Getting on the News Train! [News Club]

This beat-heavy trash sucked ass, in her mild opinion, but she took solace in the fact radio was dead. For her own sanity, she’d left hers behind in the bedroom. She’d most likely be pulling her hairs out if she’d done otherwise. Subjecting herself to that vanilla schoolgirl drivel would’ve made her do a one-eighty.

By the time she entered the building, more tolerable material aired. The snippets she gathered from the scant radio presence tottered over dollar store shit. She released a heavy sigh. Cute attempts at stirring up drama, but none of the stuff was built to last. Then, as she approached the door, the young announcer finally shared something of value. Unreleased tracks, she said. Duly noted for future use.

Her entrance had startled the little mouse. Her brows furrowed. A visual sweep of their headquarters revealed they’d crossed paths before. That funky helmet belonged to the mecha jockey back at combat class, the slow-to-start thumb twiddler who had some bite after all. They’d never actually done formal introductions, with Papa Geist unapologetic about his priorities. Yet this girl knew her name. She had to admit, being directly addressed did throw her off, but given the robot hijacking, RF hogging, and access to songs that’d yet to hit market, she had a sneaking suspicion this redhead had a knack for sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. She smirked. A respectable talent for sure. “Vice prez of her class, too. Hot damn, we’ve got an ambitious one here.”

Attentively poised and professional, she sat stock stock still giving unsolicited advice and didn’t miss Ruuhi’s heart nearly stopping. Quite an emotional attachment to that helmet, it seemed. She’d have to ask about it later. But for now, they had more pressing matters to attend to, namely a backseat driver getting ahead of herself.

Heidi recognized that nose and the way it soared above the clouds. And she’d caught enough selfies to put name to face. Emi, the spoiled brat on a screen. Her jaw clenched as she remembered the way she tactlessly shoved her digital ego trips down everyone’s throats. It wasn’t a big shock to see her here, but as the blonde soon confirmed, she didn’t seem like the collaborative type.

As those glossed up lips rattled off narcissistic bullshit, Heidi couldn’t completely contain her annoyance. Her mouth pulled into a hardset line, and her eyes were no longer smiling.

"Great timing!” She swiveled to face the thorn in their sides. “We were just establishing roles. We're going by first-come, first-serve, so that means Ruuhi here is president" her hand waved at the redhead, "I’m vice," she swept a flowing gesture above then down her torso, "And you're—" an upturned finger targeted the blonde banshee, "Janitor." A stony smile tossed in for good measure. She leaned back, chair pivoting on two legs, and threw her hands behind her head. "We're gonna be neck-deep in stories and investigative notes, so you've got the most important job here."

Then, the club’s founder took off running with her spiel. She brought a rigid hand over her lower face, making a big show of trying not to laugh. So this girl sat way out of the loop in terms of familiarizing herself with Emi. What a riot. She snuck a peek at the aforementioned vlogger before returning her gaze to their ringleader. So she’d noticed the recording back in Geist’s arena but had mistaken her antics for photography. Time to step on some toes. “Actually, I was filming. I’m all about those perfect moments. Plural, ya feel?” Suddenly her nails got a surprise inspection. Without sparing blondie a glance, she elaborated, “Need to gather video evidence? Leave it to me.” Motion pictures didn’t exactly suit their medium, but they could always yank the audio.

Still, she’d much rather be dancing on the ground than sitting cooped up in this hole. The scope of Haruuhi’s vision also spanned wider than she’d first thought.

Even better. She slapped the table with a sharp thwap and beamed at her latest partner in crime. “I like where you’re going with this big picture!” She’d have to finagle her way out of newspaper duty, but for now, hyping up the radiohead was her best bet at getting her hands on that budget. Allowing herself a self-satisfied smile, she placed elegantly stretched fingers just below her neck. “Field Operative Heidi at your service. If you find anyone suss who needs to be scoped out, I’m your gal.” A flash of doubt froze her face. Teeth pinned her lower lip as eyes flickered downward for a split second. Fuzzy feelings hugged her heart, because for the first time in years, this dumpy old title didn’t bother her so much. Hearing it again wasn’t totally unpleasant.

A quick inhale brought her back to her senses. So today’s big question concerned the secret to parenting. She waved an unconcerned hand. “Honey, I bet my hot cocoa stash that if we figure that out, the head honcho will totes up our funding.” Her eyes widened dramatically as she leaned in. “After all, a hero school would be in deep shit if people found out we’re churning out villains.” Another fascinating tidbit jotted into mental reserves.

She was so in the zone that she nearly missed the metallic mutt pawing below them. She sprung out of her seat, seized it with both hands, and swung it around like a toddler. “Oh em gee, this is so cute! Ruuhi, where’d you get it? What’s its name?” So small. So precious. They truly did live in modern Japan. She acknowledged that last question with a half-listening, “Uh-huh, uh-huh.” Then she continued to cuddle the critter closer to her chest. “Heyyy, this lil cutie pie wouldn’t happen to come with a hidden camera and mic, would it? Because if not, I know a guy who can get that fixed asap.” With their four-legged friend on the scene, they’d make a formidable foe.

