Lozen let out a heavy sigh as she finally sank back on her office seat. Yata and Wattz didn’t like each other, that much was a fact, but their affinity as a pair was even worse than what she expected. The bad blood between was thick enough that she half-expected them to fight or argue or something along those lines before they even left for the StreetSenders HQ.

Their attitude also didn’t help. Yata was too overly cautious of Wattz. She couldn’t blame him, because she couldn’t fully trust him either, but at least he should stop glaring at him. That was doing more harm than good. Wattz wasn’t helping his case either. He is too knowledgeable and free-spirited for his own good, and that translates directly into his reckless demeanor during fights. Added to that, she suspected that he knew more than what he revealed during their talks, specially with how he oppenly spoke about his gadgetry. And that is a minus for Lozen.

At the very least, there was some glimmer of hope for the two. For once, both respected Lozen enough to not start a fight right in front of her. They also listened to her orders, even with their mutual disdain for each other being very obvious. Or at least she could trust Yata to follow her orders.

Knowing him for some time now, she knew well enough that he would at least obey her rules to prepare for this mission. After all, he wouldn’t disobey her again after last Friday’s mess. The only question remanining was how long could Yata restrain his anger for Wattz?

Yet, that left Wattz's future actions in the air. After what Yata showed her this morning, Lozen gave him a small test, just to see how perceptive he was. During the debriefing, she let both Wattz and Yata in on a bit of the state of HOC's management to see if Wattz would pick up this small detail, which he did and even commented on it. That abnormal level of perception, along with his skills as a former gadgesmith, made him a monster of a newbie.

Yet, that’s where her main issues with the man came into play. Skill alone doesn't determine how he fits in a team and his trustworthiness, especially with how closed off he felt. Both the impromptu interview and the debriefing had given her the impression that Wattz only spoke openly if he deemed it was neccesary to do so. With that closed mentality, she could help but question why he wanted to join her team in the first place. What was his goal in all of this?

Her mind spun with worry as she leaned her head back. That final thought caused her anxiety to peak, leading to a small headache. She decided to put her thoughts on her subordinates aside and focus on the information HOC had given her on the StreetSenders Case.

Lozen took out a copy of the mission report and started analyzing it again. When she had read it in the morning, she thought it was a nice case for Wattz, since he had shown promise with his scouting skills during his preparation for the exam. However, the more she read into this, the weirder it got. This mission was a bit more involved than what the Board usually sent her. Why? Who in the Board wanted to help her team? Or worse, who wanted them to fail this mission?

As soon as she thought of that, Lozen lightly tapped her cheeks with her hands and shook her head. Yes, it was weird, but the mission was meant to only be a reconnaissance mission, so it had low stakes and was relatively safe. Apart from that, both Yata and Wattz could take care of themselves, even if they hated each other's guts.

With that little positive hope in her mind, Lozen calmed herself and sat back down to start summarizing a field report HOC had commissioned for her. She kept at it for a few minutes until a text a call propped on her phone, causing Lozen to scream in surprise. Taking a few seconds to calm down, she took the call, where she heard a hearty laugh in her ear.

“Hey boss-woman! I needed to talk to you about the Dregs,” Janus spoke in between laughs. This blindfolded asshole!

"God fucking damn it, Janus! Give me a fucking break for once!" she cursed, slamming her fist on the table, only for her moan in pain a few seconds after followed by more of Janus’s laughter.

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

At this exact moment, Yata was so frustrated he was starting to feel tired. His limbs were screaming at him just to hit someone, something, as he did maintenance on his wooden knife. Every fiber of his being rushed to his head, telling him to stay alert, to not let up. But the worst of it all was that the cause of his frustration was right in front of him, checking up on his damn gadgetry.

Ever since Lozen left the mission room, Yata had been trying to get another read on Wattz. He just couldn't understand what was the deal with him. That green-clad bastard did everything with a smirk, be it talking about his personal gadgetry or pummeling someone to the ground right after insulting them.

"... Not only that, but you bailed on me and then threw me after I helped you. Is this how you treat your allies? By throwing them?"

Just thinking of those words made Yata's blood boil. He stopped cleaning and oiling his wooden blade, and started trying to calm himself down. His breathing quickened as he looked away from Wattz, putting all of his focus on his hands, which was clenched into a fist.

After a minute or so, he managed to breathe out most of his anger. As frustrating as Wattz was, this wasn’t the time to disappoint Lozen again. From what he overheard last weekend, from her conversation with Jack Ace, Steadfast was considering the option of expelling Yata from the center, again. And once again, he owes Lozen for saving his stupid ass.

"Cat," Wattz spoke up, breaking Yata's chain of thought. He turned towards him with ire in his voice.

"Please, do not call me by anything other than 'Yata'," He responded.

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"Whatever you want, Yata," He answered back while crossing his arms, "I've finished with my setup. You're done with your knife?"

"I'm not done with mine," Yata answered, shaking his knife, "If you want, you can wait for me in the entrance lobby as I finish my preparations."

He was expecting a snarky comment from Wattz, but the newbie hero remained staring at him. Yata tried to ignore him, but there was something that forced him to study this damned bastard. His stance and his crossed arms betrayed nothing. His string visor denied Yata the possibility of seeing Wattz’s eyes, hiding his thoughts and feelings on whatever passed his mind. Only the small twitches of his mouth gave the slightest hint that he was displeased with the cat hero.

