"Anything?" Uraraka asked as she dropped the document she was holding on the coffee table and slumped back on the sofa in frustration.
"Nope. Nothing so far" Deku replied as he continued to peruse through the document that he was holding.
"Of course not. It'd be too easy if the bad guys just wrote down confessions with a list of all the evidence to convinct them and where to find it" she said letting out a big sigh of annoyance. She'd been feeling pretty useless since she had to stop working. It didn't help that she wasn't exactly providing any useful discoveries for Deku to work with on his case either. Part of her wondered if she just wasn't cut out for this side of hero work and that she should just let Deku work on it since he was the smart one. However she'd quickly remind herself that wasn't true and that she was a more than capable detective in her own right.
"Isn't this why we have detectives? So they can go through all the boring paperwork and find leads and then if they need help they call the heroes?" Uraraka asked as she grunted a little from a small cramp. That made Deku look up from his work.
"You ok?" Deku asked. More concerned with her safety than what she'd just said.
"Fine. Just a small one" she reassured him. That didn't stop him from grabbing the nearest cushion and gestured for her to lean forward so he could put it behind her. She obliged and lay back with the cushion now making her more comfortable.
"You're so sweet" she chuckled. Deku simply smiled and placed a hand on her baby bump. It still wasn't too big but it definitely stood out at this point.
"I just want to make this as easy as possible for you" he said with a smile. Uraraka grabbed the scruff of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss.
"I love you" she whispered as their lips seperated. Deku kissed her again before responding.
"I love you too" he whispered back. The two of them got lost in each other's eyes and wondered if they should go in for a third and then maybe a fourth and a fifth. However a certain kanine was feeling jealous.
"Satoshi!" they cried out in unison as he leapt onto the sofa and licked both of their faces, forcing them apart.
"I forget how jealous he gets over kisses" Deku chuckled as he wiped the dog drool from his face.
"Aw he just wants some love too dontcha boy?" Uraraka said as she ruffled his fur and gave him a kiss on the head which only made him even more excited.
"He's a cutie" Deku said scratching him behind the ear. However he realised he needed to get back to work and look for some leads.
"Go on boy go back to bed. Eri is already fast asleep you should be too" Uraraka said as she gave him the hand signal they'd taught him for bed. Satoshi did as he was told and returned to his doggy bed, laying down and closing his eyes to go back to sleep.
"Well at least his training is going well. Oh and in answer to your question, yes. Usually they would do all the "boring" stuff but Endeavour has the whole agency working on this case. It's priority number one to catch this killer and bring them in so-" Deku began to go into his mumbled rambling phase but Uraraka interrupted before he could.
"I know Deku. I'm just frustrated that we can't seem to find any answers. I'm sure you are too. Especially when it feels like we're so close" Uraraka said as she looked at the mess of files and documents before them, each of them more disappointing than the last.
"Yeah. Let's take a break. For now I think we should just wait and see what we learn from plan B. In the meantime..." Deku trailed off and gave Uraraka a suggestive look. One that she immediately picked up on.
"Wanna make out?" she suggested. Deku nodded enthusiastically before kissing her with the same enthusiasm. They stood from the sofa and made their way to the bedroom, continuing to kiss the whole way there, to make sure that they were not interrupted this time.
*a few hours later*
Deku heard knocking on the door and quickly sprung out of bed.
"COMING!" he cried out as he quickly grabbed a pair of joggers and threw them on.
"Shhhh! Don't wake up Eri!" Uraraka whisper shouted at him as she also got out of bed and hurriedly threw on some underwear and one of Deku's hoodies. Deku mouthed "sorry" to her and quickly opened the bedroom door and ran across the apartment to greet their visitor. He grabbed the front door handle and swung it open.
"Hey Mido- oh my god you're half naked" Hagakure said as she clasped her hand over her mouth and began to giggle.
