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shih-coulda-had-it · 10 months

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Fastest heroes in the East au- would Gran Torino be proud of the hero that Hawks became?

short answer? It's complicated, because on the one hand, Hawks was a good kid who grew up to be a good adult, and he's not in the industry for fame or material gain. On the other hand, Hawks is everything that All Might is to the Commission, which is to say: he's the pale, tiny imitation of Toshinori, and Gran Torino will always regret not doing more to pull him out.

on matters of Commission-sanctioned murder: Gran Torino can justify killing to save. not an area to criticize Hawks for.

long answer? wc: 1044, and it's in Hawks pov, post-Kamino Ward (I'll say a few days after Torino forbade Toshinori from chasing after Shigaraki.)

Years have passed since Hawks has met with the old man and Yagi. The impromptu lunches and thinly-disguised field trips (training trips, Torino insisted, and Yagi had made such a face that meal, Hawks laughed until his sides hurt) stopped with the conclusion of Torino’s tutelage. If Gran Torino ever made an overture to meet Hawks outside of the HPSC’s contract, Hawks never heard nor saw it.

Honestly speaking, the last Hawks even noticed Gran Torino was a note about his license renewal. There are a few elderly pro-heroes still in the game, but he thinks it’s pretty notable that Gran Torino hasn’t broken a hip or whatever, considering he doesn’t have the security of Yoroi Musha’s armor or the untouchable reputation of Recovery Girl’s career.

Well. Until now.

Hawks doesn’t know how he missed the fact that Yagi was All Might. He doesn’t particularly like that the Commission thought to gloss over Gran Torino’s presence at Kamino Ward either, when they informed him about All for One’s arrest and the multiple hospitalizations.

He smiles his way past the first level of security and ducks past the second, sending his smaller feathers through the hospital’s floorplan to search for Yagi or Torino. His larger feathers still need to grow out after the last mission.

It’s difficult, sifting through the noise of patients and doctors and nurses and technological beeps just to find one person, but Hawks spent long hours as a child playing Torino’s version of hide-and-seek. So the only obstacles in his path are the well-meaning, starry-eyed workers when they catch a glimpse of Hawks wandering their halls.

A finger lifted to his lips and a conspiratorial wink perform wonders in not raising a fuss, at least.

The quiet, even-paced breathing, paired with the familiar low muttering of an old man. As a courtesy, Hawks bumps the feather into the general vicinity of Torino’s face. This earns him a spluttering, “What now?”

Hawks grins. He quickens his approach and finds the door, gives it a brisk rap of his knuckles and lets himself in. And as an afterthought, he starts reeling in the other feathers. (Yagi--All Might--must be somewhere around, but he’s not as talkative as Torino.)

“Torino-sensei, hey,” he says brightly. He shuts the door behind him and leans against the frame.

The room is small and unadorned with any get-well cards or flowers. It’s a lonely cold place, and its only inhabitant is clearly planning an exit. Cane on the bed, already outfitted in a simple button-down and jeans… All the old man needs are his boots, and to unwrap the strips of gauze tied around his head.

“Hawks,” Torino responds in a voice more like gravel than the solid bedrock he remembers. “Been a while.”

“Only a handful of years, really.”

“Long enough. You finally stop wearing Endeavor merch? Todoroki should be lurking around here somewhere; he’s more ready to demand answers from All Might than the Commission.” Torino busies himself with yanking on a pair of beaten-up cowboy boots, the leather scuffed with the years of careless handling, but he manages to give Hawks the side-eye anyway.

“I’m not here for them,” says Hawks, stung.

“Oh. Just to check in on your old teacher?”

“Can you blame me? I saw a clip of you getting punched in the face by All Might.”

Torino scowls. “They got me on video?”

“That’s your concern?” Younger men would have clocked out for the rest of that fight. Though the capture had been pixelated to all hell in addition to being shaky, the size of that yellow blur could have been very few people. Hawks had to double-check the casualty lists before the relief flooded back into him.

