Jan's POV

"Um, how do I say this?" Wave cried. "I'm deeply sorry." Wave was sitting on his knees, tied to a wooden pole and there were huge brick slabs on his lap. "I've reflected on my actions!" He got in trouble for letting Tatsumi get away, and for letting Bulat get away. "Hey, but why isn't she in trouble? I was the one who saved her life!"

"Letting Tatsumi escape in your distraction was bad enough. But allowing a Night Raid member to get away was truly deplorable. Even if a comrade has lost his or her's sanity, you must continue. Jan gets a pass cause she has proven she could have beaten all of you combined." Esdeath pointed at Wave and yelled,"Kurome, another block." Kurome walked up to Wave and dropped another one on top. "Wave, your body is skilled, but your mind is weak. Take responsibility for your mistakes." Esdeath Sighed.

"Yes, ma'am." Wave cried.

"If you fail again, I shall personally administer your punishment. Keep that in mind." Yep, she's a demon in disguise. Nope, forget what I said. She's a demon without a disguise.

"Captain! My apologies! Not even Coro could track them!" Seryu came in.

"Of course he didn't. Hecatoncheir is primarily a combat Imperial Arm. Don't worry about it. And what about Stylish?"

"He still hasn't gotten back to me."

"Sounds like we don't have much hope."

"Captain, regarding Tatsumi... If he were to resurface as our enemy, how should we handle him?" What Ran said made me want to punch him in the face. Tatsumi's not the villain. It's normal that he ran away. Who wouldn't?

"To be honest, I love Tatsumi, even now. Perhaps that feeling is intensified because he's no long within my reach. However, my subordinates' lives take priority. Capturing him alive would be ideal, but do whatever you need to." Esdeath is a woman who'll never be loved. Not by anyone, not even her own parents.

"If he should be tainted by evil, we'll have no choice. Sorry Jan!" Seryu apologised.

"Do I give a shit about what happens? As long as I'm alive, I'm happy." I answered as I walked out of the room.

The Next Day

"We finished searching the doctor's residence. However, we couldn't find any clues to explain his disappearance or hint at his whereabouts." Ran reported.

"All his important experimental materials and equipment were left in the lab, though." Bols concluded.

Esdeath sighed. "So he didn't run away." She stood up. "That means he was indeed killed." How can she be so certain?

"His enhanced soldiers have also disappeared. We believe they all perished in battle." I sighed. "Weaklings, they believe that they can go up against Night Raid."

"All right. Which means Seryu lost another mentor." That made me interested.

"What do you mean by,"another mentor?"" I asked.

"Captain Ogre was killed before. And now Dr. Stylish." No way. I never knew.

Time Skip

I hid in the shadows using my imperial arm, watching Seryu clean her weapons. "How are you managing without Stylish?" I looked over seeing General Esdeath was the one who asked the question. She looked over at Esdeath giving a smile. "I'm fine!" She beamed. "There's plenty of equipment left in his lab. I can't do additions or modifications, but I can keep up my maintenance." She's definitely hiding her feelings.

"I see." She started crying.

"My parents... My teacher... My benefactor... Those criminals won't stop until they've taken away all my loved ones. Captain... I can't stand this! I want to wipe them out as soon as possible!" Esdeath walked up to her and gave her a hug. My Imperial Arm maximised my hearing so I can hear what they were talking about.

"If you stick with me, I'll help you realise that wish. You can count on me."

"Thank you so much!" Seryu cried. "I will dedicate my strength, my very life to you. To justice." I then heard footsteps coming my way. Oh, it's Wave and Kurome. I came out of the shadows and walked up to them. "All right! I know just the thing to cheer Seryu up."

"You sound stupid!" I yelled as I walked pass them.

Time Skip

"So why are we here, Ran?" I asked.

"We have to get a few thing for the Captain." He answered, reading a note.

"Ran, do you mind if I ask something?" I held onto my sword.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I'm pretty sure it's just me though. Ryūketsu is picking up a strange aura from you. Very, very strange. It's just not right. It makes me shiver when I think about it. But it might gut just be me." I smiled. He glanced at my face and placed his hand on my cheek. It made me blush, the way he was looking into my eyes. He used his other hand and lifted up my chin.

"I knew it, you do have feelings for me." He smiled. I blushed harder and slapped his hand off me. "You know, it's obvious. I knew it from the beginning but I wanted to confirm it before I asked you. So, what do you want to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, a date."

"Why the hell would I go out with you?!" I yelled, I could feel that I was blushing a mess of red. But I did want to go for some reason so I made up an excuse. "We have to get a few things for the captain, remember?"

"Nope, we have until tomorrow morning to get the stuff so we have a whole day!" He smiled, pointing at the sun. I thought about it for a second then I made a decision. Why not? "So?"

"Ok, I guess there's no reason to turn you down!"

"That's the spirit! Come on!" He held my hand as we walked north. "I know a great place up ahead, trust me, even you're gonna like it. We arrived at a rusty old gate. I lifted my eyebrow seeing that this place looked worn down on the outside. "I know, it looks worn down, nobody ever comes here, only I do." He opened the gate and I walked through. I followed him behind going through the floral maze. He stopped and walked behind me. He placed his hand on my eyes. "You trust me, right?" When he said that I then had a thought in my mind. Maybe, he's trying to kill me. It all makes sense. I placed my hands on his and removed them from my eyes.

"Sorry, I don't. Thanks for bringing me all the way here, Ran. But Ryūketsu has never been wrong before, I trust my instincts." I walked out and made sure he didn't follow me behind. I guess I do have feelings for him but I guess I don't trust him enough yet.