Bird Bait

"The other hero was Endeavor?!" To say Star Skyline was surprised was an understatement. "But… But… He's mean! He shouldn't even be a top hero!"

Hawks chuckled, pushing open the door of the building they were walking into. "Couldn't agree more with ya, little Starling. Popular approval should be the most important metric a Pro Hero is judged for. But, the grump is the number two hero nonetheless, and good at his job. So humor me, yeah?"

Star grumbled, debating whether or not she should. Hawks had pulled her aside before they left in the morning, apologizing for upsetting her the day before. It had been a nice gesture, though he hadn't been able to hide the fact he had been spying on them from her in his thoughts, causing Star to find a new thing to be upset about.

Hawks had just scratched his head, grinning sheepishly, offering to buy them breakfast. They had given in, only to find that his idea of breakfast was fried chicken. The guy had obviously not had interns before, and it seemed they would always be bickering with each other at this rate.

Bakugo let out a low growl, looking ahead of them. "You've gotta be fucking shitting me…"

Looking up, Star grinned widely. "Slushie!"

Todoroki looked a little tired, wearing a casual set of training clothes and sweating like he had just been working out. The navy jacket was singed slightly on the right side, but not burnt off completely like it had been at the Sports Festival. The jacket wasn't on his mind currently so she wasn't sure, but it seemed like he had been getting a handle on his fire. She hoped she could improve her own quirk soon as well.

Todoroki sent her a look at the nickname, but still greeted her in his head, lip twitching upwards slightly. He was standing stiffly, and when Star's eyes wandered over to the person next to him, she understood why.

The man was beyond tall and intimidating, sturdily-built with a very muscular physique. With flames roaring off his body and sharp features, she realized that this must be Endeavor.

"No wonder people don't like him… he looks kinda scary." She quietly whispered in English to Bakugo. Air came out of his nose as he heard her, and his lips twitched, eyeing the Pro.

Hawks also heard her, speaking up. "Aw, you hear that Endeavor? Looks like someone needs an image change!"

Huh, so he could speak English as well. She really had to be more careful.

One of Endeavor's sharp turquoise eyes twitched as he crossed his arms menacingly.

"You're about due for an image upgrade anyway, at your age!" Hawks grinned jokingly, walking up to the intimidating man as if he wasn't dancing with death.

Endeavor's flames increased, but he spoke as if unaffected. "When you're done being a child, I have a private room reserved. We can speak freely there."

He turned and walked towards the room. Todoroki eventually followed behind, sending them a slight shrug. Bakugo stalked after him, probably to insult his hair color, if the images in his mind said anything.

Star looked at Hawks, and whistled. "You sure know how to dance the line, don't you, pretty bird? One more word and he was going to fry you."

Hawks grinned lazily at her as they walked to the room, tilting his head. "Guess I just have some good intuition."

Star shook her head in amusement. It was still strange to her how people like Hawks and Mina were so socially adept without a mind reading quirk like hers.

They walked into the room and saw a round table surrounded by chairs with papers spread out along the top. She sat next to Bakugo, who was looking away moodily, apparently from something Todoroki had said before she came in.

Todoroki's mind was much more focused on the task, reading over the papers in front of them. Star didn't bother reading her own, and just listened to Todoroki's mental reading instead.

Endeavor spoke up, standing at the front of the room. "Hero Killer, Stain. He has killed seventeen known Pro Heroes, and crippled twenty three others to the point of being unable to make a full recovery, Ingenium being the first exception. He's made his appearance in seven cities, always injures at least four Pro Heros. He's only attacked one hero in Hosu so far, meaning he isn't done here yet."

Hawks interrupted him, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet on the table. "You're forgetting something, Hot Stuff. In all the cities he has visited, crime rates have fallen."

Endeavor narrowed his eyes as Hawks sent him a wink. "And what other information of actual use did you find?" The second place Pro Hero barked.

Star was staring at Endeavor, listening to all the ways he could kill the annoying bird hero, when Bakugo nudged her. She jumped, almost falling with the chair she had balancing carefully, and realized Endeavor had caught her blatant gaze.

"Er- sorry, I was just getting some ideas in case Hawks spys on us again." She said sheepishly, not making eye contact with the intimidating hero again.

Hawks pretended to frown, touching his chest dramatically as if hurt. "Enveadie… you were plotting my demise?!"

"You chose a mind reader, just to annoy me?" Endeavor growled, crossing his arms.

"No no no, my dear fiery friend. Though, that is a bonus." Hawks winked at Star, ignoring Bakugo's glare at the action. "I chose this mind reader because of the case. Betcha can't beat that, can you?"

Star looked at Hawks sharply, and Bakugo stiffened in his seat. Todoroki raised an eyebrow at them, a question poised in his mind. Hawks just grinned.

"Absolutely fucking not!" Bakugo yelled, abruptly standing up and knocking his chair over.

Endeavor looked at him with mild annoyance, before turning back to Hawks.

"And how exactly is a mind reader of any help when we don't have the villain in custody?"

Star paled, knowing what was coming.

"Because," Hawks smirked, "she's the next target."