Hair///Trigger

Why!? Why did I have to go and make a fool of myself? He probably thinks I'm some self righteous bitch. I sure sounded like one. Fate literally throws me on a cute guy that doesn't auto-shame reborn, and I give him a reason to. Great. That'll be the first review to my book. I can feel it.

"The author preaches about human and reborn equality, but shames human allies in the street." 1 star.

To make matters worse, I had to go and act tough. My arm is killing me! I didn't even get to finish planning my report to Athena. I could have had a ride in a nice, cozy car with the first non-judgmental human I've met in years, but no; I had to run my big mouth. I was just so annoyed by the driver that hit me. He is SO lucky I have to keep a low profile. I swear, one day, I'll get him back. I've got your description and this plate number, asshole.

Here we are. "Headquarters." In reality, it's Wolfgang's house (or one of them, apparently), but he insists on calling it that. Everyone figured this was the best way to monitor District 1.

"Welcome back, Janine." A pleasant voice floats through hallway.

"Thanks, Heron. Sorry I'm late. I kind of got hit by a car."

"Whaaat? Are you okay? Hey. Physical conditions. Now. We don't know your thresholds for pain, girl. Gimme make, model, estimated velocity at impact..." Woah. She's still listing things. I can't remember all that stuff!

"Hey. Earth to Janine. Are you even listening? Ah, whatever. Hurry up and sit down. I need to check vitals." And she quickly gets to work. Staff Sergeant "Heron" is our medic and researcher/analyst. She's a bit on the eccentric side and loves working with Wolfgang's explosives. She's officially an Administrative Chief, but explosions and Heron's fast paced personality go hand in hand.

"By the way, Janine, just call me Jess. Heron makes me feel like. Old."

"Short for Jessica?" I ask curiously. And isn't she almost thirty? "PS. You are old."

"Short for Just Shut Up and Sit Down. I can't get this on your forehead. You don't want to see me jump with all this stuff, trust me." I'm not the tallest girl, but she's tiny. I really do wanna see her jump! Should I be teasing her, though? Heron—I mean Jess, is a battle hardened demon Hunter. Hard to imagine, considering she has to stand on her tiptoes to reach the cupboard.

"I saw the notification. Why didn't you radio in when it happened?" Athena walks into the "operating room." It's actually just Wolfgang's kitchen. "Walking all the way over here after the incident wasn't exactly a wise choice. What if it was a targeted attack and you were being followed?"

"I didn't think of that, ma'am. I thought that I should maintain a low profile."

I was worried causing a scene would have drawn attention to us. I want to tell her that my "superior" hearing and senses can help me tell whether or not I'm being followed, but I don't think telling her my senses are better than hers is a very good idea.

"I suppose you could see it like that. You have enhanced senses. I assume that you used them." She says, in agreement. The feeling of being right lifts my spirits.

"Maybe we got lucky the driver hit you instead of one of us." She leave the room, and there go my spirits with her. Now I'm feeling bummed. The pain in my arm sure doesn't feel lucky.

"Don't mind Athena, you'll get used to it." Jess says, trying to assure me. "It's kind of her way of making sure you're okay. If you're okay, then the team's okay. If the team's okay, then you're okay. It circles around that way for her."

"So that's her way of being nice?" I say, jokingly.

"Nahhh. I'm the nice one." She laughs at first, but continues more seriously. "Athena is professional because that's how she keeps all of us alive. I know Wolfgang and I are kinda lax, but we all respect and welcome her tenacity. You should, too."

"Yeah, you're right." It's not that I don't respect her. I actually really admire her. Plus, she's the reason the Hunters even allowed me to join the military. I don't want to mess up in front of Athena.

"By the way, Jess," I ask something that's been on my mind all day, "Where's Feng been? He didn't come back after last night, but everyone says he's okay. His monitor shows he's signed in, as well."

Warrant Officer "Feng" is, all else considered, our sniper and eye in the sky. Athena hand picked him out of hundreds of candidates. Apparently, even as a Scout Sniper, he was a nobody in the force—until he caught her attention. But that's what he prefers to be: Nobody. He gets in, takes what he needs, and gets out.

"Huh?" She asks, bewildered.

I guess she forgot that my squad monitor is different from everyone else's. Normally, you have access to messaging, physical condition, and location. Mine only has messaging enabled. Jess—and, ironically, Wolfgang requested otherwise. They petitioned to grant me full access, but Athena denied it. Until I earn her trust, I'll have to deal with a limited monitor.

"Oh. Right. Well, since you don't know, Feng is fine. The reason he's out is the same reason Athena wants that report done. And why I need to make sure you're in proper physical condition." She put plenty of emphasis on that last part.

"Why's that?"

"Because. Congrats, Janine. Tomorrow is your first hunt. You're up with Athena and Feng. I want you on your A-Game."

"Specialist Atlasz." I hear Athena's voice call me, in command tone. Jess gives me the all clear, and I leave the kitchen for the living room. Uh, I mean from the "Operating room" to the "Command Center" (Wolfgang, you weirdo!).

"Ma'am!"

This is it. It's really happening. Athena and Feng have a legendary reputation in the force, and I get to witness it all after a few hours of "f prime of blah blah."