AN: Man, this chapter gave me a lot of trouble. Also, I've a lot of work and travel coming up so subsequent chapters may take longer to get out.

It was a Date?

Although Izuku had jumped to his feet, Ochako found herself chuckling as she honed in on the sound of the screams. A group of young girls, their screams shrill and high pitched, ran away from a boy holding a stick full of caterpillars.

Reaching out, she tapped the distraught man beside her. "Hey, hey. It's fine. It's just kids being kids." She gestured towards the commotion and saw him deflate a little.

"Ah… yeah. That makes sense. Of course that's what it is…"

She had to lift a brow at that, as it sounded like he was berating himself. However he smiled over at her. "Well, that's probably the best scenario–" He jerked suddenly, wincing as if in pain.

"Midoriya?" Ochako asked, leaning in. The man in question pressed a palm to his temple, before looking out frantically over the park, eyes skimming the crowd and kiosks. "Hey, Midoriya, what is it? Are you okay?"

She had never seen the docile man act this way, looking like he might be attacked out of nowhere.

A loud crash startled her out of her confusion, and she whipped her head in the same direction Izuku was looking. People were yelling and moving away from the far side of the park as a pillar of ice rose up. Before it could grow very tall, it shattered, and a hulking form stood up, reptilian claws crushing the wall of ice.

People began pushing each other, scrambling to get away from the commotion, and Ochako looked around, trying to figure out what to do. And when she glanced over at Izuku, her breath caught at seeing the always sweet, innocent face harden, eyes set with a fierce determination. "Uraraka, please get to safety. I need to help get these people evacuated."

And before she could say anything he jumped down into the crowd and scooped up two fallen children, shouting for people to follow him to the parking deck across the street. Her breath caught, watching him dive in to help others, but she knew she would have to park any thoughts on that for later.

Pressing her lips into a thin line, she made up her mind and joined the crowd, giving her ample coverage in the mass of panic to teleport to the closest "safe" spot she could set her eyes on. With a small pop, she appeared beside a tree halfway across the park. No one noticed, too busy watching the conflict further down or running for their lives.

Shouto slid around the attacker, someone with a transformation Quirk, or so she assumed given the fact that his opponent was a roughly ten meter tall lizard that could have been Godzilla's little sibling. Also, that the attacker had not been that big moments ago.

Pressing her back to the tree, she leaned around to get a better look, spying another place near playground equipment that she could pop to without being seen. She did so, appearing crouched between two slides.

Her phone was buzzing, and she frowned, pulling it out. The caller was Hawks. Half wondering if this was coincidence, bad timing, or related, she hesitated before answering the phone. "Kinda busy right now–"

"You're where Shouto is, right?"

She paused, knowing he had her location because of her phone's GPS, and possibly Shouto's too. "Yeah, is this about the attack?"

"Shouto thinks someone has the Quirk boosting drug. Sent in an alert to the Hero comms before engaging the suspect."

Ochako's mouth dropped open, and she looked out past the slides, watching the rampaging reptile swipe at the Hero. "Oh, fuck. That explains the sudden appearance of Godzilla Junior. But I don't get the rampage. Why would he attack a Quirk festival?"

"We can figure that out afterward. Are you compromised?"

"No, no one's seen me."

"Can you find evidence of the drug without being seen?"

She made a noise of exasperation, watching the scene with wide eyes. "Always with the tall orders! I'll… see what I can do. But Shouto needs official backup. This guy's tearing up the park and breaking through his ice like it's a paper wall."

"I've been informed Dynamight's been dispatched."

"I said Shouto needs help, not Godzilla Junior! He'll turn the park into a crater! Where's Determination? Red Riot?"

"I've been informed Red Riot is on the other side of the city and Determination is already engaged with a civilian crisis. Do your best, Uravity. I'll treat you to sushi later."

She wrinkled her nose as he disconnected the call, locking her phone and shoving it in her jacket pocket. 'Punk better treat me to mochi, too.'