"Oh! Right. Um. It's not what you think I was just- we were just-" Deku tried to explain as Uraraka suddenly emerged from the bedroom so Hagakure spotted her too.
"And Uraraka is also half naked. The other half to you no less" Hagakure pointed out as she really couldn't stop giggling at her friends now.
"Hey gurl. Me and Deku were just uh- we were just-" Uraraka tried to think of something this time and gave Deku a look of "say something" but he had nothing.
"It's fine, I get it. You were trying to make another baby, we're all adults here. May I come inside? I know how that sounds but I promise that was a genuine question" she said as she chuckled at herself and the horrified looks on their faces. Neither of them said anything. They simply nodded that she could come in and didn't even attempt to hide how much they were blushing.
"Thank you" she said as she entered their apartment and immediately went over to Satoshi to give him some chin scratches which woke him up and got his tail wagging but he didn't move from his position.
"So, did you find anything?" Deku asked as he went to the kitchen to grab them all something to drink.
"You want the good news or the bad news?" she asked. Deku and Uraraka exchanged a look. One of doubt yet with a small glint of hope. After their dead end they desperately needed new leads. Suspects, evidence, addresses, anything really.
"Bad news. Always bad news first" Deku insisted. Hagakure stopped scratching Satoshi's chin, much to his disappointment, and planted herself on the sofa. Uraraka sat at the opposite end while Deku handed the girls their drinks before standing behind the sofa and placing his free hand on Uraraka's shoulder. She didn't even take her eyes off of Hagakure she simply placed her free hand on top of Deku's to reassure him. Hagakure took a swig of her water and let out a deep breath.
"Bad news is I don't have anything on our killer" she said prompting a raise of Deku's brow.
"Meaning you did find something else. Right?" he asked. Hagakure took another swig on nodded her head.
"Right that brings me to the good news. I managed to confirm that the victims did in fact work at the company. Found all their personnel files. Scrubbed clean from the database for the most part but I managed to dig them up" she explained. Deku and Uraraka both looked at each other again. They half-smiled. Knowing this was good evidence but it didn't really get them anywhere closer to the killer. Not unless they could use this to get a warrant to search the building but that could take too long. They knew the next attack would be soon. Likely hours or minutes away. They needed a big break through or for their prey to reveal themselves. Sadly the latter would come at the cost of more lives.
"You get anything else? Something that ties the victims together other than the fact they all work for the same company" Uraraka asked hoping there was more.
"Personnel files said they were all working on the same project. Codename: "Adam + Eve" which is vague to say the least" she said as Deku looked concerned.
"Hm. I don't like where this is going. Eden, Adam and Eve, Lucifer-" he began but Hagakure gave him a puzzled look.
"The lady in red that I was talking to. Her name is an anagram for Lucifer" Deku explained.
"Ohhh. I thought it was a strange name. Anyway, you were saying" she said as she realised she interrupted his train of thought.
"Right. There's a lot of religious references going on here and I don't get the impression that this is a company of devout Christians. They're starting to sound more like a cult disguised as a company. Especially if they're the ones behind the murders. Or created the killer. Why then go to the lengths of killing their own employees? To hide evidence? Or maybe an experiment gone wrong? Somebody out for revenge? I wonder if- GAH!" he suddenly exclaimed mid-rant as Uraraka splashed a small amount of water on his face from her cup.
"Why?" was all he could muster with the heartbreak of betrayal in his voice. Uraraka chuckled.
"We tried to interrupt you but you were really in your own head on that one. So I snapped you out of it" she said with an Innocent smile. Deku thought about continuing his line of enquiry but decided not to. They had more important matters to discuss.
"You two are so cute. To your point though Midoriya I get what you're saying. No point speculating yet though. We don't have much to go on. I tried to get a look at this project but..." Hagakure trailed off. Both Deku and Uraraka kept their mouths shut and waited for her to find the words.
