Chapter Text
It had been a little weird at first, after telling other pro heroes about his true identity. Everybody had questions, ranging from the obvious to the ridiculous. But nobody had thought that Hawks hiding his angelic abilities had prevented him from becoming a better hero. Nobody had treated him any differently.
So now Hawks’s identity is an open secret amongst heroes. The public doesn’t know about their local angel hero, but the heroes of Japan know the truth. So when a villain suddenly finds his Blessing Extinguished for a moment so that the authorities can arrest him, or when an old associate of All For One’s appears and is immediately identified thanks to a sharp eye and some Insight, the heroes all shrug and say they got lucky. Maybe they have an angel looking out for them. Who knows?
It’s the same for Fumikage, as far as Hawks is aware. His classmates still treat him just the same as they treated him before, because he’s their secret demon friend who still plays the guitar and dresses only in black and likes to eat apples. Nothing about him has changed, not in any way that matters.
So life goes on. Hawks patrols the outskirts of Musutafu, subdues villains, and has dinner at the Todoroki estate. Fumikage goes to school and struggles with homework and trains to be a hero. The two of them don’t intend on changing their lives any time soon.
-
The whole family is eating dinner together on the first day of UA’s winter break when Shouto says that he’s visiting Bakugou’s home the next day to meet his parents and asks if he should bring a gift as a guest.
“You don’t have to,” Rei says slowly, “but it’s a nice gesture. Maybe take a small box of fruit.”
Fuyumi sets down her cup of water. “Or something like a dessert?”
“Should I wear something formal?” Shouto asks.
“What’s the fuss?” Natsuo rolls his eyes. “Relax, Shouto. Your usual clothes should be fine.”
Fumikage pointedly says nothing and takes another piece of sushi and chews on it. Hawks glances at him, then Shouto, then says, “Wait, you’re invited but Fumikage isn’t?”
“We’re not a buy one get one free deal, Hawks,” Fumikage says with a sigh.
“Nah, I mean.” Hawks leans back in his chair. “I thought all three of you were friends.”
Shouto nods, his expression serious. “We are. But I’m the only one going since I’m the one who’s dating Bakugou.”
Enji chokes on his mouthful of tuna sushi.
Silence settles over the table. The only sounds are Enji choking on his food, Fumikage’s chopsticks clinking against the plate as he takes more food, and Hawks frantically smacking Enji’s back so that Japan’s number one hero doesn’t die via sushi.
“Wow, okay,” Hawks says, a little too high-pitched, in the otherwise thunderous silence, “you’re dating Bakugou? Since when?”
“Since nine days ago.” Shouto looks vaguely concerned about Enji’s narrow encounter with death, but his voice is calm. “I want to make a good impression.”
Hawks tries to think back to all the prior interactions he’s seen between Shouto and Bakugou. They’d gotten along well enough—disregarding Bakugou’s inability to admit he had friends—whenever he’d seen them together, but apparently there’d been a lot more going on where Hawks couldn’t see them. Well, given that they live in the same dorm, it makes sense that Hawks wasn’t privy to any developing relationship between the two of them in the past few months. Hell, he hasn’t seen them at the same time in nearly a year.
“I’m sure you’ll do great,” Hawks says with a smile. He’s resting his hand on Enji’s back, no longer needing to clear his airway, and he uses that opportunity to pinch the man hard. “Don’t you think so, Enji?”
Enji doesn’t wince, but it’s a close call, going by the twitch of his eye. “As long as you remember your manners, you should be fine.”
“Well, you should invite him over to our home this week as well,” Rei says with a warm smile. She’s the only Todoroki at the table who doesn’t seem to be in shock. “It’d be lovely to see him again.”
Lovely. Hawks isn’t sure if that’s a word he’d use to describe Bakugou Katsuki, but he doesn’t let his smile waver. Shouto’s never shown any kind of romantic interest in anybody before, and if the kid is getting into his first relationship ever, Hawks is going to support the hell out of that.
