Fluffy and soft, the comfort of the bed is the only thing healing the discomfort of this cramped, prisoner room that is coated with silver. Azayaka emptily stares at the ceiling as she lies. As echoes of the past surge within her head.

"Aza, look!" Through the field of tall grass, she follows his voice. Leaves skitter against her cheeks as she pushes through them. Eventually her eyes catch onto a certain fox-boy, kneeling in-front of a decaying tree stump.

She crouches beside him, seeing a really fat frog croaking alone on the tree stump.

"Look at him... He's so cute!" Ren squeals, his hand reaching towards the critter.

"Gah!" But the moment he touches it, a sparkling cloud of dusts explodes from the frog's back.

Azayaka giggles at that memory playback. She remembers him pouting and grumbling out; "Aza! Stop laughing!" Or something along that line.

But then... Reality hits her again. He's been kidnapped.

Is this what he felt when she left? This looming ocean of unrelenting worry and fear... She could only clutch her pillow tight, almost ripping its cover out.

That man... Her father suddenly has a change of plan, but why kidnap him? Isn't it her who he wants? Or is it just another ploy for him to set up another of his 'test'?

A rumble of anger rises within her. She grits his teeth, her grip becoming tighter.

If only, that's the words her mind conjures the most. A cry for help screaming inside her as she curls in a fetal position.

Her father... He'll do anything necessary to get to his goal. Exactly the trait she fears most. She could only hope Ren manages to escape, somehow, by any means possible. But... her guts is telling her... It's Impossible.

He'll do the same thing again...

I don't want it to happen to him...

Ren...

...

...

...

'Click', Her door pushes open, prompting her to rise up and look.

"Am I... Interrupting something?" To that soft, deep male voice, she immediately reaches the bead of tears in the corner of her eyes, wiping them away. The blur now away, she sees the turquoise eyed scorpion standing at the doorstep, staring at her with concern in each of his six eyes.

"What... What do you want?" Her tone growing cold, she could see him flinch slightly.

"W-Well, nothing. Just... Want to greet you good morning, that's all," He says as he put his chitinous hand behind his neck.

Azayaka gives him a half lidded stare, before looking down, "You did just that. Go away if you have nothing else to say," She lays back down, turning her back to him.

"Aza... I..." His voice turns faint. afterward, a brief moment of silence passes. He stares at the silver floor for a moment, eyes reflecting their color, before his sigh ends his quietness.

"If you remember me..." He closes his eyes as he exhales, "Sorry."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Hah..." She sighs, rising up once again, "That was such a long time ago... So, don't worry," Her soft voice soothes his ears as she turns to face him, "I forgive you, Sion."

Sion parts his lips slightly, closing them with a huff of relief and a small smile, "Thank you, Aza."

She answers him with a smile of her own. Though that smile soon is replaced by a curious stare, "Your hair," She suddenly starts, staring at his halfway shaved head, "Why'd you cut it like that?"

"Ah, it's... it's uh..."

Sion, look!

Huh? Who is this?

Harry Styles from One Direction! He's like... This really popular singer from long, long time ago. He looks cute! Don't you think?

Uhuh...

"I... I tried to do that Harry Style hair," He answers with a slightly shaky tone, "Added a little twist to it though," He brushes the shaved trim of his head, "You like it?"

"Harry Styles?" She chuckles faintly.

With a slight blush, he avert his gaze as he chains his chitinous fingers together, "Y-Yeah... Y'know, that one singer you liked so much?"

"Hmm, I guess... I did had that phase once..." She mumbles, keeping her smile, "It looks good on you. Makes you look punk too. I almost didn't recognize you because of it," Tilting her head in curiosity, her hands clutch at each other, "I like it."

"Thanks..." He mumbles out, eyes avoiding contact with hers.

The momentary silence is accompanied by her smile. Though that smile slowly fades, replaced by a pursed pair of lips.

'Ding' A ring from Sion's pocket. He pulls his phone out and let its light hit his face, "Ah... The new chief..."

To that, Azayaka huffs out a lazy breath, "What did she say?"

