Tap tap tap tap
Uraraka cringed every time the metal tip of the pen made contact with the desk.
Tap tap tap tap
She followed the incandescent eyes of Ryukyu as the dragoon hero scanned the dense report in front of her, one that Uraraka had written herself.
Tap tap tap tap
She'd stayed up all night processing those criminals, losing much needed sleep in favor of writing an extensive account of her run-in with Jackrabbit and his victims (if you could call them that): one that she'd been almost proud of.
Tap tap tap tap
But if the storm cloud brewing above her boss's head was any indication, she should have just called it an early night instead.
Tap tap - the pen snapped under the pressure of the Ryukyus clenching fingers and the sound almost had Uraraka bolting for the door.
The dragoon hero leveled her furious gaze at her sidekick, but her eyes softened the moment she caught the look on Uraraka's face. She laid the folder onto her desk and dropped the shattered remains of her pen alongside, heaving a deep sigh that spoke of one too many long nights. "Uravity, relax," she said and immediately Uraraka loosened her wire stiff posture. "I know you did everything you could last night, I don't blame you even a little bit," her tone was matronly, with a hint of finality that said that she wouldn't repeat herself, so anyone listening better be paying attention.
Still, last night's incident was a massive nuisance for the Ryukyu agency and, unfortunately for her, Uraraka was the one who had brought it to the table.
22 heavily injured men and women: every single one of them with arrest warrants, just like Jackrabbit had said. All of them were still unconscious but stable, and were currently being treated for their injuries under lock and key at the nearest hospital. In normal circumstances, pulling that many criminals off of the street at once would have been cause for celebration but there were complications.
For starters, there was the fact that it was an unlicensed vigilante that had done the dirty work so to speak, and therefore, the agency had two options before them. They could take credit for the catch themselves, which would mean justifying the excessive force used to subdue the criminals to a media frothing at the mouth for controversy, like sharks in bloodied water: or they could tell the press that it was Jackrabbit that had taken them down, giving the rogue good publicity. Neither option was particularly ideal but regardless, the choice would have to be made soon, journalists were already starting to ask questions.
And if that wasn't enough of a headache, there was also the dubious nature of Jackrabbits warning to consider. Background checks were run on all of the captured gang members and none of them had any prior connection to any known trafficking outfits, but that didn't mean much if it was a new operation. If there was truth in his words, then the matter was serious but they were stretched thin as it was: the reality was, they didn't have enough resources to throw at a wild goose chase on the word of a dangerous renegade.
Ryukyu rubbed her temples, no doubt doing her level best to keep a migraine at bay. "There isn't much more we can do at the moment," she grumbled. "I've given the police a copy of your report and they told me that it's news to them too, and I've told all the sidekicks to keep an eye out. For now we'll just have to wait until one of those thugs wakes until we can get any more information," she stood up from her desk and walked towards where a sullen Uraraka stood with her head hung low. The older woman placed a comforting hand on the shoulder of her sidekick and smiled softly when Uraraka looked up. "Good work Ochako, nearly two dozen criminals are off of the streets because of you, don't forget that."
Uraraka returned the smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes.
Back at her own desk, Uraraka stared at the wall, so totally lost in her own mind that she didn't even notice a thank you message from Quicksilver when it popped up on her emails: the tinny *ding* from her computer passed through her cloudy brain like a kite on a breeze. Her thoughts were fully occupied by a certain vigilante and his parting gift of information about the people she had detained.
Despite the Pro's kind words, Uraraka still felt useless. She knew Ryukyu was right, there really was nothing that could be done, but the fact that she let Jackrabbit slip through her fingers again, this time with potentially life or death intel in his hands, was killing her. She sighed heavily, and put her head in her hands while letting out a small mutter of self loathing.
"Are you okay O-Ochako?" A ray of sunshine in the form of a concerned voice, punctured her balloon of self pity and Uraraka found herself jumping six feet into the air in shock. When she landed, she swiveled in her chair towards the source of the voice, and was struck with a remarkable sense of deja-vu. How he always managed to sneak up on her like that, even unintentionally, she'd never know. Izuku was once again at her desk side, bright red in embarrassment and the look of shock and apology on his face was adorable. "O-oh Sorry! I-I didn't mean to make you jump, you just looked so upset," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in consternation.
"Izuku! I should be the one apologizin', I was just overthinking some stuff,'' she laughed internally at the way he twitched whenever he heard his own name, like he wasn't used to hearing it spoken by others that much.
"Anything I can help with?" he asked, eyes bright and spine straightened at the prospect of being helpful.
"Nah, just some hero stuff, don't worry about it," Uraraka's words didn't even sound convincing to herself, but it seemed Izuku would let it go regardless. He deflated a little at her words almost like a puppy dog, and it made Uraraka smile: a warm, fuzzy feeling filled her up and brightened her dour mood, he really was the sweetest.
