"Wattz." A voice called for Shindo’s attention amidst the turmoil, reverberating through the room. All heads turned towards the voice, drawn to it’s frigid and analytical tone. Not one person resisted it’s temptation, each person shutting up and giving their whole attention to the woman who had spoken. As for Shindo, he momentarily forgot of his pain, captivated by the sheer coldness of the owner’s voice.

Lozen sat calmly, her arms crossed as she stared intently at Shindo. She had her shin raised and her brows a bit furrowed, a reaction disimilar to that of her coworkers. Yet it was her eyes that held Shindo’s full being. Her eyes showed worry, a sight Shindo felt compelled to understand. He couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine as her one word had brought order to the room.

Shindo gulped with expectation and anxiety as the cold woman opened her lips. "I want to know one thing before you decide on anything. Why did you fight Yata and Batoon?"

"Pardon?" Shindo asked, startled. "Could you repeat your question?"

This time, he scanned the heroine. He studied her body language, gauging each and every one of her reactions to his question. She shuffled nervously, yet maintained her cold gaze, pensive, and oddly worried. All around her, she received looks of disdain, but she was ignoring it, patiently looking for answers.

"I want to hear your reasons. Why did you fight Yata and Batoon? Why did you have to go the extra mile, and decide to fight both of them at the same time, even if they had exhausted each other prior to your involvement?" Lozen questioned. Glimmers of fear and worry were reflected on those onyx eyes, as she hid her trembling hand by crossing both of her arms. Her eyes were the same as Ben's when he fought Pyro. She was afraid of the answer.

And under that gaze, Shindo felt fragile. The nervous body language Lozen was showing contrasted very heavily with the calculating woman he had met a few hours ago. It was unbearable for Shindo. He did not want this look on her. He did not know why. He only knew that it reminded him too much of last week: of that fearful look in Ben and Angela when he fought Pyro.

"Both Yata and Batoon were risking my opportunity to gain a job," Shindo said frankly after taking a few deep breaths, hoping honesty would change those eyes. "Most of you here don't know it, but passing this exam is my last chance at life."

An introspective silence filled the room as Lozen's face darkened. The other heroes nodded, faking understanding of Shindo's predicament, but his focus was on Lozen, and Lozen alone. Her saddened look made Shindo even more uncomfortable than before.

"Yet, that’s not the whole reason." Lozen perked up, once again giving her full attention to Shindo's words. Her eyes showed a bit of light: a pure desire to know his reasons. He breathed a bit more, partially due to relief, and partially to ready himself to be fully frank with her.

"I’ll be very frank with you, Lozen. Their squabbles about power usage, their fight about Yata's boss, and lastly the two of them taking my exam as an opportunity to settle a petty vendetta annoyed me to no end. In fact, my initial plan was to only complete the main condition, that of rescuing the hostages. Yet, when they used my only chance to become a hero, they had annoyed me. So, that’s the whole reason I decided to fight them."

As Shindo finished his words, the faces of all of the heroes present became unreadable. Who could blame them? His words were a spit to whatever honor the heroes thought he had. Yet, those reactions were inconsequential, as Shindo only cared for how Lozen would react to his reasons.

Once again, her silence was different. In the span of a few moments, her face went from being angered, to being bewildered, and slowly but finally, relieved. Her eyes weren't on Shindo through the entire process, as she had to look away to collect her thoughts, but when she finally looked at him, he saw something he would never expect from her: Gratefulness.

Shindo’s hand vibrated a bit at this reaction. Why wasn't she angry? What was she so relieved and grateful for? His words, his honesty, should've harmed her! She should've shouted, cursed him at him, anything! After all, she was Yata's boss and her fight with Batoon earlier was the whole reason this mess had happened in the first place!

A memory of a man with a piss poor beard flashed through his head. All of this struck a curious nerve he thought he had lost four years ago. To think there was another hero he couldn't understand...

"Thank you Wattz for clearing my doubts," Lozen beamed him a small smile, snapping him out of his thoughts, "You can carry on picking a hero team."

No! The opportunity was slipping away! He racked his brain for a sentence, a question, words even. He needed to understand those eyes!

"Ahem!" Mute interrupted his thoughts by clearing his throat. "Let's get back on track."

Shindo clicked his tongue. Damnit! He wasn’t over with her!

"I'm truly sorry for the lack of control on our part, sometimes, conversations during board meetings can get a bit... heated." Mute bowed his head towards Shindo as an apology. He nodded, accepting the apology, but he still felt distressed at his loss.