Besides, it’s not like Bakugou is a bad choice for a boyfriend. He’s a hero strong enough to keep up with pros, he’s smart both tactically and academically, and as prickly as his personality may be, he’s honest and diligent. Bakugou is, objectively speaking, not a bad choice at all.
Nevertheless, he certainly is quite an odd one.
“Congratulations on not being single anymore,” Natsuo says, finally recovering his ability to speak as he claps Shouto on the shoulder. “He better be treating you right.”
Shouto tilts his head just the slightest bit, considering the matter before he says, “I think he’s trying to. It’s cute.”
Cute is also a word Hawks has never associated with Bakugou before. Clearly Bakugou has a hidden side to him that Hawks has never seen, or Shouto is so smitten that he’s decided Bakugou’s snarling personality is adorable.
…It’s probably a bit of both.
“Oh, have you gone on any dates yet, then?” Fuyumi asks, curiosity shining in her eyes.
Shouto nods and says, “We sparred last week.”
There’s another short silence.
“Anything that didn’t involve, uh, violence?” Hawks asks with an awkward chuckle.
After a slow blink, Shouto says, “We went grocery shopping together.”
“That’s very domestic of you,” Rei says, which is a diplomatic way to phrase it, in Hawks’s opinion. “Isn’t Bakugou a good cook?”
“Yeah, he is.” Shouto’s mouth curls the slightest bit. “He cooks for me almost every day.”
Okay, that’s kind of sweet, Hawks has to admit. He slants a glance at Fumikage, who notices and immediately rolls his eyes. Hawks smiles and sing-songs, “Fumikage, how cute are they together?”
“They’re insufferable,” Fumikage deadpans. “I’ve been mercifully spared from any PDA, but they keep looking at each other.”
Hawks snickers. “There’s nothing wrong with looking at somebody.”
“You’re not the one who has to live in a dorm watching them from close quarters.” Fumikage sniffs. Clearly he’s witnessed too much lovestruck gazes or something like that. “Shouto called Bakugou by his given name one time and Bakugou accidentally exploded the couch we were sitting on.”
Rei puts a hand to her mouth to hide a smile that still reaches her eyes. “I see.”
Enji, on the other hand, doesn’t say a word, but he watches Shouto very carefully. His expression is unreadable, but Hawks doesn’t sense any kind of disapproval there.
The rest of dinner is spent chatting lightheartedly about Shouto’s newfound relationship and Fumikage’s exasperation with it, and even as he cracks jokes about the whole affair, Hawks keeps an eye on Enji the whole time.
-
“Okay, spill.” Hawks nudges Enji with a wing as they sit on the edge of the roof under the starlit sky. “What’s bothering you about Shouto dating Bakugou?”
To be perfectly honest, Hawks expects something something along the lines of how it’s Bakugou Katsuki of all people, that it seems like a recipe for disaster, or that he’s mentally preparing a shovel talk for his son’s new boyfriend—which is wholly unnecessary, because Hawks will be the one delivering that speech, thank you very much—but Enji surprises him by saying, “Shouto takes after Rei so much.”
“Uh.” Hawks blinks and tries to connect the dots between that statement and Shouto’s relationship with Bakugou, but he doesn’t see the connection at all. “Okay? That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“I’m not sure.” Enji sighs. “I don’t think Bakugou would ever be like me, but…”
Hawks blinks. It takes him a second, but then he thinks he sees what Enji’s trying to say. “You’re worried Shouto will get hurt.”
Enji rubs a hand over his face and heaves another sigh. “I mean, I doubt Bakugou would be the abusive type; I’ve seen enough of him to know he’s not like me.”
It’s strange, Hawks thinks, how natural it’s become for Enji to acknowledge his failings as a parent, but he doesn’t seem to realize the progress he’s made, either. The Enji that Hawks first met all those years ago never would have worried about his son’s feelings getting hurt.
“You know, Shouto takes after you, too.” Hawks offers Enji a grin when the other man looks at him in confusion. “He’s competitive, he’s stubborn, and he’d never just sit back and take it if somebody treated him like crap.”
Enji stares at Hawks for a second, then huffs a laugh. “Well, I guess that’s true.”
