"Alright, alright!! Let's make some noise for the sweetheart of UA high school, Ari Parker!! Man, oh man, that girl is wits, beauty, and grace, but clearly she'll still punch some villains in the face!! YEOWWW!!" Present Mic howled out over-dramatically, causing me to scoff in embarrassment as I forced my feet to walk out onto the stage.

"Already starting it off with a bang, I see." I muttered out deflatedly, as I saw the ocean of people getting hyped up from Mic's introduction.

Keigo sighed tiredly in agreement from next to me, quickly swiping the dark sunglasses back over his eyes.

He turned to me, about to say something, before remembering Diane was standing directly behind us. Letting out a small groan of annoyance, he wordlessly trailed behind me to head to the stage.

I squinted my eyes, trying to shield myself from the bright, blinding stage lights, as the ear piercing cheers filled my ears.

But...

They weren't cheers for me.

"HAWKS!! OH MY GOD, IT'S HAWKS!!! IT'S HAWKS!!!"

"HAWKS, OVER HERE!!!"

"NOTICE ME, SENPAI!!"

"HAWKS, CHANNEL THREE, HERE!! FLASH US A SMILE!"

"LET ME HAVE YOUR BIRD BABIES!!!"

"DO SOMETHING COOL WITH YOUR WINGS!!"

"HAWKS!! HAWKS!! HAWKS!!"

The screams quickly escalated into pure shrieks that were enough to drive anyone completely mad. The floor began shaking from the loud noise vibrations, and I began sweating stressfully even though the attention wasn't aimed at me.

Keigo's wings twitched anxiously from next to me, as he let out a soft, shaky breath at all the insane, overwhelming shouts of his name.

As much as he pretends for his fans, he doesn't like to be in the public eye. The attention makes him uncomfortable.

He growled quietly in pain when Diane subtly yanked a perfectly good feather out of his wing, before carelessly throwing it on the dirty floor.

"Do better. Now." She seethed out to him through a fake smile that was plastered on her face.

"Bitch..." Keigo muttered under his breath, before obeying.

On cue with her words, Hawks came back out to play....immediately flashing some cocky grins and waves at the crowd.

"Hi! Yep, it's me, everyone!-Heya, dollface!! That's some haircut ya got there!! Hm? Marry you? Eh, no can do, sweet cheeks. I'm all booked up!-oh, and hi to you, too! And you!! And definitely you! Yeah. Uh-huh-woah, no flashing, please. Let's all keep our clothes on, shall we!-and I love you, too!" Hawks exclaimed in the mechanical hero tone he's become so amazing at.

Seriously, I could tell he wasn't even thinking about the words he was saying anymore. To everyone else, he sounded so enthusiastic....so cocky, yet charming and personable.

But to me, he sounded so forced. So rehearsed. So empty. I could already tell his mind was somewhere else, as he randomly pointed to some of his fans, and shot them a cool, sexy smirk.

He stood shoulder to shoulder with me, causing his wing to brush up against my back. But, judging by the occasional, subtle feather caresses I felt across my body, I could tell him brushing his wings up against me wasn't on accident-

Diane quickly pushed her way between Keigo and I, standing in the middle of both of us.

Keigo and I reluctantly scooted over to give her room. Not much we could do with thousands of eyes watching us.

"Exciting! How exciting this is! Right?" Diane cheered to me in fake, fake warmth, placing a 'reassuring' hand on my shoulder for the crowd.

Gross.

She's not one to give me affection, so this moment was definitely a very awkward experience for both of us.

Keigo continued waving mindlessly, looking over at Diane's ridiculous actions and scoffing softly.

"You gotta be joking right now, doing that." He muttered to Diane, running a hand through his hair.

I, myself, tensed up...shrugging my shoulder weakly to get her hand off me.

She let out a hum of annoyance at my action, trying to remain as civil as possible.

"Stop being so dramatic, Ari." Diane smiled out through gritted teeth.

"You first." Keigo uttered at her, quickly giving a fake chuckle to the crowd.

"Let's just all...relax." I whispered out, waving to Nejire, who was cheering for me in the front row.

Even though Diane, Keigo, and I were laughing and smiling, the tension from our fight, backstage, was still brewing strong. It was an uncomfortable, irritated feeling that was only evident to the three of us...which only made things worse and even less enjoyable than I thought possible.

The question of why this ceremony was actually happening still rang through my mind.

