Matsuzaki stood at the head of the conference table, uneasily waiting as the last of the people he'd called took their seats and settled in. "Okay everyone," he said, his gaze sweeping across the others in the room. "The folders in front of you have updated information on the activities of the vigilante group known as the 'Sideline Squad'. As you can see, their patterns have changed dramatically over the past several weeks. Previously, they provided meticulously collected evidence against the other criminals they attacked. Now they only provided evidence for one of their attacks, the largest scale attack they have committed to date. Otherwise they appear to now be focusing on stopping active crimes in progress."
"Why would they devolve from sophisticated attacks to active heat of the moment articulations, though?" Another officer asked as she skimmed through some of the files.
"They could be getting more cocky as their major attacks grow in scale," someone suggested.
"I don't think that's it," Matsuzaki replied, shaking his head. "They still do meticulous planning when preparing for their large scale attacks. Their spur of the moment attacks have never been against more than three people at a time."
Midnight flipped open one of the folders and took her time looking over the documents inside. "Could the change in their actions be a result of them knowing that they are actively being pursued by heroes? They don't take as much time to gather evidence because it puts them at risk of being caught if they spend too much time in one location."
"They did widen their radius after the public became aware of hero involvement in the case," Eraser Head pointed out. He closed the folder he'd been looking at and reached over to pluck another file from the hand of the officer next to him. "They are definitely aware of our presence, but if they were afraid of getting caught then they would have stopped the large scale attacks all together. Not to mention their very public fight with that acid villain. If they were afraid they would also be keeping out of the spotlight and definitely not running social media."
The officer shifted in his seat awkwardly and cleared his throat. "Have we determined if the group is actually in control of the account or is it just another one of their fan pages?"
Matsuzaki flipped through a few pages. "We are unsure. Everytime we try to track their location it pings through a network of seemingly random cell servers," he explained, furrowing a brow. "We have reached out to the company itself to see if we could find an associated IP address, but with current consumer security regulations, we cannot gain access."
"What about with a warrant?" Midnight asked.
"We had one. We still can't get the records," he said, exhaling sharply in frustration. "One of the employees said that while he couldn't give us specific details on the account he warned us that we shouldn't even bother continuing to try. He said the associated IP has changed every time they logged in. I doubt they have used a new device for each, they have to have a program that automatically changes their IP." He looked across the table to another officer, who nodded to confirm what he'd said.
Ryuu cleared his throat, catching the attention of everyone else around the table. Instead of looking at the files that had been laid out for him, he had his phone in his hand. "Actually, the posts themselves do not appear to have been made to attract attention to the group. Most of them are explicitly just trying to raise awareness for environmental issues. They're very well-crafted and informative, and I believe their content is beneficial overall. Their beach cleanup event post in particular saw a lot of engagement and there was a record number of beach cleaners on the day of their event." He glanced up from his phone, looking meaningfully at Matsuzaki and giving him a little smile. "I should hope that, if it weren't for your personal bias against the owners, you would be a supporter of the account."
Matsuzaki stared at him half in annoyance and half in disbelief. "Ryuu. Get. Out," he said through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry sir, but the chief really wants me working this case with you and has specifically asked that I attend every meeting from this point forward," Ryuu replied, finally setting down his phone and reaching for one of the files lying around. "With the increased media attention, I am supposed to be the one handling all of the official statements on Sideline Squad matters."
"Fine," he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just keep your mouth shut."
"But sir, my wage comes from the hard working taxpayers of this country so I feel it is the responsibility of myself as well as all other officers to put forth the best work we can. Because I have been assigned to this case, I feel I need to provide all assistance possible," Ryuu argued. An officer across the table nodded in agreement, until they received a harsh look from Matsuzaki. The officer stopped nodding and sank into their chair.
Matsuzaki took a moment to calm himself and moved on. "Alright well, most of their activities tend to gravitate towards the weekends. Ninety percent of their attacks have been on either Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays."
"That's probably because they are too busy doing school work during the rest of the week," Eraser Head said plainly, without looking up from the file he was studying.
"School work?" An officer asked. "You believe they are a group of college students?"
He shook his head. "No. High School at most. They have the maturity of a group of entitled twelve year olds." He glanced at Midnight, who appeared to agree. "Their technology is advanced. With the emotional maturity I would assume that it had to be sourced elsewhere but during my altercation with them, the one known as Snipes seemed to have a sense of personal pride over her weapon. It makes me think that they were likely manufactured by the group themselves."
