Top pic credit: artist unknown (tell me if u know)

"Thanks again for taking me on, Ryukyu! I know it was short notice." I stated cheerfully, walking down the busy city street with the top ten pro hero, and Nejire. Two first years were here, as well. Uraraka and Asui.

This just further affirms that Ryukyu was really doing me a favor by letting me join her agency for the week. It was very obvious that she didn't have any room for me here. I needed to find a new agency, and fast.

"It's no problem, Ari. I'm just sorry it can't be permanent. No worries, though. I am sure people will be knocking down your door, with offers to come to their agencies, soon." Ryukyu tried reassuring, as she carefully surveyed the tall skyscraper buildings in the city.

I chuckled nervously, as I averted my gaze to the side.

While I appreciate her words, finding an agency to work at in your third year is practically impossible, for anyone.

"Heh, yeah. Right." I mumbled half heartedly, waving to a group of civilians nearby.

I quickly caught the group's attention, causing all of their eyes to widen.

"Hey! Isn't that the hero in training, Hourglass? I thought she was working with Best Jeanist. Not Ryukyu. Nice to see you on this side of town, baby!" One of the men called out, making me cringe internally.

I absolutely hated my hero name.

No, I didn't pick it, in case you're wondering. The hero public safety commissions lady picked it. She said I needed a name that was vague and mysterious...but most of all...

It just had to be sexy.

With a name like "Hourglass," men are bound to think about my body, before anything else. Which is "great for popularity," as she would say.

I shook the annoying thoughts from my head, about to give the group another cheesy wave, before...

BOOM!!

Team Ryukyu quickly shot their eyes up towards the sound of the explosion, seeing a building begin to cloud with heavy smoke.

The ever growing sound of screams began to fill the air now, as people started sprinting out of the building, running for their lives.

Ryukyu reacted quickly, running towards the chaos. The girls and I followed right behind her.

"Sounds like there's a terrorist attack inside the building. First years, you'll be with me. Nejire, I want you to stay outside, escorting civilians to safety. Ari, I'm leaving the west wing of the building completely to you. Best Jeanist gave me all the information on your quirk and fight skills. I know you can handle it. Is everyone clear?" Ryukyu called out, already making her way inside the smoking building.

"Yes, Ma'am!" We all shouted in unison, spreading out to complete our own tasks.

"Ari!" Nejire yelled to me, as she began escorting the panicked civilians.

I quickly turned around, awaiting her answer.

"Be careful!" She nodded, before turning her attention back to the crowd.

"You too!" I called back, before sprinting inside the building.

Piece of cake.

.......

I ran up the stairs, located on the west wing of the building, trying to find any signs of a villain.

My plan of attack was already playing out clear in my head. Find the villains, assess how many there are, use my quirk to-

My thoughts were cut short at the sound of a quick shuffling sound, in the stairwell. It came from a few flights above me.

I abruptly stopped my running, cautiously tip toeing up the flickering stairway now. The higher I climbed the stairs, the more I felt the anticipation grow inside my chest, making my breathing quicken slightly.

Where were these stupid villains?

Not being able to take anymore games, I decided to let them know I was in here, and ready to fight...

"Why don't you come out and play? Come on! I don't bite." I taunted loudly, keeping my eyes open to any quick movements-

I immediately dove to the ground, upon hearing the clicking of a gun, watching a bullet go into the wall behind me.

Three nasty looking men flipped from the stair flights above, quickly landing directly in front of my path.

"You wanna play, you say? We'll play with you, little girl." One of them smirked, slowly coming towards me.

Hah. Perfect. Only three? This will be nothing-

Before I could even make a move, I suddenly felt myself lifted off the ground. My eyes widened in pure shock when I noticed I was moving backwards against my will, realizing my back had lightly hit the wall in the blink of an eye.

"HUH!? WHAT THE HELL!?!" I exclaimed in shock, seeing two ruby red feathers resting on both of my shoulders.

In complete disbelief, I tried simply brushing them off me, before realizing they wouldn't budge.

No. I couldn't even move away from the wall now. It's almost like these feathers were holding me in place, restraining my movements. How is that possible!?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of slow clapping...coming from, what appeared to be, the ceiling.

My head, as well as the very confused villains' heads, shot up to the smoky ceiling, seeing a winged figure slowly descending down towards us.

"Bravo, bravo! Hey, that was quite a show you were getting ready to put on there." The figure said to me casually, continuing his slow claps.

I furrowed my brows in confused irritation, getting ready to use my quirk on him.

"I'm sorry?" I retorted, wondering why the hell this guy was about to start chatting me up at this particular time.

I immediately powered down my quirk, once this figure hovered into the dim, flickering lights of the stairwell.

Oh yes.

Even in this shitty lighting, those beautiful, vermillion wings vibrantly lit up the area.

I watched as the villains' eyes immediately widened in fear, upon recognizing him.

It was Hawks. The number two pro hero.

"Oh...you know..." Hawks started, immediately shooting his feathers out towards the three enemies.

Within the blink of my eye, the enemies were easily pinned to the wall, the same way I was, unable to move.

