Hawks takes a heavy interest in Yabuzawa after his rescue. It’s entirely for the direct source of information, of course. As the landscape looks more and more like war and his investigations undercover proceed, any information is useful, and Yabuzawa was close to Shigaraki for a very long time. Hawks doesn’t fully trust the Nomu after everything that’s happened, even if he is in rehabilitation; his friendly demeanor is a facade in order to stay on Yabuzawa’s (and Mic’s) good side. Yabuzawa is as frustrated by Hawks’ personality as one would expect, but... fails to be the one to chase him away when he tires of his company. He’s so desperate to be trusted again that he falls for Hawks’ pretend friendliness.

In the end, Mic is always the one to take notice when Yabuzawa’s mood has hit a certain floor, and it’s then that Hawks gets ejected out of the apartment. And, when things hit the fan with the chaos that is soon to come, Hawks is one of the loudest voices in encouraging Yabuzawa’s participation on the side of the heroes where many others aren’t willing to accept him.