Hi pals! This is chapter 1 of my Hawks fic. You can find the prologue to this story here, Chapter 2
Four years had passed since Jiko had Youta and those years felt like minutes. Jiko felt like she couldnât spend enough time with her son even though she spent every moment she could with him. As far as having a child went, Jiko felt like she was pretty blessed. He was a well-behaved kid, didnât throw fits, always used his manners and made sure that he did everything he could for Jiko.
Youta looked more and more like Keigo with every passing day. He had dirty blonde hair that Jiko could never seem to tame so she just let it do what it wanted. Small red wings were attached to his back and they looked more and more like Keigoâs every time she looked at them. His nose was slightly upturned, another feature he inherited from his father. But his eyes were a dark brown that resembled Jikos. Â
Currently, the two of them were curled up on the couch together. Youta was curled into Jikos lap, watching news coverage of a villain attack. Another thing that Youta had inherited from Keigo was his overwhelming love for heroes and watching them do their job.
âMama! Look! Heâs gonna get them!â Youta said, pointing his little finger at the T.V frantically. All Might was on screen, one of Youtaâs ultimate favorites.
âYeah he is!â She said happily, glancing down at the little boy who was bouncing with excitement as he watched All Might take down a villain. After the villain was done, All Might threw up a thumbs up and smiled at the camera. Youta mimicked him almost immediately and Jiko laughed as she ruffled his hair. When she glanced back at the T.V., she noticed an extremely familiar face. Â
Well, not his face at first. She noticed a large red wing span flying into the frame and she heard Youta audibly gasp. His tiny hand flew back to his own wings before he looked up at his mom.
âLook! Look! We both have wings!â He said happily and Jiko just nodded before she turned the T.V. off. This caused an audible reaction from her son but Jiko just looked down at him.
âItâs bedtime.â She said and the boy huffed. Â
âFine.â He said as he lifted himself from his mothers arms, hoovering above the ground in front of her.
âNo flying in the house.â She said and Youta giggled, landing on the ground beside her.
âI know!â He said before they headed to his bedroom. Youta changed himself into his pjs and crawled into bed. Jiko followed soon after him, laying down beside her son. They did this every night, laying in bed together until Youta fell asleep.
âMama?â Youta said, and Jiko looked down her son.
âCan you tell me about dad again?â He said sadly and Jiko frowned. She scooted down so that she was at eye level with her son. She had never kept details of Youtasâ father from him, the only thing she never told him was his name.
âWhat do you wanna know tonight?â Â
âWhat was he like?â Youta asked.
âWell, he was a lot like you.â She said, poking his chest gently. This earned a small giggle from Youta. âHe was kind, smart, loving, funny.â
âDo you think he would like me?â Youta asked, cutting his mom off. This brought small tears to Jikoâs eyes.
âHe would love you, Youta.â She said softly, kissing her sons forehead. âHe did love you. Does love you. From the moment he knew about you, he told you how much he loved you.â
âWhy did he have to leave?â
âSometimes you have to protect other people. You have to put their safety in front of your own feelings, yanno? Like, when you watch pros on T.V., they are constantly putting other people first right?â
âWell, think about it like that. Everything that was done was done to protect you.â She said softly and Youta nodded his head. He was a little too young to understand truly what happened, but he understood that his mom did everything to protect him. It took a little while for Youta to fall asleep but once he did, Jiko kissed his head and left his room. Â
Jiko sat down on her couch, pulling out her phone. It had been a little bit since she had looked Keigo up. She did it periodically to see what he was up to. She may have fallen off the face of the earth from him, but that didn't mean that she didn't care about him. She had to constantly remind herself that she did everything she did for Keigo. Because he wouldn't have the success he had now if she had stayed in her life with her son.
Pictures of Keigo popped up as soon as she hit search. Pictures of him at the opening of his agnecy, pictures of him with different pretty girls (which struck a small nerve in the back of Jikoâs neck). There were a few pictures of him saving the day and a few of him at some clubs. The photos of him at the clubs, she recognized the bracelet on his wrist as one she had made for him when they were younger. It was mostly obscured by the long sleeve black shirt he was wearing but she could see just the edge of it. Â
She missed Keigo more than she could fathom. She spent countless hours wondering if he thought about her as much as she thought about him. Â
Kiego spent most of his time trying not to think about Jiko, so he started his agency so that he would have something to occupy his time. He worked from the moment he woke up til late hours of night, sometimes going for days at time on what felt like no sleep. He couldn't help it. Being busy meant that there was no time for him to think about what he was missing in life.