"How could a school kid be responsible for the group's gear?" Matsuzaki looked at the hero skeptically. "There is no way they could have access to that sort of equipment, unless they had an after school job in some sort of lab."
Midnight leaned back in her chair and looked at the ceiling, turning the details over in her mind. "You said you think they are middle school kids right? They can't have a job, then. Perhaps this child got scouted by the government," she suggested, turning to Eraser Head. "Maybe some genius kid in one of those special programs. They could have access to nearly anything, another option could be to look at some of the high class magnet schools. The funding they get allows them to have the same sort of equipment available at U.A."
"What if they are a group of children, sir?" An officer asked. "Can we even pursue them? Considering we have no solid evidence of quirk usage yet, the most we can get them on is premeditated assault." She flipped through the notes in her hand, skimming them with a quirked brow. "This group has been gaining the support of the public despite the media connecting them with the League of Villains. If we catch them, and it turns out they weren't breaking any actual hero laws they will likely be let off with a slap on the wrist as adults, let alone as children."
Another officer spoke up. "Also, considering the fact that the weapons they use primarily stun people and they don't show intent to cause serious bodily harm. The only times they have caused lasting injuries are on sexual assault perps." He looked at Matsuzaki and shrugged. "The public would likely see it as justified, and I don't doubt that a jury would agree with the public sentiment."
"It doesn't matter if they are kids," Matsuzaki snapped, slamming his hand against the table. "It doesn't matter if they have quirks. I don't give a fuck what the jury would think. What matters is that we do our job and our job is to bring in a group of vigilantes. The legal system can handle what comes after."
"If they are children, then we still need to approach this case with more caution. If this ends badly it could put a stain on not just your branch, but all of our branches," Naomasa pointed out, sending the chief a serious look. He'd been quietly combing through files up until now, and he was collecting extensive notes in the notebook he'd brought with him. "Regardless, premeditated assault is still a crime and this group will have to face consequences for their actions. At the very least they will need to be given a warning. Vigilante laws are not in place just to protect civilians but to protect vigilantes themselves from potentially dangerous situations they may find themselves in."
Eraser Head tossed his folder aside and leaned forward in his chair, propping his chin up with his hand. "These kids are cocky. They are putting themselves in exceedingly high risk situations. Their actions are alarming, but their attitude is far more worrisome. Eventually they are going to face a threat that is out of their league. They've got gifts, but they don't have any proper training." His eyes drifted close as he spoke. "When I fought them, it was abundantly clear that they got most of their style from street fighting with maybe a bit of background kick-boxing. They can use effective moves but they are sloppy and lack any sort of real technique."
Naomasa looked up from his notes and raised an eyebrow. "So you think they have at least some training in kick-boxing? That's a dying art these days, there aren't that many gyms in this city. Should we start trying to check them out? See if anybody knows anything?"
"Yeah." Matsuzaki nodded. "I can put together a group of men from my station to go out and ask some questions tomorrow. You can feel free to join them if you would like, detective Tsukauchi."
"I might just take you up on that offer," Naomasa said with a smile. "Back on the topic of this group being potential school children, could the bag found after the acid villain attack be theirs?"
"What bag?" The chief shot him a confused look.
Naomasa set his notebook down. "I was brought into this joint task force immediately after the acid villain attack. I went to the scene to look for clues after the initial cleanup and found a backpack behind a dumpster in an alley. It's likely unrelated, but I looked through it just in case. Figured it might have belonged to someone homeless." He reached into his briefcase, pulling out a handful of photos of the bag and its contents and laying them out on the table. "It had a few changes of clothes in it, but nothing of any real significance, so I didn't think much of it at the time. There was what looked to be a few notes jotted down in english. I suppose that they could have been school notes for an english class though."
"Did you get any swabs from their clothes?" An officer asked.
Naomasa nodded. "Yes, but their DNA signatures weren't detected in the system so it was a dead end."
"That is unfortunate," Midnight sighed. "We need to find these kids, and fast. Before they do something that they can't take back."
