"Mom! My internship with Hawks-sensei starts today! He told me to dress lightly and comfortably. What do you think? Would this be okay?"
Your mom, beautiful as usual, looks you up and down, nodding. "You look perfect, darling."
You lean in to give her a sweet, tender kiss on the cheek, feeling Ryota's gaze devouring you. You run to the front door and, after waving goodbye to your family, close it behind you and look up at the sky. The weather is beautiful today, the air so clear that everything you see before you seems hand-drawn.
You sling the heavy bag on your shoulder, carrying all your essentials, take a deep breath, and head toward the enormous Pro Heroes Agency building. After about fifteen minutes, you find it before you, imposing and terrifying to say the least. You pause at the entrance, looking up at the enormous windows, feeling your heart pounding.
"Good," you mutter softly, trying to cheer yourself up. "It's just an internship, come on, Eri. It's just an internship..."
You push open the enormous glass door with one hand, gleaming with not a single smudge or fingerprint. The lobby is stunning, just the right amount of opulence, with golden furniture arranged together to form the reception desk, and the wallpaper matching the colors of the entire room. The chandeliers are chic, antique to be precise, but very elegant.
You look around, stunned, when suddenly, you hear a shrill voice coming from behind you.
"Ah, there you are, little Seraph!"
That voice is so cheerful, almost mocking. You whip around, and as soon as you finish your half-turn, a flurry of red feathers brushes your face, tickling your nose. Hawks lands in front of you, with his usual magazine-worthy smile.
"What an honor, Togata-san! Officially welcome to my agency. Extra officially." He tilts his head. "Welcome to the hell of coffee and flyers. You can fly, right?"
You look at him seriously. "Sensei, sir, of course I can fly."
"Sir?" Hawks bursts out laughing, placing a hand on his chest and raising an eyebrow. "Eri, you're making me feel old. Call me Hawks, please! Or Supreme Leader of the Sky, if you prefer."
You stare at him, unsmiling. "...Hawks will be fine."
What kind of place am I in? Where is my Aizawa-sensei? Why am I here?
He chuckles, perhaps amused by your icy calm. "Okay, then let's see if you can do this. Take this steaming cup of coffee up to the twentieth floor. On one condition: you don't spill a drop."
You continue to look at him, confused. "Huh?"
"It's precision training!" he declares emphatically. "If you can keep a cappuccino alive, you can keep anyone alive. It's great training, considering you'll be rescuing people in the air, don't you think?"
You keep staring at him, unsure if he's serious or not. Then, sighing, you pick up the cup with both hands, maintaining eye contact. He winks at you and with a wave of his hand, invites you outside.
Flying isn't difficult for you: once outside, your wings open with a rustle, wide and light, gently moving in the wind. Hawks watches them as if captivated by their magnetic whiteness, while you think that balancing a hot coffee thirty meters above the ground...isn't easy at all! In fact, it's a nightmare!
Unfortunately, after three attempts (one of which ended with coffee on the sensei's cape, one on a very happy seagull, and one almost successful, but knocked over at the last minute), you fail miserably. Hawks-sensei applauds heartily, turning a few heads here and there.
"Well done! You've only spilled 40% of the coffee in the cups. Progress!"
You snort, pursing your lips. "I don't think Recovery Girl would consider this progress. Poor thing, I kept her waiting, and quite a while at that!"
He takes a step toward you, draping an arm over your shoulders. "Hey, you don't have to be so rigid. Even heroes need caffeine sometimes."
You shrug and smile. The morning, all in all, passes between absurd exercises and a few winks from the sensei: you carried boxes of feathers from one floor to another, always flying, you had to dodge drones with darkened visors that moved in zigzags, and, despite yourself, you were mocked for your "celestial nun" concentration.
But deep down, you're aware that Hawks-sensei isn't just teasing you: he's actually watching you. As if he wants to see how far you can go before you break.
"Baby, are you hungry?" he asks, sitting next to you. Too close. You feel the heat of his body through the fabric of your clothes. You shake your head.
"No, sensei." You reply, tilting your head down. He continues to look at you, biting the inside of his cheek.
"Hey, Eri, cheer up. We have plenty of time to train, okay? Take a deep breath." He inhales sharply, holds it for two seconds, then exhales. "Relax, okay?"
You look up at him. You nod and smile.
