Cussed (Kacchako)

FOUR

Chapter Artwork: https://www.deviantart.com/gabrielswagx3/art/Ochaco-Uraraka-678834648

Ochako let Bakugo walk a few steps in front of her. He still obviously had no idea where the meeting was, though. He seemed to remember the grounds from when he was a student, but where they went as children wasn't necessarily the same places that teachers needed to go. She only knew because she had gotten a tour when she moved in last week. For now, she settled for just calling out, "next right" or "next left" when they came to intersections.

She smiled to herself, in some ways, it was like the man in front of her hadn't changed at all. He was striding ahead of her, hands in his pockets and with his shoulders slightly hunched. It was a profile she remembered seeing often in high school. Her smiled pulled into a bit of a grin. His clothes sure do fit a lot better now, though. In stead of a school uniform that always seemed a little baggy on him, he wore fitted slacks and a dress shirt. Even with his awful posture, the view was a nice one. Unlike many of the pros, it seemed like Bakugo favored a more slender physique rather than that of a body builder. Considering all the acrobatics he could pull off, it made sense. Some of the bulkier heroes, while fast, were not particularly agile.

"Next right!" She called out, "And then it's the third door on the left. The conference room!" He made a sharp turn and disappeared around the corner. When she turned the corner herself, she saw him standing a few paces away from the open door, not moving. She caught up to him and opened her mouth to say...what, she wasn't sure. To say something encouraging? Did he need encouragement? Something flippant? She still wasn't sure what was going on with him, she didn't know what the best thing to say would be.

Before she could decide, he let out an explosive breath and stood up to his full height. He didn't exactly square his shoulders, he still managed to look relaxed, but the stance displayed much more confidence than it had a moment earlier. He glanced at her and smirked. "You're just gonna stand out here, then? I guess I'll go inside."

Ochako chuckled at his back, whatever he needed to tell himself to get him into the stupid room. She followed him in. The room was mostly full, they weren't the last ones to get there, but it was close. It was a standing room meeting, so she assumed it wasn't going to be too long, just a general assembly and she and Bakugo would probably receive a more detailed briefing later.

As Bakugo walked into the room, a strange rippling occurred. First, conversation immediately around him died down as he was recognized, then hushed whispers broke out in an ever-widening circle. He stiffened slightly, but it wasn't quite the bristling that she remembered from school. Mina had messaged her earlier in the morning; apparently during a fight, Bakugo had brought down of the taller skyscrapers in the downtown area. The conglomerate that owned that builder were not happy, regardless of the fact that Bakugo had stopped a villain from stealing some pretty sensitive research. Mina didn't know what it was, but apparently it could have caused some serious problems if it had gotten out. Equally apparent was that the company was trying to push the negative press onto Ground Zero instead of their lax security that led to the problem in the first place.

The propaganda seemed to be working. She couldn't make out all of the muttering, but what she could hear didn't sound particularly friendly. She frowned, these people had all been pros or had worked closely to them. They knew how it was, how could they be behaving like this. She set herself walking towards Bakugo when the mutters started to get louder.

"Who would have known that 'Ground Zero' was such a perfect name? The man is a disaster."

"They're letting him around children? Is this really the type of role model we want them to have?"