Unwanted Heroes

by Glow in the Rain

It's estimated that about one in every ten people are born with a Quirk; however, if you ask a hundred people, no one will admit they have one. After all, who would want to paint a target on themselves like that? In a world where society shuns Quirk users, Izuku makes a pledge to show that people with Quirks can be heroes. Unfortunately, people with Quirks can be villains, too.

6. The Maybe-Date

AN: Sorry - it's a bit rushed as I've a ton of travel coming up and I wanted to push it before I left.

Summary: Pieces of Ochako's history start to resurface in the background while she and Izuku fumble through their first date.

6: The Maybe-Date

Ochako sat in one of the rooms on the Investigation floor, door locked so that she could eat lunch in peace. A combination of curiosity and boredom had led her to review the footage of her fight with the heroes earlier. After all, there was always room for improvement, and maybe she could identify a few things to help them out later.

She had temporarily paused the video, remembering that she wanted to text Midoriya and request a change in dinner plans. The protests didn't sit well with her, and honestly, she'd prefer to have an evening of maybe pretending shit didn't suck.

Message sent, she went back to playing the fight, watching as determination pinned her to him in a risky, but admittedly clever move. Even if she had baited him, she really did marvel at his ability to think on his feet. It was kind of funny though, how he yo-yoed between confident and awkward. In fact, he had some spooky parallels with Midoriya in awkwardness.

Fortunately, Midoriya had inadvertently quelled that concern the other day when he dropped his ID while paying for their festival food. She had picked it up to hand it to him and noted it lacked a Quirk registration number.

Every person who was discovered to have a Quirk through medical examination got registered in a public database called the Public Quirk Registry for… public safety reasons, they said. It was a routine part of exams for children up until their teenage years, when it was past the point a Quirk could manifest.

Sure, she didn't have a Quirk registration number anymore, but she was a unique case. So really, the parallels between Determination and Midoriya were just amusing and bizarre coincidences.

'Besides,' She thought, with a slight grin. 'Midoriya is cuter.'

Her eyes moved up to where Dynamight stood on the screen, knowing that in a few seconds she would remotely set off her Quirk, trapping him under the effects of Gravity Manipulation.

Her phone buzzed, and she glanced down, smiling at the sweet reply. Distracted from the video, she typed out a response, pausing to consider if she should tell him to bring anything, before ultimately leaving it up to him with a hint about mochi.

So focused on her phone, she missed the ending of their earlier fight. Specifically, how the camera caught the space around them bending in a way she had failed to see in the midst of it all earlier.

XX

Chisaki Kai, known in certain circles as Overhaul, regarded the man before him with an appropriate level of distrust and scrutiny, gloved fingers templed together on his desk. "You have something for me, I hope?"

The man before him exhaled a thin stream of cigarette smoke between his lips, giving a grin that promised trustworthiness if you had money. "I think I got what you want."

He passed a folder over to Overhaul, who took it and flipped it open, spreading out the contents on his desk. As he did, the broker, who Overhaul knew as Giran, spoke. "As you requested, I looked into the contestants who attacked your man. Like you suspected, number 283's description and Quirk match that of the Plus Ultra Hero Dynamight, also known as Bakugou Katsuki."

He swiped the file across the desk and pointed to the next one. "282, based on the Quirk description provided, sounds like his teammate, Determination. We did a check on his entry screening answers, but didn't find any men in the Public Quirk Registry who can float, or who have black tentacles, or a smoke screen. The only entries for strength Quirks we ruled out because of things like age, manifestation, or physical size. No surprise. The commission probably had his Quirk history erased, especially given how…interesting it is."

Overhaul narrowed his eyes slightly at the insinuation in Giran's tone, but the latter did not elaborate. He swiped that file away and focused on the last one. "Now this one is fun. 281. A woman who could teleport according to the surveillance cameras and admitted to making objects float to your lie detector guys. At first, nothing showed up in the Quirk registry. Except I saw that there were some inactive entries that matched my search. Inactive usually means dead, but…"

He flipped the page, to a print out of a file from the Public Quirk Registry.