"Well, the most we can do for now is keep up our patrols and look into the leads we do have. Start checking special programs for intellectually gifted children," Eraser Head muttered. "Start with the ones that have high grade engineering equipment. You are going to be looking for a group that finds themselves in trouble often. See if there is any overlap with kick-boxing gyms. Because magnet schools are private, they won't be subject to catchment areas like public schools are. This means that the schools you will look into will probably have a large geographic distribution of their students." He yawned and opened his eyes, staring at the regional map posted on the wall across the table.
Naomasa passed out the photos of the book bag to the other officers and went back to jotting down notes. After writing for a moment, his pen came to a stop, and he turned to Eraser Head. "Aizawa, could they be from your school? Perhaps a group of students are training to be heroes but don't want to wait for the proper registration. That could be why they are hiding their quirks. Being quirkless is extremely rare today. I'm hard pressed to believe that any of them are quirkless, let alone three."
"When I fought the ones known as Snipes and Sync, they seemed to have some sort of durability quirk," Eraser Head explained. "I was unable to cancel them out, though, so I believe that they are mutant-type. With how similar their quirks were, those two, at least, have to be siblings."
"So there is also a chance this group is all some sort of family affair?" Matsuzaki asked.
Midnight nodded in agreement. "It would make sense. The one named Snipes has the body type of a young child, while the one known as Sync seems to be anywhere from her late teens to early twenties, even. Did they all act the same age?"
"Yes. If anything, Sync acted even younger than Snipes," Eraser Head pointed out.
"Ugh," one of the officers groaned. "This doesn't make any sense. There is no way they are kids. Our original profile put them in at least early adulthood. They have been active for at least two years. You think they are, what, anywhere from twelve to fifteen? That means they would have had to have been anywhere between ten to thirteen when they started."
Midnight took a moment to consider the idea. "That is rather young, but it isn't impossible," she decided. "Especially seeing as the attacks they started with were on individuals and they only started building up to groups within the past year. The rapid escalation came in the past few months."
"Okay, well. We will do what we can," Matsuzaki said, his gaze sweeping over the people gathered at the table once more. "We will start with looking at magnet school siblings. See if there are any connections we can find. From there, we will connect that with information we gather from kick-boxing gyms within a reasonable distance from this city."
"Sounds good," everyone said at once.
Rei took a few steps back, teetering on the edge of the sidewalk as she craned her neck in an attempt to see the top of the building. The early morning sun hadn't even reached that high yet. She'd never seen Endeavor's Hero Agency before, but this was about what she'd expected from the number two hero. Taking a steady breath, she made her way towards the entrance, crossing under the giant flaming "E" that hung over her head. If Logan and Izumi were here, they'd call it tacky, she thought. Too bad she was on her own for now.
She stepped into the lobby and looked around. A few heroes were making their way to the elevator, and some journalists hung about, waiting to catch a glimpse of number two himself. At the center of the room was a large reception desk where three people sat, typing away on computers. "Excuse me," she said as she approached the desk, where a woman with flames for hair sat facing the door. "I'm here for the internships?" Rei ventured, uneasily looking around.
"The hero internships?" The woman asked without looking up.
"Ah, no," Rei said quickly. "The business internships. I'm supposed to meet with a Mr…" She trailed off as she reached for her phone to check her notes.
The woman quickly typed something on her computer. "You're Ms. Rei Tamura, correct?"
"Oh, yeah. I am."
"You'll be with our financial director, Mr. Katsuro Yamauchi." She finally looked away from her computer and stood from her chair, reaching under the desk and fetching a red folder. She slid it across the counter. "He'll be giving you a full orientation. This folder contains your C-grade security pass, a map of the building, and a fire escape plan."
Rei's eyes drifted towards the woman's hair. "Do...fires happen a lot here?"
"No," the woman said flatly. "It's just a precaution."
"Right. Thank you," she said, stepping back from the counter with the folder in her hands.
The woman turned back to her computer and went right back to typing. "Mr. Yamauchi's office is on the third floor, room three-twenty-nine. I'll tell him to expect you shortly."
Rei checked the map to see where the room was. "Great. Thanks again," she said, smiling up at the woman. "Can I ask your name?"
"No."
"Great. Thanks." Rei clutched the folder to her chest and made her way to the elevator, swiping her access card and stepping in. The elevator hummed with dull music as it made its way up. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, shaking off the awkwardness of her talk with the receptionist. It was only her first day, she reminded herself. The next week was going to be fine. The doors opened to a white-walled hallway with tan tiled floors, and a few signs directed her exactly where she needed to be.