He filled the hole that Jiko used to fill with random girls. Flings left and right, just so he could pretend he felt something. But the truth was that he didnât feel much anymore. Jiko was the only thing in his life that truly made him feel complete and like his life had some kind of purpose. Without her in it, he felt like robot.
He was okay with that though. Same routine. Wake up, fight crime, spend time with a random woman, sleep. Lately the woman hadnât be as random. He had started causally dating a girl name An. She was okay. She wasnât exactly fun but she was there, waiting for Keigo when he got off work every night. She would make him dinner, ask him about his day. It was comfortable for him.
That was the woman that Jiko kept seeing as she looked through photos of him. She was pretty, long blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. She didnât necessarily look like she fit with Hawks, but Jiko figured he must see something in her.
She continued to scroll for a little while longer until her eyelids got tired. She went to her bedroom, laid her head down and let sleep overtake her.
âMama!â A small voice squeaked as Youta dropped all of his weight on his mom to take her up. This caused Jiko to let out a huff of air and a sigh opening her eyes to look at her little boy. He was sitting on top of her, wings flapping slightly. A large smile was spread over his lips.
âFive more minutes.â She mumbled, pretending to close her eyes and go back to sleep. Youta let out a small giggle before he started shaking.
âNo! Up! Wake up!â He said, and Jiko let out a playful groan. She quickly grabbed her son and rolled over so that she was sitting up and he was on the bed. She then began to tickle him, causing his laughter to errupt through the room.
Jiko slowly stopped tickling him, both of them laughing as she scooped him up in her arms. âFine! Iâm up. What do you want to do today, dove?â She asked, kissing his head. She had started calling Youta the nickname that Keigo called her out of habit. It ended up just sticking after a while.
âPark! Park!â He said happily and Jiko rolled her eyes.
âYou always wanna go to the park.â She laughed and he nodded his head furiously.
âThe park is fun! I can fly there.â
âOkay, but you gotta give momma like 10 minutes to get ready. You need to go get dressed to.â She said and he nodded quickly, pushing away from her so that he was flying in the air at eye level of her. She gave him a playful look before using her hand to flick in the direction of his room. The little boy giggled as he flew to his room.
Jiko went into the bathroom and got ready for the day. She sprayed dry shampoo in her hair, it was significantly shorter than it was when she was with Keigo. Back then, she had hair that landed at her mid back. Now, her hair was kept into a messy pixie cut. Being a full-time single mom, she didnât have a lot of time to worry about stuff like her hair so she just cut it off. Jiko brushed her teeth quickly and then changed her clothes so that she didnât look like she had just woken up.
By the time that she was ready, Youta had been struggling to put his shoes on. Jiko chuckled as she helped him slip his shoes on and tie them. Soon after gathering their belongs, the two of them started to head towards the park. Jiko always felt a little weird about taking Youta to the park because she was afraid that people would stare and talk about how much he resembled Hawks. Luckily though, most people didnât give him a second look. She assumed that in a world full of people with different quirks, he didnât stand out too much.
Once they reached the park, they arrived at a little area that was far enough away from the main section of the park. This is where they normally went because Youta always wants to fly around but Jiko didnât like him flying around a bunch of strangers. So here, in their little safe haven they had found, Youta could fly as much as he wanted. And he did.
Jiko took a seat on a tree stump a few feet away from Youta. He looked at his mother as if asking permission to fly, and she just nodded her head. Seconds passed before Youta was in the air, flying around the trees. He never got out of his mothers sight, that being one of her few rules. He could fly when they were here but he had to stay within a specific distance that she could see. He never broke the rules.
