Chapter 4: Routine
There was one particularly beautiful evening. Everyone from Class 1-A had spent the entire afternoon camping out in Karuizawa. It was far from their academy, but Ochaco had suggested the idea to the others at one point, and ultimately everyone came to be on board.
Camping during the day was filled with food and fun activities, but the night brought out a campfire and plenty of deep talks. One by one, the students took turns sharing a story about their own journey toward becoming a hero. It brought them closer to each other.
That was the day that Ochaco learned that Deku had been Quirkless for most of his life. Originally, Katsuki Bakugo used to comment that Deku was Quirkless, and that he inexplicably acquired a Quirk later in his life. Yet somehow, it never really sank in until that night. Ochaco was embarrassed at her lack of apprehending this sooner.
The stars of the beautiful night were shining, but Ochaco simply felt unworthy. By now, her feelings for Deku were incredibly strong, but she was still lacking in strength. Deku and the rest of her classmates inspired her to always try her hardest, but it felt like she was running simply to catch up with the others. No matter how hard she pushed herself, she was always behind. The world moved quickly as well, and she was disappointed at her lack of progress.
Despite everything, when she sat by the campfire next to Deku, under the illuminated night sky, she was happy. All that unworthiness became irrelevant once she reached this level of satisfaction. And all her troubles were now the ones struggling to catch up to her.
It wasn't until an hour later when Ochaco left the campus to go meet with Jin again. The entire time, all she could think about was that she had failed. Four hours. She had barely held Neito Monoma in conversation for an hour.
There was a sushi joint several blocks from the U.A., and that was where Jin instructed Ochaco to be. Normally, sushi was a great treat, but food was the last thing on her mind right now. This had been her first test for this case. Her score was going to be a failing grade. Once again, she hadn't been strong enough.
All she could do now was pray that Jin had miraculously found a visualization that would be useful.
When Ochaco went inside, she eventually spotted Jin, sitting as far in the back of the establishment as possible, like he always did. What was different this time was his choice of attire, which was uncharacteristically informal. He had a white shirt underneath a green hoodie, and he was wearing brown cargo pants. His hair was growing longer by now, but he had a brown baseball cap over it. Perhaps that was his method of avoiding standing out. After all, Ochaco barely recognized him like this.
Even when he noticed her approaching, Jin hardly reacted. "Have a seat. I already ordered you some sashimi."
"I'm not hungry," she commented in a slightly sour voice as she sat down.
Jin raised an eyebrow and watched her with curious eyes. "Very well. I'll eat by myself then."
"I'm sorry," Ochaco said, holding her hands up shakily as her frustrations reached the surface. "I couldn't keep him preoccupied for four hours."
"That's fine," Jin said with a grin. "I knew that you wouldn't."
Her face reddened from instantaneous anger. "You didn't even? You… you bastard…"
Jin rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm most certainly not that."
"Why'd you tell me you needed four hours if you knew I wouldn't be able to do it?" She was upset, too much so to manage logic. As she ushered the words, she immediately started realizing how immature she sounded.
"Is that what you're asking me? Well, all right. I used my judgment to choose an amount of time that would encourage you to put in your best effort." Nothing ever seemed to faze the Wolf. His consistent temper enforced the legitimacy of his reputation.
However, the way that Jin Okami seemed to subtly mock Ochaco's lack of knowledge wore out her patience. She was tired of being looked down on, especially when she was doing her best. Even if she was playing catch up back with her classmates, at least they supported her. Jin Okami, on the other hand, was making a mockery of her efforts.
She just needed a few deep breaths, and then she managed to suppress most of her rage. It wouldn't do her any good trying to figure things out while she was upset.
The waitress arrived just then, along with two plates of sashimi and white rice. Despite refusing the offer previously, Ochaco smiled and gave a gentle bow. Although she lacked an appetite, the food did look appealing.
As if he sensed her intentions, Jin held a pair of chopsticks toward her. "You've had a rough day. Eat."
This time, Ochaco just nodded silently as she took the chopsticks. From there, the two of them dug into their appetizers, and things calmed down significantly. That was the power of fresh food. It was refreshing to return to a small degree of normality, especially after such a taxing morning. Ochaco couldn't remember the last time she really concentrated on enjoying her meal for the good taste.
Even then, it was a brief respite, because Jin Okami wanted to resume working. "During your date, I was able to cycle through quite a few visualizations involving Neito Monoma."
"How many did you see?" she asked, just as she finished a tiny slab of fish.
He took a moment to consider the number. "More than two hundred."
"Two hundred?" She failed to stop her mouth from dropping open.
"More than I expected," Jin added. "That boy certainly does talk a lot, though that was fortunate given our situation."
"But he didn't reveal anything about any times he interacted with Deku. Unless… you saw something in the visions?"
That was the big question. Jin didn't look too excited to respond, though. "I have no visions to connect the two of them." The normally smug face of the Wolf produced the signs of disappointment.
Ochaco felt twice as bad. "I don't believe it. I really thought… damn."
"It doesn't rule out his involvement. It does, however, lower the chances significantly. Neito Monoma had self-esteem issues with Izuku Midoriya around. That could be the reason for him seeing a doctor off campus. Perhaps that could have even led to a motive for his disappearance. Unfortunately, I have no clear vision to link the two of them as of this time."
