After hanging up, Rose led Snow into the academy, her mind occupied by the news of Arcane 1C, so much so she couldn't hear Snow calling her. A sharp pinch snapped her back to reality
The receptionist was looking at her, face contorted in annoyance. "Ma'am, you've been standing there for two minutes, can I help you?" The receptionist' words made her look around, where people were staring, some contemptuous, some irritated.
"Sorry about that. I'm here to leave this girl. Call Aki Hoshino down to get her" she was about to leave when the receptionist spoke up again
"Ma'am, I'll need your name to provide to Aki Hoshino."
"Rose.....Rose Hoshino" Maybe it was because of the scarf and glasses, but no one had realized who it was until she said her name. Rose Hoshino. One of the city's S rank Heroes
Ripples went through the area, the receptionist' face paled instantly, most of the parents went from looking at the retreating Hero to the white-haired girl standing at the front desk
Just then, a pair of footsteps descended from the staircase, Aki and Sam walked came down, laughing. Aki's steps faltered when he saw Snow staring at him. "Winter?" He paused, his eyes immediately circling the people who were looking at him."What are you all looking at?" His voice came out cold and reproachful.
Everyone, including Snow, the receptionist and Sam were shocked by his change in attitude, it happened so fast and so seamlessly that you couldn't catch it if you didn't know his well enough
Snow offered a faint smile, before turning to the receptionist, "can I go?"
"S-sure" the receptionist scrambled with a document before handing it to Snow. "Here's your visitor's pass"
Snow, after receiving the pass, nodded, then two slow steps towards Aki, keeping her eyes away from his, face redening slightly
"Sam. Get an extra drink. I'll be in the council room" he patted Sam's shoulder, then gave him a subtle push, before turning around. "Miss Claudia, didn't these people come for something? Why are they still looking at me?"
"What's with the mood swings today Hoshino?" She laughed awkwardly, waving over the next person in the room, "ease up"
"Its not about mood swings. I just don't like people looking at me as I'm a spectacle to behold" he smiled back, before taking Snow's hand and leading her towards the stairs
Out of sight, one of the parents asked Claudia who Aki was
"Aki Hoshino? That's the young master and the youngest sibling of the three children of the Hoshino family" at her words, everyone looked up at the stairs, suddenly coming to an understanding.
In the council room, he had Snow sit on a chair, and he crouched down in front of her. "So. What's with the sudden visit?"
"Shy...."
"You're shy? What about what you were doing yesterday?"
"It was all in the moments....."
His smile froze at the comment, her words climbing to the tip of his tongue. "All in the moment...Right, anyways, Why'd you come here?"
"To see if I'll like it enough to actually attend"
Across the City, in a remote, secured Military station, Rose, along with five other S rank Heroes were being escorted down an elevator. After twelve floors, they reached a red room, lined with multiple cells, each with two people inside
Walking past, some of the inmates started banging against their cells, hurling curses at the Heroes, oddly enough, no one insulted Rose, only the other five heroes
"Ms Rose, seems these criminals really like you, even though you've put of them in here than us" one of the heroes, Ben Collins chuckled, nudging Rose, "what's your secret?"
"Be more deranged than they are... I don't mind killing one of them if it sends a clear message" The smile on Ben's face froze, before collapsing into a look of shock. "Hold on, have you actually?...."
"Do you see any leaders among these goons?"
"Kate. Let's switch spots, I genuinely feel like Rose might just throw me in there for talking the wrong way"
Rose gave him a wry smile, waving him off, "i have no reason to do that"
The guard leading them, urged them to hurry up to where he was, he was standing in front of a lage, glass door, inside was a large, lizard like creature, that towered over them in size, its movements sent mini vibrations through the ground, so faint only the most perceptive could feel them
Disaster generation five. The Mass Lizard..
"This monster, as those who fought it may know, can split its body into tens of smaller lizards, each calculated to be as strong as a higher scope C Rank Hero. Collectively, it is a mid tier S rank calamity
"Mid S Rank calamity? Is this the breach you were worried about? Every S Rank here is at least Tier ten, so a tier seven monster shouldn't be an issue...What a waste of my time, i was worried for nothing"
Back at Central academy, Elena had just come out of the training hall when she ran into Sam, who was holding four cans of drinks
"You're running errands now?" Elena took two of the cans from him, raising an eyebrow, "Aren't you the president?"
"Its not about the title Elena." He leaned in closer to her ear, "you should've seen him downstairs"
Elena's curiosity flared, and she pressed him for details, asking him all sorts of questions – what happened?, was it something out of character? Was it shocking?