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Template by Melon of THQ

Let's recap. What did the school have on her? If, for some strange reason, they conducted a secret background check, already an illegal move, then not much could've been scavenged anyway. Teachers called her Heidi, and as far as she could tell, they knew nothing more, and Heidi's late entrance to the world was dull as hell. Now, in order to rewind even further, U.A. would've really had to dig deep. Like nail bleedingly so. In the worst case, whatever they found would've undoubtedly resulted in a big fat rejection letter, so the fact she enrolled spoke volumes. Nothing to see here. Move along. Ruuhi's foray into the facts kept her poised, ready to fill her with fiction. No hint of knowing passed through her eyes. Maybe this counted as "don't ask, don't tell."

With a gentle breeze, she let the focus flutter off her files and onto the girl snooping them. Then a mini twister sucked everything into two piss-colored eyes. "That's the way this world operates, hon." She leaned over the table and propped her chin on two twitchy palms. "Let slip you've got goods and Streisand kicks in." One or two things, she says. The beginnings of a sly smile tugged at her corners. It might've been red herring served cold, but no one had to know if she checked. She spared a glance at the self-proclaimed hacker and knew immediately she'd be no help. Laces tied too straight. She'd left one button undone is all, not too rebellious of a reveal. But a more accessible gray hat sneak might get the same job done.

Heidi tapped her chin at the mention of her classmate. "Jinny's mistake was getting caught." The key to success was knowing when to flaunt. Ruuhi had him beat in that regard.

Her eyes flickered to said redhead stumbling over her own words, juggling three different priorities that felt all too familiar. Truth. Acceptance. Safety. "Chill, Ruuhi. You gotta do what you gotta do." She crossed her arms tight and exhaled. "Save your sorries for when you're actually wrong."

Skill was skill and access was access. "If anything, we should be glad to have backdoors. Who knows what U.A. could be hiding from us students." Since she didn't know the ins and outs of those recent student expulsions, "student privacy" must've been scribbled somewhere in school policy. It was complete bull, but these were the cards they were dealt.

And on the topic of cards, Emi's hand bled. Naivete, but more likely arrogance, funded the little circus act in her palm. "'Natural,'" she snorted. Poorly disguised euphemism for pure or better. "As if any of this is." Unsurprising she'd sink to arbitrary modifiers to boost her self-image. That sad reject of a modern art piece hung dangerously close to her face, while she sat still as stone with eyes narrowed deep. "Neat trick. Gives the interviewee something nice to look at for once."

To the subsequent quip, she flitted a toxic tongue. Face now scrunched in disapproval, the weight of this commitment kept Emi’s words afloat. Their team. Plural ownership. "I’ve seen teams collapse over less.” She lifted a braid off her shoulder and twirled it. Three made a pyramid. But with a constantly shifting base trying to tug down the top, their foundation was already shaky beyond repair. Whatever pet project they pursued next would boil down to a two versus one, and Heidi had no intention of being the one.

But for now, pieces fell to place. Web dev officially got delegated. That was one chore she managed to avoid. Budgetary unknowns still hung in the air, but she didn’t press the matter. Someone was gonna have to step up, and the most desperate of them all waited first in queue.

One task checked. The other currently tabled. Next came the name. “U.A. Today. The Redacted. Sneakeasy. The Lens.” She raised a brow. “Honestly, we can pick any old name. People will get over it. The first scoop is what sets the tone. The sooner we get running, the better.” She refused to spend more time mulling over trivial titles when the meat of the operation roamed outside.

No one invested further brainpower on the name, so clearly the topic hit a dead end. What did keep its momentum was talk of Ruuhi’s hacking, and at last, everyone was on the same page. A look of amusement crossed her face at the reddening radio quirker before them. “You’re such a hustler, Ruuhi. Asking for our help when you’ve already got it all.” She smiled. Weak against praise. Duly noted. Unafraid of collateral damage on top. Her digital intrusions sounded too good to be true, but she wanted a taste of her best.

On the bright side, no one seemed opposed to leaking national news. Consensus felt kind of… relaxing. But it was this kind of complacency that let people waltz through her borders, and danger always followed their agendas. Small hands lightly drummed against the artificial dog’s back. His wiring must’ve gotten kinda funky, because he was twitchy as hell right now. “I can see why he needs upgrading.” When he calmed under his owner’s touch, she pouted. So he came with a cold, metallic heart.

Her eyes rolled at the imagery of a drone hovering above a conference table, as if everyone would be too deep in their secrets to notice the whirring camera. “We’ll stick to action footage. Trust me when I say ‘intelligence gathering’ doesn’t need anything fancy.” Air quotes used appropriately here. “People don’t check what they trust.” She threw them both a heavy wink. “And that goes for all of us.”

As mousy as Ruuhi made herself out to be, she was clearly capable of pulling nefarious deeds. The blunette knocked together the tips of her braids, thoughts meandering into cybersecurity. She’d have to bolt down the doors even tighter, because it sounded like the only thing stopping the redhead from turning on them was her belief they were all on the same side. A reasonable assumption. Not necessarily a sustainable one.

Thankfully, the girl was elbows deep in her optimism. Even better, she finally addressed the budget. Relieved to be spared of any concrete duties thus far, Heidi clapped her hands together and beamed. “And thank you for bringing us here!” Planting her palms on the table, she stood up from her seat while it screeched. “Same time and place next week!” Good talk. Her alibi pool had tripled.

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