Atrocious

- Chapter 12 -

My head was demolished. At least that's how it felt. I slowly opened my eyes and lay on my side to wake up.
My blanket, damp and warm, clung to my bare skin.
Confused, I looked around. I was at home. I was instantly relieved, but also wondered how I had got home.
'Had I stripped down to my underwear and got into bed so dirty?
I smelled the bed linen and could smell the alcohol, cigarettes and perfume of half the superhero league who had been in the bar yesterday.
Luckily it was Sunday, so I could sleep in, shower and change the sheets.
Speaking of sleeping in - it seemed to be 1pm on my wristwatch.
'When the hell was I home?
I couldn't answer the question, so I decided to stretch every single part of my body, take long big breaths and try not to vomit.
I rolled across the bed like a packet of mints and hit a wall of pillows.
Pillows had actually been stuffed in between the mattresses. Some of them weren't even mine.
I took a closer look and recognized the pillows from the entrance area of the dormitory.
'Did I want to build a castle?
My head just wasn't there yet and it took me a few seconds to make sense of it.
To make sure, I peeked over the wall.

And damn it, I was right. Someone was wrapped up in a big blanket, sleeping the sleep of the righteous.
"Fuck!" I screamed, jumped up, grabbed one of the pillows and held it in front of my body.
Unintentionally, I was too loud and the person woke up.
'Is that Vlad? Had I given in after all and now he's lying naked in my bed? If this gets out, I'm fucked, then that's it for my position as a teacher... Shit, shit, shit!' she thought and added, 'But then why the pillow wall?
The blanket slid off the person's body as they stood up and my head understood faster than my eyes could process.
He was blond, with small curls, expressive eyes and muscles that were second to none.
He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. As he did, two small, tattered red wings popped out.
"I-..." my mind had stopped. I couldn't speak.
"Good morning!" he said with a grin and his voice couldn't have been deeper.
He could barely keep his eyes open, but the grin was the same as ever. Just like in all the shows, news and newspapers I'd seen.
He seemed to look me up and down and I hugged the pillow tighter.
My mind was still switched off and I could feel myself getting dizzy. I let myself fall back into bed, albeit rather inelegantly, and threatened to topple onto my side.
But he supported me.
Everything inside me began to spin and I didn't know whether I was still dreaming or awake. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him remove the pillows and turn to my side, his arm propped up, his head on his hand and the other under his blanket.
He was bare-chested and I saw several scratches and healed injuries that were now forever immortalized as scars in his skin.
I held my head a little too forcefully and tried to see straight again, but I found it difficult.
"Stay down," he said, looking at me with interest.
When he realized how uncomfortable I was, he covered me up.
"Are you a double or something?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well from Hawks"
"Why would I be?"
"Because you look like one." I stammered and peeked through my fingers at him.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"No no, I'm the real Hawks," he assured me and I heard him wiggle his wings.
They were smaller than usual.
"I lost some during a mission, but they'll be as good as new in a few days."
'If this is the real Hawks, what's a rank hero like this doing in my bed, on a Sunday morning, half-naked?

"What the hell are you doing here?" was the first sensible sentence I could get out.
"We had a mega cool evening last night".
"What are you doing here," I asked. In my bed and half-naked?" I just couldn't believe it, and I was still feeling sick and slightly dizzy.
"You told me to stay with you. So I stayed".

He was the passenger.

My face radiated more than just confusion and he began to tell me:
About the binge with Midnight, Mt. Lady and me. That the rivalry had ended in a fight and they had tried to break us up.
That Shota, Hizashi and Vlad wanted to separate us and take us to the U.A., but Midnight put them to sleep.
Mt. Lady was out front a little later and saw Hawks coming over at Midnight's invitation. He was late, but he was there.
Mt. Lady explained the situation to him and trotted off in a drunken stupor because she thought the situation was ridiculous by now.
He went inside and saw us both drinking shots. Midnight became abusive, but I stood my ground and kept drinking. The bar was almost empty by now and some of the teachers were snoring on the floor.
Hawks tried to calm things down, but Midnight couldn't keep his hands off him. While she kept talking to me and burying her fingers in his chest, I stayed calm.
But then, and he stopped for a moment, he saw a few tears flowing down my face. He thought that only he had noticed. No wonder, he was the most sober of them all.
That was the point at which he wanted to end the situation for good.

