Chapter 13

Unexpected

.:+:.

... we were so bad for each other... we should have seen it...

.:+:.

Two Days Ago-

"I got stopped and congratulated by a ton of people this morning!"

"Me too man!"

"We're super popular because of the Sports Festival, it's insane!"

"UA really is something, huh?!"

The classroom was awash with noise, everyone in their seats or hovering outside of them, all excitement and amazement and even nervousness. Every student in Class 1-A was spread around, leaning over their own desks and others, talking away with bright smiles as they recanted their journeys to school that morning, and what amount of popularity they were enjoying from the general public in the quake of the Sport's Festival. Due to the event being the most anticipated and most watched event in all of Japan, it was no surprise to find that the students were being hounded by excited fans and spectators- especially the ones that had made it to the finals, and really made a scene.

But regardless of being in the spotlight or not, each and every Hero Course student felt that lasting excitement and intrigue from the public. They earned stares and smiles and crowds, well-wishes and exclamations of amazement, and awe... and while many of them were eager for the attention, they were still a bit flustered too (some more than others).

The sound of the door sliding open curtly cut the clamor and the chatter off. Everyone scurried to their seats and fell quiet as the familiar, unkempt figure of their Homeroom Teacher shuffled into the room, his hair a mess and chin buried in his Capturing Device, and a file tucked under his arm.

"Morning." Mr. Aizawa muttered dryly,

"Morning." The class replied evenly, and the older man stopped at the podium in front of the classroom, a hand running through his bangs.

"Now to begin... today's Class is going to be a bit different." Mr. Aizawa muttered lowly, the class as a whole perked up at the words. "Because the Sports Festival has concluded, and Pro Heroes and their Agency's have had a chance to take a look at all of you, we will begin the first stages of creating your Hero identities." The man mumbled, "In other words, today we will be creating your codenames... your Hero Names."

The quiet and attentive class burst from their seats, excitement pushed back into overdrive as several of them threw their hands up in air.

"YESS!"

Aizawa's hair stood on end as he shot the class a deadly glare, his eyes flashing red for a moment and everyone quickly sitting back down and shutting up- though they were clearly on the edge of their seats still. The older man let out an agitated sigh and shook his head, his eyes dropping closed again.

"... this is in relation to the Internship nominations I mentioned the other day." He grumbled, "They mean little now, being in your first year... they're more just expressions of 'interest' in your future, rather than a promise you will have one. It isn't rare for that 'interest' to dry up by the time graduation rolls around, or just simply be dropped altogether... that being said, you should do your best to represent yourselves, and the school, in the best way you can. A good word from a Pro in this Internship might help open doors down the line, depending what happens in the midst of it." The students nodded stiffly in understanding, and Mr. Aizawa seemed to pause, before sighing in exasperation and lifting a small remote up from the podium. "Moving on... the tally of all the Internship offers."

He clicked a button on the remote and a screen lit up behind him over the blackboard, series of horizontal lines stacking up with numbers and names... and quite a massive disparity between the first two, and all those that followed.

"Usually the offers are a bit more balanced... but clearly this year, the attention leaned toward two of you in particular." Mr. Aizawa grumbled, and the class let out small sighs and little smiles as their eyes traced over the top two.

Shouto Todoroki: 4,123

Katsuki Bakugou: 3,556

"Ah, as to be expected of Todoroki and Bakugou..."

"But hey, 1st and 2nd place are reversed!"

"Seein' Bakugou all straight-jacketed on the podium must have scared the Pros off..."

"PROS AIN'T GONNA BE SCARED OF ME, STICKY-ARMS!"

"Hey, Tokoyami and Iida did pretty good though!"

"You got some too, Yao-momo!"

"Heck yeah, I'm up there!" Kaminari grinned,

"Man, I didn't think I'd get any at all..." Kirishima mumbled with a nervous smile,

"M-me either...!" Ururaka stammered, her face turning bright red as her eyes trailed down the list and found her own name. Sero smiled lazily,

"I'm surprised too..." Sero mumbled,

Todoroki: 4,123

Bakugou: 3,556

Tokoyami: 360

Iida: 301

Kaminari: 272

Yaoyorozu: 108

Kirishima: 68

Ururaka: 20

Sero: 14

... and the bars grew increasingly minuscule next to each name as the end of the list neared, and the students finally read to the very bottom- and most of them froze. But not a single one of them went more still than the large, blocky, and very much stunned boy sitting near the back, in the second to last row. Immediately following Sero, and his 14 offers, was;

Koda: 1

"Woah, holy crap!"

"Koda, you got an offer!"

"Sweet man!"

"Good job!"

"Wow, I wonder which Pro pegged you?!"

The poor boy went stiff as a board, the breath catching in his throat and wide eyes as he stared at his name written up on that screen, and the singular, almost daunting '1' written beside it. His face went bright red, his hands moving up to quickly cover his face as he felt the eyes and attentions of all his classmates turn on him, and his stomach did a million flips in reaction. He hunched in on himself, trembling in shock and awe and embarrassment as he did his best to keep from looking at anyone at all, or meeting their gazes as they turned to him and said what they will.

Because w-WHAT?!

Aizawa grumbled a bit under his breath, his jaw clenching as the attention of the class got instantly diverted from himself and toward the very outstanding nomination. Naturally, because unlike the rest of all the names on the board, Koda had not been a member of the final rounds of the Sports Festival, and would not have earned that attention from the Pro Hero Community normally...

"Listen up." Mr. Aizawa ordered sharply, sparing the boy from being looked at and talked to much longer as the class immediately snapped back to attention. "Regardless of this, or if you received an offer or not, you will all be participating in Internships. We have several Hero Agencies signed on to take you even if you weren't made an offer, and being able to experience the day to day of an actual Pro will prove fruitful in your training."

"So that's why we all need Hero names, right?" Sato grinned, Aizawa nodded.

"Oh this is gonna be great!"

"I'm so excited!"

"... of course the names you pick needn't be permanent, place-holder names will do." He mumbled, "But you do need to pick something appropriate-"

"-Because if you don't, it'll be hell from here!"

Mr. Aizawa got cut off by another voice, and a familiar one, as the students turned to the new figure walking into the classroom. She licked her lips, her hands falling on her hips, suit skin tight and sultry glance darting over each student.

"Midnight!"

"In many cases, the names you choose here will stick with you for the rest of your life- so be sure to pick a name you wish for the world to know you by!" Midnight hummed, stopping at the podium and pushing her glasses up from her nose and into her hair.

"These names will be a projection of your future, so choose something that describes you and your essence as a Pro Hero!"

Koda glanced up shyly from behind his hands, his heart beating a million times a minute in his chest and utterly glad that Midnight had the attention of his class-mates just then. His feet shifted nervously across the floor and he leaned over a bit, his hands clasped together in front of his face and his eyes darting passed the R-Rated Hero and toward the board behind her.

'1'

... w... what Pro Hero... would choose me...?! I-I didn't even... I didn't even do well in the Sports Festival...!

He grimaced, his eyes shutting tight as he bit down on the inside of both his cheeks. He pressed his forehead against his folded hands, his stomach knotting a million times more and his heart gave no indication of slowing it's panicked tempo. He didn't know if he even wanted to know who it was that had made the offer, could his heart take it?

W-who could that... even be...?! And... and why me...?!

.:+:.

"... those of you who received offers, will get a personalized list. The rest of you, pick from the list of available Agencies. Details on hours, and specifications for sleeping arrangements are listed under each name. You might want to choose Internships that center on the area of Heroism you plan to go into, whether it be urban or rural, or more Villain-centric vs. relief and disaster work."

He'd hardly been able to keep still as Mr. Aizawa lazily made his way among the rows and handed out papers, the chatter from the Hero Names workshop spilling into the new section of Hero Offices. Plenty of people got distracted by their list of available places to Intern, and they were already tossing around ideas and questions to their classmates by the time the Erasure Hero made it toward the last few rows of desks.

But as soon as Mr. Aizawa stopped at the edge of Koda's desk, the boy could feel the attention of his classmates divert and lock on to him- and on to the stack of two papers that Mr. Aizawa held out to him. He almost heard the collective question in their minds;

'Who offered to Intern Koda?'

He hesitated to take the papers offered to him, and Mr. Aizawa blinked lazily.

"You will choose from the list of Agencies that those who did not receive offers are looking over, in the event you decide to turn down the offer you received." The Erasure Hero explained flatly, and Koda blinked. "You are not obligated to accept the single offer in any way, choose whatever Agency, and whatever specific area of Heroism you think best, and are more comfortable with." The man muttered and Koda blinked again, before nodding stiffly and shakily reaching forward to take the papers being handed to him. Once handed off, Mr. Aizawa continued in his passing out of papers and eventually retired to the front of the room, and in the embrace of a familiar yellow sleeping bag.

Koda felt the other students glancing his way curiously as he took the papers in hand, and held them in front of him stiffly, his eyes focused on nothing but his name listed at the top, and not daring to read further. Thankfully his classmates had the better sense than to immediately jump toward him and ask what the paper read, though he was fairly sure that Sato behind him and a few others were trying to crane their necks to see.

Koda couldn't move though, and no matter how hard he tried to force his eyes to move down the paper, he couldn't do that either. He could hear his heart thumping loudly in his ears, hear the roar of his blood rushing through his veins and the chatter of his class became almost hauntingly quiet on his ears. Everything dropped away and he just sat there, still as a statue and terrified to just read.

