"Why are you in Tensei's suit?" I ask the young man, discarding his helmet on the floor of the car. He's very handsome with his dark hair and undercut. It's a little disheveled from the helmet, but I can tell that normally, he keeps it well groomed. The little indention on his nose indicates that he wears glasses when he's not wearing his headgear.
"It is against the law to be in a moving vehicle unbuckled" he states, gesturing to my seatbelt with a stiff arm and open hand. I can tell he's not going to talk to me until I comply with the law. Well... mostly comply. I'm not letting him go just yet.
"Tell me why you're wearing that suit and bear the Ingenium symbol on your arm." I say while clicking my seat belt into place. Martac makes no move to do the same.
"He's my brother"
"So that makes you Tenya Ida" I put together, I glance down at his calves. "Strong family resemblance"
"You know my brother?"
"I do" I explain.
"Then why don't you know that he's retired?"
"We lost touch awhile ago" I recall sadly, turning my head to look out the window.
"How did you get into the safe?" He asks after a few moments of silence like he can't help himself.
"My quirk"
"I would like more information than that" he states. I turn my head back to him with a smirk
"So you can tell on me and get me thrown in jail?" I tease
"I will have to submit an accurate report of this incident, yes" he's honest. I like that.
"It's called 'access'." I admit
"Kagi!" Martac scolds.
"He won't be able to figure out who I am anyway. And his brother will cover for me. He owes me" I make eye contact with Martac through the rear view mirror, winking at him.
"My brother will do no such thing!" Ida says in disgust as if I have the nerve to even suggest such a heinous thing. Dude needs to relax.
"Sure he won't" I chuckle
"What does your quirk do?" Ida narrows his eyes at me.
"Lock my car door" I say, staring directly at Ida. He leans toward me, wary, as he reaches over and manually flips the lock.
"I don't understand" Ida looks confused. He seems to need things spelled out more than his brother does. He leans back to his side of the seat.
"It renders locks null and void." I touch the handle on the door and the lock pops open. I cross my arms and sigh, tired of this conversation. "Anything I touch that has a lock will unlock. Safes, doors, phones, diaries, windows. Literally nothing can be locked up tight enough to keep me out. And I can't turn it off."
"How do you lock your front door?"
"Electronic locks. App on my phone"
"Clever" he praises and a little warmth swells in my chest.
We're getting close to the next job and we have to dump Ida soon. It's bad enough that he witnessed us on our bank job. I could call my friend to wipe his memory, but a gut feeling tells me I shouldn't. Tensei's younger brother doesn't deserve the literal headache that will come with that kind of memory wipe.
"This is your stop" Martac pulls the car over and gets out, knowing without asking that this was my plan.
Ida's door is still locked so I unbuckle myself and reach across him, getting my face closer to his than it needs to be.
"Kagi's not my name, by the way. Sorry about this" I whisper, my breath fanning his face. Thank fuck I had the foresight to chew some gum after I finished my coffee.
Martac rips Ida out of his seat, tearing the seatbelt that he didn't have time to take off. My friend punches the side of the hero's head, rendering him unconscious. I catch him, lowering him to the ground gently and cushioning his head with my jacket.
We leave him tucked in the shadows so he should be safe enough. We're in a good part of town, intending to break into a wealthy politician's home to scan some documents. This job is just me and Martac. he relaxes as I get into the passenger seat and he drives us away from Ida's sleeping form. I turn to watch until the alley disappears from view.
I get out my phone, texting my friend Ella to 'happen' upon the hero. I include the approximate address and she's on her way to go retrieve him.
"Why did ya do that? If someone is there, ya knock them out without hesitation." Martac asks as we round another corner, close to our destination. "Or at least tell the others so they can deal with the lad."
"I thought it was an old friend."
"Yeah, gathered that."
"Tensei knew Mitch." I explain even though I don't have to, voice hitching on my brother's name. "He was good to my brother. I needed to be good to his."
Martac grunts as he parks, unsatisfied with my answer, but knowing that there's nothing else to be said.
I think about the younger Ida brother as I get out of the car and step up to the house we're about to walk into. Tenya must be ten or eleven years younger than me. Tensei was a third year when I was a first year at U.A. I was in general studies and he was in the hero course with Mitch. We met within the first couple months of me starting school. I was being picked on to the point that I wanted to cry and Tensei walked right up to me, not knowing I was Mitch's younger sister and scolded the boys around me.
Mitch showed up as the other boys ran off, tail tucked firmly between their legs, and was ready to chase after them. Tensei stopped him and said it was handled. Mitch explained who I was and Tensei held out his hand and introduced himself, saying he's heard so much about me, 'all bad, obviously'. I laughed and told him that I believed him.
Mitch and I had an unusual sibling relationship. We rarely fought, he was very protective of me and he took his job as babysitter very seriously. I think he even enjoyed watching me when our parent's went out for date night. They haven't been the same since he passed. They never talk about him and when I try to bring him up, they change the subject.
Martac is the only one that will ever listen while I talk about Mitch, but I know it hurts him to reminisce so I try not to. It makes me feel like Mitch never existed and that's even worse than losing him.
