"Dinner..?"

Was it professional of me to be taking a personal call through my earpiece whilst standing on a villain's spine? Probably not, but nobody really seemed to care.

"Yeah, Fuyumi wants me to come to some stupid family dinner with the old man. She invited Shoto's classmates, so I wanted to know if you'd come as my plus one? She wants to meet you properly, plus it would be nice to have you with me..." Natsuo explained, pausing as I grunted, plopping myself down on the criminal's back to stop him trying to bolt. "Uh...is this a bad time..?"

Even though he couldn't see me, I shook my head, motioning to Shinpi and Tokoyami to come and give me a hand.
"No, it's fine. If you want me there, then I'm there. Your dad actually asked me to bring him some papers from the agency, so once I've done that, I'll head home and get ready, okay?" Climbing off the villain, I spotted the police pulling up, starting to head over.

"Ah, you're the best, Sugar! I'll pick you up around six?" Agreeing, I quickly ended the call, nodding to the officers to greet them.
"Thanks for coming so quickly. The guy has clipper hands. He's been running rampant, shaving people's heads." I explained, motioning to one of my other sidekicks, who was busy mourning the large patch of his hair that sat on the middle of the sidewalk.

"Yeah, he's been doing this for the past week or so. Glad somebody finally caught him. It's nice to see a hero actually doing their job." The officer's comment kind of miffed me off, but I couldn't be bothered to argue against him. Crime rate was high, and recently there seemed to be a high villain to hero ratio. It wasn't our fault.

Once the maniacal clipper was cuffed, Tokoyami and Shinpi approached me, the latter stretching his arms above his head.
"Let's continue then, shall we? This city isn't gonna protect itself." Brushing off my hands, I sighed, watching the cops drag off our most recent catch.
"Actually, I have to run an errand to the Endeavor agency. Do you mind taking Tokoyami and the others? If you need me I can come right back."

Playing with the zipper at the mouth of his mask, Shinpi nodded, his other arm draping over Tokoyami's shoulders.
"I've gotcha covered, honey. We'll be fine on our own, right Tsukuyomi?" The student agreed with a tilt of his head, but I still felt kind of bad. The agency had been swamped lately thanks to Hawks' absence, as well as my own.

"Thanks, boys! I owe you one!" I wasted no time in taking off, stopping over at my own agency to gather the required papers before starting towards Endeavor's. I had no idea why he wanted all of the information. It was mostly just finance records and employee data, but hey, there had to be a reason.

I still think the burning lug isn't telling me something important...

I was frustrated to find that the office window had been locked, so I had to use the main entrance. The main hall was bustling, like always, an I ended up running straight into Burnin.
"Yo, SB! Looks like you're all nice and healed now!" The pyromantic woman gave me a chummy punch to the arm, and I pretended it didn't hurt.
"Hahaha, yep...Like it never happened...Uh, is Endeavor around? I have to talk to him about something."

I didn't dislike Burnin. She was a proud, powerful hero, and she had a lot of spunk, but she was loud, and kind of intimidating. Definitely someone only able to be handled in small doses, much like Ms. Joke or Present Mic.
"Last I saw he was with Shoto and the other intern kids. They're all having lunch on the roof, so he might be up there!" She pointed to the stairs, and I thanked her, quickly running back outside and using my quirk to fly up. Fuck the stairs.

"Aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee!" Did I feel bad about making the freckled shrub boy scream and throw half of his sandwich off the side of the building? A little, yes, but he didn't seem to mind once he realised who I was.
"You startled us, Songbird." Todoroki stated, not looking the least bit frazzled. Bakugou kicked his heels against the concrete, shaking his head furiously.
"Speak for your fucking self, Icyhot!"

Young love.

"Sorry, I'm just looking for Endeavor. I have some stuff for him, but I guess that can wait until tonight." I sighed, landing to sit beside the unhinged blond. Midoriya leaned out a little, tilting his head.
"Tonight? Were you invited to dinner too?" He queried, and I nodded, making sure my wings weren't going to accidentally graze any of them.

"Yeah, Shoto's brother invited me. I hope that's okay? I mean, even if it isn't I'm still gonna go." Todoroki shrugged his shoulders, and the wind sweeping his hair had me wanting to hold it all down so red wouldn't mix with white.
"I don't oppose it. Maybe more presence from people outside of the family will do some good." He pondered, gazing out over the vista. "Fuyumi will probably be glad she won't be the only girl there."

I like this kid. A little stiff, but seems nice enough.

"You can only come if we can race there!" Bakugou nudged me in the side, but I could tell he was trying to do it gently, in his own feral way. Scoffing, I leaned back a little, raising a brow.
"I'd rather not show up covered in sweat. How about we organise a time and date, and you can come race me somewhere where we won't risk property damage, hmmm?" Bakugou glared at me for a few moments before he nodded, seeming to be accepting of my idea.

I decided to loiter around with the kids for a while, making Midoriya's whole day when I told him he was more than welcome to visit the agency whenever he liked. Eventually, once their break was over, I took my leave, heading straight home instead of back to the agency.

