A/N: Cinderella much?

[At The Strike Of Midnight]

"Guess who's back?" The playful voice that came as the door opened –without the prior customary knock –made Lea Olympus sigh with amusement. It was a strange expression, but Lea had come to understand and be familiar to this expression much more often ever since the new policy introduced by the government half a year ago.

Demon hunters of the City of Luzbel had always been precious resources –mainly because demons would easily have terrorized and taken over the city if not for them –and the popularity of this job had declined quickly over time as younger generations increasingly became less and less inclined to put their own lives at risk to face down against demons. In addition to new policies put in place by the government to advertise the benefits of being a demon hunter to the society, a new-found appreciation for the currently surviving demon hunters had found them getting mandatory health check-ups after every mission to make sure that they were all pink in health. The government was taking no chances with the low number of demon hunters left, and regardless of how much the people of the profession themselves complained about the uselessness of such additional administration, the policy had still been passed.

And thus came Lea's role as a doctor. In her younger years studying the fine art of medicine, she had once done volunteer service in a neighboring country during a period of a demonic crisis. There, Lea had learnt extensively on-site about how to deal with demon-caused injuries and other diseases. When she returned, she had returned to her studies to be a typical doctor, and the volunteer experience had been relegated in the back seat, until the new policy. With a very small fraction of practicing doctors who actually knew what to look out when it came to giving demon hunters a medical check-up, Lea's resume was quickly picked up on, and she was quickly made the specialist for demon hunters in her hospital.

Of course, she didn't really have much to complain about. Because of her efficiency in the health checks –mainly because she was one of the rare few doctors who actually knew what to check for –Lea had been getting a steady stream of customers. They soon became regular customers –particularly those who took their demon hunting very seriously –and Lea saw some of them as often as thrice per week. Through casual conversation with her patients, she slowly began to understand a little more about the demon hunting industry that had always avoided her.

She learnt –by pure chance –that one of her regular customer, was the second leading industry expert. His twin brother was the first; thus, basically the two of them of the same family and generation dominated the top spots for the demon hunting industry.

Lea had never seen the man's brother before, but the man himself... he was a unique personality that she appreciated in her hum-drum life. It also had something to do with the fact that he was also a terribly shameless flirt and even though she knew that he never really meant any of the moves he put on her, she always felt a little bit more sexy and beautiful every time he did. This feeling was made even more obvious due to the fact that now that she was becoming a specialist for demon hunters, she saw less and less female patients and was always surrounded by male testosterone from the predominantly male industry of demon hunters. Consequently, because she faced more males than females in her daily routine nowadays, Lea had seen less and less need to dress up every day and now appeared at work with whatever she found in her cupboard, not even bothering if they didn't match sometimes.

"Welcome back." Lea answered her regular customer with a smile on her face that was half professional, half genuine. While she didn't exactly have romantic feelings for the man, she always enjoyed it whenever he came around because he always had a crazy story or two to tell her while he did the check-up. Even among the stories that she had heard from casual conversation with all her patients, she would admit that Dante Sparda had the weirdest and craziest ones –mainly because he was a magnet for trouble.

"I couldn't resist seeing you again, Loveliness." Dante entered with a grin. "Missed me?"

"Tons." She answered with a roll of her eyes, but a grin to soften the sarcasm. "You are really helping me with the monthly statistics of how many patients I see."

"My mom told me when I was young that an apple a day keeps the doctor away." Dante answered, taking his usual seat uninvited. Not that he needed much inviting after the many times he had been to her for his check-up. "I guess I need to eat less apples."

"Maybe you do." Lea answered, moving automatically to the shelf where the paperwork for her regular customers were kept. She did not make a habit to have them in her office previously (because of security reasons), but ever since becoming a specialist for demon hunters, she had amassed a good number of regular customers, and thus having their particulars near her in the office saved the nurses from having to go in and out of her office too often. "But zero minus one is still zero only in this case."

"You know me too well. Your honey words are the perfect cure for my sweet tooth." He answered, unstrapping his sword from his holster on his coat, unbuckling his gun holsters and laying his weapons out on the floor beside him before he leaned back casually in his seat; a picture of total relaxation in his doctor's office.

"Unfortunately, we're going to have to get on with business if you want to continue getting honeyed words." Lea answered, bringing the file back to the desk and inserting another template for the health check-up result sheet. "So what demon was stupid enough to meet a son of Sparda like you?"

"Nothing much, just a Judgement Bringer." The man gave a dismissal wave as if it was really no big deal. By now, Lea had learnt that Dante's league was way above everyone else, because if some other demon hunter came for a check-up after facing down a Judgement Bringer, it would usually be in scars, wounds and many broken bones.

