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Gojo hadn 't intended on getting Hawks involved in this, but the hero was already here and there really wasn 't much point in passing up an opportunity like this.

Frankly, he 'd expected he 'd run into Hawks sooner or later in a situation like this, and he figured if he ever wanted any genuine insight into the man 's personality, the quickest way to do that would be to engineer a set of events wherein they 'd have to work with each other. As it turns out, the opportunity just fell right into his lap, so he may as well make the most of it. It 's not as if Gojo had gone into this with some sort of grading criteria involved, but if this was a test, then so far Hawks was passing it.

And hell, ' better Hawks than Endeavor, the only other top three hero stomping around these parts these days.

He hadn 't turned tail at the first sight of Gojo, which happened with alarming frequency when it came to heroes who stumbled upon him in the streets. Gojo understood it, of course; they were usually much weaker than him and poor matchups to boot, so it made sense they 'd want backup or would call in for a hero better aligned to combat Gojo 's abilities. But that 'd be pretty poor behavior for a top ranking hero like Hawks. The winged hero didn 't disappoint though. Not only did he stand his ground, he didn 't immediately engage in combat without first judging the situation. He 'd actually even treated Gojo in open negotiation, although with a wary caution well warranted for a first (known) encounter with a villain. And after confirming what was going on, he 'd agreed to put aside their differences in favor of the lives at stake.

Hawks had discussed possible solutions to the hostage situation and listened openly to Gojo 's advice. He didn 't disagree with any of his suggestions straight out of hand just because Gojo happened to be a villain ' if anything, he seemed to recognize Gojo 's extensive history with the criminal underworld and defer to his judgment. You 'd think all of this would just be more or less common sense, yet it was disheartening how many heroes would dismiss an opportunity to save lives with less risk just because a villain was involved.

Gojo wondered if he 'd still be so approving of the Number Three if he hadn 't met him as Keigo beforehand. Probably not, but he wasn 't against acknowledging his own biases.

He was probably being too lenient with Hawks, in all honesty. He doubted he 'd be so open and forthcoming with information had Hawks been anyone else ' even Eraserhead of Naomasa, whom he 's developed something of a soft sport for.

He rarely, if ever, went out of his way to explain the nuances of his technique to anyone. Actually he tended to come up with progressively more bizarre explanations the longer the line of questioning went on. He also didn 't make it a habit to work with others. It was an unnecessary level of complexity, when he so rarely actually needed assistance.

Yet here he was, making concessions.

'We

could

always wait for backup, ' Hawks says, as they linger in a dark alley just across from the warehouse Humarise is keeping their human hostages.

Between Hawks 's feathers and Gojo 's Six Eyes, scoping the building out for weaknesses hadn 't taken long. The place was crawling with goons, but most of them seemed like hired third-party contractors. Easy enough to scare off with a well timed curse technique, or even just Hawks or Dabi 's presence alone. However, just strolling in there unthinkingly would escalate the situation; Gojo doesn 't know enough about this Humarise group to know whether they 'd make good on a threat to start killing hostages or not.

Gojo debates the merits of it. 'Who 's your backup? '

'Underground hero Echo is assigned on this mission too ' she 's probably finishing up the arrests for their financial backers. But it wouldn 't be that difficult to pull in another hero on patrol nearby. '

Gojo knows Echo by name and reputation if nothing else. She 's a frequent adjunct to the Mos Eisley police department, one of his favorite precincts to fuck with, so she 's come up in conversation plenty of times. He thinks Smiley 's a bit sweet on her too, and anyone Smiley likes can generally be counted on to be a decent enough person. Much like her fellow underground hero Eraserhead she 's got a quirk that 's not entirely suited for combat but can kick ass nonetheless.

Gojo doesn 't think it 's necessary to drag her into this mess, though.

He can handle it himself, in all honesty.

But having Hawks here ' a known and reputable top hero (although that sparkling reputation is very suspicious, in Gojo 's opinion) will go a long way in easing tensions during a hostage situation. Unsurprisingly, frightened civilians already stuck in tenuous situations tend to hear the name of one of the country 's most wanted villains and get a bit hysterical. With Hawks, he 's guaranteed to cut his quota of screaming women and crying children by at least fifty percent. And if he doesn 't, well, Hawks is here so he can fob all that nonsense onto the guy who actually deals with traumatized civilians as a profession.