Steeling herself, she knocked three times on the door to room 329. "Mr. Yamauchi?" She called after a moment.
No one answered.
"Um...Mr. Yamauchi?" She called again.
From the other side of the door came the sound of heavy footsteps. Rei moved back, her anxiety building with each step, until they finally stopped. After a tense moment, the door swung open. In the entryway stood a tall, well-built man with black ox's horns protruding from his head. His eyes were sunken and ringed with dark circles, as if he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks. Between his broad shoulders and the length of his horns, he nearly filled the entire door frame. "What?" He rumbled.
"Uh, I'm the intern," Rei said quickly, composing herself and giving a small bow. "The receptionist said she'd tell you about me."
Yamauchi let out a heavy sigh and checked his phone. "Ah, so she did."
"She also said you'd give me an orientation."
"Can you do math?"
"What kind of math?" She asked.
He turned to walk back into his office. "If you can add up numbers and work percentages, you'll do fine. It's really not more complicated than that." Rei hesitantly followed him inside. The office was huge, but most of the space was taken up by filing cabinets. A long desk sat near the window, piled high with papers and a single pillow. "Your desk is over there," he said, waving his hand towards a small desk in the corner of the room. "Just start scanning the files from the cabinet, starting with the oldest. I've been meaning to make a digital backup, but I don't have that kind of time."
Rei nodded. "I can do that. But, if you don't mind me saying so, I noticed that there weren't a lot of people on this floor. Most of the offices looked empty."
"So what?" Yamauchi glared at her.
"Well, it just seems like you're a little…" She paused, looking at the filing cabinets that surrounded her. "Swamped."
He exhaled sharply. "Yeah, I am. Why else would I ask for an intern?"
"Endeavour doesn't hire anyone else to help with the financials?"
"No, he wanted to. I don't need any help, though."
"But you look exhausted," Rei insisted.
Yamauchi plopped down in his desk chair and let his head fall facedown on the pillow. "I'm fine," he said in a muffled voice. "Just start scanning."
Rei sighed and set her things down at her desk. It wasn't going to be hard work, but it was sure as hell going to be tedious. At least the others were dealing with intern work of their own. She couldn't wait to hear about all of the bullshit they'd be dealing with.
"Yeah, jeans can be fashionable and I do agree that the texture can be really nice especially when it's high quality," Logan said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "You need to break it up a bit, though. There has to be some sort of fabric other than just denim that could be useful. What about some leather? Can you use leather? Leather always makes people look hotter." She sat comfortably in Best Jeanist's desk chair, her feet propped up on the desk.
Best Jeanist sat in the guest chair on the other side of the desk, jotting down notes as Logan talked. "It's not impossible," he said thoughtfully. "But leather is much harder to manipulate than denim."
"Well, you've also just kept nearly the exact same hero outfit for over the past five years now." Logan leaned back in the chair, rubbing her chin in deep thought. "Have you considered at least adding some sort of variation? Have you considered bell bottoms? They can really make your butt pop and add some great shape to your legs." She waved her hand as she spoke, tracing out vague ideas for the shape in the air. "Also, vintage style is totally going to be coming around again in the next year or two. You will be ahead of the trend."
"Excellent idea. I'll have my costume team do some mock-up designs by the end of the day." He nodded enthusiastically in approval.
She slid her feet off of the desk and leaned forward in the chair, looking at the hero closely. "Okay and also what if we added a bit more length onto that coat of yours? You could then close it and have a mysterious cloak/dress on." Logan smiled, already loving the idea. "The androgynous look has been around for the last hundred years without wavering. I doubt it'll be gone any time soon. Plus, it gives you more fabric to work with and that."
"It's important that my costume doesn't limit my movement," he pointed out. "Adding on a cloak or dress would take a lot of consideration for how it will affect my speed and agility in combat."
"Okay, but have you considered that it'll make you look bomb as fuck?" She said casually.
"Point taken."
The door to Best Jeanist's office opened and in walked two sidekicks, who were completely unnoticed by the hero and intern as they carried on their conversation. The sidekicks exchanged confused looks.
"Is he...taking fashion advice from her?" One asked, his eyes wide.
The other sidekick nodded slowly. "He never takes fashion advice from anyone."
"Who the hell is this intern?"