Feeling overwhelmed, Sam raised his hand to disrupt her rapid fire questioning, "You can ask about it in the council room"
"The council room? Why the council room?"
Instead of answering, Sam just winked, smiling mischievously. "You'll see..."
In the city, Chloe arrived at the Heroes Association building, palms slick, pulse quick
Inside, the lobby was overflowing with people, all of them holding their documents, they had come to register
Chloe slowly approached the front desk, as she walked, pairs of eyes stared in her direction, murmurs following right after
"Excuse me. I'd like to reactivate my license"
"Miss Chloe. You're rejoining the association?" The clerk looked ecstatic, his fingers flew over the keyboard, filling in details. "When would you like your status to become active"
"In one week. Thanks"
Back in the council room, Aki was busy arranging documents, while Snow was busy fiddling with the strands of her hair, both unaware of the door that had just opened
"V-vice president. Mr Mason's asking for you. He said you should bring your assignment along..." The student trailed off, suddenly turning red from embarrassment. The person on the chair in front of him was looking at him, straight in the eyes
"Where is he?' Aki's voice snapped him out of his daze, and he scrambled to look away. As he was, his interface chimed in his head, filling his vision with its blue screen
[SOF]
[Random student #9]
[Curse detected: Current mental fortitude cannot withstand – Cupid's Curse]
Seeing this, Aki walked up to Snow, then covered her eyes, but his gaze was locked on the student. "Well?" His voice was strained, almost hostile
"T-the staff room..."
Aki waved him off, waiting until the student had left before whispering, "Don't do that"
"I can't control it..."
"Actually. It's not that hard, just think of something, or someone you know it won't affect. Like me"
Snow softly tapped on his hand, nudging it, he lowered it, and the glow in her pink eyes had subsided. Replaced by a pale, less intense pink, "you should get going..."
After he left, Snow leaned back in her chair, taking deep, slowly breaths. A single thought flashed in her mind 'Mine'
The door opened, and Sam along with Elena walked in, carrying the drinks. "Oh. Who's that?" Elena whispered to Sam, looking at Snow, "she's cute"
"Why are you asking me? You can ask her can't you"
"Hi. I'm Elena Miller" Elena took a step forward, handing Snow a drink, smiling still. "You are?.."
"Winter"
"Winter...'That sounds like a cute nickname' is that your real name?"
"Yes"
: Generation five
Is a classification of threats that exceed Normal S rank Heroes. S rank Heroes are ranked by their strength class
1200 STR is considered the base Norm for S ranks, 1600 is considered upper lower tier, 2000 is considered middle tier, 3000+ is considered elite or the equivalent of a tier 10+
STR is the value of mass destruction that an individual is capable of. 500 is considered the level of MD that can affect 40 kilometers of radius of complete annihilation, plus an additional 5 kilometers of overlapping effect
As the heroes were preparing to leave, the alarms started blaring, every entrance closed off. The large Glass doors fell and exploded on the floor, the mass lizards' eyes glowed red, its teeth expanding
Rose turned around, in time to see the monster stepping out, glaring in her direction. Sensing something unusual, Rose activated her interface
[SOF]
[Threat assessment: Core compromised mass lizard]
[STR rating : 3000- 3500+ estimate]
"What? Its been buffed somehow..." She immediately took a fighting stance, summoning her twin daggers
"Four of you, keep the rest of these prisoners from escaping. Ben contact the association, have them activate Chloe's license immediately. This thing won't be easy to keep down"
At the association, Chloe was about to get into her car when the clerk came out running, Clutching a phone in his hand. "Miss Chloe, priority call. From S rank Ben Collins and, you're being requested by S rank Rose Hoshino"
"Is there something wrong?"
"Yes. A generation five calamity has been compromised and artificially boosted. Its rating now exceeds three thousand STR"
"Three thousand? Rose should be plenty capable of handling that...."
"Its a Mass Lizard ma'am"
"What?!" Chloe was shocked, mass lizards were notoriously hard to deal with, their tough and toxic scales were a nightmare for S ranks to deal with. Taking a deep breath, Chloe addressed the clerk, "activate the license. Where's the location?"
"East Bunk"
"Alright" Her interface appeared, eyes glowing, with a powerful thump, she leaped high into the air, before kicking against the air, propelling herself out of view in am instant"
At Central academy, Aki was making his way to the staff room when his eyes flashed. His interface popped up in his vision
[SOF]
[Curse: Dead lights active]
[Threat to Familial marked detected, east of central academy]