They were young and stupid.
On top of the world.
Unstoppable in their petty crimes and rebellious vandalism.
They'd dropped out of their last year of high school and run deep into the heart of the city. Away from their parents, and expectations. They'd gone and joined up with other young, disenchanted, abused and forgotten people like themselves. They formed a gang of sorts. Moving into an abandoned office building. One of their friends was able to use his quirk to reconnect them to the grid, so electricity was abundant and with it, internet, T.V and everything they'd ever need.
They didn't really have a focus on their crimes. They liked to have fun. They liked to terrorize corner stores at 3 am, running before any police or these "heroes" could interfere. These "heroes" made their little gang laugh, using their quirks for "good, truth and justice." It was childish. These heroes even went so far as to call criminals of all types "villains", it was done right dilutional. But it caught on, with the public and with criminals. It made all crime sound fare more serious then what it was. The Hero system was popularised in North America before making its way over to Japan. The idea sparked from early twentieth-century comic books. Only in the last few years did Japan establish the hero system, even going so far as to invest in specialized schools and degrees at universities.
It was ridiculous.
In time their gang grew older and more bored with the petty crimes. If they were going to be labeled "villains" then they were going to commit crimes befitting such a dramatic title.
Their little gang grew and soon became a well-oiled crime committing machine. And with it, Inko's quirk grew. When she was little, she thought her quick was borderline useless; being able to pull a small object towards herself. But she soon realized if she trained, the speed the object returned to her would match the speed in which she throws it. Her quirk became dangerous. Not as obviously as Hisashi's, with his fire breath, but she began to favor long metal needles; small and sharp, she hit her target every time.
She never killed anyone, that was a little too far for her liking. But she'd be damned if she'd let anyone past her.
As their goals changed so did the dynamic of the gang. There was a shifting of power leading to a hierarchy so to speak. Their leader USB, named for his quick, turned out to be ruthless in his prostate in his need to build an organization. Their main operation focused on the accusation of information and selling it off to whoever could afford it. They'd break into business's, banks, government building, and private residences if asked; they were the best at what they did. It was Inko's and Hisashi's job to ensure that their operations were never interfered with. They were the force behind the hijacking of information, removing any obstacles in the way. A simple enough task that put them squarely under USB in their organization. They were not to be messed with.
By their mid-twenties, they've made a name for themselves in the villain underworld. They even had been granted Nom De Guerre's by the Hero's that would try and pursue them. Hisashi was dubbed Hot Head. He was anything but his namesake. Hisashi was calm and collected, always critically thinking and had a plan for everything. He was smart but despised being told what to do unless it was Inko giving him the orders. Him and USB butted-heads often enough that they were more like siblings then Leader and Subordinate. A lot of their disagreements stemmed from differences in how an operation should be executed. But when there was no mission, USB had a tendency to flirt shamelessly with Inko, much to Hisashi annoyance, more on Inko's behalf then jealousy. Hisashi wasn't a jealous type; Inko and he had been together for nearly eight years and neither planned on changing that. They'd even talked about marriage but that was an afterthought and when they first turned eighteen. They were happy as they were and didn't need a document to tell them differently.
Inko's granted name was entirely uncreative, thought up by an equally uncreative, American inspired hero. He'd dubbed her Green, for her hair. Inko hated it; Hisashi thought it was cute. Of course, she'd be named for a physical feature rather than her quirk or other another aspect, like her charming personality. But there was nothing to be done about it.
It was an evening like any other, Hisashi and Inko were alone in their hideout, for once. And as young couples often do when they were along, they were thoroughly enjoying the company of the other.
Laying back on a worn couch, Inko's hand traveled inside Hisashi's shirt, running her fingers up and down his back and sides; enjoys the warmth that always radiated from him. Hisashi's own hands were occupied by Inko's fleshy thigh and waist. Her long skirt hiked up, exposing her legs. Not wishing to be the only one exposed, Inko brought her hand to the top of Hisashi's pants and ran her thumb along the inside of the waistband from back to front before pushing them down.
It was at that moment USB and the team decided to return home. Loudly, excited for their success. Not at all startled, Hisashi pulled himself away from Inko's witched lips and tongue to frown at the grinning leader strutting happily into the room.
"Do you have to so loud? We're busy." Hisashi bent his head back down, fully intending to finish what they started, others in the room be damned. Not one to be ignored, USB took a wad of cash from their latest mission and tossed it down onto Hisashi's messy black hair. Hisashi sighed before pulling himself up. Inko sat up and turned towards USB very annoyed at the interruption, she frowned at USB, but his grin only grew wider.
"What?" She asked with a little bit o a snap. Not at all appreciating the interruption either. It had been a while since Hisashi and herself had been able to be alone together, they were too busy that last two weeks.
USB pointed at the wad of cash. Inko looked down and her eyes grew wide; the cash, rapped with a string was probably as thick as her forearm. Picking it up, Inko flipped through the paper. All of them 10,000 yen notes.
"Is this real?" Hisashi asked, eyeing the money suspiciously. USB Grinned impossibly wider and nodded.
"It's a down payment." USB said smugly.
"Down payment for what?" Inko asked, righting herself from the interrupted fun with her lover. Hair and cloths fixed she handed the cash back to USB.
"We have another job." USB didn't wait for the other two to ask about it before continuing excitedly. "It's a down payment for our biggest job yet. Four hundred thousand now and four hundred thousand after the job is finished."
"What's the job?" Hisashi asked.
