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Up on the rooftop. That's what Yonaka had told her. Go straight up to the rooftop, no distractions, no detours. Would have been much easier if Yonaka had decided to go with her, but she didn't want her first impression to the rest of the gang to be Yonaka handholding her all the way.

Mai was determined to make a good first impression. She knew she needed to show her best side to these people if she was to convince them that she had any potential to join them at all. The slightest whimper, a moment's linger, a breath's hesitation, and they'd scrub her out. If she gave anything less than 110%, she could kiss any opportunity to join this gang goodbye.

It wasn't going to be easy. She knew how she looked. She was small for her age, doe-eyed and chubby-cheeked like a hamster. It didn't matter how often she ran the track, the baby fat just would not seem to burn off. Oh, everyone gave her compliments on it. She must have been called “cute” about a thousand times. But cute wasn't what she was going for. “Cute” meant small, weak, helpless. It was the exact opposite of the kind of image she wanted to project, and if these guys saw her as some cute little girl, they weren't going to take her seriously at all. 

Mai checked her watch again, and decided to pick up the pace. She wasn't late, exactly, but she sure as heck wasn't early, and that was already a problem. Then again, she didn't want to come across as too eager, did she? They might mistake her eagerness for toadying, and if there was one thing worse than someone who didn't care at all, it was a kiss-up. Maybe she should show up a little bit late, show them that she had other options and that she didn't need them…

Ugh! She was way overthinking this. She was doing everything right so far. Why panic? Honestly, they'd probably be pleasantly surprised if she just showed up at all. And did she really want their first impression of her to be some dithering, indecisive, lost little girl, or did she want them to look at her and go “this is a girl who knows what she wants, and she's willing to take it”?

Just around this corner was the stairwell up to the roof. The gang's leader, Ishida, would be up there. She had to wonder, were the tales she heard about him true? A thug, but a thug who fought for justice. It was quite a reputation. Would she, Mai wondered, get a reputation like that? Would people spread stories of Mai Li, the girl who fought for what was right even when no-one else would? The thought made her smile. Mai Li, warrior for justice. Mai Li, protector of the downtrodden. Mai Li, the [i]hero[/i]. If nothing else, it was a darn sight better than Mai Li, the Chinese hafu foreigner.

She could make a name for herself; all Ishida had to do was give her the chance.

At any rate, time waits for no man, and it probably wasn't going to wait for her either. She jogged up the stairs, put on her biggest smile, and flung the door open to step out onto the rooftop.

"Yo!" she called out, scanning the faces before her for someone she recognised. "Hope I didn't keep ya waiting!"