Name: Uraraka Ochako

Status: Inactive*

DOB: 27/12/XX

Gender: F

Quirk Rank: C

Quirk Type: Emitter

Quirk Description: Ability to remove gravity from objects and make them float by touching the object with all five fingers of a hand. After lifting too many objects, Subject gets nausea and collapses.

Details: *Subject lost Quirk after a traumatic incident at age 14. Medical tests confirmed the subject is Quirkless. Status updated to Inactive.

Overhaul stared down at the information, then looked up to Giran over the beak of his mask. The other man smiled dangerously. "Now, isn't that interesting? A kid who suddenly lost her Quirk, but is the only match in the nation for a woman who said she can make things float, but who can also teleport. Suspicious, isn't it?"

The head of the Eight Bullets lifted a brow, tapping his finger over the Details field. "What kind of incident?"

"Hard to say," Giran replied, but his expression indicated he knew something that Overhaul didn't. "Apparently the kid was missing for two years. Media didn't cover it much because it happened in her hometown. Anyway, when she was found, she'd lost her Quirk, which she allegedly had before going missing. But the entire report was kept out of public view. There's nothing on the girl or what happened, just that she was missing, then found later. Given that she was with Dynamight and Determination when they attacked your man, it's likely the Commission is involved, but I don't know for certain. I'd need a lot more time and a heftier payment to get more information."

Overhaul leaned back in his chair. "This is good enough for now. It's something we can investigate. I'll have my men contact you again if we need more, and the second half of your payment will be wired to you today."

"Excellent. I do enjoy efficient business." Giran said. He paused, before adding. "Ah, that reminds me. I may be in contact later. I have another client who might be very interested in some of the work you're doing. I'll… be in touch."

"Sure. My men will see you out," Overhaul replied dismissively, snapping the folder closed. Out of the three of them, the easiest target to track would be this Uraraka Ochako, assuming she was the same person who attacked Nemoto. Additionally, he was very interested in her Quirk history, and if it could benefit his… research. It seemed his men had some work to do.

He missed the sly grin on Giran's face as the latter left the room.

XX

Midoriya Izuku was nervous.

His stomach was in a knot, and he had barely slept the night before, fretting over the what-if's and the possible outcomes of this date.

Not-date.

Maybe-date?

He stood outside of Uraraka's apartment, taking deep, steady breaths to calm his nerves. Rain pattered heavily on the building, and honestly, the sound was soothing.

Knowing he was stalling, he reached up and ran a hand through his hair, shaking loose a few droplets of water that had caught him on his quick sprint between the two apartment buildings. With a flick of his wrist to rid the water from his fingers, he reached up and quickly pressed the doorbell.

He glanced down at himself, dressed in dark blue jeans and his preferred red sneakers, his jacket covering the black button down shirt underneath.

'Am I underdressed? She said to wear whatever I want. Oh god, what if I'm overdressed?'

He froze when the door opened and his eyes met Uraraka's cheerful face. He forgot how to use words, lips parted as he took in her appearance of an oversized pink sweater hanging off one shoulder, cut-off shorts barely peeking out under the knitted fabric, and wooly thigh-high pink and brown striped socks.

Holy hell, no woman should be allowed to look that cute. He swallowed thickly, and realized his expression must have given him away, because she shifted under his gaze, and was that also a blush on her face?

She recovered first. "Hey, Midoriya! Find the place okay?" Grinning at her own joke, she stepped back to let him in. The scent of food hit him as she did so, and the knot in his stomach began to unravel, replaced by appetite.

"O-oh!" He stepped in behind her, letting her close the door as he began to remove his shoes. "I only took a couple of wrong turns," He replied after a short delay, thankful for the sliver of wit he managed to use.

She smirked at him, then reached out to the box in his hands. "Let me take that for you so you can get your jacket off."

He passed it over to her, muttering a thanks as he tugged at the zipper. "I wasn't sure which kind of mochi you liked so I had them suggest a few and make an assortment. I think most of them are for dessert. Is… is that okay?"

