their work's dress code.

Reaching the crowd gathered around, she and Saori watched as the announcer from that morning—goddamn, the lady can go on and on—welcomed All Might to the stage. Miryoku clapped along the rest but used the time that the No.1 hero used up to give the place a gander. It wasn't half bad. It was actually pretty well decorated. And the waitresses walking around giving out champagne certainly made it all the more delightful. Before she could reach for one however, her hand got slapped by a gloved hand.

"Don't." Saori glared at her as the waitress walked away rather taken aback.

She could only return the gesture before saying, "It's one drink."

"Out of lord knows how many you've already taken?" Sunset eyes grew a bit wide at the stab but doubled down as another waitress walked by. This time she caught it but before she could take a swig, Saori nabbed it from her hand, returning it to another one that passed by.

Frustrated, Miryoku clicked her tongue and turned to Saori. "Okay, what the hell is your problem?"

"You. Being drunk."

"I'm not drunk."

"You spent three hours at the bar."

"You keep tabs on me now?"

"I pay attention. Especially when it happens to involve my work. Maybe you should learn to do the same."

"I do," Miryoku rectified. "But only on shit that matters. This is a joke. And I'm not going to hide the fact that I couldn't care less about being here."

Finally, Saori clicked her own tongue, frustrated. "I can't believe you haven't been fired with that attitude."

"I'm not fired because I actually am worth something unlike you."

"One day you'll see how ruthless they are and that they won't care about how much your work is worth if you don't do as your told."

"And maybe one day you'll realize how old it gets to lay down and let others take whatever they want from you."

"Not everything is that simple, Chimni."

"No," Miryoku deadpanned. "It's not."

Having had enough of their petty argument, Miryoku walked away from Saori before she would say something she would regret saying to her boss's daughter. Just as she was walking through the crowd and heading to the back where the buffet waited for her, something pushed her back against another person. Miryoku apologized under her breath as she took a moment to regain her balance on her heels.

Red blurred briefly in and out of her vision as a low voice sheepishly called out, "Oh damn, I'm sorry about that."

Miryoku didn't even bother looking up. All she managed to say was a quiet, "You're fine. Nothing happened," before turning back on the path that would take her to the table at the back.

Thankfully, because everybody was so focused on All Might's speech, there was basically no one in the back which left her a pretty much open bar for her choosing. It took less than a minute for her to fill a plate with food and place it down on the nearest table. Just as she was about to seat down, however, a hand brushed against her back and instantly sent her into a panic. Spinning about so quickly that it sent her hair whisking about with her in the air, sunset eyes grew wide the moment they met certain lilac eyes she remembered all too well.

"...Snow bunny?"

It completely went over her head that she could meet Rumi here.

Sure, they had kept contact over texts and online but Miryoku hadn't once met with her after she broke up with her. She couldn't do that to Rumi—make her believe there was a chance of their getting back together when there wasn't. Contacting her was crossing that line a little and she knew as much but she surmised that her engagement would put a damper on Rumi's hopes and make it safe to contact her.

Kinda useless now that that's off.

And very much inconvenient.

Amazingly enough, Rumi was still the same despite the years they'd been apart. It was almost like turning five years back in the blink of an eye in some sense. Rumi was a dashing hero still. Almost the same one that had met with Miryoku after a rescue for an interview. It'd been her new break, that article. One that at least got her a good scholarship abroad sometime afterward. But the few months they'd gone out had been very much good ones, she'd admit.

"Why then?" Miryoku flinched at how she could still recall Rumi's quiet plea the day she broke it off with her.

You deserve better.

The reason hadn't changed, and it wouldn't be changing now simply because they met face-to-face after so long.

Smiling kindly her way, Miryoku bowed her head to greet her. "Congratulations on climbing to the 12th rank, Miruko-san. If you continue on, you'll surely be in the top ten by the end of the year."

"That's what you open with after all this time?"

She took a moment to compose herself before saying, "Don't be so dramatic. It's not like we haven't talked."

"Which you only did after I asked you."

"I didn't think you'd want to talk after what I did. So I didn't."

"Don't give me that crap."

Those lilac eyes narrowed a bit as her ears visibly dropped against her head. Good. Despite not wanting to hurt her, that she was disillusioned now would brace her for the inevitable disappointment.

"It was good seeing you, Miruko-san, but I have work to do. I hope you have a pleasant rest of your evening."

Rumi however wasn't as accepting of her dismissal. Stepping closer, she reached her hand out as if intending to grab Miryoku, but just as she was about to, a hand grabbed her arm and stopped her in her tracks. Wide sunset eyes followed that arm up to the one that stopped her and gasped. Bright amber and flashy red caught her attention as large wings cradled themselves against Hawks' back.

"Whoa there, jackrabbit." His eyes glanced at Rumi before turning to glance at Miryoku, the action catching her slightly off guard as within seconds that blank look was replaced with a smile. "Looks like we're drowning in coincidences, aren't we, Chimni-san?"

