It had been another long morning for Yuri Petrov. He hadn't slept well to start with; his dreams were haunting him once again regarding that day. He brushed his teeth, pulled his hair back as best he could, several ashen colored locks refusing to cooperate and falling into his face instead. He didn't try to stop them and slid several bobby pins over the left side of his hair, keeping at least some of the mess back. After eating a cup of yogurt and mixing a spoon of honey into his tea, he went to his wheelchair-bound mother and kissed her temple, telling her he'd be back later that night. She was having a good day, rather lucid, and was talking to the air next to her about their darling boy and how handsome he was. She laughed and covered her mouth, guiltily looking up at the solemn and not quite awake Yuri.

"Your father is right dear, when are you going to get a girlfriend? Oh shop you, he's just shy..."

Too tired to deal with his mother's delusions, he said something about how he hadn't met the right one and went to work. It was his first day at the Justice Bureau and he didn't want to be late. He blamed most of his tired demeanor on stress, which also made a good excuse for his dreams, instead of the fact a voice taunted him every night, saying they had work to do, it was time to let him take over for a while and help the city in a way those bumbling buffoons couldn't. The buffoons were Heroes, of course. He had done a bit of research on them, but it didn't amount to much. He'd probably be able to get more information about them while he was working in the Bureau. If he knew more about them, it'd help him in his plan. Not his, but his. The voice was becoming more insistent lately and it was becoming harder to ignore.

The pale man didn't realize when he had reached his destination. He went up the steps, swiped a pass, and entered the premises. He shook hands with the Mayor and Mr. Maverick, both of whom worked closely with the Bureau since the Heroes were so involved with upholding the peace. He didn't envy a single one of them. Sure they were paid well enough for the stuff they had to deal with, but they were just police officers who followed rules set by a television producer and given idiotic looking costumes. Idiotic passed his mind a few times when he thought of the designs... Blue Rose was a teenager and pranced around in what was essentially a strapless leotard with a transparent... female version of a codpiece? It wasn't a skirt, that was for sure. Wild Tiger looked like he came off the pages of a bad comic, and Sky High was a flying Tin Man? He ran his hand over the back of his neck, glad that he was not one of them. That would just be a fate worse than death, he wagered.

He unpacked his briefcase, set his fountain pen in a display that was good for easy grabbing when he was taking notes or thinking, and tried to make his large desk look full of things. There was a doorway cut out of a library wall, or the bookcase was built around the door, which at the moment he had open. He looked out the front of his office, a wall of windows grimly reminding him that he'd be watched like a caged animal at a zoo. He didn't like that thought and figured he might have to work hard to get out of the dingy office and into something more private. He enjoyed his privacy.

Once settled in, he was brought to a welcome brunch, put through meetings, sat in at court and observed, and then, when he thought he was done, he was told there was a dinner to welcome a new Hero to the team. He grimaced internally but smiled outwardly as best as he could. His lips barely twitched.

The event was rather boring, and he watched Wild Tiger storm off stage when his new partner was announced. He thought about the man briefly; he was a huge liability and was constantly breaking stuff, but his heart was in the right place. His damaging techniques left his company bankrupt and it would be made public tonight or tomorrow that the company that sponsored him was sold to Apollon Media and he'd be working with the rookie Hero.

Yuri got home late, said goodnight to his mother, took a shower, and went to bed. He had nightmares again, but a deep voice told him that soon they would help the city rid itself of the evil that was infecting it like a parasite.

Kaede Kaburagi spun around in circles trying to get her bearings. She had gotten lost from her grandmother and this was her first time in Stern Bild alone, but everything was so loud, so fast paced, and so different from the small town they lived in that she was hopelessly lost and didn't know up from down. Nine years old, she was in the city for an ice skating competition. She couldn't even see the building that she was supposed to be going to and she was starting to worry. She was expected by a certain time and if she didn't make it, her grandmother will have wasted her money to bring them.

Taking a few steps one way and then a few more another way, the fretting child took off at a run to try and at least see the domed building she was supposed to be at. She spoke her mind, ran around a lot normally, and was easily excited. But right now she was realizing she should have held her grandmother's hand. Turning a corner, she let out a yelp and fell backwards, hearing someone else fall as well.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Kaede sat up quickly, bouncing back and standing, offering the man her hand to stand. He brushed it off and grunted, moving to his feet easily without the assistance of the child. "I'm so sorry, I'm a bit lost and I wasn't paying any attention..."

