Jin Bubaigawara had absolutely no idea where or when he was after awakening with a start. He had remembered Tomura Shigaraki visiting his house the night before, the tense confrontation, and his eventual decision to follow the man. Jin had taken his stolen alcohol along with himself and gotten into a fairly normal looking car that took him on a long, long journey across and beyond town. Tomura had said nothing during the drive, and Jin was more than happy not to talk to him. Eventually, he cracked open a bottle of beer to occupy himself along the way.

And then another. And another.

By the time he arrived at the apparent destination, Jin was rather disoriented and annoyed. Tomura had led him past several locked gates and then to an elevator with a mesh floor. The platform descended for far longer than Jin expected, eventually depositing him in some sort of hidden underground complex. Tunnel after tunnel stretched on and meandered beneath the streets of the city, and each looked nearly identical. Everything was a cold, dark steel, with black pipes running parallel on either side of the ceiling. Everything was cold. Clinical. Boring… until it suddenly wasn't, and Jin began to hate it all even more.

Right around where the two men had gone past enough intersections for Jin to start to feel truly lost, the ground had turned from solid, enclosed hallways to something entirely different. Quite suddenly, they emerged onto a walkway of metal mesh high above some sort of gigantic open space a good thirty feet below. Jin had no idea what he was looking as he walked along, gripping tightly to the guardrails on either side of the walkway. There were vats of something or other, giant steel boxes, several vehicles, and far more people than he had expected milling about in the area. The room looked almost like a stereotypical mad scientist's lab, and smelled like one, too. Jin couldn't help but wonder what exactly was being worked on within it… but he had a feeling that he didn't want to know.

Eventually, Jin was taken to another enclosed hallway, though it looked far less industrial and more akin to that of an apartment complex. Though the trappings were all still metallic and depressing, the pipes had been reduced by a significant margin, and there was at least carpet. The carpet extended into 'his' suite, where there was an immaculately made bed, rather nice furniture, a high-end television, spotless bathroom, state-of-the-art kitchen, and more.

It was nicer than Jin's apartment. That fact alone made him hate it.

Tomura told Jin to simply remain in the room while he met with the 'someone' that had shown interest in the petty criminal. Jin did as he was told, reclining on the obnoxiously comfortable couch while he waited… and waited… and waited. Another beer had been opened, followed by more, and over the course of a few hours, he eventually ran out. Then, he had passed out, snoring loudly upon the couch without a care in the world until something impacted his forehead.

"What the…" Jin began as he sat upright, rubbing at the stitching along his forehead as he looked around the darkened room. A figure was standing in the doorway, and he could tell immediately that it wasn't the man who had visited him the night before just from their silhouette. "Who the fuck? Don't mess with me! I'm dangerous!"

"Are you?" came a reply in a bored, deep, and distinctly feminine voice. Her accent was a bit haughty, though Jin couldn't quite place its origins immediately. "You don't look it to me."

Jin watched in confusion as the woman walked into the suite and moved toward the kitchen. She pulled a chain hanging from the overhead fan, triggering the bulbs attached to it and illuminating the room. Jin immediately picked up on the fact that she was dangerous- likely more so than he was- and certainly not from Japan.

The intruder seemed to be in her mid-20s and had dark skin, quite unlike any he had seen before in person, while her hair was a deeply contrasting snow white. A single dark orange dreadlock amid the field of others provided some contrast and matched her makeup- a simple set of winged eye highlights and a light coating of lipstick. Her eyes were of a similar shade, and white, spiked tattoos framed her face and neck, looking almost like inverted tiger stripes. The woman's outfit was rather simple in contrast to her striking appearance- a suit of white, grey, and black camouflage, along with fairly standard black combat boots. The final features Jin noticed about her, however, were anything but standard.

Extending from the woman's triceps and through the sleeves of her top were three long, sharp-looking spikes featuring white and orange patterns. Though Jin couldn't figure out where he had seen such features before through his pounding hangover headache, he was fairly certain that they belonged to some sort of fish. That notion seemed to be proven true as he spotted the gills along either side of her neck. Jin stared for what he knew was an awkward amount of time, watching as the spines slowly twitched and flexed with the woman's breathing. In a way, it was almost entrancing.

Jin had a feeling that she might be doing it intentionally.

"…yeah, well," Jin began as he squinted to try to focus through his haze. "I don't look dangerous 'cause I'm sitting here in day-old clothes, hungover, and feeling shitty. I got picked by… by whoever runs this place. I'm s'posed to be meeting them soon."

The woman merely stared for a moment before her expression twisted into a smile. Soon after, she began to laugh, the noise condescending and irritating. It was then that Jin figured out her accent- the woman sounded British, at least as far as he could tell.

"You poor, deluded bastard," the woman consoled as she leaned back against the kitchen counter and rested her hands atop it behind herself. "I've been here nearly a year, and I haven't met the man in charge. You're not getting to him anytime soon, and whatever the person who brought you here told you was a lie. You'll be on probation at best for months. What's your name?"