Keigo cleared his throat uncomfortably, gladly stopping his showy antics with the crowd once Present Mic started speaking again.

He relaxed his posture slightly, shoving his hands into his pockets with a bored look plastered across his face.

Diane quickly whispered something in Keigo's ear, causing him to robotically straighten up his posture and look towards one of the news cameras begrudgingly.

Flashing lights began going off at Keigo's incredibly extra pose, as fangirls began swooning.

I rolled my eyes slightly........before subtly peering over to check him out, myself.

I mean....he did look gorgeous-

"Wow, wow, wow!! That's quite a reception for the number two hero! But, how 'bout we show some love to the girl who made it back to us safely!!? This whole shebang is for her, after all!!" Present Mic exclaimed, trying to gear the attention directly towards me.

You really don't have too-

Noticing Diane was getting ready to assault me now for not responding, I quickly flashed a smile at the crowd.

I felt myself relaxing when I saw Mirio, Nejire, and even Tamaki, cheering for me loudly. My heart squeezed nostalgically. I seriously just missed my best friends.

Too focused on them to pay attention to what was happening around me, I was pulled from my thoughts when I felt a microphone suddenly being shoved in my face now.

I whipped my head forward, coming face to face with Present Mic, along with three camera crews standing right behind him.

My eyes widened in panic, my poker face failing me as I felt myself starting to cringe uncomfortably.

What?! No! I thought I didn't have to do any talking. No, no, no-

"So, Ari!" Present Mic started off, tossing me the microphone.

The cameras got a nice close up of my face now, giving everyone in the country a perfectly clear view of me. Everyone.

Oh boy...

If Dabi's watching right now, I'm sure he's throwing darts at the television screen.

"Ari Parker, otherwise known as Hourglass, I guess I'll come right out with the question we're all dying to know..." Present Mic stated, in what appeared to me to be mock excitement, before subtly looking down at his palm.

I narrowed my eyes in focus at his action, trailing my gaze down to follow his own. It was only then that I noticed the pen marks that were written across his palm-the questions that were written across his palm.

He has the questions written down on his hand.

These aren't his questions? Then, who's questions are they-

"So! How...on earth did you do it?! You're quite the phenomenon, you know!" Present Mic exclaimed, as the news cameras zoomed in on my features more.

My eyes widened, as the spotlights suddenly became brighter and hotter on my face. My mouth opened and closed repeatedly, as I tried my best to come up with an excuse.

How on earth did I do it?! Do what? Escape the league of villains? Oh, you know. Hawks, aka the number two hero and Mister Double Agent Chicken Man, practically triple crossed himself to set me free, with the help a damn feather, I pan smacked a girl with pigtails around and slapped her with a wooden spoon, and then I set a mason jar full of oil and peas on fire, to limp out the door. All the while, a feral, angsty emo man, who shoots blue flames out of his hands, was stomping around the place like a sassy bitch, trying to find me. Thank goodness I barely managed to avoid him. Phew.

It was silent, as I waited for Diane to step in and take the lead.

It's not like I can say the truth of how I actually escaped. This is national television, anyone could be watching-I have no doubt they are watching. I don't need the world, or the villains, knowing my strengths and weaknesses. And I definitely don't need them knowing Keigo is a double agent, who almost sacrificed his mission and his life to help me.

I just still don't understand.

Why is Diane doing this? Asking me to publicly broadcast secret information? She knows better...

"U-Uh..." I uttered out, feeling my heart pounding as I tried to think of something-

"Legally, that's confidential information. He can't ask those questions, and you know it." Keigo hissed out to Diane, trying to stop this as best he could-

"What was that, number two hero!? We'll come back to you, Ari!" Present Mic stated dismissively, clearly seeing I was uncomfortable with the question.

I released a breath I didn't even realize I was holding, as Present Mic quickly made his way to Keigo. As if on cue, he flashed Hawks smirk directly into the camera.

"Hm? What about me, Mic?" He asked, giving his wings a majestic, showy flap.

"Well, you're the number two hero, and Ari is affiliated with your agency. Let's....talk about how you two work together! You're not much different in age, and she's the only intern you've got. Must've been tough for you when she went missing! How would you describe your days together? Do you two get along?" Present Mic asked excitedly, clearly deciding to make up his own questions on the spot now.

Obviously, he was just trying to fan service the crowd at this point, to do damage control for my awkward lack of response. My bad.

The longer this went on, the more apparent it was that Present Mic also had no idea why this ceremony was happening.

