Birds of a Feather

Except for you.

カラス
          "Hawks would be mad if he knew we were off campus together like this with that love villain on the loose." Karasu said as she and Todoroki walked to the next shop. "I'm glad we get to have time to celebrate our anniversary, though." She kissed his cheek as they stepped into a small astrology shop. She had wanted to get stuff to chart the stars on their anniversary, and while he didn't really have much interest in that kind of thing she had looked so excited when asking him about it he hadn't been able to say no.
"He hasn't been too hover-y with our relationship since- the war." Todoroki pointed out as he wrapped his arms around her from behind as she sorted through a few things.
"You mean since he and I had our fight." She did quietly, flipping over a constellation map.
"Well... yeah." He kissed her temple softly.
"As much as I'd love to pretend everything between me and my brother is back to normal since then, I don't know if it ever can be." Her voice dropped almost to a whisper as she let out a heavy sigh.
Todoroki picked up a basket and held it up. "Here. So you can pick stuff out for us."
Karasu kissed his cheek softly as she set the star map into the basket. "You're a sweetheart, you know?"
He blushed slightly as he followed her to another stand. "I think you're the only one who sees that in me."
"Well, no one else loves you the way I do." She responded as she put a few candles into the basket.
"I like it that way." Todoroki said as he slid a hand around her waist. "You're mine," he whispered softly to her.
Karasu blushed brightly now, pausing as she picked up a few incense. "I like being yours." She kissed him quickly, holding his chin after dropping the incense into the basket as well.
Todoroki smiled and held on to her waist as they kept walking around the store, collecting various things. He picked up a black onyx heart and held it up to her before putting it in the cart. "It looks like your wings, so I thought it was pretty."
She smiled, and now she was the one blushing. "I think we have enough from here. Let's hit up a couple stores and then head back to UA. If we're out too late, Mr Aizawa may revoke our permission to be off campus tomorrow as well."
Todoroki nodded, immediately taking the basket up to the registers and paying for everything. Both of them certainly had the money, but he still liked buying things for her.
          "I get to pay at the next store." Karasu said as they left the shop together.
"If you insist." He put his arm around her waist as they walked. "Where to next?"
"Definitely Target next, I think." She checked the list on her phone. "Hawks promised we could use the cabin again, which should be fun. Although he still wants to do the Takami - Todoroki dinner out there, so, y'know, hopefully it won't be a game to surprise us with that."
"I highly doubt my father will participate in that until forced repeatedly by my sister and mother, and I doubt it could be a surprise if they'll be there because he'd complain loudly." Todoroki said as he kissed her temple.
"Well, that's certainly good to know." Karasu smiled as they kept walking, scrolling through the list of everything she had decided they needed for their anniversary on her phone. "I hope you know I plan to give you a cooking lesson."
"Is it a lesson I have to pay attention to or can I kiss you throughout it?" Todoroki asked, nuzzling against the side of her neck.
"As long as you don't make me burn the food." She responded, blushing as he tugged her closer.
"I'll keep that in mind." Todoroki smiled slightly as he looked at her face. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and that feeling never left him. He knew that he was completely in love with her, and that that would never change.
"It's unfair, you looking at me like that while we're in public." Karasu was blushing as she glanced up at her boyfriend.
"I can always sneak into your room tonight." He pointed out, pulling her into a kiss as soon as she was looking up at him.
Her room had no one beside her, so it made it easier to sneak into.
Karasu wrapped her arm around his neck as she kissed him back, letting her enthusiasm in their kiss be her affirmative answer to his question.
Todoroki pulled her closer against him, deepening their kiss. Thankfully no one was around to disrupt their moment, although technically paparazzi could appear anytime but that had become less and less likely lately since the Paranormal Liberation War.
He tugged her into the small alley behind them and pushed her against the wall, one of his hands moving to hold hers while he free one held her chin.
"I hope you don't think we're going to hook up in an alley like this," she murmured against his lips between kisses.
"No," he responded as he kissed her neck lightly. "But we haven't really gotten to just kiss like this in a while either."
"Fair-" she giggled as he kissed her again, she loved this more forceful and in control side of him in moments like this. She laced her fingers through his as they kissed, letting herself get lost in this almost perfect moment.
Almost.
          From further down the alley, they heard someone move, the distinct sound of footsteps. Whoever they were kept themselves in the dark, but close enough that they definitely would be able to keep an eye on Karasu and Todoroki.
Both of them pulled back and looked down the alley.
"Well, there goes that moment." Karasu said as the both of them turned down the alleyway. She pocketed her phone and flicked her closed staff into her hand. "Alright. Who's there?"
"I shouldn't be surprised the two of you noticed me." A girl's voice said from the shadows. "You are half-baked heros. The others were just normal people."
"The others?" Karasu frowned slightly as she realised what had to be happening here. "You're the villain who's been killing people with smoke, aren't you?"
