Wow! First update of 2021! For this story, I mean. This is a shorter chapter, I kind of... Um... Ran out of things to say. I'm hoping I'll be able to really bring it with the next few chapters but I will say that this story is going places! Even if I have to drag it there myself. Actually, if someone wants to write the next few chapters and I can jump in after the catastrophe? No? Okay, I guess it has to be me, then.

Here's a vague sneak peek: Next time Seth turns evil and after that, I pander to exactly 1 (one) of my readers.

Having graduated the spring before, Seth was now an SFIT alum, and while they traditionally only wore their SFIT clothing because it was cozy, there was one week a year where they wore it out of pure pettiness. Rivalry week.

"Good morning, babe," Morgan said, coming back early from one of her classes that had apparently been canceled, doing a double-take when she saw Seth, who was working on the wings at the kitchen table. Working on the wings wasn't anything new, something else had caught Morgan's attention.

"What?" Seth laughed, "What are you staring at?"

"That's my hoodie," Morgan said with a grin.

"What? No, it's not."

"Yes, it is," Morgan argued, picking at a loose thread, "I know for a fact that you don't own a single crop top and that is a crop top and therefore, my hoodie." The hoodie was blue, cropped, and had a ridge of dino spikes on the hood.

"Must've gotten mixed in with the laundry," Seth said with a shrug, "but I think it suits me."

"Man, that's like my third favorite hoodie, but there's no way I look more dapper in it than you. So hang on to it. Take care of it for me."

"I will. Thanks, Morgan."

"You're welcome. So what're your plans for rivalry week?"

"Oh, it's rivalry week? I didn't notice."

"Yeah, uh-huh, you're not looking cute as a button in my hoodie because it's rivalry week, it was just a coincidence."

"Yep."

"And you and Sadie aren't going to get bitchy about which one of you attended the better school?"

"Of course not!"

"And you haven't attempted to influence Hiro or the others with your foolproof plan to steal the statue?"

"Every year I was involved it went perfectly, that's all I'm saying."

"Right. You're not as good of a liar as you think you are."

"I'm pretty good," Seth said with a laugh, "but I will confess that I may be a little bit too invested in school spirit than I should be."

"Maybe just a little."

"I'd live vicariously through you but apparently your new job is more important than defending our- your school from saboteurs."

"Speaking of jobs, shouldn't you be more focused on finding one yourself than spiting your sister?"

"Yeah, I put in a few more applications already today. Sadie and I just do this for fun, it's not serious I'm going to see the opening of Lenore Shimamoto's house with her after we get lunch. Her art stuff is just as cool as my science stuff. Less important, but just as cool."

Morgan burst out laughing, "I'm going to tell her you said that."

"Do it, you won't be telling her anything she doesn't already know. Sadie's got talent, I just think being a scientist adds more to society than being an artist."

"Well, a bartender adds more to society than an unemployed scientist," Morgan reminded.

"Mm, yeah. She wins this round. But I'm gonna change the world one day, or run it."

"I know you will, babe. Enjoy your rivalry."

"Thanks."

"Don't steal any statues."

"Don't rob any CEOs."

"You drive a hard bargain, Seth Drake, but I think I can promise that."

Seth left for lunch with Sadie soon after and Morgan settled in to work on the bug she'd experienced the other day at Krei tech. It was bothering her, she was convinced that Krei couldn't be stupid enough to download an information leech like this one. Although to be fair, Krei had gotten his ass handed to him by a 22-year-old, so Morgan didn't have that hard of a time believing that Krei could've messed up this badly.

Technically, it was her job to deal with things like this. But if Krei thought that this was one of his systems, and then she just deleted it, he'd be pissed. And since Krei definitely hadn't forgotten her little Robin Hood stunt, she had to know more before she acted. If she could figure out the source of the problem or contain it she'd be golden, but right now she was just annoyed. She so didn't get why Seth enjoyed rivalries so much. This mystery coder was getting on every one of her last nerves.

"Ah, fuck this, I need to get to work. You're someone else's problem right now, little bug. Maybe I should name you if you're gonna be a pain in my ass for a little longer." Morgan slung her laptop into her bag, grabbed a pizza Lunchable and a Monster energy drink from the fridge, and headed out.

"Maybe I'll call you Mark." Seth had dated a Mark. Unpleasant fellow.

When Morgan got into work and was immediately put onto another more pressing assignment she decided to let sleeping Marks lie. In all honesty, she was content to return to her apartment and her person and discuss the various merits of SFIT over SFAI until they fell asleep on the couch together.

A few days later, however, Hiro pulled Morgan aside in the cafeteria with a word of warning.

"Listen, Morgan, I don't want you sticking your nose in stuff that isn't your business, Big Hero 6 can handle whatever. But if your eyes and wings are going to be open, then keep an eye out for this guy with a glowing face." Hiro was nervous, he'd clearly been through the wringer. He jotted down a name and handed it to her, and then they separated like they were rivals themselves.

Later, when Morgan got home and flipped open her laptop, going bug hunting once more, she had a new name to blame, "Obake…"

Question of the week: What is one thing you want to read more of in 2021? (Pairings, tropes, etc.)