Birds of a Feather

Ah, that.

カラス
          "I haven't contacted Hawks since I saw him last." Karasu shook her head as she flicked her staff open and closed. "All I need to know is when we can head out."
"We have Deku's approximate location from this locator." Kaminari explained as they all huddled around it. "Bakugo and Karasu, scout ahead of us. You two can move the fastest, once you find him- signal us."
"Then we'll knock some sense back into him." Bakugo said, clenching his fists.
Karasu nodded and kissed her boyfriend's cheek quickly . "Let's go get Midoriya." she said decidedly.
"Are you sure you're up for it?" Todoroki asked gently, putting a hand against the side of her head carefully.
"I need something to focus on, Shoto. I'm going to smash your dad's windshield if I don't." Karasu looked up at him. "Just for good measure."
"Let's keep that in mind for later." he joked before she flew off.
            She hadn't been particularly close with Midoriya at first- but since they had had their first work study together at Sir Nighteye's Agency, they had actually gotten to know each other quite well- but Midoriya's guilt at the loss of her arm saving his life had kept them from continuing to be friends. They spent a little more time together because she was dating Todoroki, seeing as he and Midoriya were fairly good friends themselves. She hadn't forgotten their closeness- even if he'd kept her at something of a distance.
"Found him!" Bakugo called, sending an explosion into the sky to signal the class. "He's over here!"
Karasu flicked her staff open as she flew above the scene. A villain called 'Dictator'- he had a mind control ability she couldn't exactly recall. "Well this is perfect for me," she said to Bakugo, "I'm immune to mind control."
"You get the villain- I'll get Deku." Bakugo instructed her.
She nodded and landed on the ground behind Dictator. "Alright. Lights out." she said, hitting him across the back of the head with her staff. She let out a long breath- she had needed that. She still wanted the chance to do that to Hawks again, though. The villain dropped immediately to the pavement, the people under his control all stumbled away from Midoriya in shock. "Okay, I think he's-" Karasu leapt upwards in surprise as Dictator grabbed her arm. "Oh hell no!" she kicked him squarely in the chest and flew upwards again as a wall of ice engulfed the villain. "Thanks!" She looked up as Todoroki and the rest of their class came running into the square. She landed in front of them beside Iida and Todoroki. Iida stepped forward first, trying to talk to Midoriya.
"Midoriya. I saw it the other day when I confronted Hawks. You need rest. You're going about none of this with a clear head." Karasu said as she stepped forward.
"Thank you for coming everyone, really. But you don't need to worry. I'm fine." Midoriya said as he stood up, holding his disturbing mask in one hand.
"Wow! What a great speech from the big One For All successor!" Bakugo clapped mockingly from where he was standing. "Real talk- can you smile right now? Show us now!"
Midoriya put his mask on. "In order for anyone to live in peace, for anyone to smile... I have to go."
          "He's going to run." Yayurozu realised as Midoriya took a stance.
"That's why we have a plan. Places, everyone." Karasu closed her staff and let it flip back to her bracelet as she took off into the air to keep pace with Midoriya. He threw a blast of air force at her, which she dodged. "Sloppy, Midoriya. What would Sir Nighteye say about that?!" she called to him, swooping over and around him. She flew ahead slightly and used a building to kick off and crash into him. "Eri needs us, Midoriya. You know she does."
"She has you and Mirio and Mr Aizawa. She doesn't need me anymore!" Midoriya told her angrily, sending two opposing blasts of air force at her.
"You know she does!" Karasu swooped up and back around to keep him pinned to give everyone time to position themselves.
"Get off of me!" Midoriya shouted and threw her back. He leapt out of the building, through the waiting onslaught of the rest of their class.
          Karasu stood up and took off into the sky again.
"Incoming." She landed next to Todoroki, looking around carefully. She already felt completely drained. Maybe her boyfriend had been right, that this wasn't the best thing for her to be involved in right now- if Midoriya didn't come with them, she'd be completely crushed. She just wanted to go home at this point- but in many ways, that was shaping up to never be an option again.
"Heaven Piercing Ice Wall!" Todoroki shouted, the ice rising from underneath him.
Karasu watched as Midoriya got stuck in the ice. Her mind was going a million miles a second- she could hear Tsu talking to Midoriya but couldn't make out what she was saying to him. "Okay. Round two-" she leapt into the sky as Midoriya broke out of the ice. She flew above her classmate and then directly into him, putting them both on the pavement. "Midoriya. I know what it's like to have everything around you be out of control. To feel completely alone. You know I know- you heard my conversation with Hawks. Neither of us have to be alone in any of this- you know that."
Bakugo walked ahead of her towards Midoriya and started talking. Further behind Midoriya, Karasu could see Hawks step into her line of vision. She took a step back, her eyes wide as she stared at him. She turned away and walked back through the crowd of her classmates, trying to keep her breathing even. She leaned against a building and dropped to the ground- failing at keeping her breathing even. She put her hand over her heart and closed her eyes, gasping at her breath desperately.
