Chapter 8: Development
When it came to Ochaco Uraraka's motivation, it was the pursuit of a good life. Not just for her, but for her parents.
Becoming a hero ended up meaning more than she had imagined. Now, it wasn't just that she wanted to do right by her family. In addition to that, it turned out that her parents were the ones who inspired her to pursue her dream in the first place. What resulted was something beautiful. She now found that doing good things for others had powerful ways of being passed forward in life. It came in waves. Years down the line, and the ripples reached far and wide.
As wonderful as that all was, it was still only the beginning for Ochaco Uraraka. But then, she discovered something that changed the way she viewed life: she met Izuku Midoriya. The boy she fell in love with. Despite the path she laid out for her future, it was all subject to change once Deku entered her life.
Then at one point, it appeared as though she would be so blessed to have it all. When the two of them acknowledged each other's true feelings, an opportunity to make it all work had arrived.
Instead, nothing was to be. And Ochaco Uraraka lost everything.
It was late at night now, but Ochaco remained awake. The tears in her eyes would lose their moisture, only to flow again minutes later. Releasing the burden of Deku's disappearance remained impossible. Knowing now that he really had been abducted made it even more painful than before. Every day felt like one where he was suffering alone, in need of help. The days, the weeks, the months piled up. Ochaco was taking all of it. In fact, she took pride in absorbing the pain. It felt as though it would relieve Deku to some degree, although it seemed impossible.
Eventually, Ochaco rose from the couch and peered off toward Jin's office. The lamp was still lit. The Wolf was working late into the night, constantly studying the possible leads surrounding Doctor Don Takahiro. If Jin succeeded, it could save Deku's life.
All Ochaco had to do was figure out how she could help once it came time to go in. She still wanted to call in the heroes for the raid, but she also knew regardless of that, it was vital that she be prepared for combat. She was confident in fighting other villains, but the challenge of doing that while Deku remained captured was one she'd never experienced before. Besides, it remained unclear if Deku was anywhere near Don's property. There was no guarantee that Jin would find the trail with his Quirk.
In fact, there was no guarantee that Deku was even still alive.
The anxiety was too much. She climbed to her feet, took a pair of slippers and headed to the office in the other room to check on Jin. There, she found him asleep at his desk with his fingers pressed on some of the keys.
Ochaco grinned as she walked over and fetched Jin's coat, then propped it up like a pillow for his head. With some careful maneuvering, she slipped it in place, so his head and neck wouldn't be sore the next morning.
Just before making her exit, Ochaco couldn't resist glancing at the screen. The letter 'Q' had been pressed dozens of times, leaving a big trail on the search bar. Ochaco was about to clear the screen for Jin, but she stopped, noticing something. It was 'Q' for the word 'Quirk.' After she cleared the line of Qs, one of the items that the search engine found stood out to her: Quirk Transfer Application.
"Hmm," Ochaco thought out loud. He had to remind herself that Jin was still asleep, because she wanted to ask him if he'd found out about this yet. Surely, it was from something he searched previously. When she ran the search, the pages had been viewed already. Even so, Ochaco began to read through them. Apparently, the research was tied into All For One, the most terrifying villain in history, and his ability to steal the Quirks of other people.
There were organizations that had been researching the scientific process for transferring Quirks. Why did this suddenly stand out? Maybe she was letting her imagination get the better of her, but Ochaco could see it being a motive for abducting Deku. His Quirk was extremely powerful, and it would make sense that other people would seek to acquire it for themselves. Maybe that was what got Jin to explore this route in the first place.
More memories came to Ochaco. She thought back to the encounter All Might had with All For One. The battle had been an intense one, but in the end, good triumphed over evil that day. Even so, the fact that All For One was capable of stealing Quirks stood out. Not only could he 'steal' them, but he could also 'transfer' them. Thus, Quirk Transfer Application appeared to be researching attempts to replicate this power.
Was that what this was? Could this really be the reason for Deku's abduction? Don Takahiro. He was interested in training people, while also observing their Quirks. Considering there were agents involved in abducting Deku, that meant Don Takahiro was associated with them. If all this went back to Quirk Transfer Application, then that presented a purpose for the entire operation. Not only that, but these guys could have captured more people than just Deku.
Or was this all just a figment of her imagination? Ochaco was lacking in confidence. Jin Okami was able to declare everything with such surety and composure. Being unable to live up to Jin's abilities stunned her confidence. It even felt like the harder she tried to measure up, the more she made mistakes.
There was only one way to find out. Once the Wolf woke up the next morning, Ochaco was going to ask him about everything. She was curious to get his thoughts on the matter.
When the sun came up the next day, Ochaco opened her eyes… surprised to see Jin Okami standing above her. "Coffee?" he offered, holding a mug in his left hand.
"Yes. Thank you." She stretched her arms, wondering if she'd slept in late after previously waking up in the night.
Whatever the truth was, Jin didn't bring anything up. He just set the mug down on the table next to the couch, then returned to his office. There was something off about his behavior this time. Ochaco sensed it, though it was hard to explain. For some reason, Jin appeared to be in a foul mood.
That got Ochaco to quickly climb to her feet. After getting into her slippers, she hurried to the office, even leaving her coffee behind. There, she found Jin sitting uncomfortably at his desk, looking at the screen on the computer.
"What's wrong?" she asked. Regardless of what she found the night before, she couldn't imagine what was troubling him right now.
Jin barely moved, but he did respond. "Neito Monoma has gone missing."