Her eyes lit up, grinning widely as she swept the box away into the kitchen. "Ahhh, it's more than okay!"

He smiled, distracted from hanging his jacket up as he watched her put the mochi away for later, buzzing around her kitchen. Snapping out of his reverie, he hung up his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt upon feeling how warm her apartment was. Probably from the cooking. "Can I help with anything?"

"Nope!" She cheerfully replied, then gestured towards the dining table. "I've got it all about ready. I hope you're hungry!"

He glanced around, eyes falling to the table set with several small dishes and he felt his stomach growl. "I…definitely am."

XX

Dinner was delicious, and so far Izuku had not done anything too embarrassing, much to his relief. Ochako had refused to let him help put away the table once they were finished, instead ushering him to the sofa. "Have a seat, I'll be right there and we can continue talking!"

He finally gave in, promising himself the next time he would take care of all the prep work and cleaning so that they were even.

He really hoped there would be a next time. Idly, he looked around her living room as he waited for her, noting the sparse but fitting décor. Pink pillows on the sofa. Candles on the coffee table, accompanying a book on the history of the International Space Station. The art decorating the wall was primarily space themed, prints of galaxies and planets wrapped in frames.

"You must love astronomy," Izuku observed as Ochako joined him on the sofa, sitting on the other side with a leg tucked under her. They'd talked about little things during dinner, but now they were no longer bound by etiquette. Or appetite.

"I do," She said fondly, propping her chin up with a hand, using the back of the sofa to brace her arm. "Ever since I was a kid. I love reading about it, and I follow NASA and several scientific papers and blogs. It's how I usually spend my free time, keeping up with what's going on in space." She grinned, before looking over at him. "What about you? Any interesting hobbies?"

"Well," Izuku replied, feeling a little sheepish. "I read a lot of comics…"

"I've noticed! You seem to enjoy reading them on your balcony. Can't blame you, you get a pretty good view of the sunrise from where you are."

He felt his ears burn. Yeah. View of the sunrise. That was exactly it. "Aha… y-yeah, it's nice! It's nice to start my day like that before I go into work."

"Oh, yeah, what do you do, anyway? It can't be all volunteer," Ochako teased.

Izuku was grateful that this was the one thing he had practiced, repeatedly, in the mirror when it came to his identity. Plus, it wasn't really a complete lie. "Quirk data analysis, actually. I know, I know, big surprise, huh?"

Ochako blinked rapidly. "Wait, seriously? How so?"

Izuku shifted to better face her, drawing one leg up and resting his hand on his ankle. "So, things like the Quirk Public Registry, I take that data and categorize it to identify areas of interest or trends. So stuff like, at what age do Quirks usually appear? Are there outliers? What's the percentage of mutant Quirks? Are there any patterns between Quirks and particular demographics? That kind of stuff. My hope is that we can use this data for fighting for Quirk equality eventually."

"So you have, like, full access to the registry?" She asked, brows lifting. It was well known that despite the name, most of the data in it was only used by medical professionals or government agencies.

Izuku shook his head, waving a hand. "No, no. All the identifying info is stripped out. The stuff I'm looking at is numbers and patterns. I spend more time making the graphs look pretty than anything!"

Ochako nodded, brow furrowing. "I see. That's… interesting! So is it like a government job?"

"Kinda," Izuku hedged. Now he was skirting around the edge of what he was prepared for, so quickly he turned the conversation around. "B-but not really. What about you? What do you do?"

"Me? Oh!" Ochako laughed. "Far less exciting stuff, really. I'm a delivery contractor for small businesses, which accounts for most of my work, and I'm also a part-time massage therapist."

Izuku's lips parted in a small measure of surprise. "I…really?"

"Rude," Ochako replied good naturedly, glancing away with a small grin on her face. "Yeah. It's why I work odd hours. Gotta toggle multiple customers with varying hours, and I do massage house calls, especially for Quirk holders so they feel safer."

Izuku felt himself smiling as she explained. "That is… really sweet of you."