"Kara?" Todoroki followed her quickly. "Kara, what's going on?" He knelt beside her, worry etched into his face.
"I can't- I can't do this-" she said, grasping his arm tightly. "I shouldn't have come. I can't stop thinking about Hawks." She sobbed, dropping her head forward as tears rolled off her face.
"It looks like Midroiya is coming with us." Todoroki said, helping her stand up. "Let's get home, as a class. Together."
"Together." Karasu moved closer to him as they followed after their class. "I'm glad Midoriya's coming back. The class didn't feel whole without him."
Todoroki nodded in agreement. "Now we can focus on taking down the League of Villains together."
          As they approached the UA Barrier and Entrance Door, they could hear chanting from inside.
"My dad is here." Todoroki realised. "With Hawks."
Karasu turned to look, surprised to see both of the pros standing beside Endeavor's car. "I can do this," she said after a moment. "I need to. Either way- I have to know what he's thinking. Which way he's leaning."
Todoroki nodded and kissed her quickly. "Okay. I need to talk to my Dad anyway, so we'll just be right over there."
She looked at Hawks and took a deep breath. He didn't seem to have noticed her yet, which was a good thing. It gave her a chance to gather her thoughts, she didn't want another shouting match like last time.
Endeavor looked up as the students walked towards them, elbowing Hawks.
"Ow! What the hell, man- oh." Hawks stood up off the car quickly, his eyes wide.
Endeavor and Todoroki walked closer to the wall for their own discussion, leaving the siblings alone.
Both of them were just staring at each other silently. Neither knew what to say. Hawks' words played on a loop in her mind- over and over again, constantly making her feel like she was moments from a meltdown.
"I called a judge." Hawks said finally.
Karasu took a breath, "oh?"
"In your broadcast, you were right. This matter was settled legally." Hawks rubbed the back of his neck. "While it's true the HPSC backed me, I went through all the proper motions. I was very careful about that. The only reason the government decided to look into our arrangement was because they were mad that the HPSC is gone and they've lost me as their public face with it."
"Well that's good." Karasu looked away. This was what she'd wanted to happen, but it wasn't making her feel better.
"Kara." Hawks walked up to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Mom didn't make the right call. She has no idea what she's missing out on. I have no excuse for saying that to you."
Karasu looked up at him again, tears in her eyes. "I know why you were pushing me away, Keigo. I do, but I need you."
"I know." Hawks squeezed her shoulders. "The truth is, I need you too. You also can't sneak out of UA again like you did the other day. You have no idea how dangerous it is out here- and it gets worse constantly." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Kara. For what I saif, for what I did.*
"I'm sorry, too, Keigo." Karasu hugged her brother tightly, tears running down her face. "You've never told me you need me before," she said through her tears.
Hawks smiled, hugging her back just as tightly. "Yeah, well don't forget it. You're who's keeping me going."
"Just stop pushing me away, okay?" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting herself relax for the first time since her undercover mission began. "I know Shoto and his father have their deal to stop Dabi together- but we have our own reasons to help them." She stepped back, making eye contact with her brother. "Together. Especially because he tried to make sure we wouldn't be anymore."
He nodded. "I can't say I love the idea of putting you in danger again- but okay. We can... work on it together." Hawks turned to look at Endeavor, who was still standing with his son. Both of the pros nodded in agreement.
"Shoto and I should get inside the barrier." Karasu said as they walked towards the Todorokis. "We still have to help make sure Midoriya doesn't take off again."
"We'll find time to come up with some sort of plan." Endeavor told his son.
Todoroki nodded. "Good. We'll see you guys soon, then."
カラス
          "So," Karasu grinned, using the towel Todoroki had put around his shoulders to pull him into a kiss. "I'm glad you didn't go with the rest of the guys to help Midoriya."
"So am I." Todoroki kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her. She'd used the commotion of Midoriya's return to lock her and Todoroki in the girl's shower room, once the school was opened again and they were being monitored tightly as before this wouldn't be possible. He kissed her hair, pushing the shoulder of her pyjama top down.
"Your hair looks cute, all wet and wavy." She kissed his cheek and stepped back, pulling her top back up quickly. "If we stay in here that long there's no way we can play off that we weren't both in here."
"So what if they know? Don't all the girls know anyway?" Todoroki pulled her back as she turned away, lacing his fingers through hers.
"You know I didn't mean to let that slip." Karasu smiled as his arm wound around her waist. "And do you really think Iida wouldn't tell the school we're sneaking around like this? We would still find a way, but it would be much harder to do so."
He kissed her again, pulling her in close. "Okay, okay. Fair point." He stepped back and smiled at her. "I know you hate your hair, but I really do like it," he twirled a piece around his finger. "Your braid used to smack me in the face in bed."
"That was only like twice, Shoto." She gave him a look as she turned towards the mirrors, tugging at the end of her hair. "I'm getting used to it- and I am glad you like it. It's just a lot of change... all at once. Change that I didn't choose." She looked at her right shoulder in the mirror. She had just gotten used to the half arm- and now she had virtually no arm, just a little stump off her shoulder.
