Big thanks to MagiCati for reading through and helping me make this first chapter a little more silly :P

This was very fun to write


Ever since man became civilized and the struggle to live in society became a fact of life, there have been clashing forces to protect and to destroy that society. The side of 'Good' that wishes to safeguard the rules and principles of the people that keep the system moving, and the side of 'Evil' that wishes to tear down that very system and bring about untold chaos. Over time these stances became roles, ones that worked for and against society, positions that would make or break the well-being of those that wished to live their normal lives in peace and devoid of strife. Those who wanted to uproot the foundations of civilization became known as 'villains', and those who fought them off to defend the peace were labeled as 'heroes', two sides that would be forever locked in an endless tug-o-war with everyone else stuck somewhere in the middle.

In modern times, we live in what some are calling 'The Golden Age of Heroes', where the average quality of heroes has drastically gone up in recent years. Instead of an overall rise in strength, it was only a select handful of individuals that tipped the scales so heavily for the side of Good. One such individual was Reinhard van Astrea, strongest man alive, one of Japan's greatest heroes and boasting an impressive career since his debut as a young teenager. For over a decade he had served as one of the nation's greatest heroes, vanquishing some of the country's biggest threats and reducing the crime rate to almost nothing, all while maintaining an somewhat-average school life. Not long after his high school graduation, the remaining crime in all of Japan had become so low that the local police force alone was all that was necessary to resolve small-time disputes. Most villains feared Reinhard and his colleagues whose strength nearly matched his own, so they all went underground, and eventually, so too did most heroes.

And Reinhard was among them.

At the young age of 22, Reinhard announced that he would retire from being a national hero, and instead spend his days keeping the peace within his hometown until such a time where undying Evil reared its ugly head. It was news that shocked the nation, creating fears that this would just inspire more villains to come out of hiding and that the remaining heroes left in service wouldn't be enough to handle an emergency case of mayhem. However, a special deal was worked out where Reinhard could live his quiet life back home, but on the one condition that he maintain his status as a 'hero' by serving his local community in any way that improved the lives of the general public.

Simply put, Reinhard was required to do at least one act of heroism every single day (excluding weekends holidays, sick days, days off and vacation), whether it be something as small as helping an old lady across the street, or defeating a dangerous group of supervillains that threatened to take over the world for the tenth time that month. One would normally think that feats such as community service or assisting in fire rescues would be more common in place with such a small population, but little did he know that one of the most villainous organizations of all time had assembled in his very own hometown during his time as a professional hero. This coalition of antagonists, full of new and powerful players to the world of supervillainy, had rooted itself deep within the underbelly of Reinhard's home, and greeted him with a duel upon his return. Though they were defeated by the ever-present might of Reinhard, they would never truly be vanquished, and vowed revenge on the unbeatable hero, swearing that not a day would go by where this town wouldn't hear from the evil organization 'Pleiades'! Suddenly the hero found his retirement to not be as relaxing as he intended, all thanks to some noisy bastard who decided to start his evil empire just a few blocks away from where he rested his head to sleep at night.

Somewhere within the Saitama prefecture.


It was almost noon this beautifully average spring day. The weather was fair, the skies were clear, and Reinhard had nothing but free time on his hands. His roommate didn't like it when he gambled his pension away on pachinko, he had already watched all the movies and been to all the town's hotspots, it was too early to drink, and he didn't have any friends available during this time of the day (not that he had many friends to begin with).

Like every day since his retirement from big-time hero work, Reinhard walked around town while reminiscing about the days where his days were filled with action, and lamenting his new life of searching for a purpose beside being bound to a whiny roommate and doing the occasional community service around town. One perk of retirement was that since he no longer had to wear that tight-ass spandex of a hero outfit anymore, he was now free to dress himself how he saw fit. To him, a white t-shirt, blue Hawaiian shirt with yellow flowers, khaki shorts, and sandals were the perfect idea of comfort, giving him the appearance of someone on vacation over any kind of hero, not to mention it made him blend into a crowd more than he had been able to his entire life. Too bad it also made everyone assume he was roughly twice his actual age, lamenting the time a little girl whose cat he saved thanked him as 'gramps'.

Without anything better to do, he had decided to get something to eat at the local bowl place, a popular spot for the high school and even college students of the area that he remembered fondly from his youth. The employees there knew him well before his rise to international fame, so they always gave him a fairly hefty discount and an extra helping of his choice of protein. He argued that he should be treated like any other customer, given that his desire to be treated like a normal person was the whole purpose of his retirement, but they just waved off his invalid argument and sent their local treasure on his way with his lunch made with extra-special care. He sighed and resigned himself to accept their good intentions and move on with his day, leaving the establishment with a large beef bowl fit for a hero on patrol, one of his favorite local delicacies.