"Well if you're sure…" he trailed off, eyeing her with uncertainty. He shook his head rapidly after a half second of self deliberation and then smiled at her, the matter forgotten, at least by way of conversation. "A-anyway, tonight's your night off right? Doing anything fun?"
Immediately Uraraka's eyes popped out of her head, to such an absurd degree that Izuku had to take a step back, the alarm on his face plain as day. Deep in a swamp of anxiety and anger, Uraraka had forgotten about her evening plans. "God I almost forgot! The girls are coming over tonight!" She yelped, diving into her bag to find her ancient flip phone (no matter what Mina said, retro was cool!). She scrambled to lift the heavy silver top and found a grand total of 10 voicemail messages, all from Tsu and the others, no doubt asking for what time they should arrive.
It wasn't often that 6 professional heroes could find enough collective time off to meet with any sort of frequency, but when they could manage it, Uraraka and the girls of her UA class made it a point to see each other. Rest days for heroes were a rare commodity though, and getting all 6 schedules lined up often took a herculean level of effort. Luckily for them however, Momo Yaoyorozu had a herculean level of intellect. The creation hero oftentimes arranged their few and far between meetings and tonight, she had ordained that Uraraka be the most gracious host.
Izuku's rare and captivating laughter pulled her from the depths of her multiple text messages, and she looked up to see his genuine smile, and the humor that played out behind his bright eyes. "If the stories I heard at school about the girls from class A are true, I'm kinda guessing you're not the first to let something like this slip your mind, so I wouldn't worry too much if I were you," he chuckled.
Uraraka couldn't help the slight blush that took hold of her already pink cheeks at his good natured jests. She often forgot that Izuku had also attended UA, having been one of the 60 or so students to make it into the general course from her year. While she'd never interacted with him directly at school, it seemed that the wild and unruly reputation of her and her classmates preceded them.
"You make a good point, I'll give you that," she grinned despite her mild embarrassment.
A sudden look of shock overtook Izuku after her admission, like he'd just come across some great epiphany, and he slowly looked away in embarrassment, as his face turned cherry red. "Umm, Ochako? C-could I ask a favor?" He mumbled, eyes darting every which way, and not holding her gaze for more than half a second at a time. Uraraka had always known he was a shy one, but his instant transmission to full on bashfulness surprised her.
"Sure Izuku, what's up?" She asked, unsure of what to expect.
Instead of replying, the excitable young man bolted, leaving Uraraka to blink in confusion and watch as he fled from her office. She didn't have much time to think about it, he was back before she could really process what had happened and he was carrying a thick looking black notebook with him for the ride.
"Couldyougetmesomeautographs?" He yelled, the words exploding from him so fast that he barely formed a coherent sentence. It was difficult to tell if the blush on his face was from self-consciousness, or the mad dash he had made to retrieve his notebook.
Uraraka could only stare back in dazed wonder into the earnest face of her colleague, and blink rapidly to stop the inevitable tears of laughter from forming in the corners of her eyes. Izuku was the biggest hero nerd that she knew and he never failed to live up to his title. The tide of giggles proved unstoppable however, as Uraraka shook from the effort of keeping them to a professionally acceptable level.
"S-sorry that was probably a little forward," he sounded downtrodden, and more than a little ashamed but Uraraka was too busy calming herself down to let him know that it was just about the cutest favor anyone had ever asked of her.
"I'm sure the girls would love to sign your book for ya!" she managed to get out, yanking the bound paper out of her hands before he could protest. The cover was worn but something told her it was down to age rather than poor upkeep, and as Uraraka flicked through the many pages, she was blown away by the sheer volume of signatures and little drawings from Pros. She vaguely remembered signing the thing back when she had first started working with Izuku but she'd been so giddy at the thought of someone wanting her autograph in the first place, that she hadn't really paid attention to what she had signed.
"W-Well if it's not too much trouble…" the embarrassment was plain in his face but Uraraka couldn't help but find it adorable.
Funny. Almost everything about him you find adorable as of late. Uraraka took that train of thought and pummeled it into submission, using the act of stuffing the book inside her already messy desk drawer to cover her sudden cherry face. "Don't even worry about it!" She yelled perhaps a little too loudly, "I'll give it back tomorrow with five shiny new additions,"
The sheer intensity of her acceptance threw Izuku for a loop, and he was left blinking in mild confusion at his co-worker as she grinned rather nervously back at him. "Really? Thanks Ochako!" His bewilderment was quickly replaced at the thought of that many new signatures however. Once again, his megawatt smile was almost too much to handle. "I-I'll help you with your paperwork for the rest of the week, n-no the rest of the month for this!" He beamed. Bursting with nervous energy, he bolted out of the room before Uraraka could protest, all the while mumbling to himself about 'Froppy's awesome support gear'.
