Vibrant hair with the hues of purple, pink to yellow. Her braid upon her head flowed as she ran.
Her wavy locks' appearance mimic like a vibrant sunset. She held her scraps of food closely towards her.
(Seriously...)
This 20 year old woman was named Satoko Takashi. Quirkless.
(All this for food?)
Yeah, she stole it, but a girl's gotta eat anyways. It's hard living on the streets where you're poor and starving.
Common criminals were chasing her. Eventually, she got cornered into the alleyway. She gritted her teeth and sighed.
"Don't you all have anything BETTER to do than pick on someone like me?" she turned towards them. "You're REALLY getting on my nerves. Back off."
Her fierce yellow eyes glared at them. Her stomach churned and growled. She gets pretty hangry if she doesn't get to eat something soon.
One of the criminals tilted his head as he smirked. "Why should we? We're just as hungry as you are. It's selfish to keep it all for yourself!"
He lifted up one hand. The skin of his fingers hardened and became sharp like knives. As his hands trembled from the transformation, the steel clicked against each other.
The second villain outstretched his long brown wings. They lacked feathers and had a similar pattern of some sort of insect. "Yes. It would be a shame if we had to beat up a little girl, wouldn't it?"
The first guy snickered. "We gotta do what we gotta do. Beetle. Be ready to run as soon as we're done."
Beetle nodded. He flapped his wings to enhance his speed as he ran towards Satoko with his arms ready to grab the food.
"Tch." Satoko scowled. "Little?" She smashed her fist into Beetle's face. "I'm not as weak as you think!!"
That didn't stop him being caught off guard. She flipped over him and kicked into his neck. Hitting into a weak point. The other guys stood in shock from witnessing her strength.
It's so irksome to her that these guys can just get food easily with their quirks. Even though her words have confidence in them, she fought any inch of anxiety she had while fighting them off. Adrenaline was peaking. This wasn't her first fight with crooks but certainly not last. Every day was a fight to survival.
This was her every day norm. She kept up a good fight. That one guy with the sharp fingers, she really had to watch out for.
In the distance, there were other people standing around and watching what was occurring. Commenting and spectating.
Beetle groaned as he propped himself up with his elbow. There was a bit of blood dripping from his lips that he wiped away with the back of his wrist. He looked towards his friend. "Hey! Don't just stand there!"
The guy with the sharp fingers furrowed his eyebrows. He lunged at Satoko, aiming his attack right below her ribs.
Satoko gets ready to dodge. She concentrates to kick under him instead, but...
"Is that-?!" One of the spectators watching yelped out.
It happened extremely fast. A red-orange blur appeared.
Feathers?
"Hey, hey. Come on. No need for that." Another man's voice spoke out. Satoko couldn't really tell what his tone was implying.
This man was Hawks. His feathery wings flapped into action. He had a cocky, yet sarcastic smile on his face. Yet his eyes looked kind of bored. His hands were gripping onto long feathers as if they were blades. Those are what sent the one guy flying with his sharp fingers.
Beetle gasped. He pushed himself up and ran towards his friend. He grabbed the other man's bicep. "Come on. We should go."
The man with the sharp fingers glared at Hawks. "Not yet. I haven't done enough yet! I can still get the food!"
There was a man in the crowd who stepped forward. His wife was holding his hand. There were two girls huddled close together behind him. The man held out a bag. "Would you like this food? Is that what this is about?"
Beetle stood up and helped the other guy up as he did so. He nodded slowly. "Yes. That's what we want."
The man started to look impatient as he shook the bag. "Well?! Take it! I spent money on getting this food for my family!"
The man with the sharp fingers stomped up to the kind man. He grabbed the collar of his shirt. He ignored the screams from the man's family as he did so. "And I had to pay a price to feed my family too. It seems like we're both selfish."
He sighed and pushed the man away. He looked back at the crowd as he outstretched his arms. "This is why the heroes are corrupt! See? That hero is probably going to take me to jail without even asking if I need help! He only thinks about the law and doesn't care about circumstances. They're all like that."
