~Lorna's POV~

I'd been anxious about becoming Mirkos secretary. Mirko was the kind of superhero people imagined when they thought of super heroes. She was super strong, super fast and super intimidating. After scrambling to keep up with her (which I absolutely couldn't do) for the entire morning, I was exhausted. Being a 'nerd' as my peers so often called me growing up, (never in a nice way that made me want to claim the title, though it seemed to be a more acceptable title nowadays and less of an insult) I was a little athletically challenged. My sense of coordination was pretty much nonexistent unless I was fiddling with gears, gizmos and gadgets.

I attempted to squeeze my way through a crowd of people who'd gathered to watch Mirko round up some villains who attempted to rob a pharmacy. She left me in the dust twenty blocks away. By the time I'd caught up, feeling like I was going to have an asthma attack, which hadn't happened since I was eight, Mirko had all the villains apprehended and was in the process of handing them over to the police who'd also managed to show up before me. The crowd pushed against me, making it really hard to get through. I'd been in the process of going over Mirko's very hectic schedule with her when she'd heard the disturbance and took off, we still had things to go over.

"Um, excuse me, could I please get through?" I asked quietly, trying to tap people on the shoulder in hopes they'd let me pass.

"Back off, I was here first." A large hero enthusiast ahead of me wearing a Mirko t-shirt grumbled and proceeded to block my path even more by trying to make himself as big as possible to take up even more space.

I scurried over to another side of the crowd and tried again, "um, excuse me, could someone please let me through?" I asked softly.

I was ignored by the people ahead of me before being roughly shoved aside as the press showed up and people kept shouting at Mirko in an attempt to get her picture. There were flashes of light all around and people yelling and shoving. My head felt like it was spinning.

Another gruff shove from a member of the press and I ended up on the ground. My heart pounded in my chest, my mind began to race and I felt panic begin to well up inside of me as the crowd seemed to swell around me. I was going to be trampled by a bunch of press and hero enthusiasts!

"HEY VULTURES!" Mirko suddenly roared and a hush fell on the crowd. "Somewhere in that mess, is a little fox, let her through!" She snapped.

The crowd around me suddenly parted like the red sea, revealing me crouched on the ground with my hands thrown over my head, my tail tucked cowardly around me and my ears flattened in panic.

One of the press who'd roughly shoved me before, and was possibly responsible for a bruise forming on my right shoulder blade, rushed over to help me to my feet. "Here she is, Mirko!" The man said gleefully as he wrenched me up and dragged me forward in hopes to get some comments from her for whatever paper, blog or magazine he wrote for.

"Hands off." Mirko's voice was laced with annoyance and authority and sent a shiver down the man's spine.

He released me with a faint yelp and I stumbled forward completely unbalanced without him since he'd been dragging me so roughly.

A strong dark bronze arm shot out in front of me, catching me before I could fall. I felt my heart hammering in my chest as I glanced upward into a pair of somewhat menacing, yet oddly calming, piercing crimson eyes. Mirko looked me over and frowned before reaching out to dust me off as I'd apparently collected some dirt from my tumble. She was so strong, if she hadn't been supporting me with her opposite arm, I'd probably have ended up back on the ground.

"You'll need to get better at keeping up, Little Fox." She noted with a shrug and released me from her hold once she was sure I was steady.

"Y-yes, M-Mirko." I squeaked and scrambled to follow her as she crossed the glass littered sidewalk to the opposite side of the small police barricade that was clear of civilians and press.

Mirko suddenly stopped and turned so abruptly her long white locks fluttered around her in a beautiful picturesque arc that was now forever ingrained in my memory, "...what did I tell you to call me?" She inclined a slender small white brow at me.

"R-rumi?" I stammered nervously.

"Good." She smirked and continued walking.

I stumbled after her, clumsily. She'd really meant it? I'd thought she was just trying to make the receptionist angry earlier when she'd said it. It had successfully worked, I was sure that the receptionist had deemed me her number one enemy and was going to do anything and everything in her power to torment me from here on out as a result.

"Shall we stop for some lunch? Your stomach's been growling for quite a while now." Mirko remarked in a teasing tone.

I felt my face flush with heat, of course she could hear it. Her hearing rivaled Baa-baa Cho's, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" She asked me incredulously.

I blushed as I realized I'd just apologized for being hungry and hurriedly buried my face in my hands.

Mirko shook her head and led the way, though she slowed her pace so I could keep up. I followed after her, still struggling to catch my breath from all the running I'd done all morning. It was nonstop and I was very out of shape since I spent most my days tinkering at my work table. I rarely went outside. Though from the looks of it, if I wanted to be Mirko's secretary, I'd need to start doing some kind of training just to avoid collapsing from exhaustion chasing after her all day long.

We finally came to a stop, for the first time, at a park that seemed to be in a sorry state. It had fallen into disrepair and as a result was quite vacant. The playground was outdated and looked a little dangerous and partially overgrown with plants. The walk paths were crumbly and broken. The park benches were littered with graffiti. It had its own charm, somewhat chaotic with an air of melancholy but there were still little pockets of joy in every worn down piece of equipment, from years of use. It was once very well loved.

Mirko stopped at one of the benches and surveyed the seemingly forgotten park. There was a nostalgic look in her crimson eyes as they swept over each section of the park. She turned to me expectantly and motioned to the bench and I realized then she was only taking a break because I was on the verge of collapse. She didn't seem to be even slightly winded from her hectic morning.

I bashfully dropped onto a graffiti covered bench and set the lunch Baa-baa Cho had prepared for me on my lap. I began to unwrap it and noticed that she'd packed extra. Knowing her she'd hoped I'd offer to share it in an attempt to make a friend. She'd always encouraged me to make friends, it just hadn't worked out well for me so far.

Nervously, I glanced up at Mirko as she stood on the broken path, her long white rabbit ears at attention listening for any kind of disturbance. She seemed focused on listening and I was afraid to interrupt her. After a quick silent pep talk to myself, I hesitantly spoke up, "U-um...M-mir-?"

Her piercing crimson eyes snapped to me, "what was that?" She cut me off with an intimidating glance.

"EEP! I m-meant, R-rumi." I squeaked.

She smirked, "yes?"

"W-would you like some?" I asked nervously as I held up the carefully prepared bento. It was stuffed with rice, carrots cut into flower shapes and tamagoyaki. She didn't answer and I blabbered on in a panic, "Baa-baa Cho packed extra...there's even an extra set of chopsticks." She was quiet, so my mouth decided it best to continue running, "I know it's not f-fancy but Baa-baa Cho is a really good cook and she makes everything with lov-." There was laughter in her crimson eyes and I realized she was probably laughing at me in her head for rambling.

Her lips pulled into a small amused smile, "it does look quite tasty. I guess I'll have some." She dropped onto the bench beside me and I fumbled to hand her the prettier of the two sets of chopsticks. "It's been awhile since I've had a home cooked meal like this, made with love."

That sounded very sad. It was probably difficult for her to find time to cook for herself being such a high demand Pro Hero. "I could bring homemade lunches for you everyday." I blurted.

"Seems unfair to Baa-baa Cho." She said before taking a bite of one of the slivers of tamagoyaki.

"She taught me how to cook, I could make them." I offered.

Her crimson eyes grew wide as she chewed her bite of food, "if you're half as good a cook as Baa-baa Cho, then I accept." She smiled and went in for a second bite.