"Oh, come on!" Ochako replied, looking back at him, appearing slightly flustered. "Hardly counts when I'm sitting across from the guy who single handedly does more volunteer work than the rest of this prefecture combined. Plus, I'm doing mine for the money."

He laughed a little, before he thought of something, turning a curious eye to her. "So… is that the reason you're always wearing gloves? Like, do massage therapists gotta protect their hands?"

He'd never paid much attention before today, but now that he thought about it, she almost always seemed to be wearing gloves. Of course, he almost always had interacted with her in public settings and outdoors, so there were a myriad of explanations available and none really were worth pondering over. However, she had kept them on during dinner, so it clearly wasn't something to do with weather or germs. And now, curiosity got the better of him.

Ochako laughed. "No, nothing like that. I just have really cold hands, and so I keep gloves on when I'm not working. I hate having cold hands. Feels almost painful when they're cold. Two out of ten; don't recommend."

Izuku's mouth formed a small 'o' at her explanation. "Got it. I guess I can relate a little? My right hand doesn't handle drastic weather changes pretty well. Causes some pain when the temperature shifts." He held up the aforementioned hand, showing off the crooked fingers with a slightly embarrassed smile. "They're, ah, a mess to look at, but you can see what I mean, probably."

He watched her eyes flicker to them and she frowned. "Yeah, I'd noticed before when we were at the park, but I didn't want to ask then. What happened?"

"Car accident," Izuku replied simply. 'Thank you, Kacchan, for such a simple, but effective lie.'

Car accident.

Except the car was actually One for All.

And wasn't street legal.

Oh, and Izuku was the inexperienced driver going well over the speed limit.

Ochako nodded her head in understanding, before glancing over to a table in the corner, a contemplative expression on her face. "I got an idea. Hang on." She walked over to the table, and he craned his neck to watch her, though he couldn't really see what she grabbed until she was on her way back to her seat.

And when he saw the bottle of oil, his brain made the record scratch noise and he froze.

She sat back down and pulled off one glove with her teeth, popping open the small bottle with her other hand. Dropping a few drops in her palm, she rubbed her fingers against it, coating them in oil. "All right, gimme your hand, please."

He swallowed nervously, wondering if she could hear the way his heart was pounding in his chest. However, he obeyed, and he only hoped she thought the tremor was because of the injury and not because he was absolutely panicking that his crush was about to give him a massage.

It may have been only his hand, but it was enough to make him feel like he might faint.

That feeling intensified when she scooted closer to him, catching his wrist with her gloved fingers. Gently turning his palm down, she swiped her fingers over the back of his hand, smearing oil across his skin. The warm scent of oranges and cloves invaded his nostrils in a way he hoped would never stop. "If it hurts, tell me to stop."

He nodded nervously, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't tell her to stop even if it killed him.

But it didn't hurt. She kept a light pressure, sliding her fingers between his and over the joints, massaging the knobby knuckles and calloused tips. Had he not been enraptured by the act itself, he might have noticed that she never once touched him with all five fingers at the same time, deftly avoiding her thumb or her pinky depending on the action.

He did not notice in the slightest, instead far too fascinated by the way her touch felt with the oil, that he could still feel her callouses despite the lubrication, and the fact that she was willingly touching him.

His eyes lifted up to her face, and he noted she had a tiny smile on her lips. Her gaze flickered up to meet his, and her smile widened slightly. "So…" She started, not relenting on her gentle pressure. "Now that I have you trapped…"

He half paid attention, far too fascinated by how pink her lips looked. They kind of matched the shade of her sweater…

"Am I safe to assume you're not dating anyone and my flirting is welcome?"

"Yeah…" He replied distractedly, voice soft.

Wait.

Wait.

"Wait, what?!" His voice cracked, eyes snapping back up to hers, entire body jerking. She looked a little taken aback, before she schooled her expression into a polite smile and pulled her hands away from his. "I'm sorry. I see that I misunderstood the situation. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Waitwaitwaitwaitnonononono, "W-wait! You haven't!" Izuku felt a flash of panic as he tried to reign in the situation, waving both of his hands in front of him. "I just… I was, uh… I was distracted. By you. And didn't realize what you asked and, and…" Panic melted away into confused wonder. "...You were flirting with me?"