“I hate leaving proof for the Commission,” says Torino moodily, and he finishes with the boots and moves on to the bandage. He picks at the clean white edge, trying to loosen it.

“Proof,” Hawks echoes. This earns him another annoying side-eye. “Torino-sensei, why the cold reception of your best student? Or I guess, second-best student. Man, I can’t believe Yagi-nii was actually All Might…”

“The constant pushing of free limited-edition of All Might merch didn’t clue you in?”

“He said he was the secretary!”

The resulting snort barely rebalances the atmosphere between them, but fortunately, it seems like Torino is willing to talk. “Do you want a congratulations? I always knew you were going to make it as a pro-hero. Dealing with your own agency at eighteen though,” he clicks his tongue, “I wouldn’t have advised it.”

“What was Yagi-nii doing at eighteen?”

“Getting his ass kicked.”

Hawks laughs at the succinct deflection. “I believe that. He always looked so horrified when you brought up ‘training.’ You must have gone easy on me.”

“You weren’t even in junior high. I’ve got limits,” says Torino dryly.

“Sure.” The bandages are removed, folded into a neat bundle, and then placed on the thin pillow. Gran Torino levers himself off the bed with a grunt; the cane’s end clacks against the linoleum floor, somehow steady in spite of the lack of a rubber cap. “But you took the job. And don’t tell me it was for the money.”

“Alright, I won’t.”

Clack, clack, clack goes the cane. The distance between them closes, and the difference between their positions widens. His stomach turns over on itself to see Gran Torino shorter, thinner, older. Hawks remembers his teacher’s cape being tall enough to duck under.

When had he crossed that line, the one telling Torino that he was a charge before a student, and a student before an investment of the Commission?

He grins to paper over his discomfort--a Gran Torino lesson more than one of the Commission’s, to smile in spite of everything, not that Gran Torino seemed to practice it. “Are you really gonna give the doctors the slip?”

“Nothing else needs healing.”

“It’ll be easier with an accomplice,” says Hawks, innocent.

Torino eyes him. “Is this for the Commission,” he pronounces deliberately, “or you?”

The grin stays on, but it’s starting to ache. True to his education, Hawks dodges the point-blank question and offers instead, “How long’s it been, Torino-sensei? Can I treat you to some fresh taiyaki?”

“... Alright then, Hawks. Let’s get out of here.”

#bnha #hawks #takami keigo #gran torino #torino sorahiko #shih.txt #fastest heroes in the east au #asks #anon #are you guys ever like 'bro i asked a yes or no question;#i appreciate the ficlet but would it kill you to clarify'#anyways. hawks is clued into ofa like half a year early #while he is foundationally an endeavor simp #he WAS practically raised in ofa #by which i mean torino carried over nana's smiling thing #and toshinori was doing his level best to indulge this unofficial baby brother

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shih-coulda-had-it · 1 year

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With the fastest heroes au- how long would Torino be allowed to keep training hawks? Or what would make him stop training him?

In my draft, I have Torino meeting Hawks while he's age 10, which in my estimate of the timeline has Torino at age 57. My art tends towards a grizzled but not yet shrunken Gran Torino and a skinny adolescent Hawks who isn't quite as babey as when he first got inducted into the HPSC.

Ideally, if I wanted to stretch the AU out, Hawks starts training with Gran Torino at age 8 through 14 (so, ages 55-61 for Torino), ending just before high school. The HPSC makes a lot of noise about the government employee retirement age to pressure Torino away, but it's also a combination of two factors that convinces Torino to stop training Hawks:

They're getting to a point where he's reaching the limit of what he can teach/train. Hawks is developing habits patterned off Torino's moves, and he might be a prodigy in combat but you can only run through so many scenarios with one teacher.

Hawks is obviously itching for a little more independence. And maybe Torino could provide that by running interference for Hawks's 'unsanctioned excursions', but that only puts Torino more firmly in the role of a handler, and Torino doesn't want that job.