Rumi's eyes narrowed as she gave him a sidelong glare. "You know her?"

"She interviewed me for JPW some days ago."

"Bullshit if you tell me you remember a single reporter," Rumi growled.

"But it's true," Miryoku pointedly said in an attempt to downplay the situation. "I'm just some journalist that interviewed him. That's all."

Hawks chuckled as if to play along. "And one that got oddly hung with very out of line questions during this afternoon's briefing."

Just as Miryoku opened her mouth intending to discredit that as much as she could, she jumped back a bit when Rumi forcefully took back her arm from Hawks' grasp.

"Leave, Hawks. I'm in the middle of something."

Oh no.

Miryoku knew that tone. It had been five years since she last heard it but it was hard to forget it when it'd been one Rumi used to intimidate others into doing what she wanted. It wasn't ever against her, but she absolutely hated how that domineering tone subconsciously made her skin crawl. And when it got that deep with the added bonus of her ears perking up and feet furiously tapping against the floor the way they were, it was never a good sign for the other party involved.

Hawks didn't seem deterred in the least however as he smiled and said, "Mm...I think not, jackrabbit."

This time when he tried pulling her away, Miruko retaliated by taking a hold of his wrist with her free hand. Suddenly both stood at a nerve wracking standstill. "Back off."

Fuck! Jumping in without a second thought, Miryoku took hold of both their wrists wanting to dissipate a situation that was so obviously and rapidly escalating.

"R-Rumi-san, please, calm down."

"Listen to her, Miruko." For as much as that smile could try to fool her that he was just playing along with her, the way his voice lowered an octave told her a completely different story. "Don't make a scene out of this."

Miruko bared her teeth then, "You're the one making it a scene."

"You both are," Miryoku corrected before finally prying their hands off of each other. Turning into a literal middleman, she placed herself between them, pushing away Hawks' wings to make space for herself before turning to Miruko. "Rumi-san, if you keep doing this, I won't talk with you anymore."

"Don't threaten me," Miruko barked back.

"Then stop this," she retorted firmly. "And for goodness sake, act your age. We're not highschoolers anymore, so stop being so childish about this."

Lilac eyes grew wide as her ears shot up straight clearly offended. "I'm not—"

"You are," Hawks said peeking from behind Miryoku.

Fuming, Miryoku spun on her heels to regard Hawks now with a restrained hiss. "And could you be quiet for a moment, please?"

Hawks pointed at himself with a hapless expression. "I'm trying to help."

"I'd rather you not!"

"Chimni? What's going on?"

For once, Miryoku was glad to hear Saori's annoying chipmunk voice. Oh, thank you lord! Breathing a sigh of relief, she spun on her heels to face her coworker, completely disregarding the utter look of confusion that Saori's furrowed brow gave away. Skipping out from between the two heroes, Miryoku took Saori by the shoulders before excusing themselves.

"W-What's going on?!"

Miryoku didn't bother answering her. Saori, baffled as she was, could barely keep up with her as she pushed her along through the crowd. Not knowing where else to go, she snuck into the bathroom with Saori, quickly checking for anybody in the stalls before taking her phone out of her small handbag.

"What are you doing now?"

"Calling Kojirou-san." Dialing one of the few numbers she kept on speedial, Miryoku held it to her ear and let the tone ring as she paced the fancy bathroom.

"What for?"

To bail the fuck out of here.

Miryoku refrained from telling her that, waiting instead for her boss to pick up his phone. But to her dismay, it went straight to voicemail. She cursed under her breath as it beeped.

"Alright, I'm gonna be succinct about this. I forfeit what I won last week and I'll take the punishment you dish out for what I'm about to do because I am not staying a minute longer in this event. Call me up later and yell at me if you want, but I'm leaving."

"You're what!?"

Locking her phone and not looking back at Saori as she threw a fit, Miryoku stepped out of the bathroom and made a beeline for the exit. Thankfully, with how everybody else was already inside the hall, there was no one outside to crowd the lobby anymore. Certainly made it easier for her to make her way towards the elevator. Her foot tapped incessantly as she watched the numbers above the elevator door flicking by with no signs of stopping. Impatience won her over within seconds though and with a click of her tongue, spun on her heels and headed for the stairs. She pushed through the heavy door and began the climb to the fifth floor where their rooms were at. Before long, however, the door opened again and she froze halfway up the second flight of stairs. Peering over the banister with her heart in her throat, Miryoku heaved a long sigh of relief when she only spotted Saori's pink dress.

"Go back, Saori!" she shouted from where she was before continuing her climb.

"Have you gone mental!?" The blonde's screech reached her ears even with one and a half flights of stairs separating them. "You can't just leave!"

"Watch me!"