"Apparently badly if you didn't notice," Ochako replied, her tone mixed with amusement and defeat. "Yes, Midoriya. I'm flirting with you. I think you're cute." She sighed, glancing away. "It's fine, like… I couldn't tell if you were interested or if I made you nervous, so I figured I just needed to ask."

"Yes, and yes," Izuku found himself replying on autopilot because he was very much still in shock. When he realized what he said, he felt a fiery heat explode across his face.

He got an arched brow as a response, though he saw her lips pull upward slightly. "I… see."

His heart was hammering in his chest, and he desperately tried to make his congealed brain work. He needed to say something that was actually reassuring and not reactive, but damn if he didn't know what! Fortunately, she took his tiny confession as encouragement.

"So…" She started, pausing to consider her words. "Since being direct is getting me better results… I think you are sweet, and interesting, and cute. I want to get to know you better and see what happens."

'Sweet and interesting and cute. Me. She said that about me.' Izuku was convinced he was dreaming.

She had stopped talking, looking up at him, and he realized, dumbly, that she was waiting for some kind of response. He sucked in a shuddering breath, trying to keep his nerves from going up in smoke. "I… would really like that."

He didn't stutter! Score!

She was quiet for a moment, warm brown eyes searching his before she smiled again. "Cool. You had me worried there for a second."

He felt himself flush again, and he grabbed onto his ankle with both hands, trying to recenter himself with the motion. "I-I'm sorry. I just… I'm not good at this. I mean… uh, I really haven't had much relationship experience. Like… hardly any. Uh."

"I suspected that," She replied with a grin.

He winced. "That obvious?"

She laughed. "Midoriya, you literally cannot have a conversation with me without getting flustered. I just couldn't determine if it was me, or everyone, but after seeing you interact with others, like at the park, I realized it was a little bit everyone, but especially me."

His mouth fell open, and he gave a helpless, wobbly grin. "Yeah… I guess. You're just… really cute, okay? And I didn't know how to, well, talk to you, and was scared of messing it up."

Some tiny part of him was pleased to see her cheeks darken a little when he called her cute. After a moment, she responded with wry amusement. "I'm glad that's what it was, and not 'overbearing' and insufferable."

"Not at all," He replied vehemently, eyes wide. "It makes my day when I get to talk to you."

To his delight, she gave him a flustered grin, apparently pleased with his admission. "Really?"

"Yeah. …Really." He no longer cared that he had been blushing nonstop during all of this.

Ochako was quiet for a few seconds, her expression melting into something thoughtful, and then into something else he couldn't quite recognize. Finally, she admitted in a quiet voice, "Now I'm nervous."

That surprised him, and it showed on his face. She always seemed so confident and easy going! "Wha…? Why?"

Was it something he said? Did she think he would say no? Did she not mean it?

She shifted a little, hands dropping into her lap. Pursing her lips, she finally replied. "You said you have little relationship experience, but I'm… kinda the opposite? Except that I only have… bad relationship experience, and that's usually my own fault. And I don't wanna ruin this."

He watched her drop her eyes down to the fabric of the sofa. He hesitated, before prodding gently. "Why do you say you'd ruin it?"

She half shrugged, not quite meeting his gaze. "I usually don't commit? I go on a few dates, scratch the itch for connection, then I end it because commitment means I need to open up, and I'm … really not good at that." She laughed a little, nervously. "Problem is… I don't wanna do that to you, but that means at some point I'd need to open up, and that's… scary. I'm a mess underneath, and well, I don't want you to be disappointed. So… there it is."

Izuku listened carefully, considering the weight of what she said. Finally, he tilted his head, offering her a small smile when she looked up at him. "I… can't see myself judging you, Uraraka. I think as long as you're trying to work through whatever you've got going on, I wouldn't ever be disappointed."

