"Oh, son-of-a-"

"Bitch! What's your deal! You know how many of us would kill to be able to look normal?" Sakon finished, now suddenly in the tanuki girl's face.

Michiru wasn't in the mood to be cowed, however and though she moved her head back a few inches to get some space, she had a sour look at her face as she bit back "Excuse me? This is how I prefer to look so what does it matter anyway?"

Sakon reared back, a look of shocked indignation on her face as she breathlessly replied "What…what does it matter? Come on, Michiru, if you aren't from the city, like you claim, then you know exactly why it matters!"

Michiru did very much know. The encounter with the heteromorphic examinees during the first stage of the license exam bursting into her head. The memory of being hunted as she made her way to Anima City what seemed like a lifetime ago also flashed in the tanuki girl's mind. Still, this was who she was, and Michiru would be damned if she let anyone else, even a friend, bully her into being anything else otherwise. "Hey! I haven't really had it easy since I started to look like this so yeah, I get it, Sakon, but I'm me, damnit!" the tanuki girl's countered.

Sakon appeared to calm down, crossing her upper arms across her chest and resting her lower pair on her hips as she replied "Hey, I can respect that. Really, I can. It's honestly pretty badass that you're willing to take all the bullshit people throw at us, ya know? But at the same time, it still feels pretty insulting knowing you could just switch it off but choose not to, you know?"

"I…guess I hadn't really thought of it like that. I'm sorry Sakon. I take it that means you grew up out in the boonies too, huh?" Michiru answered, visibly relaxing, a small smile creeping onto her face.

"Damn right, I did!" came the defiant response from the ant girl, pointing at herself with one of her lower arm's reduced insect-like digit. "And I'm going to show all those assholes what a girl and a hetromorph can do! I'm going to get into the top ten, just like Mirko and Ryukyo! Don't you forget it!"

Michiru couldn't help but chuckle at the bravado, especially from someone who had begged her for help just a few days ago. Still, even if Sakon was right, it didn't mean Michiru liked the idea any more as a result and signed in resignation before saying to herself as much as Sakon "Well, guess this means I need to rethink everything I packed…everything I have accommodates this form."

"A wise decision." came the artificial voice of the only actual professional in the room.

With passions flared, both Michiru and Sakon had forgot Celty was even in the room. The dulahan's words managed to startle the two girls, Michiru going so far as to ask "Were…you going to just sit there the whole time?"

Celty shrugged, her mist widening toward the top into a sort of cone shape as she replied, "I've found it best for teammates to work out their differences before the mission. Trust me, things go a lot smoother that way. That being said, either of you have anything else to get off your chests?"

"Nah, I think we're all good! Right Michiru!" Sakon said, offering her fist along with a big grin.

"Yeah, I think we're all right. Thanks for letting us get that out, Celty!" Michiru confirmed, meeting the other girls fist with her own.

Then, Sakon pulled back her arm, confusion on her face as she said, "Wait? Celty? Since when are you so familiar with Shadow Rider?"

"Oh come on…"

(X)

The next day was Michiru's last at UA before departing. Part of it was begrudgingly spent getting some more cloths for a normal, tail-less human. Given the nature of the mission, Michiru choose simpler, more practical clothing to help appear more like the country folk they were going to be out seeking information from. As for the two she would be leaving behind…

Zelgadis was already settling into a routine, with a schedule that included practicing with the guitar loaned to him by Kyoka in the morning before training in the afternoon and some light group practice afterward with the band. After the first day of training with the demon school children, the chimera had established himself as the bar to reach for the heroes-in-training. Despite having the others look to him and the teachers expressing how impressed they were, Zelgadis refused to let it go to his head. He was helpful whenever possible, took credit when it was offered and accepted blame when he made a mistake. All the while, Katsuki watched on with a bubbling resentment that he no longer felt he could express if he wanted to move forward once again.

Like Zelgadis, Emeralda was beginning to settle in spending time with Eri the first part of the day then spending time practicing for the festival with Mashirao. Since their contribution was straight forward and literally doing what they had been for weeks before tan girl's de-aging, the two had more time than the rest of 1-A. Thus, the two had taken to helping the others wherever needed.

Before either lighter could head over to the 1-A dorm though, Michiru would depart. Celty had come earlier to get Sakon and make sure the two young women had all the supplies they needed. So it was that by the time the trio was all together again, Michiru was all packed and ready to go. Celty and Sakon waited by their car as the tanuki girl, chimera and nanomachine girl faced each other.

Michiru was uncharacteristically sheepish, looking away as she rubbed one arm nervously. The other two lighters also felt the significance of the moment and didn't begrudge their friend for her awkwardness, as they too were unsure how to start.

"Come on! Just fuckin' hug and let's get moving! You've been standing there for like, five minutes!" Sakon rudely demanded from across the field, an act that earned a slap across the head from her dulahan superior.

Michiru cringed, briefly looking over at her two new teammates before returning her focus to her old ones and said weakly "You see what I'm going to have to put up with? I really wish it were you two with me out there."

"But, we're not." Zelgadis gently reminded her, making sure to sound as supportive as possible before he continued "Michiru, you have this. You didn't need us before we got ripped here and I refuse to believe you need us now. If you're worried about us, don't. I appreciate it. I'm sure Emeralda does too but all we've got is this festival to handle. Nothing else. No world-ending villain to confront. Yet. Ok?"

Michiru was starting to let go of her apprehensions, helped along when Emeralda added, "Michi…I'm ok. Spending time with Eri-chan is fun. The doctors were even talking about letting us go to a park. And…I'll be talking to Kanzaki-san tomorrow as well. I…I want you to not worry about me…about either of us. But…you need to come back, ok?"