So when the handle to his plastic bag was suddenly cut down from his hand, Reinhard felt the loss of not only his lunch, but also all the care and emotion that had been packed into it, making him clench his fists and glare at the person responsible.

"Reinhard. Van. Astreaaaaa…" Standing before Reinhard were four antagonizing figures that strove for hero blood.

The one who addressed him was a dark haired young man in a tracksuit, crossing his arms while standing proudly in the middle of the quiet street. His only outstanding features being a dark purple cape that flowed in the gentle breeze, and face paint that gave him red crosshairs over each of his eyes, making his naturally-scary face even scarier. Right behind him were his twin associates, both wearing black morphsuits with white gloves, boots, and short-shorts, making dramatic poses at his side while also making light teasing expressions at the hero before them. Each twin had a number on their chest, the one with pink hair had a large '1' printed in white on her morphsuit's chest, while her blue-haired sister had a '2' on hers, albeit a little misshapen due to their difference in body type.

Between Reinhard and those three was one final figure who was standing up after a vicious strike, the very same individual that had cut the lunch right out of his hand. With her long, dark hair, voluptuous figure, and revealing outfit, one would instantly be drawn to this woman's attractive looks. But for a seasoned veteran like Reinhard, all it took was once glance at her posture and the way she held her two curved knives to tell that she was an experienced fighter, possibly one of the biggest threats he had encountered since returning home. Whoever this acrobatic exhibitionist was, she meant serious business.

"How very nice to see you again, old friend," boasted the scoundrel in the cape, speaking with a confident sneer to his tone while the twins continued to pose dramatically behind him, "I see you've met the newest addition to the Pleiades roster!"

"A pleasure to meet you, great hero. My name is Elsa, Elsa Granhiert. But you may call me," she flourished her knives with a spin as she sank lower into a crouching pose, ready to strike, "the Bowel Hunter!" With introductions complete, Elsa launched herself from her stance and lunged at his belly with her knives crossed like deadly scissors, eager to expose organs to the open air and feel blood splash over her hands. But right before her attack was about to connect, Reinhard effortlessly sidestepped out of the way, Elsa's dual swipe missing its mark completely. Elsa had to quickly consider her options for a counterattack, debating whether to go back in or to jump away once she landed.

However, her feet never ended up touching the ground.

As Elsa's strike continued to carry the momentum from her dash, Reinhard grabbed one of her ankles, swinging her entire body over his head—

"O-RAAA!"

—and slammed her face first into the sidewalk, comically driving her entire upper body a couple inches into the pavement, making her three cohorts and a few passerbys wince. Not one to be defeated so easily, Elsa put her palms to the ground and began to lift herself out of the hole shaped like her face, but a sandal-clad foot met with the back of her head and stomped her back into place!

"You punk bitch, look what you did!" Reinhard shouted as he continued to raise his foot and bring it down onto the back of Elsa's head, planting her face more and more into the ground. "What, you think you can just attack me whenever you want!? Did it ever occur to you numbskulls that I have a life I wanna live outside of this constant barrage of hero/villain crap!? Just who the hell do you think you are, huh!? HUH!?" He was merciless with his stomps, further driving in the woman-shaped imprint in the concrete, meaning he would now have to report that it was 'necessary for the preservation of peace' or something like that. Paperworks a bitch.

"H-Hey Reinhard, you mind taking it a little easy on her?" the young man with the scary eyes asked, "It's her first day, y'know?" The twins on either side of him had long stopped their taunting, the one with the '2' on her chest wincing alongside the man while the '1' twin looked as if she didn't want to be here to begin with. The red headed hero looked up from his warmup to size up the main event.

"YOU." Reinhard took his foot off Elsa's head and started walking towards the three goons, sending the temperature up with every step he took. The twins both took a step back to shield themselves behind their leader, who refused to uncross his arms even when the world's strongest hero was close enough to stare him down. Instead of submitting to the fierce aura even the most thick-headed of individuals could pick up on, the villain smirked and looked up to match his gaze.

"We meet again, hero! So, what can the Pride King do for—"

"Shut the fuck up Subaru! 'Pride King' is a shit name and you know it! Why else do you think nobody fucking uses it!?" Subaru didn't have a retort for that. All he could do was look off to the side, trying not to look embarrassed in front of his two childhood friends and his new hire that may or may not still be alive. "I ask for so little out of you and your gaggle of misfits-rejects, yet you still manage to constantly let me down at every turn. Remind me, what's the usual time and place where I'd normally entertain your bullshit? You know, the terms that we both agreed on?" Subaru fidgeted in place, trying not to look him in the eye.