"Seeing as we can’t reach an agreement on how to proceed with you, I will propose a vote of confidence with all heroes present to let Wattz choose what he wants to do.” Mute looked at all the heroes for their approval, most of which begrudgingly nodded. Once all of them gave their approval, Mute directed his attention back to Wattz, “Seeing as you are a very promising candidate, I will be giving you four options on how you can proceed now as a hero under The Heroes’ Operation Center.”

Mute stopped to wait for Shindo’s approval, to which Shindo nodded absentmindedly, accepting the notion.

Mute then proceeded to list off the four options. “Firstly, You can proceed as a solo hero temporarily, until we can find a team you can join. Your second and third options are to join the open invitations for both Ignia’s and Professor White's teams. Lastly, if and only if a person in this meeting extends an invitation to you, you can also choose to join their team. This last option depends on you and the people present here."

The last option momentarily shook Shindo out of his thoughts, a small smirk appearing on his face. Sometimes his cursed luck was useful for something.

"Mr. Mute, I can ask the people present on anything about their teamright? Like the composition and the modus operandi?" Shindo asked, hope stuck in his words. Ignia and Profesor White scowled a bit, but they where expectant nonetheless. Fuzzbuz had a bright smirk, while Steadfast and Noire studied him intently

"Of course, you can!” Mute smiled, clasping his hand together, “Feel free to ask whatever you want."

"Thank you." Shindo nodded to Mute and shamelessly turned his attention to Lozen. "Miss Lozen, could you please elaborate on how your team works?"

The question resounded around the room, shock spreading through all of the heroes. A shock that quickly changed into coldness. Yet, Shindo didn't care. He needed to know more.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Um, me? Are you talking to me?" Lozen pointed at herself, flabbergasted.

"Let me rephrase my question," Shindo cleared his throat. "I'm interested in joining your team. Could you please explain the modus operandi of your team?"

Lozen's eyes bulged at Shindo's words, but the interesting reaction came from the other heroes, whose eyes carried aggression. All except for Ignia: that man looked amused by how this was going.

"Yo- You want to go to her team?!?!?!?" Steadfast exclaimed in frustration. "You want to be under her, of all people?!?!"

"Steadfast, you will not speak like this about one of our own!" Noire reprimanded him, yet her eyes were as sharp as a dagger. She then turned her attention to Shindo. "Wattz, you want to be on Lozen’s team? Can I ask for your reasoning?"

"But She is--" Steadfast started arguing.

""Shut it!"" Noire and Mute glared at him, making the gruff hero shrink with a huff.

Now that he looked at them, he found this reaction weird. Why were they so apprehensive of him being under Lozen?

"Ms. Noire, I mean no disrespect, but shouldn't you let Ms. Lozen answer my question first?" Her eyes grew sharper at Shindo's suggestion. "As for my reasoning, I fear I have to keep my reasons private."

Throughout all this, Lozen started to digest Shindo's words. At first, the sudden drop of his desire to join her team left her as surprised as the others, but now she was unreadable, cold, calculating. What could she be thinking of?

"You know Yata is my subordinate, right? That I was partially the reason your exam was boycotted?" Lozen asked, leaning forward.

"I figured," Shindo shrugged. "After all, you were the only one who was willing to ask for my reasons to fight him and Batoon."

Lozen kept staring at Shindo. She continuously scanned him up and down, to see if he was lying. After she determined Shindo spoke truthfully, she proceeded to answer his question.

"My team is unorthodox by nature. We don't take group or full team missions often, something that is more common amongst other hero teams. However, we make up for this by focusing on solo and duo missions."

These words gained the scorn of Steadfast, Professor White, and Ignia, but Lozen wasn't done with her description.

"Still, we don't interfere a lot with the other member's jobs, unless it is absolutely necessary. However, your proposition to join my team can change the infrastructure greatly. Can you allow me to be frank, Wattz?"

He nodded, intrigued by her seriousness. Lozen leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table while visibly straightening up.

"My team values comradery and individuality. Each of the members gives something unique to the team to help build it into something better. I'm sure you can give something new to my team, especially with the gadgetry and fighting potential you showcased during your exam. However, I do not know how the rest of the team will act, after the humiliation you put Yata through. In short, you are an unknown chaos factor for my team."

Lozen stopped for a bit, letting her words sink in. Her attention was solely on Shindo's reaction, who was intently waiting for her to continue.

"At best, almost all of the members will be indifferent to you. At worst they'll all be hostile. No matter how good you are in a fight or at rescuing hostages alone, it still doesn't change that you joining is a risk to my team's integrity and morale. No, scratch that. Having you join is a gamble. A high risk, high reward gamble. I would be boosting the individual capabilities of my team, but it can come at the cost of infighting and possibly a rupture in the team. So Wattz, those are my thoughts on the matter.”

