Anyone who walked behind the old gym of Ashfield School would be granted with an iing sight. A smallish, blonde girl in a ratty, short school uniform was fag three guys in front of her, all wearing their uniform as well. One would think that such a brazen, open act would be foolish, but sihe school had mostly migrated to the new buildings, the old part of school atrolled only sporadically, making it a breeding ground for all manner of delis. Another rea would be the feeling of immey for the girl, as she was outnumbered by rger, more physically robust men, each easily able to overpower her.

  Stig around for ah of time would have them proven wrong, as the young blonde girl was Kiko, the most deli of the lot. The teen furthest on her left would charge in, at the same time as the one in the tre, clearly with no co-ordination or forth-pnning. A strong kick to the side, carried though with formidable leg muscles would knock the left-charging teen off his feet, and send him crashing into the sed boy, introdug them both to the ground in a painful mahe rgest of the three the out a growl of vexation and rushed her, only to have a fist sunk firmly into his gut, and his nose broken across her knee as his body doubled over and allowed her to grab his head.

  “It’s always the same with you lot” Kiko ented as the third man saw how badly it was going and decided just to stay down. “Chat shit, get hit. Are you notr bored of this already?” she asked rhetorically. A fourth man, a slimy and insidious git, tried to e round the back of her with a makeshift garrote out of his tie, but never made it to his target as he let out a vulsing gurgle and colpsed to the ground.

  "Give me yhtning fingers. You easure the level of jealous I am" Kiko excimed, turning round to see a much, much better dressed woman of simir age.

  "Mmm, most people do seem to like them. Except when they are turned on those people, then I lose popurity fast" The savior replied, stepping up and cheg the physical state of the four. "But still, you got in a fight, and really did a whammy on two of them, the third pretending to be hurt so he doesn’t have to face the music" She quipped, a strangled cry of surprise ing from below them. The Lightning Girl then pushed the unscious teen off the pretender, and dragged him up roughly.

  "Ease up Remmy! Man's threads are precious, ya get me?" He excimed, and looked like he was going to carry on, but quickly shut up after some staticed between Remmy's fingers.

  "Remokr. You are not my friend" she replied, staring ily.

  "Hell, she is my friend and even I don't call her Remmy. Something about her nature as a walking Taser makes me want to be polite" Kiko put in, with a coy half-smile.

  "Friend or not, I have my duty. Now e on" She ordered, dragging the man along and trusting Kiko to move on her own volition as they headed to the Head Teacher’s office.

  Tall, fanged, and hairier than the average man, the Head Teacher was clearly not oo hide his Lupus nature. And this overt showing of his nature just added to the intimidating nature. Even Kiko’s thuggish assaint was cowed in the Head Teacher’s presence. He did not seem very happy to see Kiko, indig that she eat-offeo his office.

  “So. Why has Remokr dragged you here this time” He growled, staring dowwo of them. The teen boy just muttered inprehensibly, but Kiko had clearly been pnning a spee the way here.

  “Well. This one and his friends stole a girl’s schoolbag, and told her that if she wa back, she was to go to the old gym a back from them. I, happeo be passing by at the time, and took it upon myself to go get her bag back personally” She expined.

  “Knowing your opinion on my staff, I see why you did not go to them. But this is the third time this month you have been brought here for acts of violehe Head replied, sighing softly.

  “You have a crap anti-bullying problem. Half the time it’s done in front of the teachers, and one of them actively joins in” Kiko retorted. Not that it elected too ive of a response, however.

  “I am aware of that. I ot simply maul the offenders into obedience, so I must take subtle steps that do nothing. Really, any anti-bullying campaign is for publicity more than any practical oute. It relies oire staff being upright people unafraid of flict, and no school has that. But, this does not ge the fact that you are a meo the school, and the people in it. Everyone is on my back about you and the state their ‘darling childreurn home in. You have to stop this one-woman war against every asshole in the school, or will be expelled. Do you uand?” He asked, staring down the blond teen.

  “You know that’s never going to happen, right?” Kiko replied, her eyebrow cocked.

  “I do, but it sounds good” he sank bato his chair and brooded some about what to do. “The number of is with yrowing, and I know there are three others behind my back for eae. I may…” he’d stare into the distance for a moment and then go Kiko. “If you keep yourself from assailing anyone for the week or so, I shall tact your father and start a pn of a. This has holy gone on far too long, and it is time to start a crackdown”

  The giant wolf man would nod to himself, and then look at all three gathered before him.