#bnha #gran torino #torino sorahiko #hawks #takami keigo #fastest heroes in the east au #asks #anon #shih.txt #toshinori is around 38 years old when he meets keigo #and he experiences a bewildering 6 years of being both a super older brother #and (clearly) a guinea pig for hawks' undersocialized skills #in one world sorahiko tells toshinori that the hpsc wants a second all might #in another world i think. sorahiko just expects toshinori to understand the situation #so by the time hawks debuts #toshinori does a double take like 'what?? wait what??'#calls sorahiko up and asks for an explanation #torino: ?? toshinori he's blond; he's charismatic; he has a quirk that no one can replicate.#toshinori (misunderstanding): YOU... WANTED TO TRAIN A ME POINT TWO? ; A;

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shih-coulda-had-it · 2 years

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🌹

But Sorahiko’s managed to spark a light in the kid again, and he’s proud too, of the way Hawks gravitates towards his style of fighting: moving, moving, always moving.

fastest heroes in the East!au… ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓��̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚

#shih.txt #asks #anon #ok last one you guys #any more roses will be snipped

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shih-coulda-had-it · 2 years

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notebook #13!!! she’s a little grimy (i guess that’s what i get for throwing it around everywhere), and she has about 80 pages of wide-ruled composition paper; i started February 1 and ended August 31, so... yeah, definitely not a page a day with this one. extra doodles and insights into how i ‘journal’ below the read more!

my bnha star wars au!! the posed picture on the right is ref’d off a panel of depa & caleb, but otherwise, it’s all idle doodling. i think i reflect my bad posture in all my doodles btw. poor sorahiko and nana... they deserve to stand up straight and proud..

Toshinori on the bottom left corner, pushing his forefingers together and looking anxiously at Nana: “I think Torino-sensei’s mad at me.”

Nana, bumping her fist against Toshinori’s shoulder: “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle him.”

billboard and postage stamp found through clicking frantically at the smithsonian’s open-access archive. “the woods” by san fermin has an insane breakdown that just rattles your eardrums. sandshrew community day was VERY nice to experience.

(left comic, fastest heroes in the east!au)

Sorahiko: “Pro-heroes are a dime a dozen. What you’re looking to do - to follow Endeavor’s footsteps? You don’t need power. You need a different motivation.”

Hawks: “What was yours?”

Sorahiko: “... My best friend.”

(right comic, some wildly indulgent Dimensional Babysitter Torino AU)

Toshinori: “Er, Torino-sensei, can your apartment hold the five of us?”

Sorahiko: “Not seeing any alternatives, Toshinori.”

read! read what you can, and jot down notes so you aren’t just skimming blankly at the passages! re-reading the witches by roald dahl was like taking a sip of honeyed tea. i can’t believe i totally just accepted the visual horror as a kid.

*3/23 was the most recent leak night in which vestige!Nana was present. It’s now September. Tick-tock, Horikoshi-sensei!!!

garbo drafting for the “Never Love an Anchor” PMV started MONTHSSS before I just committed to putting it on csp. You can see some panels got shifted, trashed, or retained (the “But try as I might, I could not bring myself to hold you” was a very strong mental image).

my pokemon: unbound playthrough... it’s stalled... but I remember doodling my team comps at the end of every session as an attempt to stay invested.

i visited edinburgh, scotland!!! quite possibly the highlight of my life so far, because it was almost entirely my own responsibility to get myself places (and survive without... necessities...). not sure how @thisauthorisscreaming bullied me into hiking arthur’s seat my first morning there, but. yeah that happened.

nobody judge me!! i keep making bishops in maplestory cause they have the least amount of attacks, and they all look the same cause i’m a sucker for that hairstyle!! ah, that tera burning event is certainly winding down now. i guess i’ll be back in winter.

rasolnikov (versalian/proto-bishop/totally just a lore-insert, not really a character i was dedicated to getting to lvl200+), jean moreau (victorian islander/bishop/my baby to whom i dedicated an entire made-up story in my head about re: romancing von leon + defeating the black mage), and shuzenji (maple islander/bishop/my latest tera-burned character who is now technically my main, as he has a LOT of money invested in his progress)

i really just inserted this picture here because i wanted to show that i use that trick of papering over my OG mistakes HAHA (weeps)

anachronism updated, so of course i reread the whole thing and fawned over one of my favorite chapters (was there EVER a gran torino more self-sacrificing?), nana versus torino. and now i have references at hand for the gym uniforms!!! man he looks good in it.

