Top pic credit: unknown. Tell me if you know

Hawks POV:

Man, I'm an idiot.

Of course Ari wouldn't accept the choice I've made. The choice to corrupt myself for the greater good.

She said it herself...

"There's nothing noble about being a traitor. Doesn't matter which way you spin it."

"I could never trust someone who wasn't truthful from the beginning."

Ugh. What am I doing to myself? Seriously, it's like I'm just prolonging my inevitable heartbreak. I mean, Ari said it loud and clear. Straight to my face.

She would never forgive me.

And there I was last night....only mere seconds away from telling her the truth about who I am.

I'll admit, I'm relieved I didn't end up getting my words out in time. Looking back on that night, it was a reckless, impulsive decision to tell Ari I'm a double agent.

I was so tired, exhausted, and just done with everything, that I had a moment of weakness where I almost spilled it all.

And thank god I didn't.

Because, I almost lost her forever. My honesty almost cost me the girl I love.

Sure. I'm not an actual traitor. Eraserhead, and Ari don't know my circumstances. They don't know I'm playing the villains like a fiddle, and that my intentions still lie with the heroes. But, Ari said it herself, it doesn't matter the situation.

The thing that's unforgivable to her is dishonesty...and as much as I don't want to think about it, I've been dishonest with her, about my job, from the very beginning.

I have been leaking information to the league of villains, regarding the heroes. It's information the commission approved me to leak, but after watching the news, I've realized my leaks are still causing some inconveniences for other heroes.

I'm sorry, everyone.

I'm sorry, Ari.

I know this is wrong. I know I should tell her the truth. She deserves that much. She deserves better.

But, do you wanna know the truth? The reason why I can't do that?

It's because I'm weak.

That's right. I'm too weak to tell Ari the truth. I'm too scared, because I know that once she finds out, I will lose her forever.

I don't want to lose her. I don't want to lose the only good person in my life. The only person I really love. I'm not ready for that.

Yet.

I know I can't keep up this act forever. I know Ari will find out, and I'm only prolonging the inevitable.

I will tell Ari the truth about what I'm doing. I can promise that. I don't know when. I don't know how. I don't even know if I'll be the one to say it. Maybe I'll be dead, and she'll end up finding out in another way.

But, I will make sure she knows. She deserves the truth.

Selfishly, I just want more time with her, before that happens. I love her, and she makes me happy.

So, I'll continue my patterns. I'll continue pushing these hurtful thoughts to the back of my mind, and hope that this all turns out okay in the end.

After all, I've always been a wishful thinker.

"So, any reason you chose to reschedule our meeting, that was to take place at the warehouse on the coast?" Dabi mumbled, pulling me out of my thoughts, as he continued messing around with a camera monitor unsuccessfully.

I shrugged, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

"Eraserhead was onto us. I was just trying to ensure we didn't get caught." I replied tiredly, tossing a worn out tennis ball up in the air repeatedly.

Dabi nodded absentmindedly, clearly starting to get frustrated at the piece of technology he was working on.

"Damn, Eraserhead. He's starting to become a pain in my ass. That's fine. This works out better for me, anyways..." Dabi started off, before shooting me a smirk.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" I muttered uninterestedly, trying to relax as best I could in a house infested with villains.

"Because I've finally found a way you can prove to me that Ari Parker means nothing to you. And you'll do it tonight." He commanded, cursing to himself as a giant spark of electricity came up from the monitor.

I directed my gaze towards him now, becoming curious and slightly afraid of whatever Dabi has in store for me.

"Is that so? What is it you'll have me do then?" I asked casually, already bracing myself for the worst.

I saw the corners of Dabi's mouth turn up into an evil smirk, as he kept his eyes glued to the monitor.

"You'll see. It's a surprise." He said lowly, refusing to say anything more.

Before I had anymore time to think about it, the door flew open, revealing a naked Toga, with someone's skin melting off her body.

I immediately turned my head away from her, trying to shield my eyes from the sight of her naked figure. I had absolutely no interest in seeing something like that.

"Put some clothes on." Dabi called out to her, too focused on his precious television monitor to even look up.

"Ahhh!! Toga!! You're making this old man flustered!!" Twice exclaimed, collapsing down onto the couch space next to me...unknowingly sitting on my wing.

I cringed slightly at the new pain in my wing, quickly prying it out from under Twice's body.