“Damn right it is.” Hawks chuckles and looks up at the sky. “Shouto’s gonna be just fine. He’s got his whole family looking out for him, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.” Enji finally smiles. “He does.”
-
It’s Christmas Eve when Shouto and Bakugou finally go on a proper date. They go to the downtown mall to go shopping and watch a movie, as far as Hawks is aware, but somewhere along the way, the date turns into a battle when a band of villains crash their way into the mall.
“You guys have the worst luck,” Hawks comments. Shouto is giving a statement to the police; Bakugou has already given his, and he’s waiting with Hawks—who flew to the scene as soon as he heard the commotion—in the police station’s waiting room. “That must’ve totally ruined your date.”
Bakugou shrugs. He doesn’t seem all that bothered by the date being ruined. “Whatever. We can always go on more dates. It’s more fun to kick ass together, anyway.”
“You make it sound like fighting villains together is a date,” Hawks teases, and Bakugou rolls his eyes. Hawks doesn’t miss the slight tinge of red to his ears, though. “Oh my god, it is. You think it’s hot when Shouto’s fighting beside you?”
“I never said that,” Bakugou snaps.
Hawks can’t help the shit-eating grin spreading on his face. “Bakugou Katsuki, you’re a romantic, huh?”
“I will blast you into the wall right here,” Bakugou threatens, which is very unthreatening when Bakugou’s ears are flushing bright red and his cheeks are almost following suit.
It’s a shame it’s Fumikage’s day off; Hawks is so sure he would have given Hawks the most long-suffering look his avian features could muster.
“No wonder Shouto counts your sparring sessions as dates,” Hawks says.
Bakugou sputters. “He said that?!”
That’s the exact moment Shouto returns, his blank face melting into curiosity when he sees Bakugou’s flustered state. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine,” Bakugou says in a strained voice.
Shouto frowns, but he doesn’t question it. Instead, he holds out a hand. “Let’s go.”
“Go where?” Bakugou asks, his embarrassment forgotten in the face of his confusion as he glances at Shouto’s hand then Shouto’s face.
“To continue our date.” Shouto raises an eyebrow. “We’re not done yet.”
Bakugou stares at him for a split second, then he grins as he takes Shouto’s hand. “Fuck yeah, we’re just getting started.”
Oh, well, look at that, Hawks thinks to himself as he observes the looks on their faces. They really are smitten with each other. No wonder Fumikage thinks they’re insufferable.
Once they’ve decided on where to head next, Hawks waves the two of them off and goes back to his patrol, humming under his breath as he goes.
-
Hawks flies fast, but time flies even faster. Soon enough, it’s time for Fumikage and Shouto to graduate from UA, and Hawks can’t help the bittersweet pride filling his chest. He can recall a six-year-old Shouto crying and desperate for help with perfect clarity, but now Shouto is fully grown and a great hero in his own right.
“They grow up so fast,” Hawks mutters, and from beside him, Best Jeanist chuckles behind his collar.
The graduation ceremony doesn’t drag out too long, which Hawks is grateful for, and soon enough he can see the newly minted graduates whooping and cheering. Even from a significant distance, Hawks easily catches the members of Class A hugging each other. He’s pretty sure some of them are crying.
While most pro heroes make offers to third years to join their agencies as sidekicks prior to graduation, some heroes wait until the grand day to go make their offers. Hawks is pretty sure some of the pro heroes present in the crowd came here for exactly that reason.
Hawks is here to make an offer as well, but not to make anybody his sidekick.
“Tsukuyomi,” Hawks says after the frenzy starts dying down and the graduates have taken most of their pictures together. “Wanna be my partner?”
The joke would be lost on anybody who doesn’t know the true nature of Hawks and Fumikage’s relationship, but Shouto muffles a laugh and Bakugou snorts from a few feet away.
And Fumikage, who has grown into not just a good hero, but also a proper demon, says, “Yes, I’d like that.”