"No, Chimni! Chimni! Miryoku, you can't just run away from work!"

"It ain't even mine." Grumbling that under her breath, Miryoku pushed through the fifth floor's staircase exit and found herself at the end of their hall a bit out of breath. It took a moment for her to ground herself, but when she did she made a straight line for their room, already fishing through her handbag for her keycard.

The little red light turning green the instant she passed the card over the door's lock was way more calming than it should've been. She breathed at last relieved now that she was inside their shared room, but just as she was about to close the door behind herself, another pushed through. Miryoku dismissed Saori when she went off on a tirade the very moment the petite woman came through the door.

"You can't just leave like that, Miryoku! They'll reprimand you regardless of your position."

Miryoku kicked off her heels, not caring where they landed. "Don't care."

"They'll fire you!"

She scoffed. "Fine, let them. I'll find another job."

"Why are you being so stubborn about this? Why did you run?"

"It doesn't involve you."

"Like hell it does. It's getting in between our jobs."

"Drop it." She stepped around her discarded heels and busied herself with taking off her jewelry starting with her earrings when Saori stepped in front of her to stop her in her tracks. Sick of her bullshit, Miryoku clicked her tongue as she tossed her jewelry onto the bed behind her without looking back. "Move, Saori."

"No." She grounded herself further to drive her point home which only had Miryoku scowling in the end. Before she could cuss her off, Saori stepped up to her, essentially getting rid of any space between them as she glared up at Miryoku. "Forget about you being out of line just now. I'm more taken aback by how you reacted and it worries me."

"Lying won't get you anywhere."

"Believe what you want, but the way you acted does worry me. I may not know you as well as Tsukauchi-san but it's obvious to anybody who saw your interaction with Miruko-san that something about her bothered you."

Yeah, the history there.

Miryoku restrained from voicing her thoughts aloud though and bit her lip to keep from talking.

Frankly, a part of her wasn't even sure what the hell she was freaking out about. They had ended things fairly well, or at least as well as could be expected. Miryoku knew Rumi hadn't wanted to end their relationship, but she couldn't force herself to be in such a partnership when she herself wasn't sure what she wanted out of it. She liked it for what it had been—a pleasant experience for being her first 'serious' relationship—but she never meant it to be anything long term. Rumi was a hero and Miruoku wasn't going to thrust herself in the spotlight by being a hero's partner.

Their age disparity looked to be the right excuse to break things up then. And despite Rumi's doggedness not to accept it, Miryoku got her to understand that it was the right thing to do for both of them. So she backed off. It really hadn't been until almost a year and a half ago that Rumi contacted her again.

And Miryoku used the excuse of her engagement to reply.

Both Fuyumi and Makoto completely disagreed with her decision but since they couldn't change what had already been done, they left her to her own devices. The sane part of her told her that it wasn't a good idea back then. That the best thing to do was to make her understand that there wasn't a chance of them getting back together and that there wasn't a point in keeping in contact unless all she wanted from her was an actual friendship. But the anxious and cornered part of her that back then had been steadily growing, rejected her own sanity. So she kept in contact. The only thing both sides agreed on was that face-to-face contact was not to happen.

So much for that.

"Well?"

Instantly, she clicked her tongue at her continuous grilling. And frankly, it was becoming a little hard keeping a straight face in front of Saori who seemed to want to squeeze every last detail out of her. Thankfully, the gremlin was petite enough to easily push aside for her to escape into the confines of the single bathroom in their room. Miryoku locked the door before she even slammed it shut. Almost instantly, Saori banged her fists against the door and shouted for her to open the door. Ignoring her completely and turning on the faucet, Miryoku leaned against the sink for a moment as she let herself take a breather. Her gaze wandered as she did so and stopped short when she spotted something. There aside from the toiletries the hotel provided and the ones they'd brought along was something that didn't fit in at all.

A black flashlight.

It wasn't hers, and there wasn't a chance that Saori would ever bring something like that along with her. A bad feeling crawled down her back and made her unlock the door, only pausing briefly when she realized that Saori's banging had stopped. Opening the door back up again, the first thing she saw was the bleakness of Saori's face. It was drained of color with eyes wide as they focused on the door. Sunset eyes glanced at it long enough to see the knob turning before panic set in.

"Get over here." Hissing under her breath, she pulled Saori back into the bathroom and promptly locked the door behind themselves. Ear pressed against the door, she listened carefully for who had just entered the room that was supposedly only for the two of them.

"...heard something…"

"...saw a couple of women..."

"...they're in here still…"

Men. At least three of them. And they didn't sound friendly in the least. Hearing Saori hyperventilate when she too could hear those voices over the silence, she shushed her as calmly as she could. Miryoku patted her heels and had her slowly take them off before leading her into the bathtub and closing the curtain as quietly as possible.