"Hehe! Whoops, almost forgot about clothes! I was having too much fun talking to all of those guys and gals in fancy suits!" Toga giggled, as I heard her shuffling around...probably for something to wear.

"That's right! I heard those fancy shmancy chumps at the hero commission have a lot to talk about! Guys like that can run their mouths for hours at a time, probably." Twice laughed, fiddling with a few of my feathers.

Of course, having Twice messing around with my wings was uncomfortable.

But, that's not what I was focused on at the moment.

"Hm? What? The hero commission, you said?" I asked casually, trying to understand how Toga was able to talk to anyone from the commission.

Toga giggled in excitement, plopping down on my other side, luckily fully clothed. Now, I was sandwiched between two maniacs.

"Yep! I stopped by the hero commission place for a little chat. Drank the blood of one of those old guys, waltzed in, and did my job. Right Dabi?!" Toga exclaimed, harshly yanking a feather out from my wing.

"Ow. Stop that. And what job would this be?" I groaned, feeling my feathers ruffling up uncomfortably from all the touching.

In the next instant, the monitor Dabi was messing with turned on to reveal a bird's eye view of one of the meeting rooms at the hero commission headquarters.

I recognized it immediately. I've met in that same room with Diane hundreds of times.

So, why was I currently staring at it, from a television screen, along with a bunch of villains.

"Fucking finally. Damn, technology...thinking you can outsmart me." Dabi muttered begrudgingly, backing away slightly to admire the functioning monitor screen.

I blankly stared at the screen, as Toga and Twice cheered excitedly from both sides of me.

"So...what's this?" I chuckled weakly, wondering when I'd get an opportunity to tell Diane about this camera. I needed to warn her it was there. Sure, I wasn't a fan of the hero commission, but I still needed to look out for them. They're the people I'm loyal to, after all.

"This, you soggy chicken nugget, is just the next step in taking down a society of heroes. I had Toga disguise herself as one of the commission men, waltz in there, and place a camera in the most popular meeting room in the building. So simple. So easy. And now, we've got their whole system at our fingertips." Dabi smirked, sitting in the loveseat next to Toga.

I bit my lip in anxiety, silently praying that the meeting room we were currently looking at would stay empty.

I'm not able to contact Diane with Toga and Twice practically sitting on top of me. So, as of this moment, Diane has no idea there's a camera currently watching her, and the others at the hero commission. I can only hope my cover won't be accidentally blown by them, before I'm able to reach her.

Or Dabi will definitely kill me.

I cleared my throat uncomfortably about to say something, before voices and shuffling began coming from the monitor in front of us.

I immediately whipped my head around at it, watching a random janitor walk in and start cleaning the room.

Thank god. No one who can expose me.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I threw my head back against the couch, waiting for this to be over so I could go tell Diane-

"Woah, who is that beauty?!" Toga giggled, pointing at the screen excitedly.

I groaned in annoyance, lifting my head to look at the monitor again.

I was expecting to see some lady from the hero commission, walking into the meeting room.

What I was not expecting, was to see my girlfriend standing there instead.

My heart practically jumped up my throat, my eyes involuntarily widening in shock. Thank goodness I had my aviators on, to dim my eyes.

There she was....Ari. She was supposed to be at her school today, but she was wearing jeans and a flannel, instead of her school uniform.

What did I miss?! At this moment, I've been with the league, for almost a day now. Obviously, I haven't been in contact with Ari, during this time. She just thinks I'm away for Hawks Agency business.

So, what the hell was Ari doing at the commissions office today?! Why was she in this meeting room? This is the meeting room for important, serious business matters. That's why Toga placed the camera in that specific room.

Was Ari in trouble with Diane?

My thoughts were brought back to reality by the sound of Dabi's low chuckle. I forced my body not to tense, knowing Twice and Toga would feel it.

Instead, I continued staring blankly at the screen, suddenly feeling very anxious about whatever was going to happen next.

"That, Toga, is Ari Parker. Guess we got this monitor up with good timing. I actually wasn't expecting this." Dabi stated clearly, giving out a malicious grin, as he leaned forward in his seat.

Toga immediately perked up at the name, jumping up and down in excitement.

"No way! The same Ari Parker, who's supposed to become our next High End Nomu?!" Toga exclaimed, causing me to audibly let out a gasp of shock.

Please tell me I didn't hear that correctly...

I lost my cool for a second, immediately whipping my head around at Toga.