That being said, one hero is bad enough. And anyway, Smiley would kill him if something happened to the girl he 's been trying to mack on for

months

under Gojo 's watch.

'I don 't think that 'll be necessary. ' He pauses. 'Although I do sense a trap. '

Hawks ' gaze flits towards him, glowing gold in the low light. It feels a lot like the stare of a predator in the dark, and even though the thought sends a shiver down his spine, that 's somehow not nearly as frightening as it should be. 'Next move? '

Gojo grins roguishy. 'Spring the trap. '

Hawks doesn 't ask how he intends to do that, since he 's already well aware at this point that Gojo has plenty of ways to go about that. Gojo had given him a rough overview of how Limitless worked ' it might have been nothing more than a cursory explanation, but it was a far cry more informative than the usual ringaround he gave people on the subject ' namely that Gojo could use it to manipulate space in a way that could cause untold levels of destruction and could teleport instantaneously.

So Hawks just gives him a slightly exasperated look as he fixes his visor over his eyes. 'Just try not to burn my eyes this time. '

Gojo rolls his eyes. He 'd already explained to the hero why a flame of that temperature (and the subsequent property damage) was necessary considering the volatility of the airborne, modified Ideo Trigger. It wasn 't his fault the winged hero had taken the opportunity to soar closer than Gojo had expected him to the moment he 'd blown it up.

'No flames necessary, promise. ' Gojo assures with a flirty smile.

Maybe

too

flirty, even for him, given the situation at hand.

Sue him, okay, he can 't help it. Stick a criminally attractive guy in front of him and a bit of harmless flirting is basically subconscious to him. And anyway, it 's not like Hawks 's status as a top hero or Gojo 's status as a top villain is going to change the fact they 've already slept with each other.

Predictably, Hawks just shakes his head at his antics. He does, however, look to be fighting off an unwilling smile as he does it.

'Fine, I 'll wait for your signal. ' He shakes out his feathers, spreading his wings. As he shoots into the air, he tosses a finger at Gojo, 'And don 't think we 're not talking about this later! '

Gojo smiles up at his retreating figure wryly.

Yeah, he supposes it 's a conversation a little overdue.

But really, what is he supposed to say?

Haha, sorry for sleeping with you? I had a great time and I don 't regret it, but I feel bad that I probably made you go through an existential moral dilemma I hadn 't intended to give you? But it 's not like I knew you were a hero either, so, let 's just call it even and agree to walk away as enemies???

Gojo cuts those thoughts off, reminding himself he 's on the clock here.

//

@ru-kun | My Own Worst Enemy

why do I keep putting myself in situations that require me to be a responsible and/or reasonable human being??? I am not qualified to be the adult here

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//

So meeting Dabi has not gone at all how Hawks could have ever expected, and on a horrifyingly related note, meeting Satoru again has

also

by that same turn gone demonstrably disastrous.

As he flies low between the warehouses and leaves Dabi 's immediate line of sight, he lets his amicable facade crumble a little. He alights atop the roof of the warehouse adjacent to the one they 'd confirmed the hostages were being held in, and lets out a long, shaky breath. That was ' harrowing, to say the very least.

He 'd expected his inevitable meeting with the infamous Dabi to be filled with danger and violence, and although he hoped he 'd be able to negotiate some sort of dubious pact of non-aggression with the villain, he fully expected to meet him as a known enemy on bad terms.

He 'd expected to never see Satoru again, but entertained idle daydreams of running into him in just as serendipitous a manner as their introduction, perhaps at a coffee shop or just bumping into each other on the street, and privately admitted that if such a scenario ever miraculously came to pass he was unlikely to let the man go again without

at least

getting a number if he ever got the chance.

The actual reality of both meetings was almost too bizarre to comprehend.

What were the fucking odds they 'd be the same person,

he thinks, deliriously, as he sends a sharpened feather to quietly pick the lock of the window across from him. He watches the feather burrow into the latch with only half a mind on the meticulous detailed work involved.

