At the Core | Aizawa Misako

Flood

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     "Hello?"
     "We're going out today."  Bakugo stiffens, glancing around his room awkwardly.  
     "Misako?"  
     "Oh, sorry!" she laughs through the phone.  "I realized I didn't have your number.  I got it off of your paperwork.  We have an infiltration today."  
     "It's... it's 6pm already," he tells her.  
     "I know.  I'll help you sleep tonight.  Sorry.  It really shouldn't take long, my stuff never does.  But I seriously do need you to get down to CORE as soon as possible.  Oh, okay, I'm gonna let you go.  Tsukauchi's calling.  Bye, Katsuki."  
     "Bye."  

     Her office was still so plain.  She wasn't one for decorating, it seemed.  Bakugo stands awkwardly as she comes back in.  
     "I don't like changing in front of a window," he grumbles.  She smiles something uncertain with a nod of her head.  
     "I'll get you a changing room.  We have some in the facility."  She presses the door closed as he looks over.  Adorning the wall to the left of the door, in the corner between it and her desk, were a number of plaques.  He scans over them.  At the top was a large diploma awarding her a hero license, which, unlike usual, did not feature her actual name at all, nor any information about her, only her hero name and certification level.  She had a high school diploma and a college degree on the wall as well as a boater's license, a motorcycle license...
     "My gods," Bakugo murmurs as he looks over the wall.  She walks past him to take a seat behind her glass-detailed desk.  A license to operate on ground radios, one for boat radios, two certificates of government clearance, CPR certification, fire resucing, advanced and mental health first aid, EMT-B, HAZMAT, food inspection, disaster and emergency response, phlebotomy, which he didn't even know how to pronounce.  He almost laughed at the lifeguard one.  They just kept going.  
     Misako looks up from her laptop and follows his eyes to the wall.  She snickers a little before going back to it.  
     "That's not required of you, by the way," she tells him quietly.  Her voice was drawn back as she focused on her computer.  "But I can rarely call in co-ops, so I like to be able to do a bit of everything in the moment."  
     "That's just a ridiculous amount of things to frame."  She laughs a little before pausing.  Her eyes swing away, looking out the window far off.  She raises her left hand, pressing her finger into an earpiece he didn't realize she had but now vaguely remembered seeing her put it in.  

     "Division 0 permits.  Enter."  Bakugo looks over as the door opens.  In steps over a dozen people, and as he counted, he saw there was 16.  Misako stands from behind her desk and as they crowd in, forming a half circle just past the door.  Bakugo steps back to the side of them, but they don't pay attention to him.  
     "Evening, Miss X," a few of them chorus.  She smiles at them with that professional expression she definitely learned from Taiga as she bows her head.  
     "Thank you.  Evening to you all as well.  We are leaving soon, so please finish getting yourself ready while I speak if you're not yet," she says in that smooth, commanding voice.  Her expression wasn't blank, but it was masked and glossed over.  She draws her hands behind her back as a few of them fidget with their costumes and gadgets.  "Percentage will not be joining us today, but we are joined here by a friend of mine.  Please welcome him kindly.  He'll be sticking by me.  
     "As for the infiltration, we are near Fuji today.  We will be venturing underground to a facility believed to be owned by the Yakuza.  The police suspect it is a vital location in the production and-or distribution of Trigger, and thus is a high priority for us.  Please ensure to keep clear of anything that looks like storage compartments.  We are trying to keep the ingredients intact for examantion and testing.
     "Once we have managed to get the facility mostly secure, the police force will be joining us.  Please be attentive for my call and follow it, as protocol."    
     The group nods, almost in sync with one another.  Tight ship.  
     "Before we leave, is there any concerns or questions?"  The group's eyes all turned somewhere different as they think, one of the girls looking at Bakugo and smiling at him with something welcoming.  She was definitely a bit older.  
     "Will we be encountering any of the Yakuza, especially their leader Chisaki?"  Misako shakes her head.  
     "We expect no contact with Chisaki Kai.  There will likely be members of the Yakuza."
     "What information do we have on their quirks?" one of the guys asks.  
     "We know little.  There is one member who is believed to be able to manipulate the ground of the facility.  We do not know how much this ability extends."  They all nod, silent, and Misako gives the go-ahead to leave.