Her lips parted slightly, but he hurried, continuing. "And… and I mean, if we're being honest, I have a lot of stuff I don't like to talk about, too. And maybe, one day, I'll wanna talk about it, but right now…" He paused, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair. "Right now, I think I'd just like to spend time with you and get to know you better. In a way that you're comfortable with. If you'll let me."

He chanced a look up at her, green eyes meeting brown, and found she was staring at him in a way that made him feel like they were both sitting there naked. It was deep, intense, and emotional. Intimate.

She blinked, breaking eye contact and a soft sound escaped her - a small laugh. It was soft and sweet, and he exhaled when he watched her reach up to wipe at the corner of her eye. "Damn, Midoriya. How did you go from being too shy to have a proper conversation with me to saying something that smooth?"

He grinned sheepishly, ducking his head a little and unsure what to say. "I…" He trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

She smiled at him, and he felt warm tingles all over his skin. "I'd… like that."

XX

They talked for another two hours. Silly stories, interests, weird tangents. Izuku learned that Ochako used to be terrible at cooking, but her big brother figure made her learn. In turn, Ochako learned that Izuku's favorite food is katsudon, and every time he visits his mother he begs her to make it for him.

When it came time to go, they lingered in the foyer of Ochako's apartment. It had finally stopped raining, so Izuku hadn't bothered to zip up his jacket. Looking down at Ochako, he gave her the widest grin he could. "I had a ton of fun tonight."

She smiled back, her rosy cheeks practically glowing. "Yeah? I think I did, too. There's not much I can think that would have made it better."

Izuku's eyes widened slightly. "But you thought of something?"

"Just one thing," She admitted, putting a finger to her chin. "Want me to tell you?"

He nodded vigorously, green curls bobbing. Truthfully, he thought things had gone a million times better than he ever expected, but clearly she had other ideas, and he'd try better next time to–

His heart skipped a beat when she leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. She still smelled like the mochi from earlier, and he couldn't help the shuddered breath that escaped him when she pulled away, staring down at her in wonder. She smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "That's all."

"O-oh," He replied, turning pink and repressing the urge to shiver in delight. "I'll remember for… for next time."

"Please do. I'll see you in a couple of days. Have a good night, Midoriya."

He smiled at her like a lovestruck idiot. "Good night, Uraraka."

He managed to make it to the stairwell of her building before he pressed both of his hands to his face, covering his mouth in absolute shock.

'She kissed me.'

From outside the stairwell, one could hear a stifled, excited scream.

XX

Ochako felt like she was dancing on the moon, and she had to check to make sure she hadn't accidentally floated herself. Despite the amount of confidence she had been exuding, she really had been worried deep down that she had misread Midoriya's interest. But no, his shyness was not a lack of interest, it was the exact opposite, and it was both amazing and terrifying.

Amazing, because he was adorable, and she loved it.

Terrifying, because she was still intensely worried about fucking things up.

And the way he looked at her, with soft eyes and such a gentle, understanding expression when she admitted she was a mess… It was also dangerous.

Dangerous, because he was exactly the kind of person she wanted to fall in love with.

Trying not to spiral down into a night of insecurities and old nightmares, she sighed and walked into the kitchen to find where she left her phone, only to hear it buzz from its place on the counter. She snatched it up to see an encrypted message from Hawks. He had also tried to call ten minutes earlier. Apparently her ringtone was still on silent. Whoops.

"I need you to come in."

With a sigh, she texted a quick reply and went to change clothes. At least she got to finish her date.

XX

The sound of the doors sliding open made Hawks look behind him, seeing Uravity walk through in full uniform. The chance the hero team could show up had left her not wanting to take any chances with her identity. "Yo. You rarely miss calls… all okay?" He asked in mild concern.

Ochako looked around before nodding. "Yep. I was busy."

"...Busy?" He arched his brow. "Doing what?"

Even though he could not see through her helmet's visor, he could still somehow tell she was embarrassed. Maybe because he'd known her for years.

"I was on a date, okay?"

Hawks gave her a hard stare. "You always check your phone during dates. You once left a date using me as an excuse."

"Can we move on to the part about why you wanted me here at eleven p.m.? Don't you have a life?"