Who could it be?

He'd kept asking himself that all through coming up with Hero Names, and he couldn't get it to go away.

What one Pro, in all of Japan, decided to offer to Intern him? Him? He who hadn't done well at all in the Sports Festival and surely hadn't made enough a spectacle of himself to even be noticed... so who noticed him of all people?

He wasn't even interested in being noticed, and yet he had been- and that shocked him and scared him, because it didn't make any sense, and he didn't know what to do with the realization.

Was it someone bad? And that was why Mr. Aizawa made a point to tell him that he didn't have to accept? Was there a reason he wouldn't want to accept...?!

None of it made any sense!

Koda gulped, trembling now and the paper shaking in hand with it. He sucked in a sharp breath of air and shook himself, doing his best to harden his will and to move his eyes down the paper and toward that name beyond 'Hero Agency/Pro Hero Name:'

And he froze, again, his eyes reading the name and then rereading it once, twice, three times, and then several after that... because he had to be reading it wrong, right...?!

N-no way...!

He felt his face flush, hot and throbbing as his heart pound painfully against his rib-cage in a rush of shock and disbelief. He felt faint, lightheaded, dizzy and reeling as he pulled the paper forward and buried his face in it, shaking from head to foot and mind whirling.

T-that can't be...!

W-why... why would she pick m-me...?!

Tokoyami in the desk to Koda's left looked up, the papers in his hands that he had previously been reading falling a bit, and blinking as the large boy hid his face in his own papers so quickly. Many other people around them glanced toward Koda curiously, interests peaked at the reaction that was a little more flustered and frantic than was usual for the shy kid. Several of them (Mina and Kaminari specifically...) looked ready to leap up from their seats in hardly contained question, more than ready to get an answer to what they were all (well, almost all) wondering. And Koda's shy and utterly quiet behavior, and now the sudden panic and nervousness had them chomping at the bit a little.

"... oh come on already...!" Mina hissed under her breath,

"I'm bursting at the seams here...!" Kaminari mumbled,

Both Mina and Kaminari stiffened though, cold chills running up their spines as they suddenly felt Mr. Aizawa's steely glare settled on their backs, and they sat down, quieting themselves in an instant. They needn't look at Mr. Aizawa to know what look he had on his face, and what it meant;

'Leave him alone'

Many of the other students took the chilling stare from their teacher as cue, and did their best not to stare at Koda, or make their interest known... but there were many still waiting with bated breath, and Koda didn't seem to even be breathing. He shook his head at himself, burying his face further into the paper, the scent of ink wafting up from it- and from that name that just couldn't be there.

There was just no way! S-she wasn't even at the Sports Festival...! S-she...!

It had to be some sort of mistake, right?!

There's just no way...!

His eyes opened a little, the paper still pressed close to his face and tilted down just enough he could see the name in his eyeline, and he felt his face was as hot as an inferno.

W-Why would she ever be interested in me?!

Despite how much he wanted to think his eyes were deceiving him, they most certainly were not. Without any doubt, those letters on the page definitely spelled Animal Spirit.

Animal Spirit, the No. 26 Hero in all of Japan

And she offered to Intern me...?!

He couldn't breathe, let alone come to terms with the information or what it meant. And he surely didn't know if he was okay with it either, and how could he be...?!

She's one of my favorite Pro Heroes... I could never imagine even meeting her face to face, let alone training with her...!

What am I going to do...?!

The papers scrunched a little in his hands as he folded in on himself that little bit more.

N-none of this makes... A-any sense...!

He wasn't sure how long he was siting there, his mind and emotions and chaos and locked up inside. He never made any noise, but he was more or less screaming internally- and he surely never looked up again either.

At least, not until there came a soft tap on his shoulder and he sat up straight, his head snapping around and panic racing through him at the unexpected contact. His attention landed on the stoic face of Tokoyami, the other boy having reached over to gain his attention and tilted his head as their eyes met. Dark Shadow hovered near his shoulder, it's head tilted too.

"... Are you alright?" Tokoyami asked quietly, and Koda gulped, his eyes gleaming as he started to nod out of instinct- before slowly shaking his head instead. Tokoyami blinked at the answer, pausing for a moment, before his expression softened a little. "... Is something wrong...?" He asked slowly, almost unsure if that was the right question or not, and Koda's eyes dropped.

He cast a look at the papers he held on to with trembling hands, before he turned and handed them quietly over to Tokoyami, the smaller boy looking surprised at the gesture, before his hands moved up to take the papers from Koda. Koda's hands retracted and started in a series of gestures that Tokoyami was (more or less) familiar with, the action keeping his eyes off the papers he held on to for a few seconds more.

'I just don't know what to do, or even think, or feel. I'm so surprised and confused... I just don't understand why... Well, why she would pick me, of all people... I wasn't even in the final rounds like everyone else, this doesn't make any sense...' Koda's hands explained quickly, and Tokoyami blinked.

She?

Tokoyami's eyes dropped from Koda and toward the papers he had been handed, quickly scanning over the lettering and stiffening as he read the name listed.

He glanced up quickly from the paper when he noticed Koda's hands started moving again, though.

'Its just, she's one of my favorite Pro Heroes and I can't imagine even being around her, let alone Interning with her... I'm so nervous now, and I'll be worse if I'm around her, I don't want to make a bad impression or... Or what if she's not like... I don't know, like how I imagine?' Koda gestured, his eyes downcast and quickly looking more and more nervous. 'I don't know, I just... She's a Hero I really look up to, and what if she's not like what I think? O-or if I mess up and she hates me, or I disappoint her somehow...? She's a top Pro, and I'm not really that good, so is it even okay, o-or worth it to make a fool of myself in front of her...? Oh that would be mortifying...!' Koda's hands ceased as he held his face in them next, flushing a little as he shivered at the thought.

"... There's no way I can accept it... I c-can't face her..." Koda whispered quickly, his voice trembling as Tokoyami grimaced a bit. "... I-I'm not good enough, for a Pro like her..."

Tokoyami glanced from Koda and to the papers slowly, a small sigh escaping him as his eyes flashed. Dark Shadow hummed a bit, scooping up the pile of papers belonging to Tokoyami, and holding them as his host gently set Koda's papers back down on the large boy's desk.

"... I understand your reservations." Tokoyami murmured gently, Koda blinked in surprise at the words. Tokoyami let out a long, heavy sigh and took the papers from Dark Shadow, before handing them across toward Koda. "... I find myself in a similar situation, and admittedly, I have many of the same thoughts and doubts as you do... As well as some confusion, and shock." Koda blinked a few times, his eyes on the papers and hesitating for a few long moments before he slowly reached out and took them. The quiet young boy's eyes quickly scanned the list of offers, and the many names and Agencies listed without really knowing why Tokoyami had decided to give him the list- until he did. And upon reading that name, his eyes went wide in awe, rereading once, and then quickly looking up toward Tokoyami again.

Tokoyami crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair, his eyes front and suddenly looking the slightest bit nervous. "... I'm not sure I live up to someone like him either... But maybe we ought to have faith they both chose us for a reason, even if we do not know what it is." Tokoyami mumbled softly. Dark Shadow nudged him affectionately, causing Tokoyami to flush slightly, and pointedly clear his throat. "... And perhaps have faith that we won't be any sort of 'disappointment'... More faith that we are capable of greater things than we assume."

Koda smiled slightly at the words, nodding a little. Tokoyami noticed it from the corner of his eye, and nodded too.

"... Perhaps we should also have faith that our expectations will prove true." Tokoyami went on, before pausing, and then looking a bit wary.

"... At least the good expectations... Hopefully any bad ones do not come true..."

.:+:.

Present-

"Another over here, darling!"

"Keep 'um coming!"

"Come over here, huh sweetheart~? I wanna see ya!"

"Hurry the hell up, I'm thirsty!"

"Oh you are much better looking than that weirdo who usually runs the bar~!"

Spirit grit her teeth, a vein ticking on her forehead as she did her absolute best not to whip around and tell that last man to kindly shut the fuck up.

They wouldn't stop. None of them. Every single man at the bar was goggling and laughing, barking orders and whistling, staring and leering and licking their lips- and they were on so very interested in 'Kage'.

She could handle being told to hurry up. She could handle having people place orders. She could handle it being busy... But she fucking hated everything else.

For fuck's sake, even seeing how gladly all the men were with touching the girls and letting their eyes and hands wander was starting to piss her off- and that was part of their jobs!

And she absolutely refused to leave the confines and safety of the bar. She would not lose what barrier that sturdy (and dirty) counter was between herself and all of them.

And I have to endure a week of this bullshit... God, fuck me!

Why do I work here again?

Oh right, I need money. And a job that won't ask too many questions, or try to dig into my life-

Spirit averted her eyes from all of them as much as possible, and kept her attention on her work instead. She nodded to the orders and apologized for the wait, but ignored the flirting and the comments and grit her teeth more and more as time went on. She poured drinks and slid them down the counter, picked up empty ones and washed them, stacked them- and went right back around and did everything again. There was no lull, no time for pausing, she was juggling all the orders of the people lined up at the bar, and the constant flow of orders from the lounge- brought to her attention by Okita, for the most part.