The gravity Hero could only sigh, smiling to herself gently. Quicksilver's right she thought to herself, he's like a lil' puppy.
Turning back to her desk, Uraraka got to work preparing herself for the madness that was her best friends, all notions of villains and vigilantes purged form her thoughts, banished by the green sunshine that was Izuku Midoriya.
"That's three of a kind baby!" The great hero Pinky yelled as she slammed her cards down onto Uraraka's ancient kitchen table, rattling the rickety base with alarming force. Her hands, now free to gloat in full vigor, made their way to the large pile of cookies that made up the pot of tonight's furious poker game. "Come to mama~~," she sang, immune to the anguished wails of her rivals.
"Again? Seriously?" Jiro grumbled, tossing her cards aside in contempt, while the rest of the girls resigned themselves to their fate
Ashido giggled a little too maniacally while shooting her poker challenged friend an aggravating wink. "What can I say? The cards love me."
"That's it you pink menace, I'm checking your sleeves!"
"Tsk tsk my poor Kyoka you know what they say, don't hate the pla-EEE"
Uraraka laughed at the antics of her friends without reservation, feeling more relaxed than she had done for a very long while.
The six heroines of the (in)famous class 1-a were cramped snuggly into Uraraka's modest kitchen, shoulder to shoulder in the tight space, but none of them were complaining. The dorms they had shared at school had been wonderfully spacious but somehow this felt more natural.
The worn table, momentarily transformed into a poker ring of the highest of stakes, was littered with empty snack packets, crumpled cans of various drinks, and discarded cards from disgruntled players. Outside, the stuffy heat of the mid spring day gave way to a cool and calm nighttime that, for once, the Uraraka and her friends didn't have to watch over: safely left in the capable hands of their fellow heroes. They deserved the break, and they intended to seize every second of their respite as, come the morning, they would have don their masks of perfection once more.
Jiro and Ashido fought tooth and nail over the pink heroes' supposed forced luck while Yaoyorozu did her best to placate them. Uraraka and Hagakure couldn't help themselves, laughing just as much at Yaoyorozu's mother hen clucking as they did the war for the cards, all the while Asui watched on in stone faced acceptance, the slight upturn at the corners of her mouth and the soft ribbiting chuckle telling only those closest to her that she was almost paralytic with amusement.
Eventually, after much taunting and sleeve revealing, the raucous pair settled themselves down, but Mina Ashido was not above taking a few post match sucker punches.
"Damn Kyoka," she began, tugging at the stretched sleeve of her gaudy pajamas, "What would Kaminari say if he heard that you were trying to take my clothes off?" She giggled outrageously, siding up next to Hagakure so that they could both tease their punk-rock friend more effectively.
Immediately, the hearing hero's pale face lit up brighter than neon lights and began sputtering her denial with vehemence, "W-Who cares w-what that idiot has to say?!" she said, trying her level best to swat at her tormentors with one deadly earlobe.
"Wowee, quite the reaction there Kyoka! She just meant he might want to laugh at you getting all worked up over poker of course. Where were your thoughts wondering huh?" Hagakure sang, spurred on by her pink partner in crimes' cackling.
Jiro grit her teeth, eyes clenched shut in aggravated shame. As usual Momo Yaoyorozu came to her friend's aid with a light scolding for the devious pair. "Must you tease her so, you two? You know Kyoka doesn't like such talk," she chastised.
Asui clapped a broad hand onto the creation hero's shoulder, giving a soft ribbit of laughter, "Give it up Momo, you know it's only harmless fun,"
"Yeeeaaahhh mother Momo. Lighten up would ya? Unless…you wanna spill it about your own little rendezvous' with ol' icy-hot?" Ashido said, reaching over the invisible shoulders of Hagakure to poke, childlike, at Yaoyurozos arm.
Ever dignified, Momo Yaoyurozo turned her nose up at such gossip while taking a refined sip of her evening tea, strangely immune to the incessant prodding, "My relationship with Todoroki is progressing well thank you, and may I add that it is a private affair?" She gave her pink friend the side eye, a little twinkle in her gaze, clearly enjoying not revealing too much.
Ashido threw her hands in the air, "I give up, you're all boring old ninnies," she sighed dramatically and slumped onto the table, scattering cards and chocolate chips alike. She glanced around at her assembled friends, pouting, until she set her sights on her next potential victim. She grinned wickedly, Ochako Uraraka always got off easy every time they met up,but not today. The acid hero sat upright, inspecting her nails casually between fitful, mischievous glances at her gracious host and, with all the subtlety of a bulldozer, she began her assault. "Say, Ochako… I heard something interesting from one of the other sidekicks at Ryukyu's a while ago…"
Ashido's playful tone alerted Uraraka immediately but the sly look, complete with rapidly waggling eyebrows and a cheshire grin clued her in fully to the fact that she was probably not about to enjoy the next few minutes. The gravity hero looked at her friend in suspicion, making sure to keep her reply mild. "Didn't know ya knew anyone else from the office, Mina," she said, tone curious.
