Katherine Ride: Battlefield *BOOK TWO*

Season Three- Unraveling the Past

Katherine fought through the panicked crowds like a salmon trying to fight its way upstream. It occurred to her a few times that she should've taken to the skies as she pushed through, but it was a bit late for that. Thankfully, the police cruisers' flashing lights were getting closer and closer.

I need to find Tsukauchi and ask him where Shoto is. If he's not here then I can at least ask someone to radio him. I can't believe my stupid phone died during the battle!

Eventually, she made it over. She couldn't see Tsukauchi, but she did spot his right-hand man. "Tamakawa!"

The officer looked over at her as she called his name. "WildCard?" he asked, confused. "Where have you–"

She teleported over, grabbing him by the shoulders frantically. "Where is Detective Tsukauchi? Have you heard from him?"

"Uh, yeah. He wanted us to head over to you at the hideout, but the cell service cut out as we were talking. Then the fight between All Might and the other guy got really heavy-handed and people started to panic, so we had to do crowd control," Tamakawa explained. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Did he tell you where he was?"

"Yokohama General Hospital. Wh–"

Katherine turned and began running, taking off into the sky. She ignored Tamakawa calling after her—the only thing that mattered was getting to Shoto.

Please let him be okay. My healing back at the hideout was enough to slow the bleeding, but I have no idea how long it took Tsukauchi to get to the hospital. Shoto, please, please be okay!

She landed in front of Yokohama General Hospital's emergency room entrance, not bothering to apologize to the passerby she had just scared half to death. She ran through the doors and scanned the waiting room for Detective Tsukauchi.

"Ride!"

She whipped her head around, sighing with relief when she saw him coming through a door. "Is Shoto okay?" she asked as she ran over to him.

"Are you okay?" he retorted, looking her up and down. "What happened? Did Tamakawa ever show up?"

"Who cares? Where is Shoto? Can I see him?"

"Ride–"

A nurse came out of the same door Tsukauchi had come through just a moment ago. "Detective, we–"

The nurse paused when he saw Katherine. "Oh. Should I get a room ready for this one, too?"

Tsukauchi waved his hands. "No, no, that's fine. What were you going to say?"

"Well, we have Todoroki out of surgery and in a recovery room. All that's left to do now is wait for him to come out of the anesthesia."

He nodded and looked at Katherine, smiling. "Hear that? He's going to be fine."

She didn't smile back. "Can I see him?"

"How about this—you let the nurses patch you up and then we can both see him?"

Katherine stared at Tsukauchi, then slowly nodded. As the nurse led them back to the treatment rooms, she kept her eyes on the floor, never looking up once.

Although there were some concerns, it didn't take long for the doctors to patch her up, as she had fairly minor injuries and was sure she could heal herself in time. Ultimately, they decided she wouldn't be admitted as Shoto had been. After the doctors examined her, she and Tsukauchi were led out of the triage and down another set of hallways. Katherine flapped her wings anxiously, her fidgeting hands providing another distraction from the environment she found herself trying to brave.