The young girl was moving back and forth between Spirit's corner of refuge, and milling about the lounge and all the seats and tables and dancers. She balanced a tray in hand, filled with new drinks and old ones, serving the customers and keeping track of new orders, and wove her way through the crowd and all the obstacles with an odd sort of grace. She earned just as much attention from the customers as any of the other (more experienced) girls did, their eyes watching her small, thin form move past them, the sheen of her pale hair in the harsh and smokey low-light, and the small glittering of the sequins dotting the dress that hugged her body so tightly.

Okita looked as calm as can be, somehow. She smiled at the men and nodded as she took orders, and shrugged off the flirting and advances and kept focused on what she was doing. Spirit afforded as much time as she could to keeping an eye on Okita as she left the bar, and she was surprised at how well the young girl was doing... And how well she hid how uncomfortable she was.

And she was definitely uncomfortable, Spirit saw the way her expression changed when none of the customers could see it, and she saw the nervousness in the girl when she came behind the bar to grab the latest round of drinks. She saw the faint trembling of the girl's arms as she held to her tray and Spirit stacked the drinks carefully atop it, and she saw the subtle rigidness in Okita's posture when someone brushed against her- whether it was a hand or a shoulder or anything else. Spirit had barely stopped herself from tossing a glass across the room when a man had drawn his hand across the poor girl's hip as she passed by- and then immediately acted as if it never happened.

In hindsight, maybe Bisha and everyone else had had a point about Spirit being able to handle the customers during the busiest hours... Because watching and dealing of this was wearing on her nerves and her patience very quickly.

And to be fair, Spirit had no problem with intimacy or flirting, or whatever the hell else- she wasn't a prude (despite the girls thinking otherwise...). She just had a problem with all of that when it happened and one of the members of the exchange didn't appreciate the advances, or want them. If both party's were interested, have at it, have fun with it. She would if she had chosen to be in that situation and with someone she wanted to be in it with.

But here?

This was a job, this wasn't for fun and it wasn't for pleasure- and the customers didn't always get that. And that irked her, especially when they went too far and thought they could get away with it.

... Maybe I do work in the wrong place.

Spirit set a round of drinks down in front of a man who had ordered them, picking up the empty ones he left and headed to the sink.

The air smelled of smoke, booze, perfume and sweat. The color of the overhead and stage lights danced in the misty trails lying thick on the air, everything felt warm and stuffy and a little hard to breathe, and the noise was never ending. Talking and whistling, breathing, footsteps, the clink of glass on tables and the shift of chairs, the jingle bracelets and the swish of fabric and skin on metal poles... All of that overlaid with the heavy, droning and near static drum of base and music on a constant roll. Of which, every once in awhile was broken by the sound of the owners voice over the microphone, or one of the girls on stage.

She cleaned the glasses and set them upside down to dry as she turned to filling more, and mixing drinks, scooping ice, the works. She was faintly aware of Okita making her way back across the room and toward her little citadel of liqueur and condiments, but she payed it little mind just then as another voice broke her concentration.

"Excuse me ma'am." A man's voice hummed lightly, soft and way too polite in the rumble of barked orders and sultry comments... and a little void of emotion too, almost flat and monotone in a way- and maybe a bit irritatingly familiar to how Dante sounded, but she did her best not to think about that.

That asshole wouldn't dare come here, right?

Her eyes moved upward and scanned the bar in front of her, matching with the pale green gaze of a tall, lanky man with a thin face and a pair of glasses perched on the edge of his nose. Like most of the other men in the club, he was wearing a suit and tie, though he was lacking any sort of coat over his shirt, and he had his sleeves rolled up. She could see little lines running along the skin of his arms, almost like his skin naturally split apart like gills, and his hair was a wavy mess of short, dark green strands that brushed against his forehead and over his eyes in a few places.

Well, it wasn't Dante.

Spirit couldn't remember seeing him here before though, and he surely wasn't one of the regulars... but for a minute she blinked as their eyes met, blue on green, and he paused too, his polite smile fading slightly.

But that bit of hesitation didn't last hardly a second, before he smiled at her again and she saw the way his teeth were slightly pointed. "Sorry to bother you, I see you're busy." He hummed in that same strangely monotone, yet very polite voice and she quickly shook what little bit of her own hesitation that had appeared so suddenly.

"It's fine." She murmured, continuing in her filling of drinks and casting him a sideways glance as he squeezed between two of the other men at the bar, and took a seat on the empty stool there. "What can I get you?" She asked as she set her glasses down and easily slid them down the bar counter to those waiting for them.

"Whiskey, please." He hummed, and she nodded in confirmation.

"I'll have that up soon." She murmured, he settled his chin in his hand and smiled coolly.

"Take your time."

Spirit's attention turned from the newcomer and toward Okita as the young girl rounded the counter and stepped into Spirit's domain, the tray full with empty glasses and her eyes watching Spirit carefully as the older pulled the glasses off the tray.

"... you still doing okay?" Spirit asked quietly of the young girl, and Okita blinked at the question, nodding stiffly.

"Yeah, I'm okay." She replied softly, her voice just shy of a whisper. Spirit bit the inside of her cheek at the less than convincing answer,

"... you sure?" Spirit asked, her voice a little bit lower and Okita's eyes flicked away nervously.

"... yeah... it's just... busy..." Okita mumbled, "... I have the new orders." She murmured, steering the subject somewhere else and Spirit sighed internally.

"Alright."

Okita listed off the new drinks orders confidently, easily able to recall them with perfect clarity despite the amount there was... which was somewhere in the 30ish range. And on top of that she knew where every drink went, and where that recipient sat in all the mess. What she'd said about being good at remembering things had been a little bit of an understatement.

And Spirit fulfilled them dutifully, pouring things and setting them in order on the counter and on Okita's tray as she waited patiently for her to finish. And Spirit took her time, this time around, she didn't rush to finish and try to keep up with the bustle. She went as slow as she could without causing suspicion, just to earn a few extra minutes where Okita could stay back on this side of the bar and not have to contend with the rest of the lounge.

Okita hovered near the back wall, shifting left and right to stay out of Spirit's way as the older woman reached up onto the shelves for bottles and glasses and everything else in between. Spirit could feel Okita's purple eyes following her every movement, and every time she cast a fleeting look toward the other girl, Okita glanced away quickly... like really quickly.

So nervous still

Spirit stacked the last few drinks she could on Okita's tray, leaving a fair number behind on the counter for her to come back for, and the younger girl picked it up carefully. She nodded to Spirit, murmuring a small 'thanks' as she headed back out from behind the bar, and Spirit paused to watch her walk away, her fingers tapping against the bar counter and eyes fixed to that head of long, pale white and blue hair as Okita wove in and out of the other bodies in the room. She worked away in silence, her face expressionless as she set drinks down and picked up trash, glasses, whatever- and she nodded and smiled politely toward those that called her attention, making her way across the lounge. And Spirit stood still, watching in utter silence and her eyes narrowing at the way Okita seemed to stiffen when she drew closer to the far end of the lounge, and toward the round tables set up in alcoves there, before slowly, very slowly, headed back to bar on that same constant loop.

Her attention on the young girl failed when she felt her skin crawl a little, the sensation of someone else's eyes finding her with near the same intensity she had been watching Okita. Spirit glanced right slowly, her 'blue' eyes catching the calm and utterly expressionless gaze of that same man who had taken a seat at the bar and ordered. He was watching her closely, his chin in his hand and motionless. He blinked once as her eye caught his, blue on green, and he slowly glanced away again- but he took his time.

... okay... that's a little creepy...

And that thought crossed her mind for no more than a second, before it occurred to her that he was watching her because she had failed to fulfill his order for several minutes now.

Shit

She shook herself, her eyes searching for Okita again as the girl slowly trailed back to the bar, and Spirit let her attention divert to pouring drinks again.

She set a glass down in front of the man with the green eyes and poured the whiskey in, muttering a small apology for the wait. He shook his head with a small, cool smile. "Not a worry." He hummed with ease, and Spirit nodded, but she turned away from him soon after. Okita was already stacking the leftover drinks on her tray in silence, and Spirit left her to it as she went back to catching up with the orders and customers sitting at the bar counter.

And she kept that cycle up as the hours dragged by, constantly shifting her attention between the people in her vicinity, to preparing the orders Okita and the other girls brought up, and then keeping an eye on the girl as she made her rounds. The more time passed, the worse the stink of liqueur and sweat got, and then slowly became more chocked with the aroma of cigarette smoke- of which hung on the air in a thick, ever constant blanket. The ambience and the noise and the smoke had long since started to give her a headache, and her willingness to remain some semblance of polite with the customers whittled down to near nothing.

As 1 in the morning came into sight, Spirit ordered Okita into the back rooms to take a break and hoped the reprieve would settle what unending tension there seemed to be in the young girls shoulders. Which left Spirit alone with the bar and the orders for a little while, and it was still as busy as before, but slowly winding down... and to be honest, the business wasn't what had had her attention for some time now.

Remember that guy? With the glasses and the green eyes, and who had ordered whiskey?

He'd been sitting there at that same stool the whole time, his hands hooked around the glass of whiskey he'd barely taken more than a few sips of. His eyes wandered the club, moving over the stage and the crowds, and even briefly scanning the girls... but inevitably his attention always landed back on the bar, and in particular- her.

He watched her work more often than not, his green eyes following her busy hands and her back and forth, fixed as she stacked glasses and cleaned them. She could feel his gaze latched onto her back when she turned it, and when she did look back at him, he returned the look for a few long seconds, smiled, and then looked away again.

