Sayo spent a couple more hours getting to know the members of her team. They would be sent on missions together so it was important to get to know each other and how their quirks worked. Otherwise, they could just impede each other so they needed some unity. She got to know them all and she found that they were an interesting bunch of people. 

Dimitri had escaped Russia after being in their special forces so he joined the Black Hand for protection. Anastacia had been a lab experiment to force awaken quirks which in her case had succeeded. She murdered everyone in the lab she was experimented on and was found by Black Hand members. Her quirk was called Spatial Severence which gave her the ability to cut space itself. 

She used the katana at her side and it even boosted her spatial awareness. Stefan was from Germany and he had been a freelance mercenary before he joined the Black Hand to have access to more resources and pay. Jenny's family had been history with the Black Hand since its pre-quirk days. Her father was close friends with John so hearing that John's favored granddaughter would be on the team he recommend her. 

Sophi the speedster cat girl was the result of a quick marriage, but she ran from home when she was 8. She was found by a Black Hand member and taken in. Finally was Baek Yoonho from Korea. He was born in the North and was raised as a weapon by the Army, but he was born mute. He escaped when he was 18 and he ended up causing quite a bit of damage when he did.

Just like the rest he joined the Black Hand for protection and to gain more power. His robotic vocal implant was one of the benefits he got from doing so. Then there was Sayo and her pets who had it more simple, being related to John explained a lot. Either way, Sayo found them interesting so she found this team would be more interesting. 

This went on until around 4 AM when they finally decided to go to their rooms. Sayo was lucky that her grandfather had prepared a room just for her and her pets beforehand. No bed could take the weight of her three giant pets so this room was just like the one in her room. Very large and enough for her three pets and her. 

She ended up falling asleep, but in the middle of the night, she heard her phone ring which woke her up. She groaned and reached out for it on the nightstand to answer it.

"Sayo here." 

It turned out her mother just wanted to check up on her. She choose a bad time as Sayo was asleep, but it was too late now. 

"Sayo, did you arrive in D.C?" 

Sayo and her pets were now awake and they were looking at her. 

"Yeah, I am here. He was showing me around, but you woke me up. Can we talk tomorrow?" 

Akinari sighed. 

"Alright. Good night." 

Sayo hung up and lay in bed, but now that she was awake she would not be able to go back to sleep. 

"Damn it. I have come to enjoy my sleep too much."

Just then Sayo's face was nudged by Nyx whose eyes glowed a pretty blue. Koba glanced at her as he also had been awakened. As for Maximus, he was on his back rolling in the soft bed. 

Sayo got up and hugged each of them as she got up.

"Come on, I ain't going back to sleep any time soon sadly." 

Maximus, Koba, and Nyx got up and followed after her. When she left her room she walked around a little before stopping at the bar. She glanced at the drinks and she realized that she had never had a drink in her life. 

'Should I?'

"Fuck it." 

In her past alcohol was a good way to celebrate and speed up a date. Akira had scored a few hot milfs like that which made her shake her head. 

'What an asshole he was.'

She grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and went to the roof with her pets to be alone. Once she went to the roof she sat down on the ledge. She looked out at D.C and leaned back a bit.  

"What a nice view right?"

Koba looked out at the city before he put his head down. He did not care about the city one bit. Maximus sat right next to Sayo and rested his big head on her lap. He just wanted to spend time with Sayo, while Nyx did look out at the city. She found the lights interesting which made Sayo smile. 

"Love you three." 

Before she was about to open her bottle she heard a voice behind her. It had a Russian accent and was feminine so it was not Dimitri.  Her pets glanced at Anastacia before relaxing. They knew she was coming up, but they had already met her so they did not react much. 

"Drinking won't make your problems go away."

Sayo looked behind her and saw Anastacia. She had woken up when Sayo had as she was always on edge. It was kind of funny as while their ages were 4 years apart Sayo was taller. 

"Not trying to drink any sorrows away. I just wanted to have a drink."