With her friends encouraging her, Michiru couldn't help but smile, her expression warm as she replied, barely holding back tears "Of course I'm coming back guys! We're going home, remember? I can't very well do that if I don't come back! We don't do that if we don't get that nomu or whatever it's called and I will help find it with you."

Then, unexpectedly, at least for the two more introverted of the trio, Michiru pulled them both into a hug. Holding them close, despite how much taller and shorter the others were, Michiru added "It's just…I know it may not seem like it, but I don't know if I would have made it this far without you two, even if you think otherwise. I'm going to miss you guys, but…but I'll be back. Promise!"

The contact lasted for a few more moments before Zelgadis wrestled free and looked away, half-heartedly grumbling "Just don't do anything stupid, ok?"

Michiru, Emeralda still holding on to her, beamed a confident smile "You know me! I got this!"

At that, Zelgadis frowned and even Emeralda looked up at her furry companion skeptically. "Oh, come on! You too Emmy? Fine, see if I bring back any souvenirs…" Michiru lamented in false protest.

After patting Emeralda on the head, the nanomachine girl let go and stepped back. With a final wave, Michiru turned and dashed off to her team, slapped Sakon across the head as she passed and claimed shotgun before the ant girl could recover.

The remaining lighters watched on as their friend and leader rode off and into this weird and frustrating world. As the two stood long past being able to see where Michiru's vehicle had gone, Zelgadis spoke, his voice melancholic "She's wrong. We're the one's that wouldn't have made it this far without her."

Emeralda could only nod.

(X)

"You know we're never going to get anywhere if you just sit there. You need to actually talk, Bakugo-kun." Hitomi said as she sat across from the disgraced blonde in what had become her unofficial office on the UA campus.

Sitting ridged, arms crossed and his head down to avoid eye contact, Katsuki replied bitterly, his first words since sitting down more than twenty minutes prior "Why not just use that creepy mind quirk of yours if you really want to know what I'm thinking then?"

A bit of frustration slipped into Hitomi's expression, something she had tried very hard to keep suppressed during the whole of this session before she answered more calmly "My quirk is best served to find what troubles you; it can't solve it. You have to do that. That means talking, Bakugo-kun. And if you say nothing, I have to report no progress, which leaves you at best stuck with me until you do or at worse, expulsion. The choice is yours."

Katsuki was unconvinced, instead cursing under his breath, "Tch. Fuckin bureaucrats…Hey! What are you writing down!"

Without looking up, Hitomi answered with a saccharine tone "Oh nothing…just that you continue to show no acceptance of responsibility or any value in the process. Not looking good for you, Bakugo…"

Katsuki nearly exploded, literally, off the couch as he yelled "GODDAMNIT! FINE! Ask your stupid questions, ya damn quack…" only able to just barely contain his quirk enough to avoid scorching the upholstery. On seeing the disappointed look on the brunette counselor's face across from his, he meekly plopped back down, arms resting limply to his sides.

Hitomi had to suppress a chuckle as she observed "I'm sorry you find this so exhausting, Bakugo-kun. This would go by faster and be easier on you if you could just let go a little and share with me some of what you bottle up in that head of yours."

Raising his head to glare at the older woman, Katsuki replied acidly, "I already said yes, now shut up and ask already."

Hitomi's smile slipped into a more serious expression as she maet the fiery teen's glare, saying "Very good. Though since you've wasted most of today's session, we'll talk about something simple. How has your licensing training been going? I heard the first day was quite the challenge."

Katsuki crossed his arms again as he scoffed "Please, they were just children. Anyone worth their salt could take those ankle-bitters on."

Katsuki observed Hitomi writing something down as he had spoken and that grated him even more than it had the first time. Almost as much as the tone he perceived as smug that Hitomi used when she spoke again "Interesting. The way you phrased that, one would think you saw them as opponents, not people to be saved. Would that not be a fair interpretation Bakugo-kun?"

"What? No, that's not what I meant, don't put words in my mouth!" Katsuki insisted.

"Bakugo-kun, I don't have to put words in your mouth, I have your own actions through which I can see the meaning. All Might reported that you were ready to really fight those kids, just because they wanted to prove you too weak for the job. Is that correct?" Hitomi asked pointedly, her expression even and her eyes cold, almost harsh.

"They…they thought they were better! They thought I wasn't good enough to be a hero and I was going to discipline them like the unruly kids they were. Nothing wrong with that." Katsuki answered defensively.

Hitomi leaned back and rested her hands in her lap, giving Katsuki the impression she was judging him before she followed up with another question "And is that what happened?"

Katsuki frowned. He knew this was a trap and he didn't want to respond and instead looked away. Hitomi was done with silence, however and snapped "Bakugo!"

The sudden change in tone, one Katsuki had not heard from the otherwise mild-mannered counselor, caught him off guard and caused him to flinch. Feeling the glare on him, Katsuki relented as he wondered just when the hell this shrink had turned into his mom. "No, ok! That arrogant rocky asshole took care of the damn kids. But you knew that already so why make me say it?"

Hitomi ignored the explosion wielder's question and pressed on herself "How? How did Greywards-san 'take care' of the kids?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes but compiled "He trapped them and talked them, ok? Geez…impatient old hag."

Hitomi pretended to not hear that last part. She'd been called worse after all but finally answered Katsuki's earlier question "Thank you Bakugo-kun. By using your own words I can get a sense of your perspective of the event and that's important because it tells me your state of mind. So, given that Greywards-san found another, less violent way, would it not be safe to say that the kids did, in fact, show that you were weak?"

