Dring...Dring...Dring…

The doorbell rang over, and over. It screeched repeatedly in Gabrielle’s ears as she tried to ignore it and eat her breakfast - over-brewed tea and undercooked biscuits. Annoyingly, the sound was too obnoxious to block out - much like the person causing it. “Catherine. Your friend’s here, destroying my eardrum again”, Gabrielle groaned out. Four years. It had already been four long years of this…

Catherine rushed out of her room, already dressed up in her worn-out GHH hero uniform. ‘Erruserprepyh’ was her alias ; pompous and Unpronounceable, despite her C rank. The outfit was simpler ; a white bodysuit with spiralling patterns, a red belt and light blue suspenders that didn’t hold up anything. She cleaned and maintained it with care, but time had still left its mark on it. Catherine herself looked tired and frustrated, though she tried her best to hide it. She inhaled, sighed, and opened the door with a wide smile.

“Ah, Cat! Super sorry, am I too early?, Junie eagerly exclaimed, her face lighting up the moment she caught a glimpse of Catherine through the doorway.

- Not at all, don’t fret. Thank you picking me up again togay, Justice’s Sword.

- ...Can’tcha just call me Junie?

- We’re on the job. It’s proper protocol to use hero aliases, Catherine replied without missing a beat.

- Fine, fine - you’re right, as always ! Haha…” Junie sighed. Talking in that laid back way, even on the job, repeating the same childish complaints she always did - she sparked a frown in Catherine, though she quickly caught herself slipping and restored her usual, plastic v-smile. 20-year old miss Shards was just as high-maintenance as Catherine had always known her to be. Given that, it wasn’t much of surprise that she’d managed to lose her S ranking. Still, even for someone like her - to be so unprofessional you’re downgraded, and not revise your behaviour in the slightest afterwards… Catherine felt sick just thinking about it.

She turned around to face her roomate, who was in the middle of pouring herself a third cup of black tea. “1 p.m., on the dot ! ...Do I have that right?

- Sure. I’ll be waiting by the bathroom stalls, in the back.

- Got it! See you then, thanks again!” With that, ‘Erusserprepyh’ shut the door, leading Junie down the stairs. The latter looked confused - and a tad upset. She tapped Catherine’s shoulder as insistently as she did doorbells. “One o’ clock…?” She separated each word, elongating them in a clueless tone. Catherine stayed calm and collected.

“Though we’re long-time roomates, Gabrielle and I aren’t all that close - you’re aware of that. I don’t feel living with a stranger is a good idea, so I figured we should get to knowing each other. In a professional sense. Did you get that? It’s a simple meeting in her place of work, for a chat.

- Oh… so, like… a date.

- Please keep your witts about you.”, Catherine retorted, unflappable. Junie swung and fidgeted about, leaning over Catherine’s shoulder with a needy pout. “Buuut… I mean, will we even be done by then? Today’s mission is a big deal, right?

- We ought to be! Count on it.”

Ever since her graduation, Catherine Yuu had dedicated herself entirely to her work. She refused to accept her C-ranking as an omen of failure, and continued to give her everything to every mission she was assigned, despite her deadweight partner, despite her poor reputation, despite her superior treating her like an intern. All for the sake of ranking up - no, just to match expectations. Heroes who changed ranks were extremely few, to say nothing of those whose ranks increased. Although she’d heard of such an instance in District 12 a few years prior - some ‘Fragmental Patterns’ switching from C to A - she couldn’t find any details regarding why and how. Not that it mattered : it was possible. It was possible. She could rank up. She had to. Though, now that she was stuck with Junie, who had the unbelievable skill of being even more difficult than her old A-rank partner… no, no. Nothing would stop her.

Originally and S-rank, Junie Shards had soon realized that her work was much more intensive than she'd been expected, or could handle. She nonetheless put in good will and effort - all of which was futile, as continuously collected procedural mistakes, damage penalties and failed missions ; never anything so drastic it cost her the job, but still enough for her rank to be readjusted. As a final S-rank perk, she was even given the right to pick her C-ranking colleague : her choice was made in a heartbeat. Naturally, she cared about her job and wanted to do it well - but now that she enjoyed the independence of adulthood, she wanted to see what life had to offer ; make the most of the time she had. Seeing Catherine's obstinately working day in and day out without the slightest regards for her own health or mental state - it upset her more deeply than she could put into words. She was worried, of course, but there was more to it. She simply couldn't understand Catherine. Junie always hoped she could convince her friend to join her on a walk, or to go see a movie, hang out by the lakeside, shop for little things, read or get a drink - that Catherine would accept any one of her invitations ; she hoped in vain.