We walk up to the front door of the building and I open it. It creeks on its hinges as it swings. Martac automatically activates his quirk as we move about the house, taking our time getting to the study. It's a nice home and well kept. Maybe I should clean mine.
"Hurry up, I'm tired" Martac grumbles and yawns
"You shouldn't have stayed up all night watching figure skating then" I tease
"It's a beautiful sport." he shrugs. I can't argue with that.
We find the study, I notice that all the drawers are locked. Guess he can't trust his own family. Or maybe it's for people like us. It's probably meant to slow us down, but a lock has never been an issue for me.
It doesn't take long to find the documents our employer asked for and I take pictures with my phone, sending them immediately. Moments later, my phone pings with a notification letting me know I've been paid.
There's no rush, I peak through a few more documents, not finding too much important, but tuck the tidbits away in my memory and even take a few more photos. We put everything back the way we found it, including the angle the door was open to before be slip out the front. Everything is left unlocked, but normally people think they just forgot to lock their stuff up in the rush of the morning. At least I hope that's what they think.
Overall, the job took an hour. Longer than I wanted to spend, but worth the money.
"Excuse me, miss!" Ida yells as he rushes down the sidewalk toward me, my jacket draped over his arm.
"Take off Martac" I say under my breath, a small smile cracking across my face.
"No way in hell" he replies, looking down at me like I've suddenly sprouted two heads.
"Seriously. He's not a threat" I nudge him toward the car and he begrudgingly gets in just as Ida stops in front of me, exhaust from his calves dissipating in the air. I take my jacket from him and slip it on "thanks, you're the best!"
"Sir, I'll have to ask you to stay as well." Ida states forcefully.
"You're cute" I reply, linking my arm with his and starting a leisurely pace away from my partner. "Don't watch too much ice skating!" I call over my shoulder.
"I must insist that you stop right now." His stiff free arm is flapping around so rapidly that I don't know how he doesn't fly away. It makes me smile. He could very easily stop me. Scoop me up and rush me into custody, but he doesn't.
"Walking on the sidewalk isn't illegal. Is it?" I say, not letting go, but smiling up at him.
"No, but burglary, wrongful imprisonment, and assault are" he states, rubbing his head where Martac hit him.
"Is it really burglary if I walked into a public establishment during work hours and didn't touch anything?" I shoot back, stopping in front of a bench, using his shoulder to steady myself and stepping on the seat so I can look at his head. He oddly doesn't fight me on it as I part his hair to see the spot he was struck. His hair is soft and a little sweaty. It must get hot under his helmet.
"You're not going to argue the other points?" He lifts his head and meets my eyes. My hands are still in his hair. The hit was red and a little swollen, but doesn't look too bad.
"I've got no leg to stand on, so no"
"Are you really confessing your crimes to a pro hero?" He seems shocked.
"You could have arrested me already if you wanted to. But you didn't." I point out, hopping off the bench and re-linking my arm with his and continuing my stroll.
"I called my brother." He stares straight ahead "he wouldn't even tell me your name. That's not like him."
"I knew he wouldn't"
"How?"
"We went to school together. I knew your brother well."
"Then why have I never heard of you?" He stops suddenly and swings me around to face him, letting go of my arm.
"He was my brother's friend. He's two years older than me. Both of them." I explain with a sly smile. "Your brother always made it a point to say hi to me just because I was my brother's sister. He's a good dude."
"He was a hero. Of course he is good" Ida insists.
"Was? Why did he retire already?"
His jaw twitches "you still haven't told me your name." He ignored my question.
"Guess I haven't" my smile grows into something more wicked and I start walking again, putting my hands in my pockets. He hesitates for a moment before catching up to me.
"Why wouldn't my brother tell me your name?" He can't seem to help his curiosity.
"He's your brother, why would I know?" I shoot back, absentmindedly kicking a rock.
"This is becoming increasingly frustrating, ma'am"
"I know" I giggle "isn't it wonderful"
"No. No it is not" he gets the cutest wrinkle between his brows and I stop, gesturing to our right.
"This is your stop"
"Wha-... oh" he eyes me suspiciously. "How did you know this was my agency?"
"It was your brothers. It was close. I took an educated guess" I wink and hold out my hand to him. He takes it being the gentleman he is. "Until next time"
"I will arrest you if I find you doing anything illegal" he promises
"Like you did this time?" I tease, unable to stop my smile. It's been awhile since I've felt so carefree and unbothered by my life, but for some reason, it feels... easy with him.
"There's still time if you want to push me" he warns, raising an eyebrow
"Oh Ida, I'm going to push you" I put my finger in the middle of his chest, pressing just enough to force him to take a step back "and I'm going to find all your buttons and enjoy pushing them."
He seems to be lost for words and I feel a wash of satisfaction as he runs a hand through his hair. The undercut really suits him.
"Until next time" I pat his chest and turn on my heel, taking my time walking away, feeling his eyes on me with every step I take.
"What makes you think there will be a next time?" He calls after me as I get to the corner.
"Silly hero" I say, turning back to smile at him "I've still got your helmet"
With a wink, I slip around the corner and get my phone out of my pocket to call Martac.
"I'm still breathing free air." I start before he even says hello "can you pick me up? I wandered a little far from my place"