Hawk's eyes furrowed and shook his head. "All these misconceptions about me. That's such an exaggeration. Are you done yet?"
Without giving them an answer, he used his feathers to pin them down. "It's the price you have to pay for causing such a scene." He ignored their yells and cursing towards him. The cops soon after came to gather them up.
Hawks put on a smile as if nothing happened. The other people cheered. They were murmuring things how he saved a quirkless woman.
Curiously, he walked over to Satoko. Intrigued a bit why she's even glaring at him.
"Oh? Did I do something wrong?" He asked.
"I didn't need your help." She snapped.
He waved his hands 'defensively' and still had that sarcastic smile. "You didn't, hm? Well, why did they go after you?"
He asked that only for one reason. The way she was acting was a little suspicious to him.
"They're villains, you know how they are." She grumbled. "I'll be on my way." She sprinted away with her food.
Hawks tilted his head, feeling a bit fascinated. (At least that was interesting.) But he stood his ground by not following after her. He went to cater to his fans.
...
Legs feeling a bit weak and worn, Satoko trudged on ahead home. She didn't feel comfortable eating these scraps of food without getting to her destination.
The streets felt so dark and gloomy. One could tell that this was an area of poverty. Rats scurried by. The smell of homeless people reeked the air.
Satoko lived on the streets as long as she could remember.
Was she 4? 5 years old? She remembered being so scared and alone as a child.
Dangerous people kept trying to go for her, until this old man took her in. She never knew his real name. He wanted to be called 'grandpa.'
He lived in the ghetto too, but he knew how to get by. People respected him for being so strong at his old age.
Grandpa was the only person who had considered Satoko. The one person who warmed her heart and being. He taught her how to fight. He practically raised her.
Strength training for her perseverance. Self-defense for her survival. He would tell her every day she would need to do this for her own wellbeing.
Not only that, he knew his time was short. One stormy day, Satoko just turned 16. Grandpa wouldn't wake from his sleep.
Death knocked at his door. It was such a painful memory. He was the only person she ever trusted.
(It really has been 4 years...)
She walked into her 'home.' Ripped cardboard pieces were everywhere. A doorway with hardly any wall structure.
Satoko's 'bed' was just a bunch of old curtains scrunched together on the ground.
(Heroes... Villains...)
She does agree with what that villain had said earlier about heroes being 'corrupt'. They're just as corrupt as villains are.
(Everyone's so fake.) She sat down on the muddy ground, eating her scraps. (That guy... Hawks, was it? He must have only helped me for his own recognition.)
That's what they all do anyway. Heroes earn money for saving the day. What act of charity should just become a career? It was utter garbage to her. Anger started to boil insider her.
(I hate the thought of this all.)
She turned to her grandpa's 'urn'. Burning his corpse into ashes one day was unsettling to her. But this is to keep him by. His ashes are in a covered vase.
Another thing about society is that they don't really care for the weak. Someone died and there was no funeral for him.
(If I would die, I bet someone would just toss my body in the trash.) She growled at the thought. Moving towards the 'urn', she started to pray.
(Grandpa... Please, give me strength. I hate how this world is. I want this to be a better place. Not like this...)
Her eyes grew heavy. She didn't notice how much she's pushed her body to the limits. A resounding thud occurred. She fell into a deep sleep on the dirty ground.
....
"Hawks." Aizawa was standing in the doorway of UA high school. The usual worn expression was on his face. "You're late for the training exercise. The students are waiting." He crossed his arms. "Did you run into trouble on the way?"
"I was hungry." Hawks lied with a smile. "I had some hot pot. Do you like hot pot, Eraserhead?"
One of Aizawa's eyes twitched. The young pro hero was starting to grate on his nerves. Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly scold him like he could scold his students. "You have a job to do. Try to stay focused."