A few minutes later? Repeat.

The more time that passed, and the hours where he barely finished half his drink, and had made no move to leave, she was becoming increasingly more wary about him.

Who the fuck is this guy? And why is he just sitting here, watching me?

Paranoid of her maybe... but she had to be paranoid, and at this point it was instinct. She hated attention and she surely hated it from people she didn't know, and who were paying her way too much mind.

Even worse, they were paying her mind- Kage. Kage was supposed to be that alter ego of hers that didn't get attention, that was the point of living here, and working here... she was supposed to just be boring, not at all interesting Kage.

And yet clearly something about her interested that guy, and her core knotted at the thought, all manner of things and questions running through her mind and making her about ten times more paranoid.

After about the fiftieth time of catching her gaze and holding it, he smiled and let out a small, hollow little chuckle and she stiffened.

"You are very wary of me." He commented lightly, and she grimaced a bit, halting in place a few paces from where he was sitting. "Understandable I suppose, and I apologize if I'm making you uncomfortable... my watching you is little eerie, I imagine." He murmured and Spirit just held his eyes in silence, and he nodded. "I apologize again. I just have a hard time finding things to keep my attention for very long... Not much seems to amuse me, unfortunately." He commented, almost offhandedly and Spirit's eyes flashed. He tapped his fingers against his glass, looking away from her and sweeping that green gaze of his over the lounge. "Hmm... even with all the movement in this building, I'm still a bit disinterested... I suppose that just goes to show that none of this is really my fancy." He smiled wryly, and Spirit grumbled under her breath. "... hmm... this might surprise you, but I don't usually come to places like this... let alone come to Shinjuku Kabukicho." He went on, and Spirit bit the inside of her cheek. "This is only the second time I've ever been here, hehe..."

"... why come, then?" Spirit asked rather bluntly, and his eyes trailed back toward her slowly. "Or stay for that matter, if you're actually that bored?"

"Hmm... I was feeling restless, so I headed out to find something to do, and this District is known for being full of amusements of all kinds." he replied easily, shrugging a little. "As I said, I find it very difficult to find things that can keep my interest, so I thought I would give Kabukicho a shot." His green eyes glittered as Spirit kept that stony stare on him, his lips twitching at the corners. "As for staying? While I can't say I'm whole-heartedly riveted on anything, I'm not entirely bored either... I have nowhere better to be, so I have no reason to leave. I am somewhat content, just sitting here. And that's better than I usually earn."

"... Right." Spirit deadpanned slightly, and he looked a little amused by the reply.

"Heh, are you usually this suspicious of your customers?" He asked with ease, Spirit's hands settled on her hips.

"Just the ones who order a drink, and spend the next four hours only drinking half of it." She replied flatly, he smirked.

"Fair enough." He hummed, his fingers wrapping around the glass and finishing the drink off with one swig. He set the cup back down and swallowed, before sliding it forward in her direction. "I'm Yoichi Mamoru, by the way." He told her politely, and Spirit only blinked once. "And you're Kage, yes? That's what everyone here seems to call you." Spirit grimaced internally, but nodded just once.

And honestly she didn't care to know his name, but she would remember it now that it had been given- if only so she could look him up later and determine if he was a threat or not.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Kage." Mamoru murmured lightly with a dip of his head toward her, "And please do forgive me, for putting you in such a wary mood. I meant no harm." He smiled, scooting his chair back and standing up as he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Perhaps I'll bump into you again sometime?" He smiled coolly, and her eyes narrowed at the comment. "In the meantime, I wish you good luck in your ventures." He murmured lightly with a wave of his hand over his shoulder as he started to walk away and toward the front doors. Spirit watched him silently, her fingers digging into her hips a little and her expression twisting in suspicion.

... I did not like that... at all.

She lost sight of him and his green hair as the front door of the club closed behind him, and she glared at the closed door, her jaw clenching.

... Yoichi Mamoru...

.:+:.

"... I think tomorrow we'll start with some of that training I mentioned." Spirit hummed lightly, casting a glance up toward Anima walking along at her shoulder. He glanced her way as she said the words, the both of them walking slowly along the sidewalk, and today a bit more at ease among the masses and the general public on the walkway around them.

After leaving the Club and that utterly suspicious Mamoru behind, Spirit had gone home, gone to bed, and done her best to not brood about him or anything having to do with last night, and all the men, and the noise- ugh.

And just like clockwork, she woke up a few hours later, abandoned the clothes and alter-ego of Kage, and stepped back into her role as Animal Spirit. She headed out of the Red Light District and arrived at the Train Station right on time (well actually a few minutes early) in order to meet Koda as he got off the train, and day two of the Internship began.

And thanks to whatever god or power there was, noon had already come and gone in their patrolling, and nothing had gone awry. They'd dealt with little but a few fighting groups of kids, help set up barriers for the police when another Pro was busy with a D-Class Villain, and just generally kept an eye out while moving about the city.

It was a slow, easy, boring day... And honestly she felt maybe her luck was going to wear thin pretty soon here. Because honestly? How likely was it they went two full days without something happening?

Not likely at all

... So now she was on a bit more high alert, even with the relative calm of Patrol.

I mean, this is me we're talking about... I always end up in a mess, right when everything seems to be going good.

Just please don't let whatever it is that is coming be like... Like hell, or anything, okay?

So she was keeping an eye on everything and everyone, always with her ears perked and her nose on edge. She was trying not to seem like she was waiting for hell to break loose outwardly, so she didn't freak Koda out or anything if he noticed her tenseness... And she honestly thought she was doing a good job of it.

I guess hiding things is a talent... It would have to be, for me.

She cursed herself for that last thought and settled her attention on Koda instead.

In the midst of today's Patrol, and the various things they got involved in, he had asked more questions. Namely logistical things; little bits about how she handled jobs/missions sanctioned by the police or other official groups, and how often those situations occurred. That bit was paired with a bit of discussion about working with other Pros, and the option of forming a group- as opposed to simply joining an Agency and belonging to that general overhead (Hero Groups are a bit more close-knit, and the chain of communication is much less official and long... Groups usually get formed by friends, and handle most of their own affairs internally, instead of dealing with Agency Heads and Boards...). Which in turn lead to a small discussion about Partnerships among Pros, and the addition of Sidekicks among some.

And as thus far, all fair and good questions, and Koda seemed to have no shortage of them... Not that Spirit minded. In fact, she kinda liked how much he was asking and engaging with her, and the whole subject. And maybe, some small, little part of her really enjoyed just having the chance to chat with someone so young and so eager to learn.

She wasn't the most talkative or social person, really, but she wasn't opposed to doing it... She supposed maybe she just had to find the right people to do the whole 'social' thing with, and the ones she liked and was comfortable around (Death Arms, for example... You know, her true and best friend... And only friend, really).

(Ah, and speaking of Death Arms- he'd called her last night just before getting to the club, and asked how the first day of the Internship went. That was a pleasant conversation, seeing as how she'd been able to tell him it went okay, as opposed to all the things she anticipated to go wrong... Retracting though!)

- But damn, you know what?

She really really liked this kid- and she hadn't been sure she even really liked kids. She just never spent time with them, or aspired to, and coming into this Internship thing was more or less a test to see if she could even tolerate it. And she was doing more than just tolerating it- she thought maybe she was enjoying it, at least a little.

Or maybe I should say enjoying him? That I'm enjoying Koda?

... Noooo, that kinda sounds a little creepy.

So yeah, I am sort of maybe, just a little, enjoying this Internship thing, even only after two days.

... Does saying I really really like this kid sound a little creepy too?

She smiled wryly at herself, her hand rubbing the back of her neck a bit.

Crap... It kinda does... Moving on!

"We'll probably stick to simple hand-to-hand combat stuff, technique and whatnot." she explained, and Koda nodded slightly, his hands gesturing quickly an 'okay'. Spirit hooked her arms behind her back and hummed, her eyes trailing from him and back ahead again. "... It'll probably be easier to teach you by doing, so most of the actual training will be brawling. You'll go up against me and we'll learn and correct things in the moment of the fighting." She went on calmly, missing the look of apprehension that dawned on the boy's face at the words.

Training was all fine and well, but the idea of going against her in a fight- even if it was just 'brawling'- that had his pulse quickening, and his stomach knotting. Because she was an amazing fighter, he had said that before, and he knew there wasn't a chance his skills even stacked up against her own, not at all.

She could probably beat him with little to no issue, and in little time at all, and maybe she would... Though he hoped her promise to go easy on him from the day before was still holding weight.

It had to, right? Animal Spirit didn't seem like the sort of person to go back on her word, and she seemed nice enough not to work him into the ground... at least, he hoped he was right in thinking that about her.

Grant you he'd only 'known' and been around her for a little under two days now. So he didn't really know her all that well, in the grand scheme of things. And because of that he could be totally wrong, maybe he was bound to be put through hell during this training with her... Ah...!

Koda shook his head at himself furiously, holding his cheeks in his hands as he grumbled internally.

She wouldn't go really hard on me, of course not! She's not like that... She... She's nice...!

Spirit cast the boy a sideways glance as he held his cheeks in his hands so suddenly, almost looking like he faded off into his own head for a minute, though she had no clue what about. She hummed a little under her breath but otherwise left it alone, she figured he wouldn't much like being asked right then... Nervous as always.

