"So, Gunhead sir, why are we patrolling here?" Ochaco asked as she walked by next to Gunhead as they had walked down a street on patrol.
"Simple. Apparently, there's been an increase in crime around this area and I was assigned to it for today." Gunhead explained as he glanced around the place.
"And I figured since we were going to patrol here, there's been a cafe I've been wanting to go to. My sidekicks have told me this place is like a hidden gem!" He continued with a sudden rise of enthusiasm in his voice.
Soon as they took a turn at the corner, Ochaco immediately recognized the place Gunhead was talking about. Stardew Cafe. The one place Leizcio would usually be after school, even with whatever is going on with him right now. And there actually might be someone there to help her understand what's going on.
The two entered the cafe, but Ochaco noticed that Lavania wasn't at the front as she usually would be. Instead, it was a girl who had a pixie cut with black hair and blue strands running through it. Wait, it might be the person who Leizcio told her was his sister?
Not shortly after, Gunhead quickly went up to the girl and gave his order of pastries he'd take to go back to the agency. Gunhead and Ochaco then sat down on a table as they waited for Gunhead's order to be ready.
"Why don't you go get yourself something meanwhile Uravity? Remember, relaxing the body and mind is just as important!" Gunhead said.
"Sure, thank you!" Ochaco said as she got up. Unsurprisingly though, she had something else in mind. She approached the girl at the front to confirm her suspicions.
"Hi! Are you Hisako by chance?" Ochaco asked the girl.
"Yes. You're a friend of Leizcio I guess?" Hisako asked as she was putting some pastries in a bag.
"... Yeah...Look, I was wondering if I could talk to Lavania? It's important." Ochaco hesitantly answered. Hisako nodded and quickly went upstairs to bring Lavania back down with her.
"Hi Uraraka! It's been a while! Hisako said you needed me?" Lavania said. Taking a quick look at her, Ochaco noticed that she too was also getting eyebags, sure not as droopy as Leizcio, but you could tell that she's been restless lately.
"Yeah, I want to talk to you about Leizcio. It's regarding the night shift." Ochaco said making the gesture of putting on a hoodie. Lavania quickly caught on and knew that she wanted to talk about Leizcio's vigilantism.
"Of course, just follow me." Lavania said as she began to walk into the basement.
"Wait! Let me tell Gunhead an excuse!" Ochaco said realizing she can't just disappear like that.
"Course, let me talk to him then." Lavania said as she began to walk towards the table Gunhead was seated at. Meanwhile, Hisako was rather curious about something.
"So, how'd you learn about Leizcio's other thing?" Hisako asked.
sigh "It was his first day as a vigilante. Ended up saving a whole group of us from some thieves but his goggles fell off and I recognized his face since he went to my middle school." Ochaco recalls, remembering the confusion she had when she saw that the vigilante who saved her was a stranger from her middle school.
"I see. I had a feeling I recognized you." Hisako said. Lavania headed back to the two, gesturing to Ochaco to go to the basement in which she followed.
"What'd you tell him?" Ochaco asked as she entered the basement with Lavania, looking for a place to sit.
"Something about a project you were doing about how crimes affect local businesses. But anyways, what's been going on?" Lavania said sitting down in her chair.
"That's what I wanted to ask you. Leizcio has been acting differently at school. He's been shutting himself off from everyone and even gave us some cold shoulders. That and he hasn't even been taking care of himself. I know his speed-healing tends to heal him quickly from what he told me. But before internships, I confronted him and he had a bandage on that was heavily bloodied. He also has eye bags, has been forcing himself to stay awake at school, and he hasn't been smelling that well, especially with the blood and dirt. What's going on with him?" Ochaco asked as she explained to Lavania how Leizcio has suddenly changed and for the worst.
Lavania's eyes start to look like they could cry any moment. Ochaco was confused, it looked like she had a sense of guilt. Wait. Why did she ask what was going on with Leizcio? Isn't she the one that lives with him?
"Lavania... Leizcio hasn't been here for a while hasn't he?" Ochaco asked with worry in her voice and her face visibly concerned. Lavania just nodded in response. Her throat couldn't get the words to come out. The room was filled with a sense of dread. Lavania already had it, but now Ochaco could only imagine what Leizcio has been suffering from being out of the house and whatever drove him to leave.
"Uraraka, it was something that I did that made him leave... I... I had been giving him drugs that would weaken his quirk... You know how he doesn't have a mom, but he never said how we lost her. She ended up overusing her quirk and couldn't heal herself naturally. I was... I worried that Leizcio would suffer the same fate. We both know how reckless he can be. It was... I- I made a stupid decision doing that. I can't blame him for the way he feels, but he shouldn't be acting like this, it isn't healthy for him." Lavania managed to muster without crying. The time that Leizcio has been gone, Lavania learned what she did was wrong, but still, worries about the current state Leizcio is in.
Ochaco sighs from hearing all of this. She takes a moment to let it all settle in her mind. This was one hell of a weird situation, but painful to say the least for both of the siblings. But both are hurting each other. Lavania ended up hurting Leizcio by weakening him and destroying the trust he had for her. As for Leizcio, he's been acting irrationally. While he does have every right to be angry, he's been harming himself because of it. All the way to the point that his quirk can't keep up with all the injuries he gets.
"So I'm guessing the problem now is being able to find him right?" Ochaco asks tiredly.
"Well, there might be a solution to that actually." Lavania said with a bit more life in her voice. Ochaco had also perked up slightly hearing this.