"Poor guy." Lea answered, checking off the boxes for physical attributes of state of health that could be observed with the naked eye.

"I know right. I almost couldn't get the blood off my coat. Vergil says it's me being paranoid, but I really think that it smells of Demon Bringer now." Dante agreed, helping himself to the bowl of sweets that Lea had at the corner of her table that used to be for younger patients when she was still a general practitioner.

"I mean poor guy, the Judgement Bringer." Lea corrected as she looked back up from the template. "Any discomforts?"

"Other than the smell of my coat? No."

"Anything strange? Accelerated heartbeat? Inability to sleep? Headaches?"

"No, no, no and no. Wait, actually yes for the last one. Vergil is giving me headaches with his nagging. He needs to get laid."

By now, Lea had heard enough complains about his twin brother from Dante Sparda that she had actually formed a strange mental image of the man without actually meeting him in person.

"Any wounds from the Judgement Bringer? Even a nick?"

"Wounded my heart. I think I might actually have to throw away that coat. It was my favorite."

"All fine then." Lea muttered to herself, checking off a few more boxes. "Alright, on to the next part of the check-up. Strip."

The order drew a shameless grin from Dante as he stood up, then purposefully made disgusting, supposed-to-be-sexy moves as he 'sensually' reached for the buttons of his own shirt. The man held eye contact with her the whole time, almost as if they were shooting lasers and trying to influence her with the same sexy feelings that she could not feel.

Lea struggled to keep her expression neutral. It was not because she was holding back any shy appreciative smiles; no, Lea had great troubles keeping her professional front and holding back her amused laughter against how ridiculous Dante was making his actions. This was the reason why Lea enjoyed having this regular customer so much (other than the fact that he made her record better by always returning to her for check-ups). The man amused her to no ends with his attempts to flirt that always ended up with him making a fool out of himself. Of course, the man had no shame, which was an added plus because she could say anything against him, and the words would just bounce off his ego like an invisible shield.

Lea had seen her fair share of well-built men with their skins filled with battle scars from their conquest against demons, but she had to admit that Dante's form was always the finest and cleanest. With the exception of a surprisingly clean scar in the middle of his chest just below his heart, the man's skin was smooth as a baby's butt. She had asked him how he had gotten that scar the first time she saw his naked top-half, and he had answered easily, "my brother stabbed me when we were young."

When Lea had tried to ask further, all Dante told her was that it was all in the past when they were teenagers and they were stupid. She had gotten a feeling that he didn't want to talk about it, and as a professional doctor there was really no reason for her to go pursuing the reason behind a harmless scar.

"Keep those eyes on me any longer, beautiful, and I'm going to have to start charging money." Dante's words broke her out of her internal reverie, grin unfaltering. Lea supposed that the only thing that made the man happier than his showing off his body was when people actually looked at him while he showed his body off. There had been a point in time in which Lea had wondered if the man had gone through any circumstances in his younger self that had created such an attention-craving personality.

"I was making sure that there isn't anything wrong physically." Lea excused, putting her stethoscope up. The man's heart was beating regularly and nothing else seemed wrong. Taking his pulse through his wrist also showed nothing wrong. The man was pink in health, and it was definitely reflected by how brightly he was glowing.

Lea should have known that he had something up his sleeve considering the fact that he seemed to be grinning much brighter than normal. As it were, she remained clueless until the end of the quick check-up, finishing the template and signing her name at the bottom.

"Done. You're free to go." She announced, closing Dante's file and smiling at him. "I don't have to see you to the door."

"Actually, I need a little help today. Not of the medical kind." He confessed, leaning forwards against her desk and putting on a small boy expression. Lea was immediately guarded. Dante was not a man with a conventional way of thinking, so she got the general feeling that his help required wasn't going to be easy.

"Is there a need to ask me?" Lea asked before he could explain his circumstance. "I'm sure you have many other people you are closer to."

"That's the problem; I can't ask this from someone I'm close to."

"Because it will ruin relationships?" Lea chanced a guess. "Before you continue, let me remind you that I am your doctor. It is probably not a good idea to piss your doctor off."

"No, it won't... I think." Dante's uncertainty was not settling and the man was clearly not selling his case well. "Anyhow, I really need your help this time. If not, I'm going to be murdered, and you won't get your regular customer ever again."

"At this point I am doubtful of what can kill you..." Lea rolled her eyes, but leaned back against her seat in resignation. She doubted that she had much choice of rejecting the guy. "Just state what you want, Dante. I'll see what I can do to help. But if it's going to be something against my code as a doctor or something illegal, the answer is no."