"F-Four o'clock at the town par—"

"Four o'clock at the town park, exactly!" Reinhard leaned in so that his face was mere inches from Subaru's, who could feel the hero's justice-scented breath on his skin. "So why are you idiots attacking me at noon in the marketplace, huh? Can't I have one weekday without you freaks breathing down my neck looking for a fight!?" Subaru was trembling right beneath his nose, Reinhard could practically smell the fear in his sweat, but the tenacious young villain still found the nerve to stand up straight, look him in the eyes, and give him a solid answer.

"B-Because I was showing our new recruit around town, then we saw you through the store window, so I thought we could introduce the two of you while getting our daily battle out of the way early!" Subaru gasped for air, winded after his quick and panicked explanations. It really was nothing more than a coincidence, they just happened to see him while giving Elsa a tour of the neighborhood, then waited outside a few minutes to make a dramatic first impression for her. But to Reinhard, this was an unscheduled pain in his ass that just cost him one of his favorite meals.

"... Tch!" Reinhard scoffed at Subaru's lame-ass excuse for attacking him, opting to take out a cigarette and lighter out of his shirt pocket instead of wailing on him as well. As Reinhard began to light up, Subaru waved his hand in front of his face while the twin henchwomen behind them held their noses, all giving the hero a nasty stink-eye. Getting their message, Reinhard clicked his tongue again, deciding that all this wasn't worth his time. "Whatever. Just don't give me any more surprise attacks and I won't lay into you like I did with your new friend there." He pointed a thumb over his shoulder towards Elsa, who just started twitching with movement after remaining still for so long, then turned around before taking the first drag of his cigarette, exhaling the smoke as he walked away. "This is pissing me off. Later, losers."

After waiting a few seconds for some distance to be put between them, the trio of villains bundled so closely together let out a collective sigh of relief.

"That was too close, Barusu." Ram said bluntly, taking a good step away from the man she was just cowering behind.

"Mmhm, but Subaru-kun handled it like the pro-villain that he is!" Rem chirped, sighing in relief while staying close to Subaru's side.

"Nnnnnng…" Elsa groaned as she pulled herself out of her hole, her nose bleeding, mouth filled with fractured concrete, and "My contacts!" she exclaimed, throwing her knives aside to start digging through the rubble. Her nose was bleeding and she was visibly squinting as she dug into the ground, desperate to find her lost contacts, but it seemed as if they were gone for good. The twins both began to jostle through the contents of their utility belts, but it was Ram who provided Subaru with what he needed before he walked over to the frantic Elsa and squatted down to be eye-level with her.

"Here, you can use these until you get some replacement contacts." He held out a pair of drugstore glasses for her to take. They weren't catered to her specific prescription needs, but they should be better than nothing at all, so Elsa accepted them and put them on, the tortoise-shell design giving her a 'sexy-librarian' look from the neck up. "Sorry, I should have warned you not to mess with anything Reinhard eats, drinks, or smokes, he's pretty touchy about that stuff." He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed that he had forgotten to mention something so important. "Don't worry, once we get back to base we can get your forms filled out and have you placed onto our company's health insurance. We have great coverage, and we can fudge the paperwork so that you can get a payout for the injuries you sustained today. We are an evil syndicate, after all! Breaking laws is what we do!"

"That… sounds nice." Despite her bloody and beaten state, Elsa looked up at him with a soft look on her face, touched by the level of care in her new boss' voice. When she decided to end her solo career and join an organization, she had her reservations about putting herself into a command hierarchy where she would have to obey commands and hold back when asked. But upon seeing nothing but hospitality from Subaru and his two associates, Elsa knew she had made the right choice. He stuck out his hand for her to take, which she grabbed onto in order to stand back up into her own two feet, albeit with some wobbling here and there. Subaru was about to give her praise for a good first effort in fighting their mortal nemesis, but familiar trouble reared its head from around the bend.

Reinhard had returned with his fists clenched at his sides and his cigarette already halfway reduced to ashes, two indicators that he was still unhappy with the group of scoundrels. Ram and Rem once again ducked behind their fearless leader, but Elsa stood her ground as well. If he wanted a rematch, then she would allow him to have the first strike this time around. But instead of approaching them, he stopped right next to the mess that was intended to be his meal.