-
While Hawks’s agency is turned into the Hawks and Tsukuyomi agency, Shouto decides to make his debut as a solo hero right away. He doesn’t bother with setting up an agency, much like Mirko, and instead goes around helping heroes and capturing villains while on his unpredictable patrols.
Bakugou, on the other hand, takes some time before he sets up his own agency. It’s small, but Hawks has faith that it’ll grow into a very big and influential one in the future. He’s not the only one to set up his agency; several members of Class A choose to go pro by setting up their own agencies, with a number of them partnering up to do so.
And some of them decide to take their time; Hawks is a little surprised that Midoriya chooses to be a sidekick for Lemillion instead of going pro immediately, but it makes sense that Midoriya would want to learn everything about running an agency before setting one up himself.
Because Shouto chooses to stay in Musutafu and Bakugou sets his agency up in Tokyo, the two of them don’t get to see each other much. While Musutafu and central Tokyo aren’t that far from each other, being pro heroes with busy schedules means that they hardly have time to spend together unless Shouto decides to go patrol the greater Tokyo area every once in a while.
So maybe it’s not all that surprising when Shouto, six months into his life as a pro hero, announces that he plans to move to Tokyo.
-
“Specifically, I’m thinking about moving in with Katsuki,” Shouto says. He’s telling this to Hawks before he talks to the rest of the family, and Hawks isn’t sure why they’re having this conversation until Shouto bites down on his lip—a rare sign of anxiety from him, Hawks notes—and then slowly asks, “Are you still going to stay?”
It takes Hawks a moment to realize what Shouto is asking: whether Hawks, as Shouto’s guardian angel, will take Shouto’s move to independence as a sign to move on from his life here and go back to wandering the world. Whether there’s any meaning in Hawks and Fumikage staying in Japan when Shouto wasn’t even going to be under the same roof anymore.
Is there a point in Hawks and Fumikage still staying here when Shouto doesn’t exactly need them anymore?
“We might not stay here,” Hawks says slowly. “There’s been talk about how Kyushu’s hero presence is the weakest out of all of Japan’s main islands, and the commission’s asked if I’d be interested in relocating to Fukuoka.”
Shouto blinks. “That’s…not as far away as I imagined you might go. I thought you might leave Japan entirely.”
“I’m your guardian angel, sure,” Hawks says. “But I’m more than that, now. I’m one of Japan’s heroes, and I think it’s still a little early for me to retire just yet.”
Shouto nods, looking relieved. “Okay. I’m still going to visit home when I can. You’ll come too, right?”
“We’ll always come back,” Hawks says. It’s an old promise, but he’ll keep it til the day Shouto dies. “Always.”
-
So Shouto moves to Tokyo and finds a place to live with Bakugou. Enji mopes about it for a bit, even if he’s pretending to be fine, but he proudly watches the news sometimes to see Shouto making headlines as a hero working alongside a number of other pros, including pro hero Dynamight.
Shouto still calls them on a regular basis, checking in to report how his life is going and hear about how his family is doing. Even through the screen of the video call, Hawks can tell how happy Shouto is, especially when Bakugou squeezes in for a moment just to say hi.
So with Shouto happy and satisfied in his new life, Hawks gets to work on changing his own.
He talks with Fumikage and they mutually agree that relocating to Fukuoka will be a good move. Kyushu will have a stronger hero presence, the Todoroki family doesn’t need them to stay so close by anymore at this point, and they can both fly from Kyushu to the mainland easily anyway. Besides, it satisfies Hawks’s need for more freedom to move around.
They still travel to the Todoroki estate, usually planning their trips so that they coincide with Shouto’s visits so that all seven of them can sit at the dining table together and eat while they share stories. Sometimes, even Bakugou is brought along, and Hawks has to marvel at how Bakugou manages to fit himself into the space the Todoroki family makes for him. Bakugou is still brash and prickly—some things just never change—but he never forgets his manners and is on his best attitude whenever he comes over.
By the time even Rei starts referring to Bakugou by his given name, Hawks is pretty damn sure Bakugou has locked in his place as the Todoroki son-in-law.
The Todoroki family is growing, and that means Hawks’s family is growing, too. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows he can’t keep them forever, but for now—he’s happy as he is.