"No worries, you're not going to do something crazy like that. I just want to know: are you free tonight?"

"Err... yes?" Lea guessed, not sure what reply she should give to lessen the 'favor' asked of her. "I am on emergency shift from midnight, so whatever you want to do has to be done by then. I need to be back here at 12 o'clock sharp."

"Okay, no worries. Just a dinner." Dante seemed to look more and more satisfied.

"I can't date a patient." Lea reminded. "That's against the code."

"You're not having dinner with me, darling." Dante answered with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's my brother you're having dinner with. He hasn't come visit you yet, so he isn't a patient and a totally worthy blind-date partner I swear."

"A blind-date?!?" Lea could not help her exclamation. "What made you assume that I'm single?"

"Nothing." Dante replied, then paused. "But are you?"

"Yes, but that's beside the point. How could you make an appointment with your brother for a blind-date without even asking me first? And why me?"

"To be very honest, I was setting him up with one of my other friends, but she bailed because she had a mission. The thing about Vergil is that he really hates his time wasted, so if he goes to the restaurant today and finds out that she's not there, I'm going to get murdered really badly."

"Why can't you just tell him that it's cancelled?"

"Because he left for a mission early in the morning today and will go to the restaurant straight afterwards."

The back of Lea's mind wondered what kind of person would appear for a blind-date after killing a demon. The two activities were not things that were conventionally put back to back. But then again, if Dante was such an unconventional man, she wouldn't be surprised if her brother was exactly like that as well.

"Then can't you call him?"

"He doesn't pick up his calls during missions. He says they are distractions."

It was a reasonable excuse. "What about text?"

"He doesn't read them. It's no use, Lea. You need to save me. You don't even have to do much. It's just a nice meal! You will just happen to be sitting across a woodblock who's going to pay for the meal. And it's going to be a nice restaurant."

"I'm not sure about this, Dante... I've never met your brother before."

"That's why it's a blind date!"

"I didn't prepare anything for a date, and I'm wearing just t-shirt and jeans. It's not an outfit for a blind date." She opened up her white coat to show her simple fashion hiding underneath.

"Don't worry about that." Dante's grin now turned into something mischievous –something Lea wasn't sure if she would like. "As long as you agree to help me, I have everything settled."

Lea sighed. She had nothing planned for the day after getting off work in a few hours and had been planning to grab a small dinner, going back home for a shower and perhaps a few hours of relaxation before coming back to the hospital for her midnight A&E shift. Maybe she could afford some time for a blind date... if it really meant saving Dante. Besides, she had heard of the man talk about his brother so much; Lea guessed it probably didn't hurt to meet the man once to fulfill her mental image of the man properly. She knew that the two were twins, but she always found it hard to imagine someone looking identical to Dante, yet have such different characteristics.

"Fine, you got me. Where do I have to be, and what do I have to prepare?"

"Nothing at all. You are knocking off soon, aren't you?" Dante's grin was now victorious as he took a quick glance at the clock, then back at her. "I'll wait outside."

There was no protest she could make before the man ran out of the room, as if afraid she would change her mind last minute about agreeing. If there was any reason to regret agreeing... she would have to figure that out at the end of the day. Besides, even if the blind-date were to be horrible, she would only have to survive until midnight.

It was a consoling thought.

________________________________________________________________________________

If there was such thing as a fairy godmother, then Dante and his friend Trish made the most unlikely kinds under that category. However, they had their duties done right; they had made Lea the prettiest that she had ever been –so much so that she found it hard to believe that they had somehow created a superstar look from her.

Lea was still in disbelief of how a hairstyle change, skilled makeup, fitting dress and beautiful shoes could change her. She had not been made up for something as complex as a prom or a formal dinner, but Dante and the beautiful lady who had introduced herself as Trish had made Lea into a goddess for her blind-date. Dante was clearly not very informed about the ladies' fashion, but his best friend had been a walking fashionista. Trish also had the body to pull anything off as well.

However, when Lea asked why Trish was not the one substituting for the ditching blind-date partner, the both of them had laughed until tears came from their eyes. Lea had to sit through a good five minutes, frowning and waiting impatiently for Dante to finish rolling on the floor in laughter. Trish had –between laughter –explained that Lea's partner-to-be and Trish had a history of stepping on each other's toes. Their arguments had created major issues (which Lea didn't manage to ask), and though Trish never got on the correct foot with Vergil, her second favorite pastime –following closely after shopping –was to go all out to make Vergil's life hell. Trish took extreme pleasure at seeing Vergil put through weird situations, and Trish was willing to go all out to make Lea hopelessly beautiful in the hopes to see the man go completely speechless.