Her lips pulled slightly at the edges for a minute, before she looked back ahead again and sighed silently.

... He's a little less nervous than Okita... She was really tense last night...

She bit the inside of her cheek at the thought, her red eyes glittering.

She stiffened a little in surprise though, feeling her phone buzz in the pocket of her suit and instantly catching her attention. She silently pulled it out and let the screen come to life, halfway expecting something from Death Arms- but of course that wasn't it, and she wasn't really surprised.

Hawkward:
Good afternoon Sunshine, how are you~? Anything exciting happen with your Internship yet~?

She sighed internally, her eyes narrowing at the words.

... You're so persistent, Feathers... And why the hell is he messaging me? Shouldn't he be busy with his own Intern right now?

Dumbass

She locked the screen and put it back in her suit pocket, zipping the zipper back up with a small shake of her head. Koda cast the Pro a sideways glance at the sudden action with the phone, his head tilting. Animal Spirit never really got on her phone, like at all... Honestly he wasn't even sure he had seen her pull it out more than three times both today and yesterday. And the small hints on exasperation that seemed to appear in her as she shook her head had him a little curious.

Wonder what that was? Did she get a message or something...?

He averted his eyes quickly, realizing he kept his eyes on her a little too long, and blushing faintly.

... t-that's not really my business...!

Spirit glanced up a moment, her eyes trailing along the tops of the looking buildings all around, before slowly sinking toward the street level. She caught the glittering glance of a woman passing by, and smiled in return to the one she received from the lady as they passed one another by. The crowds and people were pretty thin on this street, and she wasn't surprised- she knew Heiku well, and this was one of the less frequented areas by people on foot. Though there was no shortage of cars moving down the road to her left, but she hardly paid them much mind, they were little but a drone.

Her red eyes narrowed to slits as they passed a large screen by, coupled to the side of a building and flashing a never ending series of ads and news and whatever. She usually wouldn't pay it much mind, but there was a familiar figure up there and she bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes quickly scanning the headline.

'Death Arms and UA Intern on scene of Hostage Situation'

She unconsciously slowed up, her eyes scanning the headline and the bits and pieces of news van coverage of whatever building the whole thing was taking place in popping up on the screen. There was no actual visual on Death Arms or anyone inside of it, but there was a fair amount of Pros and Police forming a barricade around the space, and holding back the onlookers.

Koda noticed where her attention had gone almost immediately, and his hands wrung together in front of him as shock and worry flooded his expression the near instant he read the headline. Spirit heard him suck in a sharp breath of air and cast him a sideways glance, blinking when she saw his hands move up to hover over his mouth... he looks a little freaked out.

"...o..oh..." He whispered the single word and Spirit blinked again.

"... You alright, Anima...?" She asked softly and he jumped at the question, his eyes quickly darting her way.

"O-oh sorry..." He mumbled quickly, his hand signing the words even as he said them aloud, almost like he forgot he was actually talking. "... I... My classmate is interning with Death Arms... I j-just hope she's okay..." He explained quickly with a small tilt of his head toward the screen.

Ah

"... I really wouldn't worry." Spirit murmured softly, and Koda blinked at it. "Death Arms is a really responsible person, and he's always on top of things and thinking them through. I'm sure he has everything in hand, and your classmate isn't in any real danger." She assured him, and he nodded a little, only looking the slightest bit relieved.

"... I hope so..." He mumbled softly, his eyes darting back up to the billboard and away from her.

Death Arms is the most responsible person I know, of course he wouldn't put any kid in serious danger... Of course I know him really well, and Koda doesn't, so it makes sense to be a little wary of taking my word right-

BEEEEEEEEEPPPPPP!

Spirit jumped, her heart catching in her throat and on a sudden high alert as the relative calm and quiet got shattered by the very loud, and incessant beeping of a car horn behind her. Someone seemed to have slammed their hand against the horn and refused to let up, and the source was quickly getting closer- and then more horns joined the mix, and the unmistakable skid of tires over asphalt.

Oh no-

She was turning around long before the second, third, fourth and whatever more horns came up, her heels digging into the concrete and muscles tense as her blood-red gaze swept about in tandem with her body.

"Watch out!"

"A-Ah!"

She only caught a fleeting glance of a man pulling a younger woman away from the edge of the sidewalk and toward himself, her eyes skimped passed them and back the way they had come in an instant. And in the instant she did, she had little more than three seconds to make sense of what utter chaos was bearing down on where she and Koda were standing.

What had she said? About asking for whatever was coming not to be some sort of hell?

There was a car hurtling straight toward them, skidding sideways and then tipping on it's edge as it flipped and met thin air for half a second- behind it came a loud series of crashes, broken glass and bent metal as several cars collided with one another, or with the surrounding buildings, lamposts, etc. The car headed their way smacked against the road with a crunch, bits of metal and glass left in its quake as it rolled again, and kept rolling at breakneck speed.

Right. Toward. Them.

Fuck me-

People were yelling and shouting, what few were on the street and those in nearby buildings- and of course those in the cars. Koda had started to turn around as Spirit did, and was about all the way turned when that car got within about seven feet from them, and she hissed.

I don't have time to move us out of the way, and it would suck to have this car roll out into oncoming traffic for the road behind us- ahh, shit, shit, shit, shiiiit!

"Anima, step back as far as you can!" She ordered sharply without even the slightest glance back at the boy. She was already moving forward, taking a single step to the right in order to put herself directly between him, and the car rolling along like a mishapen, thousand-pound ball toward them. Black and red sparked off her form, her figure distorting and fracturing as she swept forward and disappeared in a haze, her eyes locked on to the car the whole time, and seven feet got cut down to four in a single second.

Crap!

She huffed, her hooves slamming down on the concrete with a thud almost as loud as the screeching and bouncing of the car. Her head ducked as she jumped from the haze of black and red non-reality, and her shadow cast backwards behind her, suddenly massive. The car was inches from her as she did so, and she still pushed forward, forcing her nose and her horn into the mangled metal frame of the car and grunting against the impact of it's weight ramming into her fullspeed.

She immediately felt herself pushed back, her hooves digging into the street and stinging as she was dragged backwards across the rough surface, the frame of the car pushing painfully against her forehead, neck and shoulders. The collision had her bones rattling painfully and dull agony flashing through her skull, but she hardly cared about it- all her (sort of panicked and frantic) attention was on the fact that she was being pushed backwards.

Shit, I have to stop this car, I can't get pushed back too much...! I have no clue how much space I even have before-!

She felt her footing slip and her knees scrap across the road, the pavement cracking a little under her weight and the cars as she skid back a few more inches- and a few feet too many. She growled, immediately fighting for another foothold as she swung her weight forward against the car and slammed her hind legs into the road for leverage, the frame of the car gave way a little, lodging her horn into the base of it a bit more, and sticky oil splattering against her hide.

But her movement and the cars came to a shuddering, painful halt, and Spirit stood there, the weight of the car settled on her neck and shoulders and panting a little from the effort. There was a small second of stillness, her legs shaking a little and the car letting out a creaky, scratchy groan as she did her best to try and ground her feet again, and adjust.

The sudden chaos all around with the rolled car, and the multitude of others in pieces or bent together messes a little farther up the street, and all the yells and horns and people now rushing about- for a small second, all that dulled down a bit, and the noise faded too.

And there stood the now Rhino Animal Spirit, her horn dug into the lip of the bottom of the car, her body acting as a barrier and only a foot in front of where Koda was standing, trembling like a leaf and hardly keeping his knees from giving out... And now with Animal Spirit holding that mess of a car a few inches off the ground on the one side, and exactly on the spot where she and Koda had been standing not ten seconds before.

Koda stared, eyes wide and nearly teary as his jaw dropped and he stood there, paralyzed. He'd stumbled back a few paces when Animal Spirit ordered him to do so, but everything had happened so fast he'd only gone a tiny bit before she was wrestling with the car and doing her best to stop it moving any further. And in doing so, stop it from completely crushing herself and him.

And she stopped it, but with so little room to spare, his heart was racing, terror and shock running rampant through his veins. His lungs felt like they had seized, and he couldn't breathe. And he was shaking so much it was a miracle he hadn't fallen over.

All he could think about just then was how close he had come to just... He could have been killed..!

He sucked in a shaky breath of air, and he saw Animal Spirit's ears swivel back and in his direction, though she didn't move her head to look- she couldn't, she was more or less wrapped up in the car. The car that was very much flipped over and on it's top, her horn dug into the frame under the lip of the bottom of the car, supporting it's weight. The car had bent a little around where she was pressed against it.

And hell, she wanted to look, she almost did so without even thinking, but a dangerous groan of the car and the new sections of the frame collapsing where it sank further against the ground gave her pause. Somewhere in the back of her head she knew someone was in the car, though she couldn't see them, and she couldn't risk collapsing the car anymore than it already had. So she couldn't let it drop to the ground, it was probably too damaged to hold itself up, and she knew that.

But even then, the utmost, most pressing thing in her head at that moment was him- Koda.

"Oi, Anima, are you okay..?!" Spirit asked quickly, her weight shifting a little and wincing internally as the car groaned, and pain raced through her side again. She did her best to look back at him and move as little as possible- but it wasn't possible, and she snorted a bit.

Shit, why the hell does this crap always happen with me...?! This is not good, damn it...!