He was probably just hosting it, because he was ordered to do so.

Hawks chuckled lazily, shuffling his hands in his pockets.

"Do we get along? Nah, can't stand each other. Am I right, Ari?" Hawks joked, causing the crowd to laugh and swoon for his charm.

"Right, Hawks!" I exclaimed, letting out a weak laugh.

The cameras started turning back towards my face, causing Keigo to quickly speak up again so the attention stayed off me.

"But, I dunno! Ari's a good intern. I mean, she puts up with all of my crazy demands. Files the paperwork correctly....gets my lunch orders right every time-"

"I love you, Hawks!!"

"And I love you too, random guy-Anyways, ya know how it goes. Stuff like that. Ari's capable. Intelligent. Very...professional." Hawks shrugged carelessly, throwing his head back towards the ceiling.

Diane subtly rolled her eyes at his words, tapping her foot impatiently. Clearly, she wanted to say something, but Present Mic beat her to it.

"Wowee!! Those are some kind words, coming from the number two hero. How did it make you feel when your intern went missing, Hawks!!?" Present Mic asked again.

Keigo's wings twitched slightly at the blunt context of the question, before he forced his attention back towards the cameras.

"Hm? How did I feel? 'Course I was worried for little Ari..." Keigo started saying, trailing off slightly as he tried to gather up his thoughts.

He chewed on his lip, causing a very small pause in his speech, before I saw the lightbulb go off in his head.

A plan has formed in his mind. He knew exactly what he wanted to say.

He looked directly into the cameras, letting out an insincere chuckle.

"Especially, because Ari's still learning. She's just a student, y'know. While I wasn't there to see, I'm sure those villains gave her a very tough fight. They don't seem like ones to mess around with. The good thing, is that Ari will have security around her dorm room at all times now. She'll be watched carefully by the heroes of this school, and she'll keep training and doing her thing. Ari, you're a great intern, sweetheart. But, you're fresh and inexperienced. You still have a lot to learn, but I know you're more than capable of learning it. Especially, with my help!" Hawks stated happily, shooting me a thumbs up.

The crowd began cheering at his statement, eating up every word.

I gave him a nod of respect, grateful for the way he cleverly stated things.

Sure...at a first glance, it almost sounds like he's putting me down.

"Inexperienced."

"Still learning."

"Just a student."

None of those things sound very powerful or heroic.

Which is exactly why Keigo said them.

He's aware that Dabi and the rest of the league of villains are watching this ceremony from their hideout, as we speak.

Keigo worded his statement in a way that won't piss off Dabi. In an attempt to downplay my power, and underestimate my wits. Downplay my skills, and draw less hype around me, so I won't sound so desirable to the league.

The less powerful I sound, the more likely they are to lose interest in me. Keigo's trying to plant these seeds into the heads of the villains. He's trying to manipulate them into believing I'm not someone worth pursuing.

He told me everything about Dabi. I know how badly he wants to kill me.

Present Mic began over hyping Keigo's statement by encouraging the crowd to cheer and clap.

"Well said, Hawks! Now, onto my next question-"

The actions of Diane quickly caught everyone's attention, as she ripped the microphone out of Keigo's hand.

"Oh, Hawks! Of course the number two hero means well with his words, everyone. I mean, just look at him! Isn't he wonderful?" Diane exclaimed to the crowd, successfully getting them to fawn over Keigo once more.

Not bothering to play along with her little game this time, Keigo purposely shot the crowd a bored, unfeeling look. He appeared even more diva than usual, due to the black shades he was wearing....keeping his hands in his pockets.

Diane's eye twitched slightly out of anger for his surprisingly rebellious action, before quickly recovering.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Hawks is used to going fast. Not only that, but he expects a lot of hard work and determination from his interns, so it's no wonder he's being a little too hard on Ari. He's the number two hero. He should be a tough boss! He's doing a fantastic job being versatile in both of those areas." She started off, clearly trying to build up Hawks' reputation while still asserting her dominance in the situation.

She's too well spoken.

Not backing down, Keigo's wings gave a big, strong flap in response, the power behind it causing a giant gust of wind to mess up my hair, as well as Diane's.

"Hey, that's real kind of ya to say. Now, how 'bout some more pictures, everyone! Maybe even some autographs! Then, we can wrap this whole thing up, and call it a day!-" Keigo started saying, before Diane spoke over him.