"She wants the branch to meet at office, ASAP."

"I see..." She throws away her blanket and proceeds to put on her combat boots, "Well, we don't want to keep her waiting... Don't we?"

Sion widens his eyes for a moment before raising a brow, "Have you met her?"

Azayaka parts her lips as she stares at the blank air in front of her.

"Keep your eyes open while I'm here."

"..."

"You'll never be alone."

"I have. And I must say... She seems like an asshole," After her pause, her words comes out fluently.

"Well, a better asshole than the previous one I'll tell you that," Sion sighs before approaching her, "Don't worry too much, Aza," His fingers grab her shoulder, slowly clutching it tighter, "If she tries anything..."

"I'll protect you."

-----

A classical tune— the sound that the elevator plays alongside an ensemble of airflows and zooming sounds. The pair of reunited childhood friends stand beside each other, both staring at anything but each other's eyes. Beside the girl is the elevator's window side, the sight of the Central City's foggy morning being blocked by the building's support every few seconds. The zoom of the elevator keeps on playing, occasionally it stops to announce a pit-stop to a floor, only to greet just the thin air everytime the door opens.

Pressing her lips together, Azayaka keeps her hands balling behind her waist as the sound of the elevator continues, "By the way, Sion... Why did you decide to become a knight?"

Though he glances at her for a moment, Sion keeps his hands in his pockets, thinking for an answer, "Well... I wanted to find you, mostly."

Looking down, she tightens her fists together as she purses her lips, "So... Do you feel... Relieved now?"

Sion furrows his brow as he crosses his arms, glancing away with his eyes narrowed, "I... I am. Really... I... I've been wanting to meet you again after all... That. You're my first friend after all... I just couldn't forgive myself for being an idiot. And sorry again, for... All that I did..."

At that, she only sighs before shaking her head lightly, "You don't have to keep apologizing, Sion," Her tone is soft and gentle, it gives Sion the courage to look at her, "I have no reason to hold a grudge on you after all," Meanwhile, she keeps her eyes distracted by the sight of the Central City beside her, "Well, maybe only when you stole my Hachiko doll that one time. Maybe I'm still mad at you a little bit for that," Her words then end with a small chuckle.

He gives her a slight snicker as well, "Heh, well, who knows? I think, I might still have that doll lying around, so... I could give it back to you soon."

'Ding' the elevator echoes before she could answer. The door in front of them soon opens, revealing the hallway that leads to their office. Both immediately gives each other a glance before tensing up. Sion takes the lead and Azayaka follows. Soon, they arrive in front of the office's pair of wooden doors.

"If you feel uncomfortable with anyone here, let me know," Sion says, right before he pushes the door opens.

Then, the sight welcomes them- within the big, classical office, is a party.

A joyous, happy, loud, and sparkly party. And by that, it means, the disco kind.

Somehow, there's a rotating crystal hanging from the center of the room, emitting the colorful spectrum of purples, pinks, blues and greens that paints the black and white marbles floor into a disco dance floor. Playlist of top-hit pop songs is constantly in play through the PA speaker system as the majority of the Intelligence agency dances in celebration, presumably celebrating the departure of a certain doppelganger as a giant flyer that writes, "The Masked Asshole is gone!" Is hanging onto a window.

The rest of the first branch though, they seems to be quite enjoying themselves- the twins, Anastasia and Samuel are both active, stiffly sitting on the office's sofa as they observe their surrounding.

The demon and the unicorn, Kai and Amura both sits at the makeshift bar on the far corner of the office. The latter keeps on chugging shots of alcohol in rapid succession as a number of the other branches, mostly men cheers her on. However, their praises are kept at bay by the beefy, ram demon sitting beside her, though he leans his head on his hand as he stares at the empty air.

Sitting lonely at the other end of the room are Kao and Udin, the sharkman and the Sasquatch. Both of them keep their eyes on their phones as a certain green eyed cyclop sneers at them from a distance.

And luckily, a certain tan-skinned woman with a stitched neck is leaning on the wall right by the entrance door with a glass of water in hand.

