Chapter Text
Izuku closed the cafe early, grinning all the while. The customers grumbled a bit, not wanting to leave yet, but they were quick to shut up when he gave them free cookies. After waving the last person out the door, he quickly ran around the place, turning off lights and making sure the kitchen appliances were turned off. Izuku was practically vibrating with excitement the whole time and continued to bounce as he headed down the sidewalk.
He was finally going to see his sole patron after such a long time. They rarely had time to come by the cafe anymore, which they’d quickly made clear was not by choice. They had been kind to Izuku since the beginning, being the first person to pull him out of the flaming hell pit that was his life. They were the first true light in his life, the first person to truly hold out their hand without sinister intentions.
The trip to the nicer areas of the city was long, but quick, considering Izuku’s quick, excited pace. It might’ve taken even less time, had he not had to stop and apologize to every person he stumbled into in his ecstatic state. When he’d finally reached the building he was aiming for, his hoodie was covered in dirt and his shoes were even more scuffed up than they had been that morning.
When he threw open the door to the hero agency, more than a few scornful glances were tossed his way. He knew. He knew that he looked like a mess and that everyone at the agency disliked him. He was a charity case to them, a poor person that was brought in to get more public support. Izuku had been told many times by his benefactor that it wasn’t true, that he was cared for and more than just a tool, but it still hurt. Everytime the receptionist glared at him and snapped, he felt like just turning around and going home. The fact that her quirk was literally called Intimidation did not help.
“What do you want, brat?”
Izuku shifted, a little bit of his excitement slipping away. He’d tried preparing himself earlier, but his nightmare hadn’t helped in the slightest. Maybe he should just go home, seeing them could wait…
Izuku mentally slapped himself before replacing the cheery smile that had slipped. He knew that the receptionist noticed, judging by her sudden uptick in demeanor. He absolutely had to see them now. If he let the chance slip, who knew how long it’d be until there was another one.
“I’m here for my appointment with the pro hero: Hawks.”
The receptionist scowled again, irritated that the boy hadn’t just given up. A flippant hand gesture towards the seating area had Izuku scurrying off. He didn’t need her to tell him to wait, he had to every time he came by. Usually an hour would pass, sometimes two, but showing up any later wouldn’t fix it. After coming here enough times, he knew that the receptionist wouldn’t notify Hawks for a while and then he’d come rushing down almost right away.
The hour passed slowly, causing Izuku’s excitement to rise until it gave way to anxiety. He knew that she’d call him, but after a certain point, Izuku felt like maybe she wouldn’t this time. To calm himself down, he opened his nearly forgotten bag and pulled out a notebook. After noticing the receptionist’s nearly constant irritation, even when not dealing with him, he decided to update his entries on her. Whether it was related to her quirk or was just her personality, he had yet to figure out, but he still had some time to try.
Another half-hour passed and Izuku watched the receptionist glance at him one more time before finally picking up the phone to call Hawks down. Perhaps it was another intimidation tactic. By making him wait for so long, maybe she thought he’d just give up and leave. But that didn’t seem reasonable, given how long he’d been coming here and the fact that she didn’t vary the times that she made him wait. It was either she wasn’t very good at experimentation or she was just trying to inconvenience him.
A sudden slap to his back and a screech of “WELL IF IT ISN’T MY FAVORITE CARROT!” sent Izuku tumbling out of his thoughts and the flimsy plastic chair he’d been sitting on. When he glanced up, Hawks was standing triumphantly over him, hands on his hips, wings spread wide, and a smirk playing across his lips.
“How am I a carrot? Green bean, I’ve come to understand, broccoli too, but I don’t look anything like a carrot.”
“You’re just all the vegetables at once. Color doth not matter for it is the consumption that determines one's worth.”
Izuku had to think for a moment after that garbage that came out of Hawks’s mouth.
“That- doesn’t even make sense. Were you just trying to sound smart by making a weird version of ‘you are what you eat’?”
A sheepish smile spread across Hawks’s face as he brought his hand up to rub the back of his head. A second of uncertainty flashed across his face before his usual smirk returned. It was a tick that Izuku came to notice after spending a lot of time with him. Otherwise, no one was able to notice the cracks in his mask. He’d been trained not to show them.
“Let’s head out, tomato. I’ve actually got time today, so we’re gonna paint the town red.”
“Tomatoes aren’t even a vegetable. It’s a fruit.”
“Shut up, potato.”
“That’s a starch.”
After an exasperated sigh, Hawks was dragging them outside. There were a few excited shouts from pedestrians before Izuku found himself scooped up and they were shooting across the city. He let out a shriek and flailed his arms about before firmly latching on to Hawks.
“Dammit Hawks! You know I hate when you do this!”
Hawks laughed before pausing and then pouting. He let his wings fold, sending the two of them into a plummeting freefall, Izuku’s screams climbing octaves higher. It wasn’t until they nearly hit a building that his wings snapped open and an updraft yanked them into the sky.
“And you know that I hate that name. Call me Takami for god’s sake.”
A quick nod from Izuku, who barely looked up had Takami chuckling again before they landed on a balcony. Izuku finally looked up to see that they were at an upscale restaurant, a far cry from his little cafe. A waiter came by, seeming not surprised in the least to see the third ranked hero standing on the balcony with a kid clinging to him like a koala.
“We have a table open for you in our private room, sirs.”
“That’s fine, we’ll just take a normal table. Maybe somewhere near the windows?”
A sharp nod from the waiter and the two found themselves seated. Izuku twisted his face into a scowl, his tongue sticking out in the general direction of the silverware.
“I thought we were gonna paint the town red? This feels like a date.”
Hawks let out a sad laugh at that.
“Oh sweetie, you know I’m too good for you. Besides, I’m not exactly allowed to do much else.”
The last sentence trailed off into a mumble, leaving them both in a contemplative silence. Yeah, the day wasn’t going great, but Izuku was with Takami, the big brother he always wanted and there were still a few hours left to turn it around for the both of them.