Hawks can barely come to terms with the reality of

Satoru

being Dabi (and all that entails) when his first encounter with the villain has left him so shaken. He 's a top hero for a reason ' there 's very little that can truly throw him off his game these days, and fewer still capable of causing ' such situations. Dabi is obviously one of them. Nevermind that he incinerated a multiple storied warehouse the size of a few city blocks into nothingness ' it was the calmness he displayed in the midst of the destruction and the sheer control he wielded over his own destructive powers that truly alarmed him. He 'd seen plenty of villains cause horrific levels of destruction on greater scales, but never with so much precision, such mastery over their quirk. Flames that hot and that explosive should have destroyed the entire warehouse district at the very least, possibly even the neighboring districts, and Dabi had confined it into a perfectly measured area with mathematical precision. And at Dabi 's '

Satoru 's '

age ' probably not any older than Hawks himself ' it was chilling. Just what had Dabi had to go through to achieve such unprecedented control over a quirk that must be unimaginably dangerous?

Hawks knew

exactly

what it was like to be in possession of something so cripplingly powerful. People considered his own quirk S-tier, and his mastery of it sublime. And it had taken him years of exhausting, endless days of training to achieve it. It had, quite literally, taken his entire life. Everything that could compromise a human life well lived ' the routineness of everyday normal life that most people took for granted: friends, school, social outings, life milestones 'he 'd given it all up to achieve the proficiency he had now. And his feathers weren 't even what would be considered a classically 'dangerous ' quirk. He could sharpen them, sure, but they weren 't inherently a danger to himself or others. Dabi 's quirk, whatever it was, was so powerful and so catastrophic it must require impossible levels of control. Control he 'd have to have learned at a young age, otherwise he would have permanently damaged himself and others.

It ' must ' have been a difficult life. Probably not one dissimilar to his own.

It 's the combination of their inherent similarities and the pure, exponential power of his quirk that has Hawks so troubled.

Dabi was, in a word,

terrifying.

Hawks ' preternatural instincts weren 't wrong to immediately label him a threat. It 's just too bad the

rest

of Hawks ' brain was having such a hard time agreeing with the sentiment.

The man with the indomitable control over his cataclysmic quirk was also the same man that had smiled so softly at Hawks and promised him he wasn 't interested in taking home anyone else, even after Hawks had nervously confessed he 'd never done anything like this before. He 'd been funny and sincere in equal turns, and unabashedly genuine in everything he did. And that was probably the most terrifying thing of all. Because Hawks was too well trained to miss a lie when he saw one, and if Satoru hadn 't been lying at all that night, then that meant his every word and action had been the truth. Satoru

was

the truth of Dabi.

His feather pries the latch free and the window yawns open in a soundless arc. Hawks immediately flits down to it, and disperses his feathers to carefully haul himself over the ledge and onto the rafter on the opposite side. Once he 's settled in the shadowed darkness above the warehouse, he calls them back to him.

He pushes all thoughts of Dabi out of his mind and focuses on the mission at hand.

Chained in rows in the back end of the warehouse are dozens of civilians of all ages. Some can 't be any older than two or three, sniffling and shaking as the adults near them try to quietly comfort them. They were heavily guarded by an encirclement of what must be hired thugs, with the man Dabi had confronted whispering frantically off to the side with what could only be their ringleader. They really weren 't playing around ' in addition to whatever quirks they might possess, they were all armed. A well-financed group, but that was to be expected from what he knows of their financial backers. And there was an easily discernible line dividing the guards that must be hired for the gig and the ones that worked directly for the organization, judging from attire and quality of weaponry alone. The thugs were in the sort of streetwear and cobbled together support items he 'd expect from run-of-the-mill villains; the members of Humarise were all fitted with military grade tactical gear.

The man in the rumpled suit from earlier was hissing frantically at an equally frantic looking tattooed thug, gesticulating wildly. A red feather zoomed across the darkened rafters, slinking into a position for Hawks to overhear their conversation.

'I 'm paying you triple what was originally agreed, Ishimoto. ' The man in the pinstripe suit griped, wiping madly at his sweating bald head.