"It was on the top floor. Lab took up the entire floor I think too. Keeping with our theme they called it "The garden" but I never got a good look at any of it. Security was way too tight and there was quirk deactivation technology everywhere. I couldn't risk it. The only thing I could see was a bunch of employees in hazmat suits, a shitload of security and vials of what I'm assuming was blood samples. Other than that it was just a big dome I couldn't see inside of. That's it I'm afraid. That's all I got" Hagakure said as she didn't quite know what to make of all this. She looked to Deku for answers but he didn't know either. For now he was pondering over what she'd told him. Plenty of hypotheses but nothing concrete.
"Well something tells me that this "garden" isn't exactly an agricultural lab. Thanks for trying though Hagakure we really appreciate it. Sounds like they're doing a heck of a lot to keep people out" Uraraka said as she couldn't make head nor tail out of it either.
"Well, that's just it..." Hagakure hesitated. Unsure of herself but she knew she was right. She felt it in her gut. Deku once again raised his brow, curious what she was going to say.
"The security measures were enough to keep me out and they got stronger the further in you got...but..." she hesitated again. There was a small part of her that still wasn't sure.
"But?" Deku asked. That was enough for her to come out and say it.
"It didn't feel like the security measures were there to keep people out...it felt more like...they were trying to keep somebody in" she said. She was certain of it. It resembled a very familiar setup to her. One she'd only ever encountered in prisons.
"Hm" was all Deku could manage. He rubbed his chin and thought about everything she'd told him. Uraraka waited a moment and eventually got fed up with him, giving him a subtle dig in the side. Deku flinched and looked at her with confusion. However she simply made a face and repeatedly glanced at Hagakure and then back to him, clearly trying to tell him something.
Ohhhh right. My bad.
"Well thanks Hagakure for your help. We'd hit a dead end here so this information should help a lot. We really can't thank you enough" Deku said realising he hadn't thanked her for her work. Uraraka chuckled to herself at how oblivious he could be sometimes. Nevertheless she stood up to hug Hagakure goodbye.
"No biggie Midoriya it's what I do" Hagakure replied as she stood to hug her old classmate goodbye. The two girls shared a small embrace before separating.
"I'd love to stay and catch up with you and talk about the baby and so on but it's late so I should really let you two get some sleep. I could do with some myself. Ojiro is probably asleep already" Hagakure said as she made for the door.
"That's ok I'll call you sometime and we can talk then" Uraraka suggested as she waved goodbye.
"Sounds perfect. I'll see myself out. Goodnight you two. Say hi to Eri for me" Hagakure said as she opened the door to leave.
"Goodnight" they replied in unison before Hagakure closed the door behind her. As soon as it did, Deku sprung into action and quickly ran to the bedroom. He grabbed his shirt off the floor and turned around to exit the room and put on his shirt simultaneously. However, when he did, he found Uraraka waiting in the doorway. Blocking his path.
"Watchya doin'?" she asked playfully. Deku wasn't in the mood for games though.
"I need to tell Endeavour what Hagakure learned and then I need to-" he began but she cut him off.
"The only thing you need to do right now is undress mister. We weren't finished" Uraraka ordered as she bit her lip, placing a teasing hand on his abdomen. Deku almost couldn't resist but for now he maintained his composure.
"Uraraka seriously I need to-" Deku began again but this time she slapped him across the face with her other hand.
"You need to stop talking and do as your pregnant girlfriend says. It's late and Endeavour probably won't respond until the morning anyway. Now be a good boy and strip" she demanded. Deku weighed up his options. More work when he was tired anyway? Or do as he was told by his insanely hot, pregnant girlfriend?
Hm. No brainer.
Deku did as he was told and dropped his joggers to the floor. Uraraka smirked at him.
"Atta boy" she said before closing the bedroom door behind her and pushing him onto the bed.
However, just a few miles away, the killer was preparing themselves. Plotting their next move. For their next move would not only be their bloodiest and boldest one but their final move. It was time for revenge. Time for the day of reckoning. It was time for...
"Rapture..."