"W-What?!" I blurted out, feeling Dabi's eyes on me.

I quickly turned my gaze to him, not even caring about the fact that I probably looked a little too interested in what Toga just said.

He studied me carefully, smirking at my reaction.

"Don't listen to Toga. Not yet, anyways. I'm more curious to see how this plays out." Dabi smiled maliciously, gesturing to Ari on the monitor.

I felt my jaw tense up fully, as I wrenched my head back to the screen, feeling more uncomfortable than I ever have before.

Literally, all I could do was watch.

Ari was chilling in the meeting room, talking on the phone with, someone I assumed to be her friend, by the way she was bantering around with them.

Get out of there, Ari. Please.

They're watching you.

She flipped her beautiful hair off her shoulder, looking down at her nails, as she cluelessly chatted about a workout she did earlier that morning.

Toga, Twice, and Dabi watched her intently, only making my discomfort grow.

"Oh-Nejire, hold on. Hi, excuse me, sir! Do you know when Diane Himura will be in? I'm supposed to meet with her today." Ari's sweet, perfect voice said, as she spoke to the janitor.

"Ooo, she's so cute! I really like Ari Parker!" Toga giggled, making my stomach twist.

I subtly looked around the room at Toga, Twice, and Dabi. They all seemed very focused on the monitor screen. Maybe, I can slip my phone out for just a second, and send Ari a quick text message excuse to get out of the building-

"That will be all, Shiro. Out." Diane stated to the janitor firmly, interrupting my thoughts. She barreled into the room like an angry bull.

Ari jumped slightly as Diane announced her presence, quickly ending her call with Nejire.

Not even bothering to set her stuff down, Diane quickly snapped her fingers at Ari.

"Sit, child. Now." She spat, causing Ari to sigh and plop down in one of the seats at lightning speed.

That's quite a tone Diane is giving to Ari. Diane has always been a bitch to me, but she's never had that much of an attitude. Her way of intimidating me is digging around in my insecurities. Guess she uses different tactics with everyone.

Ari's a sweet, gentle girl, and Diane knows it. She's tough, but she's clearly experiencing mental blocks when it comes to Diane. Not that I blame her, the same thing happens to me, too.

"Why are you late?" Diane snapped at Ari, walking right up to her.

Ari began fiddling with her thumbs, keeping her eyes glued to her lap.

"I wasn't late. I was here before you-"

"Speak up." Diane stated, coming hot out of the gates with her emotional abuse.

I bit my lip in frustration at Diane's tone, absolutely hating the way she treated Ari. You better believe if I was there right now, I wouldn't have any of that. No one talks to my chicky like that. Not when I'm around.

"I-I said I wasn't late-ugh, you know what? Forget it. You wanted to see me, right? About what?" Ari muttered quietly, trying to change the subject.

Ah, man. She was so not ready for this. Diane was gonna eat her alive.

"I did want to see you. Can you tell me why?" Diane asked in mock curiosity, tilting her head to the side in question.

Ari forced her gaze back up to look at Diane, shrugging her shoulders weakly.

"No."

"Really, Ari?"

"Really."

Diane scoffed in annoyance, leaning down to get in Ari's face. Ari balled her fists together, clearly trying to force herself to keep eye contact with Diane. At least she was trying.

Of course, after a few moments, she closed her eyes tiredly, defeatedly looking down at the table.

Come on, Ari. Don't let her push you around. You're better than this.

"Fine. Since you want to play stupid, I suppose I'll just come out with it..." Diane started out, pacing the room ever so slowly.

Everyone involved in this situation remained quiet....Dabi, Toga, Twice, Me, and Ari....all curiously awaiting whatever it is Diane was about to say.

After a tense moment, Diane broke the silence....immediately making me wish she hadn't done so, once I heard her next words.

"I've called you here, because I want to talk about you and Hawks. I want the truth. Right here. Right now." Diane stated, causing Dabi to slowly turn his head in my direction.

Oh. Shit.

Diane. Stop. For my survival. For Ari's survival.

Please Stop.

"Ah. Now, I'm very interested." Dabi smirked, leaning forward in his seat to listen to whatever Diane was about to say.

Diane has no idea of this feud going on between Ari and I, and Dabi. Hell, Ari doesn't even know. They both have no idea they're being recorded right now. If it comes out in this meeting that Ari and I are officially in a romantic relationship...

We both might as well have signed a death sentence.