His tattooed companion, Ishimoto, gave him an incredulous look. 'All due respect, Hamauzu-san, but you could pay me my weight in gold and my answer ain 't changing. No one in this town crosses Dabi. '

'You already made an enemy of him when you agreed in the first place! ' the Humarise exec, Hamauzu, returns. 'There 's no point in running now, we just need to wait a bit longer for the strike drones to be in range '

Hawks narrows his eyes in alarm. So they have access to military grade weaponry as well? This was bad. Just who the hell

was

this group? There weren 't very many players in the criminal underworld capable of purchasing that kind of firepower. Hawks had known Humarise was an international terrorist group of some kind; now he had to wonder if they were state sponsored, and if so, by whom.

'Military strike drones? Just for me? I 'm flattered! '

Hawks sucks in a sharp breath, blinking furiously as he feels like his own eyes are playing tricks on him.

Did Dabi just ' teleport?

Oh, right, yeah. That's ' a thing. He can do. Apparently. As if scorching hell fire and deadly telekinesis weren't enough already.

Shouts of shock and alarm erupt from the armed guards below, and plenty of them start shooting erratically without even waiting for any kind of signal. Hawks nearly lets loose a dozen feathers to intercept on instinct, and just barely manages to refrain at the last second as to not blow his cover. His intuition proves itself in spades, as Dabi stops all the bullets in midair ' without even pulling his hands out of his pockets.

He 's such a tool,

Hawks thinks, with far too much endearing fondness. It 's mildly infuriating that he finds it so attractive.

'Yeesh, everyone 's so trigger happy today! ' Dabi comments breezily. 'If I wasn 't here to kill you all, I 'd think you were happy to see me! '

'I don 't want nothin ' to do with this, ' the tattooed thug insists, backing away.

'A little late for that, ' Dabi remarks with a raised eyebrow, tone mild as milk, as if he 's not discussing the impending mass execution of every criminal in the room. 'Come on man, you had to know I 'd be coming for you, the moment you knew

exactly

what kind of goods you were transporting. '

Dabi jerks a thumb towards the chained up hostages. The burly criminal has nothing to say in defense, expression surprisingly stoic and fearless in the face of approaching doom.

'I 'd hoped the heroes would get here first. ' The criminal admits, shocking Hawks into almost giving away his position with a loud, incredulous snort.

It 's positively absurd that criminals apparently hope to be captured by

heroes

over Dabi. Even if it theoretically makes a great deal of sense. They were far less likely to lose their lives in an altercation with heroes, who were trained to apprehend and not kill, as opposed to Dabi, who was notorious for his ultimate insta-death quirk.

Dabi just laughs. 'Hedging your bets on heroes beating me to the punch, huh? You know I can teleport, right? '

The man just shrugs. 'They say Hawks is the fastest hero alive. And he 's in town. '

Awh, Hawks is flattered. Slightly.

'They 'll come for you!! ' The suited man shrieks, as he frantically backs away to place the tattooed thug between them. He points wildly at Dabi. 'The heroes have been investigating us! They 'll be here any second! '

Hawks mouth drops open ' in shock or outrage, he 's not sure.

Well, now it all makes sense,

he thinks, grimly.

Both he and Echo had remarked how oddly easy it had been to pinpoint Tawada Takeshi, the financial backer and shipping manager that had been working with this Humarise group, and the man they 'd been spying on earlier. Almost as if he 'd been some kind of red herring. Turns out they weren 't entirely off the mark. Takeshi

had

been there to lead the heroes, but not in a different direction, no ' they 'd

wanted

the heroes to find out about this. Because between the hired thugs and the armed guards, even a team of veteran heroes would have trouble neutralizing this threat.

Add to that their prototype Ideo Trigger, which apparently had the power to overload a person 's quirk with just an inhale of the airborne toxin, and this whole night was just one huge powder keg ready to blow up in their faces.

Damn, they 'd really almost got us on this one, huh?

He muses, with an internal wince.

He can 't imagine how bad this night could have gone without Dabi 's interference.

He would have made it here in record time, because he 's Hawks, the fastest hero in the country. He would have scoped out the situation and scouted the area, pinpointed the hostages and the warehouse full of drugs. He 'd have requested backup, and plenty of it, after realizing they were dealing with military-grade opponents. The police would have gotten involved. Other heroes would have been called, possibly even other Top Ten Heroes, like Endeavor and Kamui Woods, who Hawks knew to be in the area. They would have been caught entirely unawares. It would have been a bloodbath.