She scanned the park-turned-battlefield, trying to figure out exactly what evidence might be left behind, assuming it hadn't already been destroyed. The chances of the drug being oral were low, given how quickly the situation had developed. She supposed there was a possibility it was sublingual, and if so, likely nothing worthwhile was left behind. However, given the nature of street drugs, there was a high probability it was injectable. If so, a discarded syringe was a possibility.

'Now, if I were going to do drugs in a public park, where would I do it so I can't be seen?'

Her eyes fell to the cluster of trees on the other side of the fight. Large enough to provide some cover, away from the more populated areas. Walled off with a fence. Yeah, that seemed likely.

Now with a clear view of her destination, she popped over, reappearing behind the largest tree. The ground shook as the lizard person's tail made impact after a heavy swipe at Shouto who used his ice to shield himself and dive away.

She wanted to help, but she had to keep her own priorities straight. Drugs first, then maybe she could find a way to support him without being seen.

Her eyes fell to the litter between the trees and her breath caught as she snatched up a used syringe and needle. There was no way to determine if it was from today, or even for the drug in question, but after scanning the area, she found nothing else of use. Managing to find the cap, she secured the syringe in her pocket, zipping it closed to prevent it from falling out.

She sucked in a breath, freezing in place as the tree to her right splintered into two chunks thanks to an angry swipe of that deadly tail. It seemed that while Shouto could stay ahead of its attacks, he couldn't quite subdue the attacker in his ice alone. And if she stayed there, that tail was going to end up crushing her.

A thought occurred to her and she pressed her lips, looking over at the fallen tree. The trunk was fairly thick, but she was pretty sure she could manage it. She would just have to wait for the right opening and be very quick about it.

Removing her gloves, she edged around the tree, watching as Shouto spewed fire from his hand. The lizard man's skin was thick, although he certainly did not appreciate having heat blasting into it. He roared, and the hero once again brought up a wall of ice protecting himself from the incoming tail attack.

That was her opening. She moved, teleporting behind the fallen tree. Her hand slapped the bark, and she wasted no time, wrapping the trunk in her arms and swinging with all of her might. The wood crashed into the lizard man's leg, swiping its massive foot off the ground. Too bulky to easily correct his balance, he toppled down atop the ice wall.

Like the trained hero he was, Shouto saw the opening as he dove past his falling ice wall. Slamming his foot down, ice erupted like a tidal wave, covering the rampaging Quirk user, encasing them in a cold prison. Without having his feet under him, the reptile man was unable to quickly break free and instead resorted to roaring in frustration as Shouto slapped anti-Quirk handcuffs on an oversized reptilian pinkie.

Ochako winced from her hiding spot as she released her Quirk on the trunk, hoping Shouto would not pay too much attention to the randomly rolling log just behind his ice prison.

XX

His nerves were on fire. The number of anxious and scared people crowding the car park had overstimulated Danger Sense, and he felt like his skin was crawling. Even as he worked to calm everyone down, even as support showed up, he felt like he couldn't breathe.

The Quirk was useful, but at times like this, it was also crushing.

His own worries did not help. In this situation, he wasn't able to help to his full potential. If he was here as Determination, maybe his presence would be calming people. But right now, he was Quirkless Midoriya, and as helpful and kind as he was, he was not the hero people wanted right now. He was not what they needed.

And he hated feeling like he couldn't do more.

The thunderous crashes in the park stopped. His wrist buzzed, and he glanced at the notification on his watch from his teammate.

'Area secured.'

As the sirens approached and a familiar explosion rang out, he sighed with some small measure of relief, before going to see what he could find out.

XX

A crackle of energy and a pop, and Ochako found herself on the hexagonal platform designed for her to teleport into. Groaning, she gripped the rail to steady herself and pressed the attached display. "I'm here," she muttered into the speaker.

Hawks came through the door a few seconds later, Momo in tow. Ochako pushed herself to her feet unsteadily and handed over the syringe. "No promise it's the right one, but you are going to buy me so much damn sushi later. Anyway… back to the grind."