"Anima!" She called again when she received no answer. She could hear him behind her, and the panicked pace of his breathing- but that was it, and worry settled into her stomach in no time.

She shifted again and she heard something on the car snap, and immediately froze.

Fuck

"... Anima, I need you to answer. I can't move, the car isn't gonna be able to hold it's weight if I set it down. The roof will collapse." Spirit called back, forcing her voice to soften a little and mellow out despite the situation, and her own racing heart and nerves. Her ear twitched as she heard him suck in another sharp breath of air, and she grimaced internally.

... He's probably panicking... And shocked too... I can't blame him, but...

"... Take a deep breath for me, okay?" She instructed steadily, utter calm flooding her voice, somehow. "Take a deep breath and hold it... Then let it out nice and slow. Try and settle out again for a minute." She murmured, one ear still swiveled back to what general area Koda was in behind her, and her other ear moving forward as heard someone inside the car groan.

She heard Koda take in a very quick, but albeit big breath, and then nothing as he held it in. It was silence from the young boy for a few seconds, before he let the breath back out, shaky, but slow. Spirit waited for a few seconds to let him repeat the process, listening to the sound of his breathing ease a little, and then his feet shift across the cement. "... Good, now are you okay? Are you hurt?" She asked evenly,

"... N-no, I'm not hurt... I... I'm okay..." His quiet and trembling voice reached her ears, and she let out a silent sigh of relief.

"Good." She murmured softly, "... Alright Anima, I'm gonna need you to help me with this, alright? I'll tell you what to do, but I'm gonna have to stay still and keep this car steady, so I'm not gonna be able to help out with much else, okay?" Spirit asked, quickly changing the subject and latching straight on to the issue at hand.

"U-uhm... O-okay... I... I'll try my best, Spirit-Sensei..." He replied softly, and she heard him move closer, moving around her a bit and coming closer to the car. She managed some small, strained image of him out of the corner of her eye, but not much else.

"... You'll do fine, just take it slow, and be careful." She murmured, "I need you to look in the car, alright? Tell me how many people there are, and how hurt they look, and if they're conscious, and responsive." She instructed steadily, and Koda mumbled a small 'okay' before carefully leaning down to look into the car. He paused for a second, sliding his boots across the cement and the glass littered about, sweeping it all to the side to clear a space for himself before he settled down onto his knees beside the car.

"... Sir...? Can you hear me? A-are... uhm... Do you think you can you move...?" She heard the young boy call out, and he earned a somewhat pained groan in reply.

"... Mm... Yeah... Yeah I... I hear you..." came a man's pained and rough voice from somewhere in the car, followed by grunting and things clattering to the floor. "... I... I can move, but I'm stuck in the seat, the seatbelt won't budge..."

"... A-alright sir, please stay calm and as still as you can for now... W...we're here to help..." Koda assured quietly, before straightening up a little to glance at the massive figure of Animal Spirit beside him. "Spirit-Sensei, there's only one man in the car... H-he's in the drivers seat, and he's banged up... B-but he's awake... A.. And I don't see any really big injuries, just a bunch of cuts..." Koda informed and Spirit's ears twitched in sign she heard him.

"Alright, how does the car look?" She asked, "Do you think you can get him out of his seat and out of the car?"

"U-uhm... M..maybe... the door's hinges on this side look pretty damaged, if I can get it off, maybe..." Koda replied, a little uncertainly. "... I might be able to bend the frame too, but... But you'll have to keep it up off the ground all the way, Spirit-Sensei... so it doesn't break and close again..."

"I can keep holding this up as long as you need." Spirit murmured, "I'll keep it still, see if you can get the door loose and make a big enough opening for both you and the other guy. If the car starts to pull apart or fall in on itself, stop, alright?" She shifted again to square her feet that little bit more, biting back the wince in her throat from the ache of her neck and the wound in her side.

"... his seatbelt is still fastened, yeah?" She asked,

"Y-yes."

"... Alright, we'll deal with that when we get there." Spirit mumbled, "Tell him to be patient, and ask him if he's pinned by anything. If he is, moving the car could make everything worse. If not, he needs to steady himself against the ground and the roof of the car with his hands."

"R-right...!" Koda replied quickly, ducking down again as he recanted her orders to the man and asked what she needed.

Her ears swiveled for a moment, her immediate attention on Koda and the man in the car fading as she took note of everything else around them. Though she couldn't see it, there were several voices now and sounds of orders being thrown around- some other Pros must have come to lend a hand while the police were called and on their way. She didn't recognize any of the voices though, but from the words being tossed about, she figured the other cars involved in the accident were as badly banged up as this one... And people were stuck in those too. Everything was now a bit of a rush, from the sound of it.

"... Lend me a hand with this here!"

"I'll start setting up barricades for the connecting streets!"

"The paramedics are about eleven minutes out!"

Her ears swiveled backward toward the street behind her, and to the sound of someone's feet there and the murmur of voices, and squeaking brakes. She guessed the feet belonged to the person who had said he would start setting up barricades... You know, so no other cars tried to come down this street, only to be met with the crash(es).

"... Spirit-Sensei, he says he's only stuck because of the seatbelt. T-the frame on that side of the car hasn't bent in enough to pin him." Koda's voice came back into the forefront of her attention, "I've told him to steady his hands against the roof... I'm gonna start trying to pull the door off, okay?"

"Got it." Spirit replied with ease, "... Be careful messing with the door and the hinges and whatever. The car destabilizing aside, I don't want you getting cut up on the glass or metal, okay?"

"Y-yeah, okay..." He replied softly. But Koda paused for a second, his hands wringing together in front of him as he glanced around toward the edges of the street and not the car itself, almost looking for something. Spirit couldn't see him looking around, but she figured he had yet to start with the door- she couldn't hear anything, let alone feel the car itself move against her body from where she was holding it.

"You okay?" She asked after a moment, and Koda jumped.

"Y-yes!" He answered quickly, "... I... uhm... Spirit-Sensei, I have an idea, but I need to call a few animals out first, is that okay...? I-it won't take me very long, and I'm not going to go very far.." He explained, and Spirit's ears twitched at the words.

Idea, huh?

"... If you think it'll help, go for it." She replied with ease, and his eyes widened a little in surprise at how quickly she relented. "Just do it as fast as you can, okay? And make sure to tell this guy to have a little patience..." She murmured, and Koda nodded firmly.

"I will!" He replied quickly, before he bent down a bit to get a look at the driver of the car. "Sir, I am going to be right back, please stay still! I-I'll help get this door off and the seat belt off soon, so please be patient...!"

"... mm... alright... just don't take too long kid." The man grumbled from inside the car, Koda straightened up, and with a last glance at the rigid figure of Animal Spirit, he quickly turned and headed toward the edge of the street, and to a drainage opening set into the pavement. Spirit's ears angled in the direction he moved off to, hearing the boy's hushed and slightly rushed words as he bent down to the pipe and cupped his hands around the edges of his mouth.

"Friends, please come! I need your help!"

... hmm... he calls all animals his friends, huh...? Wonder which ones he's hoping to get now...

She shifted a little and the car groaned, so she cursed herself in her head and did her best to ignore the quickly growing ache in her neck.

... but he has a plan, and he's thinking on his own a bit now... and despite being a little frozen at the start there, he's shaken that off too... so despite the less than ideal situation, it's sort of going smooth now...?

For now, maybe... shit Spirit, stop that.

"Animal Spirit, do you need help?"

She stiffened a little in surprise at the unexpected voice from somewhere to her left, she hadn't even heard anyone come close, and the voice immediately registered as familiar, though she hadn't a clue why. And without being able to move her head, she couldn't get a look at the owner either, but from the question (and the lack of sirens) she assumed it was another Pro Hero.

"Ah, apologies, I can see you're in a bind at the moment, and I doubt you recognize me by my voice." The voice went on, low and calm and flat, and she blinked, her eyes staring at the ground and the bits of jumbled metallic mess of the car in front of her face. She heard his feet get closer, "It is Killjoy, Animal Spirit. It has been some time since we've seen one another out in the field."

Spirit's red eyes flashed in recognition at the name, now immediately able to place the familiarity of the voice- Killjoy.

He was another Pro Hero who worked and Patrolled in Heiku alongside her, and for it she had met him on more than one occasion while on Patrol, though their interaction had always been fairly limited (as was normal, she made a habit of limiting interaction with all other Pro Heroes and... well, everyone really). He was fine, she supposed, she had never talked with him much on those few occasions of seeing one another, and she knew little of him. Generally he was a capable Pro Hero, and the things he dealt with always turned out okay, and he didn't seem like a terrible person... but he did come off as... Mm... What was the word...?

Placid

Of course that might be putting it gently, he was more or less very unexciting. He was very polite and professional with her, yeah, but he was very bland and he didn't really emote very well. He seemed mostly quiet and tired... And maybe that was par for the course, given what his Quirk was. She think she remembered it being called 'Lethargy', and it pretty much functioned as it sounded.

He produced some sort of gas or spore or whatever from his body that had the effect of making people drowsy and lose all energy and motivation. In essence he made people lethargic to an extreme... and it was a useful Quirk, especially against Villains, which surely accounted for the fairly steady popularity he had. And Killjoy was by no means as popular as Animal Spirit was, but he was popular enough here in Heiku to have his own little fanbase. And as far as she was aware, his general approval with the public and the police was pretty stellar for the world of Pro Heroes.