Hawks shakes his head in wonder.

And yet, all their plans had fallen apart in an instant. All because Dabi just happened to show up tonight.

Dabi is laughing so hard he 's nearly in tears. 'Unbelievable! So the criminals are actually

hoping

to be saved by the heroes? You guys were counting on it, huh? That 's a shame. ' He rubs his chin as he tilts his head up in a thoughtful manner, as he comes to the same conclusion Hawks did. 'You know, a threat of this level would have had

all

the heroes in the area gunning straight for this place, for the glory if nothing else. And they woulda been slaughtered, right? All you 'd need is someone like Endeavor to show up, and just one whiff of Ideo Trigger and he 'd blow half the city up. '

The profusely sweating Hamauzu peers over the shoulder of his thug bodyguard, suddenly looking eager. 'Yes, yes exactly! We could still make it work, Dabi-san! Think of all the heroes we could kill! Possibly even three of the Top Heroes, all in one night! '

The man looks giddy at the thought, wiping a handkerchief over his balding head. 'There 's no reason we need to be enemies, Dabi-san, ' Hamauzu simpers, fervently. 'Heroes are a blight upon society, surely you agree. If you work with Humarise, we can rid the world of them together! '

Dabi blinks.

His expression is difficult to read, even with his blindfold off. He looks like an entirely different person with it off, actually. With it on, his features are all perfect, exacting sharp angles; the refined bridge of his nose, the perfect slope of his chin and the patrician arch in his brow giving him the sort of remarkably angular look that catapults people onto fashion runways. That 's not to say he 's any less attractive with it off: just completely, almost impossibly, different ' which probably goes a long way in explaining why no one has ever managed to uncover his true identity. Without the blindfold his entire face is revealed in full, the big, almost doll-like round eyes, framed by an arresting splash of bright-white lashes; the supple curve of his cheeks. He cuts a distinguished figure no matter what, but he looks much softer without the blindfold on. Almost innocent, in fact.

Hawks knows damn well that innocence is a total lie by every definition of the word. Dabi is no blushing virgin.

But this Humarise executive was clearly fooled by the ruse. The babydoll eyes and the sweet cupid's bow of his mouth and the naively juvenescent look.

Dabi smiles wide, so sweet but full of teeth and sharp edges. 'You wanna work together, huh? '

Hamauzu nods rapidly. The sweat shines as it pours off his bald head. 'We 'd be unstoppable, ' he insists, a positively greedy gleam in his eyes as he stares at Dabi 's form.

In a move so fast even Hawks can barely catch it, Dabi is behind the armed tattooed thug and right in front of the other man. He raises a single hand a loft, fingers curled into a finger-gun.

'Bang, '

he says, eyes alight with the gaze of a predator toying with its prey.

Hamauzu gives an ear-splitting shriek of terror, losing his balance and sprawling gracelessly on his back like a flipped turtle. He struggles wretchedly as he scuttles to put distance between him and Dabi, eyes full of horror.

Hawks would have called it bad form for Dabi to put himself in a position with armed enemies at his back, but frankly, with that telekinetic shield of his Hawks has to assume such a point is moot for him.

Meanwhile, as the Humarise exec is desperately crawling backwards in a fit of terror, Dabi is laughing at him enthusiastically. 'Hahaha! You 're really kinda pathetic arent 'cha? ' He muses aloud.

His beaming smile dims into something vicious. 'I 'm already unstoppable, what do I need you for? '

He raises his hand again, this time palm forward with his fingers wide, and directs it off to the side.

Hawks wishes he 'd been wired up with both a mic

and

a surveillance camera, if only to get a chance to rewatch the footage and get a closer look at Dabi 's quirk in slow motion. As it is, even his superior sight can 't really register what happens. One moment the warehouse is intact, and in the next Dabi has completely blown off the back half of the roof with a resounding

boom.

Cries of fear rise up from the shocked hostages as they cower at the sudden noise, the guards all panicked and alert as they flounder around uselessly.