Ashido wasn't fazed, "Oh yeah, you know me, social butterfly and all that," she said, cryptically, doing well to keep the identity of her 'man on the inside' a secret. "Anyway, she told me all about this cutie assistant working there. Green hair, kinda scrawny, totally adorable…" She trailed off, fully intending to let Uraraka dig her own grave.
Uraraka grabbed a shovel, "Izuku's not that scrawny he-" she slapped a hand over her mouth, steadily rising in temperature. The inevitable laughter drove her to find solace behind the barrier of her hands. Ashido and Hagakure, she could handle, the two of them would tease her sure, but they teased everyone, even each other: no, what really had her wanting to jump out the window was the intrigued looks and noises of interest from the others. Even Yaoyorozu perked up at her reaction. "Dammit…"
"Izuku huh? Getting all familiar with him now are ya?" Ashido giggled excitedly. For all her antics, it truly did come from a place of love. She was determined to play matchmaker to all of her romantically challenged friends, and if she got to have some fun along the way? All the better.
Ochako blushed like a sunset but couldn't get many words out beyond the cursory stammering protests. It was enough for even Ashido to take pity on her. She sighed rather dramatically, letting her displeasure at the lack of drama known, before speaking again. "Well if you are, then move or lose it girl, my people tell me he's shyer than you so he ain't gonna take the initiative!" She rounded on the group as a whole, allowing Uraraka to dwell on her words. "Well since you're all being spoil sports I'll regale you with tales of my epic romance with Eijiro!"
Uraraka, hands still acting the fortress for her ruby face, only half listened to Ashido's recall of her latest date with Kirishima. Try as she might, forest green hair and freckles were the only things she could focus on.
She supposed, all things considered, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Izuku was sweet after all: the problem lay in the fact that she'd already made up her mind about her personal life (or lack thereof) and now, things had changed. Really, even just yesterday, she was more than happy to let the world of romance pass her by until she could properly establish herself as a hero but the last couple of days had thrown her off. The rest of her friends' apparent developing relationships was the least of it, her main source of her shake up had come from one of her enemies.
She didn't want to admit it to anyone, least of all herself, but her run in with Jackrabbit had rattled her. Not so much the vigilante himself, but rather her own reaction to their encounter as a whole. Frankly speaking, if it wasn't for her friends distracting her so, Uraraka would most likely be pouring over files about the thug in an attempt to discern any little thing she could and it would have been a second sleepless night in a row for her. Some might call it dedication, including Uraraka herself, usually, but she could feel the sheer edge of obsession creeping closer and it worried her. Maybe she really did need an outlet, and she could do a lot worse than one shaped like Izuku Midoriya.
The idea rolled around in the empty spaces of her mind as the evening wore on until, as she cleared the various trash from her table after her friends had departed, she felt the pleasant embrace of sleep dragging her ever under. Exhaustion washed over her like a weighted blanket and she stumbled blearily around the rest of her clean up with little regard for the fact that she hadn't even showered yet. The electric lights of nightlife intruded harshly through her apartment's open window and so made to shut its meager blinds while promising herself that she'd wake up extra early to clean before work, a promise she had every intention of accidentally forgetting.
She groped for the string, blinking rapidly in hazy thoughts of pre-unconsciousness, when something small and jittery caught her attention. A closer inspection revealed little more than the fact that it was a piece of paper attached to the outside of her window. Uraraka frowned, it wasn't unusual for the harsh winds of Tokyo to whip discarded newspapers around in random spurts but this was different, this was deliberate.
Tiredness now only a secondary concern, Uraraka lifted the latch of her window and retrieved the paper stuck to the cool glass. She turned it over in her hands and carefully unfolded it and read its contents with curiosity outweighing her caution. The short words were odd, but it didn't take long to work out that it was an address, one that pointed to a group of warehouses a few miles away by Uraraka's guess, but that wasn't important. What she really focused on, what really did the same work for her fatigue as a bucket of ice dumped over her head, was the doodle of a cute little bunny in the bottom right hand corner.
That bastard.
More awake than ever, Uraraka dashed into her bedroom, grabbing her modest phone off of the table as she ran.
30 seconds, a quick text to Tsu, and a whole lot of noise later, Uravity had one leg already hanging out the window of her 5th story apartment, wondering briefly if she'd accidentally drank one of Ashido's beers on accident. Surely she wasn't in her right mind given what she was about to do.
She had a pretty good idea about who had left her the note and she wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that he knew where she lived, or the fact that she didn't hesitate to follow the nutcase into the dark. And on her night off no less.