"But downplaying Ari Parker's skills? Well, sorry to say, but this beauty right here is a lot tougher than she looks!" Diane exclaimed happily, placing a friendly hand on my shoulder.

I immediately stiffened up at her words, watching her look directly into the cameras now.

"Will you stop? You're not helping the situation here-" I tried saying, before she kept talking.

"As president of the Hero Public Safety Commission, it is my duty to inform the public of who their protectors are. Inexperienced? Still has a lot to learn? Of course, Hawks is a natural born prodigy, so he doesn't understand. But, I am telling you now...UA....beautiful Japan...we do not create inexperienced, weak protectors at the Hero Commission..." Diane started off, causing me to choke on my breath slightly.

HUH?!

"What are you doing?" Keigo whispered to her, pretending to scratch his mouth as he spoke the words.

Diane simply ignored us, continuing to speak to the crowd of thousands.

"It is our noble duty to all of you to create the best saviors possible, so that you may never feel scared. So that you will always feel at ease. I can tell you, with full confidence in my heart...Ari Parker is strong. She is someone to watch out for. Someone who villains should fear." She stated clearly, forcing me to step in and try to save myself.

Dabi is probably fuming right now.

"H-Hah! Woah! Can I say something-" I chuckled nervously, attempting to grab the mic before she quickly stepped forward out of my reach.

She walked right up to the camera, blankly staring into it. Almost as if speaking directly to the viewers.

"One girl. One eighteen year old, beaten down, little girl was able to wipe the floor with an entire facility filled with villains, and make it back completely unscathed. Does that sound inexperienced to you? No. It sounds incredibly intelligent. It sounds like a girl who always has an extra trick up her sleeve. A girl who will never give up until she's dead. These are the kinds of heroes the world loves. The heroes who are willing to sacrifice it all for you. The heroes we need. The kinds of heroes, who are a product of the hero commission. Ladies and gentleman, what I am trying to say is....you can count on us, the hero commission-"

Keigo's loud, obnoxious whistle sounded from next to me now, as he suddenly floated himself high above everyone else, causing fan girls to start gearing up for more screams.

"Hey, hey, hey! With all due respect, your majesty, you've got me falling asleep over here. Am I right, everyone?!-" Hawks laughed out, as he over-dramatically feigned snoring while he continued floating in the air.

My jaw dropped at his actions, surprised that he was clearly acting out right now. He's not normally this rebellious against Diane.

Plus, after he spilled his feelings and his fears to me last night, I assumed he'd be feeling more fragile than usual today. Yet, it seems his little 'pour your heart out' session is having an opposite effect on him at the moment. I wonder why.

Either way, I'm glad for that. I'm glad that he's feeling stronger.

But, he's going to pay for it later if he keeps this up. Surely, if I know that, so does he.

"Hawks, knock it off." I groaned out to him quietly, trying to save his future punishment a little.

The crowd was only a millisecond away from going wild at Keigo's obvious attempt at a distraction.

But Diane has a gift.

The gift of manipulating people. The gift...of always managing to win over and control whoever she's talking to.

Even if it's a crowd of thousands.

I don't know how she does it...

"Look at the amazing feat we've achieved in getting Ari back safe and sound!" Diane spoke out powerfully, causing everyone to quickly, and nervously, quiet down and pay attention to her, instead of Keigo.

"Over doing it a little, wouldn't you say?" Keigo said to her in a condescending tone, as he reluctantly landed back on the ground.

Diane ignored him, on a mission to continue.

"Her hero training saved her life, and I have no doubt, those weak, foolish, insignificant villains are cowering in fear right now, as they remember the hero that is Hourglass. I'll leave it at this....stay at ease, beautiful people. Because we are here to protect you. If this situation proves anything, it proves that the hero commission will always have your back. Of course, every hero shows this statement is true. But, especially, the number two hero, Hawks, and the phenomenal Ari Parker are both visible testaments to this ideal. As for you, pesky villains, I'd like to see you try and take Ari Parker again. I can guarantee, the same way you miserably failed the first time, is the same way you will also fail the second time. She is a major force to be reckoned with, and this is something for everyone to recognize. That is all from me!" Diane exclaimed, giving the crowd a respectful nod as she handed the microphone back to an uneasy Present Mic.

The giant room immediately erupted into loud shouts and cheers....and this time....they were directed at me, and not Hawks.

And I wasn't happy about it.

Because thanks to Diane's wonderful compliments, I seemed like a powerful, challenging hero who should be feared by all.

And Dabi....will not be happy about that.