Katsuki crunched his face in confusion, quite the feat considered the scowl permanently stuck on his face. "What do you mean? Of course I'm strong!"

Hitomi sighed as she sat back up and looked right at Katsuki's challenging eyes "And there is the heart of it. It is often much harder to not show your physical strength. You immediately resorted to that which you know so well. Fighting. Tell me, Bakugo-kun. Would All Might have attacked those kids?"

This hadn't been the first time a comparison to All Might had been thrown in Katsuki's face but it stung just as hard because it was absolutely true. The angry blonde was left silent as he sat back, stunned.

A moment later a buzzing proceeded Hitomi standing up and saying "And with that, our session is over, Bakugo-kun. I need to take this. Think hard about what we talked about and good luck at training."

Hitomi took her phone, turned and walked around her chair and began talking. Katsuki, however, continued to sit there in a daze. He was aware that Hitomi was speaking but her words were distant and hazy, mere background to his own confused thoughts. Thoughts that were nowhere near sorting themselves out when, what felt like only a few moments later, Hitomi spoke loud enough to snap him out of his confusion "Are you ok? You need to get going, Bakugo-kun."

When Katsuki looked back up at Hitomi, he could see she was worried but the concern on her face was much more pronounced than anything she might have expressed for his well-being. As such he said "Yeah...yeah, I'm fine but you're not. What was that call about?"

Impressed by the outward expression of empathy, Hitomi briefly looked at her phone, still in her hand and replied with some concern "I suppose it can't hurt to tell you. The commission just asked if I could come in to see what I can learn from the teleporter villain Gran Torino captured the other day."

Katsuki could hardly forget that suit-wearing misty prick and said as much "That misty son-of-a-bitch? Yeah, good luck with that."

Hitomi knew the history her patient had with the villain and let the comment side and instead replied "Thanks, I think. I'm going to need it."

(X)

Michiru, Celty and Sakon had been on the road for a few hours at this point, well and truly out of the city and nearby towns, the sun having just set. Now deep in the mountainous interior of Japan, civilization would be sparse and getting anywhere would take twice as long though winding, dangerous roads. With nothing else left to talk about and finally within an hour of the small lodge they would be staying the night at, Celty pulled out a folder and handed it to Michiru, saying "I compiled some attentional information you're going to have to memorize if you're going to sell the idea that you're looking to join the CRC."

Annoyed that the dulahan hadn't thought to mention this earlier when it would have been better to be studying instead of arguing with Sakon over what position on a basketball team was most important, the tanuki girl shrugged as she looked things over. After a moment of reading over the information though, the tanuki girl started to become confused. "Wait a minute…'Have I treated for fleas?' 'Sure is nice to have cleaned all the pet's fur off the carpet?' 'No Pets Allowed?' Celty, are these what I think they are?"

Celty shifted in her seat while Sakon went visibly stiff, even if neither woman in the front seats noticed. After a longer than comfortable moment, the headless lighter answered gravely "Yes, its exactly as you think Michiru. In the years since groups like the CRC were driven to the fringes of society, one of the ways they've kept a low profile is to veil their disgusting views in veiled words and phrases. Brooklyn and I spent the last night reading up on such language. Some of them…may be hard to read."

After skimming a few more pages and the accompanying notes, Michiru covered her mouth as she read aloud in shock "…'I had to put the neighbor's dog down last night'…Please, Celty, tell me this doesn't mean what your notes says it does."

The underground hero was beaten to the answer by the snarling words of Sakon, who spoke with so much distain, it was almost suffocating "That's what they do…to heteromorphs that aren't at least…useful." the last word spat with disgust.

Michiru turned, stunned, finally realizing what should have been obvious from the start "Sakon…you…you went through all this, didn't you?"

Through gritted teeth, the ant girl struggled to keep her cool as she unbuckled herself to lean forward and grip the back of Michiru's chair hard. "Ants are strong…those bumkin assholes had a use for me…put me to work out in the fields. Others…weren't so lucky."

"Sakon…I'm so sorry. That's absolutely awful." Michiru replied, pain and empathy heavy in her voice.

The kind words were enough to draw Sakon down a bit but caused the ant girl to privet as a question took hold of her "Michiru, if you didn't grow up in a city, how come all of this seems new to you?"

The question didn't completely surprise Michiru, this kind of thing was considered when she and Jun had come up with her identity for this world. It just felt especially bad to have to use it on Sakon having just learned what kind of childhood the ant girl had gone through. Still, blowing the lighters secret was not worth removing the pit of guilt forming in Michiru stomach. So, the tanuki girl went with the story she had told Izuku "Well…I was a late bloomer. My quirk didn't come in until a couple of years ago."

Sakon's response was one of shock, almost disbelief "Whoa, wait a minute, you're telling me you have a heteromorphic quirk that didn't come in until you were freakin' sixteen!?" Michiru meekly nodded, after which Sakon flung herself back against her seat and grumbled "And you can still look normal but choose not to. See now it makes me mad all over again…you didn't have to deal with all that terrible shit…hell it apparently went right over your head! You…you just don't get how lucky you really are…"

That touched a nerve with Michiru, who quickly shot back "Hey, I can't help when it happened to me any more than you can! When it did, I hid for a whole year and when I ran away, I was hunted, then I got kidnapped and next thing I know, I'm about as far away from home as I could ever get. I may not have had it as hard as you but I wasn't exactly just hanging out and having a party either, ok?"

"Girls, let's not rehash this discussion now. What matters is what we do with our gifts, like this mission. I need you to focus." Celty calmly but firmly interjected.