Both jumped and Saori let out a small gasp when they heard a small commotion coming from the other side of the door. They were searching for them, that much was clear, but it wasn't until they overheard the static of a radio and some voice ring through it that Miryoku realized why.

"Did you find Hanazawa's brat?"

"We found the room she's staying in. She wasn't in when we came a few hours ago but we just spotted two women enter the room. She's in here somewhere."

Sunset eyes instantly turned to Saori's as her pink eyes widened. All Saori could do as the conversation on the other side continued was reach out for Miryoku's hands.

"Better be quick. The boss is getting impatient."

Instinctively, Miryoku held onto her hands tight. They were there for Saori, and by the sound of things, it wasn't even her they wanted. Rummaging through the limited information she had in her head, a reason came to mind which made her whisper to Saori as quietly as possible.

"The gambling rumors about your father...are they true?" Saori's eyes flashed between the door's direction and back at her before nodding vigorously. "How much did he lose?"

"More than we have—ah!"

Miryoku tried covering Saori's mouth when the sudden noise outside the door scared her but she'd been too slow. Banging started up right at their door and Miryoku couldn't keep Saori from freaking out on her then. Sweeping the curtain open now that their hideout was discovered, she looked around the small bathroom for something to protect themselves as she called out to Saori.

"Where's your phone?"

"I-It's on the bed!" she cried over the banging and rattling of the door that only became louder when they heard them talking now.

Shit, mine too. So much for having it on her all the time. Rushing through their options, she picked up the heavy flashlight.

It'd have to do.

But what if it isn't enough?

More often than not, Miryoku tended to ignore the nihilistic voice in her brain. One she thought therapy had dealt with. Guess not. But there was no denying that it had a point. It was two women against three men, at least. If what she theorized was true and they were there because of Saori's father's supposed loan shark debt, then god knew what kind of people they were, much less the types of Quirks they had. It was tough to admit that no matter what angle she looked at this from, they were on the losing side.

And though she wasn't about to let them take her without a fight, Miryoku knew better than to only have one plan. It wasn't until she busied herself with pushing Saori as far back from the door and behind her as possible that she saw Saori's hand holding onto her dress.

Her left hand where a gold mark circled her wrist with interspaced diamonds.

All at once, sunset eyes grew wide. It could work. Turning to her, Miryoku held Saori's face between her hands to get her full attention.

"Listen to me and listen closely." Pink eyes on the verge of tears lifted, plump lips trembling as her whole body shook along with it. "Use your Quirk."

11:07 pm — Tokyo, Bar in the Peninsula Hotel.

Drunk Miruko sometimes was Fun Miruko. But when Drunk Miruko mixed with Melancholic Miruko, things got a little too heavy for Hawks to deal with. And here he thought that this whole thing had been dealt with years ago. Guess she was still hung up on the girl from the look of things. Now that he finally had a face and name to go with the stories Miruko drunkenly told him, a part of him could see how she was still so hung up on her too. At least where looks were concerned.

What a small world.

Very small.

To think that the same woman that so happened to interview him and that he so happened to save from a convenience store mugging would be the same woman that had his buddy drinking the bad memories away now. Though Hawks could see the irony of it all, he didn't think that Miruko would be up to hearing the usual snark from him now. So instead, he watched from his seat beside her as Miruko downed her fifth beer in the last twenty minutes. With the rim of his own bottle pressed against his lips, he watched over her, wondering how long this bout of melancholy would turn out to be. His bet was on an hour or two. He jumped a bit when he heard her sniffle.

Maybe three.

Hating the silence after she downed it and asked for another, Hawks took a swig of his own before settling down with his wings to either side to keep from being stepped on.

"So she's the infamous 'snow bunny', huh?"

"Not in the mood."

A grin came to him when he heard that. It was progress that she was at least talking to him now. At least that she wasn't insulting him nonstop was, anyway. It was good that he knew to calm her down with some booze. He thanked god that he'd spotted the bar after dragging her out of the event hall when she couldn't pull herself together.

"Y'know, I don't understand why you're so upset. There shouldn't be a reason for you to have reacted like that."

Hawks' wings sprung taut against his back when he saw Miruko wanting to rise from her seat, but when she simply groaned and downed the new beer she was given, his wings fell back to either side.

"I'm an idiot."

"Glad we agree on something."

"She probably hates me now."

"Certainly wouldn't blame her if she stopped talking to you after tonight."

Finally fed up with his comments, lilac eyes glared back at him. "Are you even trying to help?"

"Not particularly." He shrugged his shoulders as he busied himself with undoing his tie and the few top buttons of his dress shirt.

"What a friend you turned out to be."

"I'm not giving you the right just because you threw a tantrum, jackrabbit. That little lady and you are and have been history for a while now. She shouldn't have to answer to you anymore than you should to her. Especially when you started getting rough like that." Downing the rest of his tepid beer, he scoffed as he touched his index finger against his thumb. "One simply does not raise their hand at a woman."