I ignored the tears and asked:
"You know Midnight?"
"I know almost everyone in the Hero League. It makes sense to keep the connections. Who knows what they'll be good for later."
He continued. When Midnight let go of me, Hawks brought in Snipe and No.13, who were in the process of loading the sleeping bodies into cabs to take them to the U.A.
They were to sedate Midnight and take her with them.
No.13 asked that Hawks take me, since I was still somewhat responsive and the easiest to transport.
"Trust me, that wasn't the worst. We've had more extreme binges"
"And most of them are also teachers and prudes in class," I said and we both had to laugh.
"Well, and then I called us a cab and took you to the U.A. You asked me to stay with you.
Even after asking several times, you insisted. When we were outside your apartment, you couldn't even open the door and you would have soon run into the wardrobe. Who knows what would have happened".
"And why are we half-naked here now?".
Then, as if my head was still in the process of booting up, only one thing came to mind:
"Did we have...?"
"Sex? No. Trust me, you wouldn't be able to stand up afterwards."
That answer and that confidence was incredibly hot and images popped into my head that I really liked.

"You just walked blindly into the apartment, almost hit the bookshelf and when I held you down, you took off my jacket and T-shirt with the words 'It's warm in here'.
Then you took your own clothes off, fell over onto the bed and fell asleep."
I felt the heat in my head.
"I covered you up and looked for a place to sleep in your empty apartment.
And well - But since the bathtub wasn't an option for me, I was hoping you'd agree if I used the bed too, but built a wall of pillows," he said, smiling at his own statement.
I made sure that no one saw him getting the pillows.
When he confirmed this to me, I breathed a sigh of relief and immediately my face flushed.
"Are you all right?" he asked, scrutinizing me.
He was so close to me.
I smelled a tart, fruity scent on him and avoided looking at him.
I nodded cautiously and tried to sit up. My head hurt.

The nausea actually got better after a while and the dizziness disappeared. What remained was an immense hunger.
I wrapped myself in the blanket so that only my neck and head were visible and risked everything in my upcoming question:
"Why me? I mean, why did you help me? We don't even know each other!"
He nodded knowingly, sat down cross-legged across from me and roughly wrapped his blanket around his arms and back as well. I could tell he was wearing boxer shorts and thick socks.
"You were nice. Yesterday when you were drunk, as well as today, you behaved very sincerely towards me. That's my feeling.
You seem to see the person first and then the hero."
I was confused.
"How long was I in the bar and how long did we talk that you have such an image of me?"
He remained silent.
"Very unbelievable," I whispered and glared at him angrily.
'Why such statements? Where did he get the information?
"Okok, your brother Jinji is doing an internship with me along with others from his class. He's told me a lot about you - that's where the information came from."
"Bloody hell!!!" I buried my head in the ceiling. Jinji told him who I was, and then he found me drunk in a bar, while I was at Midnight's mercy in a verbal and physical fight. Well, Midnight had asked him to come over once and as crowded as it was, she must have invited half the league.
There was a chance that Hawks would be there and there was a chance that he would see me.
I was incredibly embarrassed about what had happened and I sincerely hoped everyone was too drunk for that.
"But the part about sincere and nice is true - I can confirm that. Despite the short time we'd spoken," he said, smiling at me.
God, he had beautiful eyes.
"And Jinji talked to you about me?" Again he nodded.
"I asked the students why they want to become heroes...Jinji talked about his father and that he can't and won't avenge the death after all, but that he wants to make a change. For the safety of the population and especially for you and your mother."
"Oh Jinji..."
"His costume has a dent in the shoulder armor..." he continued, "It has a photo of the three of you and one of his father. I really like it... with a polka dot dress and his hair down...".
I didn't want to believe that Jinji now had a picture of Disneyland in his shoulder armor.
'Yes, I can understand it,' I thought and tried to visualize the photo in my head.

Back then...
We were happy...
Jinji's father had taken the photo. I was visiting Japan and wanted him to be in it too.
But he said no, took the photo and said: "A perfect family, in every way"

He had actually experienced peace and kept in constant contact with me. He saw me as a daughter, even though I was another man's child.
He had so much love to give.

"Are you warm? You're all red," he asked maliciously, snapping me out of my thoughts and I could tell from his expression that that wasn't the question he wanted to ask.

I liked him. And he knew that.
"Hungry?"