Sakon took that as an opening to get the last word in, saying "Damn right! Big reason I'm trying to be a hero is to show those racist bastards just how awesome a heteromorph can be! A woman too! There are only two in the top ten right now and I'll be damned if I'm not up on the stage too, rubbing it in everyone's faces!"

"Not quite the sentiment I was going for but I suppose if the destination is the same…" Celty replied with a belabored sigh.

Just then, coming from around the bend in the road ahead of them, headlights appeared and rapidly approached their car. A moment later, a second set of lights appeared. Both were coming toward them very fast and in just a few moments, the first car blow past them. As the second one approached, all three heroes watched in horror as the driver stuck his arm out, a gun in his hand and began firing at the car that had already passed them.

Celty immediately slammed the breaks and twisted the steering wheel, causing the car to spin and come to a stop now facing the same side of the road as the rapidly moving cars. "Any objections, girls?" Celty asked.

"Nope!"

"Let's kick some ass!"

(X)

"Kasim-san, are you ok? That's the third time you've mis-judged that kick tonight." said Mashirao, holding his stinging shoulder.

The two had been practicing their routine for the festival but it had been clear to the tailed martial artist that his partner was quite distracted. Even more standoffish than normal, with her younger appearance, the tan girl seemed to lack the confidence that came whenever the two sparred. This had been true when they practiced the previous day as well but was even worse now. Whether it was the fact that she didn't seem excited to do it, was still reeling from her loss of age or of her friend leaving earlier in the day, Mashirao had no idea. What he did know was this wasn't working and he knew he'd have to take the lead, something he had rarely done before Emeralda's accident.

"Maybe we should take a break?" the blonde asked tentatively.

Emeralda, who had resumed her stance after messing up and hitting Mashirao hard, pulled back, her expression hurt and protested "No! We're never going to be ready if we don't practice. I…I'm just not use to my limbs being shorter, that's all, and I won't get use to them again if I don't practice."

Mashirao wanted to believe that. It made sense and was perfectly logical. But as impressive as Emeralda had been before her change, it was hard to believe what she said was true. Still, the serious blonde couldn't bring himself to call Emeralda out on it, instead saying "At least give me a moment to recover…that was a pretty mean hit. That spot's getting pretty tender with the repeated hits."

"O…oh. Again, I am sorry." Came the embarrassed response. After a long moment of silence as the two stood, relaxed, facing each other Emeralda spoke again. "Ojiro-san…do you…hate me now?"

It was such a sincere, vulnerable question that came completely out of the blue that Mashirao's response, to reel back in surprise as if caught stealing a cookie, did nothing to assuage the apparent insecurity of the person who asked. "Emeralda sees…I will tell Iida-san that I am withdrawing. I am sorry to have bothered you, Ojiro-san."

Emeralda quickly turned to leave and instantly, Mashirao regained his composure and reached out to the shorter girl, grabbing her shoulder "Wait! No, no, no! You are completely wrong! I don't hate you at all!"

Emeralda remained with her back turned but twisted her head to glance back at the blonde boy, her eyes trying and failing to hide her shame as she asked "Then…then why do you look at me like that?"

The tailed blonde let go of Emeralda's shoulder reflectively, responding with confusion "Like what?"

Now Emeralda turned around completely, though she looked unsure exactly how to answer "It looks like…disgust? Or shame? I have seen it before, Ojiro-san and it has usually been followed by…unpleasant words I have had to endure. Am I wrong?"

"Yes, you're wrong! I don't hate you, Kasim-san, I deeply respect you..." Mashirao insisted, now flustered. When he saw that the tan girl before him looked unconvinced, the martial artist stumbled "I…I do…its just, the way you look now…its weird, ok! I'm not even sure I know what I'm saying, or why I feel this way but I know its deeply offensive to you and I'm sorry, Kasim-san."

"Come on, kid, you liked her. Just admit it!" came a cock sure voice from a nearby tree that Emeralda knew instantly.

The two fighters turned to the offending tree, Mashirao looking wholly flustered while Emeralda, unnoticing of the blonde, asked "Master? Is that you?"

Leaping down, flaring his arms for effect, a grin on his face, one Ranma Saotome appeared before them. Mashirao immediately became a stuttering mess, his idol now before him like he'd dreamed as Ranma crossed his arms and answered his student "Yeah, its me, Emeralda. I hadn't heard or seen ya in awhile. Then Hina-chan happened to mention what happened to you and I just had to see for myself."

Emeralda hung her head low, aware she had erred in not so much as checking in with her master after the raid. Meanwhile, Ranma approached her. When he got close, the pig-tailed master circled around the tan girl, evaluating her. As he finished his circle his hand swiftly flew out and slapped the greenette hard across the back of her head. "Next time don't be a stranger! You're the best student I've had in years. Maybe the best I've had since I started the dojo. Don't just act like you fell off the face of the earth just because of a little quirk accident, got it!"

"Yes master" came the meek reply as the nanomachine girl gripped her aching head.

"And you!" Ranma declared, pointing at the entirely unsettled tailed blonde "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you feel weird that you had a crush on someone who now looks like you'd get arrested if you said it now. It's just that Emeralda-chan here is a little too naive to figure it out. You too it looks like."

At this point, Mashirao absolutely wanted to die. Ranma was right…it was just that it didn't seem proper, or very heroic to have feelings for someone who you were training with. The serious-minded blonde had been aware of what virtually everyone in class thought and said behind his back and sometimes to his face but he couldn't bring himself to admit his feelings to himself because he didn't think it was right he felt the way he did.

