"No way." The girl with long teal hair was practically vibrating in the common area that they also used to discuss strategy.

Luka nodded solemnly as she tapped at the table projection that showed all the organized data that she'd been delivered by their employer. "Yes," she said, trying not to feed the younger girls enthusiasm.

Despite this, the ever excitable Miku let loose a high squeal of joy. "This is even better than going to a concert. We're gonna see his everyday life! That's unheard of!"

"We're not doing this for a fangirl dream experience, Miku," Luka reprimanded gently. She'd been expecting the response, and thus wasn't fazed by it at all. "This mission requires a bit of delicacy," she said, leaning against the table. The excited young crew settled down, Rin and Len ceasing their teasing and all of their faces leveled and became serious. Though young and foolish, they knew when to focus.

"What do you mean?" chimed Rin and Len simultaneously. "Jinx!" They said, once again in tandem. Rin stuck out her tongue and Len responded by pushing her over. They turned back to Luka, their little spat over in a matter of moments. The twins were valuable – one a talented pilot, the other a brilliant mechanic and fairly good shot. It had, however, taken a great deal of time to get them to this point of maturity. In an odd way, Luka was proud.

She didn't let it show though. She simply continued with the briefing. "Kamui can't know that we're protecting him, unless things get so extreme that the need arises. We need to stop any attackers and figure out who is sending them without his even being aware that we're there."

Miku frowned. "So you'll play it close, I'll wait in the crowds and the twins will keep watch overhead? As usual?"

"Yes. The other tricky thing is that Kamui keeps his personal life completely separate from his life as a pop star. We have to avoid making those connections for his assassins, if they haven't already made them. We need to watch both personas, everywhere they go." Luka had agonized over how to achieve all of these goals. The more she analyzed the man, the more infuriating he became. Thankfully the data she'd been given was thorough.

"Rin and Len will have primary guard duty during concerts. In general, you'll hover above in Kitten and keep an eye out for aerial threats as well as odd behavior on the ground that you can warn Miku and I about." Rin grinned. She loved Kitten, perhaps a little more than she loved the Cheshire, because Baby had been Luka's gift to Rin and Len. Together they'd fixed the small hovercraft up, and it now operated as an efficient and quiet cruiser.

"No probs, boss lady. Rin and I know the drill," Len said, with his trademark crooked grin. Someday the kid would be charmingly roguish, and that smile would slay the ladies.

"Good," Luka said. "Miku…"

"Will be a party guest when he goes to parties, a tourist on the streets, a fan at the concerts. Got ya," Miku said with a wink. "What will you be doing?"

Luka grinned. "I've got contacts through our employer. They're working on some job that'll keep me close to him and allow near complete access to his life."

"Luckyyyyyyyyyyyyyy," Miku whined. Luka was about to say that she was the most experienced, and therefor best qualified but Miku sighed and continued her thought. "I know you have to be the one to do that, it's just you don't even like his music."

"Maybe if all goes well I'll twist things so that we can meet him once things are over," Luka hinted with a small smile. It wouldn't harm anything, and they'd have more than enough credits to go to any of this man's concerts fifty times over anyway. Her crew members beamed up at her, though Miku looked as though she was ready to start tearing up. Len had admitted that he enjoyed his music and Rin had a few of his songs on her "driving playlist" as she called it, but neither could match the fanaticism of Hatsune Miku. It was adorable.

"Any questions?" Luka asked in the wake of the pleased silence.

"How much are we being paid?" Rin asked.

"50 million," Luka said.

"What!" "Are you kidding!" "No fucking way!" The three cried at the same time.

"Not kidding. Not a joke. If we don't screw this up, we get 50 mil."

"Damn," Rin said, a wicked grin playing on her angelic face. "Pop stars and a big pay day. Best. Job. Ever."

Len leaned forward. "Shouldn't we be concerned? Sure this seems like an easy job, but do we even know our employer? It has to be more."

Luke nodded. "I was worried about the same things. We're going to have to be on high alert. I have a feeling there's more to this than what is being told, but when have these jobs ever been simple?"

The group sat thoughtfully. "Welp, I'm in if there's good money," said Rin. "I've been needing to upgrade Kitten for a while. So let's go." She stood from the table and stared up at Luka. "Where to, capn'?" she asked with a cheesy pirate accent.

"Delta Kai," Luka said.

"Got it. I'll point the Chesh in the right direction. C'mon Len!" She tugged on his shirt and dragged him after her into the pit after her. "You've gotta fix that goddamn loose wire…"

"I did it yesterday," Len groaned.

"Yeah, sure you did…" said Rin. With that, Luka tuned them out and turned to Miku. Her unofficial second-in-command gazed thoughtfully at the screen.

"What are you thinking?" Luka asked. She valued the opinions of her crew. Though goofballs, she couldn't deny their creativity or their talent. They got the job done and they did it well.

The younger woman shook her head. "Nothing."

Luka crossed her arms. "No really, what is it?"

"Just a feeling," the normally unflappable girl said. "Trouble. Maybe a lot. Something else… Don't trust all this, Luka. I know you know that, but seriously. Something is up." The teal haired girl gave Luka a small smile.

"Hey, you know me. Ms. Cautious. You remember how angry you got at me on that last mission for triple-checking everything," Luka replied, trying to play the words off as flippant when her undercurrent of emotions was unsettled. Miku was Andaian, which was obvious by her teal hair and abnormally good senses. But those boosted senses also came with an instinct that most people thought was bullshit. Luka knew that Miku's "sixth sense" was often on point. And as such the girl's troubled predictions made Luka concerned.

Evidently, though, the comment did the job it was supposed to and Miku's frown transformed into a disgusted eye rolls. "God, do I know. You're so annoying!" she cried, with a little laugh, throwing her arms dramatically into the air and spinning her chair next to the table.

On the screen, a ping came into view, the little envelope message box in the corner turning red and turning the count to one with the sound of an electrical, cheery chime. Miku made her chair whip around faster and stared at the screen.

"Hey, Luka, you gotta message. Want me to open it up for you?" she asked brightly.

"Sure," Luka said, leaning forward so she could get a view of the screen. "Let's hope it's from our employer."

Miku tapped the screen and the message opened. The women skimmed the short ping quickly, and Miku leaned back and groaned. "This isn't faaaaaaaaair," she bemoaned. "You sure I can't take point?"

Luka smiled fondly at her second in command, and stood. "Nope, sorry kid. Promise to bring you an autograph."

"You better," Miku snarked in response. "Or I quit."