The girl stepped into the light. She couldn't be any older than eighteen or nineteen by the look of her. She smiled and waved at them, she was dressed in a light grey crop top and high waisted jeans, she had pale blonde hair in a mess all around her like she hadn't brushed it in days. Her eyes were a dark sort of emerald green and her nails were long and painted black, but broken at the ends.
'I wonder if that's accidental or she did it to be more of a weapon', Karasu wondered to herself. She took half a step back into a prepared stance, not necessarily a fighting one but she needed to be ready in case this girl attacked them.
"I've been looking for you two." She continued, staring the two of them down. "Rare to find two heroes so in love with each other. Made for a fun target for me."
"Hate to disappoint, but we aren't just going to let you kill us." Todoroki said, lighting his left hand on fire as he stood protectively in front of his girlfriend.
"Of course you won't." She grinned at him as she waved her hand dismissively, smoke leaking out from between her teeth. "I'll still do it anyways."
That's when she lunged forward, the glint in her eye was dark and excited. Clearly killing was something she fundamentally enjoyed, which made her even more dangerous as a villain. Todoroki leapt to meet her but she ducked down and moved to grab Karasu.
Karasu flicked her staff open and knocked her back, striking the villain as she moved to grab her face. She felt the jagged edge of her nails graze the side of her cheek, the way they almost tore a chunk from her skin confirmed, at least in Karasu's mind, that they were designed to dig into her victim's skin and keep hold of him. 'Probably an important part of her quirk, keeping her victims in range for the right amount of time'. She glided back, keeping balance on her feet as she spread her wings out to prevent the villain from escaping around her.
"Get away from her!" Todoroki shouted, throwing a blast of fire at the villain.
The girl jumped up to avoid the flames, flipping into the air. "Hm. Nice try, Shoto, but I am used to my prey fighting back. So this isn't exactly new."
"What's your game, here? Why are you trying to kill us?" Karasu flew up and struck at her with her staff. Even though the villain managed to move, Karasu felt the metal make contact with her shin.
The villain stumbled slightly when she landed on the ground again but didn't entirely lose her footing. "Wings, however, I'm not used to." She ducked again as Todoroki attempted to grab and restrain her. "Nice try, lover boy." She jumped to her feet as he swivelled to try and keep up with her movements. She gripped his throat with one hand and his jaw with the other, keeping his mouth open as she brought his face to her and exhaled.
A thick, black smoke exited her mouth and emptied into his.
Todorki tried to use his quirk to counter her, but he couldn't access his quirk. The smoke was cutting off his access to his limbs, as well. His knees gave out and he dropped down, his arms hanging at his sides as the smoke flowed into his mouth and lungs.
"Shoto!" Karasu screamed and dove towards them from where she'd landed above. She suddenly coughed smoke and hit the ground, her staff closing and snapping back to her bracelet as she lost hold of it. "What the hell-" she croaked out. Her wings felt heavy behind her as she tried to get towards Todoroki and the villain. She choked smoke again- it was like what had happened to him was slowly happening to her. She couldn't use either form of her quirk now, and she could feel her senses dulling in her limbs. "Sho- to-" she collapsed forward, her phone sliding out of her pocket and directly beside her hand. She hit the panic button Hawks had forced her to put on her home screen with the last of her strength, trying to focus on breathing.
"I thought you two would be more of a challenge." The villain said, taking a break from choking Todoroki out, but not releasing his shirt. "It's so annoying having to find couples for my quirk to kill- it only works on couples who are in love with each other, you see. It won't work on someone who isn't in love. I can sense when someone has that kind of love, but it's a pain in the ass to find." Before Todoroki or Karasu regained use of their limbs or quirks, she breathed another round of smoke at him. "Most people aren't used to villains they can't get any kind of near, except maybe Hawks but he's a rarity. I use people's ultimate weakness against them, being in love is what got you here."
"Nothing got us here..." Karasu coughed, the smoke in her lungs was burning, "except for you." Every breath hurt, but she couldn't stop. She had to believe that if this woman's quirk connected Todoroki's lungs to hers, if she forced herself to breathe it would keep him safe too.
          "Karasu!" Hawks dove in from above them, feathers flew off his back and the villain was thrown off of Todoroki and into a wall. "Breathe. Slowly. Look at me."
Karasu gasped as the ability to breathe returned to her, holding on to her brother's arm. "Keigo- Shoto-" she looked back at her boyfriend as he collapsed to the ground, holding his throat with one hand while the other kept his face off the pavement as he breathed heavily.
Hawks looked up, surprised to see that the villain wasn't pinned under his feathers anymore.
"I need to work on bulking up the strength of my feathers..." he muttered to himself as he helped his little sister stand up to walk over to her boyfriend. He let her lean against the wall as his feathers returned to him before setting Todoroki next to her. "Okay. You two. What the hell?! You knew this villain targeted couples- that we had planned the two of you as bait already! What if now she won't bite when we're ready! What if you hadn't reached your panic button, Kara! I know the two of you want to have some pieces of a normal relationship but you can't and you know that! You're an extremely well known couple! This wasn't only reckless, this was stupid!"