Pressing her fingers together, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate when Momo interrupted. "Wait, don't do a long distance teleport without support gear! I'll go get–"

Ochako opened one eye. "Nah. I was there as a civilian, and there is someone there who is gonna realize I'm missing and panic like the lovable dolt he is. I need to get back and let him know I'm okay."

And with that she concentrated on the image of her destination and disappeared with a crackle of energy.

Hawks blinked several times before looking over to Momo. "Is she dating someone?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

Hawks was still staring at the platform, his expression disturbed. "Because I have never heard her call anyone 'lovable dolt' in all the time I've known her. I'm slightly concerned."

Momo leaned around to look at his face, her expression amused. "Overprotective guardian, much?"

He gave her the look he always gave people when he was pretending to not know what they were talking about. "More like concerned that all that teleportation without her gear is getting to her head. Put in a request to the support team about getting her something she can wear as a civilian."

He paused, holding up the syringe to inspect it. "I have a bad feeling we're going to be in more situations like these in the future."

XX

It felt like forever before she found him. The teleport back had made her vision go dark for several seconds, so she had to wait until the world stopped spinning before she could move. Fortunately, she had memorized a secluded location just outside of the park to pop back to, so no one saw her appear out of nowhere and promptly fall onto her butt.

The police were already on the scene, roping off the area as a crime scene. People had started crowding around now that the danger was gone. She could see Shouto and Dynamight near the remains of the ice prison. The aggressor was now back to a normal size, being loaded into a police van in anti-Quirk cuffs.

Ignoring the way her head kept swimming if she turned too fast, she finally caught sight of a familiar head of green curls. Pressing through the crowd, she got close enough that hopefully her voice could reach him. "Midoriya!"

His eyes were wide as he turned, and Ochako's lips parted in concern at just how distraught he looked. He was sweating and clammy, but some relief touched his face upon seeing her. "Uraraka!"

"Hey," She came to a stop once she reached him, peering up at him in concern. "Are you okay? You're pale."

"Ah…" He hesitated, eyes glancing away. "Just really… anxious. This was a mess. It seems no one really got hurt, but all the commotion has gotten to me. I'm really glad you're okay though!"

"I'm glad you're okay, too." She said warmly, gently punching him in the arm. He gave a nervous, weak smile in response, eyes flickering over the crowd as he rubbed the spot she touched him. He was clearly shaken up.

It was strange, though. The reaction was to be expected from someone Quirkless caught up in this mess if she had not seen him take off evacuating people like he did it every damn day in his life. Had the adrenaline wore off and now reality caught up with him? Had something happened that he wasn't telling?

Idly, she realized she probably should be acting a little more upset herself, considering she was supposed to be a Quirkless bystander, but seeing him like this made her overprotective nature kick in. "Okay, so, let's take care of that anxiety and remove you from the situation. C'mon."

Without waiting for an acknowledgement, she grabbed his elbow and began to steer him away from the crowd.

"Ah, w-wait, Uraraka! But I should stay–"

Ochako came to a stop, looking back to him. The action caused him to almost run into her, and he stared down at her with wide eyes. Giving him a patient but pointed look, she replied, "What does you staying here do for anyone right now?"

He hesitated, glancing away. "I…"

"The police and the Heroes are here. It'll be some time before they let people back into the park to clean up from the festival. The best thing you can do for everyone right now is let yourself calm down so that when you can help, you're able to give it your all. Okay?"

He gaped at her like a fish, clearly unsure of what to say in response. She sighed, giving his arm a tug. "C'mon ya Quirkless Hero. There's a bubble tea shop around the corner. Let's get you some sugar and a space to breathe. We'll come back in a few minutes. I promise."

And with that she dragged him away and, unknowingly, out of range from the crushing pressure of emotions sending his Quirk into overdrive.