Like a child being scolded by his parents, Mashirao stood with his head down, stealing glances at the greenette to try and gauge her feelings at the revelation he was crushing on her as he nervously twirled his fingers. The tailed martial artist was surprised to hear the girl beside him say, matter-of-factly "I was aware of Ojiro-san's feelings but I appreciated that he didn't express them. I was hoping this appearance would keep it that way. I didn't think it would cause him to such…discomfort."

Hearing those words all but confirmed what Mashirao had suspected in his heart of hearts all along, that Emeralda didn't feel a thing for him and that fact stung. Hard. The tailed boy couldn't even bring himself to face the girl when she spoke again directly to him "Ojiro-san, I'm sorry…I can be, as Eri says, silly sometimes. I'm not the best with people and I wanted to keep training with you. I was afraid your feelings would get in the way of that is all."

Just when Mashirao felt like he was about to break, Ranma re-inserted himself into the conversation, asking jovially "So, Ojiro, my student tells me you're a pretty big fan of mine! Says you wanted the chance to spare with me, that right?"

Slowly, it dawned on Mashirao just what it was that Ranma had said to him, and the light that completely drained from his eyes seemed to return in an instant. Standing tall, his tail wagging like that of an excited puppy, the blonde responded with a glittering smile "Of course I would! It would be a dream come true!"

With a wink at Emeralda, Ranma stepped toward the excited tailed boy and cracked his knuckles, saying "Alright, kid, you got your wish. Who knows? Maybe if I like what I see, I'll let you swing by the dojo from time to time."

"That would be amazing, sensei!" Mashirao exclaimed, taking a stance.

Emeralda moved to the side, her master asking, "Would you do the honors, Emeralda-chan?"

The nanomachine girl nodded, inwardly glad Ranma had been there to see what she could not and draw attention away from it. After a long moment, Emeralda dropped her raised hand, declaring, "Begin!"

(X)

"Hang on!" Celty commanded as she floored the accelerator and their car shot forward, gaining speed quickly in an effort to catch up to the vehicle with the armed suspect in it.

"Hell YEAH!" Sakon cheered as the red car they were chasing slowly began to look closer and closer. At a certain point though, it became obvious they weren't gaining anymore and in fact, may even be losing ground.

"They're on to us. Michiru, you think you could slow them down at all?" Celty asked, a hint of urgency in her voice.

"I can fly pretty fast but to get up enough speed to catch up to a speeding car, I'd need to get some altitude. I don't know if there's enough time, but I can try!" came the tanuki girl's answer, as she moved to open her door.

Celty reached out and grabbed the tanuki girl's arm as she said "Wait, there is another option. Can either of you drive?"

Michiru shook her head in the negative but Sakon leaned forward with an excited grin, all but screaming "I can! I'll take the wheel!"

Without missing a beat, Celty pushed her door open and said "Great, take the wheel, I'll slow this guy down. When I do, Michiru, take the car down. Yoshimura, once we've stopped this mad man, go after the other car."

Sakon just managed to unbuckle herself and squeeze herself between the seats quickly, taking the wheel from Celty as the dulahan began sliding out her own door. There was a moment where no one's foot was on the pedal, thus the car began to slow down but that made it a bit easier for the dulahan to materialize her black motorcycle without toppling over. Once Celty was fully away on her own ride, she blazed forward as Sakon fully got into the driver's seat and began speeding up again.

Noting the almost crazed look in the ant girl's eyes, Michiru felt compelled to ask "You do have your license, right?"

"Nope! Failed the test three times because those idiot proctors couldn't see my greatness! Besides, Shadow Rider didn't ask if we had a license, she asked if we could drive! And baby, I can drive!" came the confident and way too excited answer from the ant girl hero-in-training.

Michiru just starred at the girl for a long second before deciding "Nope, you have fun with that." before opening her own door, standing up enough to get her wings out of her back and shooting off into the air.

Luckily for Michiru, the road the way they came had wound back on itself so she'd have a chance to catch up once Celty got involved. Sure enough, through the trees, Michiru could see Celty's motorcycle catch up to the red car, which itself had gained on the black car it had been chasing thanks to its own acceleration.

That all ended when Celty got up alongside the red car and motioned for the driver to slow down. When the car speed up in response, Celty threw her hand out and a shadow shot forward and destroyed the driver's side window. The driver, a middle-aged man with a thin mustache and thinning hair, looked shocked. He quickly recovered, determination on his face as he began to move his car to squeeze Celty, which would either force her to slow down or be pushed off the road and down the side of the mountain.

The veteran underground hero was not intimidated, and instead met the maneuver by smashing into the side of the car, which caused the vehicle to waver and slow down as the driver panicked, having briefly lost control of the vehicle. What the collision with the motorcycle didn't do was dent the vehicle at all, which is what Celty expected to happen. Still, the overall effect was the same and that gave Celty the chance to get in front of the scarlet coupe.

The driver began to desperately try to get back in front by serving left or right but Celty cut the offending vehicle off every time. The driver's frustration became evident when he again tried to brandish his gun at Celty and that was the moment Michiru choose to strike, having caught up, she switched her wings for heavy elephant legs as she landed on the roof on the passenger side of the car, but instead of the heavy impact she expected, Michiru was surprised to find her landing did nothing to the car's roof at all.

With the vehicle still moving at high speeds, the tanuki girl found herself with no footing and fell on her stomach, desperately gripping at where the roof met the windshield. Managing to get a firm enough hold, Michiru continued to hang on as she looked forward to see Celty still trying to hold the armed and crazed driver behind her. Michiru began to wonder what the hell was going on. Was this guy's quirk involved somehow or was this just some super sturdy car?

