Control Your Reality: Katsuki Bakugo

Chapter 37

Keigo Takami...

Hawks had never publicly shared his real name. He only ever went by his hero alias. It was one of the most obsessed-over mysteries about the pro hero. Most other heroes could be found out if you did enough digging. But not Hawks. And Hitori had tried.

His feathers followed her off the roof and part of the way through the city to the train station. Out of curiosity, Hitori didn't burn them this time. One was tucked into her pocket, another tangled itself in her hair against her neck. Others fell off as she got further away.

Before she had left, Hawks had told her a little bit about his quirk. He could control every single one of his feathers. His wings allowed him to fly at an extremely fast speed. He could change how soft or sharp his feathers were, giving him a variety of weapons. They also were very durable and could carry a significant amount of weight. Even a whole person. He could sense vibrations in the air through them, and up to a certain distance away could even listen in on conversations. He could also detect changes in a person's heartbeat or breathing during a conversation. And, as she had guessed, his weakness was fire.

It was a lot to take in, especially since that kind of information would be super detrimental to him if his opponents were to know about it. He wouldn't be able to do his job. Hitori supposed he was trying to get her to trust him by telling her so much.

In the cafeteria, the feather that landed on her wrist had been right over her pulse. But as soon as she burned it, he brought the rest back. And now, he was doing the same thing again. She wasn't sure if he was trying to check up on her or make sure that she didn't tell anyone anything.

"If you're spying on me, you'll lose brownie points," Hitori said quietly.

The feather in her hair shook back and forth, then tapped her temple.

She sighed. "I'm okay, I promise. I've been through worse, this is nothing."

It wasn't exactly a lie, so her heartbeat and breathing stayed steady. The murder didn't bother her in the slightest for some reason. She genuinely didn't care about the doctor. It was other things that had her mind reeling.

The feather in her hair shook again, this time toward something. Hitori looked to see a little girl and her parents walking their dog down the street. The girl was giggling about something her father had said and was holding a giant lollipop. She was skipping happily, completely lost in her own world and oblivious to the people around her.

Hitori smiled sadly.

The feather in her pocket shook, getting her attention again. It was the pocket she had her phone in. She pulled it out, and the feather in her hair dislodged itself. It floated down onto her phone screen and stilled. She assumed she was too far away now for him to keep listening to her, but his final message was loud and clear.

If you ever need anything, call me.

+++

By the time Hitori got back to the dorms, it was past dinner time and she was exhausted. Mina greeted her way too enthusiastically. But she had set aside a bowl of food for her and even had her notes prepped for Hitori to take. For once, she didn't argue when Hitori said she was going straight to bed. She dragged herself upstairs and had to resist the temptation to fall onto her bed and just go to sleep. Instead, she changed and sat down at her desk, then got to studying.

A few minutes later, Bakugo texted her.

B: Get your ass over here for your stupid notes.

H: Geez, chill. I'm coming.

Hitori picked up her notebook and went to her balcony. She formed her earthboard and quickly flew around the building, avoiding any windows. Bakugo was waiting for her in his room.

"What took you so damn long?" He demanded.

"Seriously? It took me five seconds to get here!" She snapped. Hitori punched his outstretched hand to soundproof his room.

"I mean with the mission! You were supposed to get back two hours ago!"

Hitori gave him a withering look. "You were the one that told me to say yes."

"Well?! What happened?!"

"We arrested a doctor who was experimenting on kids with drugs. She was poisoning them with her quirk to make them sicker and have to stay in the hospital longer. When we got back to Edgeshot's agency, I still had a few things we needed to go over for the raid on Saturday. Antelion had learned a few more codes that they wanted me to help decipher."

Bakugo huffed but relaxed a bit. "How was working with another pro?"

"Annoying."

"Seriously?! That's it?!"

Hitori sat down on the floor against his bed. She rested her head back against it and looked up at him with a tired expression. "What do you wanna know?"

"What did you do? Just walk around the hospital then arrest the damn doctor?"

"Yup, pretty much. Hawks visited a few sick kids, showed off a lot, and then arrested the doctor at the end."

"Did you get to see him in action at all?"

"No."

"Damn!"

Hitori smirked. "Fanboy."

Bakugo turned red. He threw the notebook at her and she laughed. He stomped over to his desk and threw himself down into his chair.

"Study on your own, I'm not helping you with shit," he grumbled. He loaded up a game on his computer and started playing.

"Whatever," Hitori rolled her eyes. She doubted he'd stick to his word this time, considering he hadn't kicked her out.

His notes were way more thorough than Mina's, so it was much easier to teach herself the lessons she had missed that day. The only problem was, after an hour she could barely keep her eyes open. The words on the page were starting to blur.

Why was she so tired? It didn't make sense, she had barely done anything that day.

Hitori sighed and rested her head on her arms for a second to let her eyes rest. Being around that damn bird had been exhausting. Though it was easier on the roof when he wasn't being an attention whore.

She didn't mean to fall asleep but realized she had when Bakugo started shaking her shoulder.

"Scrappy, wake up," he said quietly.

"Huh?" She wearily picked her head up off her arms and rubbed her eyes.

Bakugo sighed. "You're exhausted, just go to bed."

"Nah, I'm fine," she insisted.

"You just fell asleep on my floor. No, you're not."

"I'm fine, really." Hitori sat up and rubbed her eyes again.

"Scrappy," Bakugo said firmly.

Hitori looked up at him and frowned. "I gotta stay caught up, I can't fall behind just because I'm tired. I'll just go work out for a bit. I'll wake back up and finish studying."

"Scrappy!"

"What?!"

"Sleep is more important."

Hitori started to shake her head, but Bakugo hooked a finger under her chin to stop her.

"Just listen to me, Hitori. Okay?"

"O-okay," she whispered. The way Bakugo was staring intently at her was making her heart flutter.

"Come on," he said, pulling her to her feet. But he pulled her up too fast and she stumbled into his chest. Bakugo wrapped his arms around her.

Hitori smiled and closed her eyes. She put her arms around his waist and sighed contentedly.

"You can't be a good hero if you don't take care of yourself," he said softly.

"Sorry," she mumbled. It was hard for her to not fall asleep in his arms. He felt so warm and safe. But she also didn't want to dream that night. She didn't want to find out what kind of nightmare she would have after what had happened that day.