XX

It was sundown when he finally got home. The kiosks had been dismantled, and he'd done his best to help everyone collect what they could of their goods and belongings. He managed to get a bit of information from Shouto through texts, since he wasn't able to just walk up and ask. The fact that the Quirk enhancing drug might be involved had made him worry at his bottom lip so much that the skin was broken.

Uraraka had stayed with him most of the afternoon, though she had left shortly before he did, stating she needed to take care of some things. She had given him her number though, and he'd left a text for her so she had his too.

It was not how he wanted to get her number.

It was not how he wanted to spend time with her.

And yet, that's what happened, and despite it all, he found himself grateful. She was amazing and wonderful, and as she distracted him from the buzz of negative emotions plucking at Danger Sense, he realized all he wanted to do was hug her.

He didn't, but he wished he had.

However, now that he was finally at home, all he wanted was to decompress. Flopping down onto his sofa, Izuku draped an arm over his eyes and sighed heavily, willing the tension to leave his body.

His phone buzzed.

He ignored it.

It buzzed again, and sighing, he grabbed for it, lifting his arm so he could see the screen. A part of him hoped it was Kacchan so he could feel justified in being grumpy at the incoming text.

It was Uraraka. Grumpiness disappeared.

"Hey! I saw your light come on. I hope you're feeling better, but if you need company, I'm making ramen and there's enough for two. Feel free to decline; I know some people just need to be alone."

"But if you do wanna drop by, the building code is 46326, and my unit is 408. If I don't hear from you, get some good sleep. You earned it."

He stared at his screen, squinted, then read the text again to make sure he understood it right. She was… inviting him for dinner? His heart skipped a beat.

Craning his neck, he looked up through the windows of his balcony and could see the light on in her kitchen as well some movement. She seemed to be dancing in her kitchen again.

With a soft smile he turned back to his phone, tiredly moving his thumbs across the mini keyboard in reply. "You are so kind. Thank you! I think right now I need to sleep it off, but if possible I'd like to meet up again when you're next free? Doesn't have to be ramen, of course. Maybe bubble tea again?"

He bit his lip, before wincing at the discomfort that caused. Was this too forward? He hoped not and pressed send before he could talk himself out of it. Dropping his phone on his chest, he tried to find the energy to get up when it buzzed again. He fumbled for it, almost dropping it on his chin as he opened the message.

"Sure! I'll text you some times once I'm done cooking. Go get some sleep, hero! Night!"

A wide smile touched his lips as his mouth silently formed the words of her message. There had been a lot of bad in the day, but there'd also been some good, too.

"Good night!"

XX

The ride down the elevator was filled with a curious tension. Determination, Shouto, and Dynamight had never been to this part of the Commission before, but apparently that was changing starting now. Their clearance had been updated to grant them basic access to the floor where Hawks' team worked, Research and Investigation.

Despite the name, Izuku had a sneaking suspicion their team did more than that. Uravity had been incredibly adept in combat and Hawks was known within the Commission for his combat prowess as well. He wondered how much they'd learn today. Neither All Might or Eraserhead had been very forthcoming before they all piled into the elevator.

The call to come in had happened the day after the festival incident. He doubted that was a coincidence, given what Shouto had told him. Apparently some teenagers had approached Shouto, claiming they had seen what looked like a drug exchange taking place. When Shouto went to investigate, he was greeted with a very angry, juiced-up Quirk user who was determined to make him a Shouto pancake.

The story still had a lot of questions that needed answering. The suspect had been highly aggressive in a way that didn't match the situation or his profile, but Shouto said he was too panicked and confused to answer questions before the police took over. Additionally, Shouto said he had not taken down the suspect alone.

"I never saw anyone, but someone hit the guy from behind with a tree, knocking him off balance. It was the only reason I could get enough ice on him to pin him down."

Dynamight had made a quip about Shouto being too weak to handle an overgrown lizard on his own, but Izuku had gone into deep thought over the whole matter. Was it an act of vigilantism? Or maybe – his eyes lifted up to the digital display as they approached their destination – one of their own?