#shih’s drafts #shihpost #long post #not just a sketchbook but not quite a journal either

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shih-coulda-had-it · 3 years

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“And then, Torino-sensei, Endeavor squared up and set his hands LIKE THIS and said, “I don’t have TIME for KINDLING,” but of course - ” “Mm-hm.”

#bnha #gran torino #torino sorahiko #hawks #takami keigo #fastest heroes in the east au #shih's art #torino to the hpsc: i'm gonna socialize this kid #hpsc to torino: you don't even have friends; what do you know about socializing #and that's how torino would think to introduce hawks to toshinori #except it would be under a civilian guise #toshinori twigs on immediately that something's off with this kid #(and maybe he's a little jealous; why is THIS kid getting spoiled >:c)#and that's how hawks gets a mysterious big brother figure #anyways. indulge your kid's hyperfixation. who else is he gonna babble to?

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shih-coulda-had-it · 4 years

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the kid’s supposed to be tough

@youngestthunderbird sorahiko could smuggle hawks out of hpsc, but i think there’d be a dilemma because (1) hawks wants to be a hero! and (2) sorahiko would find himself boosted to the top of japan’s most wanted. so i’d say the alternative is, sorahiko advises hawks to attend high school, and then persuades the hpsc about the benefits of socialization (”unless you want him to end up like me, and i am clearly not your kind of hero”)

#bnha #takami keigo #hawks #torino sorahiko #gran torino #shih's art #may au #fastest heroes in the east au #sorahiko's hiding hawks from the hpsc observers #his cape is an unverified shock blanket #me to me: don't think about anatomy #me to me: why no stomach lines. where his legs.

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shih-coulda-had-it · 4 years

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trained by the best

Summary: Gran Torino is hired by the Hero Public Safety Commission to train Keigo Takami, boy wonder. Canon!AU. [Illustration included.]

“Torino-san?”

He blinked once, then again, like he could rid himself of this prim and proper lady standing at his doorstep. Sorahiko scrubbed his face with a rough hand and felt the stubble prickle his palm. So much for self-care. He eyed her with wariness. No one in a blazer had charitable intentions. Leaning into the old-timer’s growl, Sorahiko parried with, “Who needs him?”

She wasn’t having his shit. “The Hero Public Safety Commission.”

His hackles rose. “I don’t do that kind of work.”

“You misunderstand our initiative,” she said coldly, “but that is of no matter. Please welcome me in.”

Sorahiko bared his teeth in a semblance of a grin. “Welcome to my home,” he answered, and stepped aside. “Get to the point, before I have to offer you snacks and drinks.”

The lady gave his ramshackle apartment a disparaging onceover, and conceded. She untucked a manila folder from under her arm, and cleared her throat. “Torino Sorahiko. Pro Hero, Gran Torino. You were part of a government operation to take in All for One with your partner—”

“Get to the point,” he repeated.

She glared. “You’re one of the fastest pro heroes in Japan, and yet you’ve never been noticed by the public record. You once taught at U.A., but quit after a year. If it wasn’t for a footnote on the All for One operation, we wouldn’t even be aware of your skills.”

He maintained his poker face, but inwardly cursed at whoever kept the file. Sorahiko had stayed under the radar for a reason. Mostly because he hated the media, and the task of cultivating a reputation. He’d left that nonsense to Nana, who hadn’t actually liked it any better.

“I like my quiet life,” Sorahiko pronounced, folding his arms together. “You haven’t gotten to your point.”

