Of Cat and Bird

Eight - Curiosity

Hawks

Nothing beat the breeze through my hair as I flew through the sky. The view was great, and the freedom was invigorating. Of course as I flew, I could hear girls below on the street calling my name. It happened so often that sometimes I didn't notice it.

But there was one thing I did notice. Nakiko. She was clutching a book to her chest as she walked. I waved to the girls who screamed my name and continued on.

But from the corner of my eye I saw Nakiko's ears twitching. What was that about? I did a turnaround and hovered in the air as I watched with curiosity. Her quirk really was interesting. Just how much like a cat was she?

And then I saw it. A child was about to run out into traffic. I rushed forward, but with the same speed I had, Nakiko ran and caught the child, bringing him to safety on the sidewalk.

"Looks like you're pretty fast, Nakiko..." I said quietly from my spot in the sky.

I sent out a few feathers to pick up the book she tossed to the ground and carried it to me. I glanced through the book and my eyes widened at the new image that I saw. It wasn't there last time. A black and white drawing of her. I smiled as I looked at it. She saw herself differently than I did. I flipped one more page over and found a drawing of me starting to take form. I chuckled at it and held the book out then let a feather fly and sit in the middle.

Then I gently closed the book and used a few more feathers  to take it to the nearby park and set it on a bench. It would be fun to see her reaction to the feather I left behind.

"Just to help you find the right shade of red when you color it." I said quietly.

I turned around and landed on the edge of one of the tall buildings nearby and sat on the edge as I watched her talk to the mother of the child.

Before long she realized she dropped her book and looked back to where she thought she left it. I smiled with satisfaction knowing that I had done the right thing by picking it up for her. Then she looked with sadness as she continued on into the park.

Come on... notice the book.

She glanced at the bench and her eyes lit up as she walked quickly to the book sitting there. She lifted it up and smiled at it. She flipped through and sighed as she stared at one of her drawings.

She closed it again then walked over to the grass and sat. As she opened the book, she noticed the feather I left behind and picked it up, smiling at it. Cool, she liked the feather.

She held the feather up and twirled it in her finger. I watched as she did so, and I focused on that feather to listen to her through the vibrations.

"So it was you. Thank you. Hawks." She said.

"You're welcome." I whispered.

I watched as she tucked the feather into the corner of the book and ran her finger along it. I could sense that feather still, and felt that movement of her finger. I almost shivered at it.

Then she lifted the feather up and looked at it closely. She bent the feather into a donut and let it flex back to its original shape, shaking her head, then put it back into the book.

What was she thinking? What was running through her mind as she looked at my feather? I wanted to learn more about her. That quirk was something else. Those ears were intriguing. How did they work?