"No need to be so uptight," Hawks grinned. "You'll never be popular with that kind of attitude." Not that Hawks cares about popularity or anything.
It feels good to him to talk carefree like this. He gets a kick out of it most of the time.
"Tch." Aizawa looked away in annoyance. "Whatever. I'll show you to the training area for today if you're done telling me about your morning."
Hawks was about to go on about it, but noticed Aizawa gave him a death glare. Hawks motioned his fingers as if he was zipping his lips.
While following Aizawa, food did cross his mind. But not in that way.
(That woman...)
Satoko appeared in Hawks' mind. It was obvious she was holding onto scraps of food. It was a sad thought for people to be living that way.
There was a pang of guilt. Perhaps he should have offered her hot pot? It would be an excuse to kick back and relax.
But her attitude towards him seemed rather hateful and cold.
Hawks kept his unreadable face on as he went to go help 1A with their training.
...
Drip.
Drip.
A random water droplet hit Satoko's cheek. How long did she sleep?
Cracking her back to help aches go away, she got up.
Her stomach felt like there were pins and needles in them.
(Need to find some more food... Hopefully something better.)
With getting up, she started heading out to look for more food. Living this way was unbearable at times. What she would give to have a regular meal...
As she was walking, there was the sound of fighting once again. There were footsteps heading in her direction at a fast pace.
Before she was really able to process what was going on, a burst of blue entered her vision. It was strangely beautiful, but dangerous all the same. Being within a few feet of it caused her skin to feel like it was being burnt off.
Then there was a man. The man's eyes matched the colors of his flames as they danced around him. Despite the fact that he seemed capable of burning up anything in his path, his eyes were colder than any she had ever seen before.
His feet hit the ground and he slid backwards, bringing one of his arms up as those blue flames surrounded it. His skin had obviously been badly burnt at some point in time as it was being held together by makeshift skin grafts.
His eyes had a lazy expression like he didn't have a care in the world. He was just enjoying himself, it seemed. A small chuckle escaped his lips and another burst of flames came forth from his arm.
This is the first time she's seen this man in this area. It was bizarre. Before she was going to go on her own way, her eye caught onto something.
There was a random thug on top of a building. He had his arm like a sniper gun.
Satoko realized this man didn't seem aware there were others readying to gang up on him. That was just from her own perspective, of course.
BANG!
Shots were fired towards the scarred man. It was like happening in slow motion.
"Look out!" She yelled as her feet sprinted towards him.
No, she couldn't stand to see this.
(That bullet could kill him!!)
Seeing a death would pain her even if he was a stranger. This unfair world, she wants to do something.
Warm blood trickled down her shoulder while shielding him. There were spots onto the ground. Head hanging low from the recoil of agony, she didn't stumble. Just gritted her teeth to bear the pain.
The man froze. His eyes widened the slightest bit. "Well that was a stupid idea."
Ignoring his ungrateful statement, she saw the thugs trying to persist. They were laughing and taunting as they kept themselves grouped together. Her eyes looked up with a piercing glare. "Is that it!?"
Despite her injury, she already put herself into a stance to fight. "This doesn't even hurt. You think I'm playing?" She lied of course. "I'm warning you to back off. NOW."
One of the thugs gasped loudly. His eyes became wide and bloodshot. He dropped his hand to his side.
The same thing happened to the other thugs. All of them started to walk backwards slowly until they had disappeared entirely from view.
The full weight of what had just happened suddenly hit Dabi. He felt surprised, but he didn't exactly express it. "You must be insane. You'll die with that wound."
He could kill her himself. That would be an easier solution to get rid of the annoying surprised feeling that he felt.
Killing her would make him happy, right? So why wouldn't he? She didn't seem to mind the idea of dying all that much. (She would probably thank me. Crazy woman.)
"Whatever." She brushed it off coldly. "I wasted enough time."
Yeah. Insane. This guy probably could have fought them. Those flames of his could have easily burned them out.
Such an idiot.
(What am I doing...?)
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