Michiru looked back and saw that Sakon had caught up to them. Looking forward again, Michiru began to wonder why Celty didn't just use her shadows to blow the tires or something. Then it hit her, the dulahan hadn't been trying to hurt this guy and now, with a teammate on the roof, distraction was all she could do. That meant it was up to Michiru to act. The question was what?

Gambling that the car was at least nearly indestructible for some reason, the tanuki girl willed her arms much larger, big enough and strong enough to propel herself forward. Even with all the strength, it wouldn't get her too far ahead of the car, she would just have to time this just right. Michiru took one more moment to hope this asshole was wearing his seatbelt.

Taking just another moment to steel herself, Michiru pulled hard, flinging herself forward ahead of the car. As she zoomed past Celty, the morphing lighter called out to her temporary boss "To the side! NOW!"

The dulahan compiled, moving to the left as Michiru swung herself in a cartwheel midair. As she spun, her whole body sparked and began gaining an immense amount of mass, her fur replaced by tough, grey hide. By the time she landed, it was with a massive thud and the tanuki had become a huge rhino girl, leaning forward to get her horns pointing forward just as the red car barreled toward her.

With no time to react, the driver was left screaming as the car made contact with the monster in front of it. Just as the car hit, Michiru's lower horn got under the front of the vehicle and she throw her head up violently, throwing the scarlet automobile skyward. The car spun twice as it came back down to earth. When it landed, the car was flipped upside down and incapable of movement, it's wheels still spinning.

Sakon had managed to avoid the other car and sped past, hooping and hollering out the window as she passed, now chasing after the other vehicle. Celty skidded to a stop several yards down the road before spinning around and riding back to stop beside Michiru.

Her body returned to normal, her clothes all but shredded, the tanuki girl stood there panting as the adrenaline coursed through her veins. Celty put her arm over her young teammate, a flood of shadows steaming from it to form a cloak that covered Michiru's modesty as the headless hero said "That was impressive. Good call on the car, I thought there was something strange about it."

Sure enough, as Michiru hopped, though it was upside down, the car was entirely unharmed from it's impact and subsequent trip into the sky. The driver, too, had been prudent enough to wear his seatbelt but looked pretty green in the face from the experience as he hung from his seat upside down, dazed.

"Thanks. I figured you were waiting for me to get clear or do something. If we couldn't damage the car, why not use it against the guy, right?" Michiru explained as Celty made her way over to the now windowless driver's side window.

Celty wasted no more time on praise, instead extending her shadows to unbuckle the man and pulled him from his car, making sure to take his gun, which lay on the roof of the upended car. Dangling the man from his arms with her shadows, Celty proceeded to slap the man to bring him back out of his daze as she shouted "HEY! Wake the hell up!"

That seemed to be enough to jolt the man back to awareness as he snorted and blinked rapidly before responding in a panic "Huh? Wha…what the hell was that? Who the hell are you people? You trying to rob me?"

"Calm down sir." Celty commanded, her voice even but firm "I'm asking the questions here but I do want to make clear that we are heroes."

The older man briefly looked relieved at hearing they were heroes but that quickly gave way to anger as he snapped "Then put me down! I'm an officer of the law and I was pursuing a suspect! You outsiders just let a criminal escape!"

That…was surprising to hear for the two lighters. With a wrinkled old pull-over, plain grey pants with what looked like coffee stains on them and a complete lack of anything identifying the middle-aged man as a police officer, Celty was less than convinced and let it show in her artificial voice as she replied "Is that so? You certainly had me fooled. At a glance you look more like a washed-out drunkard on a gun-fueled power trip."

Despite his appearance, the older man didn't raise to the insult and instead countered "Say what you want. What I look like on my off time is my business."

Michiru had remained off to the side, holding her shadow cloak close, staying to the shadows as Celty interrogated the 'officer.' Whether friend or foe, they were now out in the countryside and the tanuki girl didn't want to reveal herself without having to look human if she could avoid it.

The 'officer' continued "I get it. I know how it looks but I was on my way home after my shift when I caught a speeder passing me. We don't have armies of police force officers out here so even if I'm not on the clock, I'm still on duty, you catch me?"

"I'm going to need more than just your word." Celty answered skeptically.

The older man offered a knowing smirk and offered, "Fair enough, I wouldn't either. Listen, I got my ID in my wallet if you want to check."

That made sense. Still, Celty wanted to be ready in case this 'officer' tried something, and that left "Hey, sidekick, can you check his pockets?"

Michiru perked up at the request, at first confused that the veteran underground hero didn't use her hero name or a name at all. Then it dawned on her. Michiru was the one going undercover and it was clear even if this man turned out to be an officer, Celty didn't trust him. The last thing they wanted to do was give the tanuki girl's identity away. So it was when Michiru stepped forward into the light produced by the car's headlights, she had put the hood up on her shadowy cloak to hide herself.

Celty watched on as her new teammate stepped forward and faced the strung-up 'officer.' For a moment, if she had been capable, Celty would have held her breath, worried that her new rookie teammate hadn't figured out the risk they were taking. She need not have worried though for when a hand shot out to begin riffling through the man's pockets, it appeared to be a normal, furless limb.

After another moment of checking, Michiru came up with a worn leather wallet that she took and stepped back to examine. After a moment the morphing lighter handed it to Celty as she said, "Looks legit to me, what do you think?"

Sure enough, there was what looked to be his driver's license as well as a police ID listing him as a sergeant. As if he could see the surprised look on Celty's face through her helmet, the sergeant spoke again, notably more smug this time "See? Just as I said. Now, would you be kind enough to put me down and tell me who you are so I can report you to the commission?"