The blond gave her a pointed look, and it was clear the conversation was far from over. "Yeah, so… got updates from Froppy and Toru. Yesterday, they split up when Toru saw an opportunity to track one of the members of the Eight Bullets back to their base, while Froppy stayed behind to continue to collect information on Trigger, which, as we guessed, is the Quirk enhancing drug. Anyway, Toru has managed to overhear a lot, and it isn't pretty."

He sighed, bringing up some information on a screen. "So as you know, these guys are part of a bigger Yakuza organization called Shie Hassaikai. We'd been focusing on the Eight Bullets since we suspected they were the key members moving this drug operation along, and they were the most dangerous, since all of them have Quirks and aren't exactly friendly."

Ochako nodded, looking over his shoulder. "Is that not the case?"

"Oh, it is," Hawks replied, words heavy. "Worse than we realized, I think. Toru found out these guys are doing human experimentation of some kind to make some of these drugs, both in the creation and the testing. She hasn't gotten details on what or how, having to remain low and just listen, but she's heard enough to be confident it's happening."

The older man saw her stiffen out of the corner of his eye at the mention of human experimentation. He nodded, pressing his lips into a thin line. "Yeah, it's not great."

"...All right. So what do you need me for?" Her voice was quiet.

Hawks frowned. "Toru sent over two messages. The first was this morning, telling me more or less what I just told you. The second was right before I called you. She sent a set of coordinates and a request for extraction."

"Was it an SOS?" Ochako asked, alarmed.

Hawks shook his head. "No. I think she found evidence she wants to bring back, and she needs someone who can quickly get her to safety if she grabs it. People are going to notice floating objects exiting a Yakuza compound, after all."

"Give me the coordinates."

Hawks hesitated, before turning to look at her. "Just remember your priorities. Get in, get Toru, and leave."

XX

The coordinates led to a set of office buildings with traditional Japanese flourish. Dressed in all black, Ochako was barely visible in the shadows, slinking up to the wall that separated her from the buildings.

Considering the situation, it was safe to assume Toru had little gear with her, except her communicator. What Ochako didn't know is if she was in a location where she could equip it, much less speak into her earpiece.

Pressing her finger to her earpiece, she spoke quietly. "Toru. This is Uravity. If you hear me, I need you to help me find you."

After a moment, she heard a soft whisper in her ear. "Top floor. From the window. Gate to my left. Double door entrance to my right."

"Stay put. I'll be there shortly." Even as she spoke she was already clearing the wall, gravity removed to aid herself. The moment she could see, she teleported under a tree, diving into the shadows and out of the security lights.

Using the night vision on her helmet, she looked around, finding the window that matched Toru's description. It had no easy ledge, so she teleported up in front of it and let herself float, staring intently into the dark room to get a clear picture.

With a pop, she appeared inside, finding herself in a study. "Toru?"

"Here," came a quiet voice from the corner. "Do you have your camera?"

She nodded, pulling out the device from her uniform. Without a word, she held it out and felt Toru take it from her fingers.

"Stay here. I will be back."

Ochako didn't like it, but she didn't have Toru's level of stealth. Five minutes passed. Ten. Fifteen.

The door opened at sixteen minutes, letting in a floating camera before closing. She sighed with relief. "Are we good?"

"Yes. Get me out of here. I'm starving."

Ochako smiled as she felt her teammate hug her close and with a vision of their home base, she teleported them away.

XX

The next morning, Overhaul narrowed his eyes at the surveillance footage from the night before, watching as a dark silhouette appeared over the wall, before disappearing into thin air.

Turning to his right hand man, he asked. "Was anything stolen?"

Kurono Hari, known as Chronostasis, shook his head. "No. We found nothing out of place."

"Did anyone see anything?"

Another head shake. "Nothing."

Overhaul frowned behind his mask, turning off the surveillance video. "As soon as you have information on Uraraka Ochako, let me know."

- XX -

AN: To preemptively answer a question you may want to ask: Eri will be the same age as she was in canon, despite the age-up of other characters in this setting.

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