"I know, Keigo." Karasu said, catching her breath. "I knew it when we left the school, but I-" she hesitated. "With everything that's been happening, I just wanted to have a good anniversary. I'm sorry."
Hawks sighed and pinched his nose. "Look. I get that it sucks to have to live in the public eye, I can't imagine how much that's doubled to love in the public eye, but you can't take risks like this again. At this point, if she isn't caught I can't let the two of you use the cabin on your own."
"We should've been more prepared for this." Todoroki said with a sigh.
"You both should have." Hawks agreed as he folded his arms, looking down the hall. "I have guessed why you weren't. But reality is I should've expected the two of you to pull something like this- and as long as you two learned anything new about her, it won't have been a total disaster."
"We did." Karasu stood up, offering her hand to her boyfriend so he could get on his feet as well. "She bragged about how her quirk works."
"That definitely sounds useful." Hawks looked back at them, his arms still folded.
He was definitely angry.
"Apparently she can sense when people are in love with each other- unclear if they have to be a couple or not. Seems like it does need to be romantic. That's how she keeps finding couples, though." Todoroki said, sliding his hand around his girlfriend's waist.
"She breathes a smoke into one of the pairs' mouths and it fills not only their lungs but their partner's. It not only chokes them but paralyses their limbs and nullifies their quirk. It seems to be slightly slower on the partner she doesn't have direct hold on, but not much. Also fair to assume she isn't mobile while she does this." Karasu said as she let him pull her close protectively. "She's also made her nails jagged to make it easier to get an initial hold on people." Karasu touched Todoroki's face where the spots her nails had cut and scraped him were. "She almost grabbed me before she got Todoroki. She said the fact that most pros- and most quirks, I'd imagine, have to fight at close range is a strength of hers."
"If she has to get a hold of someone, that makes sense. Makes me a good defence against her, though." Hawks said thoughtfully, tapping his arm in thought. "I'll need to report this to Endeavor and Jeanist, you know. As it stands I'm going to tell Eraserhead you aren't allowed to leave campus unless you're on patrol duty. Your father will probably do the same thing, too."
"I hate it, but I get it." Karasu sighed as Todoroki pulled her close.
"Are you okay?" he murmured to her.
"I'm fine. Recovery Girl will handle these." She touched the small wound on her cheek and one of the ones the villain had left on his jaw. "Are you okay?"
"My throat is a little torn up, but also something Recovery Girl can handle." Todoroki nodded as he tugged her close and into a tight hug. "I hated not being able to do anything when I saw you drop like that."
"Everything turned out okay," she said softly and nuzzled into his neck.
"And until she's apprehended, neither of you will be off campus except for hero duty or full class excursions." Hawks spoke up as he walked back over to them. "And even then, you won't be alone anymore for either of those things."
"I don't really want to take a ton of chances with safety, so I can agree to that." Karasu said after a moment.
"Good. You wouldn't have had a choice, but it is easier to do any of this with your cooperation." Hawks nodded. "Come on. Let's get you two back to school."
          As they left the alleyway, Hawks' driver pulled up immediately.
"Do you think there's specific training you have to have to be a driver for a pro?" Karasu joked half-heartedly as she and Todoroki got in the back seat.
"I mean, probably." Todoroki answered thoughtfully.
Both of the Takami siblings smiled and let out short breaths of amusement.
"Look, I can trust you two right now- right? You aren't going to be reckless and sneak off campus for alone time?" Hawks asked very bluntly, looking in the rear view mirror at them as the teenagers cuddled up together.
"You can trust us." Todoroki assured him seriously. "I wouldn't do anything to risk your safety like that." He locked eyes with his girlfriend.
"That I believe." Hawks nodded and fixed his eyes forward as they drove.
Karasu smiled and held onto her boyfriend's shirt as she leaned her head on his chest. Getting smoked like that had taken a lot out of both of them- but she fell asleep first in her boyfriend's arms.
Hawks glanced back. "Shoto. I wanted to talk to you about this, actually."
"Me?" Todoroki looked at the pro in surprise.
"I want to make sure this won't be another wig-out-and-try-to-break-up-with-her situation." Hawks' eyes were serious in the rear view mirror. "There's an unavoidable part of pro work that is being in danger, and as much as I clearly struggle with the concept of her in danger, if you don't think you can handle this we'll find another way to handle this mission without both of you."
"I can handle it." He promised. "It hadn't even crossed my mind..." Todoroki put a hand over Karasu's gently. "I saw how afraid she was when my dad got in my head that our relationship could hurt her... I realised that if I hurt her like that, I'd never be able to forgive myself."
"I know what you mean." Hawks said quietly. "I've let a lot about the... nature of your relationship slide because I know that without you, there's a big chance Kara couldn't have come out the other side of our fight with any strength left. But you need to show me I genuinely can trust the two of you, that I haven't made a mistake in supporting the sneaking around in my agency."
Todoroki blushed. He knew that Hawks knew, but hearing him say it was a whole other thing. "We will. I will. She will."