Leaving the Nest (Platonic Hawks and Tokoyami)

Hawks

To be perfectly honest, Hawks made that work-study offer under the comfortable assumption that both the kid and the school would reject it. He did not expect a very polite, albeit archaically worded, response from the kid and a seemingly unquestioning acceptance from the school faculty. Were they insane? Hawks didn't actually want to babysit this kid! It was fine when he wasn't doing work for the commission, and could just leave the little bird in the dust with his sidekicks, but something told him that wasn't an option anymore.

Really, this was all on UA. After their series of blunders with the League, saved mostly by Aizawa's skill and care (seriously give that man a raise), UA was supposed to hold their work-study instructors to a higher standard. What even made them think Hawks could keep the damn kid alive? When Hawks had looked through their vetting system, UA seemed like they would be focusing on each Hero's track record with previous interns. Hawks had no track record. None! The only intern he had ever had was Tokoyami, and he didn't even interact with the kid! Not to mention, Hawks had a rather notorious record of losing sidekicks fast. If pro heroes couldn't handle the stress and danger that came with working for Hawks, then there was no way he could keep a high schooler in one piece. He only applied in the first place because the commission made him.

Not that Hawks hated the kid, no, Tokoyami seemed alright, not that Hawks interacted with him much. It was more so that Hawks didn't want to be responsible for anyone else but himself. As fast as he was, Hawks was a working solo kind of guy; the kid would drag him down, he couldn't even fly. Or so he told himself.

Deep down, though, Hawks knew he was bluffing. As much as he tried to play it cool, Hawks knew he had a massive soft spot for all his employees. They were good workers, the lot of them, and if he had to interact with the kid any more than he already had, he would get attached. If he actually got to know the little ankle-biter, he'd learn to care about him, and then losing the kid would destroy him. And the kid would get hurt, there was no other way around it; you don't work with Hawks without injury. He'd lots so many sidekicks, being responsible for the injury of a child would just eat him up inside. Full-blown heroes were already semi-corrupt, but the kid was still bright-eyed and innocent; Hawks couldn't be responsible for the downfall of so much potential.

So much could go wrong, so much could hurt the kid. Hawks dealt with some seriously high-level threats on a fairly regular basis; the kid was nowhere near experienced enough for that. So many of the people he faced on a daily basis had military-grade weapons, they were dangerous, it's why they sent Hawks after them. They would not show the child any mercy, hell, they would kill him the first chance they got. Explosions, bullets, poisoned blades, the kid had no kind of armor; it would all slice right through him.

And, oh god, there was still the League of Villains to think about. Hawks knew that the league had their eyes on the kid, they had problems with most of those 1-A brats, and between that and Hawks' pseudo-connection with the LOV, problems were bound to arrive. The LOV could take the kid hostage, or flat-out kill him, or try to recruit him, or reveal Hawks' secrets, so many ways to harm the kiddo. Or worse, Hawks could end up doing the damage. The LOV could ask him to hand over or hurt the kid himself, and depending on the commission's whims, he might have to. God, the kid looked up to him so much, he didn't want to hurt that.

That's why he was so cold to the little guy in the first place. Hawks had seen the kid when he walked in for the internship, all bright-eyed and full of expectations. He almost felt bad for ignoring the fledgling, it was hard for mutants to make it big in the industry, and there was a camaraderie in shared bird traits, but it had to be done. Interpersonal relations would only hurt the both of them in the long run, so Hawks sped past, pushed harder, and worked longer hours so he would interact with the kid as little as possible. It was the kid's fault for taking the first internship, he reasoned, never meet your heroes and all that. Still, it pained him to push the kid away, to see the disenchantment as Hawks dialed up the arrogance.

As much as distancing himself from the fledgling could keep them safe from the LOV, it wouldn't prevent meddling from the commission. That almost spooked Hawks more than the thought of watching the kid die at the hands of a villain. Hawks knew damn well what the commission did to strong kids with no families; he had experienced it himself. As far as Hawks knew, Tokoyami was a foster kid and one who seemed to spend more time in the system than with a family at that. He was easy pickings for the commission to turn into a child soldier. Hawks wasn't stupid; he knew they were vying with UA in a silent custody battle for the kid, a petty race to see who could turn the poor boy into a child soldier first. At least with UA, he'd be allowed time to be a kid, and as strict as Aizawa was, Hawks knew the man made sure his kids were alright. If Hawks got too close to the kiddo, the commission would for sure use that to force a decision. Hawks would do anything to keep others from the same miserable childhood he had, even if that meant giving the boy the cold shoulder.

Still, he had no choice; Tokoyami was going to work-study with Hawks, whether he liked it or not. There was nothing he could do about it; UA and the kid had made their decision, and rescinding the invitation would do more harm than good. God, he was really stuck with this kid, wasn't he? There was simply no way out of it, no good way, at least.

So be it. Hawks would mentor the kid. Hawks could be stuck with worse fledglings, he supposes. Someone with authority problems like the explosion boy or that praying mantis kid from class B, or someone headstrong and stubborn like the youngest Todoroki, or worst yet, someone too damn selfless like the finger breaker kid or that stone-skinned redhead. No, Tokoyami was competent and serious and plenty heroic, but he had just enough respect for authority to listen to Hawks and stay on the back lines. All things considered, Tokoyami wouldn't be too difficult to keep out of trouble, and out of trouble, he would stay.

Hawks would not get involved personally; he would distance himself as much as possible. The teaching bit could be left up to his sidekicks, whatever their names were. That way, the kid ran the least chance of injury, and he'd still learn plenty. God, this was stressful, and the kid wasn't even here yet. How the hell did Aizawa do this for twenty brats, all day, every day?

Oh, God. Oh no. Hawks was in charge of one of Aizawa's kids. Aizawa, Eraserhead, AKA scariest man on the planet. God, that man was terrifying. And more importantly, seriously protective of that class of his. The guy almost died for them! If Hawks let Tokoyami return with so much as a scratch on him, he was dead. Aizawa would simply obliterate him; Hawks was useless without his quirk; he wouldn't stand a chance. Nothing bad could happen to the kid, for Hawks' sake. Oh, God... Hawks had signed his death warrant by agreeing to this, hadn't he? There was no way he could keep the kid entirely from harm!

Unfortunately, there was no time to panic over his inevitable death at Aizawa's hands, as his newest sidekick scurried in to inform him that Tsukuyomi was waiting downstairs. Well, this was it, time to greet the baby bird. Here's hoping that all would go well.