A huff of amusement escaped me as the call ended. As much as undeterred he sounded, the fact didn't change of how much of a trouble magnet he is. Then again, I suppose that once you reach a certain height in society, it is merely a matter of time before you get embroiled in some plot or scheme, doubly so if you interact with the two sides of the world.
I sent off one final message off to my maid to keep in touch for any changes before setting down my phone and turned back to my morning routine.
Adding the finishing touches to my hair, the usual pigtails softly bouncing in their place, I nodded once and left my designated room to begin my day as an intern at Idaten Hero Agency.
Team Idaten is a hero agency characterized by emphasizing teamwork. Its policy is gather the people with Quirks with a single strong point, and deploy the right people in the right places, then take on Villains with perfect teamwork and coordination.
For that reason, this agency is formed by dozens of Sidekicks who work together. This place highly values not only those on the front lines, but also patrollers, navigators, and all of the other support staff working for them behind the scenes.
With how many people that are hired in the Agency, it's no wonder that there's more than two floors dedicated to housing both sidekicks and employees for when the need arrives during emergencies. Therefore, it was also not much of a suprise when you come across a co-worker just by walking down the hall.
"Good morning, Fukakai-Senpai." I greeted her cordially.
"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" She inquired. "Sleeping in an unfamiliar place can be difficult for some."
"I did sleep well, thank you. I'm not that type of person so there's no need to worry, Senpai."
Fukakai Hatena, who also goes by Enigma, has notably straight and even teeth. Her dark hair was quite long, which is styled into two low plaits with a neat fringe hanging just over her eyes. Her eyes themselves are oval-shaped, and appear to be entirely blacked-out, showing no visible iris or pupil.
Many would be put off by her unnerving appearance but from her interactions with the woman, she is very caring and kind despite how aloof her exterior might seem. A point I've come to recognize with how outwardly similar she was to my own boyfriend.
When she seemed puzzled by my apparent disregard of her appearance and tone, I pointed out to her about her intersection of demeanor with Kizuki.
Suffice to say that she was pleasantly surprised of that fact and quickly grown to become of the people I could call a friend despite being almost a decade older than me.
A loud yawn followed by the click of a closing door sounded out a few steps behind us. Recognizing the voice, the two of us turned to greet another member of the sidekick team.
Onemu Shinya, who also goes by Musona, is a young woman with short, slightly curly, blonde hair and ram horns on her head. A defining feature of hers is how her face perpetually shows a drowsy appearance regardless of how much she has slept.
She came in with her hero costume which consists of a Chinese Cheongsam mini dress with long funnel-shaped sleeves that hid her hands, a domino mask, and high-heeled shoes. The wrinkles on her clothes gave away the fact that she most likely slept in them through the night, having procrastinated and put changing aside in favour of watching her shows late into the night until she inevitably fell asleep.
She isn't a lazy woman per se, but rather she is someone easily distracted by something that can catch her interest. Thankfully, this is a trait she knows how to reign in on the job otherwise it would have lead to compromising situations.
"Did you at least freshen up first before coming out?" Asked Fukakai-Senpai as she furrowed her brows.
"...Food first." She mumbled a reply, walking past us as she kept her eyes closed. A feat that's only possible from honing her senses because that isn't something being supplied by her quirk.
Fukakai-Senpai sighed before following suit. Even from just my short stay here currently, I am already aware that despite being closer to a sheep in appearance, Onemu-Senpai embodies the stubbornness of temperamental goats and horses. Trying to corral her by force would only end up with bodies on the floor, That cheongsam isn't just for show as that woman can pack a deceptively heavy punch.
Although, now that I think about it, doesn't Kizuki also have a classmate who wears a similar style dress that can stand her ground? Not to mention The Dragon Hero, Ryukyu who also has similar clothing... Do that sort of crowd gravitate towards that style?
"-Kuroko?"