"You know, I was thinking'..." Reinhard took a looooong puff from his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, stepped on it to snuff out any remaining cinders, then pointed at his ruined beef bowl. "Why the hell should I have to go home and starve because of you fuckers? I was minding my own business before your 'new recruit' decided to go rogue and ruin my lunch for shits and giggles, so that means it's your responsibility to fix it." He lowered his gaze, making a shiver run up the spines of the four in front of him. "Got it?"

"W-What would you have us do then?" Subaru had already gotten on Reinhard's bad side one too many times today, so he was open to any kind of resolution to put him and his colleagues out of danger.

"Buy me a replacement bowl. Double beef with chili sauce and extra onions."

"But class is about to let out for lunch any second, this place is gonna be packed within a few minutes!"

*ding-dong bing-bong* The sound of the 12PM clock tower rang throughout the town, a beacon of freedom for all the local high school and college students to put down the textbooks and take a break to go have some lunch, a decent number of them already jumping out of their seats and racing towards the bowl shop.

"Sounds like you'd better hop to it then." Reinhard walked over to the side of the building to lean against it, taking out another cigarette to smoke. "I'll wait." Seeing that Reinhard's decision was final and that the horde of hungry students was getting closer by the second, Subaru grabbed the hands of each of his henchwomen and rushed them inside the store before anyone else could get in front of them.

Elsa looked over to Reinhard, who had his guard completely down around her to the point where he didn't even seem to acknowledge her presence, then walked in Subaru's footsteps to follow her new team. By the time Elsa got inside, a few people had already lined up behind Subaru and the twins, so she cut ahead to rejoin them despite the groans and complaints from those she brushed past.

"Subaru-kun, let me know if you need any extra cash! I have a 10,000 yen bill I need to break."

"I appreciate the offer Rem-rin, but I think I got it covered."

"Are you denying my sister's attempts at contributing to the group effort? What a spotlight hog you are, Barusu. Please, reconsider your actions before throwing yourself into the nearest volcano."

Elsa tilted her head at her teammates, adjusting the glasses up against the bridge of her nose. They acted nothing like the villains she had worked with as one-off partnerships, not to mention they seemed to have a pre-existing relationship with the world's strongest to the point where he would accept a meal handled by them in any way. Most heroes would have flattened them all by now, and yet here they were doing his lunch shopping instead. Pleiades definitely had a ton of mysteries shrouding it, being so successful in such a short time while also fighting the Reinhard on a near daily basis, so Elsa was eager to stick around and find out what made this place tick.

"Alright sir, here's your order!" The young lady behind the counter returned with a plastic bag identical to the one Reinhard was carrying before, filled with an equally hefty payload of calories. "That will be 1,268 yen." Subaru took out his wallet to pay, fishing around for exact change, but suddenly froze in place.

"Shit! I forgot I gave Beako some spending money yesterday. Uh… Rem?" He turned around looking embarrassed, but he was met with nothing but a single bill and a warm smile.

"It's no trouble at all, Subaru-kun. I'm sure we can work something out later to pay me back~."

"Are you accepting my sister's pity handouts? What a horrid manipulator you are, Barusu. Please, reconsider your entire poverty-stricken life before drowning in a shallow puddle within the KFC parking lot."

"That's so damn specific! Also, I get scolded for denying and accepting? That's not fair!"

"Life isn't fair. That's why we're buying lunch for a man that could turn us all into a cloud of red mist with a wave of his hand." Though she was being a bit dramatic with her analogy, Ram made a good point that this world was far from fair, and that only those who could adapt to the unfairness stood a chance at survival.

It was a lesson that Elsa retained that day, learning more and more about how to handle powerful heroes to avoid complete annihilation. That beatdown Reinhard had given her was one of the worst she had ever received, and even now she had no idea on how she could beat him. But if staying with Pleiades meant that she would have the tools, training, and team behind her to overcome such a high obstacle, then she would gladly become a pawn to this so-called 'king'.

Even if he was currently being spoiled and bullied by his own subordinates.


After a short walk that took less than five minutes, Reinhard made his way back to his apartment building just outside the town's center, climbing the stairs to the second level with his replacement lunch in hand. Reinhard could've had any choice of living space he wanted, but he preferred to live in something small and humble rather than stay in some penthouse that was too big to know what to do with. Besides, his roommate wasn't about the 'big life' either, so this small and inconspicuous apartment complex in a central location was exactly what they wanted.

He unlocked and opened his front door expecting to be the only one home, but to his surprise his roommate was home, lounging in front of their 32-inch television in their living room.

