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“I’m surprised you had me on your visitor’s list.”
The hospital room is just as drab and cold as the room Tsunagu had the misfortune of being stuck in for weeks after Kamino Ward. You’d think they would consider adding some decorations, if not for the patients, then for the staff.
Even the view from the window is dull, the outside mostly made up of concrete sidewalks and a parking lot full of cars, only interrupted by a lone cherry blossom tree that isn’t even in bloom yet. It’d probably been planted to brighten up the area, but in its current state it was woefully inadequate.
Hawks is halfway to sitting up in his bed, tubes and wires connected to half his body, including his nose. He’s completely covered in bandages, but Tsunagu can still see the edges of his burns peeking past the edges. He looks exhausted but starts typing on a phone at a speed that impresses Tsunagu. Must be a younger generation thing.
“Trust me, I wanted to pick someone else. I know you probably need a break by this point, but I need a favor, and Edgeshot is too busy doing damage control since he’s the only one of us who managed to come out the other side of this mess in fighting shape.” The voice from the phone is robotic and emotionless, but he can easily imagine Hawks’ usual lackadaisical tone in the words.
“So I was your last resort? I’m surprised, after all we’ve been through together these past months.”
Hawks doesn’t look ashamed at all. Of course, Tsunagu didn’t really expect him to. He’d never been one for shame.
Even when Hawks had told him about the plan, he’d made it clear Tsunagu had been picked because he was the most disposable hero out of the Top Ten due to his injuries. Hawks hadn’t shared who was his second pick to stuff in a body bag and leave in a freezer for months. Maybe that old fart Musha. Although someone who retired as soon as public opinion got a little heated definitely wouldn’t have the courage to put their life on the line like he had.
Hawks lifts a hand up to scratch an itch by his ear, before thinking better of it and putting his hand back down. The burns must be rather uncomfortable.
“Are you recovering well?”
Hawks stares at him for a moment, trying to figure him out. “You worried about me, BJ?”
“I always hate to see my coworkers hurt,” he sniffs. “No matter who they are.”
Hawks grins, bandages obscuring the full force of his smile. “Are you up to give me a ride somewhere?”
“A ride?? Hawks, you nearly died. I highly doubt the doctors have cleared you to leave yet. Besides, you know the media has been… difficult about your situation lately. If you’re spotted, it’ll just make things worse.”
Hawks huffs, and it almost looks like he’s pouting. Honestly, Tsunagu isn’t even that surprised by his candor at this point. After all, Hawks’ invitation to fake his own death was given with a sword pointed at his neck. He was lucky Tsunagu didn’t arrest him for assault then and there.
Instead, he’d agreed to it. And now, it looked like he was getting sucked into another one of Hawks’ longshot plans. All because he couldn’t turn away from someone who looked like they needed help.
Damn his heroic nature.
“Where do you need to go in such a hurry?” he asks.
“Figured we could use some ice cream.”
“Try again.”
Hawks pauses, fingers hesitating over the phone screen. “I need to check on something.”
“I meant a location, not a reason,” Tsunagu sighs.
The loud rattle of a crash cart going down the hallway mixed with the frantic voices of the doctors and nurses makes them both flinch. There’s already been too many lives lost, too many sacrifices made, and it’s just another reminder that they may lose even more before this is all over. Tsunagu himself isn’t entirely sure how much longer his body can hold up at this point, but he’s made peace with the possibility of his death several times over by this point.
He’d never expected to leave the PLF’s base alive.
“I know who leaked my information. I need to make sure they’re okay.”
“Who is it?” He asks quietly.
Hawks’ fingers tap and erase several times before finally giving the answer. “My mom.”
Well. That’s awkward. He takes in a deep breath. “I suppose that’s worth the gas.”
Hawks grins. “Glad to see I can count on you.” He types something before erasing it, staring at the screen before typing another message, this one much more slowly. “Thanks, by the way,” he stares down at his phone, pressing each key carefully. “For trusting me. I never gave you any reason to, but you still trusted me.”
“You’ve never given me a reason not to trust you either.”
