UNMASKED (mha)

19

Aiko stood in front of a big building. It was tall and was covered with glass windows. The arch above the door had a metal silver lightening bolt on it.
Thunderstruck's famous symbol.

She gulped, she was already burnt out from the ride here. It was only thirty minutes, but it was thirty minutes on public transportation. She had rode there with a medical mask and headphones, but there still had been people staring. She was approached by four people.

One of of them was a mom with a young girl who actually asked for an autograph. She had given it, though she felt weird about it. She didn't feel like she was that big of a deal. But the little girl had looked up at her with the biggest, cutest eyes she'd ever seen and there was no way she was gonna say no to that.
If she hadn't been wearing her UA uniform they probably wouldn't have recognized her. But unfortunately that's what they were told to wear.

She gulped and opened the door, nervous twisting in her gut. She slipped in and looked around the wide space. Everything looked so slick and modern. There was white marble floors, in the middle there was another silver bolt.
The wide windows let in natural sunlight that illuminated the space perfectly. Aiko walked up to the front desk where a short woman with red hair sat. She looked like she would come up to Aiko's ribs.
"Hello! You must be the intern, Aiko Zhu?"
She said with a tilt of her head.

"Yes ma'am."
Aiko nodded.

"Alright, I'll show you to the room you'll be staying in. And then in a half hour Thunderstruck will be in from his patrol and he'll give you the tour and talk about what all you guys will be doing."
The woman jumped off her seat and stood. Dispite her Little Red heels she still didn't come up to Aiko's shoulders.
"Follow me!"

The short woman chirped as she started to walk her heels clicked loudly on the marble. She took twice as many steps as a taller people would have.
Aiko nervously followed behind her to her room.

It was on the fifth floor, it was just a simple room with a bed and some drawers. Plus it's own connected bathroom.
Aiko set her bags down and went to the bathroom to wash up a little bit before going back down stairs.

💖💖💖

Aiko stood stiffly in a waiting room with Thunderstruck's assistant. Who's name turned out to be Poppy.
Aiko didn't know what she expected to happen once that door opened, but it definitely wasn't this.

The door opened casually.
"Hey poppy can you-"
Aiko turned when the other girl's voice was cut off with a strangled gasp. There was a familiar girl standing by the door, she had burgundy hair that was long and somewhat frizzy and pulled back into a ponytail. She had think black glasses on her nose and freckles all over her cheeks and nose.

She had a white t shirt with an image of a purple mask on it, with a unzipped black hoodie over her shoulders and some baggy ripped jeans.

Aiko blinked at her for a moment and then gave a tiny wave.
"Uh, hi?"
She said meekly as the slightly younger teen just stared at her.

"P-poppy..."
She whispered slowly, eyes on Aiko.
"Um... w-whats going on?"

"This is the new UA intern, Aiko Zhu."
Poppy said, typing something on a tablet.

"I-I know who she is!"
The girl said with a red face.
"I-I just didn't know she was gonna be here."
She whispered, frantically zipping up her hoodie to cover the A.Z shirt that she was wearing.

"H-hey you're... Beatrice. Right?"
Aiko asked, remembering where she recognized her from.
"You were a VIP at the concert right?"

"You... you remember me?"
Beatrice asked with pure shock. Eyes wide and jaw slack.