"Why would you want to drink?" 

"Why do people drink besides sorrow? To celebrate." 

Sayo opened the bottle and took a big swing of the stuff. When the burning feeling hit her mouth she sighed remembering that feeling well. As she was looking out at the city at night Anastacia sat beside her on the ledge. Already her body broke down the alcohol so she would not get drunk even if she drank 100 bottles of the stuff. 

"You want some?" 

Anastacia looked at the bottle before she grabbed the bottle and took a swig as well. Sayo saw that she did not even react one bit and took it like a champ. 

"You can drink?"

Anastacia's face remained neutral, but she reminded Sayo of something. 

"You forget I am Russian."

"True."

She sat next to Nyx as Sayo was surrounded by her pets.  Both girls looked out at the city when Anastacia broke the silence.

"So, what is the story with that tattoo?" 

Sayo was currently wearing a sleeveless hoodie so her large tattoo was visible. Sayo looked at her dragon skull tattoo with a smile. 

"Belonged to someone close to me, but he died. I wanted to get the same tattoo as he had as a way to remember him." 

Anastacia nodded. 

"Was he your boyfriend?" 

Sayo paused as she had not told them her age. They thought she was 16 and not her real age of almost 11. 

"No, he was more like my brother." 

"What was he like?" 

Sayo remembered Akira as she had managed to separate her identity from his. She was not Akira anymore and just Sayo. 

"He was a casanova who dated woman after woman. When he died he told me it was just karma for him being a dick." 

Anastacia looked to the sky.

"Sorry for your loss. He must have been important for you to get a full tattoo in his honor." 

"I guess. I answered your question so care to answer mine?" 

Anastacia nodded. 

"Go ahead." 

"What was your life like?" 

Anastacia paused a bit before taking the bottle from Sayo and drinking from it. 

"I was born to poor parents with rather weak quirks. However, their quirks fused perfectly together and evolved. Instead of raising me, they sold me to a lab trying to awaken quirks. I was one of many children who they experimented on for years, but I was the only success. My quirk awakened when I turned 8 and I used my new power to escape.

I was found by Sir Tony who was doing a mission in Russia at the time with his team. I joined the Black Hand who trained me, protected me, and helped me get revenge. That is my story." 

Anastacia was nudged from behind my Koba which made her reach out to pet the bear. Bears were stereotypes of Russia, but Koba was American born and raised. He was a Grizzly after all. 

"Your pets are all well-taken care of." 

Sayo smiled as she hugged Nyx. The tigress wrapped her arm around Sayo. 

"Well, I have had them since they were cubs. I raised them myself so I care greatly for them."

Maximus felt jealous so he grabbed Sayo's hand with his mouth. 

"I did not forget you." 

She ran her hand down his back which made his tail wag. Anastacia had wished her parents had treated her even a little like Sayo treated her pets. That was kind of sad to think that Sayo treated her animals better than her parents treated her. Sayo got up and did something that shocked Anastacia. 

She jumped off the building, but this was the hundredth floor. Anastacia looked down and saw Sayo flying with dark purple energy giving her a lift. 

'She did say she could control her vital energy.'

Sayo flew back up and landed on the building. 

"Sorry about that, sky diving is quite fun." 

Anastacia sighed. 

"You scared the hell out of me." 

Sayo just laughed and waved. She motioned her pets to follow her as she returned to her room. As for Anastacia, she kicked the whisky off the roof and also went to her room. She wondered why all her teammates were kind of crazy, but she was no better. She just wished they did not mess up on their first mission which was a really tricky one. 

As for Sayo, she managed to get to sleep. When she woke up the next morning she took a quick shower and brushed her teeth. When she went outside most of the team was starting to come out of their rooms. Anastacia looked at Sayo with an annoyed look as she really thought she tried to kill herself. Sayo smiled in an apologetic way as she really did not mean to freak her out. As for Sophi, she was running around like she could not sit still and would talk to everyone about the most random things.