"You're home early." Reinhard called out to her as he walked up to the edge of the kitchen table between them. He preferred to eat alone most of the time, especially after dealing with Subaru and his band of merry morons, but there was no escaping confrontation now that she was here. His roommate was one of the few people aside from Subaru that could speak their mind right to his face, and unfortunately for him, she wasn't one to mince her words, especially when there was a perfectly good chance to lay into him.

"We had exams today, I got to leave once I finished," Felt said before craning her neck to face him, "If anything, I'm surprised you're not at one of your usual spots." She glared at him with a look of disdain in her eye, presumptively accusing him of gambling, fishing, or one of the many other hobbies he had picked up in order to pass the time.

"I just ran out to get some lunch, but Pleiades just had to show up and make things a pain."

"Oh yeah? Next time you see Big Bro, tell him I said 'hey'."

"Yeah? No, I'm not going to do that." Felt pouted before she turned back to watch her favorite show, reminding herself that she should never depend on her bastard roommate to do anything besides thumping bad guys into the ground and burning through five packs of cigs a day. Proud of where he left things off between them, Reinhard turned back to go into the kitchen in order to wash his hands, but nearly tripped over something that had been set in the middle of the floor. After looking down, he noticed that what he had almost stepped on was a box of various cleaning sprays, solutions, and rags. "The hell is all this stuff doing out here?"

"Oh, you don't remember?" Felt practically sang, sitting up to turn towards him and cross her legs for comfort, "You said you would clean the kitchen about a week ago, and I've been looking at the same ketchup stain on the counter ever since!" While Reinhard was beloved and feared by many, Felt had known him long enough to see through his invincible exterior and treat him just as she would any other person. Part of him respected her for it, but the rest of him thought of her as an infrequent pain in the ass. "Or is the 'amazing, all-powerful hero' too good to keep his promises?"

Reinhard sneered at her, then looked off to the side. "I've been busy."

"You? Busy?" Felt covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, "What, did the pachinko parlor hire you to sit in the display case out front to attract customers?" Felt was enjoying her teasing, but Reinhard was busy contemplating his comeback for a surefire way out of cleaning duty.

"Look, if you really can't stand the sight of a little uncleanliness in my apartment, you can leave whenever you want. Not like I'm holding you captive here or anything, you're free to move out whenever you want." That made Felt's expression go sour, staring at him with no intention of backing down.

Reinhard knew damn well that Felt liked it here despite their constant bickering. She had all the space she needed, they were located only a short distance from the local university that Felt had just recently enrolled in, and she had the freedom to be herself. She loved her grandpa dearly, but he always saw her as the tiny little kid she had always been growing up, and Felt wanted a taste of the independence adulthood offered. Now that she was a little taller and not much else, she now faced the problem of being mistaken for being younger than her actual age, which didn't help her desire to be treated like an actual adult. Reinhard was one of the few people willing to treat her as such, even if it was in the most asinine ways possible, and she didn't really want to leave.

So, she had to call his bluff.

"Maybe you're right." Reinhard's smile dropped. "Maybe I should just go back to living with Grandpa Rom. The commute will be a pain, and I'll miss not having to listen to old-man humor, but at least I'll be living with a responsible person who knows how to keep a house clean!"

Felt knew Reinhard just about as well as he knew her, if not more so. The guy was an incredible fighter, a half-decent cook, and had worldwide fame going for him, but she knew that Reinhard was the kind of guy that would shut down without someone else there with him. One time when she came back from her 3-day visit to her grandpa's house, she returned to a Reinhard that had barely moved from where she had left him in front of the television, and when he spoke, he sounded as if he hadn't spoken a single word since she had left. The guy was essentially a puppy-dog at the core of his being, always looking to please and get some attention, it was just surrounded by a huge mass of anger and tobacco smoke. "I guess I'll just do it. One final act before I say goodbye to this place for good…" Felt started to stand up, going a little extra into her façade, but before she could even put one foot down, her ears perked up at the sound of a spray bottle being used.

"Un-fucking-believable…" Reinhard muttered as he put his spray bottle down and took a rag to start wiping away the week-old ketchup spot. He continued to scrub and grumble while Felt turned back around to watch her show, a typical sight of this particular household. Though they had their various differences and practically nothing in common, these two relied on each other in order for them to live more fulfilling lives, both of them benefiting from each other's company. Felt needed Reinhard so she could kick off her life in adulthood with the liberating freedom she desired to live in, and Reinhard needed Felt to give him some sense of normalcy in his weird, yet slow-paced life. "I don't even use the stupid fuckin' ketchup…"

Though they were polar opposites and bickered constantly, the two had forged a solid friendship with each other, one that would stand the test of time, disagreements, and the very forces of evil itself.