I raised my brow in pure annoyance now, as I waited for him to continue.

"I just meant that anyone who announces to the enemy that they are here, the way you did, means you must be prettyyy inexperienced. Because of that, it would be very entertaining to watch you try and take down all three of these guys by yourself. So, in that way....it would be quite a show!" He smirked, standing on the railing of the staircase, with his hands behind his back.

I glared at him now, feeling my teeth starting to grind in my mouth.

Wow. This is the very first time I'm meeting Hawks, and I already hate him. Even though I saw his horrific performance at the Japanese Hero Billboard Chart Awards, I didn't want to jump to conclusions, until I met him for myself.

But now, I've met him. And I hate him.

"Fascinating story. And I assume you weren't aiming for me, when you shot these stupid things?" I spat, gesturing to the two feathers that were still preventing me from moving.

I watched as Hawks' mouth curled into a slightly bigger smile now, tilting his head to the side lazily as he looked at me.

"Nope. I was aiming for you. I never miss, ya know. Haven't you heard?" He stated cockily, easily hopping off the stair rails to walk towards me.

"Ya see, I didn't feel like watching an inexperienced, little student hero die in front of me today. So, I figured I'd save your life by stopping you from fighting, and then let you see how a real pro does it. If anything, you should be thanking me." Hawks chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets as he continued making his way in my direction.

You can bet that this guy's words irritated me, beyond belief. But what really got me fuming....was that the shit eating grin, currently plastered on his face, seemed to continue growing the more angry I became.

He was enjoying this.

"Wow. Charming. Yeah. As much as I'd love to sit here in a crumbling, burning stairwell and talk with you, of all people...I'd like to leave now, if you don't mind." I hissed at him quietly, trying to hold onto my last bit of chill.

He chuckled lightly, satisfied that I was obviously, thoroughly irked. Not a moment later, I watched the feathers that had been resting on my shoulders, quickly float back into place on Hawks' wings.

"Sure, sure. My bad. Look, I'm just messin' around with ya." He smiled, removing his aviator glasses to get a better look at my face in this dim lighting.

I finally met his uncovered eyes for the first time, watching them widen slightly at the sight of me.

Any traces of prideful arrogance immediately washed away from his face, as he studied my features.

It almost looked like he recognized me, even though I had never met him before.

"Ari....? Ari Parker?" Hawks stated quietly, looking at me distractedly.

I furrowed my brows in confusion, very curious as to how he knew who I was.

"How do you know my name?" I started off, hearing the ceiling starting to crumple above us.

I quickly directed my attention up to the building, noticing it was about to start falling to pieces.

I felt Hawks' eyes never leave my face, but I wasn't too concerned about that right now.

"Wait. You...don't remember me?" He asked, sounding slightly...disappointed?

Still looking up at the ceiling, I slowly began walking around the small area, trying to survey how much strength this building had left.

"No, I don't remember you. Am I supposed to? I highly doubt I'd forget someone as irritating as you." I retorted absentmindedly, not really focused on him anymore.

It was quiet between us for a moment, making me assume that Hawks had lost interest in our conversation, and was already thinking about other matters.

I was surprised when he spoke up some time later.

"Heh......yeah. Right, duh. Um, I just know your name, because.....you're doing your work study with Best Jeanist. He's a friend of mine. That's all it is-" he started saying, before I watched a giant piece of the ceiling break off and start barreling towards Hawks' head.

He was clearly very distracted by our conversation, something that really surprised me, coming from the number two hero. This guy was supposed to be known for his intelligence and speed.

He was so distracted...that he didn't even have the wits to react in time. Lucky for him, I did.

Hawks watched as I outstretched my hand towards the falling piece of concrete ceiling, activating my quirk and immobilizing the piece in its place. It was stuck in midair now, only a few feet above his head.

He looked at me in surprise, before looking at the immobilized piece of concrete that was stuck in the air, then back at me again.

I scoffed in annoyance, shooting him a glare.

"Looks like an "inexperienced, little student hero" just saved your life, bird brain." I retorted, satisfied that he no longer looked as cocky and arrogant as he did a few moments ago.

Hawks was about to speak, before I felt my muscles twitch slightly.

"Hey, hey, hey! Get a move on. I can only immobilize things for forty five seconds. I'd suggest moving away from this piece of concrete, unless you'd like that pretty little head of yours to be splattered all over the pavement." I said quickly, watching him retreat from his spot at lightning speed.

Hawks and I watched as the piece of building finally slipped from my quirk, smashing into the spot where he was just standing a moment ago.

"Well, thanks for the heads up there, little chick. One more second, and I would have been turned into roadkill!" He stated cheerfully, before controlling his feathers that were detaining the villains.

"Whatever." I mumbled, holding back a scoff.

I was trying to be respectful. Sort of.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. The whole thing's gonna crash." He said to me, as we began running out of the building, with the villains floating behind us.

I rolled my eyes, ignoring him as I began running ahead.

"Don't have to tell me twice." I muttered, just wanting to get away from him.

Actually, forget the respect thing.