''What the hell's going on here?! You wanna start a fight?'' He glared at Hiro, immediately assuming he was a petty criminal or worse. Judging from his skill he was big time talented, probably an assassin out to get them? Not on his watch! Punch first, ask questions later, if he wanted to prove himself as a leader he needed to start doing something about the growing number of enemies in these streets. ''Not what? A law abiding citizen, one of us? Like hell you aren't! What's your deal, punk?!''

He held up his prosthetic hand, as if to silence Hiro even when he had stopped talking. ''Don't make up any petty excuses! Any man brave enough to make an enemy of the Hummingbirds are either affiliated with the heroes, or The Spiders and you aren't acting like one of the heroes!'' He almost didn't dodge the sword attack, no way he could keep up with this guy if he went all out, but thankfully Eiji had the means to end the fight then and there. His burning soul, which extended to the blazing quirk that powered his resolve. Throwing a punch towards Hiro, this time Eiji activated his quirk, flames lighting up his prosthetic arm to enhance the punch.

Whether he hit or not, he was grinning, somehow enjoying himself despite putting his life on the line. ''So you confirmed it, right Jet, everyone? He's definitely a Spider?''

''Well... About that...''

''Hm?''

''The thing is, we attacked first boss..''

''You WHAT?!''

Hiro

[attr="class","likedo"]

A fight had broken out between his guys and a stranger? He was in full sprint the second he heard about it, cutting through alleyways and weaving past civilians as he ran towards the scene of the clash. At best, they were just fighting some thug who got overconfident and everything would turn out fine. At worst, they were fighting one of The Spiders and he wasn't even there to help. Eiji had recently been made the leader of the Hummingbirds. Ever since the crushing news that the last leader had to retire from the fight due to an injury, everything else had been a blur to him. He wasn't a leader, he didn't know anything about leading, he just talked loud and everyone seemed to follow him. Nevertheless, given the tumultuous times they were living in he would have to learn fast, or risk being the reason the Hummingbirds collapsed.

He slammed into a wall as he turned a corner, catching his breath as he noticed the group of people crowding around what was most likely the fight he had just been told about. Pushing all of his fears and doubts to the back of his mind, Eiji raised his voice. ''Oi, oi, oi!! What the hell is going on here?'' Stepping through the crowd, the vigilante with red hair and a prosthetic arm immediately stared down Hiro as he caught sight of him. He didn't look familiar, was he new in the area? Armed, so he could totally be a villain. He needed to figure out which approach to take here. Clenching his prosthetic arm he lunged forward, attempting to punch Hiro in the face. ''Ora!''

Punch first, ask questions later.

Hiro

''Really?'' He frowned. No eating? No sleeping?? ''I think I'd go insane if that was me. Don't you miss eating food?'' Or had he never eaten food in the first place? He had so many questions, like was Player One born, or did he just sort of spawn in? ''Sounds like hell to me.''

He shook his head at Player One's question. ''Nah, probably won't be the last either.'' He had to admit, he was surprised that he cared. Maybe blue hair here wasn't so bad after all? Wait, but that was a problem... The more he started to learn about him, the less Eiji wanted to fight him. ''Right?'' He chuckled weakly, his ribs still hurting. ''He's used to it by now, he fixes most of the stuff in the park if it goes down.''

He looked over just in time to see Jet blast another guy. ''Yup. That's him.'' The fumes guy joke made him burst out laughing. ''That's a good one!!'' Why were they even fighting in the first place? Because he threw a molotov? Because they wanted to destroy the park? Eiji could hardly remember why he was so angry. ''Hired, huh?'' That checked out, lots of people, especially the villainous kind didn't like their group. ''Makes sense.'' He grinned, ''We birds stick together, I'd be nothing without everyone else.'' His answer was an interesting one. ''So you're a traveler? I bet fighting me was worth plenty of exp!'' He smirked confidently. ''This is weird.'' He sighed, finally standing up completely and dusting himself off. ''I kinda don't feel like fighting you anymore, Player One.'' He put his hands on his hips. ''Not unless it helps you on your journey.''

Taro Yamada

Eiji's mind was hazy, so much so that he didn't register that Kysaly caught him, or even brought him downstairs. In his mind he played through other scenes where he almost died. That time almost five years ago when he almost died of a mysterious illness, but a doctor showed up out of the blue to treat him. Shortly after his quirk manifested and he burned off one of his own arms fighting a villain. Both of those times felt like they were his final moments, like his story was going to end prematurely. Just a twenty something young and dumb delinquent who met the most predictable fate in the universe.

