The building was quite impressive in stature. Six stories tall with walls of solid grey-brown stone, fronted with several artistic-looking pillars and a pair of wooden doors big enough to admit two Hollowhearts side by side, it was frequently mistaken for a museum or some kind of historical monument, or possibly a bank. The ground floor had no windows that anyone could see from the outside. The stairs up to the doors were ridiculous, almost high enough to qualify as their own floor. The only indication of the building’s purpose was a small sign that few people ever even noticed, and it said only League Headquarters XVI, with the name Pepper Hathaway in smaller letters underneath. Very few people ever asked about the sign. Probably no one much cared.
Standing outside this building, halfway down the steps and watching passersby, was a Tengumi. He stared down at the people passing with a kind of raised-eyebrows upturned-beak indicator that yes, he was most certainly better than you. It was really his only solace in this dark time.
The fact was that the inexperienced Rocky had been sent out on a fairly important mission while he, the absolute best of the best, with high performance reviews from more than half the Evelon division, was stuck here at headquarters. Doing nothing. It was an insult to his abilities and his experience, and he was sorely tempted to bring it to Pepper himself. Perhaps he would, eventually. For now he simply awaited the summons he’d been told he would get.