A Bolt of Hope

Chapter 31 - Gravitating Forward -

"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.