The elevator door opened to reveal a woman waiting for them. Black hair was tied back into a high ponytail and her uniform was of questionable design, considering it barely kept her breasts covered. Izuku felt himself looking everywhere but at her as she introduced herself.

"Hello Heroes. Welcome to the R&I floor. I'm Creati, and I'll show you around briefly before we move to the meeting room. Please follow me."

The floor had a similar layout and design as their own, with state-of-the-art technology around every corner. There was a communications and command room, several meeting rooms, equipment rooms, medical triage, and more. He did a double take as they passed by a large hexagonal platform. "What's this?"

Creati turned, smiling at them. "This room is where our teams are dispatched for their operations. The platform allows one of our members to teleport in."

"Oh, for Uravity!" Izuku said excitedly.

"Who the fuck needs a stage for their Quirk. What a fucking princess," Bakugou scoffed.

Creati somehow managed to keep the smile on her face. "For Uravity to teleport to a location, she had to be able to envision it. If the destination is out of sight, it needs to be exactly as she can recall it. The clearer the picture, the easier it is to teleport. This platform is a designated space that she has memorized for that reason."

"That's so cool," Izuku all but squealed, unable to contain his excitement. "So does that mean if you give her a picture of a place, she can teleport to it even if she's never been there?"

Creati lifted her brows. "I'd heard Determination had excellent analytical skills, and yet I'm still impressed how quick you are on the uptake. That is correct, although it takes more than a picture. I'll let her explain the rest when it comes up."

She waved them on. "Hawks and Uravity should be finishing up their training shortly and then we can begin."

"I wanna see."

Everyone stopped and turned to Dynamight, who scowled at the sudden attention. "What? If we gotta work with them, we should see what they're capable of!"

Izuku did have to admit that he was curious, though he suspected they were about to get shot down. Instead, Creati waved for them to follow her through a set of double doors. "They might be finished, but we can check."

They walked into an area that served as an observation room. Standing in front of a set of large windows was a pair of disembodied gloves and shoes. They shifted as the group walked in. "Oh, hi Heroes! I'm Invisible Girl, but call me Toru! What's up?"

"They're curious about Uravity and Hawks," Creati explained as the group crowded around the window.

"Ah… shame. They just finished."

Sure enough, Hawks was pulling Uravity to her feet, his feathers flying back to their place on his wings as he did so. However, the most interesting thing was the various objects and obstacles floating in the room around them, as if suspended in space.

Uravity pressed her fingers together, tips exposed through her gloves, and everything fell to the floor with a loud clatter. The door to the training room opened, and the two walked out.

"Oh…are we late?" Hawks asked curiously. "That'd be a first for me."

"No, we're early," All Might replied. "The boys wanted to see your training, though it appears we missed the fun."

"Hold up!" Bakugou shouted, walking up to Uravity. "What the hell was that?"

Uravity leaned back to keep him out of her face. "Hi to you, too, Pop Rocks. That's called training."

"We thought your Quirk was teleportation," Shouto explained before Bakugou could respond, gesturing towards the training room. "However, it's clearly not."

"Oh, that," Uravity nodded, helmet bobbing. "Maybe I'll tell ya if you say 'please'."

"Fuck off. I'll figure it out myself."

"Good luck with that," Toru laughed.

XX

The meeting room was occupied when they walked in. Froppy sat in a chair, a cup of tea in her hands. She gave a polite wave as they walked in. Beside her was a person in a black uniform with a bird head. He nodded in greeting but otherwise did not change from his position of sitting with his arms crossed. Uraraka squeezed in beside Froppy, and Invisible Girl on the other side, beside the bird man.

As the Heroes piled in, All Might caught Hawks by the arm. "A moment, please."

The door swung shut, and the smaller man sighed. "I think I know what this is about."

Toshi glanced through the glass door as he spoke. "Probably. Is it really safe to have her on the field?"

"Define 'safe'..." Hawks replied wryly with an arched brow.

Toshi sighed, watching the woman in pink and black banter with Dynamight. "I mean for her."

