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24. Pretend They're Not There

Rule 4: Blood ties are nothing.

Otsuka had got very good at pushing down her desperate desire to fangirl the last few weeks, being around heroes every day was bound to do that. But meeting Edgeshot was still an experience that defied words.

He was there to greet her at the door when she arrived at the front of an ordinary street of homes and he was glad to show her awestruck self around as she discovered the row was a facade for a huge complex. The ground floor was matted floors and soundproof glass walls as far as the eye could see, rooms with bright sofas and coffee tables were interspersed for breaks while weapons of all kinds lined solid, metal walls here and there.

Otsuka could hardly breathe. "Wow."

Edgeshot nodded. "I said the same thing when they finished the refurb two years ago. It is stunning."

It was nice to know Otsuka wasn't the only one who found a place like this breathtaking. It was also kind of strange to think of Edgeshot as someone human enough to have a similar reaction to her but obviously he was human because heroes were people too, awesome people, but still people.

"We use this floor for training, it's open for anyone to use, even to small clubs in need of a space to teach self-defence free-of-charge. We even pitch in to help teach sometimes."

Otsuka would so have signed up to those classes if she'd had the chance. Every single one. "Amazing." It also said a lot about this agency, they willingly offered this space for no fee to small businesses that would never normally be able to get their hands on anything close to this. They weren't the kind of agency focused on money and image, on a shiny title of number one being awarded to them. Otsuka definitely liked that.

"The levels below us are mostly offices for paperwork and official cases but above is the really important bit. Shall we?"

Otsuka gave him an excited grin and nodded, she liked to imagine he returned the smile but with his mask firmly in place, there was no way to tell. He led her through a corridor that ran straight through the centre of the ground floor and pressed the button for an elevator. While they waited, a question that had been nagging her came to the forefront of her mind.

"Um, Mr Edgeshot, sir?"

"Mr Kamihara will do while we're inside, Miss Otsuka," he corrected gracefully. Come to think of it, he was a graceful person in general and Otsuka really couldn't think of a better word to describe it than that. The way he moved was so fluid it was almost like every step bled right into the next, but then whenever he stopped he became a statue— he was one with the universe in such a way she could look straight at him and forget he was there. And thinking back, Otsuka only remembered hearing one set of footsteps, and they definitely weren't his.

This guy was an awesome ninja.

She giggled faintly at the unnecessary title in front of her name, it was just so formal, so grown up. When Principal Nezu said it, it sounded fine, but hearing others say it— mostly when they were unfamiliar with her— seemed so odd. "And just Otsuka will do while we're inside, Mr Kamihara."

He nodded softly, making it seem almost regal as he bobbed his head before a ding sounded and they stepped inside the open elevator. Plastic music played quietly as Otsuka suddenly remembered her question.

"So, well, I know a lot of the time hero agencies choose internships— especially first year ones—" she rushed to add, "b-based on, um, what the hero thinks they might be able to do with the intern's quirk."