Not even fresh fish could lessen the blow. Ochaco lowered her head as her eyes watered up. This was just the beginning, but she already felt so deflated. This entire thing felt like an impossible search. It was just so hard to keep at it. There was just so little keeping her hopes alive in terms of hard evidence. All she had was her heart.
"Perhaps now you better understand my initial attitude on the matter." Jin washed his last bite of rice down with some water. "Having faith can get you far, but it makes the entire process painful. Actual, tangible evidence provides stronger bridges to cross the river of doubt. If you keep at it with just your faith on the matter, it will strip away your entire life."
"I don't care if that happens," she said defiantly. At this point, it was all she had left to fight with. "I know it's rough. But I can't give up."
To her surprise, Jin let out a few chuckles. "You intrigue me. Maybe you really could keep at it. You certainly have a strong heart. Still, I'm concerned that by supporting your agenda, I would be doing you a disservice. You're still very young." This wasn't the conversation either of them wanted to have, but Jin proceeded anyway. "At this point, I would like to advise you to drop the case."
"No way." It wasn't just defiance now. She was also being stubborn. But she would embrace all these things if that kept her committed. "Don't try to talk me out of it. I'm not giving up."
"I'm going to advise you on the wisest course, at all times. Whatever you decide, I will honor it to my fullest ability. But please, do not disregard my warnings. It's in my interest to see you succeed, whether you believe me or not."
"Good." Ochaco was still worked up, but she couldn't resist giving a twisted grin. "I know we'll find him, as long as we keep this up. We can figure this out. There has to be a trail. I know we'll find it."
Once the two of them finished their meal, they headed outside. Jin took longer to walk down the street as he fiddled with his pill bottles, strangely unable to concentrate on his task.
Ochaco noticed it and couldn't resist inquiring about it this time. "Are you okay?"
"I am well," he replied calmly, as if he had nothing to hide.
She decided to make a second move. "You take a lot of pills."
"My Quirk has numerous effects on my body. To complete my workload, I am willing to rely on assistance."
A taxi was just down the road, and Ochaco waved to it on Jin's behalf. "What kind of effects?" Ever since meeting him, she had noticed how he never talked about himself voluntarily.
Despite being very private, Jin was being more open this time. "Visualizations are like dreams. They have a psychological impact on my mind. It can interfere with my work."
"So, you take pills? That seems really unnatural for a Quirk." She did her best not to sound judgmental.
"A fair point. Still, it's necessary. Due to my Quirk, sleep doesn't come easily to me. I take sleeping pills to increase my drowsiness, so that I can knock out quickly. Then, in the mornings, I take caffeine to wake myself up quickly. Essentially, that is my work routine."
"Seems like a lot of trouble." Ochaco couldn't recall ever putting that much thought into her daily routines.
"It took some time to adjust to." As if he just then became aware that he was the subject of discussion, Jin moved to shift things. "I was reluctant to share this previously, but there was one visualization that caught my attention."
Ochaco's eyes were already large, but she could feel them widening. "Really? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I'm concerned about getting your hopes up," he explained, holding both hands up. The taxi was rolling forward, now that the driver noticed a fare was waiting, but Jin paid it no mind. "It is not enough for me to consider it a valid lead."
That didn't matter. Ochaco advanced forward, nearly grabbing Jin's shirt as she was close to pleading. "Tell me what you saw. Please. Every detail."
"Very well," he muttered. The cab driver got out to check on them, but Jin asked for a few moments to wrap things up. "Okay, Uraraka-San. This is what I saw. One day, Neito Monoma was upset about something. I'm not certain what brought it on. Perhaps he failed in one of the competitions at school. Anyway, Izuku Midoriya went to check on him, and Monoma refused Midoriya's offer for consolation. That led to Midoriya asking him questions, and Monoma eventually opened up with some confessions."
"Wait, wait, wait," Ochaco said, trying to keep up. "You can visualize things happening. That means you can also hear their conversations, right?"
"Even I am not fully certain how it works," he admitted. "My visualizations are brought about by physical interactions with objects. For example, if Neito Monoma walked on a carpet, and I used my Quirk on that carpet, I would be able to visualize when it happened. The most fortunate aspect of my Quirk is that sound waves count as physical impacts as well. Therefore, I can also gain visions thanks to sounds, so if Monoma simply shouted as he walked past the carpet, I could visualize it all the same."
"Now then, back to my vision of Neito Monoma. The two of them had a conversation about psychological trauma. Apparently, Monoma has been suffering during his time at the U.A. Midoriya managed to inquire about it at just the right time, when Monoma was fragile enough to reveal it."
"Does that mean it's enough evidence to be a motive?" Ochaco asked, almost desperately.
"That remains to be seen," he answered. With that, he climbed into the cab and glanced back at Ochaco. "Your resolve is going to be tested. I will need to run through more visualizations to find out more. It will be time-consuming. Please grant me that time. While I do that, you can help by asking more people about Monoma. Find out if anyone else knew about his issues."
"Okay, I will." Ochaco did her best to sound confident, but she was still feeling down. This was better than failing completely, but it was still a low place to be. If they were going to make any progress, they needed something more concrete. But it was still a needle in a field of haystacks.