However it seemed she found joy in messing with Stephan, but he seemed to be used to it. She jumped on his shoulders and messed up his hair, but he just ignored her.  He was a father to a little girl so he had a lot of patience. Finally, John, Tony and Uyehara arrived and when they saw him they got quiet.

John cleared his voice and spoke up. 

"Well, I hope you all have gotten used to each other. You will be around each other a lot and your plane is here for you all. The princess has her own guard detail, but you are going as a second defense. Remember, something happens to her and you can all wish your heads goodbye. Even Maximus, Koba and Nyx." 

Sayo had a suggestion. 

"Grandpa so can we just tie her up."

"HAHAHA, hell no. As much as her security has been wanting to do that they can't."

Stephan who had Sophi by her scruff had some things to say.

"Ok so who would be after this girl's life? What kind of threat would we be facing?"

Tony answered this time. 

"They are apparently freelance mercenaries who have completed quite a few jobs. They are quite strong so keep your eye out." 

Jenny asked something. 

"So we have to guard the princess and fight the ones who want to take her life? If we kill them do we get paid more?" 

John grinned. 

"You bet you will." 

That made them all excited. This kind of mission paid well so extra was always good. 

"Your transport is waiting for you. Now go and no more questions."

Sayo and her new team went down the elevator, in silence. Her pets shrunk down with their special collars so she was holding them in her arms. They wanted to go in silence, Sophi just could not stay quiet.

"Dimitri, how much do you shed? Sayo how heavy are your pets? How much did your tattoo cost? How tall are you> Baek are you actually mute? Anastacia, what is your sword made of Stefan, does smocking make you stronger? Jeni, can we sell the diamonds you make?"

She just kept going and going, and even Sayo's pets were trying to ignore her. Once they got in their transport they got lucky and it seemed that Sophi finally fell asleep. Stephan sighed in relief and made a joke.

"If my daughter was like that, I think I might already be insane. Sadly she is not more like you Anastacia." 

On the drive, they started to talk about their hobbies and stuff as they might die. As such, they wanted to have some light-hearted conversation. They joked around a little and even compared their quirks. It made the ride more bearable as they might be killed if they fucked up. 

Once they arrived at the airport they saw their plane was a military-grade one. Just like the one Sayo took to the middle east. The Black Hand used its wealth to invest in science, medicine, and weapons. Quirks were good, but technology can make things better. 

On the plane, they sat around each other and played cards. They even began to gamble for fun and one thing about Sayo, she was good at it. 

"Read 'em and weep." 

Dimitri groaned as Sayo got a Royal Flush while he had a Full House. He dropped the cards in his hands and took his phone out and sent Sayo 50,000 dollars. That was a small amount as they all got paid extremely well. Stefan nudged Dimitri off the seat as he began to shuffle the cards. 

"My turn."

Sayo smiled. 

"Sure." 

Stefan handed the cards to Baek who shuffled them once more just to be fair. He passed out 5 cards to both of them, but just as they were going to play the plane landed. Stefan grinned as it was fun to play poker. 

"Let's pick this up later." 

Sayo nodded. 

"I am always ready to take more money." 

They all stood up and began to leave the plane and Sophi made a small joke. 

"Let's go try to keep a princess alive shall we."

Dimitri nodded.

"And hope she lives or our heads will roll."

Sophi grabbed her neck and jumped on Stephan's back.

"I don't want to die Nya."

Anastacia actually smiled at that time.

"Well then let's not fail."

Sayo shrugged. 

"If she dies that just means we were idiots. Let's live so I can get my second tattoo." 

Jenny looked at Sayo's tattoo with jealousy. 

"Must be nice, my dad won't let me get one." 

Sayo winked at her. 

"Never said my parents knew." 

That made them all laugh as they got into the transport they were given. They all were joking around, but they took this job deadly seriously. Anything could go wrong so they made sure to be ready.