Elsa prided herself on being one of the best knife wielders in the country, and had long sought to test her skills against the legendary sword Reinhard used to carry into battle. But ever since the quality of villains had drastically gone down, with all the big players either incarcerated or in prison, there had been no need for him to draw his fabled sword in many years, so nowadays he never even bothered lugging that heavy slab of metal around with him everywhere he went. In all likelihood, he had likely stuffed it in his closet or under his mattress by now. Elsa had the ideology that villains needed to push back against the Golden Age of Heroes and strive to rival these new powerhouses, or else their craft of supervillainy could very well come to an end and be nothing but a footnote in history books to come. She had heard of an organization that would dare to frequently challenge the world's strongest hero, but she never expected to run into him so soon, and never in her wildest dreams did she expect to be so overwhelmed within a split second.

Thankfully she was a fast healer, now left with only a few bruises, some torn clothes, and a lack of contact lenses that she was currently compensating for with cheap over-the-counter glasses. Not bad for her first fight with the world's strongest, but now she knew that she had a lot of training ahead of her before she could consider having a serious rematch, and if anything Subaru claimed was true, she would have her chance to face off against him soon enough.

"Alright, here we are! Home sweet home!" Subaru and his trio of ladies had finally arrived at Pleiades Headquarters on the other side of town, which made Elsa doubt the functionality of her temporary glasses.

It was a traditional one story building that looked big enough to house a small clan, one that boasted a front yard with a mixed bed of flowers, vegetables, and herbs going along either side of the walkway leading to the front door. Apparently Subaru's father was a well-regarded citizen of the community, and an old friend of the family donated an unused building to Subaru for his 18th birthday. With a little bit of time, effort, and help from all of his friends, the run-down home had been fixed up into a functioning HQ by the power of friendship (and a small loan from Subaru's parents), one that housed many of Pleiades' most fearsome members.

"Ahh, secret lair sweet secret lair!" When Subaru stepped inside with the rest following behind him and they all started taking off their shoes (Subaru also removing his cape to hang and wiping his face clean of eye makeup with a cloth provided by Rem), Elsa got to see that this place was just as nice on the inside as it was outside. This house had several bedrooms and bathrooms, easily movable ceiling panels for attic storage, and a backyard where they would hold infrequent barbeques to celebrate the fact that they all somehow survived another day in the life of antagonizing Reinhard.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team!" Subaru said with a motion of his arm to follow him. Ram, Rem, and Elsa all followed Subaru to the kitchen, where several other members of Pleiades were enjoying their afternoon around the tea table. Through the glass patio door, a few young girls could be seen playing in the backyard, the two slightly taller girls keeping a red ball away from a shorter girl with blonde hair and a fancy pink dress.

This place felt more like a townhouse than a homebase for an evil empire.

"Subaru-kun, should Rem begin dinner preparations?" Rem asked, taking her gloves off alongside her sister.

"Good idea, Rem-rin! I think the meat still needs to be chopped, and the veggies need to be peeled and sliced."

"Rem will take care of the meat!"

"Ram will handle the vegetables."

The Oni sisters each staked a claim to a task towards their next meal, setting their white gloves on the counter before moving to the fridge to relieve their ingredients. Subaru was truly thankful for his good friends being such loyal henchwomen, dreading the thought of a scenario where he would be without them. He was a capable leader with a knack for pulling people together and all, but staying on top of everything alone was truly an arduous task. Running this whole operation had been made easier thanks to the combined assistance of the twins, and a few others within Pleiades that had administrative roles.

"Everyone," Subaru put an arm around Elsa's back to pull her to his side as if they were best friends for life, "this is our newest recruit, Elsa! Be sure to welcome her with open arms and a warm smile!" Most of the people sitting at the table pulled away from their various tasks and raised a hand to wave at their new comrade. Wanting to personally introduce every one of his precious underlings, Subaru walked around to his first victim and one of Pleiades' founding members.

"This right here is my good buddy Otto! Be sure to bother him when you have any questions about reimbursements for business expenses." Subaru thought for a moment. "Now that I think about it, you can also visit Otto when you need a test dummy, a scapegoat, or if you're just bored! He's such a reliable guy, always here to help!"