Hawks barks out a sharp laugh that devolves into a cough. He runs his fingers over the screen once it dies out. “Trust is something earned. You shouldn’t just give it away like that. What if I’d betrayed you?”
He looks at the young hero lying on the bed in front of him, whose hands shook when he asked him to put his life in them, so obviously stretched thin as a string by the stress of his mission yet still refusing to reach out and openly ask for the help he so desperately needed.
“You’ll have to work a bit harder than that to make me give up on you, Hawks.”
Hawks ducks his head so Tsunagu can’t see the expression on his face. “... Thanks.”
“After all, the fabric of trust is not so easily torn-”
“Goddammit, do you always have to do that?” Tsunagu smiles under the cover of his high collar. Hawks’ frustration with him was more entertaining than usual due to the text-to-speech reader’s monotone.
“So, are they willing to release you immediately, or do I have to wait? I have a lot of work to catch up on at my agency thanks to my extended leave of absence.”
“Like they could keep me here.” He can almost hear the huff in Hawks’ voice through the tinny sound of the phone.
In just a few short minutes, Tsunagu has somehow gone from visiting an injured friend to helping him escape from the hospital.
Hawks starts carefully removing IVs and tubes, and for the first time, Tsunagu realizes that the monitoring equipment is already unplugged. Hawks picks up his phone when he notices him looking. “I sweet-talked the doctor into letting me shut them off for a while. Told ‘em my quirk gives me some pretty sensitive hearing and I couldn’t rest with all the beeping.”
“I didn’t realize your hearing was enhanced.”
“Did I say my hearing was enhanced?” They stare at each other for a moment before Tsunagu sighs, realizing this is just another one of those moments where Hawks is purposefully being dishonest. Whether it’s with Tsunagu or the doctor, he’ll probably never know.
Hawks types quickly on his phone again. “Care to give a guy some privacy? I’ve got to pull out my cath.”
Tsunagu pauses, face turning slightly green. “Should you really take something like that out yourself?”
“You’re fine with possibly being turned into a Nomu, but me taking out my own catheter is where you draw the line?”
“Right.” He takes a deep breath, trying to ground himself. “I’ll just wait outside then.”
“What? No! You need to stay in here and watch to make sure the nurses don’t catch me.”
Tsunagu turns quickly when Hawks starts hiking up his hospital gown. “I can keep watch better from outside the door.”
“What, like you’re the hospital bouncer or something? Yeah, that wouldn’t be suspicious at all. Nah, just stay right there, it’ll only take a second.”
Hawks goes silent, presumably because his hands are busy pulling a tube out of his– but Tsunagu isn’t going to think about that. No, he’s going to focus on all the paperwork he has to review later on for his agency. He’s never been this behind, even when he’d first debuted and was woefully unprepared for the amount of behind-the-scenes work being a hero required.
Hawks grunts loudly, and he jumps.
“... Everything okay?”
Hawks doesn’t speak, but gives a short rap to the bed instead. So that meant yes? One knock for yes, right?
…. He’s just going to assume Hawks doesn’t need help.
What feels like an agonizing amount of time passes before Hawks’ phone speaks again. “Alright, all done. Now let’s get outta here.”
He’s shuffled himself out of the loose hospital gown and into some dark clothes, wheezing slightly as he walks, obviously struggling for breath. Maybe helping him leave the hospital early is a bad idea after all. Tsunagu would really rather not be responsible for the death of the Number Two hero.
When he breezes past him into the hallway, Tsunagu notices the two small bumps under Hawks’ shirt and he feels his throat tighten in concern. Hawks hadn’t mentioned anything about it, but...
As if he could read his mind, Hawks flexes the muscles in his back, making the little bumps flutter as his fingers type. “Doctors aren’t sure how long it’ll take, but it looks like my feather regeneration is still kicking. I’ll definitely fly again.”
Tsunagu swallows hard, and starts to follow him through the corridor. “I’m glad you’re on the mend.” He thinks for a moment before smirking. “Just like a well-cared for pair of jeans.”