"I wasn't going to hit her, you idiot."

"No, but you were going to grab her." Noticing how her ears twitched before lowering against her head, he grimaced at finding he'd seen through her correctly. "And she certainly didn't look like she wanted to talk or go with you, Miruko."

"I messed up."

He patted her back a couple of times. "Yes, you did."

Out of the blue, Hawks scooted back on his stool when Miruko jumped out of hers, her large rabbit feet thumping loudly against the tiled floor of the bar. His wings spread behind him from the surprise and he let himself slide off his stool as Miruko looked determinedly his way.

"I'm gonna find her and apologize!"

Hawks covered his ears at how loudly she'd proclaimed that but chuckled at her damn stubbornness. At least now it was directed at something good. His feathers sensing a rush outside the bar made his amber eyes peer outside where he caught sight of a familiar red dress. A grin started to pull at his lips as he thought to himself how lucky Miruko was, but stopped short and became a taut line instead when all he sensed with his feathers was panicked voices as the subject of their conversation spoke to the front desk.

Not liking how this was looking, Hawks took to the air, hovering just enough above the floor to make it easy for him to fly his way to the front desk. Both the receptionist and Miryoku turned shocked at Hawks' sudden appearance but he brushed it aside as he landed beside them and saw Miryoku's expression full of panic and concern.

"What's the matter?"

Miryoku spoke up over the receptionist that appeared to be too shocked to even speak. "They took Saori."

Miruko skidded to a stop as she ran to them, eyes narrowed at what she overheard. "Who took who?"

"My coworker—someone kidnapped her. We were up in our room when—" Her eyes darted frantically between them and her left hand as she explained, her words rather scattered as she tried composing herself. "Men—I don't know how but they came into our room. We hid in the bathroom but they found us."

"Are you alright?" Miruko asked, stepping forward and reaching for the same bruising in her arm that Hawks spotted when he'd gotten closer.

Miryoku however slapped her away, eyes wide and panicked as she turned to them both with a glare. "Forget about me. They took her!"

"T-That's not possible," the receptionist said, finally getting her voice back. "Security is all around the lobby. They would've seen—"

"Back entrance," Miryoku instantly blurted out. "I chased them and got as far as the back entrance before one of them spotted me."

"Our security system didn't go off. There's just no way—"

"Fucking tell that to the beating I got trying to stop them, lady!"

Miryoku was furious and quite fidgety by the look of things. What bothered Hawks most, though, was how she kept averting her eyes to her left wrist. Instinctively, a red feather of his left his wings and circled her wrist to finally bring it forward in full view. Amber eyes narrowed on the gold diamond-ring circling her wrist as it pulsated. The color drained from the diamonds slowly like ticking sand and made him all the more suspicious that something more was going on that she was telling.

"What is this and why do you keep looking at it?"

Sunset eyes widened and her lips pursed as she took her wrist back with his feather still around it. She took one last gander at it before she eyed his feather and took it in her grasp. Her eyes widened at suddenly realizing something.

"You use these as blades."

"Answer my question." He was starting to lose his patience and she wasn't helping by being so cryptic.

It took her another moment to say anything, but not before gripping his crimson feather tight in her hand. "It's Saori's Quirk, Exchange." Lifting her wrist, she showed him the markings as their color depleted. "I have more or less 60 seconds before she and I exchange places."

Amber eyes went wide at the declaration and taken aback by it as he was, it was fortunate that Miruko was there to react for both of them.

"You're going to what?!"

Miryoku shook her head as her eyes went down to the mark around her wrist. "No use getting angry. Listen. I told her to stay as calm as she could and pay attention. She'll have some idea of where they took her. Once she tells you, you'll be able to find where they are and come get me. I'll try to buy some time until you do, so—"

"You realize you'll be in danger until we do, right?"

Even as he voiced this rather obvious point, he could tell that she already knew this. The way her eyes averted and how her lips pursed told him as much. Even so, the words that spilled from her lips contradicted everything her body was telling him. With a lopsided grin lifting the edges of her lips, Hawks' eyes narrowed at the tight grip on his feather.

"Then I hope your namesake isn't just for show, precocious man."

Her image flickered seconds before she disappeared only to be replaced by another woman. Almost instantly, she fell to her knees while coughing violently with everything from her neck up soaking wet. Both Miruko and Hawks dropped down with her, Miruko catching her before she could fall down completely and Hawks holding her arm to have her attention.

"Breathe." Once she could do that much, he went straight to the point, his pupils dilating as he forced his wings to steel behind him—including the one that felt much too far away at. "Now tell us where they took you."

11:21 pm — Tokyo, —.

Miryoku took a deep breath and instantly swallowed water. Her lungs burned at the liquid's intrusion but before she could take another instinctive gasp, the liquid surrounding her head splashed loudly onto the floor around her. Falling to her knees coughing, it took her a moment to compose herself as gruff voices she recognized argued over one another.

