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iwriteficsandmore · 5 years

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Mindful Education

Finally. Sorry it took so long but here’s that fluff I promised. Hope you like it, anon :D But anyway this is also to commemorate Hawks’ Birthday! Yay! It’s different from my birthday piece last year but I still liked how it turned out :)

|Alright. Meet me tomorrow at 9am at the station.|

Hawks reread the text on his phone for the tenth time as he patiently waited at said location for ten minutes now. It wasn't yet time for your meeting with him but he had wanted to get there early to mentally prepare himself. You two had been dating for the better part of six months. Much longer than he expected any relationship with anybody to last. But he knew there was something different about you. It was why he had been so adamant despite your obvious disinterest at first. Sure, he might've come off as a tad bit overbearing but it was only because he was interested about what he saw in you that he couldn't quite describe.

You weren't big on dates. Neither was he for that matter since there was no such thing as privacy in his life. But he knew you enjoyed spending time together no matter where that might be. So after months of trying to convince you, you finally accepted with one condition: you chose where you would go, no questions asked. He complied if only for the opportunity. Needless to say, he was somewhat anxious about what you had in store for the day.

I just hope it's not where people will bother us too much.

"Big Bird!"

The sound of your voice calling out to him made Hawks spin on his heels to meet your gaze as you caught up to him. He stared for a good minute as you caught your breath. Seldom did you two see each other outside of work and seeing you now in normal clothes took him aback.

You looked adorable in that summer dress. Even more so with how cute you looked with that little scowl while calling him that name—whoops.

"My bad," he chuckled, "I wasn't paying attention."

"Obviously." You don't regard that as anything unusual. He always seemed to daydream in front of you. It made getting him to do his work all that much harder but at least he wasn't an awful boss and boyfriend aside from that. Losing the edge from an awful morning, you give him a small smile before pointing towards the station. "Come on, our train is leaving soon."

The two of you boarded the train. Hawks noted the stations it would hit and wondered which one would be your stop as you took a seat beside each other in a mostly empty car. You said little of where you were headed even now. All you told him was that it was a place you frequented and that you enjoyed being at very much. That was enough for him for the duration of the train ride. It got him to wonder just what kind of place it was that made you wear such a loving smile.

Of everything that he had come up with, this was certainly not even on the list. "Y/n-sensei!"

"Hello, everybody!"

All the preschoolers rushed your way the moment you entered the door, the faster ones clinging to your skirts and legs and the rest clamoring around you for attention. Hawks stared with mouth agape as all of them—he counted at least...30!?—bombarded you with questions that you patiently answered. Hawks couldn't help but stand stiffly when one of them, a little blonde girl with huge green eyes, spotted him. They stared at each other, one curiously and the other quite awkwardly for what seemed the longest time.

Finally, she grinned and pointed enthusiastically at him. "Birdy!"

Almost like a war cry, the rest of the children turned together and burst into shouts and laughter as they rushed to Hawks. Some appeared to recognize him while others simply were interested in the new face that had 'pretty wings.' Looking up, he couldn't help feeling used when you simply chuckle mischievously before sauntering off to meet with who he assumed was the actual person in charge of the bunch of children. She was an older lady. One that seemed to readily recognize you when you came to her.

"Ah, darling. It's so nice to see you again."

"Glad to be back, Yui-san."

"And you brought your friend—everybody! How do we introduce ourselves to a new friend?" With a clap of her hands, the children dispersed like well trained animals to give themselves space as they bowed a little and chorused a 'it's very nice to meet you!'. Pleasantries over with, she readily instructed the children to go prepare for morning activities. They did so after a grand chorused 'awe' and scattered out into the adjacent room where another, younger, teacher waited for them. Turning to Hawks, Yui smiled tenderly.

"Welcome to our little school. I'm Yui, the director."

"N-Nice to meet you. I'm—" The small laughter from the old woman made Hawks stop midsentence.

"I know who you are, young man. It's not everyday that a hero comes to visit us, much less the No.2 hero in Japan. But that’s alright, y/n told us beforehand you would come."

Hawks eyed you briefly before the other teacher called out to the director. The moment you two were left by yourselves, his amber eyes gave you a sidelong glance and a raised eyebrow that you replied to with a sweet smile.

"This is your idea of a date?"

"It's my idea of a good time. And at least the ones who'll bother us here won't do so with ill intentions."

Touché. Setting that aside for the time being, you took him around on a tour of the small building that made up the school. For once, Hawks listened intently to what you said. You liked coming here and helping around once a week when time permitted it. You knew both the director and the rest of the staff personally and you came often to give music appreciation classes. You chuckled at the thought of that. "I call them classes but it's really nothing more than me playing and singing in front of the kids and them singing along with me."

"Sounds amazing to me," he replied sincerely.