"Um, Chief..? What is going on here?" Sion asks, his tone being the most questioning it's ever been.

"Oh? This? Just think of it as a... Welcoming to my new leadership. Before we do things seriously, I'd like to loosen some of the tension a bit, so... Enjoy it while it last!" She ends her word with a quick turn towards Azayaka, who's peeking behind Sion, "And you. You should get acquainted with these folks. Not all, of course, but, you know, at least enough to make yourself comfortable. On that note though, the more the merrier right?" She ends her presence with a sinister smirk before vanishing into the crowd.

"God... I hate parties like this..." Sion grumbles as he slouches, "I've worked here for two years but I've never talked to the other branches..."

"Can relate," Azayaka comments.

"Do you wanna meet the others? Like she said?"

To that, she purses her lips for a moment before sighing, "I guess... I'm gonna be stuck here for awhile so... Why not."

"Follow me then."

Sion then leads to the right side of the room, passing through the designated dance floor where a centaur does a full on breakdance against an arachne who's spinning a ballet gracefully, keeping their eyes locked onto each other as they display their moves. Azayaka stares for a while, how the other knights cheers from the sidelines with kind smiles on their faces. They're all happy, seemingly happier than ever. Azayaka could only stare blankly as she parts her lips slightly.

"Aza? You okay?"

"Yeah, i'm... Fine," She soon catches up to Sion.

Exiting the crowd, her eyes catches onto a giant sasquatch-like creature sitting on the floor beside a blue-skinned man, both too distracted with their phones to notice her and Sion approaching.

"Hey," Sion's grumpy voice causes both of them to shudder slightly before looking up, "Udin, Kao, this is Azayaka. Azayaka, Idiot and idiot."

"Hey!" The Sasquatch, Udin crosses his arms as he squints his glowing red eyes, making them appear as thinner pair of dots behind his ragged, green locks.

Meanwhile, the blue-skinned sharkman, Kao stands up, fixing his blue and purple eyes at Azayaka's, "You... You're one of those assassin!"

"Yes. Nice to meet you too," Her words comes out monotone as she tilts her head.

"Wha?" Udin glances to Kao.

The sharkman closes his eyes and furrow his brow, putting his fist on his chin for a moment, "So, what Anastasia said was true then... Huh..." He ends his contemplation with a slight head shake and a smile, "Well, if you're here now without the whole Knights going for your throat, I guess there's no problem anymore right? I'm Kao Minerva. Nice to meet you, Azayaka, right?" He offers her a handshake.

"Just call me Aza," She accepts with small smile, consciously keeping her eye contact.

"Well, I know nothing of this but seemingly, we have a new member huh? I'm Udin Bin Gandharuwo, pleasure to make you acquaintance," The Sasquatch man stands up to reveal his height. Azayaka only reaching the bottom of his chest.

Azayaka responds with a slight nod before going back to face the sharkman.

"Oh, by the way, Azayaka. Now that we're allies, sorry for uh... Throwing a water triden at you, eheh..." Kao chuckles as he glances elsewhere.

"Don't worry about it," She shrugs, "The worst damage you could do to me is not gonna be physical anyways."

"Sure, sure!" His smile then turns unsure in a blink, "Wait, was that an insult?"

Azayaka then glances to Sion, seeing him eyeing towards the crowd of dancing Knights behind her. His eyes are seemingly at pause, though a little grumpy grit of his teeth breaks his silence, "Oh, jolly. It's him," He complains, still staring towards the crowd, causing the other three to follow suit.

Following the scorpion's stare, Azayaka discovers the 'him' in question— A tall, male demon wearing the knight uniform, swaying to the music as he talks to his party mate. With his black hair styled in a wolf cut, his skin is of dark and deathly brown complexion with a thin line of choker-like tattoo around his neck, along with a collection of tattoos painted from his fingers towards his wrists. His eyes are glowing red with black scleras. A pair of blackish maroon horns protruding from his head as his long, slender lion tail wiggles with the beat.

From what Azayaka could gather, from that demon's smile to his energetic movement, he seems to be enjoying the party like everyone else. Azayaka finds no suspicion in him. Thus she turns back towards Sion and asks, "Who's that?"