Jin squinted once again as he finally noticed an object at his feet. He bent over to retrieve it from the floor, finding it to be an apple. That must have been what had hit his head and woken him, and he suspected that it had been hurled from the doorway.

"Jin Bubaigawara," he answered as he turned the fruit over in his hand, checking it for spots.

The woman let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, seemingly unsatisfied with the answer.

"…you've got a lot to learn, Jin. Never use your real name around here. Get yourself an alias. Something… memorable, given the work we'll be doing."

"I haven't agreed to doing anything for you people," Jin said threateningly as he got to his feet. The stitching along his forehead was beginning to burn, and he could feel himself getting agitated more quickly than usual. "And that T-… Tom… whatever his name is used his real name!"

"Did he?" the woman questioned. "You're talking about Tomura Shigaraki. That may or may not be his real name… and he's also a crazy bastard. I'm not a fan."

"You work for him!" Jin accused incredulously as he hurled the apple in her direction.

"I work with him," the woman corrected as she caught the fruit and took a bite of it. "He knows I might walk at any time, if I don't like what I see. I know that he'll try to kill me if I do. It's an… interesting relationship. More interesting than anything I've got going on topside, at least."

Jin's eye twitched as he tried to will himself to calm down. With a few deep breaths, he managed to get his hysteria under control… at least, temporarily.

"…why the hell did you come in, anyway? You just throw apples at people for fun?"

"You snore too loud," the heteromorph said flatly. "I could hear it through the walls. You actually woke me up, at one point."

"Yeah, well… I'm exhausted," Jin said defensively. "Everything sucks."

"Don't I know it."

Jin simply watched the woman take another bite of apple, her attention more on the fruit than him.

"…so, what's your deal?" Jin tried again. "Why are you still here?"

"Just… casually observing," the woman answered. "You're quite rude, you know. Haven't even asked my name."

Jin blinked, realizing his mistake as he walked slowly into the kitchen.

"…sorry. Hung over and stressed out. Shit's been bad lately. Who am I talkin' to?"

"Barb," the woman answered, the same mischievous smirk as before on her face.

Jin stopped right next to her, eyeing up the spikes protruding from her arms. They curved up and around, sticking out to the sides… and toward him. For the first time that day, he picked up on something.

"No, it's not," Jin said flatly as he slowly extended a hand toward one of the spikes. "But that's the name you use 'cause of these things, huh? Do they sting or somethin'?"

"You're more than welcome to find out," Barb answered. "Go on. Take a stupid risk. You know you want to."

Jin watched the spike nearest to him flex a bit, almost as though it was reaching for the tip of his finger as Barb took another bite of her apple. After a moment of hesitation, he pulled his hand back and turned toward the refrigerator.

"…already did, coming here. I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Thought this might be something worthwhile. What the hell is even going on down here, with all that… equipment and shit?"

"Don't know, don't really care," Barb answered as she watched Jin begin to dig through the fridge. "Pay's good, assignments are interesting, and a challenge. I get bored easily."

"…say more about the pay," Jin replied as he pulled a plastic container out of the fridge. "Is this… leftover pizza? Why's this place so well-stocked?"

"Which of those do you want answered first?" Barb asked, playing innocent. "I could talk about the pay…"

"Nah. The pizza," Jin decided as he tossed the container onto the kitchen island. "What's going on here?"

"You really haven't figured it out, yet?" Barb asked with one final bite of the apple. "How exactly do you think I had a key to get in?"

Jin blinked, mulling the question over.

"You said you've been here a while. I figured you were higher ranked in… whatever secret society this is, or… whatever…"

Barb rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh before tossing the apple core into the trash.

"…we're roommates, you dunce. Assuming you stay, that is. I was asleep in the bedroom when you arrived, and left once your snoring got to be too much."

Jin could only stare blankly as he tried to process what was going on. He had never had a roommate before, and he still wasn't sure exactly what, if anything, he had signed up for. Everything was so confusing and muddled that Jin couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.

He did know that Barb was rather attractive, at least.

"…wha-… uh, you and me?" Jin asked, dumbfounded.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Barb warned as she cracked her neck to either side. "And do keep in mind that you're on my turf and currently a guest. I could quite easily have you removed."

"Right," Jin agreed. "This is just…"

Jin trailed off as a haggard, annoyed-looking Tomura appeared in the doorway. He was still dressed in the same all-black clothing as the previous night, and looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep. Somehow, he looked even dirtier than before… and he was in a dangerously foul mood. Barb narrowed her eyes at the man, and he returned the gesture in kind.

"…looks like you two met," Tomura said icily. "The man downstairs has no interest in meeting you, Jin. You'll just be working for me, if you're still interested. If you're not… then I'll get you out of here and make sure you don't remember any of this along the way."

Jin froze up slightly. He flicked his eyes to Barb, who gave him a knowing look that also carried with it a clear warning. Somehow, he knew that she was telling him not to resist… or to bide his time if he was planning to.

"…might as well see what there is to see," Jin said with a shrug. "What do you have in mind, Boss?"

Author's Note:

For those who know "Barb" from What You Stole… expect a lot of similarities, and some major differences. She's still the same character with entirely different circumstances.

-RD