Dabi doesn 't even so much as glance at the ensuing chaos he 's caused. His head is tilted up in Hawks's direction, eyes locked onto his. Even from this distance, Hawks can register the challenge glittering in those radiant eyes. As if Dabi is saying,

your move.

And who is Hawks to disappoint?

He drops down from the rafters and disarms the thug behind Dabi; even if he knows logically a man in his blindspot is not a liability for the supervillain, the thought of leaving his back unprotected just makes Hawks 's skin crawl. As he incapacitates the man, he releases a flurry of feathers to pluck all the hostages up and ferry them to safety. While he 's doing that, Dabi launches forward to deal with the rest of the guards.

Hawks is a bit busy taking down his own fair share of hired thugs, using his remaining feathers to disarm them before they can start shooting, relying on his hand-to-hand to see him through fighting their quirks off, but he can 't help but keep an eye on Dabi as he does the same. He 's genuinely impressed; most people with quirks like Dabi 's don 't bother learning any forms of physical offense. Evidently Dabi isn 't one of those people. His combat skills might be on par with Hawks, who 's had professional training since he was a small child. He can 't place what style it is ' a mix of down and dirty street fighting moves and classical martial arts, interspersed with plenty of improvisation.

Regardless, impressive martial ability or not, it 's still hardly the most pragmatic or efficient manner for Dabi to handle taking down a group of armed opponents. Especially in light of the staggering power and precision of his quirk.

Hawks waits until they 've disarmed and rounded up all the enemies in sight before turning to Dabi with the question on his tongue.

'Seems a bit underwhelming to show off your flashy quirk for everything but the takedown, ' Hawks comments, as he sends a few feathers out to scope out the area for any missed stragglers.

'Can I borrow those? ' Dabi asks instead of answering, pointing to the quirk-suppression cuffs dangling from his belt.

Curious, Hawks tosses them towards the villain. 'Sure. What for? '

Dabi makes his way to a man he 'd pinned in a bastardized straightjacket made out of the guy 's own coat. He slaps the cuffs on the struggling man, before wandering back towards Hawks. 'He 's the only one with a quirk that can break out of bindings, but watch out for that guy over there, ' he nudges his chin towards a man with a mutant type quirk. 'His tail 's got serrated spikes. '

Hawks nods seriously, flitting off a feather to keep watch over the thug in question, even as his mind races a mile a minute to process Dabi 's remark.

How exactly does he know that? Did he have intel before tonight indicating the people who would be involved, and their quirks? The thought is a bit outlandish. The police barely get access to records like that, and they work hand in hand with the law. But the only other logical conclusion is just as absurd. Somehow, Dabi knows what a person 's quirk is just by looking at them.

That has literally nothing to do with telekinesis at all, but would sure as hell explain the eyes,

Hawks thinks, dazedly, as the other man nears and he gets a detailed look at the eyes in question.

But Dabi had explained his quirk in vague, layman 's terms to him already, and hadn 't mentioned anything about his eyes.

Then again, if I was a villain, I wouldn 't reveal everything about my quirk to a hero either.

Hawks knew enough about the other man 's quirk to know it must work somehow on the atomic level ' that didn 't

quite

explain the heat and fire element to it, but it was the only thing that fit. Dabi had said, rather nonchalantly, that his technique at its core is the practical application of the mathematical concept of

infinity.

Hawks has only a rudimentary understanding of theoretical mathematics, so he won 't claim he really understands it. All he can say is that it manifests as sheer, instantaneous destruction that doesn 't seem to have any kinds of limitations to it at all.

Is he somehow using that atomic spatial distortion to figure out other people 's quirks? But how the hell would that work?

He 'll give himself a raging headache if he thinks on it any longer. Maybe he should just give up on understanding how a quirk like Dabi 's could ever even

exist,

and just accept the fact that it does.

'And for the record, I didn 't use Limitless for your sake. '

Hawks is shaken from his musings at that. 'My sake? ' He repeats, perplexed.

'Yeah. It looks bad for a hero to leave a bunch of dead people around, right? '

Hawks blinks. 'I would have blamed the deaths on you. ' He points out.