Hours pass, and the afternoon brings with it a real emergency. An accident occurs in an industrial area, not far from your agency. Hawks-sensei responds quickly to the call. An explosion, perhaps caused by an unstable Quirk. They can't tell you much; there's no one on site yet, so you have to hurry. He turns to you, his gaze serious for the first time. He's not smiling!
"Hey, little Seraph. It's time to stop playing. Come with me, we need you."
You nod. Oh my God, my first mission without my classmates! You're nervous and agitated, wondering: what if I don't know what to do? With them, you usually organize, formulate plans, give directions... here you're practically alone. Your heart races, your legs shake.
You rush to the scene, and what you see is certainly not a pretty sight: smoke everywhere, sirens that deafen even from afar, general panic with people fleeing screaming, hugging their frightened children. You're told that a worker is trapped under a heavy beam and is near death. Hawks-sensei, incredibly fast, flies to the worker's location, frees him, and carries him toward you. He drops him on the ground with a jerk of his chin.
"It's yours. I'll keep the debris away. Show everyone your healing skills."
You kneel on the ground, next to the dying gentleman. Your wings open, large and beautiful, and a soft, golden light spreads around them. Your feathers rest on the man's mortal wound, pulsing gently like a heartbeat.
You're anxious, you're panicking, and you have no idea what the hell you're doing. The smell of blood is everywhere, people's screams echo in your head, there's confusion... everything together is destabilizing you, you feel like you're about to give up. Your hands are shaking, your breathing becomes short and rapid. You're not doing enough. You need your teammates! I'm not enough!
"You were!" Hawks-sensei exclaims, making you suddenly jump. "Look at me."
You immediately look up at him, and see him smiling. (Not his poster smile, obviously, but a real, human one. It almost seems cute.)
"What did I tell you on the phone yesterday? Flying isn't just about moving through the air, it's about figuring out where you want to go."
You breathe in, trying to absorb every single word, trying to let go of the fear. Finally, you think of your mom and dad, of your sweet love Aizawa-sensei, of all the heroes who, while fighting, put passion and courage into everything they do. The light from your wings grows rapidly, your heart slowly calms, and your breathing relaxes. I have to do this! I want to prove to everyone that I'm worth something! I want to show that idiot brother of mine that I can do this on my own! You don't have to know how to fight to be a hero!
The man next to you, the one who until a few minutes earlier had been under the beam and was dying, has stopped shaking and his breathing has gradually returned to normal. His blood pressure is almost stable, but he requires more advanced treatment in the hospital before he can be declared out of danger.
You open your eyes, smiling. Hawks-sensei is still standing in front of you, his hair disheveled and his breath short, his gaze proud of what you've just accomplished. He claps his hands softly.
"See? I knew it! I knew that coffee was good for something, huh?"
You smile slightly, until it explodes into a fuller, more engaging laugh. You feel slightly tired, but inside you're super happy!
"That coffee tasted horrible!" you exclaim, standing up, "It tasted like sweat!"
Hawks-sensei smiles even wider, "That's exactly what victory tastes like, little Seraph!"
For the first time, perhaps, you've been able to translate what Hawks sensei was trying to tell you yesterday. Perhaps you've understood that flying isn't just about moving through the air. It also means choosing who, or what, to fight for.
***
You've just arrived at your front door, and the smell of curry and roast chicken immediately makes your mouth water. You feel decidedly tired, especially since, after your internship, Hawks-sensei insisted you fly home. Forty minutes of flight, including the mission, have literally exhausted you.
You open the front door, your dad is behind the kitchen table, smiling as usual, and he immediately welcomes you with his unmistakable voice. "Welcome back, little one! How did it go with Hawks?"
Your dad is still in his hero suit, with his usual bright smile. Your mom is in front of him, chopping vegetables with her usual silent grace. Dad hugs her from behind, and she smiles.
You take off your shoes just by the door, stretching out your wings to stretch them a bit. "It went... well, I think. A little tiring."
"Oh, if you're tired, that's okay." Dad laughs. "That means you really tried."
Mom looks at him with that look of a lovestruck girl, then at you. "Hawks is unpredictable, but he knows how to see beyond appearances. He must have taught you something. I'm sure of it."
You smile slightly. "Yeah, come on... I learned something."
"Good. So, shower now, then dinner, and then rest, okay?" your dad asks, winking at you.
"Okay!" You reply and head for the stairs.
Their voices grow more distant as you climb, until you reach your room. You glance briefly at Ryota's closed door, just to remind yourself that you have an idiot brother whom you unfortunately have to invite to Tess's party.
