Team 4219

The ride up the elevator was awkward and tense. Reo stared literal daggers at Hiro, who in turn kept one eye open as he tried to ignore her. Henry stood between them, ready to mediate if the situation escalated, though he doubted it would.

‘Ah, youth,’  Henry mused.

“Hmph,” Reo huffed as the elevator doors opened to a sterile hallway on the twelfth floor. The girl shoved her way to the front in defiance.

“I said I’m sorry,” Hiro followed suit, shadowing Henry as the trio made for the end of the hall.

“I’m not working with him,” the girl snarled before flipping her hair and trudging angrily to the front. “I’d rather die!”

“You don’t really have a choice,” Henry said. “There are penalties for non-compliance. As I’m sure you’re already aware.” He pointed to the back of his neck, prompting the girl to grumble under her breath.

The sun was at its zenith when the trio entered a conference room. One side of the room sported glass windows which afforded a view of the busy streets of Ikebukuro below. In the center of the room was a long wooden table which housed enough seats for a dozen or more individuals.

Hiro took a moment to observe the scene and note down the presence of those assembled.

Off to the left, looking down the windows was a tall mature-looking woman who wore a troubled face. She had on a white blouse and a black pencil skirt. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail. Perhaps the most striking features about her were the cat ears and the twin feline tails which sprouted from her tailbone.

Sitting on the table, reading a book, and jotting down notes, was a petite girl in a blue and white gothic Lolita dress full of frills and bright blue flowers. Her hair was tied in buns on both sides of her head. Her hair color matched her dress, a base of dilute white accentuated by smatterings of curved light blue streaks. She looked young and vaguely human, but Hiro could sense that she was actually older than she appeared.

“Henry, you’re back,” the cat-eared woman’s ears perked up.

“Ohoho? Are these the new youngsters assigned to us?” The petite girl looked up from her book and spoke in a rich Kansai-dialect. “They don’t look all that … capable. Are you sure they’re the right fit?”

“Ruruna, don’t judge a book by its cover,” Henry chimed before turning to Reo and Hiro. “Welcome to Team 4219, also known as the Suicide Squad.”

“Any reason why it’s called the Suicide Squad?” Hiro gulped.

“Well, you see, our team has the highest member fatality rate in the department,” Henry smiled mischievously. “We’re always sent on the most dangerous investigations and new recruits assigned to us keep dropping like flies. Isn’t that neat?”

“Oh, stop scaring them, leader dear!” Ruruna shot a finger at him, eyes still glued on the tome in front of her. “It’s not our fault we get stuck with the more complicated cases. On the contrary, I'd encourage it!”

“Actually, it’s your fault,” Karen called out to Henry, fur bristling in annoyance. “Mari was mutilated under your watch, Kei was devoured because you were careless, and Gen was… well, I don’t even want to think about it!”

“How cruel,” Henry pouted, but only briefly. The twinkle in his eyes renewed and he focused his attention back on the new recruits. “You hear that? You still want this job?”

“Not like I have any damn choice,” Reo spat. “The sooner I work off this shitty sentence, the sooner I can go free.”

“I, uh,” Hiro looked around nervously.

Part of him wanted to just run right back down the hall and forget any of this ever happened. Maybe he could just enter the hospitality business and be a restaurant server or a convenience store clerk. He weighed the pros and cons in his head.

“I need to pay the bills,” he answered strongly. “And the employee benefits are great. I can keep my apartment and uh… afford to eat something other than cup noodles.”

“Ha! I like your honesty, young one,” Ruruna whistled. “We may be able to make a senior investigator of you yet!”

Karen rolled her eyes and continued staring out the window.

Amused, Henry clapped his hands. “Alright, you two. Let’s get the introductions out of the way.”

“My name is Henry Kirishiki-Williams, team captain of this illustrious little posse. I’m an exorcist, an archon to be exact. I’ve been here, what, like fifteen years now? I don’t really remember, but I expect you to follow my orders when it counts, alrighty?”

Hiro was next to introduce himself. He tucked his hands behind him and straightened his back.

“Junior investigator Hiro Watanabe, reporting for duty. I’m a sanguinar by training. It’s a pleasure to work with you.”

After delivering his speech, he bumped elbows with Reo who snarled at him angrily.

“Reo Yamada. Dustmason. Sinner. Whatever.”

A woman of few words, Hiro thought. He watched as Karen turned and walked towards the table, sighing as she sat down.

“And I’m Karen Ikeda, a primalist under the employ of the department. I’m a healer, but if you do anything out of line or endanger the client, I’m not opposed to breaking every bone in your body.” Her feline eyes sharpened and narrowed, and Hiro thought he felt a chill run down his spine.

She’s dead serious.

“If you behave, well, I’ll give you a gold star for the effort,” she continued before passing the buck to Ruruna. The blue and white lady stood with the grace of a modern-day noble, setting down her book to get a closer look at the new faces.

“Hello, dears. My name is Ruruna Kamisato. I’m a Nue, a type of chimeric yokai. I'm a trained and certified voidsworn. I’m also a containment specialist from the Rosenblume Institute. That is, a branch of the Department of Corrections.” Inquisitive wonder flared to life in her deep blue eyes as her gaze traced the contour of Hiro’s face down towards the puncture hole on his uniform from the volatile blood. “I’m here to research Cursed Spirit behaviors and habitats.”

“Okay, that’s that,” Henry clapped his hands again to end the segment. 

“As investigators, we risk our lives every day,” his tone turned serious and somber. “Investigators rely on each other. We trust each other to cover our backs. From what I can tell, you two have a problem.”

He paused.

“Now as far as I’m concerned, you two aren’t officially part of this team unless I give the greenlight. If you don’t learn to work together, I’m blacklisting both of you from the Bureau altogether.”

“What?”

“What the hell?”

The two of them reacted at the same time.

“You’ll drown in debt and be consigned to a life of mediocrity,” he looked at Hiro, and then shifted his stare to Reo. “And you will have to wait five hundred years to pay your penance to society.”

Before the two could interrupt, Henry raised a finger to his lips to silence them.

“Consider this your orientation,” he continued. “Now let’s see how you do in the practical exam.”