Cussed (Kacchako)

TWENTY-TWO

I wrote this part before the terrible explosion in Beirut. I had thought that I was pretty numbed to 2020, but I was wrong. My thoughts go out to everyone who lost a loved one, was injured, lost their homes, and/or were just terrified when their world came crashing down on top of them. Explosions are an easy story trope, as are the loss of loved ones and bigotry driven violence. This is because we all can understand and relate to the horror and pain these things cause. I want to make it clear that I do not view this event lightly and I don't see it as something to use for fictional fodder. There are so many causes right now, 2020 has been a disastrous nightmare so far, but if you're able, send a little help Beirut's way.

***

Ochako let Hawks fly her to the dorms and she quickly changed into her kit. She jogged back out to where he was standing and hooked an arm around his neck after making herself weightless. His arm wrapped around her waist as he jumped into the air.

"So you and the explosions kid, eh?" Hawks asked, his voice raised to be heard over the sound of the wind.

Ochako blushed. "No. Yes. Maybe? I'm not sure what we're doing."

She heard Hawks carefree laugh, "At your age, I'm sure you both have a pretty good idea what you're doing."

"Fine," she said, "I don't know what we are." The last was said more under her breath, but the older man still seemed to have been able to hear.

"You're two people, don't make it more than it needs to be."

Instead of continuing the conversation, Ochako changed the subject. "What can you tell me about what's happening near the harbor?"

She couldn't see Hawks's face, but she could swear she felt him grimace. "Several buildings have collapsed. Deku and Shoto were looking into some case and I guess they practically tripped on a crew in the middle of a heist and chaos kind of erupted. Oh, I guess I should have mentioned that Deku was there when I asked if you would come." He didn't sound particularly contrite, but Ochako was glad he hadn't mentioned anything in front of Katsuki. She wasn't thrilled about seeing Deku, but the truth was she was excited about going back to work.

"Anyways," the man continued, "I was at the school visiting a friend when we got a call about the incident. There was a request that Uravity come to help with evacuations of the collapsed buildings. Since I was there, I offered to bring you, plus I'm not half bad at the whole rescuing schtick."

So he doesn't know what Deku was looking into, Ochako thought to herself. If Shoto-kun was with him, it was bound to be what Katsuki was helping them on, which meant that it could be a lead on what she had found over the weekend. "Hawks, do you know what the buildings they were in are for?"

"Hm? I'm not sure. They're owned by the port authority, it may be where some of the cargo is stored that has to be in a temperature controlled environment. At least, that sounded like the general area they told us to come."

Quarantine, Ochako mused. In her link-clicking all nighter, she had read that when materials that were used in biotech research were shipped and received, they had to be quarantined to make sure there had been no contamination. With the biological nature of some of these shipments, it makes sense that the port authority would also want to quarantine some substances for national safety reasons. This cabal could have tried to hit the materials there. Someone in the hero group must have figured out what type of materials they needed to look for and where they might be vulnerable to theft.

As Hawks approached the harbor, Ochako could see smoke filling the air. It looked like there was a fire along with the buildings collapsing. Hawks circled once and then descended as a man waved up to them. Shoto nodded at them as they landed. "Uraraka, I'm glad you came, this is going to go easier with you here."