Rule #99: Never tell someone when they're being investigated
With both Christmas & New Year's done and dusted, life quickly returned to the usual swing of things. For the students of UA, this meant winter work studies in preparation for the upcoming battle that lingered on the horizon (not that those out of the loop knew that). Unlike last time, when the work studies were only granted to those who were offered places amongst the agencies; this time they were compulsory. Which meant that those students who had been left to flounder in uncertainty, were placed with an agency no matter their preference.
Toru hadn't exactly been sure as to how that was supposed to work in conjunction with her Hero Public Safety Commission-sanctioned mission, but she needn't have worried. As it turned out, the Commission had contingencies in place for situations such as this. Apparently, (according to Hawks) bogus companies like the one that Toru was "interning" with, was just one of many dummy corporations that the Commission had under their corporate thumb.
Usually, they were used for HPSC agents that need to negotiate-slash-negate the legality of things. But the other times they were used, it was for something as simple as providing an unshakeable alibi. In her case, this "hero agency" was presented to her, so that the school—and her teacher(s)—wouldn't look any further than the cursory glances at the forms. On the surface, she would be interning with a minor hero; someone unimpressive—possibly up & coming—but still someone who was Commission-slash-school approved, despite thus.
That morning, she had been told to await the arrival of Skeptic, the informational archivist who played the part of the spymaster in this villain force at the front door. Practically every inch of the place was bugged—people too—in order to make sure that no one was a turncoat, nor that there were no spies (only dumb ones spoke of their mission, whilst on their mission) and to keep tabs on any uprisings within the faction. And that was just within the home base, itself. That didn't even take into account the bugs in Hawks' wings, nor the recording devices disguised as jewellery, glasses and/or badges for the other heroes to wear. It was pretty clever, if she were being honest, if a little movie-esque. But that was thing, people couldn't be trusted to relay reliable information, but machines on the other hand, were a whole other can of worms.
So, there she stood waiting for her next "assignment" in the chilly wintry air when the slimy hero slid into view. Toru couldn't say why she disliked Slidin' Go, just that she did. Perhaps it was because his overly nice attitude seemed just that tad bit fake? Or perhaps he reminded her too much of a certain grape-haired pervert and a pink-haired leech? Maybe it was because he was a turncoat? Or just plain egotistical? Whose to say? Either way, when he joined her in the archway of the porch (despite her clear body language that screamed "GO AWAY!") and placed a hand on her shoulder, she wanted nothing more than to disappear into the stonework or burn off the offending appendage, if it meant she could get away from him. Mercifully, her (only) saving grace was that she didn't have to wait long before Hawks showed up to interrupt whatever Slidin' Go was about to say.
"What's up?" Hawks called as he landed at the front door of the elegant building to which played the home base of the Paranormal Liberation Front. "I'm back!"
"Oh! I didn't realise that you had flown off somewhere, Number Two" Slidin' Go leered from where he stood next to the invisible girl; one hand clenched uncomfortably tight against her shoulder.
"Yeah, sorry, went to grab a coffee" Hawks replied nonchalantly, though his gaze did flicker quickly over the clearly uncomfortable teen, making his expression harden around the edges just so. "The stuff here tastes like sewerage"
"Ew" Toru mumbled quietly at that image, nose scrunching up in disgust.
"Here ya go, kid" Hawks expertly slotted himself between the hero and the teen as he extracted her from Slidin' Go's grip and shoved a steaming takiyaki in her grip (she was sure that the hero's fingerprints were going to be imprinted on her shoulder later).
"Oh, thank you" Toru hummed in reply, not quite able to keep the tone of relief from seeping into her tone. Huddling into the warmth of his wings in—what she was pretending was because of the cold and not the sour-faced hero in purple—she happily bit into the pastry, savouring the red bean flavour inside. "Mm! It's still warm!"
"Of course it is!" Hawks puffed up with pride, "M the fastest flier out here, y'know!"
"You can't keep coming and going as you like, y'know" Slidin' Go lectured, eyes narrowed at the invisible girl who seemed to shelter further into the red wings at her back. "You should get permission for whatever you do!"
"Ugh!" Hawks heaved a put upon groan, throwing his head back dramatically as if he were a teenager being lectured by his parents.
"Don't forget, I outrank you, here, Hawks!" Slidin' Go preened, chest puffed up with smug pride. Just looking at him—just listening to him—gave Toru the ick in the same way that listening to Monoma endless crows about Class B's superiority did. "Got it?"
"Sir!" Hawks lazily saluted the man, tone sarcastic and teasing as he stood up straight.
Hehe…Loser! Toru smirked to herself, barely able to muffle her snort into her pastry at the interaction. Not because Slidin' Go was right, but because how Hawks kept humouring the buff hero despite the fact that Hawks was the Number Two and Slidin' Go hadn't even cracked the top twenty on the Hero Charts (the Villain Charts were another story, but still not that impressive).
"Outrank? Are you sure about that?" Skeptic announced as he crept from the shadows.
"Huh?" Slidin' Go's holier-than-thou visage crumpled at the introduction of one who was certainly higher up the food chain than any of them.
"Because it's my first time hearing such a thing" Skeptic leered, taking great pleasure in humiliating the strongman. "Then you must also in a position to obtain classified information from influential heroes?"
