x
They stayed in the hug until they both composed themselves from their emotions. Hawks went and sat back down, opening his 3rd drink. Rena looked at him and noticed his demeanor had changed. Sure he was relaxed from the drinks but he also seemed to have let his hero facade completely fade. So she decided to risk her own gamble. “So, you’re alone too? A famous hero like you? I figured the girls would be all over a catch like you.”
Hawks choked on his drink, wiping his mess with his sleeve, before smirking his signature smile. “Oh? You think I’m a catch?”
She just chuckled “Don’t let it get to your head. I’m just saying you don’t seem to be the type of person to be lonely.”
Hawks let out a sigh and dropped his smile “Aren’t those the ones that are the loneliest though?” He whispered not meaning to say it out loud but Rena heard him anyway.
“I suppose you’re right, but even still, you’re so friendly and inviting. How do you not possibly have any friends? What about family?” She asked, noticing he flinched at the mention of family.
”I… don’t have any family anymore. I was raised by the commission, my mom sold me off to them, and lives comfortably without the worries of dealing with me. I still visit her, well from afar, just to check on her but the commission thought it best we cut all ties to my parents. I didn’t get the luxury of going to normal school. Just daily training to become a hero and here I am. So my friendly and outgoing personality is really just my awkward social skills coming out because I was socially deprived.” He stiffened at saying those things out loud.
He had never told anyone about the commission or his parents like that. He had to admit, it felt good. He looked up at Rena and noticed she looked at him with a smile, not pity because she understood the pain. Their situations might have been different but they both understood the feeling of being unwanted. The only difference was that she had someone, even though she believed he had given up on her, Hawks had a feeling there was more to his side of the story. He smiled back at Rena.
“Well that’s my story, not as detailed as yours but I didn’t have any childhood sweethearts.” He joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Rena chuckled back “Fair point. Guess we can just be lonely losers together. Hey wait, It’s your birthday! How old are you anyway?”
”I’m 23,” Hawks said with a grin.
”Oh.” Rena said with a slightly sad tone.
”What’s wrong?” Hawks asked concerned her mood just changed again.
“Ah nothing, just…my mom was 23 when she died. She was so young. But,” Rena took in a deep breath and let it out. “I’m not going to dwell on it. Let’s change this depressing mood for something happy. It is your birthday anyway. Want to order some pizza? I’m starving!”
”Sure! It’s on me though. What kind of pizza do you want?” Hawks asked pulling up his phone and finding a place to order from.
”No it’s on me! You can’t pay for it on your birthday! That’s so unfair!” Rena jumped up in protest.
”Cool it, kid. I’m Hawks, it’s alright. Besides, I know the best places and they may or may not give me a discount. Perks of a Hero.” He said with a wink.
”Ugh, fine but you need to tell me what you learned at the hideout today. You did find out something right?” Rena said, crossing her arms across her chest.
Hawks's eyes went wide. How could he have forgotten he had important stuff to tell her? He looked up and smiled “Deal, now what kind of pizza do you want?”
”Pepperoni.” She answered simply.
”That’s it?” He raised an eyebrow.
”What can I say, I like it simple.” She shrugged her shoulders, grabbing her cup to go get some more water.
”Nothing wrong with that.” He chuckled as he placed the order, standing up to join Rena in the kitchen for some water himself.
They leaned against the counter across from each other and Rena crossed her arms again. “Now while we wait. Spill it.”
Hawks chuckled as he crossed his arms across his chest. “Ok fair.” Then he kicked his hero facade back on, turning serious.
”The main members of the league had a big meeting today and most of the information was what I needed for my mission, and it’s not good. I’m not sure how I’m going to get that information to the Heroes without blowing my cover. They are watching me and with the amount of Heroes joining the Front it’s not going to be easy to get the word out to the right people.”
Rena nodded, glad he was finally getting something for his mission. She perked up as he continued.
“Then I heard something interesting. Something about a test subject and a lab. My guess is it’s about your guardian. They were talking about glowing essence and a special power.”
Rena’s face lit up “That’s gotta be it! So they do have him. Well, that’s step one down. Now we just need to figure out where they are and how to rescue them.”
Hawks face dropped a little. “There’s more… and I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
Rena looked up, concerned on her face. “Is this something Sy needs to hear?”
“I’ll tell you and you decide, but there were two other individuals in the meeting. They were NOT League members. One of them talked as if he was the big boss in charge. He told them he would allow them one month of experimenting then he’d be taking the test subject with him. He also said that he liked them and their cause and that they would come with him to his new world.”
Rena’s eyes grew to the size of saucers “Wha-What did you say?”
”He said he’d be back when his world was ready for them.” Hawks repeated.
”No… it… it couldn’t be.” Rena’s hand went up to cover her mouth in shock.
”Couldn’t be what?” Hawks asked, confused.
”Odysseus. That had to be him. Shit. This is bad. If he’s already here..” Rena started to panic, her hands moving up to grip chunks of her hair.
Hawks dropped his arms from his chest holding them out towards Rena “Hey-Hey calm down. Don’t go panicking.. He left. But whoever he had with him stayed behind to ‘keep an eye on things’”
”So he’s not here?” She asked, releasing the grip on her hair.
”Not anymore from what I can tell.” Hawks shrugged.
”We need to hurry then. We don’t have any time to waste.” Rena said moving to grab her phone, but Hawks stopped her.
”Hold on there kid. Yes, we need to act fast, but we also need to act rationally. You can’t just rush into their hideout and demand they give over the guardian. We need a plan.”
Rena sighed. “You’re right. Sorry. I just.. this mission has been full of uneasiness and that just makes it worse. That he was here himself.”
Hawks thought for a moment. He understood the feeling of uneasiness. His entire undercover mission had been full of uneasiness. Every time he stepped foot into the presence of the LOV members he felt uneasy. Especially around Dabi. Most of the LOV’s motives were clear but Dabi? He had something else driving him. Hawks could feel that he was hiding something, even hiding it from the other league members.
“Think of it this way, he just thinks he has the upper hand on this one. He doesn’t know you are here or that we’re going to rescue the guardian.” Hawks smiled. “I’ll come up with a plan, trust me. For now, just play the game of lost tourist and English teacher to buy time.”
Rena was about to respond but they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Food is here!” Hawks face lit up as he walked to the door and opened it, grabbing the food from the delivery person and handing them a generous tip. He brought the food to the table and they sat down to eat.
“Good lord, how much did you order? This could feed a family of 5! Chicken wings too?” Rena exclaimed looking at all the food.
”I’m starving, and chicken is my favorite food.” He said grinning, filling up a paper plate with a mountain of food.
The two spent the rest of the evening eating food and just chatting it up about random things. They could hold off on details of the mission until tomorrow they both thought. Tonight, they just needed to be a shoulder to lean on for the other. Forming the bond of friendship they both desperately needed.
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