"What the—"

"Where's Hanazawa's brat?"

"Fucking bitch used her Quirk."

"Wait, isn't this…?" There wasn't enough time for her to push back the man that grabbed her roughly by her jaw to lift her face. Coughing still, Miryoku stared into dark, narrowed eyes as the man glared at her. "This is that damn woman we found with Hanazawa."

Bickering ensued that Miryoku tried deciphering but couldn't when the man holding her jaw jerked her to focus on him. It disgusted her the way the man looked at her, his eyes roaming over her making her skin crawl. So absorbed was she with how his attention was placed solely on her that she didn't notice the other two men approach them.

"Where's Hanazawa Saori?"

"At the Billboard Charts gala. Surrounded by heroes." Miryoku spat at them with as much venom as she could, but her words seemed to do more than her tone did.

Almost instantly the men groaned and cursed loudly. Jerking her jaw away from the man as they bemoaned their current situation, Miryoku tried getting away but was stopped by the same black-eyed man when he snatched her arm and brought her back down.

"What are we gonna do now?" he asked, looking away at the one who looked to be their leader.

Miryoku struggled in his grasp, feeling the tight grip starting to hurt as his fingers dug into her skin. It infuriated her that struggle as she might, there wasn't any prying his filthy hand off of her.

"Their little stunt screwed us over for the night. There's no way we're bringing Hanazawa in if she's at the gala again."

The other man groaned. "Fuck man, I thought for sure we'd get that bonus."

"Don't worry, you'll get the cash. That man ain't paying off his debts anytime soon."

"What about the woman?" the dark-eyed man asked.

The one who looked to be leading them eyed Miryoku for a moment and then back at the man who'd asked. "Heroes might be on their way now. Take her out. And don't fuck around. Make it quick so we can leave on the double."

Her blood froze over at the command. But nothing did her worse than the instant the black-eyed man turned to her and that look of his turned into a leer that stopped her heart with fear and recognition.

Blood rushing and breath hitching, Miryoku reacted the moment flashbacks turned her livid. Her free hand grasped the sharp crimson feather in her hand before stabbing the man's arm. Taking advantage of their stupefaction, Miryoku dashed to the closest cover she could find which turned out to be a tall stack of crates and headed further into where she was. Behind her, she could hear the man cursing at her and their leader ordering the others to catch and kill her.

It was hard keeping her heart from bursting out of her chest now with that target on her head but Miryoku knew now wasn't the time to panic. Now more than ever, she needed to keep her cool and think. Sunset eyes frantically scanned her surroundings taking in everything and anything that could aid her. As she threaded through the maze of stacked crates and with the scent of salted water hitting her nostrils, the sea came to mind. That and the sight of countless crates upon crates gave her an idea of where she could be. A dock warehouse? It was the only thing that made sense to her in the moment. How the hell they got Saori to one in the short 10 minutes it took her to reach the lobby and warn the heroes of the kidnapping was beyond her.

That's useless, Ryo. Think. Buy them time.

Stopping short behind one of the stacks of crates, she let herself listen for the men as they searched for her, their heavy footsteps telling her more or less where they were coming from. She calmed her breathing enough to notice that one of them was somewhat nearby and only getting closer. Heavy footsteps fell on the concrete floor and as she stared down at her own feet, an idea came to her as she thanked her lucky stars that she thought of putting her shoes back on before leaving her room. Quick to shed her heels, Miryoku waited until she saw the man turn the corner to lurch at him with her heeled shoe aloft. One heel dug disgustingly easily into his shoulder and his sudden shock gave her the opportunity to strike him with the other on his leg as deep as she could before running away again. Now barefoot, her steps were much quieter, but that left her with one less thing to work with.

While turning a corner, the sudden sensation of water brushing against her arms caught her enough by surprise Miryoku to gasp for air a second before water bubbled around her head. Eyes wide open, she spotted the leader with their hand aloft through the muddled view seeing through water gave her. Even when she tried running in the opposite direction, the bubble remained and within seconds left her short of breath, falling to her knees as she clawed at her throat.

"Just die already."

A pang came across the palm of her hand before a flash of red shot from below her and straight through the man's chest. The water bubble instantly dropped allowing her the much needed air that she gasped wholly. The man dropped before her, moaning from his pain, and though the floating feather surprised her, it also gave her some much needed relief. Searching about with a smile for whom she hoped was there turned it quickly into nothing but dread when she realized that Hawks wasn't really there. He had controlled his feather somehow though. He'd been aware of what was happening enough to know where to strike. Which meant that he must be close enough to allow his Quirk to do that.

But he's not here yet.

"There you are."