“We’re looking to hire a combat tutor,” she grinded out. “Someone skilled in fighting at incredible speeds, and who wouldn’t be averse to being missing from the public eye. That’s you.”

“No one likes how I teach.”

“Statistics show that the one year you taught at U.A., the graduating students had more success in navigating their first tests in battle. The school attributes this to you.” The lady closed the file. “That’s what we’re asking of you. One year. More, if your teaching bears productive results.”

Sorahiko suspected some trickery. “Who would I be teaching? A class?”

“One boy,” she said, and it was like hearing Nana’s last words to him all over again. Sorahiko felt the ports on his legs hiss, and reflexively inhaled. “He’s quite young, but brimming with potential. Saved a family from a car crash at the age of six.”

“... And how old is he now?”

The lady lifted her chin. “Ten.”

“That’s too young.” It was an instinctive objection of sorts, born out of observing Toshinori’s terrible battle instincts and having to beat some sense into his class before they graduated. Sorahiko didn’t teach kindly. The memories of his spars with Toshinori sometimes riddled him with guilt; the idea of training a ten year old child the same way would probably cause Nana to rise from the grave and murder him. A different thought occurred to him. “Where’s his family?”

Not dead, he willed.

“They’re being handsomely compensated,” she answered. “He came from a low-income family, and needed attention he could not get otherwise.” The lady cocked her head. “And now, he needs training in combat that we cannot adequately provide without your help.”

“I can say no.”

“And we would find a second-best option.” He could feel his face twitch. “The boy will be trained. All that remains to be decided is by whom, and how well.”

“Might,” Sorahiko said with as much venom as was polite, “I have the name of the boy, and the location where we’ll be training?”

Her smile was cold too. Victory to the government offshoot. “You will refer to me as Miura. Your charge is Keigo Takami. He’ll be operating under the name of Hawks.” With a quick, graceful motion, she offered the folder; Sorahiko took it. “The training facilities are there. Report to the first one by this Monday, 0800 hours. Be prepared to give a verbal assessment of his skills.”

“Keigo-kun,” said Miura with a degree of warmth Sorahiko had previously not associated with her. “This is your new tutor. Call him Torino-sensei, okay?”

“Okay,” the kid replied quietly. His round face was entirely too serious for ten years old, and it made Sorahiko want to back out of the job. The Commission was grooming the kid to be a pro hero.

He’d be a striking figure. There was a charm to the kid’s scarlet red wings, the feathery quality of his dirty-blond hair, the black markings highlighting his avian nature. Keigo Takami met Sorahiko’s gaze with the most unimpressed expression a child had ever leveled in his direction.

Looks like they’ve done a number on you, kid, Sorahiko thought. Aloud, he said, “I hear you can move.”

Miura withdrew silently; the door hissed shut behind her. There was a viewing deck for this off-white cushioned room, but Sorahiko chose not to glance at it, preferring to see whether or not he could tease some life back into the kid’s deadened gaze.

“I can.”

“You warmed up?”

“I have.”

Geez. Like pulling teeth. Sorahiko idly tugged at his gloves. “Alright then. We’re gonna play a game of tag.” The kid’s eyes brightened, and his posture actually straightened even further with interest. “I’ll be it for three minutes. Every tap I get on you is a lap around the building perimeter. Ready?”

Tiny scarlet wings flared out in preparation. “Ready,” the kid echoed, and Sorahiko pulled out his stopwatch and showily held it up. At the click, Sorahiko jetted straight up to the ceiling and let the timer fall; Takami startled backwards at the rush of expelled air, and made eye contact just as Sorahiko kicked off and headed straight for him.

He kept it playful. The kid was fast, true, but he hadn’t yet learned to operate in a three-dimensional environment. Nana had dragged him, however reluctantly, through numerous games of Quirk tag. Takami was still young, and isolated to boot.

