[centre][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/400350117485608964/862829377099661322/maihead.png[/img] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/400350117485608964/862829259486527498/maitext.png[/img][/centre][hr]Mai looked at Tamura like she had punched her. Did she think she was so weak that she couldn't handle one cowardly attacker by herself? [i]Well, it isn't as though I've proved myself. They still think I'm some kid.[/i] Right. They didn't know who she was, not really. In their eyes, Mai was just some dough-faced child trying to act like one of the big boys. But that was exactly why she had to do this. She couldn't go hiding behind someone else's skirt for the rest of her life, sitting on the sidelines while someone else did all the important work. No, she had to participate, if for no other reason than to truly earn her place in the gang. If she backed down now, they would always look at her like a child, but if she did this, even if she took a thrashing, they'd at least know that she was willing to take that for them. [color=#54cbd3]"Maybe I don't have to take that risk. But [i]someone[/i] does! How else are we supposed to catch these guys?[/color]" She raised a hand, pre-emptively silencing any protests. [color=#54cbd3]"Sure, we could go around the victims and ask them questions, like some chump detectives, and maybe we [i]might[/i] be able to piece together some evidence from the patchwork of "I didn't see their face" and "they were wearing a mask" that we'll get, but I don't think we'll get anything useful at all. Besides, what if someone remembers wrong? We won't know for sure unless we catch them red-handed!"[/color]