Shindo's shoulders dropped at Lozen's words. Even if her cold words stung, Shindo had to respect her. Out of all the heroes present, she was the most honest when speaking about their team.

"However,” Shindo perked up to look at Lozen, surprised that she wasn’t done. Her eyes were firmly set on Shindo, challenging him with a small little glint he didn’t recognize, “If you are willing, do you want to take this risk? Do you want to gamble with me and join my team? Even after knowing the possible consequences of you joining?"

A faint smirk appeared on his lips. Interesting! Lozen was truly a fascinating person!

"I’ll join!" Shindo replied ecstatically, without a hint of hesitation. “Let's see how far this gamble of ours plays out.”

Lozen mirrored his statement with a cold smirk of her own. "Fine then. You are to report yourself to my office on Monday. Take this weekend off to mentally prepare yourself."

With those words said, a collective sigh rang throughout the room. Most of the people present seemed exhausted or frustrated. Professor White looked dejected because Shindo did not go with him, while Ignia had a hungry grin directed at Lozen.

"You all heard the newbie. All present are witnesses to Wattz officially becoming a newbie under Lozen's jurisdiction." Noire waved her hand dismissively. "Are there any complaints?"

None of the heroes present raised their voices, but a few remained with uneasy and even mildly annoyed expressions.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, this meeting went for longer than we intended." Mute slumped on his chair, exhausted. "We have other matters to attend to. Lozen, Ignia, and Wattz, all of you can retire, and may you have a good rest of the day."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Two hours after the meeting ended Lozen gave out a long sigh. After the meeting, Keff and Loup held her back since the five judges had to write another report about the hero exams and they needed her input. That had also taken longer than expected, but thankfully she finally had a few moments for herself.

She pinched the bridge of her nose as she exhaled in frustration. That meeting was still nagging at her head. The headaches she would receive from Yata's possible apprehension were the least of her problems. How the hell was she going to explain this to Ace?

"Congratulations, Lozen." A familiar yet irritating voice rang from behind her. Oh, for fuck's sake! She truly couldn't catch a break today, eh?

"Good afternoon again Ignia, can we please leave this for later?" Lozen greeted while rubbing her temples. "Today has been a long day, and I need some peace and quiet right now."

For a second, Ignia's smile dropped. "Lozen, you know exactly what I'm here for."

"And my answer is still no." She scoffed. "I will not give you my team. Especially now that I have to guide a new member."

"Really, Lozen? That's how you're going to do it?" He said venomously.

Lozen was about to retort, but she saw an angry glimmer in Ignia's eyes. He was trying to aggravate her. She breathed a bit and gave him her back.

"Lozen, don't you dare give me your back!" His voice grew colder as he pointed at her, "We both don't want the full content of the Balancer Incident to come out!"

She turned her head sideways, her cold glare accompanying a crazed smile as she finally got a picture of what Ignia wanted. "Now I see it! You wanted Wattz for a plan of yours! but since you couldn't get him, you are resorting to taking control of my whole team, again."

Her smile disappeared, as Ignia's face stiffened. "What do you want from me? From Wattz? From My team?"

The man stood still, a frigid glare present on his face. A cold glare that Lozen always found ironic from a hero named after the Latin word for ignite. However, she had other things to attend to. She was done for the day, and she wasn't going to humor him any longer.

"Thank you for the lovely words, ‘Top Hero’. May you have a good afternoon." She said sarcastically. She lazily waved at him as she turned away and started walking.

"Don't make the wrong decision, Lozen." She heard him say. She didn’t bother looking back.

"Since when do I follow your orders, Ignia? I'm not your subordinate." She replied nonchalantly. With those, Lozen left the 'top hero' alone to wallow in his loss. As she walked her annoyance quickly changed back to worry as she started replaying today's events in her head.

Wattz confused Lozen a lot. She had advised him on joining a normal team, but why did he want to join her team? He was a gadgetsmith after all! But that fact brought his fighting skills to question. She knew for certain that those were not the moves of an amateur, but of someone who’s out of practice. So where had he learned to fight? And those gadgets... Her powers had reacted to them momentarily, even with her limiters on. Was there more to them apart from power nullification?

Her head started hurting as her thoughts spiraled out of control. Too much thinking. She needed a break.

Thankfully, her cellphone's ringtone interrupted her thoughts. She took it out of her belt, as she made her way down to the lobby. A text from Jack Ace illuminated the screen as she opened the passcode. She read it and gave a small groan.

That text brought in a new headache for the heroine, enough for her to quickly respond to him that she was going to Third Rail. Too much has happened today, enough for her to go out for a Frappuccino.

[Arc 2 end]