"Yes?" Ah, I've lost myself in a train of thought. "Pardon but could you repeat that?"
"...Now I doubt that you had enough sleep." She shook her head. "I might just be reiterating what was discussed last night but this is still important."
"Last night?" So that's what it was. "I still remember. It was about the schedule swiped by the informants, correct? I believe that the details of the next attack might be a bit suspicious but Ingenium wanted to push ahead as he didn't want to risk any lives of the innocent."
"That..." She fell silent as we've arrived at the mess hall. "Ingenium was always the kind of person who held others above himself. It was part of the reason why his agency is the way it is."
Onemu-Senpai hummed a soft tune as she picked out her breakfast just ahead of us, enough distance to not be a bother but still closed enough to listen in. She might be slacker at times but she isn't unobservant.
"I wasn't implying that it was a bad trait to have." I prodded the subject as I took a tray and lined up for my breakfast. "I merely wish he had a tinge more caution. His selflessness is very admirable but the current situation out there is too volatile for such platitudes."
"Hm..."
"I know it might seem like everything is fine on the surface, but we already have evidence that such facade is primarily superficial that it might as well have been held together by bandaids and prayers." 'Which might not be too far from the truth since magic is real.' I finished internally.
"I'm more worried about the scale." Said Onemu-Senpai after a yawn as she spoke up to share her opinion. "We can't really be sure if the numbers are accurate or not and I'd rather not deal with a situation where we're outnumbered five to one." I vaguely remember that from her record. Didn't she triumph over them?
"Right. Because normally we'd be the ones who take in the villains using the teamwork we became known for." Agreed Fukakai-Senpai. "This many villains- or rather, organized crime of this scale wasn't as public as it was during the prime of All Might's career."
"And the man himself has taken on the years." I finished with a nod as we made our way to a free table. "After the events of the sports festival, everyone became acutely aware of the fact that not even the symbol of peace is as infallible as he reputation made him to be."
"And those that were silently sharpening their blades in the dark finally found the opportunity they were waiting for." Fukakai-Senpai sounded thoughtful of the matter but she remained unfazed on the surface.
"That is correct." Another person took an empty seat by our table. "We can never be too sure that our targets wouldn't have reinforcement from other organisations and groups. Their newfound confidence now that All Might doesn't seem as invincible as before meant that more incidents are happening all over the country. It is undeniable that Heroes are doing their best in this situation but the fact remains that it has yet to teach an equilibrium."
Xue Fei, or rather, the pro hero and sidekick Watchbird born in one of former-china's new dynasty who's true background is a mystery.
Currently wearing her hero costume that consists of a light blue bodysuit, covered in white colored gear, gloves, boots, and a chest piece that two drone like wings attached behind her. Although the last piece was forgone as we aren't out in the field currently. Blocking the rest of her face, she also wears a blue visor with a communicator attached, allowing her to communicate with her team, and provides a green heads-up display to track opponents.
"It is a shared sentiment that the nation does not devolve any further but many are still seeing troublesome situation as an opportunity to better place themselves in the spotlight." The woman said with a deep frown. "Those kind of people only add to the problem... I have to review the members for the raid to ensure none would be involved in our course of actions." She said softly but firmly before figures began flying through her visor.
We quieted down somewhat, as the way she said that made me thoughtful.
Japan is an island nation. Smaller than the behemoths in other continents and more united than certain others, and yet the woman born in a nation still having frequent skirmishes is seeing a shadow of that here puts to perspective how things are slowly moving downhill.
Fleetingly, another thought made it's way to my mind.
'I wonder how Nee-Sama is doing?' I wondered internally. 'If I recall correctly, she's somewhere in Europe. Though she didn't specify why, I suspect it has something to do with that brute she's been following...'
I noted myself to ask Kizuki at a later opportunity on whether he knows anything. For now however, Fukakai-Senpai is trying to make small talk to dispell the gloomy atmosphere Watchbird obliviously made.