Izumi stepped off of the bus, her eyes focused on the grouping of huge buildings down the path in front of her. Between her and the buildings stood a tall, heavily fortified fence with a single gate that served as a security checkpoint. Above the gate sat a proud, gleaming sign that read "Ohsumi Air and Space" in a professional black font. She smiled to herself as she headed towards the security checkpoint, her I.D. and proof of internship ready in her hand.
As she approached, a confused security guard leaned out of the window of the booth. "Excuse me, miss?" He called, looking her over. "Are you lost? Where are your parents?"
"I'm here for the internship," Izumi said quickly, flashing him a glare. "I'm Izumi Tamura from U.A. High School. They told me to come to the eastern gate- this is it, right?"
The guard straightened up, his cheeks slightly flushed with embarrassment. "Yes, right. Sorry. This is the east gate. Do you have your I.D., Ms. Tamura?" Izumi passed him her credentials and waited for him to approve them. After double checking his computer and filling out a few forms, he handed them back, along with an official badge of entry for the company. "These are yours. The badge will only work for the duration of your internship, but it'll make a good keepsake afterwards. You can keep the lanyard, too." He smiled and clicked a button on his console, signaling the gates to open.
"Thanks," Izumi said, smiling back and slipping the lanyard over her head. "Do I just follow this path?"
He nodded. "Yep. Just walk straight on and you should see some signs pointing you in the right direction. If you get lost, you should be able to show any security guard that badge and ask them for help."
"Great. Thanks again," she said, waving over her shoulder as she walked through the gate. She kept up an easy pace, taking the time to look at the grounds as she made her way towards the main building. After a minute or so of walking, she noticed a vehicle coming towards her down the path. It was a cart, she realized, the kind that was probably used to shuttle people from one side of the property to the other.
"Hey!" Someone on the cart shouted, waving a hand in the air as they approached. As they got closer, Izumi was able to get a good look at them. The shuttle was being driven by a security guard, but there was another person riding along. She looked to be in her early thirties, sporting short red hair and a pair of safety goggles. "Hey there!" She greeted Izumi as the cart slowed to a stop in front of her. "Sorry we didn't meet you at the gate. I meant to get there early, but time got away from me."
Izumi shook her head. "No, that's alright. I don't mind walking," she assured her.
"No can do," the woman said with a smile. "There's no way I'm going to let you get killed that fast on your first day. Not to mention if you managed to avoid the snipers somehow you would be exhausted. Walking through a mile long kill field can be exhausting and I'm not letting you get tired out too soon. Now, come on, hop in. There's more than enough room for the both of us."
Suddenly having significantly less reservation, Izumi climbed up into the cart and set her bag on the floor at her feet. She clicked on her safety belt as the vehicle began to move. "I appreciate it. Thank you so much for coming out of your way. I had no idea there was a kill field on the way. The workshop is on an even more secure area of this base?"
"Oh, you bet it is. Nobody can break into this facility, even in just their dreams. Also honey. Picking you up is not at all a chore for me. Honestly, I'm just glad to have something to break up the flow," she admitted, laughing lightly.
"So am I," Izumi agreed. "Anything's better than wasting away in class all day."
The woman laughed again. "I understand that. In university, I would have given a limb to be able to skip all those lectures. But those days are behind me." She paused, then turned to Izumi and gave her a bow. "I'm Yuka Uyehara, by the way. I guess you can call me your boss for the next week or so."
Izumi returned the bow. "I'm Izumi Tamura. It's nice to meet you."
"I know who you are."
"Oh, you do?" Izumi asked, raising a brow.
Uyehara nodded. "We don't offer internships often. Not to mention this is the first time ever that we accepted a high schooler for our internship." She shrugged casually. "If I'm being honest, everyone here is ridiculously excited about it. They've decided that you've got to be some sort of prodigy or something."
"Well," Izumi said, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I don't know if I'd say that." Of course, these people didn't know half of it. If she really gave it her all and showed off her inventions to the world, there'd be any number of companies clamoring to recruit her. Either that, or she'd be immediately put in jail for unchecked vigilantism.
"No need to be modest. You have great potential for someone your age," Uyehara insisted. The cart pulled to a stop in front of one of the buildings, and she climbed off. "I suppose that's why you were accepted. Anyway, I called myself your boss earlier, but I'd rather you think of me as your mentor. This next week is going to be all about gaging your current knowledge and laying the groundwork to expand your skill set. Of course, you'll be doing a little busy work for the company, but this is really all about you."
