Thanks, Koharu-Soma!  Sorry, I'm so used to writing stories short-post-by-short-post!  Guess I need to fix that habit;p

Chapter 5: Welcome to the jungle

They pull up into an old-fashioned, European-style building, which surprises Haruto. He wonders if his eyes are as big as Yurika's, but doesn't care. He squints to decipher the English words on the sign, which the blonde girl proclaims as "Raven's Flat."

"That's right," the driver says. "Welcome to STN-J."

They walk through the dimly lit garage, follow him through the nondescript lobby to an elevator, and try their best to take in visually as much as they can. Yurika pulls a compact mirror out of her purse, then touches up her lip gloss. She turns a similar scrutiny on the boy, who squirms nervously. "You're not gonna make me wear makeup," he says.

"No," she smiles, and reaches over and tries to straighten his hair. He bats her hand away and she says, "Hey, just trying to help!"

"Behave," the driver sighs.

"My hair's fine," Haruto growls, messing it up again.

Yurika steps back and gives him an appraising eye, as if she's some kind of fashion model agent or something. "Okay," she finally agrees, and the elevator dings open.

"Walk right over there," the heavy points to what appears to be an office, "and say hi to everyone." The elevator door slides shut, and the two teens look at each other, then walk over.

A man with a vest, a white shirt, and armbands blinks as they walk into the office. "Hello," he says.

"Hi," the blonde smiles, "I'm Yurika Doujima. This is Haruto Sakaki." They bow slightly.

The befuddled man bows back, then smiles briskly. "Ah, the new Hunters," he says, which relieves them both. "Come, meet the others."

They follow him into a more desk-filled area where a young kid with bright orange hair and colored glasses is typing away, oblivious to his surroundings judging by the loud walkman in his ears. "Excuse me," the clerk says, then sighs when he sees the teen doesn't hear him. "Excuse me!" he waves a hand in front of the typist's face.

The kid blinks behind his glasses, then sees the two teens. "Hey, you must be the new guys," he says in a manner belying his years, "I'm Michael Lee, resident computer guru."

Yurika smiles and reintroduces themselves, shaking his hand. "Wow, there's a lot of desks," she notes, "how many people work here?"

"Well, Amon's out, as usual," Michael says, hitting a couple of keys before spinning in his seat to point out ownership. "And Karasuma should be around here somewhere."

"What's that?" a voice says, and they all turn. A tall, slim young woman in a stylish hairdo and business suit walks over. "Are you two the new Hunters?"

Haruto nods, deciding to be the one to proffer introductions. "I'm Haruto Sakaki," he says, "this is Yurika Doujima." They bow politely and smile.

"I'm Miho Karasuama," the young woman says, "and your new partner."

Haruto blinks. "They set that up already?" He wonders if this is a good idea, since she seems like she's graduated from high school already and he's, well, a semi-reformed street punk.

Miho laughs. "It's not set in stone, but yes, they did. Since you're both new, I guess I'll be mentoring you both until you know how things work." She sighs. "Really, Amon should be the one, but I'm afraid he's out right now."

"Who's Amon?" Haruto wonders.

The young woman smiles. "Good question. You could say he's our leader, Kosaka is the chief, and Mr. Zaizen is the head of STN-J. A small operation, but we get the job done." She looks at the clerk. "I wonder where Kosaka is."

A bellow from the other side of the office answers her question. "Hattori! Where's my tea?" A middle-aged man with a small mustache and large bald head storms in. "Who are you?" he demands of the newcomers.

"This is Sakaki and Doujima, they're the new Hunters," Miho says in a placating voice as the clerk hurries over with the tea tray.

The chief looks them over, then sighs. "Seems the Hunters are getting younger and younger," he mutters, unsatisfied. "Miho, let me know when Amon comes in, all right?"

She nods, then smiles at the teenagers. "I'm pretty sure once Amon comes in, we'll have a briefing with him and Mr. Zaizen, and then you'll have met everyone."