"And for who?" Inko added. The amount of money unnerved her. The job would be risky if that kind of money was being offered.
"It's easy." USB reassured. "Our benefactor wants us to break into 'Hero Headquarters' and get our, well my, hands of the database." USB nodded with confidence as though it was the simplest request in the world. "Of course, I excepted since all we will need is us three. It will be a cake walk and who are we to turn down such a generous offer."
"Only us?" Inko was very concerned. Breaking into the 'Hero Headquarters' sounded close to a suicided mission. The headquarters held all the vulnerable data on all active and inactive heroes. Their strengths, weaknesses, addresses and even their social numbers. Everything. It was also one of the most secure buildings in Japan.
"Well, do you want to share the money? The fewer people involved the better. Besides; I only trust you and Hisashi." It was true, as USB's right and left hand he trusted them the most and he had a point about sharing the money. Not even knowing all the details, Inko knew it was a high-risk operation but the draw of the money was too magnetic, that money was life-changing money, they wouldn't have to work again for a long, time.
"We need to know all the details first before we agree," Hisashi said seriously. He was interested but wasn't stupid enough, at least not anymore, to jump in, eyes closed as he uses to do. He and Inko didn't have that type of luxury anymore.
"Yeah, yeah." USB waved his had dismissively at Hisashi.
"The plan is," USB pulled three I.D badges seemingly out of know where and handed them over to Inko. "We are going to infiltrate as temporary employees. Only for a few months. I will be in IT obviously, Hisashi will be Security and Inko you have to the most important job; you'll be Executive Assistant to the director of Hero Logistics." He smiled at their bewildered faces.
"But…But I've never even had a job before! How am I supposed to keep up for three months?" Inko asked in alarm. Didn't executive assistants suppose to have an education and skills, actual skills? Hisashi would do fine in Security, he was built enough and could sport an impressive scowl if the occasion called for it; moreover, he would probably actually enjoy his job, temporary as it was.
USB shrugged, "Fake it until you make it?" he suggested. "We only have to be there until our benefactor gives me the signal to download the info and we'll be out of there."
Inko was biting her lip and wringing her hands together, muttering to herself in distress. Seeing that she was too distracted, Hisashi pressed for more answers.
"What do you mean? Don't we have a timeline?" He looked at his I.D badge; it had all his information on it as well as a small picture of his face. Hisashi was curious as to where USB got a picture like this, it looked as though it belonged on a passport and like all passport photos, he looked like he was a murderer.
'Not villain like at all' Hisashi thought to himself sarcastically, seeing that Inko's photo was much prettier, more befitting an executive assistant.
"No. We don't have a timeline. The main bank of computers is locked up at all times unless maintenance is needed. Even then, most maintenance is done remotely on a terminal outside the room itself and only one action can be performed at a time on it; so I couldn't access all the information in a timely manner so we need to get into the room. Our benefactor will be the one to make it so that I can be let into the secured room; it might take a while before that happens though, so we have to bide our time." USB explained as though, not Actually having a plan was a normal occurrence but even Inko could see that USB wasn't entirely thrilled about there not being a more detailed timeline.
They would have to actually work their jobs well they were waiting for the right time to strike. They would have to be their own teenage worst nightmare; Salary workers.
"Will we be getting paid well we're there?" Hisashi asked, if they had to maintain appearances then that meant no other jobs in the meantime and that meant no money.
"Of Course!" USB confirmed brightly. "Our benefactor even got you two a small apartment closer to the office. I'll be staying here part-time to keep an eye on the others but it's safer for us to be separated from the gang for now. We don't want any unsavory association's."
USB took back their I.D's for safekeeping and handed over a set of apartment keys.
"We haven't agreed to do this yet." Inko didn't take the keys.
"What? Why not?" USB was perplexed at Inko's hesitation.
"Hisashi and I need to talk about this first. This operation is dangerous and we can't commit until we talk about it, alone." Inko said firmly; she'd learned over the years that if you weren't firm and straight forward with USB he would use an excuse to not understand you're perspective or ignore any hints you were giving him. Despite Inkos rebellious nature, she didn't like confirmation all that much, especially with her friends.
"Fine, fine. I'll leave you to it but this is an opportunity of a lifetime and I'd much rather it be you two with me and not be replaced by one of those other idiots. Besides, if you can't commit to this then I wonder at your commitment to the group." USB said lightly before turning to leave.
The threat was not lost on either Inko or Hisashi as they watched USB retreat from the living space. Hisashi had an ugly look on his face staring at USB's back, not at all liking the threats made against them.
Inko got up off the couch and grabbed Hisashi's hand and dragged him out of the old office building. She didn't let go until they were halfway down the road. As soon as she did Hisashi grabbed both of her hands with his two and brought them up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Eyes closed, he took his time to enjoy the moment.
"We need to do this," Inko stated. It was a fact; they did need to do this mission, it was for their own good.
"I don't want to," Hisashi replied quietly, "It's not the clothes or the job and if it was just you and me I would do it in a heartbeat but it's not just you and me anymore."
"I know," Inko replied mournfully, "But this would be it. Once this is done, we would start over. It wouldn't just be a fresh start it would be a good start and that's all we need."
"And each other." Hisashi dropped Inkos hands and they leaned in to share a sweet kiss.
"Okay. We will do this, but only on one condition." Hisashi said seriously.
"What is it?" Inko asked in mild suspicion.
"If you marry me."
Inko smiled softly, "I think I can do that."