Slowly, reluctantly, Celty set the man down and released his arms from her shadows. The sergeant rubbed his wrists and motioned for his wallet back. Celty complied as she answered his question as to her identity "Shadow Rider is my name. Speaking of the commission, you seem to have quite the quirk there."

The older man laughed as he glanced over at Michiru, who had retreated to the shadows once more. "Hah, you caught me! Yeah, I can harden and reinforce anything I'm touching. Comes in pretty handy in my line of work. And before you start yammering on about unlicensed quirk usage, like I said before, we're out on an island here. Few heroes and few resources. We gotta use what we got, ya know?"

"Maybe. Still, doesn't deadly force seem a little excessive for a speeder?" Celty pressed.

The old man again looked over at Michiru before he returned his attention to the dulahan "Your sidekick. Doesn't say a lot. I like that. You seem to keep her on a tight lease. I respect that."

Celty crossed her arms and leaned a bit to the side to show her annoyance as she snapped "Sergeant, please."

The balding officer waved his hands defensively as he replied "Right, right, sorry. The stop only started as a speeding stop. Once I confronted the driver, she was very agitated and the smell coming from the vehicle…well, let's just say I didn't need a police dog with me to know what was going on in that car."

As the man continued his story, Michiru felt her phone vibrate. Pulling it out, she saw she had a text from Sakon. "…and that's when she became belligerent, threatening! And then she pushed me back and speed away. I had no choice but to pursue her and stop her by any means I could." The sergeant finished.

Celty continued to ask follow-up questions while Michiru checked the message. Michiru, I caught up to the other vehicle and managed to stop it. I tried to get ahold of Shadow Rider but no response. The suspect is a heteromorph and when she saw I was too she threw herself at me. Said that officer was harassing her, trying to get her to go back home. She's terrified.

Michiru's eyes widened in shock. Flashes to her days on the run, trying to get to Anima City flooded though her mind. Cops like this asshole were exactly why she had to avoid authorities just much as the beastman hunters that were on her tail the whole way to Anima City. Not wasting any time, the now human-looking girl walked over to Celty and whispered into the dulahan's 'ear.' Celty took Michiru's phone and quickly said to the officer "Pardon me, I need to take a quick call. My sidekick will stay with you until I get back."

Michiru was caught off guard by that, unprepared to have to spend time alone with a man she was now highly suspicious of. Still, this guy clearly couldn't be left alone. Nodding, Michiru answered with a simple "Got it" and moved to stand guard by the officer.

Once Celty was out of hear shot, an awkward silence hung over the two for a time before the older man finally said in a casual, friendly tone "I take it you were the one that upended my car?" When Michiru didn't respond, leery of the man thanks to Sakon's text, he continued with a smirk on his face "I didn't get a good look at you before it happened but you were definitely bigger. We could use someone strong like you out here. Pay would be a lot more than you get for hero work. Safer too. Whatcha say? You don't want to stay a lapdog to that woman forever, do you?"

Michiru narrowed her eyes under her cloak, unable to shake the feeling there was as much an insult in his offer as anything else. Again, Michiru said nothing. Again, the sergeant spoke, this time trying to sound more convincing "Come on! Its beautiful out here and I can promise you all the great food you can eat! You gotta know the life expectancy for heroes is way below the average, right? Its not flashy but it's a good living out here. Trust me."

Michiru was tiring of this guy. He seemed to like the sound of his own voice and her patience had grown thin. Finally, she answered, her voice crisp and harsh "You ever consider there is more to being a hero than how risky it is? You really think I do this for the money? Just save your breath, there is nothing you could say that would convince me to work anywhere near you."

Firmly rejected, the officer's face soured, settling on a scowl as he looked down on the morphing girl and muttered "Typical beast…as usual, your kind doesn't even know what's best for you. The only thing worse than your smell is how stupid you all are."

When Celty was done taking to Sakon, she walked back over to the upturned car to tell Michiru what was going on. When she got there though, she found the sergeant sprawled out on the pavement, unconscious. Michiru stood over the man, her hood down and her characteristic tanuki features again present.

It seemed obvious what was going on but Celty asked anyway, "Michiru…what happened?"

The once again tanuki girl turned and addressed her leader with the most innocent smile she could muster and said innocently "Oh, our poor officer friend was telling me the tale of how he was chasing down a criminal when he got so excited he lost his footing and fell. Banged his head good I'm afraid. He could be out for awhile."

Celty didn't have an eyebrow to raise but her slumped shoulders did enough to communicate that the dulahan didn't believe a word of it as she drawled "Did he now…whatever. You're responsible for getting him in the car when Sakon gets back."

Michiru offered a cheeky salute and said "Yes, ma'am!"

Celty waved her hands dismissively, suddenly feeling very tired, now no longer sure which of her two young charges was really the wild card on this mission.

(X)

Sakon didn't just bring their car, but the girl the officer had been chasing followed as well once it was made clear the girl's tormentor was out cold. Just as Sakon had said, the girl had boar-like traits and just as reported, was quite skittish. According to her, the boar girl had been forced to work on a farm against her will for years after her family effectively sold her. That officer was trying to take her back when she escaped and was making her way to Musutafu.

Celty implored the victim to go with them to testify what was going on. When it was explained that would mean going back to her hometown, the poor girl flatly refused and Michiru couldn't blame her. With few other options and a mission to get on with, the headless underground hero made some phone calls, gave the poor girl some money and told her where she could go to land on her feet when she got into town.

