(Sin)namon Rolls

Chapter 15: Flustered

A/N: uraraka pov time y'all
•••
     "Who is Izuku Midoriya?"
     "Me."
     "No."
     "I don't understand."
     "Izuku Midoriya is a weakling. He is worthless; utterly and entirely worthless. He has no dignity, no valor, no grit. Izuku Midoriya is little more than a feeble child. He is a slave to his emotions. He is incapable of defending himself. His mind is a prison to which he is confined. In every sense of the word, he is pathetic. Is that who you are?"
     "I don't know."
     "You don't know?"
     "What do you want from me, Uraraka?"
     "Nothing. You're the one who begged me to let you stay here. This is what you wanted. You asked for this. If you've changed your mind, change it back."
     "I haven't changed my mind. I want this. I want to be here. I want to be here with... with you."
     "I don't care what you want. You're here and you're gonna stay here. Now, I'm gonna ask you again. Are you Izuku Midoriya?"
     "Something wrong, Ocha? You look distraught."
     "I'm fine."
     "Thinking about Deku again?"
     "Nope."
     "Mm... okay."
     "Fuck you, Iida."
     Iida had driven me to headquarters that morning for the meeting we'd scheduled. He and I routinely arrived before the others to set up and make sure anything that needed to be taken care of was dealt with accordingly.
     We got out of his car and headed inside.
     "I hadn't intended that as an accusation, Ocha. Deku's on all of our minds right now. The operation does ride on his shoulders, after all. My assumption was simply that you were worried about the mission. Nothing more."
     I pressed my thumb to the front door's fingerprint scanner. Once I'd heard the click that signaled clearance to enter, I pulled open the door and walked inside, holding it open for Iida to follow after me. Ceiling lights powered on as we walked down a newly constructed hallway thanks to recent renovations funded by a wealthy ally of the League's.
     "You know, Iida, I actually have two Quirks."
     "Do you?"
     "Yup. Zero Gravity and Iida Bullshit Detection."
      I unlocked the mini conference room's door and flipped the lights on.
     "Very funny."
     "I wasn't joking. Lie to my face again and I'll withhold your paycheck for next month."
•••
     "Alright, my big booty bitches. Here's the tea."
     "Mission report, Toga. It's called a mission report," I corrected.
     "Mission report, smission report. Do you guys want the tea or not?"
     "Just continue, please," Iida said.
     "Okie-dokie. Hitoshi, why don't you get things goin'?"
     Shinso nodded. He and Toga were standing at the head of the table behind the small television we'd brought in for visual aid set atop it.
     "The mission went as well as it could've gone on my end. I successfully brainwashed all of the fake members of the League into killing themselves without attracting any suspicion. The police bought it. The media's mostly in agreement with the police. Overall, things went smoothly."
     "What do you mean, 'mostly in agreement with the police'?" I asked.
     "Conspiracy theorists exploiting the situation. Standard internet stuff. Very few theories have gained any ground. Even the ones that have still don't come close enough to the real story to pose a threat to the operation."
     I nodded.
     "And for me, I mean, you guys saw the news. My video's everywhere! People are totally into it. Villains are inspired. Heroes are scared. Isn't it great?!"
     "Yes, Toga, it is. Good work, you two," I said.
     Shinso and Toga took their seats at the table. Iida rose from his chair beside me.
     "Naturally, the principal issue of today's meeting is Operation Defuse," he stated. "As Deku is now approaching the final stages of ODP6-C4, a comprehensive review of the mission's chronology is in order."
     Iida picked a small remote up off the tabletop and crossed to the front of the room where Shinso and Toga had been standing a moment ago.
     "The official beginning of Operation Defuse occurred on the afternoon of December 1, 2020. It was on this date that Deku first arrived at 50C's residence."
     Iida clicked the TV on. A photo of Deku standing in a doorway wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap appeared onscreen.
     "December 2, 2020. Plan 6 is set in motion. Rumors of 50C having relations with an unidentified green-haired man begin to spread," Iida said. "December 6, 2020," he continued without changing the screen. "Deku proceeds with the fourth case of the sixth plan."
     "Just to be sure, Plan 6-Case 4 is the only scenario that involves Deku partaking in a recurrent sexual relationship with Katsuki Bakugo, right?" Shoto asked.
     "Yes, that's right. Of the four respective cases of the seven plans proposed, the only one that specifically required a sexual relationship was P6-C4."
     "And do we know why Deku chose that one? That would be good information to have, wouldn't it? For the mission," Shoto said.
     "'50C's actions necessitated timetable modifications'," I answered. "That's all he told me."
     Shoto and I shared a look. We glanced away from each other and back to Iida as he resumed his presentation.
     Iida pressed a button on the remote. The window picture Shoto was instructed to take - though I was told Tsu actually ended up being the one to capture it - popped up. I averted my eyes from the screen.
     "December 7th. Pictures of 50C engaging in coitus with an unidentified green-haired man leak onto the internet. The images spread throughout online discourse overnight and become an international scandal by the following morning."
     "All because of Ochaco and I's hard work!" Toga enthused.
     "Uh-huh," I halfheartedly agreed.
     Iida changed the screen to a picture from the press conference. Deku was sitting next to Bakugo at a table onstage.
     "December 13th. 50C holds a press conference to announce his bisexuality and relationship with one Izuku Midoriya. Deku, using that name, makes his own announcement about his disappearance four years prior. He gives a list of names allegedly belonging to the members of the League of Villains. This event marks ODP6-C4's halfway point."
     Iida flipped to a slide with an assortment of images. Some were of Deku and Bakugo on outings together, others were from televised appearances and events of that nature.
     "Ooh. Yes, bitch. Our boy's thriving," Shinso observed.
     "Seriously. Deku's living the life," Tsu said. "A rich hero to take care of his every need, a mansion to come home to, adoring fans... it doesn't get much better than that. Ribbit."
     "I bet he gets hounded by paparazzi everywhere he goes," Shoto muttered. "Probably hates it. I know I would."
     "And he gets to spend all day with Kacchan," Toga added dreamily in disregard of Shoto's comment.
     "Can we get back on track, please?" I said over the conversation.
     My subordinates stopped chattering. Iida took us through the remainder of the mission without any further distractions.
•••
     Tsu asked to speak with me alone after the meeting had concluded. We waited for everyone else to leave the conference room. I told Iida I'd be out to the car shortly. Tsu shut the door behind him on his way out. We both remained standing.
     "Do you remember what we talked about back when we were first planning Defuse?" she asked.
     "Could you be a little more specific?"
     "Ribbit. You were concerned about the possibility of Bakugo undoing Deku's conditioning. That the emotional attachment Deku used to have to him could resurface."
     I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the edge of the table behind me.
     "You think there's still a chance that that could happen?" I asked.
     "I do. I think there's a very strong chance."
     "Okay." I took a deep breath. "If it does, I'll just kill Bakugo myself."