The Wasp and The Spider [Hana & Kasey]

Even when she said what her purpose was, the bouncer walked away. Probably to get Macabre. She felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She should not be here, not in general and maybe it was a trap, maybe Macabre wanted to figure it out, after that article about Elise von Eisenberg and  Tetsuko Shindou, she was in a lot of trouble but she wasn't sure who wanted to make the trouble and who just wanted her out of the way to steal her boyfriend. Well at least she knew Macabre wasn't out on the last one, so that was a good thing. But was she friend or foe. 

These thoughts were bothering her while in her mind she was loudly screaming that she should not be here because of other reasons. She always took this time of because she knew she was a wreckingbal and yet she had said yes. Calling herself busy as assistant for Lady Scandal which was bullshit, she was Lady Scandal but you needed to do something to protect your own hide. 

As Macabre came and hugged her, which she allowed albeit with surprise, she decided that they might be partners in this warfar hidden from the service and she would see how that would come to work. "I know, I am that reporter. A blog for myself doesn't pay that much and being able to assist someone who is hiding his or her face is paying quite well." So she would obviously sit with Macabre, "I don't even know Lady Scandal but for the sake of the title, I always call her well, her. She did not tell me much, if I had known last night I could have stayed, much easier." She made a joke, she would not have stayed because her mind could not handle that, but she was rather curious after last night what Macabre could need from someone like Lady Scandal. 

Hanako felt bad for lying but she was sure that Macabre did not tell her much about herself either, so she should not feel bad. She wanted to know the information and because of that, she had to do what she had to do to get the money. She nodded when Macabre said that she knew where her office was and made her way to the stairs that would go there. She bet there were more stairs but it was okay, like this. Ketsujo Corp, that was right, that's why she came during the first meeting, the missing goods. She had only heard from it by talking with her colleagues and when she had seen the truck going into the other direction she had been confused. "But Pink Jackal is yours, right? Or should you see it as a part of Ketsujo Corp?" But then what did Army of One got to do with it? Wait was it Army of one? Her mind was kinda foggy considering their conversations last night, she remembered something about Army of One when they were talking about Gil, so she should be able to remember that because of that or so she thought. If she had known all this, she would certainly have paid better attention. she did not even believe that herself considering how she felt yesterday but still, it would have been a nice gesture to herself. 

She followed Macabre, wondering indeed what the connection had been, the question was to speak to Macabre and get to know her better and that confused her, what did they want in the papers and who was the so-called they from the Tokyo Underground channel. "My boss is certainly curious about that as well but she grabs everything had on, all I have to do is make notes on the conversation. It would have been nicer if she gave me a specific direction to what to talk about." She pretended to pout, yesterday had been vague but now she remembered them starting to talk about Thundershock and she had read some article about Semper Fi but that was about the school, "Wait how did they write about you during Semper Fi?" She just wanted to ask something about Thundershock but that could wait. 

Okay so she had that thought right, Macabre indeed did own the Pink Jackal. But she had no idea now what Ketsujo Corp had to do with the organisation of the Pink Jackal, the good thing was that Macabre seemed to notice the unspoken question already. An investment, that made sense. She was not surprised at all, you need a way to start and if the corporation did want to work with you, what a gold mine to start that way. So she nodded and did not write that down, she had no idea what the information was that she should publish but she wanted to make Macabre a hero, right? That's what Army of Bones had said. Funny she always thought that it was Army of One. She narrowed her eyes when Kasey continued, legally? Then what was it illegally? She wasn't sure if she should ask the question, at this point she noted it down in her mind, she did not want to make the conversation anything awkward, after all, yesterday Macabre had helped her a lot with just talking, drinking and even dying her hair. 

She still followed to the office and enter to sit opposite the desk and take out the tablet that she used during interviews and other conversations to make it easier than a laptop, she got quite fast with typing like that, having trained a lot with writing her own blogs as well as more interviews for the last year. "Oh, of course, that is a very smart strategy." She said now Kasey explained to her that there were official and unofficial answers. She thought about it for a second. "As much as I am curious, I don't want any harm done to you. We could just chat and you tell me what you don't want in the paper, I can show you my notes before I leave or well before I send it to my boss, so nothing will come to her that you don't want to be known. That would make it, to answer your question, a bit of both, G's girlfriend and a reporter?" 

"Well then if there is no such thing as harm, you have nothing to worry about I would say," Hanako said it amusingly but the thing was that it only made her job easier. She wondered what Macabre meant with what Thundershock did, she wasn't all too up with the arrogance of that person and thus she cared too little, maybe she should change that. She tried to click as fast as she could, The painter, Lady Lavender, she heard and seen her name in the Tokyo Underground, Army of Bones, that was the one who spoke to her. Thundershock, arrogant prick. The Puppeteer, another name that did not immediately ring a bell. Red Horn was Mia, she met her weeks ago, Umbra, Darkshine, she had seen or heard more specifically about that fight, Army of One, another name that she had heard thanks to Macabre here. "G-Force?" It sounded like someone she knew but she could not imagine that name being used like that. She frowned, should she? 