Unlike her, he was fairly well-liked by everyone.

"Ah, yeah, sorry I can't look your way..." Spirit mumbled in reply, "... As for help? I don't think so, I'm pretty sure Anima and I can handle this. So thanks, but I think we're good. You'll probably be more useful with the pileup over there." She murmured, shrugging her shoulders only slightly, and even that little bit was enough to make the car groan again.

"Anima... Your Intern, I assume?" Killjoy asked evenly,

"Yep."

"Well then, I suppose if you feel you have everything in hoof, I'll help somewhere else." He told her evenly, and she grimaced slightly at the sort-of joke.

Haha, very funny... Hoof cause I have hooves... Doesn't really help for being funny when your voice is robotic as can be, ya know.

"Don't hesitate to call if you do need help though, Animal Spirit." Killjoy went on, polite as ever it seemed.

"Will do." she mumbled, her ears angling with the sound of his footsteps as he headed away.

... Such a formal guy... A little odd too...

Her ears swiveled back when she heard Koda's footsteps getting closer, and followed by many more... Smaller ones...?

Huh

"Find who you were looking for, Anima?" Spirit asked once she figured he was close enough,

"Y-yes..!" Came the quick, slightly nervous answer. "C-come on friends, I need you to chew the wires here and... And here. Be careful please...!"

Chew the wires?

Spirit took in a deep breath, the scent of moisture, sewage, fur, dust, and other bits of old food flooding her nose- a telltale conglomeration of scents that she recognized near immediately as rat.

Spirit's ears fell back against her head slightly, remaining fixed in her place and her neck aching more with every passing moment as she felt tiny footfalls begin vibrating up to her through the concrete. The sound of said tiny footfalls as heavy on her ears as the scent was. And though she couldn't see them, the intensity of the scents and the faint, yet consistent sensation of warm bodies brushing passed her legs and feet was enough to tell her there was quite a few of the little things- Anima's little 'friends'. Who were called to help, and chew wires... which admittedly was not a terrible plan.

Rat's have sharp teeth, and they have been known to chew through a multitude of things, wires especially... metal too, sometimes. And there was no shortage of the creatures down in the sewers and the darker, less frequented places of the city.

Spirit let out a small breath, pushing her weight up against the car a little more- just to steady it that extra little bit- and the let herself lean against it enough she and the lump of metal were in some semblance of equilibrium with one another.

... my neck is gonna be sore after this...

Her ears flattened against her head a a sharp stab of pain raced through her side, before fading out into a heavy, hot throb that wouldn't let up.

... damn it... I hope I didn't pull any stitches or anything... I was not anticipating tackling a 3-ton car today...

She heard the unmistakable sound of gnawing teeth and claws scratching against metal and whatnot- and then the snapping of said wire, and the shifting of metal. The car groaned a little underneath her, and she felt it tremble a bit as the passenger side door loosened- though Koda's hands on it kept it from jerking loose right away. After a few more moments, Spirit felt the weight of the car lessen a little in tandem with the door being released from it's hinges and remaining wires. The heavy metal piece remained in Koda's hands for only a few moments as he quickly pulled it away and lowered it to the ground as gracefully as he could manage, moving it from blocking the space and careful not to crush any of the dozen or so little rodents milling around his feet (and Spirit's) and the wreck itself.

"I-i've gotten the door off, Spirit-Sensei...!" Koda announced quickly, his head tilting up toward her. "A-and the car seems to be holding... I'm going to try and bend the frame, and clear a path to get to the man in the car... o-okay?"

"Got it." Spirit replied with ease, her tone nothing but calm and Koda's eyes shined at how quickly she relented to his plan. And how quickly (and almost how thoughtlessly) she gave her permission to go ahead. She didn't even seem to pause.

He only asked for her permission and approval because he felt he should, though Spirit didn't really feel the need to have him do so. Koda seemed to have a pretty clear idea of what he needed to do, and she'd already warned him to be careful and what to watch out for- and he had thus far always taken her directions and warnings to heart, so she wasn't all that worried. He would be careful, and he'd already shown he could make decisions and come up with a plan without having to be directed every step of the way... his intervention with the street and the pigeons yesterday had been proof enough of that, even discounting his decision to call the rats for help with this.

She supposed it was a little show of respect he did ask though, and didn't just move ahead without looping her in... eh, he's not the sort of kid that would do that though, so maybe I'm not so surprised he asked me if it was okay or not.

Koda paused for a moment, staring up at Animal Spirit and her face that he couldn't see, awed for a few seconds, before a faint smile appeared on his face and he nodded firmly, and looked away.

"Sir, I'm going to try and clear a path to you now..! Please tell me right away if you think the car is moving too much, or you're in pain..!" Koda told the man in the car quickly, the soft and uneasy tenor of his voice fading slightly to something more firm and more confident. "My friends are going to come toward you, and try and clear away some of the debris blocking the way..! Please don't be scared of them, they won't harm you..!"

"... e..eh... okay kid... I'll let you know..." The man replied, a little uncertainly, "... they ain't gonna crawl all over me, right...?"

"... I'm sorry sir, but they might have to. They'll be able to chew through the fabric of the seatbelt, so you can get out." Koda explained quickly, Spirit heard the man let out a sigh.

"... okay... got it... just... I wanna get out sooner rather than later, so I'll have to suck it up I guess..."

"I will get you out as soon as I can sir, I promise..!"

Spirit let out a small breath at that, her lips pulling a little in the rhino equivalent of a smile.

Well Anima seems to have gotten a little more confident now... good. He's learning pretty fast, huh?

She listened to the sound of glass and metal moving, coupled with the gnawing of the rats and their feet across the roof of the car. She focused her attention on that and the feel of the car under her hold, wary of it beginning to slip or bend underneath her as the extra weight of the rats got added on, and Koda started in trying to move some of the bigger pieces of debris his friends could not. Though even with all the movement and whatnot, she didn't feel the car taking any turns for the worse, and after a few minutes she heard the shifting of debris stop and felt the weight in the car get heavier- Koda leaning against the edge of it and looking in as far as he dared without putting too much strain on the car, and Animal Spirit's neck.

"... alright sir, I have a path cleared for you. My friends are gonna start getting the seatbelt loose, please do your best to keep yourself steady as it comes undone." Koda instructed softly, there was a grunt from the man.

"... gotcha kid. Ready when you are.."

Spirit pushed her horn up against the frame a bit more, ready for the inevitably large shift that would come once the man's seatbelt was no longer holding him hostage in midair and hanging upside down.

All of the rats but three moved back out of the car, huddling up together off to the side of Koda and watching with intent, beady black eyes as their companions left in the car began to chew away at the fabric of the seatbelt. They were perched and holding to the armrests of the man's chair to keep themselves aloft, and moving carefully as they began to bite away at the section of the seatbelt near to the buckle that was jammed.

One of Spirit's ears swiveled right, momentarily distracted by the sound of approaching sirens, and faintly aware of the flash of red and white in the corner of her eye.

Paramedics are finally here then... Police too

Her attention snapped back to below her when the car bounced, the sound of the seatbelt recoiling as the tension got released and the man's full weight hit the roof of the car. There was an audible thud, and a groan from the man- and Koda sucked in a sharp breath of air.

"S-sir, are you alright..?!" Koda asked quickly,

"... Y... Yeah... Sorry... Guess I can't hold my own weight... I'm fine though... Just gotta..." He muttered, sounding a little annoyed, though only with himself. He huffed, grunting again as he shifted, trying to wriggle out of the awkward position he was in and get his legs down to the floor. Spirit grumbled internally, her eyes falling shut and holding her breath as she felt the car shake underneath her and let out a groan under the sudden movement and shift in weight.

... Shit...

"... Might wanna hurry Anima, the car is hating all the moving around..." Spirit murmured quickly, low enough only the boy would hear her words and not the guy in the car- you know, so he wouldn't freak out. Koda nodded stiffly, his eyes scanning the car and grimacing at the way it was shaking and making noise.

"... Sir, please move as carefully as you can...!" Koda instructed next, "... When you manage to get down all the way, please try and grab my hand, and I will help you out...!"

"... Kay..."

There were a few more tense moments of the man struggling to get all the way down from the seat, even desire the lack of a seatbelt- and all the while Spirit held her breath, hyper aware of every jump and jostle and metallic shift and grind of the car she was holding up off the ground.

... Crap... Crap... Please don't break, please don't fall... Come on...

The movement ceased for a moment with one last decisive thud, the man panting slightly from the effort of getting down onto the roof of the car and adjusting so he could potentially begin to crawl toward the exit. The roof caved in under his weight, and Spirit felt the lip of the frame her horn was tucked in under bend and give way a little- forcing her to lift her head higher to keep it in the same position it had been in.

Koda leaned into the car, his hand stretching toward the man and flinching a little when the portion of the car he leaned against bent under his weight. He heard Animal Spirit let out a grumble above him and his heart fluttered a bit, urgency kicking in higher.

His hand folded around the man's, immediately pulling back as hard as he could and still gentle enough not to cause harm. The man puffed a little as his body began to slide over the roof and toward the exit, his feet pushing to help himself along even as Koda pulled him.

The frame bent again under her hold, and she craned her already aching neck higher. The car shuddered, constantly creaking and letting out noise now.

... Tch...

The man was at the edge of the car, in the opening Koda and his friends had made as the young boy quickly adjusted his hold on the man's hand and shifted to grab hold of his shoulders, and help pull him the rest of the way out of the car.