Hopping out of the shower, I texted back and forth with Natsuo as I sat on my bed in my towel, trying to emotionally prepare myself for getting dressed.

Once I realised what time it was, I dragged myself off of the bed, shuffling over to the wardrobe to yank out some clothing. I had long since boxed Hawks' shirts and jackets, and I tried my best not to look to them as I sifted through the rack. Pulling out a beige cable knit sweater and a pair of pale jeans, I shrugged my towel to the floor, slipping them on after I forced myself to put on underwear.

"Knock knock!" Natsuo's voice called out from the front room, and I knew a quiet raspberry towards my reflection.
"Almost ready! Just gotta find shoes and do my hair!" I replied, hearing him wandering down the hall towards the room. He stopped outside of the closed door, and I could see his shadow shift slightly.
"If you're decent, I could fix your hair for you? Not to brag, but I know how to tie up a mean ponytail."

This is my life now. This is all good for me.

"Oh really? Prove it, snowflake." I chuckled, walking over to the door to let him in. Natsuo stood there smiling, puffing out his chest so the word 'front' was emphasised on his black top.
"Don't mind if I do!" He laughed, leaning down to give me a soft kiss on the cheek. "How was your day, Sugar?" When he walked in, I stifled a giggle once I realised the back of his shirt read 'back' in bold. He really had meant casual.

"Not too bad. I sat with your brother and his friends on their lunch break and got to piss the angry blond one off." I replied, fetching him a hairbrush and tie as well as my white sneakers. The white sneakers Hawks had gifted me only days before we split.

Get out of my head, you stupid bird...

I plopped myself down in front of Natsuo, who was sitting cross legged on my bed, and began to slip the shoes on as he brushed through my blowdried hair, surprisingly gently.
"I'm glad he's finally able to make some friends..." He hummed, using his fingers to gather some stray (H/C) hair from around my ear. "You sounded A little out of breath on the phone earlier. Just finished with a villain?"

Fiddling with my laces, I tried not to move my head too much, finding it a little difficult.
"Kind of. I nabbed him while we were talking. Maybe you were good luck?" Natsuo spluttered behind me, pausing with my hair gathered in his hand.
"You shouldn't have answered if you were in the middle of something like that! You could've gotten hurt again!"

But...

"It's fine. Keigo and I used to do it all the time." Of course, once I realised what I had said, I stiffened. It hadn't been a lie, but it was rude of me to bring him up to my new boyfriend, plus, I just didn't want to think about him. Not at all. "Uh, sorry...I didn't-"
"Why are you sorry? You guys were married, Sugar. Sure, you've separated, but memories are memories. It doesn't bother me if he's included, I like hearing about you." With a flick of his wrist, he had my hair tied up, and he pulled me back into his chest and rested his chin on my shoulder. "Still, don't feel like you need to answer my calls if you're busy, okay? I'd much rather wait to talk to you than have you distracted and hurt."

Sighing, I allowed him to nuzzle into me for a few extra moments before standing up, wandering towards the mirror. I did appreciate his kindness and his concern for my wellbeing, but it was weird. Natsuo and Hawks were two entirely different people, and I was having great difficulty getting used to the drastic change.

"Okay, I'll hand it to you. Ever thought of becoming a hair stylist?" I joked, checking out my neat ponytail in the mirror. Natsuo waved me off with a laugh, purposefully making his wrist go limp.
"Oh, stop it, you." He stood up, stretching his back before glancing up at the ceiling. "Hey, here's a wild idea. How about we ditch and just spend the night cuddled up watching (F/Show)?"

It was beyond obvious that he didn't want to go and spend the evening around his father. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. From what Endeavor had revealed to me, Fuyumi was relatively normal with him, Shoto was putting in effort, but Natsuo just wasn't having a bar of it.
"Come on, you can't let your sister down like that." I scolded lightly, grabbing his hand and dragging him down the hall.

"But...I can't deal with him..." Natsuo muttered under his breath. "There's no point in trying to act..." Stopping by my handbag, I turned to him, releasing his hand and folding my arms across my chest.
"Listen, buddy. You have no idea how lucky you are to even have a family, even if it's been broken. Don't do this for your dad. Do it for Fuyumi and Shoto, okay?" The white-haired man studied me for a few long moments as I grabbed my wallet and phone, stuffing them into my pockets before he let out a long, defeated sigh.

"Yeah...you're right...I'm sorry, Sugar..." He apologised, taking my hand in his again. "I guess I just...have a bit of a problem holding my tongue around him. I swear, one of these days I'll probably end up taking a swing at him..." Squeezing his hand reassuringly, I grabbed the papers meant for Endeavor and tugged him towards the door, using my elbow to switch off the light.

"Well, I'm sure there won't be any violence tonight. Not on my watch."

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***Where is Hawks, you may ask?

Don't worry. He'll be back in a few chapters. I want to create some drama, first...

As I said, all in the plan.

Also I saw NatsuMomo ship art and I wanted to cry. W h y?

Next time: Mapo Tofu with a Side of Daddy Issues***