It was that Macabre mentioned Army of Bones and Army of One separately which made her realize she had thought about this just seconds ago as if the girl could read her mind. She said she worked only under the name of Lady Macabre, but it seemed that the paperwork also did not have her real name. She wrote that down, mysterious and careful, yet it made Hanako wonder if her real name looked like it in general. "My boyfriend's sister?" Had Hanako thought she came here already knowing a bit more because she had been here twice, she had made that mistake in her assumptions. She was even more lost than in the conversation with Sunhawk or Bashira. 

Hanako thought about what she should say instead of just asking questions that made her probably more confused. Why did G never mention he had a sister. "I think the person who asked for my boss to talk to you said something about making a hero out of Macabre, if I remember correctly what she said, I haven't seen the original conversation." It was as if she was trying to question it, not entirely sure, "Or..." She frowned not entirely sure, but it was an act as well, but now she was trying to find another thing to say, which she did not know, but that was okay. "Could that be related to semper fi? After all Lady Scandal wrote how she hated on the article about Elise von Eisenberg and the issue with Thundershock. You just mentioned his name twice so something happened." So much information, she just wanted it all. 

She felt judgemental, because she had not ever heard the name G-force before, she thought about him, instantly but that did not have to be the case but Gil made it so easy sometimes, did he not only hid the sunglasses when he came to save her, maybe he did pick an alias later, she did not know, she did not trust it but she had to get it out of her head as it was not of importance. She wanted to note it down but it had nothing to do with what they knew. The ghost pair but G came here too, she had heard it the first time: Gigi adopted a new child. There was no one else that would have been too much coincidence. Did that make him the person that she now thought, he wasn't in the media and the one moment he could be, she saved him by saying he did not fight the quirker but only came to get her out. She did not know what to think and the conversation only made her more confused which annoyed her a lot. She had to let it go but she felt like she should ask G a lot more things. This nickname and soon after a question about having a sister? But he never had a sister and till the age of seventeen they had been neighbours with his parents, they did not have another child, how could he have a sister! She must be lying. 

"Well, she wasn't there during Christmas." Lying. She must be lying. But if she was lying then how much else was the truth. Why would a villain want a businesswoman, playing a tricky game, in a magazine? Yes, Thundershock broke out during Semper Fi, "I read that article, I also read how they thought the girl, von Eisenberg, helped him, which was the article that Lady Scandal answered because it was ridiculous." It was and it could still make her infuriating but she could not do that now, she had to play stupid.  "How do you know what they teach at Yuuei?" How would she know to teach them more, would the students tell? Who would be here, not that she met many students, only three but that was okay. "it would be an interesting read for another article than hers, I assure you." But that's not what was the case, there should be a story. "I assure you it's her game, saving her face so no one knows who she is again I am almost sure it's a woman but I am not a hundred per cent sure." She frowned, "A replacement?" What did Macabre mean, that reminded her that Macabre was not even her real name. Lying again. 

 "So as many have aliases, is Macabre yours?" 

It felt like she was only thinking about more questions instead of answers. Macabre must be playing a game with her but she did not catch on enough to know what that game actually was. Did she know that the interview was for her but what would she want her to know, what was she missing? Was she falling for it if she thought she should ask Gil about his sister? "Ah. " Was the only word that Hanako could produce when Macabre told her that Kasey, that must then be the sister, was here at Pink Jackal. Of course, because if Gil worked here than it made sense she was here too. Hanako really wondered what kind of girl she would be. She was noting things down, for herself, for her future article but she stopped ticking, "Yuri?" Well, there were more girls called Yuri, as well as there, were more girls called Hanako or Nanami but she wasn't entirely sure if she got what she meant. But that Yuri was an idol, that meant that she should come here more often if she wanted to see and perhaps speak to that Yuri. 

Falling from one puddle into the next, or so that was how it felt, she felt like she was woven in a web of lies and truths but she could not climb out fast enough to figure out what was what. She should have stayed away on days where her mind was already muddled because of the days, tomorrow was that day. She had not ordered flowers, she had not talked to her aunt and uncle. "disease quirk?" What the hell has she been missing? When did that happen? A year ago, where she probably only had eyes out of jealousy for Gil's girlfriends, maybe. She had not even met them but he was gone a lot and... no time to think about that. She had missed in a whole year that he had a sister? 

Outnumbered and outranked, yes Miku and Haruuhi were both attending Yuuei and yet she had not talked to them or asked them about it. She had not really spoken to Haruuhi anyway and with Miku, they were too busy with Chrismas gifts. "You have a point there." She felt like it was narrowing down to her not speaking or asking questions but just stating things to blow her mind and make her confused, what was Macabre's plan? Was it herself that set up this meeting to bring her in daylight so no one knew what she was doing? Had she made a mistake to come here? Okay, so students worked here too, she scribbled that down, not that it felt like it added anything to the whole list of quotes and notes she had but it was better to write everything down if she would be paid to make a story. So that's what she meant when they continued to a conversation, being a nobody, but she did not believe that Rena Setsuki was her name, she did not know why, mostly because she did not believe that Macabre was a nobody, but the question then was: who was she in that case?