Todoroki slid his arms around her waist and leaned his chin on her right shoulder, looking at her in the mirror. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not much to talk about, really." She shook her head and sighed, leaning back against him. "How about you? Do you want to talk about anything?"
"I've talked about it enough." He said, looking down at her. "You heard it all in the hospital. Now I just want to... handle him."
"A goal we share." Karasu turned around and slid her hand around the back of his neck. "We should head out there before someone comes looking for us."
Todoroki nodded, keeping one arm around her waist as they walked into the hall.
          Karasu lifted her boyfriend's chin slightly and smiled at him. As they stopped next to the couch, she turned and wrapped her arm around him to lean against him.
"So this is how it is now?" Mineta said, squinting his eyes at them. "You two walk into a room basically posing?"
"Maybe. If it bothers you." Karasu smiled slightly, giving Mineta a look.
"Don't pester Midoriya with too many questions, guys." Todoroki said. "He needs to rest."
"Honestly, I'm not tired." Midoriya admitted, looking over his shoulder at them. "I've been trying to text All Might but he isn't responding- I need to talk to him."
"Aw, he's taking lessons from Hawks." Karasu said sarcastically, Tokoyami nodding from where he was sitting on one of the couches across from Midoriya. "Oh my God-" she jumped when she saw All Might standing in the window.
"That scared you?" Todoroki looked down at her with an amused expression.
"Well, something has to." She nudged him, turning to lean her head on his shoulder and smiling slightly. Peaceful moments like this one had become too rare- but that made them all the more precious.
"Karasu." Tokoyami walked over to them. "I was hoping to speak with you about Hawks." He shot a glance at Todoroki as a few other members of the class walked with Midoriya to talk to All Might.
"I suppose of all of us, you deserve this explanation." Karasu sighed, kissing her boyfriend's cheek quickly. "I'm gonna talk to him outside alone."
"Okay." Todoroki put his hands in his pockets as she walked away, sitting on the couch.
          "You've probably got a lot of questions." Karasu leaned against one of the pillars on the porch. "What do you want to know?"
"You explained much of the history of your family in your broadcast." Tokoyami said, leaning against the wall of the building and folding his arms. "I want to know more about your undercover mission."
"Ah, that." She pushed her hair back and sighed. "In general, or specifics?"
"Both. I'm trying to understand what happened." Tokoyami responded, his voice completely even.
"Hawks was in the missions before I was brought on board, honestly. The fight in Kyushu was somehow a part of it, although I'm still fuzzy on that detail." She ran a hand over her face and took a breath. "Apparently he didn't do what they wanted in it, which is how Best Jeanist had to get involved- it's also when they asked him to get me on board. Dabi was the one pushing for it, which with the newly revealed information makes sense. It also would've given their cause extra merit in the media if things had gone to plan." Karasu looked away. "Dabi also had a goal to isolate Hawks, I think. Try and drive a wedge between us, which he nearly did. All we had to do was give status reports on the day to day minutia of society. They never asked for more specifics than that. I did my homework at the headquarters a lot, and Hawks trained me pretty frequently. Dabi asked a lot of questions about Endeavor and Shoto, which also makes sense now that we know." She paused, turning back to her classmate. "Hawks, though. His mission was more specific than mine- he was to gather and pass on as much intel as he could to the HPSC, and then in the raid he was tasked with keeping Twice out of the battle. That's how we ended up in that fight where you found us. He killed Twice because he wouldn't stop-" Karasu closed her eyes. "I don't know if you know this, but Twice could make duplicates of people. If he'd been able to join the battle.... We would all be dead, I guarantee it. He wouldn't let us apprehend him, so Hawks had to act."
Tokoyami was silent as he listened to her. "Thank you for telling me, I understand now what happened." He said softly. "I knew that Hawks would've had reason to do what he did."
"He has a reason for everything he does." Karasu smiled slightly. "I'll tell him to call you back. Now that he's talking to me again, he'll probably be more willing to talk to you."
"Thank you, Karasu." Tokoyami nodded to her. "Although, I suppose we should call you Takami now?"
"Oh, absolutely not." Karasu smiled as she pulled the door to the dorms open. "You can actually call me Kara, if you want. I suppose everyone in the class can now... I'd say we're all pretty close friends now. Especially because all of you know my tragic backstory." She waved her hand as they walked back inside.
"I thought Kara was just something that Hawks and I called you." Todoroki looked up at his girlfriend as she slid into his lap on the couch.
"It's for important people in my life," she tapped his nose. "You're in the top two, so don't be too jealous."
He kissed her quickly. "I can live with that."
"After everything, you two are still flaunting your love!" Kaminari complained from where he was seated.
"If some of you would pair off we could make it a club," Karasu joked as she smiled at her boyfriend. "The 'Make Everyone In The Class Complain Club'. It'd be so much fun."
"Hero students aren't allowed to join clubs," Todoroki responded.
Karasu laughed, leaning her forehead against his shoulder. "Fair point, fair point."