Flaws [BNHA x Pokemon!Reader]

26: Rats

"We have a rat."

The headquarters of the Pokemon Protection Agency–or PPA for short–was already an uncomfortably small and claustrophobic space. The ceiling was low due to it being housed in a derelict basement, and the walls were covered in screens. What little free space there had been when they first moved in was now filled with boxes and stacks of files, leaving you and Aizawa just enough room to stand while the head of the agency spoke to you. Her words only made the air inside seem even more suffocating.

"A rat?" Aizawa repeated, frowning.

"A rat," Kumara Kito said. "A mole, a spy, a snitch. Whatever you want to call it, we've got one." She was visibly stressed. Her hair was pulled back into a hasty bun and her hands were jittery from the amount of caffeine she had ingested. Typically she was outgoing but level-headed, but the situation had taken a toll on her.

You crossed your arms. "What do you mean, though? Someone snitched on the agency? Are the cops gonna come busting down the door any minute?"

"No, not like that," Kumara said. "As in some vital information about the work we do here, some of our oldest and most reliable contacts, deals we've conducted, that sort of thing...That information has been stolen. By the rat. Or rats plural, I don't know. I just know it's missing."

"Because of your quirk?" Aizawa asked.

Kumara nodded. You didn't know exactly how your boss' quirk worked, only that it was called Categorize. Despite the messy collection of papers strewn about the headquarters, she always seemed to know where everything was located. You remembered once you had tried to move a box to sit down and she had smacked you over the head.

"I can't tell exactly what's missing, but I'm working on it," she explained. "I just know it had to have disappeared from here, meaning only someone who has access to headquarters could have gotten in. And I hate to do it, but..."

"But what?" You asked, nervous. Was she going to accuse you or Aizawa of being the rat? You obviously knew it hadn't been you who had taken anything and if it had been Aizawa, you would have eaten your Cap.

"We're going to have to suspend our work," Kumara sighed. "At least until I figure out what's happened here. That means no more missions, at least ones from us. I strongly encourage you to keep saving Pokemon–anything to keep them out of the hands of poachers–but the PPA won't be able to give you any tips on sightings for a while and we won't be able to take in any that you aren't able to capture with your quirk."

You frowned, not liking the sound of any of this. The idea of a rat within the PPA didn't sit well, especially with all that had happened recently with the League of Villains; it was like some invisible dark force was slowly gaining traction. Not to mention that now you would either have to double your efforts at finding wild Pokemon to keep them from being discovered by the police or other anti-Pokemon groups, or keep your efforts at the same level, but accept that a large number of Pokemon would be either captured or put down. Aizawa seemed to be thinking along the same lines as you.

"Can't you keep going while you search for the snitch?" He asked. "If that information didn't go to the authorities, which I'm assuming it didn't considering the place isn't shut down, isn't the risk worth it?"

Kumara shook her head. "There are more dangerous groups than the authorities, Shouta. If I had the choice, I'd actually prefer the cops be the ones that got that missing information. If it makes it to some of the other places..." She paled and stopped mid-sentence. "I've got my best guys working on finding out who took that flash drive, but until then, we can't risk it. I'm sorry."