Dread sent her running, not wasting time in turning back to see who it'd been that had found her now. Skidding deeper into the warehouse, she squeezed herself through the narrow spaces where she hoped they wouldn't be able to reach her. It wasn't until she reached the deepest part of the path she followed into a dead end that she knew there wasn't much else to do except wait. Standing with her back against the crates and with the path she'd entered through right in front of her, Miryoku waited with bated breath.

For a moment there was silence. Then, out of the blue, the breaking of crates nearby shocked her enough to cry out loud. The man's laughter rang inside the warehouse as more crashing came.

"Come out, missy!"

Miryoku recognized the black-eyed man's voice far too easily. Another crash interrupted him as she clasped her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming and giving herself away anymore.

One after another, crates were destroyed, but just as suddenly as it'd started, the noise stopped. Her hectic breathing now sounded louder than anything as she breathed through her nose, tears practically pricking at the corners of her eyes as she saw something move in front of her.

A shadow—the man's shadow—flashed across the small opening she'd squeezed through with him passing by shortly after. Miryoku held her breath the moment she saw his shadow and watched wide eyed as he passed through with heavy footsteps pounding in his wake. It wasn't until he passed that Miryoku dared to breathe. However, it hitched once more when she saw his shadow's head turn and swirl in through the narrow space. As if manifesting through it, the man walked out of his own shadow with a smirk on his face.

"There you are. Now, let's have some fun, shall we?"

In a futile attempt to escape, Miryoku tried to run but got snatched by her hair as the man yanked her up to stand before him. Yelping from the pain, she stood there in front of him, tears spilling as she tried prying his hands from her hair. Without warning, the man ripped at her dress before grabbing her jaw again and crashing his lips against hers. Sunset eyes grew at the contact but as soon as she felt them, she bit down as hard as she could. The man shouted in pain before throwing her against the grates with his shadow responding in kind and bursting out, destroying the little alcove and sending her flying back against another stack.

Vision a bit blurry, Miryoku sat up with her whole body aching as the man prowled towards her. It was just instinct now that made her scoot backward as far from him as she could. But something stopped her suddenly. Like vines growing out of the ground, black tendrils wrapped around her arms, legs and body to pin her in place. Miryoku cried when nothing she did could pry them off of her, but stopped when the sound of those heavy footsteps came closer.

Dark eyes narrowed into a glare, he wiped at his bleeding lip before he spat out blood. "Enough fucking around."

Shadows clad around his hand like claws as he prepared to pounce her—

Only to be stopped in his tracks by flashes of red that made her breath hitch. Both turned in the direction the flashes came from to find giant crimson wings spreading overhead as Hawks landed at the warehouse's entrance.

"...found you."

Despite hearing this, sunset eyes watched cautiously as the man slowly lowered his shadow-clad arm with a smirk still spread across his face. Noticing something wasn't right, she turned back to where Hawks stood just in time to see the one other man she'd hurt coming from behind some crates.

Her gasp died in her throat when everything just happened.

It shocked her how quickly he dealt with a man he hadn't even seen as if he'd known since the beginning he was there. With a brandishing of his wing, feathers shot towards the man behind him, pinning him against the far off wall high above the ground. But as that all ensued, Miryoku watched in horror as the black-eyed man sunk into his shadow and rushed towards the winged hero.

Terror bloomed in her chest at what she could only watch unfold.

No! There's something I can do.

It hit her then like nothing before had. Her fingers absently touched her lips for a mere moment before she took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"STOP!"

Burning.

Almost instantly it hit her lips when the shadow man stopped mid lurch, claw outstretched to attack. Hawks watched with narrowed eyes, feathers already piercing the guy when everything about him seemed to freeze over at Miryoku's command.

Sensing a mild ache already growing at the back of her head, she stood from where she was and stared ahead at the two that stood at a standstill. Red and blue lights flashed in the dark as they approached the warehouse and as she heard the ruckus outside from the police as they approached, she sighed in relief. With them here, there wasn't a need to hold onto her control anymore.

"Fucking hell…" The man's voice caught her off guard as he turned toward her despite the feathers piercing through him. Shock and terror mixed as they came across her face at the crazed-eyed look on his face full of what she couldn't help but describe as lustful. One much worse than the leering from before. But nothing caught her more off guard than the dark purple tint now coloring his lips. "Just let me fuck you already!"

Miryoku covered her ears instantly and shouted, "Shut up!" He listened obediently and without her asking him to, knelt down completely disregarding the hero and police rushing in behind him. She shook as those eyes grew wider awaiting her command. Shutting her eyes, Miryoku simply said, "Undo your Quirk and turn yourself in peacefully."

He did as he was told but as he undid his shadows, he spoke shouted. "I'll take you then!?"

Obsession. Control. Lust…for power.

Miryoku couldn't help the emotions that ravaged through her head as the police rushed in and tackled the man to the ground to handcuff him. Shaking her head, she furiously brushed her hand across her mouth to wipe away the nasty color from them, leaving her trembling in place as the officers took the other two culprits and cuffed them as well.