-
Nagant visits him just when he’s finishing a patrol and getting ready to fly back to the penthouse above his agency that he shares with Fumikage. He’s still having trouble calling the penthouse home, but then again, Hawks wasn’t ever meant to have a home. It’s a miracle he had once for over a decade in the first place.
“How is your partner?” Nagant asks. “Has he fully awakened all his powers now?”
“Pretty much, but he can do better.” Fumikage still has a lot of space to grow stronger, but there’s no rush in that. There’s plenty of time. “You should come over to our place and see for yourself.”
Nagant tilts her head to the side. “Perhaps next time.”
“Sure.” There’s plenty of opportunities in the future for a next time. “Why are you here, exactly?”
She’s quiet for a moment, then she says, “Marigold called me.”
Hawks blinks. “About what?”
“About you,” Nagant said, sounding exasperated. “Because you won’t pick up her calls.”
“Oh.” Hawks blinks. “Shit, she changed her number? I thought it was spam.”
Nagant rolls her eyes. “Anyway. She reminded me that it’s been well over five years since you made your debut as a pro hero in Japan.”
Has it already been that long? Hawks hadn’t even thought about that. He probably should have, though, because now he knows what Nagant is here to talk about.
“If you keep going, the public is going to realize you’re not aging,” she murmurs.
Right. Hawks had kinda forgotten about that part, because now that heroes knew about his identity, he’d sort of stopped thinking about the importance of maintaining the illusion of humanity.
“How much longer do you plan to stay here?” Nagant asks. She doesn’t sound worried, but she does sound curious. “Your ward is old enough to not need you so close by anymore.”
“I know that.” Hawks sighs. “I’m not going anywhere for now. Shouto might not need me, but Japan does.”
“You stand for freedom,” Nagant reminds him, and thankfully she seems amused rather than annoyed by his refusal to relinquish his current role. “I’m the one who stands for justice.”
“Setting people free from fear and pain is one of the things I do.” Hawks shrugs. “I like being a hero.”
Nagant hums. “Well. I’m heading to NIgeria next. I’ll see you at some point.”
“Sure.” Hawks doesn’t ask how long it’ll take for them to see each other again. Time is meaningless to them. “See you around.”
-
Time is meaningless to them, but it isn’t meaningless to humans.
“What do you think, Fumikage?” Hawks asks. They’re both sitting in the living room, trying to puzzle out where their lives are headed from here. “How much longer do you think we can be heroes here before we gotta leave?”
Fumikage is quiet for a second. Dark Shadow inches out of Fumikage’s chest and curls around him like a particularly clingy snake. “I don’t wish to leave. Not…yet.”
“Not while your friends are here,” Hawks says softly, and Fumikage nods.
Hawks sighs. “We’re gonna have to let the public know about us at some point, if we’re going to stay. It’s gonna be interesting.”
“Do you want to leave?” Fumikage asks.
“No, not really,” Hawks says. Fumikage made his friends at UA, and Hawks made his friends out of his fellow pro heroes. Both of them have a family back in the Todoroki estate. Shouto is still alive, in Tokyo, and Hawks would stay forever if Shouto could live that long.
But Shouto won’t live forever, and neither will all the people they care about right now.
“Maybe just until the current generation is gone,” Hawks murmurs. “We’ll stay until a new generation takes over.”
“Until we lose all the people we love,” Fumikage says, seeing the exact meaning of Hawks’s words. “I suppose that would be the ideal point to move on. But will we really ever lose them all, if we keep finding new ones as they grow up?”
Hawks laughs. Fumikage really is too sharp sometimes. “Yeah, if we keep sticking around, there’ll always be more people to grow fond of. It’s why staying in the first place is such a bad idea.”
“There could be worse ideas.” Fumikage shrugs. “Hawks, you are the one who was never meant to be tied down. If you ever wish to leave, if you ever need to leave, I will come with you.”
