Chapter Text
Six months ago, Keigo would have been in a different spot. He wouldn't be following a fancy scientist around in an attempt to find some experiment that, according to the commission, was never supposed to exist.
But, here he was, listening to the man in the trench coat of white walking through the halls with a tablet in hand.
"We just can't believe such a distinguished hero like yourself is interested in buying our products!" The man says with a large grin, pushing up his glasses.
"Yeah." Keigo pushes through gritted teeth that were unclenched just enough to be inconspicuous. "What can I say? I like to be entertained!" He forces a grin, hands in his jacket pockets. His wings stayed tucked behind him, not wanting one movement to send signals in the wrong way.
"Well, as much as we love having a hero here, we do still have to keep a low profile." He explained, tapping on the tablet to open doors as they walked.
"However, our director feels we do have a special project you'll find yourself enjoying!" Keigo arched his brow at that.
"Which is?" He hummed, hoping it was the person he had originally been sent undercover to find.
"The siren." The scientist whispers. "She's grown up here in the facility and listens to every command without question! Our greatest project yet! She'd be a great weapon against whomever you put her against."
"Siren, huh?" Keigo hums. "Why that nickname?" The man leading him finally stops at a room with four large metal doors and no windows.
"She can easily lure anyone to their deaths." Without another word, a few buttons on the tablet are pressed, and one by one the doors open, closing right behind them as he leads Keigo into the room.
His golden eyes darted around quickly for cameras, exits, and weapons.
He stared, trapped for a moment when he finally took a glance at the person inside.
The woman the man described was underestimated.
She was gorgeous, perfectly made as if a goddess herself. She had skin darkened by genetics, given the sun wasn't anywhere close to that body, and her hair was brown with golden flecks as if stars were implanted into the strands. The thing that made him pause wasn't only that.
She was tied up multiple times with different materials, including chains, ropes, and leather straps. There was no way she could escape with that amount of security... right?
"This is who we call 'Siren'" The scientist proudly says. "She has a highly enhanced quirk, making it incredibly rare! We have been enhancing her since childhood." Keigo twitched at that reveal, his mind traveling back to the way the commission claimed to 'enhance' him for heroism.
"Then she must be valuable, eh?" Keigo asks with a forced laugh. "How much?"
"Well, usually she's priced at 40 million, but the director quite liked you coming by personally to pick her out! He offered to drop the price to 30." The hero nearly choked on spit. Did they put down a price for a human being?
"30, huh?" He asks, regaining his stature. "I suppose I'd better see what makes her so worth it." His eyes immediately returned to the tied-up woman. She was clearly drugged or sedated and unaware of her surroundings.
"We would love to show you, but the director had her sedated after training. She gets..." He trails for a moment before finishing. "Aggressive after training." Keigo twitched a bit at that.
"Aggressive, eh?" He pulls a nonchalant smirk.
"Sounds fun." His eyes inspected every bit of the woman. "So what's her quirk?"
"Well, she's physically enhanced by fueling and training, but her quirk is called 'Constellation'." Then he knew; This was who he was meant to bring back with him.
He moved quickly, too fast to follow. His feather was elongated and sharp, pressed against the neck of the man who so kindly led him around while four smaller ones cut the cables to the cameras in each corner.
"You're gonna release the straps, chains, and ropes," Hawks says quickly yet steadily. "You'll give me the tablet, stay on your knees, and not move until I leave safely with this woman. Understood?"
"P-please." The man immediately begs. "I have kids."
His hand gripped the base of the feather sword tightly for a second.
"Don't raise them to be as proud of their job as you." He warns venomously, kicking the man behind the knees and grabbing the tablet he drops. A sharp feather stabs through the screen before the device sparks and shuts off entirely.
The scientist undoes the chains, ropes, and straps timely and quiet manner with shaking fingers. The woman's body falls to the ground with a thump, earning a groan from her. Keigo walks to her, picking her up with ease. Her body was light, which was a surprise for how much they doted on her muscles.
Was that all she was?
"I'll be leaving safely. You bark one word to the others before I'm gone, and I'll kill you where you stand." Hawks warns, though he'd prefer not to on the highest end. The man nodded profusely as Keigo spread his wings wide, slamming them down against the air of the room and up into the air vents.
It took only a few minutes before he was out, hearing alarms blare at the movement from him in the vents and the fact that the cameras were cut to the Siren's room. He flashed through the air in a blur of red, the woman barely conscious on his front, while he flew towards the commission building.
Waiting at the landing flat for flying quirk users were two men, both with radios in hand and ready for any movement changes. Keigo hesitated for a moment, the stranger's head flipped to his chest, but he remembered just why he was doing what he was told to do.
This woman isn't meant to exist. At least, that's what he was told.
Six months ago.