Spirit felt the frame bend further against her, the tension of her hold slackening as she hissed- keenly aware of it and the possibility of her feet around both Koda and the man... You know, in case she had to-

There was an audible snap as the portion of the frame Spirit had her horn curled under suddenly broke off from the rest of the car- bending further toward as the rest of the car started to fall.

Shit!

Koda let out a startled yelp and the man did too, the younger male pulling a bit rougher at his shoulders and sending the both of them stumbling backwards from the car. Spirit reacted in the same instant Koda did, grunting as she quickly ducked her head and smashed her weight into the car, hard.

Doing so bent the frame in more, but she saved it hitting to the ground right away, and then pushed it forward a foot or two in the same instant, forcing her to take a few steps forward to keep up with it and still stay standing. There was a terrible sound of the metal scratching against the concrete, and glass clattered against the ground underneath her, crunching as she stepped over it- but even that unpleasant sensation under her hooves was drowned by the sudden sharp stab of pain running through both her side, and her forehead.

The sudden bout of movement slammed to a halt in the next instant though, pausing for a moment as the car slumped against the concrete further and collapsed against the roof almost completely, crushing the inside. Spirit's attention angled backward, aware of the sound of Koda and the man's breathing, but little else than that. She huffed and dislodged her horn from the mess of metal and whatever, shaking herself a little and turning to look back at them- and now finally able to actually see them.

"You two alright?" She asked, her eyes scanning Koda and the man where they were sitting on the ground about three feet behind her, slightly breathless and reeling- but they looked fine. Koda had managed to get the man all the way out of the car a few seconds before it gave out, and Spirit pushing it away saved them possibly getting crushed by it as it folded in on itself. Koda's little rodent friends had scurried back a bit further, startled by the sudden movement of the car, but they didn't leave entirely.

They all looked up at her, wide-eyed and quiet, her massive shadow falling over them as she blotted out the rays of the sun for a few seconds. And with the sheer black of her skin and coat, and the glare provided by the sun, she seemed little more than an eerie, formless pitch black shadow in air.

Koda gulped a little, but he quickly shook himself out and nodded at her, his eyes darting from the Pro and toward the man who's shoulders he was still holding on to. "I-i think so..." He murmured, scanning the man for injuries quickly.

"...uh... yeah..." The man mumbled, the shock wearing off a little as he looked down at his bruised and slightly bloody hands.

Spirit's shadow over them dissipated as her body got swept up in a black-red haze, and her form quickly reformed itself into that of her human one. She stepped lightly across the trail of glass she had left behind and toward the pair, taking a knee in front of them and her crimson gaze taking in an account of the cuts and bruises along the man's arms, and the bits of blood staining his pants around his right leg. Her hands reached forward as she gently moved the tattered fabric away, and she sighed internally at the small gash cut into the side of the man's calf... it wasn't too deep, though she was sure it stung pretty bad.

Though overall the guy didn't look like he had any broken bones, and he wasn't bleeding heavily from anywhere she could see. Spare the dozen or so cuts and nicks littering his person, and especially so on his hands- the worst bits were that one on the leg, and the dark bruising already forming from where the seat-belt had rammed into him. And granted his car had flipped and rolled several times, before promptly slamming into a several ton rhino- he was pretty well off, and very lucky he wasn't in any worse condition.

Spirit's eyes moved from her work and up, passing the man and Koda by as she spotted some of the ambulances nearby, and the multitude of people darting back and forth. She turned from that and looked over her shoulder a bit, looking out to the rest of the wreck (what little she could see of it from her angle) and the commotion there.

She hummed a bit under her breath and her hand moved behind her, tugging at the zipper of the bag strapped to her back and digging inside of it. "Alright, I'm gonna wrap this up for you, and then Anima will help you over to the medics." Spirit announced lightly, her hand in her bag closing around what she was looking for, and her other gesturing toward the wound on the man's leg. Said dude looked up at her instantly, and nodded in understanding as Anima did the same- his eyes moving toward Spirit, and then immediately his face fell as he sucked in a small, sharp breath of air.

Spirit didn't notice it though, her eyes fell on the two rolls of bandages she pulled out from her bag, looking them over for little more than a second- before replacing the one tied with a red rubber band back in her bag.

"S-Spirit-Sensei, you're bleeding...!" Koda stammered quickly as she started to unroll the bandages she had kept out, and she paused a bit, blinking in surprise as she glanced up to him, and then felt her heart sink.

Crap, did I really pull the stitches...?

Koda's hands were gesturing quickly though, and they were toward her face- so she instinctively brought a hand up and toward it, her fingers meeting sticky liquid dripping down from a small cut on the left side of her forehead, nearly hidden entirely by her bangs, if not for the trail of blood. She pulled her hand back and blinked at the bit of scarlet left behind, before letting out a small sigh and drawing the back of her hand across her face, wiping away the blood.

"Don't worry about it, it's just a scratch." She assured easily, casting the clearly nervous boy a small smile and shrugging her shoulders a bit. "That's what I get for headbutting a car... but really, I'm fine." She murmured, and he grimaced a bit, but nodded anyway. She looked from him and back toward the man, her attention falling on the wound and the bandages as she quickly wrapped it up- she heard the man stifle a wince.

"... thank you both." the man murmured softly once Spirit was done and she reached around to put the bandages back in her bag. Spirit nodded to the words with ease, and Koda did too, though he looked nervous with the show of gratitude.

"Of course." Spirit hummed, pushing herself up onto her feet and waiting patiently as Koda got to his, and helped the man up too. The young boy pulled the man's arm over his shoulder, stooping slightly from the height difference, but he didn't seem to have any trouble with the weight. Spirit glanced sideways toward the small group of rats huddled up near to them, their eyes watching Koda intently.

It was a good idea, calling them

She felt her stomach growl though, and the urge to catch and pounce and eat rose up in the base of her core, and she frowned.

... ugh, stop it.

She followed closely as Anima helped the man over to one of the ambulances, handing him off as a paramedic approached them and took over as the man's support. The man called one last thank you over his shoulder as he was lead away, and Koda's hand waved a little, his eyes lingering on their backs, before snapping to attention again and turning toward Animal Spirit.

There were dozens of people darting around, calling out orders, trying to help. The police were busy on barricades and setting up support areas with some of the Pros that arrived, and the rescue personnel were already hard at work trying to de-tangle the mess of cars and wreckage. From the bits of chatter she could catch, and the frantic movement of the medical personnel, she guessed there was at least one person with more serious injuries than the guy they'd just pulled out... she sighed.

... what a mess... didn't I ask for no hell?

Yeah yeah, the world says fuck me

"... what now, Spirit-Sensei?" Koda asked slowly, and she glanced his way, a small lull coming in for a moment.

"We'll help where we can." She murmured with ease, and he nodded. "Let's see if any of the others need us, and if your little friends can be of use again..."

"R-Right..."

"... good call, by the way." She added and he blinked in surprise, she tilted her head toward the congregation of rats still waiting nearby. "Calling them was a good idea, they're small enough to get in to tight spaces, and their teeth are a bonus. They're a good support for a situation like this." He blushed a little, nodding.

"O-oh... r...right..." He mumbled, and Spirit smiled faintly.

"Good job on keeping your cool too." She added in, he looked away sheepishly.

"... i... I didn't... I froze..." He mumbled, "... when the car was coming toward us... I couldn't even think... and y.. you... you reacted so fast... and after I just..."

"You did just fine." Spirit cut him off. "It was a scary situation, its natural to freeze like that- especially when this is your first accident." She explained, "And you calmed down quickly after that, and took control of the situation. You were collected and confident, and you got that guy out of the car and kept him calm too. You handled a very stressful situation well. I doubt most kids your age would have managed to calm down as as quickly as you did.... Let alone come up with a good plan on how to get the guy out of there." His eyes moved up from the ground and toward her slowly, looking a little unsure with the words and the... the praise.

Was she saying all of that to just make him feel better...? Or did she... mean it...? He didn't feel like he'd done anything special, or handled it as well as she said... he had been so nervous the whole time it had taken everything in him to just keep talking and focused.

"You gotta give yourself a little credit. This is your first internship, it's okay to be scared and nervous- and no one expects you to be perfect. You are here to learn, after all." She hummed, "But you are very good under pressure, and you are good at keeping a level head. Have a little faith in yourself, alright?" He stared a few seconds, his eyes glittering and his cheeks flushed, before he glanced down at his hands and nodded.

"... I... I'll do my best...!" He said in a hushed tone, and Spirit nodded. Her hands fell on her hips, before she cringed slightly and brought them back off again- bumping against the wound in her side without thinking about it, and hating herself for it. She bit back at the wince she nearly let slip, before sighing internally and dropping her hands, determined to shake it off and ignore the incessant throbbing pain.

... oh I am gonna be so sore tonight... damn it

"Cool, now let's see where we can lend a hand..."

"Y-yes, Spirit-Sensei...!"

.:+:.

Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though it wasn't too exciting! (And is lacking a certain winged someone...)

Assuredly there will be more Hawks and Spirit in the next chapter! So look forward to it!

Also- that picture up there is one u commissioned off a lovely artist on the BNHA Amino! Spirit looks like such a cheeky little shit XD I love it

Thank you so very much for reading!

Please Vote and Comment if ya can! Thanks!