My Rugged Heart [Hawks x OC]

Chapter 1

Mmm, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Akane hung back at the sock store's doorway, gasping as a hero sidekick wearing a falcon-like mask was hurled at a nearby building. Luckily, a few of Hawks' feathers swept in at the last minute and jerked him to a halt. She let out a relieved breath.

It had been a month since Akane had first dipped her toes into the idea of vigilantism. If you could even call it that. For the most part, she kept an eye out for villains and criminals on the live social media news accounts and showed up to heal the worst-off victims before the paramedics got there.

She didn't go in for the whole domino mask situation since her wings would give her away, but she did usually pull a mask up over her mouth and nose and keep her hair under a hood. There were plenty of other winged people in the city, after all.

Overhead, the most famous winged person in Fukuoka soared back toward the fight, a red feather blade in hand. Hawks clashed midair with a villain, dodging as stingers came whizzing at him. They struck the ground, burrowing into the pavement.

This was the first time she had ended up in a situation where the villains were in full swing while the heroes were putting a stop to it. Or, well, one hero, honestly.

There were three villains working as a team. The spiky-haired woman had some kind of, er, slow-mo Quirk? It caused whoever she was looking at to slow down like they were moving through Jell-O. It was the only reason Hawks' sidekicks had caught up with him for once, though now that they were around, the woman was having a hard time getting a lock on Hawks. The second villain, a woman wearing a pink jumpsuit, had some kind of strength-based Quirk. She was the one flinging sidekicks around like she was a scary human trebuchet. The guy with the hornet wings and the stingers that shot from his elbows was the last of the trio and maybe the scariest just because of how fast he could shoot the stingers.

The villain team had been terrorizing the shopping district. Civilians were scattered about, but Hawks' sidekicks were moving them out of danger. Technically, Akane was also a civilian. She had been shopping at her favorite novelty sock shop when the villains had started causing chaos outside, yanking bags and wallets and purses from shoppers. They hadn't even been subtle about it. Most likely it was because of the rumor that Hawks was out of town.

Jokes on them, he wasn't.

Nearby, she saw a couple teenagers huddled behind a large potted plant. The girl had a gash on her leg, and the boy was hugging her close, peeking over the pot and covering her the best he could. The stingers that the hornet villain shot had landed way too close to them; they must have been scared to move.

Akane pulled her mask up over her nose, yanked up her hood, and dropped her bag of very cute socks and slipped away from the doorway, keeping close to the building. She jumped as a bench went flying at her, white wings springing open as she dodged upward. She zipped over and landed by the couple, pulling her wings back in tight.

"Hi," she said, nervous, "We should probably all leave, can I heal you?"

The couple stared at her. The boy nodded. "Please, help her."

The girl hesitantly moved her leg toward Akane as a part of a building cracked and fell in the street.

Akane put her hand on the girl's leg. For a moment, her own leg stung as the gash on the girl's leg disappeared, but it was quickly replaced by a numb, cool feeling before that sensation faded as well. The only thing left on the girl's leg was a new pink scar, like the wound had been healing for a few weeks. Akane wiped the leftover blood off on her jeans. She was starting to ruin a lot of clothes that way.

"Thank you," the girl said.

"You're welcome," Akane said, ducking her head. Glass shattered. "You two might want to go."