Hawks shrugged, joining him in looking through the glass. "I gave her a choice. Laid out her options, the risks for each. This is the one she chose, and I respect it. Besides, we're getting a lot of useful data based on her Quirk evolution and her progress in adapting to it. And for what it's worth, I'm personally responsible for her. Feels weird having what's essentially a grown ass kid, and I'm not even thirty."

Toshi was silent for a long moment before he looked over to Hawks. "If she's found out, she'll have a target on her back for as long as she lives. Are you okay with that?"

Hawks met his gaze evenly. "The same could be said for your Successor. …So… are you?"

XX

"Cool, so let's begin," Hawks started as one of the wall screens lit up with a chart of names and roles. "I'm Co-Director for the Research and Investigation Department here at the Commission. My primary focus is the Investigation side of things. We gather data and intel on illegal Quirk-related activities, mostly with organized crime and large-scale threats. This is my core team: Uravity and Froppy, whom you've already met, and Invisible Girl and Tsukuyomi. Creati, who was showing you around, is part of the Research team."

Swiping away the chart, Hawks continued, recapping the work his team had been doing with monitoring the activity of the Eight Bullets. "... So that brings us to the latest development. Yesterday, Shouto encountered someone he suspected may have been under the effects of a Quirk-enhancing drug. After analyzing evidence from the scene and the police report, we can confirm that was true."

The Heroes exchanged looks with each other, before Shouto repeated, "Evidence?"

"We recovered a used needle and syringe from the crime scene and had our research team analyze the contents," Hawks replied. "The compound showed a strong reaction when interacting with Quirk active blood cells. Pretty good sign that the drug's out on the market."

"The police didn't recover anything during a sweep of the area, though. I checked, too. There was nothing of interest." Shouto stated carefully.

In response, Hawks grinned slyly. "Oh, we acquired it before the police showed up."

"Hold up," Dynamight started, standing up and placing his hands on the table. "The police showed up within minutes after Freezerburn-" "That's not my–" "Took down the guy, which means your team was there during the fight and didn't help. It damn well better be because it was someone who can't fight like Invisi-chick-" "Hey!" "-Otherwise that's fuckin' shitty for being on the same side."

Izuku found it a little unnerving that he agreed with Kacchan on this, but stayed quiet, waiting to see what the winged man had to say.

Hawks pinned the Hero team with a look. "Listen. My team's job is investigation. You're the heroes. Our priority was finding out what we're actually dealing with." He sighed before his tone turned exasperated, "Besides, I'm told that someone didn't exactly follow orders and ended up lending you a hand after getting the evidence."

"Hey, you didn't say not to," Uravity replied. "You told me to do my best. So I did!"

There was a moment's pause where everyone looked at her. Dynamight was scowling, Shouto was thoughtful, and Determination tilted his head, expression unreadable behind his mask.

After a moment, Shouto's brows lifted in realization. "The tree was you."

"The tree was me!" She agreed cheerfully.

"But why hide?" Determination asked.

She laughed. "Well, I wasn't in uniform, and like you, I prefer to keep my identity secured. Shouto's just lucky I happened to be in the area on a date when that all went down."

"Ah," Shouto replied, nodding thoughtfully. He then looked up. "Determination was on a date, too."

Determination went completely stiff. "I-I…" He whirled on Shouto, hissing, "It wasn't a date!" He paused. "Oh god, was it? Oh. Oh shit." Everyone watched as he clutched his mask in dismay. "How could I have not realized?"

'Does that mean she thinks dinner tomorrow is a date?'

Internally, he was screaming.

Behind the visor of her helmet, Ochako lifted a brow. 'Hawks said he was handling a civil crisis yesterday. Was that just a jab at his love life? Harsh.'

However a glance at the winged man indicated he was just confused.

Aizawa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Can we… please move on? I have no interest in the details of Determination's love life." Beside him, Bakugou clutched his sides as he howled in laughter.

Dropping his head on the table, Izuku really did wish he could vanish from the room.

XX

AN: Feedback and comments encouraged. :)