Hawks smiles, grateful for Fumikage’s unwavering loyalty. “I think we’ll definitely stick around until Shouto and your friends are gone. And if we grow attached to more people in the meantime…”
Hawks thinks about it. As Fumikage said, there could be worse ideas. It doesn’t matter. Hawks and Fumikage have plenty of time to figure out where to go from here. All the time in the world to change their minds, if need be.
“If that happens, hell, maybe we’ll become eternal protectors of Japan or something.” Hawks shrugs. “Who knows? We can always change our minds.”
Fumikage cocks his head to the side, considering the idea. Then, he nods. Dark Shadow purrs loudly in contentment. “Indeed, we can.”
And until then, Hawks figures, they can make a home out of this place.
-
“Katsuki,” Shouto says during dinner at the Todoroki estate, “I think we have enough Todorokis in the family anyway. And you’re an only child.”
Katsuki scowls. “Really, Shouto? You’re bringing this up right now?”
“Oh, what’s this about?” Fuyumi asks in a curious tone.
Shouto blinks and looks at Katsuki, who stares at him mulishly. Hawks can’t quite hear the silent conversation happening between them, but he can guess that Katsuki loses that particular round, because he hangs his head and sighs.
“We were discussing which one of us would take the other’s surname when we get married,” Shouto explains. Rei’s eyes go wide and Natsuo starts coughing. Even Enji looks a little dumbstruck.
Fumikage seems to be unaffected. He tilts his head and asks, “So what exactly is the point of contention?”
Katsuki, who seems resigned to his fate, grumbles, “Todoroki Katsuki sounds a lot better than Bakugou Shouto. Like, if you account for the syllables and the consonants and whatever.”
“But then your parents won’t have anybody to continue the family name,” Shouto points out.
“We’re not having kids anyway! The family name is dying whether we like it or not,” Katsuki says, and his exasperated tone implies that this is an argument they’ve been repeating for a while. “I’m telling you, Todoroki Katsuki rolls off the tongue a lot better! Right, Tokoyami?”
Fumikage glances up at the ceiling, as if praying for patience. Hawks has noticed that Shouto and Katsuki both have a habit of making Fumikage play referee in their debates, forcing him to choose a winning side each time. “Please don’t drag me into your marital issues.”
“I wasn’t even aware you were at that stage,” Enji finally says, raising an eyebrow at Shouto. “You never said you two were engaged.”
“Not yet,” Shouto says. “One of us has to win first.”
“Win what?” Rei asks, and there’s a hint of a smile tugging at her lips.
“Whichever of us becomes the number one hero of Japan first gets to officially propose to the other one,” Shouto says. Beside him, Katsuki has buried his face in both hands, his embarrassment clear in the bright red of his ears. “I ranked higher this time, so it’ll probably be me—”
“Hell no,” Katsuki interjects, jolting upright. His embarrassment has seemingly evaporated in the face of his indignation. “I’m gonna beat you next time and get there first.”
Fumikage takes a sip of his tea. “Didn’t Midoriya rank higher than both of you anyway?”
“We’ll beat him,” Shouto and Katsuki say at the same time.
“Oh, that’s so sweet,” Fuyumi coos.
Hawks laughs. “Well, if you want my opinion, I do think Todoroki Katsuki sounds better than Bakugou Shouto.”
Katsuki rounds on Shouto with a look of vindication. “See?”
“You’re supposed to take my side,” Shouto deadpans as he shoots Hawks a frustrated look, and Hawks cackles in delight.
Enji clears his throat, and everybody’s attention shifts. “You’re more than welcome to be our family, Katsuki.”
“You’re already part of it anyway,” Natsuo says agreeably.
Fumikage adds, “I bet Shouto is the one who’s going to propose.”
“Bird brain, I’m gonna prove you so wrong—”
As everybody chatters away, Hawks looks around the table and feels a warmth settle over him. It’s nice to have the family grow bigger. They’d been a family that had been shattered and torn apart when Hawks had first met them, and now they are flourishing, stronger than ever. Hawks is proud of the progress each and every member of the family has made.
Hawks and Fumikage are lucky to be a part of this family. And Hawks hopes that they’ll be lucky for a long, long time together.