"I really wish you'd stop inviting people to bother me in such asinine ways!" Otto snapped back, putting his pen down from the forms he was filling out and turning his head to peer up at Elsa. "But seriously, if you spend money on anything that helps you commit crimes, acts of villainy, or any otherwise antagonistic endeavors, please save your receipts. Hand them off to me at the end of each month, and I'll see what can be expensed. If all goes well, I might be able to reimburse you for a percentage, if not the full cost of your purchases." Wearing a green button-down and gray slacks, Otto by no means presented himself as a fighter, but helping run something that was technically a small business (in the loosest possible definition of the term) rewarded him with the school credits he needed to get his foot in the door of the business world. Plus, he lived in a home owned by his childhood best friend, so his reasons to stay exceeded the constant bullying he endured.

Already done with Otto, Subaru took a few steps around him to place a hand atop the head of the next person sitting at the tea table, tussling his sandy-brown hair between his feline ears. "This guy right here is our resident doctor, Ferris! If you get any injuries that need tending to, come see him!"

"Doctor in-training, technically." Ferris corrected, closing his eyes and taking another sip from his hot tea after he spoke, looking smug in his casual blue dress as his tail swished behind him. "Also, I prefer the title of 'House Medic', if nya don't mind." Like Otto, Ferris was a non-combatant, even more so when considering his medical oath to do no harm. Also like Otto, Ferris was happy to be a part of Pleiades so long as it gave him the field experience necessary to help him further his career. With a house full of meat heads throwing themselves at the world's strongest man practically every single day of the week, there was never a shortage of patients for Ferris to work on.

"Ferris, Elsa here lost her contacts in the line of duty. You think you could…?"

"What, lie on her medical forms so she can benefit from our insurance plan before she was enrolled?" Ferris had a nasty look on his face when he guessed what his boss was insinuating, but Subaru didn't buy that angry face one bit. Seeing that his attempts to play coy had fallen flat, Ferris went back to his cheery self. "Sure, I'll fill out the paperwork and mail it in tomorrow!" Subaru tussled Ferris' hair a little more in gratitude, which Ferris himself only found slightly annoying, before Subaru moved onto the next person on his list and put a hand on their shoulder.

"This son of a bitch right here is Julius, one of Pleiades' best fighters and a constant pain in my ass, second only to big red himself!" Subaru shook Julius like a maraca as he introduced him, almost to the point where it looked as if Subaru was intentionally trying to push him over

"I would greatly appreciate it if you refrained from introducing me with such crude nicknames." Julius plainly replied while continuing to polish his sword while being harshly rocked, even though it was one of many replacements he had gone through over the years. He had rolled up the sleeves to his lavender-colored sweater and placed a cloth over his black jeans, putting in all the elbow grease he could muster into making his blade shine like a mirror.

Julius had joined Pleiades for one reason, and one reason only, and that was to one day prove his swordsmanship to be on par with, if not exceed, that of Reinhard's. Elsa also desired to test the will of her blade against the greatest hero, but she didn't grow up with him like Julius did. Even from the time they were children, Reinhard's presence was so powerful that there was no room to recruit any new heroes, no matter how hard they tried or how talented they appeared to be. So long as Reinhard was around, there was no need for another sword-swinging hero around, especially not someone that never once won a match against Reinhard in their high school Kendo club. So when Subaru went on a recruitment drive, putting up flyers for people to attack Reinhard on a near-daily basis, Julius didn't hesitate to sign himself up and put his knowledge of the blade onto the front lines.

Seeing as how he only tolerated Julius for the sake of strengthening the team (and was still pissed at him for taking out his insecurities on him during his short-lived Kendo club career), Subaru moved onto the final side of the table where their most elder member was dozing off into one his iconic afternoon naps.

"Ah, looks like Olbart-san is sleeping again." Subaru noted as he looked down at the old man's small glass jar of top-shelf pudding, its lid still on with a clean metal spoon sitting beside it. "Olbart-san is our 'senior-outreach representative' who works part-time out of the nursing home. Basically, we sometimes make extra money by scaring the neighborhood punks into keeping their music down, or other things that require that certain level of intimidation that the town police just don't provide." Subaru looked at the dozing old timer, still in his black and white onesie that he swore was legitimate ninja garb from back in the day. "Buuut, since he seems to be slacking on the job, I think I'll just—"

Before Subaru's hand could get too close, the tip of the spoon struck down into the back of his outstretched hand and pinned his palm to the table with enough force to make everyone one in the room jump. All except for the old man responsible, who was now wide awake. He had a sharp gaze when he peered into Subaru's eyes, sending a chill through the younger man's spine.

"You oughtn't do that, boy. It's not wise to come between an old man and his favorite treat, y'know…" Olbart gave the spoon a small twist, making Subaru hiss in pain.