'Yeah, ' Dabi agrees without missing a beat. 'But then you 'd have to explain why you were working with a villain in the first place. I figured you 'd rather want to avoid a potential indictment. '

Hawks blinks some more, bemused.

Hold on ' did that mean ' was Dabi ' looking out for him? And his reputation?

'Fair point. ' Hawks replies, a bit dazed. '... Thanks for looking out for me. '

Dabi, to Hawks 's disbelief and distinct gratification, turns a bit pink at that. It 's impossible to mistake, even if it 's subtle, because Hawks has the dubious pleasure of knowing

exactly

what Dabi looks like when he blushes. And he knows exactly how far he can make that flush go down.

'Well, for the sake of my villainous reputation, maybe don 't mention it. ' Dabi shrugs, burying his hands into his pockets and looking off to the side. It does nothing to hide the dusting of pink across his cheeks from Hawks 's imperviously sharp gaze, nor does it hide the adorable flush at the tips of his ears.

Now is not really a great time to be thinking about how nice it would be to shove him up against a wall and ravish him.

Or be ravished himself. He 's not picky here.

Hawks breaks that train of thought off forcefully before it totally derails him.

By the time he 's wrenched himself back to the present, Dabi looks as if he 's composed himself back to his usual self. Not that Hawks even knows what that is. Is he usually more like the Satoru Hawks remembers, affable and loud and outrageously charming? Or is he actually more reserved and standoffish in his daily life, using his irreverent personality as an impenetrable shield?

'So, you wanna deal with the hostages, and I 'll wrap things up with these guys? ' He pulls a hand out of his pocket to point upwards.

Hawks follows his gaze out the cleaved open ceiling, squinting into the night sky. His keen eyes can just barely make out the gleam of light reflecting off a metallic surface. Coupled with the low drone of engines his sensitive ears are picking up, he can infer what Dabi means by 'these guys '.

Hawks glances back at Dabi, who looks rather eminently unperturbed by the turn of events.

It 's not that Hawks doubts him, or anything. He can 't, after what he 's seen. But the idea of leaving him to deal with military-grade weaponry alone doesn 't sit well with him nonetheless.

'You 're the hero here, aren 't you supposed to be the one to save the day and swoop the victims to safety? ' Dabi points out dryly, in response to his unspoken hesitation.

Hawks grins sheepishly. 'I see my reputation precedes me. '

He 's fairly certain those were his words, nearly verbatim, from that interview he did with

Put Your Hands Up Radio

just to piss Eraserhead off.

'Well, it 's quite a reputation, ' Dabi comments mildly, in a tone that 's impossible to read.

It 's the closest they 've gotten yet to clearing the air between them. The whole, 'accidentally sleeping with an occupational enemy ' thing, still heavy and unspoken between them.

If he 's actually going to make any progress on the HPSC 's villain infiltration mission, it 's going to have to happen sooner or later. The fact that he already knows Dabi and that they still have

plenty

of unresolved sexual tension between them, is too good an opportunity to waste.

But having this conversation in the midst of a hostage situation with missile artillery bearing down on them is probably not ideal.

'You 've got quite the reputation yourself, to my surprise. ' Hawks returns, smirking.

'It was a surprise to me too, you know? ' Dabi laughs, actually looking a bit embarrassed.

He blinks rapidly.

Wait. Was it really?

He 'd assumed, just from what he read from Dabi ' or Satoru 's ' body language that night that the white-haired man had had no idea who he was. But after realizing Satoru 's actual identity, he 'd had to second guess himself. But maybe he 'd had the right of it all along.

Dabi really wasn 't shaping up to be the villain he 'd thought he 'd be.

Hawks shakes his head in wonder. 'Are you serious? How did you not know? You 're literally a supervillain! '

'Exactly! So why would I know anything about heroes? ' Dabi complains.

'You ' that 's ' ' Hawks squawks in a decidedly bird-like manner he 'll be embarrassed about later, pointing at him wildly. Dabi doesn 't appear to think there 's anything outrageous to the fact he 's a wanted supervillain who apparently can 't even name the country 's Top Ten.