As they walked into the building, they were greeted by a sprawling workshop. Engineers sat at benches and milled about the testing floor, some focused on their work, some talking over ideas with their co-workers. A few waved at them as they walked in, and Izumi gave a polite wave back. "This is awesome," she gasped, marveling at the impressive equipment and various projects that were being developed right in front of her eyes. "Where do I start? What can I make? What's the company policy on explosives?"
Uyehara laughed. "Alright, calm down. The explosives will have to wait for day three." She winked and patted Izumi on the back. "Right now, let's just dip our toes in the water a little. You're only in here for today to get your bearings. Tomorrow, you're coming to work with me on the planes. Building them, that is. Unfortunately, the flying has to wait until we finish that step."
Etuko sank into the plush, pastel chair at her desk, giving the to-do list she'd been given another look. It was absurdly short, with just a few basic tasks laid out for her for the day. The work she had been assigned didn't even have anything to do with business or financials; it was all just checking emails and confirming schedules. "Hey, Mandalay?" She called from her seat, peering across the room to see Mandalay working at her own desk. "There isn't really a lot here for me to do. Are you sure you don't want me to like, check the budget or something?"
Mandalay shook her head. "No, we have all of that sorted out," she said, giving her a sideward smile.
"You know," Ragdoll broke in, leaning over the back of Etsuko's chair with an enthusiastic grin. "If you run out of things to do, you can always sneak in a little training with us! Just because you're a business student doesn't mean you shouldn't know how to defend yourself."
"Well said. Combat training is essential," Tiger growled.
Pixie-Bob leapt up from her desk. "You're absolutely right! You know what, Hirai? You can just forget everything on that list." She strolled over to Etsuko and plucked the paper from her hand, casting it into the garbage bin without a second thought. "It's all busy work, anyway."
Etsuko frowned. "Look, I really-"
"A quirk like yours is well-suited for hero work like ours," Mandalay interrupted, joining the rest of her team in abandoning their desk work. "I'm sure you'll have no trouble keeping up."
"Hey, hey! You know what I just thought about? You'd make a great sidekick, Hirai!" Ragdoll jumped in excitement at her own idea.
Tiger nodded in approval. He loomed over her desk, arms folded across his chest. "You're tough, but we can make you tougher. You could be a strong addition to this team, someday."
"If you need someone to run the business side of things, sure," Etsuko offered.
Pixie-Bob shook her head. "Like Mandalay said, that's all covered," she said, then flashed a smile.
Mandalay gave a gentler smile and turned to Etsuko, looking her in the eye. "Really though, Hirai. Why don't you transfer to the hero course? We all saw your performance in the Sports Festival." She paused. "That is, before you took your time out. We can start your training right now. You're far too talented to devote your life to checking someone else's budget."
All four of The Wild, Wild Pussycats looked expectantly at Etsuko, waiting for her answer. Etsuko's eyes drifted to the tossed-out schedule in her garbage bin, and then to her own reflection in the black screen of the computer in front of her. She could see the team there too, standing over her shoulder with encouraging smiles and open arms. They were serious about their offer, she could tell. These people had such complete faith in her natural abilities that they were willing to welcome her into their team as one of their own. "A hero..." Etsuko breathed, letting the idea sink in. She could be a hero. More than that, she could really be a part of something.
"Nah, I'm good," she said suddenly, spinning her chair around to face them again. The entire team was too taken aback in that moment to answer, so she continued. "I mean, I appreciate the offer. Genuinely. And it isn't as if I haven't thought about it before. It's just not my groove, you know?"
"Your groove?" Pixie-Bob echoed in disbelief.
"I simply do not vibe with it."
Mandalay shook her head, still reeling. "I honestly and truly have no idea what you're saying."
"I'm saying no, thank you." Etsuko's tone was firm. "The hero life isn't for me."
Tiger shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. "Give us until the end of the week. We'll change your mind by then."
She plucked the schedule from the bin and smoothed out the wrinkles. As she booted up her computer, the reflection of herself and the Wild, Wild Pussycats behind her was replaced by a colorful screensaver of a playful kitten. "No," Etsuko replied decisively. "No, you won't."