“You have really got to come up with some better jokes, man.”
They almost get through the hospital completely unbothered, the overwhelmed medical staff unconcerned with anyone well enough to be out of bed and wandering around, but a nurse finally catches them once they get close to the front desk.
“Hawks! You have not been cleared to leave yet. You know your doctor recommended you stay here for at least a week.” Her hair is drawn up tight in a severe bun, and her lips are pressed together tightly as she glares at them.
Hawks rolls his eyes but turns to face her directly, fingers jumping across the phone screen. “Listen, I’ve enjoyed my stay here—really, great hospitality—but I’ve got a lot of things to take care of. Hero, remember? Our Number One is still in surgery, and I’ve got to make sure things are set up for him when he wakes up.”
“You know how much we’ve warned you about trying to move too fast, Hawks. You can’t rush recovery.”
“A little hard to slow down with everything going on out there, ma’am.”
“I guess that’s true…” She trails off, hesitant still, and Tsunagu can’t help but put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be there to make sure he doesn’t do anything foolish.” Hawks makes an offended noise that shifts into a brutal coughing fit, and Tsunagu narrows his eyes. “And if he does, I’ll bring him straight back here and tie him to the hospital bed myself. You can count on me ma’am, just like your favorite pair of jeans.”
She sighs but nods, and asks them to wait while she gets Hawks’ release paperwork together.
“They seem worried for you here.”
Hawks gives him an incredulous look. “I’d hope so. It’s their job to be.”
“No, I mean–” Tsunagu sighs. “Hawks, you do know that there are people on your side, right? No matter what Dabi told the public, there are people who believe in you.”
Hawks doesn’t bother typing a reply out this time. His voice is full of glass and grit, but Tsunagu knows the way it shakes isn’t just from the damage from smoke inhalation. “ Yeah, I know. ”
The nurse returns with a mask she clips around Hawks’ neck, insisting he wear it to help with his breathing, and a pile of paperwork clearing the hospital from responsibility if Hawks’ condition worsened due to his early release. They fill out the paperwork quickly, and she gives them both a quick hug before they go to leave, making them promise to be careful.
Hawks hesitates when they get to the exit doors.
“Did you get a chance to visit that intern of yours yet? The one that got kidnapped a while back?”
“No, I came straight to visit you once I received your message. I’ll visit him another time.”
Hawks lifts a hand to the back of his neck, startling when it hits the hard plastic of the neck brace. He deletes his message a few times before letting it play. “You should go check in before we head out. He had to spend months wondering if you were alive or dead. It’d probably mean a lot for him to see you after all this mess.”
Hawks isn’t making eye contact, but Tsunagu knows guilt when he sees it. “Thank you, Hawks, but he hasn’t woken up yet, and I think it’s best we take care of your business as soon as possible. Unless you’d like to visit Tsukuyomi?”
Even in the chaotic aftermath of the raid, stories about Hawks’ intern, who clawed his way out of Fatgum’s girth on the mere chance that Hawks was in trouble, were everywhere. The kid had saved his life, faced off against a villain that’d killed so many, and gotten injured for it, all out of loyalty to his mentor.
Tsukuyomi was conspicuously absent from Hawks’ list of approved visitors.
“Eh, I heard all the UA students have grouped together in his and a couple other kids’ rooms. I’ll pass. Too many kids for me.”
In fact, Tsunagu had been the only person listed on Hawks’ visitor list.
“If that’s what you want.”
Sometimes it’s best not to rush these things. Tsukuyomi is Hawks’ first intern, and it’s obvious he wasn’t prepared for how attached he would get to his student. Or how attached that student would get in return.
He’s pretty sure Hawks isn’t prepared for anyone to be attached to him.
The sun is bright when they step out the doors of the hospital. The lone cherry blossom tree by the parking lot may still be in the budding stage, but it’s clear it will bloom beautifully in time. It just needs a bit of patience and care.
EXTRA
“I heard that taking out a catheter can make you incontenint.”
“If you pee in my car, you’re paying to get the leather cleaned.”