  “You go now. Finish your csses aurn home without causing any more trouble, ok?” He did not receive a reply, just another nod before Kiko left, leaving Remokr and the teen boy in the office.

  She did as she was told, and did not start any more trouble, as difficult as that was to aplish. There was always more trouble to start around this pce. On the way home she expected the little brat and his band of dickish dooshbags to try something, but they did not. So she got home pretty easily. Opening the door, she saerson i, but didn’t pay any mind to it, purple hair aside. She lived with her dad, so having someone around wasn’t strange. Of course, she got as far as half the stairs before realizing that her dad was off at work, and wasn’t a woman besides. So she slowly walked back dowairs and stared at the apparently random person i.

  “So, do you often break into people’s houses like this, or am I just special?” Kiko asked. The woman seemed to be standing there like she owhe pce, which she didn’t because it was their house, not hers.

  “On occasion. But, in this instance, you are special” The woman replied, slowly walking over to Kiko. As she moved, Kiko’s eyes were drawn to her body, and could make out the uniform she was wearing. It was very militant, and she reized it immediately, the bck base arim was famous worldwide these days. And the reition made her slightly embarrassed to be so rude. But then, the woman did just break in without invitation.

  “You are a SIR agent? Now I’m both fused and curious. Why did you break in here, and why am I special?” Kiko asked. She tempered her tone so it wasn’t quite as pointed as it was, but she was still rather annoyed.

  “I broke io get to you. And you are special because your father ecial. He worked for us for quite a long time. Almost everyone in the ODD knew him” She has a soft too her voiow, as if trying to avoid her voice breaking.

  “Why are you speaking in past tense..? It's kind of ominous, you know” Kiko said, looking at her with eyes that didn’t want to think about the reason why and suppressing the stutter that came with her nerves. Suddenly, the woman came forward and embraced her in a hug. It was surprising, and made her even more filled with dread.

  “He died. We don’t know how; it was far too precise for what he was hunting to have do. But he’s just…dead” the woman’s voice did not hold out, and cracked at the end, her sorrow clearly evident. However, Kiko just stared, frowning softly. Like she was trying to prehend, to uand. And it wasn’t really happening.

  “I….” she started, but didn’t know how to tinue, so just didn’t. The womaually stopped hugging her, and pulled back, wiping her eyes.

  “You don’t know how you feel, right? You don’t really feel anything at all?” She inquired, regaining her professionalism as Kiko nodded. “Your father told me it’s a Kitsuhing. Basically, any stroion is suppressed, ao your psyche over time. A holdover from The Great War. It be overwhelmed, in which case its activation is deyed, but for the most part it helps keep you sane” she expihen when Kiko cocked her head softly, she tinued.

  “Wha…?” Kiko was not in a mind to think properly, just looked up. And the woman took it as a prompt to tinue.

  “It’s not taught in schools anymore, it’s held fher learning. There was a time when the creatures that SIR hunt roamed this nd like any other animal. You’ve no doubt heard about them, seen news broadcasts. It was a bad time, I am told. But then, the history books tell of a many tailed man who rose up, wielding a crystalline sword of the deepest blue, he led his people into battle against the creatures.

  And after victories began to mount up, he gathered support from both the humans and the quasi-humans. With the human’s iy aermination, bined with the quasi-human’s versatility and raw power, the creatures were hunted down and killed in their millions, with a few esg somewhere unreachable. Apparently it was decided that such a upsetting cept should be kept out of the schools and reserved for those who take a higher course of history. But, several of the quasi-humans have kept traits from that war. The Kitsune most of all, But the Lupians and the Dragons as well, to name a few” She looked to tinue, but Kiko buried her head in her hands before she could.

  “Why are you telling me all this? I didn’t o know any of it. And now you are telling me all of it, and just…why?” The cold, slightly dead eyes were unnerving, but the woman was a member of SIR, she had seen much more unnerving things in her life, and brought them to heel.

  “You, as your father, are a Kitsune. Kitsunes rarely i with humanity these days, and so we really have a she of them on our staff. With the passing of your father, there is a space we o fill drastically. Which is why we have e to you” She said, before straightening her uniform, and holding out her hand.

  “So, to do this formally. I am el Lysaida Mizia. On behalf of ODD, I would offer you a pce within the specialist squadrons of SIR” Lysaida almost barked, in a very military fashion. As a response, Kiko could only stand, somewhere betweeruck, and fused.