Yet, with each passing second, Yata started inching away from Wattz. He was staring for longer than what he felt comfortable with. Like if Wattz was slowly opening and reading him like a book, learning every minute detail.

His hand started shivering under the unrelenting gaze. Questions started flooding his mind the more the silence grew between them. Why was he so unreadable? How did he know of Lozen's fight with Batoon? Was he telling the truth before? Is he trustworthy?

It was only a few moments, but Wattz had Yata doubt himself. Yet, as if it were but a mere illusion, an irritating smirk graced his lips. A familiar shit-eating grin Yata was all too familiar with.

Yata immediately glared back at Wattz, signaling him to stop it. The newbie's face went back to a more neutral face and went to the doorway of the mission room. His smirk never left his face as he closed the door behind him. And as quickly as Wattz left, the tension in the room evaporated, yet Yata noticed he was sweating. His breathing quickened as he tried to analyze what had just happened.

His actions right now confirmed his biggest worry yet. Dangerous. Wattz was utterly dangerous.

A cracking sound on his right, followed by a black flash and a stinging pain on his right arm, broke Yata away from his thoughts. His breathing quickened again. He grasped the small silver limiter on his arm. His powers had activated again! No!

His gritted teeth helped dull the pain of the forceful deactivation of his powers, but it did nothing to repel his memories. A smile. A woman in his arms. Cold. Another was on her knees beside him. She screamed. Blood had almost blinded her. Another scream. Unrecognizable to him. Manic laughter. Everything is dark.

He felt sting after sting on his wrist, until his burning body started to calm down. He focused on slowing his breathing, as he forced himself to bring out his treasure. His hand went to his back pocket, taking out out a small clover necklace, clutching it tightly in his hand. He whimpered a bit, but he caught himself, gritting his teeth in an attempt to restrain his pain.

A few more minutes and the stings from the limiter had stopped, and thankfully, Yata's powers were no longer active. The cat hero slumped on his seat and breathed out his worries. He tahnked his cursed luck that no one was in the room, or he wouldn't be able to bear the consequences. Not after what happened during that incident.

Shaking that last though out of his head, Yata slowly eased himself back to tending his knife. Slowly, Yata cleared his head as he worked on oiling and sharpening the weapon. The repetitive actions calmed him after a bit, but he still felt unsettled. How long has it been since his powers had activated like that?

His thoughts shifted back to Lozen. His kind-hearted yet cold-blooded boss helped him every chance she had, yet he only managed to cause her trouble. Sometimes, Yata still wasn't sure what she wanted from him when she asked him to join her team all those years ago. Yet now, he owed her twice over, and he paid that kindness of hers by only giving her more trouble as the years went on.

With a heavy sigh, Yata went back to treating his blade, managing to complete maintenance in about three minutes. Sheathing it, he went out of the mission room, walked through the hallway, and back into the entrance lobby, where Wattz was patiently waiting for him while reading the book. The green-clad hero already put his green jacket on, which defined his biker look. However, Wattz’s relaxed reading posture contrasted with his more rebellious appearance, which Yata found both cool and mildly irritating.

Deciding to ignore him, Yata made his way to the coat hanger, where his sleeveless hoodie was hanging from. He slowly put it on and raised his hoodie up to cover his blond hair, before Wattz spoke up.

"'Bout time," Wattz commented, not even bothering to look up from his book, "Didn't know maintaining a blade lasted that long."

"I was also reviewing the mission report," Yata lied, "I'm not in the mood to disobey Lozen again."

"Oh? So you've disobeyed her before," Wattz prodded, a mocking grin spread through Wattz's face. Yata rolled his eyes.

"That's my problem to think about, not yours," Yata responded coldly. Wattz seemed to want to continue but he gave a sudden glance at Yata's hands.

"What's that?" He asked, a bit of curiosity laced on his voice.

Yata tilted his head in confusion as to what the newbie was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"That, on your right hand," he pointed towards Yata's right hand, "What is it?"

It was then that Yata noticed that he was still gripping the clover necklace on his hand.

"That..." He started saying with his eyes wide open, but as soon as he considered who asked the question, his eyes grew cold. "That is none of your concern,"

Seeing as he wasn't going to get an answer, Wattz closed his mouth, but a faint irritating smirk graced his punchable face. Yata quickly hid the necklace in his back pocket, before giving a glare to the green-clad hero. Wattz didn’t react to the glare as he seemed to be considering something, evidenced by how he silently stood and casually walked to the main exit.

"Well, what’s not my concern, doesn't involve me. So, let's move onto things that concern both of us." He said waving his hand, making Yata want to spit.

"Oh, shut it, smartass. We have a mission to fulfill. The quicker this is done, the less I have to see you today." Yata remarked as he made his way towards the doorway.

"This goes both ways." Wattz crossed his arms as Yata stood in front of him. "You don't like me; I don't like you. At the very least, let's try not to kill each other, alright?"

His cockiness was at full display here, making it all the more irritating for Yata.

"You really like having the last words." Yata smiled wryly, irked at Wattz's bluntness.

"It's who I am," He shrugged.

"Well then, let's get this on with. I still have paperwork to complete after this." Yata answered back, cracking his neck.

"Yes, yes, Cat. Whatever you want." Wattz dismissed, having his hands dismissively as he made his way out.

"I told you not to call me 'Cat'!" Yata growled as he followed through to start their duo mission.