Convergent Evolution (Platonic Hawks and Tokoyami)

Public Image and Little Girls

Contrary to popular belief, patrol with Hawks didn't always involve zooming around at Mach six speeds and punching baddies. Sure, that was most of it, but there were a rare few occasions where Hawks and Tsukuyomi walked around on the ground like normal people. These ground patrols, as Hawks called them, ended up being meet and greets for Hawks more often than not, but it didn't take a genius to understand their importance. Public image, especially for Hawks, was important to the heroing world; no one wants an unfriendly hero. Given the importance of public perception and favor, Tokoyami understood the necessity of the ground patrols, but he just wished they were a little less hectic.

The day started out normally, or as normally as anyone could hope for in a hero internship. There was the usual sparring session, flight practice with Dark Shadow, and the daily debriefings, nothing too out of the ordinary. It was after this morning meeting that Hawks joyously sprung his monthly ground patrols on Tokoyami. Apparently, Tsukuyomi had become such a staple to Hawks' image that Hawks had decided to drag him along on the publicity run. Tokoyami thought the excuse was a load of bull and that Hawks just didn't want to leave him with the sidekicks, but he still agreed to tag along.

It took all of two minutes for the general populous to swarm Hawks; it was impressive that they even took that long. As suspected, most people ignored Tokoyami entirely. Not that he minded much, Fumikage was perfectly content to lurk in the shadows and give Hawks the limelight. The few people who seemed to recognize him simply offered a curt nod or cheerful thumbs-up, which Tokoyami stoically returned. The simple gestures made those select few people happy, and that was really all he wanted.

As nice as it was to see Hawks interact with the public, it was exhausting. Tokoyami wasn't even getting the brunt of it, but just watching Hawks cheerfully speak with people was draining. People were screaming, reaching out to touch him, asking all sorts of invasive questions, and just generally stirring up sensory overload. How Hawks did it, Tokoyami had no idea, but he deserved some kind of reward. Still, despite the cacophony of shrieks and squeals, it was endearing to see so many people so happy.

As the sun started to set, Hawks seemed to get tired of being the sole center of attention, a rare occurrence for sure. At a nice park near the agency building, Hawks grabbed Tokoyami by the shoulders and pulled him into the fray.

"And this here is my absolute favorite intern; the Jet Black Hero: Tsukuyomi!" Hawks kept his grip on the young intern as he introduced him; in an attempt at keeping him from slinking away, Tokoyami figured.

"I'm the only intern you've ever had, Hawks, the bar is low," Tokoyami tried to make his speech as modern as possible for the sake of clarity, even if he preferred his usual flair.

Hawks gave Fumikage a little shake, "Don't let him undersell himself, folks. Tsukuyomi here was my sole assistant in taking out that unruly gang a few weeks back! Not to mention, he can keep up with me! Imagine that! I might finally have competition for the title of fastest hero!"

"I am simply doing my duty as a hero, although I am glad to know my efforts are appreciated." Tokoyami decided to forego mentioning the bit where the gang slapped quirk erasing cuffs on him and sent him into an instinctual panic.

"Daww, of course, you're appreciated, you have no idea how much of a hassle everyone else's interns are!"

Tokoyami tuned out as Hawks expertly gossiped about his fellow heroes. Whilst still physically in the front and center, the attention was mostly off his shoulders, allowing him to respond with simple head nods and meaningless agreement. Hawks kept his hands on Tokoyami's shoulders the whole time, for which he was grateful. Foolish as it may sound, it was nice to have a physical affirmation that Hawks was there to back him up. It allowed Tokoyami to let down his guard ever so slightly and simply take in the excited people around him. They enthusiastically ate up all the petty ramblings of Hawks' inner circle, content to consume the anecdotes fed to them.