They must have spent the next couple of hours here, Youta flying around high and Jiko just watching him. She took photos of him every once in a while so that she could remember all of these moments with him. Â
âOkay buddy, lets go.â She called out, and Youta nodded his head. He turned towards his mom and started flying straight towards her. She laughed as she opened her arms. Youta flew straight into her arms and she carried him out of the little meadow they were in. They walked back home, stopping for some snacks on their way back to the apartment. Â
When they arrived back at the apartment, Youta was quick to take his shoes off and jump on the couch. He grabbed the tv remote and turned it, checking the news station to see if there was any coverage of heroes. Jiko rolled her eyes slightly as she started to look through her cabinets to start looking for something to actually make for dinner.
She was distracted as her phone buzzed. She grabbed it and opened the text message she had gotten. It was from her boss. While she may have money coming in from the commission, she still had a job to make sure that they always had enough money and to keep suspicion off them. It was just a little bartending job that she didnât mind too much, but it always sucked when she had to leave Youta.
She had grown closer to the old couple across the hall. Youta called them his grandparents and they gladly accepted. They had never been able to have children so they took Jiko and Youta under the wing like they were their child and grandchild.
âWanna go to Nanas for a little?â She asked and Youta jumped up.
âYES!â He screamed. She laughed and rolled her eyes. Â
âOkay, go get packed. I don't know exactly what time Iâll be okay tonight.â
It took the small boy less than a minute to jump from the couch and run to his room. Jiko walked to her room and got dressed in her bartending outfit. It was just a pair of shorts and a black button up top. She gathered all of the things that she would need for work and met her son in the living room. Â
âReady?â She asked and he nodded his head furiously as he ran towards the door. He swung it open and was across the hall in a matter of second. Jiko laughed quietly as she followed behind him, shutting and locking their apartment. By the time she had done all of that, Mei had already scooped Youta up in her arms and was placing a kiss on his cheek.
âHave to work?â Mei asked, and Jiko nodded her head.
âIâm sorry its such short notice.â She rubbed the back of her neck.
âNonsense! Any excuse to spend time with my grandson is an excuse well spent.â She said happily and Jiko nodded. Â
âIâll see you later, Youta.â Jiko said, leaning forward and kissing her sons head. He smiled and waved at her.
âBye momma!â He said as Mei stepped back into her apartment and shut the door.
It took two trains to get to the district that she needed to be in. It wasnât exactly a long commute, but she always left early so that she could enjoy her walk to the station and then to work. She had her headphones in as she walked, taking in the scenery of the town she lived in. Having lived here for four years now, she should be tired of seeing it. But she never was. She thought it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen.
She arrived at her job a little before her shift. She was always early. That was something she had picked up from Hawks in their time together. She used to be late to everything, but Keigo's time was always limited so she always got their early to make sure she had enough time to spend with him. Â
âHey, Jiko!â One of her coworkers called out. His name was Haruto and he was one of Jikos few actual friends. Â
âHey, Haruto.â She smiled.
âYou work tonight?â Â
Haruto rolled his eyes as he walked over, throwing his arm over her shoulders. He pulled her close into his arms and she gave him a small hug. Jiko had only been one for physical contact when it came to two people and they were her son and Keigo.
âWeâll have fun tonight. Thereâs some sort of pro hero party here tonight. So get ready for a long one!â Haruto shouted, fist pumping the air. âMaybe Iâll meet Edgeshot tonight!â
âI have to get someone's autograph for Youta. If he found out I was in the same building as a pro hero and didnât at least try to get an autograph, he might just go live with Mei.â Jiko chuckled.
âIâll try to get some for him too!â Haruto said happily before he turned on his heel, â I have to get some stuff ready for prep. When you clock in, come find me and we will figure out what you need to do to get prepped!â
Jiko nodded her head as she went into the break room in the back, sitting down for a few minutes before clocking in. She scrolled through her phone, scrolling through random socials as she waited. As she scrolled, she came across an article that was written about the party that was happening tonight. Apparently it was exclusive. Agency's had bought the place out for the night and people wouldnât be allowed unless they were a hero from an agency or a plus one for the heroes. Â
At least that meant that the bouncers aren't going to have pull crazed fans off of the heroes every five minutes. That's happened here before and it wasnât a pretty sight. Jiko sighed quietly as she locked her phone and slid it into her short pockets. She clocked in and got to work preparing for the night. Â
A couple of hours passed and people started to show up. Jiko recognized a few heroes from watching the news religiously with her son. She had started to get drinks for heroes such as Edgeshot and Best Jeanist, smiling at them and being as friendly as she could. Of course, due to the large hero present inside the club, paparazzi had already started to form outside. Jiko sighed. She hated nights like this. Part of her moving away was keeping a low profile and having photos taken all night meant that she had to avoid them to the best of her ability.