“Keep moving,” he advised on a pass, and Takami whirled around, too late to catch sight of him. He was caught up in the spin, so much so that Sorahiko was able to ricochet and pass by again to flick him on the shoulder.

At the end of three minutes, Takami was leaning on his knees and gasping for breath. Sorahiko… wasn’t unimpressed. He had expected a lot worse; if Toshinori and his class were evidence, the notion of constant movement wasn’t a universally-ingrained instinct. That Takami had eventually started darting and zigzagging in a desperate maneuver to avoid Sorahiko’s path spoke well of his battle instincts; Toshinori’s unfortunate go-to strategy of standing rooted to the ground had taken a number of beatings to unlearn.

“Ten taps,” said Sorahiko mildly, crouching down to meet Takami’s eyes. There was much more intrigue than earlier; respect had been earned, and not even grudgingly. “You did better than expected, kid.”

Takami’s eyes fairly sparkled. “I did?” he asked, almost shy.

“Yeah. You’ve already got the idea that moving should be your first strategy.” Sorahiko gestured at the wings, now marshaled back into a neat fold. “Give it a few years till your growth spurt, and you’ll be faster than me. Till then...” He tapped the kid’s nose. Kid went cross-eyed. “That’s eleven. If you use your wings, up it to fifteen.”

Takami vibrated in place. “Torino-sensei!” he complained, and looked surprised that he could whine.

Sorahiko finally glanced up at the viewing deck. A group of suits gazed imposingly down; the door hissed open. He creaked back up, and nodded at the kid. “Bully someone to chaperone you. Say I told you the laps are homework,” he advised, and Sorahiko turned to see Miura’s triumphant expression. “Miura-san.”

“Torino-san,” she returned. “Cutting your tutoring session short?”

“Sparring for an hour isn’t an option for now—” Sorahiko stopped, feeling something tug at his cape. He looked back and barely managed to see the tiny hand release the yellow fabric, the flash of guilt and self-reproach. “... A short intermission. However long our conversation lasts. Then I’ll do another round with him.”

“Very good,” Miura said patronizingly. “Keigo-kun—”

“I need a watcher,” the kid piped up, and Sorahiko was treated to the vindictive pleasure of seeing Miura get caught off-guard. “I have homework, and I want to finish it before the second round.”

“Homework?”

“Running eleven laps around the building,” he recited. “Or flying fifteen.”

“Running laps. How nice,” she said, and nice sounded awfully like quaint. Sorahiko wasn’t looking forward to the debriefing. It wouldn’t just be a performance review of a ten year old’s skills; it’d be the Commission deciding whether or not he was worth hiring for the year, and the years after. Sorahiko was already constructing a rough syllabus in his head, which was… a lot more than what his students had gotten.

But with them, it had been coming into the year with a plan, and having that plan be utterly annihilated upon first meeting. Combat training had always been self-taught. Experience trumped formal learning, and knowing the ins and outs of your Quirk would always give you an edge over your opponent.

Generalizing had been a huge issue in U.A. He didn’t have the time to personally drag a student through the effort of pushing their Quirk to the limit, and had instead decided the standard curriculum was bullshit, and pitted each class against him.

Twenty-four hours to strategize with each other. Three minutes to beat him. No one left without accumulating a whole collection of bruises, scrapes, and red paint marks. U.A. had eventually asked him to tone down whatever he was doing to wreck the gym facilities.

“Let’s debrief,” Sorahiko prompted, and Miura smiled.

“Sasagawa-san will be here to chaperone you, Keigo-kun,” she told the kid, and switched tones with Sorahiko. “Follow me.”

He followed.

#bnha #gran torino #torino sorahiko #hawks #shih.txt #fastest heroes in the east au #that might be as far as i go with writing #fun to think about though!#sorahiko hiding his connections with all might #all might eventually piecing together why hawks' fighting style is weirdly familiar #also. this au is where sorahiko's awful sense of humor shines #sorahiko's somewhere in his forties #starts shrinking in his fifties #angrily takes on the yoda stature by late sixties #takami keigo

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