"W-well, sort of…"
"Current locations? Call records? Real time feeds of conversations?" Skeptic quirked an unimpressed brow as he moved further out of the shadows, laptop delicately tucked under one arm. "Hawks provides these. Thanks to the countless micro devices installed in his wings, we'll expose everything about the heroes. And let's not forget about the importance of having plants in the hero schools! Prism here, gives us an insight into the up & coming heroes—legacies—powerful quirks to keep an eye on, loyalties of the future generations…the list just goes on"
Skeptic's smirk grew into something far more dangerous, and yet somehow still very comforting as their usefulness was proven whilst Slidin' Go's was not. "A grunt like you can offer us a peek at the hero network, at best. But as the Number Two hero? As our legacies? These two can go much deeper. They're valued assets, ones who've proven themselves time and time again. Prism, in particular"
"What do you mean?" Slidin' Go puzzled, arms crossed as he tried to figure out how a literal child was important than him.
"Aside from being an apprentice to the Moon Slayer?" Skeptic smirked, "To being a killer of the Moon Slayer? To being Stain's doom? Or what about the bane of the countless grunts who've bloodied her hands—?"
"Well, when you put it like that…" Toru mumbled demurely, colouring a little at her list of…accomplishments,
"—Can you say the same?"
"Wait—!" Slidin' Go spluttered as he spun on his heel to face the invisible girl, "You killed Stain?"
"Maybe…" Toru wore the shittiest shit-eating grin in her life, "Maybe not, who knows?"
"Do you know?" Hawks peered down at the invisible girl tucked into his side. Apparently, this was news to him because as far as the world knew, Endeavor had done the deed.
"Maybe, maybe not"
"Ugh!" Slidin' Go tossed his hands up in the air in defeat, before turning to grumble about the uselessness of teenagers. Hawks, meanwhile, shuffled the invisible teen in closer whilst making a mental note to look further into those claims because more than one of the members within the League of Villains—let alone, the Paranormal Liberation Front—claimed to be following in Stain's footsteps and knowing that his murderer walked among them? Shared meals with them? Laughed with them? Well, it probably wouldn't go down super well. (Fingers crossed if Slidin' Go knew what was good for him, he'd keep his mouth shut).
Skeptic seemed to melt from the shadows, though he remained tightly within their clutches, as he ushered forward a familiar sparkly blonde whom had been hidden not too far out of sight. "Which reminds me, Prism, I believe you know Twinkles, here?"
Toru was more than content to sit back and let the adults go at it amongst themselves, whilst she busied herself with her pastry and let her thoughts wander. Well, that was the intention at least. But in risking her life (and her burgeoning career) to go back to the Paranormal Liberation Front under the guise of her "work studies" that New Year, the last thing Toru expected to see was a rather familiar face starting back at her.
Because if you had asked her earlier, what she would've of thought being confronted with the sight before her, she probably would've of told you that you were nuts to even suggest such a thing. Him? Here? In this place of villains and other such evils? Never in a million years did Toru ever think that she would ever see him standing there (because the most villainous thing he'd ever done was take more than one sample of cheese at the delicatessen or dumped a buttload of glitter on the floor, by accident).
But there he was, clear as day, her classmate and resident glitter queen, Aoyama Yuga. Toru blanked as she hissed in a breath of shock (and possibly squeaked) in her surprise. Once again, she was thankful that she was invisible to most (because there was no such thing as true invisibility), because she had no doubt that the wide-eyed gaping fish look would have of been a dead give away of her opinion on the matter. Hawks, who stood solidly at her shoulder, was far more composed than her; but perhaps he had had more experience with this type of thing?
Did the Commission think that they need even MORE help? Toru panicked, mind running a thousand miles a minute. Is THAT why he was here? Did Hawks know about this? Or did Aoyama REALLY turn tail towards the dark side? How long has he been working for them? Was…was HE the infamous UA traitor that everyone had been searching for? So many questions whirled around in her mind, making her feel sick with anxiety.
Because with Aoyama here, that only further complicated things, like her crafted "villain" story, her infiltration mission and her "hero" story that kept all of the "dark bits" out of the spotlight. What would happen to her if Aoyama (accidentally) let something like that slip? One, or both of them would likely end up dead…Maybe, just in this case, Rule #4a could come into play?…No! What was she thinking? How could she even think about taking "care" of a classmate like that? But still…if it came down to him or her, maybe…maybe it was best not to shelve Rule # 4a just yet.
Aoyama seemed unusually timid and so very small, despite his glittery costume as he stood in the shadow of the informant; hands curled up into fists and hidden inside his costume's sleeves as the two classmates were (re)introduced to each other. (At least, he appeared just as shocked to see her, as she was to see him). "…You two will be partnered together for the foreseeable future" Skeptic's voice broke through any manic thoughts rushing through her head.
"Huh?" Toru blinked, pastry flakes clinging to her lips.
"The Boss man wants you two to collaborate on any and all things UA, ya hear? Skeptic continued as Aoyama seemed to pale further under his touch. (Was…was he shaking?) "We need to know what's going on with the next generation, including whatever those hero teachers of yours are up to"
"Uh, r-right, I mean, yessir" Toru swallowed her nerves as Aoyama nodded shakily.
"Very good" His green was lecherously dangerous, shrouded in shadows. "So, why don't you two go and get acquainted with each other and compare notes?"
It wasn't a question.