After that, the three heroes took their unconscious officer with them to the nearest police station. The two younger members of the team felt a sense of unease the whole trip from their leader as they tried and failed to engage the dulahan in conversation. When the trio arrived and explained the situation to the officer on duty, Michiru got the distinct feeling that despite promising to look into the matter, the piece of trash they had just delivered wouldn't be getting the justice he deserved.

Another awkward trip and the three heroes finally got to the cottage they would be staying in for the night. It was only after they were settled that Sakon confronted the underground hero with indignation "What gives! That officer at the station didn't exactly seem to be concerned when we told him what that asshole had done. And why have you been so quiet, Shadow Rider?"

Sprawled out on a love seat, her helmet finally off and her usual leather jumpsuit replaced by a far more casual black two-piece black top and shorts, Celty looked exhausted, her plume emitting at a much slower rate. Once Sakon confronted her, Celty slowly sat back up and said with no small degree of resignation "I'm sorry you two, I was just keeping myself in check."

The ant girl was not at all satisfied by the explanation, following up with a frustrated "And what's that supposed to mean?"

It was Michiru who answered however, herself happy to be in her tanuki form again after Celty had insisted she remain human while they had their guest and during the drop off. The tanuki girl also looked exhausted in her floral print white pj's as she said, "You think he's getting off, don't you?"

"The moment that girl refused to testify, I knew what would happen. If we were taking that guy back into town, we'd see him behind bars, stripped of his authority…but we have a mission, so we gave him to the locals and it pisses me off. I'm sorry, you two."

Sakon looked like she was about to punch a wall but Michiru spoke up to lighten the mood "At least we were able to save one person tonight, right?"

"Yeah…yeah we did." Celty agreed.

"Yeah, and you totally sucker punched that prick, didn't you Michiru. Total respect, girl! Wish I could have seen it." Sakon added, her anger clearly abated.

Michiru playfully looked away, trying to play innocent "Nope! I have no idea what you're talking about, guy totally slipped! I promise!"

"Whatever happened to the man, what matters now is our investigation begins in earnest tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep because we're off to the last known location of Gigantomachia." Celty reminded the two girls as she got up and headed to her room for the night.

With a pair of determined nods, Michiru and Sakon headed to bed as well, ready to move on from a night that left a bitter taste in their mouths.

(X)

And that's it for the month. A little bit of everything this chapter even if I didn't get as far as I wanted to. I should just accept I'm not going to be able to make up for the lost time a few months ago, shouldn't I? Honestly, given the length of the story and my pace, in the long run I don't think it'll really matter. Just my guilty conscious nagging at me I suppose.

I admit pretty excited for the next couple of chapters since we'll be going places we haven't been and I get to begin to pay off some of the things I've been slowly building since the earliest chapters. Not that I'm not excited to write this story but if any of you have written a story before then you know there are times that you get especially pumped to do something. Will it be any good and will I get side-tracked and spend too much time on something? Almost certainly yes but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. In the mean time, it is the holiday season here in the US (plus my birthday in a week) but hopefully there won't be too many things getting in the way of writing. Please join me in hoping it doesn't freeze again this Christmas. So help me if it freezes on Christmas again…

Anyway, on to reviews! Because for the first time in almost a year, we have successive months with reviews!

Endericus writes:

I am very excited to hear that Michiru will be getting more focus. I enjoy the group dynamic of Zel, Emmy and Michiru and so far I also enjoyed all the progress they made but it felt like Zel and Emmy had the most trauma treatment while Michiru is yet to open up. Also interested to see if you will be doing more interesting things with her transformation ability, something along the lines of having different animal parts at the same time like a "chimera" if you will :D(could be a mix of wolf head, cheetah/rabbit legs,wings and torso of a lion and arms with some more muscle and claws) or just like in the past she could try and simulate Nazuna or Shirou and turn into the Silver Tanuki(lol). Michiru is one of those characters I greatly enjoy because while she is social and outgoing she has many issues yet to be confronted even at the end of the anime and I can't thank authors like you who give her a chance to grow more as a character. Also as a newer reader of the story it makes me happy to know that you are relieved that somebody actually expressed their fondness for sessions wth Hitmoi and also no it's not lazy writing I assure you, I really like getting to all the bottom of their trauma.

Its great to hear from you again Endericus. I, too have been excited to get to this part of the story. It was always the plan for Michiru to be the last to begin dealing with what burdens her. As you've pointed out, she is the more social and outgoing of the trio. She is also well adjusted compared to Zel and Emmy so its easier for her to hide what lurks in her own heart, especially if she focuses on helping others. I have been less than subtle about what the issue is but she has managed to dodge facing it so far. Bare with me, because she will also have a hard time admitting her problems as well. Whether getting past that trauma unlocks any additional abilities, well, I suppose you'll just have to wait and see. She has already managed to sprout wings from her back like Nazuna did but that's all I'll say, I feel like I've already given too much away as it is. I desperately wish BNA had been a full 24-26 episode series if for no other reason than they laid the groundwork for exploring parts of Michiru's character that they never paid off. Whether what I do with it is anything close to what they may have had in mind, we'll never know. I just hope what I do is worthy of her.

Zelgadis has gotten over the hump, as it were and is on the road to bettering himself but Emeralda still has a ways to go. One of the reasons I focused on her first is because, of the three of them, she has the most growth to do so I hope you'll forgive me if we go back to her from time to time as well. As to the sessions with Hitomi, I dare say reading your kind words has given me more confidence in the idea. As I said before, she and her powers have a major role to play yet but it never hurts to have more confidence in in while you write so again, thank you so much.

As always, take care out there. Thank you so much for coming so far with me and I hope to see you again next month!