"Oh? And where are you trying to go, little one?" Yuri's pale grey eyes stared down into the warm chocolate gaze that was anxiously peering back at him.

"Ah, there's a big domed building somewhere with a skating rink in it, I have a competition..."

Yuri was looking for a place to have lunch, finding the inane chatter of the women in the offices a bother and the politics the other workers there bordered on nauseating. He brushed off his charcoal colored suit, adjusted his electric blue and lime green tie, and raised a brow slowly at the child in front of him.

"Alright. I believe I know where you want to go, miss...?"

"Kaede! It's a pleasure to meet you; thank you for helping me." She politely bowed and then beamed when he smiled and bent just slightly at the waist, more like a gentleman than anything. She followed after him as he lead the way, but it was a crowded street and she was starting to fall behind. "Ah, mister!"

The tall man turned and waited for her to catch up to him, staring down at her with almost empty eyes. Slowly he offered his hand, looking cautious about it and as if he really didn't want to be doing it. Kaede had no idea he might be against her taking his hand and she grasped it, looking relieved.

"Come along, Miss Kaede..." Yuri sighed inwardly. How had his lunch break turned into helping a lost child?

"It's because she's so pure."

The voice curled around his ear and teased him, but he ignored it and kept going. Was that it? He was helplessly drawn to helping those who were pure? That didn't make any sense, but he was already trapped in helping her, so he might as well see it through and grab something on the way back. Maybe a yogurt from a corner store.

Up until that point he had been tuning the girl out, for she was babbling without a break since she had taken his hand. She was very trusting and cheerful, but thankfully the pale man was not affected by it. He looked down at her, realizing she had stopped running her mouth, and let out a small sound that indicated he was asking a question.

"Oh, I just said... I realized I didn't know your name, mister, so I can properly thank you!"

"Ah, yes. Please just call me Yuri."

"That's a nice name. Do you like it?"

"It's a name, whether I like it or not, it is mine." He paused. They were there. He let go of Kaede's hand hastily and said something historical about the building that neither of them really heard, because at that moment his stomach decided to protest the waste of their lunch break. He scowled and rubbed at his temple, trying to smile at Kaede and tell her it was time for him to go, but she was staring up at him and blinking slowly.

"Mister Yuri, are you hungry?"

"I do not eat much, but it looks like I am. I'm going to go get some food, you go to your competition."

"Oh no, wait right here, I'll go get us something to eat!" Kaede was gone the next moment and he sighed, wondering if he should listen to the voice in his head that was telling him to just leave the girl since they had brought her to the destination she needed to get to.

While debating, Kaede came back with two frozen yogurts. Yuri blinked as she handed it to him, staring at the sweet and then at the girl, but she had already started to eat hers.

"They're good, try it Mister Yuri!" She had a bit of vanilla on her cheek and a brief flicker of light crossed his eyes, but not his mouth. He took a tentative bite of the frozen treat and then another. It was good, and neither said anything for a few minutes while they ate. When both finished, Kaede fished a napkin out of her purse and wiped her mouth, a bit pink in the cheeks from how quickly she had consumed her food and how messily.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Mister Yuri." The pale man offered his hand to her, but Kaede stepped close and gave him a hug. He reeled back slightly at how suddenly she had her arms around his slender waist that was hidden a bit by his suit, but just as soon as she was around him, she had let go. "Sorry! I'm so used to hugging my uncle when he brings me places. I'm so sorry!" She was red in the face and Yuri looked mildly confused, but he eventually reached a hand down and patted her on the head awkwardly.

"Good luck with your competition," he said as he left, turning when he was a few feet away and politely waving to the girl as she ran up the building steps, turned, waved in return, and went to go compete on the ice.

Petrov returned to the office, being caught up on reports that statues were moving and Wild Tiger was going to have to be brought in for a hearing because he was already causing a good amount of damage with his new partner, Barnaby.

He worked late into the night, not only doing his own work, but working on the personal interest he had in being at the Justice Bureau.

Notes from VP: So I binge watched the entire T&B series (show and movies) and then I sat down and wrote this fic in 24 hours. Thank you so much if you read this, I'll be putting a buffer over the mature chapter.