His golden gaze trailed the papers he was given, his brow furrowed. Why were they choosing him? A high status like his would be fishy enough.
"Mera, they cannot be serious." He mutters before rubbing his face. "A damn experiment gone haywire? And they want me to grab it?"
"Hawks, you know it's because you're the only one capable." Mera sighs out, obviously just as annoyed by the idea. "Just... deal a bit with it and I'm sure they would lighten the strict behavior files. "
He scoffed with an eyeroll.
"Wishful thinking, Mera." He tells the older man.
"You and I both know regime is regime." Both of them stopped conversations after that, and Hawks focused on the task. Her name was unknown, age unknown, origin gone... He had nothing to work with.
So, how the hell was he supposed to figure this woman out when he caught her? His eyes continued down through the files, finally stopping on the quirk node.
'Constellation'.
His brow furrowed as he repositioned himself, leaning in to read better.
Can form 'stars' to make weapons, but they dissipate after usage. These 'stars' are burning balls of gas that burn to the touch and are incredibly dangerous.
Once they form a weapon, the whole object is a star.
Keigo stares at the page for a moment before huffing, tossing the packet aside.
"So that's why they want her stopped." He mutters, rubbing his face as he leans back in the office chair.
"She's powerful." He turns to Mera. "They know my quirk is weak to fire, right?"
"Of course they do." The older man replies. "You should have asked if they care instead."
"Do they care?"
"Absolutely not." Hawks scoffed, smirking at Mera before looking back at the file.
"Well... I guess I'd better plan well."
It took four hours for the drugs to wear off in the woman. So, when she woke up in a foreign place with strangers, it was only certain that she would flip out. Six long minutes of fighting later, and finally, they had pinned down the experiment. At first, it wasn't enough to call for Hawks, but when she started using her quirk and taking down workers left and right, he was necessary.
"Woah, there!" He laughs a bit, his hands up in surrender as the woman holds a flaming bow and arrow straight at him. "We can talk- you know how to do that, right?" She glared at him, her eyes boring into him as if she could see through him like a glasshouse; all on display from the inside out.
"Who are you?" She spoke, her voice making everyone in the room flinch. Whatever they were expecting, it wasn't that.
It sounded... Melodic.
"Well, if you'll drop your weapon, you'll find we would gladly introduce ourselves," Hawks says, his voice calm and collected, but his eyes on the upside of danger. The woman slowly dissipates the bow and arrow when no one moves to threaten her anymore.
"Great! Now- Let's start with the big red wing fella-me. I'm Hawks. Nice to meet you...?" He trailed as if expecting a name from her. However, her head tilted and her brow raised. "This is usually the part where you give your name in return."
Again, she was confused.
"You do have a name, don't you?"
"Do you mean by what I'm called?" She even spoke like she was from another planet, learning the language for the first time. His wings twitched at the analysis before he cleared his throat.
"Actually, yeah!" He replies happily to keep up the friendly facade. The woman hesitates for a moment.
"They called me Siren or XJ-01," She replies lowly.
"Does that satisfy you?" Hawks hummed, shrugging.
"That's what they called you, but is that what you call yourself?" His words were still casual, and he eyed the members of the commission that were slowly walking towards her as if warning them to stop.
"Call myself?" She blinks. "Why on earth would I beckon for my own presence?" While her question was valid in some form, Keigo couldn't help but chuckle.
"I suppose you're right, huh?" He steps closer, only to see her take the same step back. "Would you like me to stay where I am?" He asks as he stops. Her eyes go to the others in the room, and he immediately seems to understand. "Ah..."
Before anyone can move or react, feathers shoot from his large red wings, startling not only the woman but the staff as well when they swipe under clothing, lifting the spare workers like kittens by the nape and booting them from the room, the door swiftly shutting behind them. A single red feather locks the door while the others return to refill the volume of his wings.
"Now- is that better?" She slowly looks at him before nodding. "Good. So, I suppose we'd better make a name for you then, hm?" She furrows her brow once more.
"I do not feel a 'name' is necessary. Siren or-"
"I'm not calling you by your project name." Hawks cuts her off. "How about... Connie?" He offers. She makes a face of distaste. "Nope- got it! Uh..." He puts a hand over his mouth with a slightly focused look in thought. "Star? Actually, never mind. That's too obvious and cheesy. What about..." His mind goes back to how she spoke and the way it washed over the room. "Melody."
When he said it with such a sure tone and ideal in his mind, her body moved, her back straightening, and her eyes focused on him with a new sense of emotion.
"Melody...?" She questioned with a softer tone than before. "That one is... Acceptable." His smile softened at her confirmation, and he laughed lightly.
"Alright. Melody it is then." He sticks out a hand for her to take in a greeting shake. "I'm Hawks, as I said before. Welcome to the commission."