Something was irritating his eyes. He blinked and suddenly found himself in a room... A clinic? He had never seen the person who was in the room with him, but they were cute. Like some kind of impossibly pretty guardian angel had come to guide him into the afterlife and make his journey as pleasant as possible. ''Hey..'' He managed a weak smile up at Kysaly. He did nothing to resist as he started cleaning his wounds. Not that he could if he wanted to. ''Sorry about the mess- I can- I can pay..'' He grimaced as he felt a twinge of sharp pain run through the right side of his ribcage. Then he looked back up at Kysaly, still a pretty guardian angel, was he dreaming or was this real? ''Who are you?'' He had to know.

Kysaly

''If you say so.'' Now that he thought about it, if her following up on it and investigating it meant he got some kind of closure about his power and his past that wasn't something bad. Sure, she might find out he's a criminal, but he wasn't like a bad one. The worst he ever did was use his quirk to protect himself, but that was just it. It was only ever in self-defense, and he was punching for the sake of others more often than not. Those who couldn't protect themselves against bullies needed help too after all.

''I see, so it's a tough little ball.'' He looked at the tungsten orb curiously, as if he was trying to identify a single point of toughness that wasn't there. He smiled as they were about to wrap up, walking towards the door before she reminded him. ''Right, the headpiece.'' Taking both cuffs and headpiece off and placing them where they were before he was all set to get out of here. ''Hm?'' He looked down at the card, but didn't hesitate in taking it when offered one. ''Ouros? Like the agency?'' He muttered to himself. Then his face turned beet red. ''V-Vigilantism? I-I never said anything about vigilantism!'' He didn't, but the guilt was clearly written all over his face. It was something to think about on his trip home. How had he given himself away? Was it something he said? Maybe Miss Iphigenia could actually read minds? Had he been tricked, or did she genuinely want to help him?

In the end he tabled it for now. There was no use worrying over it when he wasn't going to reach a definitive answer anytime soon.

Iphigenia Pavlina

Following the unhinged Babel attacks and the emerging Elementals, Eiji was helping out with some repairs around the park, mainly hammering in wooden boards. The kind of grunt work any idiot could be put to. He had been at it all morning, and it wasn't until noon that he was interrupted from his work.

''Boss! Boss!'' One of his fellow gang members ran up to him. ''A letter,'' he panted, ''It's from The Brain.''

''From-'' He couldn't hide his excitement, this was the first news they got from her in months. Ever since she had made him acting leader of the Hummingbirds he had been so lost. He couldn't wait for her to come back from her secret mission and take the helm again. ''That's great news!'' He took the letter and was about to open it, but stopped himself. ''Uh- what other officers are present at the moment?''

''Here? The only ones who aren't out on missions would be you and Bean-san.''

''Could you go get her for me?'' He wasn't reading the letter without Bean, it would be selfish of him to relish in this good news alone after all!

''Yo, Bean!!'' He grinned, waving as she finally approached. ''News from up high!'' He held the letter up. ''It feels like a lifetime since she last contacted us. Do you think she's doing well?'' He offered to let her open the letter. Whether it was him or her that did it, the contents were definitely written out in their leader's handwriting. The letter read:

''My dear fellow Hummingbirds. I hope you are all in good health, and that Amagi Park is coming along well. I'm writing you this letter from Aomori. My mission in Hokkaido was a success and I am on my way home. I hope I haven't made you worry too much, I will explain everything once I come back home again, however, there is something important I need to address.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I can no longer fight. That is to say, I cannot reasonably lead the Hummingbirds anymore. I will continue to serve as The Brain and offer my expertise and wisdom, but as of this letter I am officially transferring the title of Leader to Eiji Harada. I know some of you may be confused or shocked by my decision. I will address your concerns in person too.

With Love,
Yui The Brain''

To say Eiji's face was pale as a sheet would be putting it mildly. It was so bad that he immediately reached for the nearest wall to support himself so that his knees didn't buckle under him. He was to be the new leader? He could hardly believe it. No, this had to be some kind of prank, a sick nightmare maybe.

Something Bean might notice was that there was an additional message in the letter addressed to her specifically.

''Bean, you must be concerned too, but don't worry, I'm doing fine. It's selfish of me to ask you this, but could you be there for Eiji? It's a lot of responsibility for him to bear alone and I feel comfortable asking this of you. You're strong, stronger than any of us. Now more than ever I need you to share that strength with Eiji. Thank you, we'll talk soon.''

''I-I... Is she okay? She's joking. She's joking, right? Bean?'' He looked at his friend, eyes desperate for an answer.

bean