Haruto poked his head around the corner, shouting an order of drink to Jiko. She nodded quickly as she started to pour all of the different shots that had been ordered. She placed them neatly on the tray that Haruto had called out. In exchange for the drink, Haruto slid an autograph from Best Jeanist to her. Â
âI donât know how much Youta likes Best Jeanist, but I managed to grab this!â He said happily, and Jiko beamed at him.
âHe loves all heroes.â She shouted over the loud music, âAny autograph will be enough to make him lose his mind.â
Haruto nodded, turning on his heel to go give out the drinks she had just whipped up. Jiko quickly returned to her place, making drinks and handing them out for the night. It wasnât until about thirty minutes later that someone squeal and Jiko looked up to see none other than All Might, smiling down at her.
âHoly shit.â Jiko said said, causing a large laugh to escape from his lips.
âIt is I! All Might! I assume youâre a fan?â He asked, leaning forward. His elbow hit the bar top and he put his head in his hand.
âNo- Well, yes, but I said holy shit because youâre my sons favorite hero and he might die if knew I was this close to you.â She chuckled, and All Might also let a small laugh pass his lips.
âWell! We canât have that can we?â Â
âWhat do you mean?â She said, tilting her head.
âLet's take a video for your little boy! And I will personally sign something for him!â He said with a large smile and Jiko just stared at him for a second before she whipped her phone out. She turned around and held the phone up.
âYouta.â She said before she hit record.
âHi Young Youta! Your mom told me that you're a fan! Follow your dreams and donât give up, Plus Ultra! Oh, and listen to your mother! Eat your vegetables!â All Might said, his smile large and he threw up a thumbs up towards the camera before she stopped record.
Jiko turned back around and watched the video quickly, chuckling to herself. âHeâs going to lose his mind. Thank you.â She said as she glanced up at him. He threw up a thumbs up, still smiling.
âAll in a days work! Now, let me get...â He said, ordering a drink. Jiko nodded, quickly making the drink for him and handing it off. A few minutes after that drink was handed off, another squeal caught Jikoâs attention but what came next caught her off guard.
âHawks!â Someone screamed and Jiko felt her blood go cold. Of course he was going to be here tonight, he's a pro hero and this event is for pro heroes. She glanced up, seeing his large red wings extend through the door way. Attached to his hip was his girlfriend. She was wearing a skin tight black dress, hair done up, makeup making her look even more beautiful (If that was possible). Keigo was wearing a pair of blue jeans, they had holes in them around the knees. A black button up shirt with a few buttons undone at the very top of it to expose a little bit of his chest.
Jiko felt her breath catch as she quickly turned around and squeezed through the few other bartenders that were behind the bar. She excused herself to the back, running to the break room. She shut the door behind her as she fell into the chair in the room. She was wheezing, attempting to catch her breath. Â
What was she supposed to do? She canât just not do her job but she couldnât risk Keigo seeing and recongize her. She didnât want him to. Her life with her son was so good and she didnât want to have to explain to Keigo that she took money to walk away from him with their child.
It was in this moment that Jikos quirk activated and her hands instantly went to her head. Suddenly she was able to hear every persons thought within the building and she could feel what most of them were feeling. Tears started to pour out of her eyes as she curled up in the chair, shaking her head, trying to turn off her quirk.
Jikoâs quirk was that she was able to change the way people felt and change the train of thought that they were currently thinking. But doing this, she felt everything that they felt. When she got into situations that were overwhelming, her quirk would activate on its own and she wasnât able to turn it off until she was no longer panicking. Â
The only person in her life who had ever been able to calm her down was Keigo. He was able to wrap his wings around and whisper gentle words to her until she was grounded again. This was one of the first times in years that she had had a full-blown episode like this and even though the only person who could help her was in the building, she couldnât go to him and ask for help.
The break room door opened and Haruto stuck his head in long enough to see Jiko in her weakened state. He instantly opened the door long enough to slide into the break room before he shut and closed the door behind him.
