Reset and Rewind

Chapter 42 - Picnic Panic

Infiltrating the League of Villains proved to be a little trickier than Hawks had anticipated. Then there was that other problem, Jikan, he still needed to look into. And that all while still working full-time as a pro hero! It was so exhausting! But it comes with the job... Why did he choose this profession again..?

"Oi, are you even listening to me?"

Hawks blinked, his eyes landing on the angry young man in front of him. Dabi had been going off on a rant about whatever while Hawks followed him. He had no idea where the other was leading him, but after all this time, he doubted it was a trap.

"...Something about Endeavor?" Hawks guessed, knowing that whenever the number one hero did something remotely impressive, Dabi would be pissed off for days. Eraserhead had told him it wouldn't get any better as time went on, but refused to tell him the reason why Dabi was so set on taking down Endeavor. Something about preserving the timeline, as if it wasn't twirled around like a milkshake.

"I can't fucking stand you," Dabi deadpanned.

"That's a lie!" Hawks laughed. "If you couldn't stand me, I'd be dead already!"

Dabi huffed and turned away again, hard to argue with that logic. Hawks simply smiled and started following him again, jogging a few steps to catch up.

"So what were you talking about? I thought you were just brooding like usual," Hawks commented, seemingly unafraid whether that sentence would finally push Dabi over the edge and get him killed.

"I hate you," Dabi grunted, glaring at the bird hero. "I hate you and I hate this whole situation, but it's this or being stabbed to death by a psychopath so..."

"What are you talking about?" Hawks asked, now genuinely interested. If there was a problem in the internal workings of their villain group, it could be used to their advantage.

"Shigaraki is missing," Dabi sighed. "Kidnapped, captured, whatever. Someone has him, we need to get him back."

"I thought he went out to some secret location to train?" Hawks asked in shock. So that had all been a ruse..? Some sort of excuse for the lower tier members so they wouldn't panic, something to avoid the inevitable chaos that would come with that truth. "Why are you telling me this? I thought the lieutenants still don't fully trust me?"

"Like I said, you're gonna help me get him back," Dabi stated, as if that answered his question. In a way, it did. "You have connections, don't you? Use them to find out whether some hero arrested him. Then I'll go underground poking about to see if some villain thinks he's better than us."

"I think I'd know if some hero arrested him," Hawks pointed out. "Shigaraki is on this country's most wanted list, you know? A capture wouldn't go unnoticed."

"Check anyway," Dabi ordered, clearly pissed off about this whole ordeal. Hawks couldn't blame him. Losing your leader in such a critical moment... It could be very beneficial to them, to the heroes trying to take them down. Still, knowing who thought it'd be a good idea to take Shigaraki with them was crucial information. If there was someone worse out there, they needed to know about it.

"I will, I just," Hawks trailed off, remembering something Dabi said earlier. "What was that about being stabbed by a psychopath?"

"It's nothing," Dabi grunted. "Just do your fucking job or I'll fry you like the chicken you are."

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A day later, Hawks flew over to UA. He normally had to be careful with what he said and did, since he was still under watch. It meant the villains would be able to track his location and listen in on his every conversation. Well, normally, that is. Ever since his conversation with Dabi yesterday, he was off the tap. They still tracked his movements, but they weren't listening in on his conversations anymore, Dabi made sure of that. This whole Shigaraki business had to stay off the books, after all. Not even all the lieutenants knew about it, apparently.