"O-Olbart-san! We have a new villain joining us today!" Subaru cried out, pleading that changing the subject would get the powerful geezer to lighten up on him. Fortunately for Subaru, Olbart found Elsa's appearance worth diverting his attention for, allowing Subaru to take his hand back and rub away his 'stab' mark.

"Oh-ho! Subaru m'boy, where'd you find this one? Next time yer out recruitin' you should let me know! I'll pick up a blonde one! Gyahahahahahaha!" Olbart's crude humor towards Elsa's attractive figure made everyone else in the room roll their eyes, hoping that this shitty old man wasn't about to scare off their newest member.

But Elsa didn't take offense. She didn't call him out or take a step back in shock. Elsa just looked at him. She stared him down with a leer of her own, letting Olbart take a peek not behind her clothes, but behind the calm, doll-like face that she chose to wear as her mask. He saw something within her, a darkness that he hadn't seen since his golden years of supervillainy. After a few seconds, the connection was made and an understanding was wordlessly reached between the two, from one dangerous, blood-thirsty killer to another.

"Kekekekeke! I can tell by that look in yer eye that I was only teasin' ya just now! Nothin' more than a joke, y'hear?" Olbart turned back into his aloof self, looking away from Elsa and pointing his big nose to the air. "What, do young people not do hazing anymore?"

"Not really," Otto chimed in, organizing a stack of papers, "I've heard that most hazing rituals have been shut down in recent years due to mass amounts of injuries, sicknesses, and even deaths that were traced back to hazing traditions."

"Feh!" Olbart huffed as he popped the cap off his pudding with nothing more than his wrinkled thumb, "This generation is so damn sensitive! What's the sense of having an entry process that doesn't involve some good ol' fashioned death and dismemberment? Kids these days, I swear…" Olbart ended his thoughts on the matter by enjoying the first spoonful of his coveted pudding, nodding off from the conversation all together in favor of enjoying his favorite snack.

"Well," Subaru said while shaking out his hand, "I think that's everyone who's here right now. Most of our other villains work their regular jobs on weekdays, but they should be joining us shortly. The girls out back only work part time on weekends, but they come here after school to hang out sometimes. You can meet them in a bit when they come in for dinner. Tonight is hot pot night!"

Elsa tilted her head and pointed towards the sliding glass door, where the two older girls now seemed to be comforting the smaller girl after getting upset, hugging her from either side to make up for their unfair game. "Those girls out there are villains as well?"

"Junior villains." Subaru corrected. "The Loli Brigade is a subdivision of Pleiades that specializes in non-aggression methods in our crusade to take down Reinhard!" Subaru clenched his fists in the air as if little girls were the answer to defeating their greatest enemy, but quickly put his hands back down when Elsa looked more confused than impressed with his evil claim. "Anyway, those three just mess with Reinhard in the most annoying ways possible to ruin his weekends. Shutting the water to his apartment off, hiding his house keys, putting gum in the keyhole to his mailbox. Those sorts of things."

"... Loli Brigade?"

"Ah! Subaru-kun, could you please preheat the oven? Nee-sama and I are still tied up with the prep work!" Overshadowing Elsa's questioning of Subaru's questionable naming convention, Rem spoke up requesting support in the kitchen.

"Now now Rem, give Barusu some credit. This could be a brand new method of making a hot pot without any heat, and Barusu is the very first one to have discovered such a revolutionary—"

"Alright alright, I'm coming! Damn!" Subaru took a few grumpy steps towards the oven before he realized his home's newest inhabitant was standing there with nothing to do. "Elsa, why don't you get settled into your new room while we get dinner going? There should be a door on the left side near the end of the hall with your name on it. There's a TV in the living room if you want to kill some time, and a workshop in the garage if you want to fix up your knives or any other tools you might have. I'll give you a shout when we're getting ready to sit down."

With a wink and clap of his hands, Subaru finished his quick explanation of what this house had to offer, which was far more than Elsa was expecting. It was already hard to believe that this group of villains was giving out free housing as a perk of joining, but now she was being offered healthcare, expense reimbursement, and dinner, all on top of having exclusive fighting rights to the greatest hero of the modern age. The fact that such a unique group of evil-doers were able to cater to all her wants in life seemed almost too good to be true, but the casual conversation and home-like decor that surrounded her helped convince Elsa that this was just the place she had been searching for.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Subaru had turned around to mess with the oven, but he looked back to her in order to say one last thing before he committed himself to making another delicious meal for his valued minions.

"Welcome to Pleiades!" he said with his trademark warm smile, giving her the feeling that she was going to like it here.