And bluntly, he answers, "My ex."

Kao and Udin both snap their heads at him, wide eyed.

"Yooooooooo, that's... kinda gay. I'm out," With that, the giant Sasquatch-like creature vanishes to thin air.

"Your... Ex? As in your former boyfriend? Lover? Sexual partner!?" Kao asks, his voice turning shaky with every words.

"Yes, yes, and yes. What of it?" Sion answers, then goes back to staring.

"So... I take it you're bi then?" Kao mumbles out, crossing his arms as he looks down.

"I mean, the people of my race each have both. A penis, and a vagina. Going by that, I don't think I have any other choice," He briefly bats an eye at the sharkman, "Why does it matter?"

"O-Oh, nothing! Nothing... d-don't worry about it, heheh... Just... Surprised. That's all," Tapping his fingers together, Kao pouts.

Azayaka stays silent, observing Sion's stare, how the sparks in all his six turquoise eyes fade away as he furrows his brow.

"So, why'd you broke up with him?"

To her soft and gentle whisper, he only sighs, "I'd... Rather not dwell back into that."

They both goes back to their stare with Azayaka huffing out, "That's fair."

And so, the three of them leans on the wall, gazing at the disco party, one staring with a bitter contempt, another with her morbid passiveness, the last with his utter jealou- or perhaps confusion.

Their staring contest resume for a good round of seconds, till eventually, he turns and answer their gaze.

"Hey Sion! Long time no see!"

"Ah!" The three of them simultaneously scream and jolt out of their position.

The red eyed, hyena demon is suddenly right beside his ex, a faint cloud of black smoke floating away from his figure as his horns glow a dimming maroon glow.

"Goddamn it, what the hell are you doing here, Veli?" Sion rolls his eyes as he pushes away the demon's hands.

Veli gives him a warm smile, showcasing his rows of sharp, canine teeth, "Oh, well, I was transfered here from the Knights agency on Mor'. Chief Gangsarsari wanted me to come with her as her personal bodyguard. Didn't expect to come across you either. But, it's good seeing you again, Sion!"

"My fucking god... Of course it has to be him. What the fuck is wrong with my luck..." Sion complains some more as he facepalms himself.

"You're still grumpy as ever huh? Well, looks like your friends here has gotten used to it. Aren't you gonna introduce me to them by the way?" Veli says as he waves at Kao and Azayaka.

"Do it yourself, Jackass."

"If you say so. I'm Velion Grimn, but most people just call me Veli. I assume you both works at the same branch as Sion right? Well, in that case, I look forward for your cooperation," His smile is as genuine as a demon's could get.

Kao and Azayaka both nods, though the former do so with a contrived smile.

Veli seems to notice. He redirects his eyes elsewhere as he grabs the back of his neck, "Anyways... It's good seeing you folks. Especially you, Sion," He gives him a wink, before he suddenly vanishes, leaving behind a silhouette of black mist that soon dissipate to thin air.

"Oh shit, I just remembered I had a dentist appointment after this, see ya!" With that, Kao runs off into the crowd.

Sion rolls his eyes back, but to a bump coming from his side, he glances to see Azayaka furrowing her brow at him.

"Sion," She turns back towards the partying crowd, "When will this ends?" Her tone is a little bit stuffed with worry.

"I don't know," He shakes his head lightly, "You want to find Ren as soon as possible right? Me too."

Azayaka soften her gaze, letting out a sigh as she leans onto the wall.

"For now, we can't do anything. But, knowing that you hold valuable information regarding the Wings, the Chief should devise an operation soon. I'm sure of it," Sion mentions, catching her interest.

"But... How would you know that? Isn't this your first time working with her?"

"Well, one thing for sure. Even if Faust is smarter than her, atleast, Eliana is not mentally fucked up."

"I guess... That's fair."

-----

AN: So I'm planning to start a new book that contains short stories that take place in the same universe as this book. Maybe I'll write the backstories of some of the side characters there as well. Lemme know what you think :)