You close the door behind you and let you fall into the chair by the window. How beautiful your city is. It shines in silence. You even see a few pinpricks of light in the darkness...they look like fireflies.
You open your wings, slowly. The feathers still tremble a little, tired and exhausted, but inside you feel truly happy. In fact, you still hear the echo of that phrase: "Flying isn't just moving through the air, but understanding where you want to go."
You sit on the bed, resting your forehead on your knees, and smile slowly. "Why I fly..." you whisper on yourself. "Because I don't want anyone to be left alone on the ground."
Then, suddenly, the face of the man you treated this afternoon comes to mind, but you also think of Hawks-sensei, with his bold yet kind smile. And, inevitably, you think of him, too.
Aizawa-sensei.
His warm, confident voice, his mannerisms, his introspective, cold, and distant demeanor, the gaze that makes you feel tiny and brave at the same time.
"Sensei..." You murmur, unconsciously, and lie down, hitting your head on the pillow. Your cheeks flush, and between your legs, there's no denying it, you feel a fire blazing.
You feel silly every time you get wet when you think of him. You can't stop thinking about what it would have been like if Aizawa-sensei had seen that moment, too, when you were saving that man all by yourself.
Maybe, for once, he'd smile?
On your bedside table here, next to you, there's a red feather, light and bright. Hawks-sensei left it for you this afternoon before he left. "Keep it," he said. "It'll remind you that this afternoon you flew alongside the most beautiful man in the world."
You shake your head slightly, smiling, thinking how foolish and arrogant that sensei must have been, so self-assured and self-important. You take it in your fingers, playing with it a bit until you hold it up to the light. "I want to learn to fly well," you say. "But first... I want to learn not to be afraid of falling."
You close your wings around yourself and wrap yourself in them, like a blanket, and turn onto your side. Your eyes close on their own from exhaustion, and for the first time in a long time, you fall asleep with a smile.
Next morning...
"So, Eri, do you have to go to school today?" your dad asks, sitting next to you at breakfast. He has his usual infectious smile plastered on his face when he suddenly bites into a slice of bread and Nutella and looks over at Ryota. They both seem to be waiting for an answer from you, and since your mom is also present, Ryota doesn't allow himself to speak or tease you. You swallow your cereal with difficulty, when the scene where you saw Ryota that day in the bathroom, touching himself, comes back to you... What a terrible scene!
"Yes, Dad! Hawks-sensei will have already reported my internship to Aizawa-sensei." You reply, looking at your mother, who smiles heartily.
I just remembered... I need to talk to Ryota about the party Tess is throwing.
"Oh yeah, he's definitely already talked to him. Watch out for Hawks, though. He hits on everyone." Your mother replies, standing up to leave the dishes in the sink.
"Oh, Mom, please. Who would hit on an ugly girl like her?" Did Ryota, asshole, just speak?
"Oh, you idiot, I'm beautiful." You reply, spreading your soft, white wings. "I'm an angel, but what are you? You're just good at throwing punches."
He stands up. "Watch your tongue, idiot."
You stand up too, clenching your fists until they hurt. Your dad sighs, tired of the usual bickering between you two.
"Can't you two get along?" he asks, shaking his head.
"You look like you have to ask me something."
Your eyes widen, incredulous. How the hell does he know this every time?
"Am I that predictable?" you ask. He doesn't answer. "Okay... yes, I need to talk to you."
He nods, pointing down the hall. You walk away from the kitchen, with Mom and Dad occasionally commenting on the new TV series they started watching a few days ago.
You're barefoot, your feet sliding lightly over the cool tiles without making a sound. Your oversized white shirt, soft and comfy, falls to mid-thigh, while your tight black shorts subtly highlight the curves of your muscles. Usually, you're the bubbly, cheerful Eri, just like your dad, but this time your fingers fidget nervously, and your blue eyes watch Ryota with a curious caution.
He leans casually against the wall, arms crossed over his broad chest, the muscles beneath his tight black T-shirt flexing slightly. You notice he's cut his hair, the new style makes the thin scar running across his temple even more visible, a mark of a battle he's worn with quiet pride for years.
His red eyes lock onto you, and that predatory grin of his spreads wider. "What's up, little sister?" he asks in that low, husky voice, so much like his father's. His tone is teasing, full of playful challenge, as if even speaking to you is a little game of power…