"It really is," you said. "You'll get to see it this afternoon. But until then!"

To say that he wasn't confused and taken aback by all the stuff that you got him to do would be an understatement. While you were a natural with the children that you saw on a weekly basis, Hawks couldn't say that he had that kind of expertise. For all that he did outside with the citizens and media, he was somewhat puzzled as to how to act with children that expected nothing of him except for him to play with them. They were as ecstatic about his presence as he was baffled by theirs. You lasted a half an hour laughing on the sidelines while watching him struggle until you came to help with the tough crowd he'd gathered.

When one of the kids tugged at your skirts—the same one that had been bugging him about getting airplined around for the fifteenth time—you bent to his height before lifting him up in yours arms. The boy giggled before he placed a sweet kiss on your cheek. Once he was done, you placed him down. Unlike how he acted with Hawks, the boy trotted off to play elsewhere, satisfied with the pick up.

"How do you do this?" he asked tiredly, his wings drooping dejectedly.

"It took some getting used to," you assured him as you helped a few girls tie together flower crowns before leaving them to run around the playground. "First thing I learned about was boundaries." "Boundaries?"

You nod and step back behind him. Hawks barely had time to follow you with his gaze when he felt the prick that came from your plucking one of his smaller feathers from one of his wings. With a teasing smile, you brushed it against your lips with a giggle from his reaction. Bending down to help one of the boys, you place it on the band he wore around his head to help with his costume as they played heroes. They thanked you before dashing past the two of you without a bother.

"They have their needs, mentally and physically, and I help them meet them. But I can't give them all the answers. If all I do is give them what they want, they'll grow spoiled without understanding what it means to grow and learn. I listen to them, work with them, and keep my distance when I have to." Rolling your eyes, you glance at Hawks as he stands beside you, "It's a little like how heroes work with interns to teach them the ropes."

"Well, maybe that's the problem," he pointed out. "I don't take interns in my office."

"Well, maybe you should give it a try."

There wasn't much time for Hawks to rest. You made him help out during the daily activities and lessons which though not hard were draining in a whole different sense.

Children made him feel awkward. You could tell at least that much from the way he dejectedly sat outside on the grass once naptime for the kids came around. You watched him from afar as he spread his wings behind him, letting them rest from all the tugging and plucking that the kids had undoubtedly and unconsciously done. His back had become a familiar scene nowadays. But gazing at him from behind always gave you the worst kind of feeling. Like he was in such faraway place that you couldn't reach him. No one could. It was why you brought him here. You wanted for him to let go of his responsibilities and burdens of a hero and see the world outside that.

A world where he needn't be Hawks, the hero Japan had created.

A world where he could just be Keigo Takami, the man you loved.

You made your way out there with the small bento you'd prepared and sat beside him soundlessly. Not even when you felt his feathers bristle beside your leg did he say a thing. He merely watched you with an intense gaze—one you often felt watching over you during work—as you unpacked the lunch you'd pack for the both of you. Hawks thanked you under his breath when you passed him a rice ball and ate it without a word, simply gazing skyward. You did the same watching the clouds as they floated by in the soft breeze that blew by.

"You know..." he spoke softly, not taking his gaze away from the sky. "Even when it's so loud and cramped in there, it gives off the feeling of being peaceful somehow."

"It's strange, huh?" you say, agreeing implicitly.

"Very." He looks down long enough to grab another rice ball before turning to you and smiling warmly your way. "I can see why you like being here with them. Compared to everything we see everyday, this is heaven."

"It's a very pleasant way to unwind." You admit this as you finish your second rice ball. Deciding that was enough for you, you gently push the rest his way. He thanks you for the meal before taking what was left. "It reminds me why we do what we do. Why we're out there fighting, even when there are times when we question ourselves and the society we live in. When those thoughts come into my head, I think of these kids and all the others out there who have so much to live for. So much to see and experience. And then I think about how we're the ones keeping that future taut. We keep their dreams alive by giving them a future to look forward to."

"It's a hard thing to think of," he confessed. "Especially for someone like me who was robbed of a choice at all."

Your gaze fell, saddened by the strain in his voice. You were well aware of what he meant. Hawks had told you before how it was that he became a hero. Unlike you, it hadn't been by choice. Destiny had given him one of the best Quirks out there and by doing so, forced his hand in this society. He needed to become a hero...because if he didn't, what else could he possibly be without people out there comparing what could be with what was.

"And that's why we have to work hard," you retorted calmly. "To make that dream of yours a reality."

"I want a world where we have more free time than we know what to do with."

So that everybody out there has the chance of a choice.

"Y/n! Hawks-san!" Hawks and you look over your shoulders to one of the staff members who waved at you from inside the building. "Nap time is over."