Just as she was sure that her legs would give beneath her, a sudden warmth came over her as something covered her from the cold that rushed in from the sea. Opening her eyes, all she saw was the bright crimson of downy feathers.

"It's alright. I've got you. Let me take you to the ambulance outside."

Her reply was almost automatic at that point as she wrapped her arms around her to keep her tattered dress in place. "I don't need an ambulance." Her voice was quiet as she said this. And despite how much a part of her shouted to listen, another much smaller yet louder one told her otherwise.

"Yes, you do."

It amazed her how quiet and composed he sounded. The warmness from his wings coming closer to her back urging her to go without pushing her wasn't missed on her either.

"Chimni…-san?"

The sound of Saori's voice snapped her a little out of her stupor. Lifting her head, crimson wings lowered in time for her to watch as two familiar figures came in from the entrance where the officers had come in through. Saori, accompanied by Miruko, came to stand before her completely disheveled and with a blanket around her shoulders. She looked utterly normal for once—scared, panicked and completely out of her element. A piece of her was glad she wasn't hurt—thankful even—but unexpected rage came to life far too easily along with it and instantly ignited her vitriol.

Stepping out of the warmth of those feathers, Miryoku made her way through the heroes and the girl that got her in this mess in the first place.

"You're lucky Makoto was right."

Saori's brow furrowed at the strange comment, but Miryoku shook her head as she spotted the medics heading in. Knowing there was no running away from them now, she sighed defeatedly. Just as she took the few steps towards the medics, she glared over her shoulder at Saori.

"Tell your father to pay off his fucking loansharks. Or learn to defend yourself. Whichever damn suits you but do it. 'Cause there might not be someone to help you next time, Saori."

Chimni Miryoku.

Quirk — Lilith's Charm.

When her lips touch another's skin, she is able to immensely amplify the emotions the person has towards her. The sole mark of her kiss on the person matches the color of her lips, a hue that originates from the person and represents their connection. It can intensify emotions to the point of changing them into their extremes.

Mild annoyance to hostility. Petty distaste to antipathy. Passing jealousy to obsession.

And unconditional love to lust.

A/N:

*deep inhale*

I'M SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! HERE'S A SUPER DUPER LONG CHAPTER TO MAKE UP FOR IT!

*dies*

but really this could've easily been 2 chapters but i was like 'forget it, i ain't making this a two-parter' so ta-da~! But holy crap this is one of the longest chapters i've written in a long while. Ah...the good times of 20k+ chapters -w-)

Anyway, the whole intro arc is over! (little details notwithstanding). In this one in particular there's a bunch of info but the one i wanted to tell the most was her Quirk. It took me a while to come up with a concrete and short definition that wouldn't give away too much while leaving enough space for your little minds to speculate.

Speaking of which! THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYBODY! We're barely two chapters in and this story is already getting so much love and i just can't aaskdhflaskjdfhasjdhf. But really thank you to all of you who favorited and followed.

That includes You Are So Wonk, Rynxenvy, always8567, Yuudie, 4plywhenicry, Genderbend1920, LiLy Resh, Warbreaker, SlyLupus, kani-leek-lover, LovelyFandomLover, Razzle162, Shiovaun, Fineapple13, Innocent Anime Girl, Spectre8, Fraise-Kiwi, Crystal Jade147, Lemurmur, salports779 and Nai0310.

For those of you who reviewed, I loved you too and ty, ty, ty! You all had me writing everyday for all this time wanting to bring more content to you!

PrettyKitty Luvs U: tysm (TwT ) I love writing Hawks and I'm super happy you enjoy reading how I write him. And yes! Another Fuyumi fan! I love that girl. Best sister ever!

Aviantei: I'm getting through classes just great, Avi! (actually uploading this the night before an exam xD) I've wanted to write a more adult story in the bnha universe since I started imaging Miryoku and I'm happy you like the idea as much as I did about how those other aspects of the universe could work too. And yes, another Fuyumi-stan for the basket!

Rynxenvy: Here's some more cute Hawks and some serious Hawks as extra, as well! I think we all need some happy Hawks after Hori-sensei left us to hang after that one chapter (no spoilers x3) And same, specially after one of the official sketches that cames out, I love the idea more than ever of Hawks and Miruko being buddy buds. I've gotten into that train and I'm never coming down, bby!

LovelyFandomLover: Really happy to hear that you're enjoying the structure! I changed it around from another story i'm writing and it really helped to pace this chapter more than anything!

Guest: TYSM! (/)

ALL OF YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! I'm so happy to know that all of you enjoy reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it!

i'll leave ya'll be now. I've gotta wake up early to study some more before my exam. Wish me luck! And as always I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you stay tuned for the next update! Stay safe and healthy during these times!

Till next time,

- Evie