She should’ve been happy to learn that her partner was trying to open up with people, taking time out of her day to invest in relationships. And yet… a weight lingered in her chest. An odd and heavy feeling she felt only around Catherine.

The budding heroes left the apartment building, jumped onto Junie's motorbike, and drove off towards an abandoned bus depot on the outskirts of town.

Today's assignment was straightforward ; the defunct hangar west of District 17 was suspected of being used by an illegal auction ring. Typically, this type of affair was handled by the police ; but MSW's influence being strongest in this area justified the GHH getting involved, at least for reconnaissance. Therefore, the duo's mission statement was : Break into the place, investigate it top to bottom, return undetected and report any findings. Should they run into any trouble or opposition, apprehend the suspects.

Even running over the details in her head, Junie couldn’t focus on the job. A single idea stalked her every thought.

"...Where's Gabrielle work?

- Stay. Professional. And keep your eyes on the road, Justice…'s Sword.

- Well, it is relevant! I'll drive you there, won’t I?

Don't trouble yourself, I can call a cab.

Eh? Come on, Cat! Lemme spare you the expense. Since we're friends- Uh, as your coworker, I insist on taking you there.

- How kind! I'll tell you in time, then. Now drive straight."

Junie sighed. Not even her 'suddenly serious speech' act could get through to Catherine these days. On one hand, she was flattered ; Cat certainly seemed more honest in her behaviour around her than around anyone else - but on the other, she wasn’t exactly pleasant. Maybe she deserved it.

"Let’s split up. I'll investigate the ground floor - you take the basement levels. Do we have that right?

- Youuu got it!", Junie replied. Although she was the higher-ranking hero, she felt more confident leaving strategy and organisation up to Catherine. One of the reasons she’d failed as an S rank was her poor ability to work alone ; ever since she’d been acting in pairs, her performance was of a much higher standard. Junie located and rushed down the stairway.

The depot was an immense and ancient warehouse, once a metallurgy factory before it wound up used to store buses in dense, organized lines. It was a single brick-and-steel building rather than a complex ; the lobby, offices ad storage rooms were all part of it rather than located in separate structures. The ground floor was a single ‘room’ - a gigantic garage, its floor once filled with road markings that had since faded away. Much to the contrary, the lower two floors were dark, dusty mazes of tight hallways leading to countless abandoned rooms. Every single one of which, Justice’s Sword would have to look through… ‘Oh, bother!’ she - quietly - exclaimed to herself. Better get to it than complain all day.

After three hours of meticulous searching through drawers, shelves and cupboards for anything suspicious with nothing to show for it, Junie let herself fall back onto a chair. Sigh… Hero work was not always what it was advertised. Starting to wonder if Catherine was doing any better, she pulled out her cellular - her personal phone, not her professional one. She texted her partner - rewrote her message twice, hesitating as to which emoticon to include - and finally hit send.

10 minutes passed, with no response. Thinking about it, Catherine wasn’t the type to answer to personal texts while on the job - she’d have more luck sending her a professional email instead ; silly as it was for a simple ‘How are you’, Junie did so. 15 more minutes passed - still nothing. Doubt welled up inside her. Of course, she’d continued looking around while she waited, but it had proved even more fruitless than the first three hours. She had to stay focused! It was already getting late, too.

A noise - The sound of footsteps.

Junie froze. Instinctively, she summoned her sword. Using her ability reassured her and helped clear her mind ; It was the most liberating feeling she knew. Too liberating, to a degree. It dulled her senses and her reason, leaving her to rely solely on gut instincts and feelings. In that relaxed state, Catherine’s radio silence suddenly appeared immensely more urgent than the mission at hand. Justice’s Sword ran madly through the halls, running after the noise.

Once her blade vaporised into null, and she finally came to, Junie found herself at the foot of the stairs - alone, in the dark. She risked a glance towards her wristwatch - over an hour had passed. She hesitantly walked upstairs, step by step. Had she spent all that time running after an illusory noise…?

The depot was empty.

At first glance, it was empty.

An amorphous shape lay on the ground, like a pile of potato bags, in the centre of the hangar, some few dozens of meters ahead of Junie. Its stench was horrendous.

The smell of burnt flesh.

Like an automaton, the exhausted girl walked, slowly, closer to the corpse. Catherine’s dismembered, disfigured, beaten corpse lay in a puddle of its own blood - fresh.

On the other side of the district, Gabrielle Gabby’s apartment burns to ashes.

Here and then, Junie Shards cries, hugs body parts, without knowing why.