"His suit has a tracker in it and whenever he puts it on, it gives off a signal. Of course, the problem is that his energy sometimes shorts it out so it'll only appear every so often. And sorry for barging in, I'm Tamashi. You're... Uraraka right?" Tamashi said as she entered the room.
"How'd you know?" Ochaco asked in confusion.
"Leizcio told me about you on his first day. Someone who ended up knowing who actually knew who he was. Anyways, is there a chance that you knew where Leizcio went for internships? We'd know, but turns out he could forge Lavania's signature..." Tamashi explained tiredly, pinching her nose when she mentioned Leizcio forging Lavania's signature.
"I did overhear that he took an internship at a pro hero's agency. I think the name was Blink?" Ochaco said, remembering what she overheard when Leizcio talked to Midoriya about his selections. Tamashi quickly went to work on her laptop trying to find it and got her results shortly after.
"Got it! Actually Uraraka, it's pretty close to where Gunhead's agency is." Tamashi said as she showed Ochaco and Lavania her screen.
"Now, of course, we can't exactly just kidnap him, that'd just make us the same as Mashito. But on the day internships are finished, we can expect him to head back by train. We can use Uraraka's quirk on him to get him to stay in one place." Tamashi explained her plan, pointing to Ochaco. Of course, her quirk can make him float, the one thing super speed wouldn't help him escape. Even a reminder of the last time she got mad at him. Floated him up to the ceiling to scold him.
"Tamashi, is there anything else the suit tracks?" Lavania asked as she got up.
"...Yes. It can track his vitals too. I've been watching it but... He's managing the best he can right now. Without the bars he'd usually have, he's practically just eating snacks. And with what he does during internships and as Blur, it slows him down a lot, including his healing. He's fine for now, but if this keeps up it's going to be bad." Tamashi admitted. She was initially scared to share this with Lavania, but if she kept it a secret, it would only lead to another situation like this again. Lavania just sighed, knowing that she can't do much now, but that hope Leizcio is holding on.
"Thank you for telling me this. I'll make sure to keep an eye out if I can if I'm with Gunhead on patrol." Ochaco says as she got up ready to head out.
"Wait Uraraka, before you leave, here's my contact. Should anything happen, you call me immediately." Tamashi told her as she scribbled down her number and gave it to Ochaco.
"I will. And thank you."
Heading back up, Ochaco felt stress overwhelming her a bit. She knew Leizcio's life was something else the first day they met. But it suddenly spiraled all out of control. Even if Leizcio is too angry to see how much he's hurting himself, he needs someone to help him calm down and see clearly.
"Hey Uravity! You got your information?" Gunhead asked with bags in hand ready to go. Ochaco completely forgot that that was the excuse Lavania gave him to let Ochaco talk to her.
"Uhhhh... Yeah! Turns out that sometimes crime scenes make it... more difficult to get supplies sometimes?" Ochaco made up on the spot, hoping that Gunhea bought it. Makes it more difficult to tell since he has a mask on.
"That makes sense! You'll probably get an A-plus on that project!" Gunhead said giving her a thumbs up of encouragement. Ochaco gave a small sigh of relief that Gunhead believed it.
As they got back on patrol, Ochaco's mind was somewhere else. Wondering if Leizcio is going to be okay. It's not surprising that he was acting aggressively back in school. He was trying to keep those problems to himself but did it horribly. Probably the worst thing he can do, closing himself off from others. She's just hoping that he can hold out long enough for Lavania to find him and apologize for what she did.
"That gasp was gasp pretty difficult." Leizcio gasped out, taking off his training mask and throwing it to the floor. Spectro and Blink ended up doing the same thing.
"You're not wrong kid!" Blink said as he started chugging down some water. Spectro grabbed his water bottle and passed Leizcio's to him. Leizcio drank some water and poured some on his head.
Spectro nudged Blink and told him something. The two then walked over a bit from where Leizcio was and were whispering something to each other. Well, trying to. Leizcio could see that they were trying to discuss something but didn't take long for Blink and Spectro to walk back over to him.
"What happened?"
"Esperanza, during our past training sessions, we've been noticing a trend that you might not have felt yet." Blink said with concern in his voice.
Leizcio looked in confusion and wondered what they meant..
"You've been getting slower. Ever since the tournament, you haven't been running at the same pace. And we think it might have to do with something about how you're overdoing it. Training yourself too much happens, we both know that." Blink tells Leizcio.
Leizcio just stood there in disbelief. The pills should've worn out by now, his speed should've been increasing, but he's pushing himself to the point where it started to go down. Blink and Spectro notice the distraught look on Leizcio's face and become a bit worried.
"We'll work on the electrical part of your quirk for the meantime, all right? You can't train your running for now. Not until your body is ready." Blink said as he put his hand on Leizcio's shoulder, trying to reassure him.
"...Yes sir." Leizcio said as he started walking back into the agency. It was already getting to that time of night and Leizcio tiredly entered the shower. He looked blankly for a while, trying to wrap his head around this. It wasn't true right? Maybe it was Blink trying to tell him he's not training enough?
He got out of the showers and headed back into his room. Locking it, he empties out his backpack and looks at the suit. He takes it into his hands and looks out the window of his room.
"Who cares anyway. I'm needed out there." Leizcio muttered to himself, deciding to put it on.
He gets out of his room, running aimlessly into the night.
Running away from the truth he fears.
Chapter 31
End
[A/N]
A chapter that doesn't revolve around Leizcio for the majority of it? 0.o Lmao. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! See y'all in the next one! Peace!
