ENTER: INIGO MYOGA and NYORO HOGE, actively engaged in a conversation with a group of their peers, INIGO somewhat moreso than HOGE. It is November, and they have spent the past few weeks crouching in corners with butterfly nets in the hopes of catching a stray insectoid. As she glances briefly to the side, HOGE stiffens before placing a hand on INIGO's arm. INIGO, in turn, pauses and lowers his head to her mouth. After a beat, he straightens up and makes his excuses. With HOGE leading the way, the pair navigate the hallways and corridors of Shiketsu High School with an ease only seen in Hero Course students. After a few minutes of this, HOGE narrows her eyes and leads the way around a corner. They come face to face with a door. It reads NURSE'S OFFICE.

INIGO, quietly: You're sure?

HOGE gives him a Look. INIGO hesitates, then raises his fist and knocks.

REBECCA WEBER, muffled: Come in!

The two students shuffle in. REBECCA is seated behind her desk as per usual, marooned behind her desktop. She looks up and smiles as they enter, although it does not quite reach her eyes. Not a hair is out of place. As they advance to stand before her, she holds up a finger and sticks her other hand into her desk drawer. GIGAN tenses.

REBECCA: Myoga-kun. Hoge-chan. Please, have a seat. Lemon drop?

She slides two neatly-wrapped lemon drops across the table. Neither INIGO nor HOGE move to pick them up.

INIGO: Nurse Weber...

He stops, thinking. REBECCA's expression is expectant.

INIGO: Nurse Weber, a few weeks ago...
REBECCA: You're here about the bugs.

She smiles at the looks on their faces, which swiftly turn to vague disgust as a tiny, thumb-sized insectoid hops onto her desk, its antennae swaying in an invisible wind. HOGE's outline blurs, then solidifies as GIGAN hisses at the creature.

REBECCA: I hope you'll forgive me for taking my time to reach out. Your deal with Tadao-san and Karuga-san gave me much to think about.

CUT TO: REBECCA in her dingy apartment, pacing back and forth, chewing at her hair distractedly. Insectoids skitter out of the way with barely an inch to spare as she marches from one end of the cramped space to the other. Her hair is untidy, and she has one hand braced against the small of her back to stave off a looming cramp. A ragged backpack rests on her favorite chair, already half-full. Glancing down, she unlocks her phone again and pulls up Nightmare's contact. She squeezes her eyes shut and sinks into a deep squat, shoulders hunched.

CUT TO: REBECCA's office. She looks from HOGE to INIGO and back again as the two of them confer in gestures and eyebrow-raises.

INIGO: You know about that.
REBECCA: I know lots of things. I know that Tadao-san and Karuga-san have racked up enormous amounts of debt over the years. I know that your family has quite a fair bit of influence in Kyoto's criminal underworld, Myoga-kun. I know that you don't live with your parents, Nyoro-chan. But what I don't know is whether you are willing to extend me the same courtesy that you extended Tadao-san and Karuga-san.

In the silence, INIGO unwraps one of the lemon drops and pops it into his mouth, sucking thoughtfully. REBECCA places her hands flat on her desk, one on either side of her keyboard, and waits. Her desktop chimes as an email appears in her inbox. Suddenly, INIGO grins.

INIGO: Yeah, sure. Why not?
REBECCA: I haven't told you what my issue is.

INIGO waves a hand, his expression calm and confident.

INIGO: Doesn't matter. We'll deal with it.

REBECCA studies his face and continues.

REBECCA: I work for Nightmare. You may have heard that name previously. He's a major player in the Osaka underground. I sell information to him, and also just about every other criminal organization in Kyoto. I've sold to some of your immediate relatives once or twice.
INIGO: What does he have on you?
REBECCA: I've killed people.

Neither INIGO nor HOGE react. Not that she'd been expecting them to.

REBECCA: Nightmare found me in Los Angeles and got me to Kyoto. He gave me this identity. He gave me my work visa. Even my apartment building belongs, in one way or another, to him. There's also the matter of the money that I owe him, or that he says I owe him, but that's not as important.
INIGO: Like I said, we'll deal with it.
REBECCA: He works for a man who calls himself Pax. I've met him a few times. He's very rich, and he also attended your tournament in August. Nightmare doesn't tell me much, but it seems to me that Pax's organization is far, far larger in scale than his little empire in Osaka.

INIGO turns to HOGE. As they confer quietly, REBECCA retrieves a creampuff from her drawer and finishes it in three quick bites before they turn back to face her.

HOGE: Did he get you this job?
REBECCA: No. That was all me.

She raises a finger and sits up straight in her chair to glance over their shoulders.

REBECCA: And as much as I'd like to tell you more right now, your friend is a few seconds from my door. He looks like he really needs a nap.

She turns to HOGE.

REBECCA: So, are you going to take that lemon drop?