'Nevermind. ' Hawks sighs, wondering if he should just give up ever understanding Dabi as a lost cause. 'I 'm going to go save the day and rescue all the innocents, and probably get stuck cleaning up the mess from this because I doubt you 're up to giving a statement to the police, and pretend like I 'm not mortally offended that you 're one of the most wanted supervillains and you don 't even know your own enemies. '

Dabi winks at him. 'Glad we 're on the same page! ' He enthuses.

And then to his exasperated disbelief, starts to levitate in the air. 'See ya later, Hawks! ' He throws up a peace sign. 'Don 't do anything I wouldn 't do, and definitely don 't do anything I

would

do~ '

'I feel like that 's definitely terrible advice, but thanks, ' Hawks deadpans in response, as Dabi disappears before his eyes.

//

@ru-kun | My Own Worst Enemy

God, I am just so tired of people throwing roses at my feet

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//

He

really

doesn 't want to answer, because Giran calling at this time of night ' or godforsaken hour or the morning ' is never a good sign. But there 's a chance, however slim, that Giran has finally made a breakthrough in his investigation into the Hero Killer, in which case it 's in his best interest to pick it up. All Giran has managed to find out so far is that the word on the street has the Hero Killer meeting up with this League of Villains a few times. Just casual discussions, probably not unlike what they had originally wanted from Gojo himself. Gojo blew them off of course, but apparently the Hero Killer wasn 't quite as cavalier.

Pity for him, really.

After the whirlwind of a night he 's had, he would have liked to just take it easy.

But there 's the crippling chain of responsibility, shackled against his ankle once again. He sighs gustily.

'Hello there. '

'Dabi-kun, good evening. '

Giran returns.

'Is it? ' Gojo wonders.

'I guess that 's up to interpretation. '

'Or what news you 've got for me. ' Gojo quips back.

'Nothing on the Hero Killer, I 'm afraid, '

Giran pauses,

'but I have some time sensitive information I think you 'd be interested to hear, on the League. '

Gojo considers it. 'Yeah okay, I 'll bite. What? '

He 's more interested in Stain, but he 'd agreed to Eraserhead and Detective Naomasa 's terms on being their informant, and he 's interested enough in the prospect that he 'll follow some leads up for them on the League.

He 's drawing a line, though.

Doing it on his own, on his own initiative, on his own terms. He doesn 't want their gratitude, and he sure as hell doesn 't want their money. He doesn 't want some ridiculous plea deal. He 's helping them because Naomasa is Makoto 's brother and Eraserhead is Midoriya and Yui 's sensei. To wit; he 's helping them because he feels like it, no strings attached. The moment he no longer feels like being helpful, he 's out.

'The League sent out a final invitation for the individuals they 've contacted throughout the last year; they 're big debut is set for tomorrow. '

Gojo sits up a bit straighter at that. 'Tomorrow? When? '

Giran seems taken aback.

'Do you want to attend? '

Gojo tempers himself. 'Well, I was planning on a spa trip to Hokkaido, don 't really know if I can squeeze that in, ' he drawls, nonchalantly. 'But I 'd consider it, for the right price. '

Giran outright laughs at that.

'Then you 're better off going to your spa day, '

he says.

'I have it on good authority they 're paying their goons chump change for what they 're asking them to do. '

'They 're scalping them? That 's bad business. '

'To be fair, I don 't think there 's a price for trying to take down the Symbol of Peace, '

Giran throws out mirthfully, causing Gojo 's brows to raise.

'Yeah, even

I

might think twice before taking a job like that, ' he admits, candidly, although not for the reason Giran likely assumes. He 's certain he could do it ' he 's met All Might in person after all, he 's well aware he 's not in top form ' but being responsible for the fallout of knocking the Symbol of Peace off his pinnacle sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

'I figured as much, but I thought I 'd let you know just in case. '

Giran says.

'I 've heard a rumor that the big showdown is set for the USJ. Something like that might even be big enough to pull the Hero Killer out of the woodwork. '

Gojo puzzles at the ceiling. What sick bastard would attack Universal Studios Japan? That 's just cruel.

'Hm, well, thanks for the info. I 'll think about it. '

He flicks the phone off and tosses it away from him. With a heavy sigh, he drags himself out of his invitingly soft hotel bed.

Looks like his night 's not over after all.

*SpongeBob narrator voice* it was not universal studios Japan