âHey, hey, hey, what's wrong?â He asked as he crouched down beside her.
âI can f-feel everything.â She stuttered out, unable to move her hands from her head.
âWhat can I do to help?â
âD-don't.. don't know.â She mumbled, starting to rock slightly as she tried to get herself under control.
âHey, youâre okay. Whatever caused this canât hurt you, okay? I wonât let it.â Haruto said as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around Jiko. She leaned into the embrace, her head resting against Harutoâs shoulder.
âYouta... Youtaâs father is here.â She mumbled quietly and a quiet gasp came from Haruto.
âHis father is a pro?â Haruto said, slightly shocked. Jiko couldn't find the words so she just nodded her head slowly. âWho? Does he know?â Â
Jiko knew that she had made a mistake in telling Haruto because she didnât want anyone to know. But she wasnât exactly in the right head space to be making rational descisions. Â
âI canât tell you who. He doesnât know.â She whispered, the voice around her slowly dimming. âI donât want him to take Youta away from me.â
âWell, firstly, he couldnât just take him.â Haruto said, pulling back as Jikos words steadied themself out. Haruto knew that Jiko didnât like to touch for long periods of time but he had figured that this was a special occasion.
âI know.â Jiko said, the voices finally subsiding in her head. âBut that doesnât stop it from being one of the biggest fears I have in life. That heâs going to find out about Youta and he's going to take him away from me.â
âWell, youâre one of the best mothers I have ever met. You bust your ass for your son and I donât think that anyone would want to separate you and Youta if they spent even five minutes with the two of you.â Haruto smiled and Jiko couldnât help herself as she reached out and hugged her friend again.
âThank you.â She said quietly.
âIâm just telling you the truth, Ji.â He said smiling. âDo you think you can go back out on the floor? You can always come back here if you start feeling overwhelmed again.â
âOkay.â Jiko nodded. Haruto helped pull her to her feet and he opened the break room door for her.
âJust keep your head down, donât talk to him if you can avoid it.â Haruto said as he pushed Jiko back out the door. She nodded to herself as she went back behind the bar and started to make up more drinks over the next hour or so. She would glance around the room to see if she saw him coming towards the bar but as far as she could tell, he was across the room and too busy sucking face with his girlfriend.
Jiko wouldnât lie and say that seeing Keigo making out with his girlfriend didn't hurt a little bit. She had never seen him in person with another girl, considering they were each other's only friends growing up. Jiko had just always assumed that her and Keigo would grow old together. She had never had the thought of him being with anyone else because she was just used to...them.
The night started to come to an end, heroes were leaving and so were their guests. It was down to maybe the last ten people left in the bar when Jiko started to work on closing the bar down. She was taking dishes back to the dish room, cleaning up liquor bottles and putting them back into their places. She started to wipe down the bar in places that people werenât sitting. Anything to make it so she could go home to her Youta.
Maybe four guests were left in the building at this point, Jiko wasnât paying much attention to the actual guests, just listening to her coworkers count down how many they saw. The bar was more or less closed down when a voice pulled Jiko from the glass she was wiping out.
âCan I get a scotch?â An all too familiar voice asked and Jiko froze on the spot. The glass nearly slipped from her hands before she quickly turned around so that her back was facing Keigo. Maybe he hadnât noticed her face, maybe he was too drunk to recognize her. All that matters was that she continued breathing and not letting herself get overwhelmed.
She grabbed a bottle off the counter in front of her and poured a small glass of scotch. With her head still down, she turned around and slid the drink across the bar.
âThis is the only one I can give you, the bar is closed now.â Jiko said, trying to make her voice sound a little deeper so that he wouldnât recognize her voice.
âAlright.â Keigo said softly and Jiko could feel his eyes on her. âYou know, you remind me of someone.â Â
âYeah, I swear I know you from somewhere.â
âDonât know where that could be. Iâve never met you before.â She said, turning away from him again to pretend to clean the counter behind her. The two of them sat in silence for a while before Haruto stuck his head out from the back.
âJiko! Are we good to shut down?â He called out and Jiko froze in place. Hawks nearly choked on his drink after hearing the name called out. Â
âJiko?â Keigo said quietly but by the time he had gotten her name out, she was already in the back of the restaurant. Â
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