Katherine Ride: Battlefield *BOOK TWO*

Season Four- Welcome to the Shitshow

Katherine felt her stomach churn. She'd gotten an all too familiar feeling when Midoriya had mentioned Eri, and now she understood why Shoto had looked so tense when she came in. There was some serious, sickening déjà vu happening.

"It's all my fault."

She tuned back in when Midoriya uttered those words, moving her hand away from her mouth. "What?"

"If I had just been quicker–" he stammered, his eyes brimming with tears. "I-I could've saved her if I had just thought of something–"

"Hey, hey," she whispered, wrapping her arms around him. "Don't do that to yourself. You needed to play the long game; that was probably the better choice. You're gonna find her, and you're gonna be her hero, and everything will be okay. I'm sorry I kept butting into things."

Midoriya sniffled. "No, I—I'm glad you did. I needed to get it off my chest."

Katherine pulled away and let him wipe his eyes. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. At least I have someone I can come to, now," he said, smiling at her and Shoto. "But I should really get out of your hair. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

She nodded and smiled back. "Alright. Don't beat yourself up."

"I won't."

Midoriya walked to the door, but as he opened it, he paused. Katherine and Shoto glanced at each other, then at him. "Midoriya? Is there something else?"

"No, it's just..." He turned to Katherine. "I'm a little surprised you didn't already know. I was sure you'd go looking for answers."

Didn't Nejire say something like that?

Yes, she did. Katherine, press further.

"I mean, I did, but all Mirio told me was that you guys had a mission," she replied.

"Oh, I didn't mean from Togata. I thought you'd ask...someone else."

"Izuku, don't speak in riddles. Who are you talking about?"

"Mr. Aizawa was at the meeting. Sir Nighteye said that Detective Tsukauchi recommended we add you on since the League might be involved and you were a lot of help during Kacchan's rescue mission. He told us he'd talk to you."

Katherine felt the color drain out of her face. "Oh, really? Yeah, he didn't say anything."

Midoriya looked puzzled, but shrugged. "Huh. I guess it doesn't matter now, since you still found out. Have a good night."

"Goodnight, Midoriya," Shoto said. As soon as the door was closed, he looked over at Katherine, who had already pulled her knees to her chest. "Don't freak out."

"Oh, it's a bit late for that," she muttered, clutching her sweatpants so hard she could tell she was leaving nail marks on her legs, even through the fabric.

"Let's think about this logically," he began, but she interrupted.

"Yeah, 'cause I'm sure there was logic involved when he made such an idiotic decision. 'Oh, here's something I'm sure my daughter would probably like to find out about from someone who knows her trauma! I'm gonna keep it to myself and let her search for scraps instead!'"

"Katherine–"

"This isn't a new thing! I came to them with trauma; it didn't disappear because I learned how to function like a normal person!" she continued, standing up and beginning to pace. "They told me I could process my trauma how I wanted, as long as I didn't hurt myself or others. He certainly didn't forget to tell me; you can't just forget shit like that."