"What?" Where had that come from? Ochaco hurried over to the computer, where sure enough the news report online revealed it. As much as she disliked Neito, she wouldn't have wished something like this on him. Not to mention, both Ochaco and Jin knew who was responsible.
"We're close to finding out the truth," Jin explained. "But now… we have an issue of ethics. Neito Monoma's life is at stake. We will be forced to make our move immediately."
"And to contact the other heroes, too," Ochaco brought up quickly, "Right?"
Jin turned around to face her, then looked down. "There is an issue we must address."
"An issue?"
He nodded, then held his hand up to the screen. With his other hand, he clicked the mouse, switching pages… to the article Ochaco had read previously. "You were looking at my computer last night, weren't you?"
"Yeah," she acknowledged, somewhat confused. "I saw the page you had open. I was going to talk to you about it this morning." What possible reason could Jin have for being upset with her? After all, it was part of the case.
Sure enough, he appeared bothered. "You have every reason to wish to contact the professional heroes… but I do not share that reason."
"Well, I hired you to do a job for me," Ochaco reminded him sternly, crossing her arms. "We made a deal. If things got out of hand, we'd call the heroes."
"Our deal was that first we needed to confirm Izuku Midoriya's location," Jin clarified. "We have not yet accomplished that."
"But now Neito Monoma's going to disappear just like Deku! We can't let another person be taken."
"We're not letting him get taken. He's already gone."
Ochaco was steaming, remembering the feeling of first meeting Jin Okami. His lack of remorse and sympathy for others could bring out an ugly side of him. Right now, she wouldn't stand for it. "I get it. You went through a painful experience when you were just a kid. It couldn't have been easy. But you can't just… relinquish your sense of humanity over it. We have to do the right thing."
It didn't seem to be swaying him. "Then the right thing is for me to go in… alone."
"I'm not staying back! I'm committed to this! I'm going to go with you to rescue Deku!"
"You are irrational. You'll make things worse. It's already getting out of hand with this new development."
As angry as she was, Ochaco took a deep breath. Somehow, she had to think. It was of the utmost importance that she heard Jin Okami's plan. Perhaps he was being inconsiderate of others, but he was still intelligent. This case had now reached a very precarious moment.
Only when she had calmed down did Jin resume speaking. "If you insist on going, then this is my plan: You will go back to Don Takahiro, along with your 'medical documents.' Once there, you'll confront him about Deku, at which point he will attempt to stop you, or merely escape. You will need to incapacitate him."
"Incapacitate him? What if he has other people there to help him?"
"He does," Jin pointed out. "I've seen visualizations of his assistants. There's three of them."
"Where were they when the two of us were there?"
"They were all absent that day. I do not know where they left to. The only way for me to find out is to narrow the search."
"And how are you going to do that?"
Jin stood up from his chair and walked over to her. "I need to question Doctor Takahiro. He'll provide us with the information I need. Once we have that, we can go to where they're holding Deku."
Even then, Ochaco was doubtful. "But I don't understand… how can we be sure he'll point us in the right direction?"
It was a good point, but Jin remained unfazed. "Most likely, Neito Monoma has been taken by the same agents responsible for Deku's abduction. Therefore, I will have visualizations of the act, more recent than the ones from our previous visit. That will give us a fresh trail." He took a pause to gather his final thoughts. "This trail… will likely bring us to where Izuku Midoriya is located. And then, we will have succeeded."
It all came together in the end. The development with Neito Monoma was sad, but it also brought up an opportunity. Now, the two of them had an easier path to find Deku.
The issue now was that Jin would only proceed if it was the two of them. It just didn't sit right with Ochaco.
Eventually, the day progressed, and Ochaco had gathered her things to head back home. The elements of this case were depressing her, and she was worn out. In the beginning, she had been incredibly relieved for achievement in the realm of the cold case. After nearly an entire year of no clues, her and Jin had located a trail. Now, that felt like it was ages ago. What they had to deal with now was the burden of making the next move. If they revealed themselves to these villains, Deku could be lost forever. That tore at her immensely, adding pressure she'd never felt before.
Part of her wanted to just comply with everything Jin Okami told her. He didn't want to work with other heroes, although that was against how Ochaco had been trained over the years. However, she had come to realize there were elements of training she'd never gone through, and Jin Okami had a mind for them. His logic, combined with his Quirk, made him the right man for the job. A private detective.
Why did she still argue with him? Disagree with his ideals? It was simple: She wore her heart on her sleeve. She followed her emotions and trusted in what she believed. This way of living had carried her on her dream to becoming a professional hero. Her dream of achieving a good life for herself and her family. It all hung in the balance from these core foundations to her character.
To this day, she believed in her way of life. That meant she would oppose Jin Okami's belief in leaving emotions out of the way. Even if that was logical in certain situations, Ochaco was never going to betray others she cared about over that. At the same time, she was going to take everything that the Wolf was telling her and put it to use, to come up with the best results possible.
She was going to find Deku, using every tool at her disposal.
"Why did you go in my office last night?" Jin asked randomly.
Ochaco shrugged, not sure what to say. "I just went to check on you. I guess you fell asleep at your computer."
Jin nodded, looking strangely embarrassed. "I suppose it had gotten late." From there, he revealed the coat in his hand, the same one Ochaco had used to cushion his head while he was sleeping. "Thank you…" It was like he was trying to speak another language.
It brought a smile to her face. "You're welcome."
With a sigh, Jin slid into his coat, even in the warm weather. "Go home and tidy yourself up. Meet me at Karuizawa station at one o'clock. We'll move in from there."