Hawks saw a small smile appear on your lips as you raised to your feet. He followed suit and helped you gather the bento box you brought with you. As you made your way to the classroom, he spoke up, "Is it time for the live concert?"

"It is."

A few minutes later, he found himself standing at the back of the room before a crowd of 30 more or less awake children along with the teacher in charge and the director as you took your place before a small upright piano that stood against the opposite wall. Sitting with your back perfectly straight, you turned on your bench to half face the children around you. "Now, what should we sing together today?"

Hands shot up so quickly that Hawks let out a chortle at their enthusiasm. He watched immersed and entranced with the scene of you picking a hand and choosing a song before turning back. Claiming you would need help, they all cheered and quieted to mere murmurs as you began to stroke the keys of the piano. You ask the girl that you chose the song from to start the song and for others to follow after.

"We're small but we're strong." The little girl started with a squeaky voice. The one next to her, one who Hawks recognized as the girl's friend who'd been playing together with her stood alongside her friend while grabbing her hand to sing along.

"We're cool but we're kind, and..."

"We deserve to shine!" they sing together, completely out of harmony but completely fine by them.

"We're gritty and tough," one of the boys chimed in.

"We're smooth and refined, and," another girl called out.

"We deserve to shine," they sang along.

"We'll figure it out, there's plenty of time."

The small voices of the teacher and director join in with a few of the children as the song continues.

"For everybody and every mind and every facet to finally find that..."

Your voice gently echoed through the air along with the quiet voices of the children as they sang low to hear you better, joining you only when you got to the chorus again.

"We deserve to shine.We deserve to shine."

A smile came to Hawks as he listened to you and the children chorus along to different songs. The director, noticing his attention taken by you, took the moment to explain to him why she appreciated what you did for the children.

"Take a moment to think of just Flexibility, love, and trust."

"They are children at a very critical point in their lives," the old woman said just loud enough so that he would hear her without taking the children's attention away from the quiet and soothing song that you sang to them next.

"Take a moment, remind yourself to Take a moment to find yourself Take a moment and ask yourself if This is how we fall apart?"

"They are aware of themselves as individuals and are just learning about others. She teaches them through song how to accept themselves and others as they are. They also learn to love the world they live in, despite it not being perfect. I suppose they love her so much because she doesn't shelter them from reality or sugarcoat it as others do."

"But it's not. It's okay. I've got nothing to fear I'm here."

"She simply tells it to them in a way that they can understand."

"And it was just a thought It's okay We can watch them go by From here."

Curiously watching from the background, Hawks couldn’t help but be taken by your performance. You took your time to explain to the children what they didn’t understand and just like the director said, you didn’t shy away from the bad things either. You found a way to explain it to them in a way that they clearly understood. He recognized that way of thinking immediately. It's what attracted him to you in the first place. Your optimism, it was never from a place of falsehood. It came from a place of learning, earned experiences, and surpassed pain.

And it's the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

The day ended quickly thereafter when the last child was picked up from school. Hawks went and found you in the music room alone sitting on the bench in front of the piano and playing a couple of notes. Cautiously, he took a seat beside you and leaned his head against your shoulder. "Greatest date ever or what," you mumbled.

He chuckled as you stroke away at random keys making a makeshift melody. "I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical at first. It was quite a surprise in the end, though, I’ll give you that."

"What can I say?" You say as he reached out with his hand and struck one of the keys repeatedly and slowly. Though dissonant, you quickly changed the ones you were playing to harmonize with his missed stroke. "I'm full of surprises."

"That you are." Carefully taking back his hand, he lifted his head to look directly at you. You, however, don't take your eyes away from the alabaster keys as your fingers graze them without making a sound now. " I’ll say...you're definitely the better hero out of the two of us."

This time you chortled at his joke. "Doubtful. You actually save lives."

"I'm not the only one," he assured you. "I may save them from danger, but you're saving them in a way I could never."

"Saving them from what, pray tell?"

"The society that will eventually try to crush them into neat little molds for their own purpose."

A brief sidelong glance was all he got from you before you retracted your hand and smiled tenderly. "They're treasures, those kids. I want them to live the lives they want to live. Differently from us. Freely."

"And we can make that happen," Hawks said confidently. You felt how one of his wings moved to cradle you closer to him. Feeling this, you reached back with one hand to run your fingers against the soft feathers that graze your skin. "The two of us, in our way."

Finally smiling that smile he fell in love with, you leaned against his shoulder this time, bringing the tail end of his wing over you.

"I like the sound of that."

"Yeah." Hawks smiled, his chest swelling with the love he had for you as he let his head fall on top of yours. "So do I."

#happy birthday hawks #bnha hawks #hawks #hawks x reader #bnha imagines #hawks imagines #keigo takami #bnha keigo takami #keigo takami x reader

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