Still, Trish's interest was Lea's advantage, and thus she stood nervously clutching her bag as she waited for the identical twin of her regular customer. Dante had reassured her that she wouldn't be able to miss the man, but with the steadily increasing dinner crowd around the station, she wasn't so sure. Waiting impatiently for the her blind-date partner (even though she was 15 minutes early after being deposited there by Dante), Lea wondered briefly if the whole thing was just an elaborate scheme for him to play a prank on her by appearing in front of her as his own 'twin brother'. If it were any other patient, Lea wouldn't even entertain the thought. But this was Dante; that man was capable of anything as long as he had the type of fun only he –and apparently Trish as well –enjoyed.

Lea shifted her weight from one leg to another, checking her watch. Trish had forced her to give up her pumps in favor of a pair of 5 inch almost-stilettos to complete her look. Lea was not used to shoes that were so dangerously high, where her weight rested on only a tiny stem that could be better off described as a twig. She only prayed that the newly-bought shoes would not fail on her, and that her date for the night would be nice and considerate enough to keep pace with her careful, slower-than-usual walk.

Checking her watch told her that it was ten minutes to the appointed time and Lea frowned. She liked when guys had the manners to appear at least ten minutes before the appointed time of a date. Even if she ended up reaching early, Lea always favored men who showed the effort of going early so that the woman would not have to wait for her partner.

She was still taking points off her mental counter about her still-absent date when he suddenly appeared. To be honest, she had no idea where he appeared from, but all of a sudden, she was aware of the crowd parting in front of her like Moses with the sea. The Moses of her view, though, was a man dressed up in a three-quarter dark-blue coat, covering comfortable business pants, a baby blue dress shirt and a grey vest. He really looked like a very professional man who belonged in a penthouse office that overlooked the city... except for the sword that he held in one hand. He held it so easily that he made it seem like a briefcase; just a part of something he brought to work every day.

And from what Lea already knew about the man through his brother, she knew that he probably did bring the sword to work every day.

Her visual assessment of the man was brought to a halt when she accidentally made eye contact with him, and she suddenly felt herself freeze up under his intense gaze. Lea was barely aware that her breath had been held until the man stood in front of her, and her biological instincts forced her to let the breath she had been keeping painfully in her lungs out. She blinked once, then twice before the man opened his mouth, his expression one of distant scorn.

"You are Mary Ann? The date that Dante set me up with?"

Lea hesitated very briefly before nodding. Dante had begged her to not tell his brother her true identity because he realized halfway through Lea's makeover that Vergil might be pissed that not only had the actual date bailed on him, but Dante had been desperate enough to grab any random woman to make up for the date. While Lea didn't like being labelled as 'any random woman', and did not like in general to deceive anyone about her identity, Dante had promised her that he would be more obedient in all their subsequent check-ups if she would just concede to him once. The idea of having a hold over Dante had been too attractive to reject and thus Lea found herself in the identity of the woman who had bailed on Vergil. Thankfully, Dante revealed that he hadn't told his brother too much about the initial partner to 'keep the mystery', so there was not much Lea had to lie about.

"You are... more feminine than I expected of a demon huntress." Vergil said.

Lea was not sure whether to take it as a compliment or not.

"I am not a demon huntress." Lea answered. "Did Dante tell you I was?"

"No, but I assumed only demon huntresses had the guts to be acquainted as friends to him." Vergil replied, clearly surprised now. The look made his face look much better without the eyes of disdain.

"Then you assumed wrong. I am a doctor." Lea declared. The man had a nice face and figure, but she quickly decided on first impression that he was a tough nut to crack. Having seen many demon hunters through her half year career as a specialist for the people of the industry, she was not surprise to find Vergil one rough in his speech.

For that fact, he also looked very clean and perfect –completely not scarred in any way. A distant part of her brain reminded her of the fact that Vergil was still the man who dominated the industry with his twin brother coming up a close second. She was basically having a blind date with someone of a celebrity status in the world of demon hunting.

"Then maybe you have some worth chatting with over dinner." Vergil announced. "Dante booked us the restaurant on the top floor of this building. He said it overlooks the city."

"The top floor of this building? You mean Le Chemin?" It was Lea's turn to be surprised. Dante had told her that she would be treated to a nice dinner, but she had never expected that the dinner would be at such a high-classed restaurant.

"I don't usually go on blind dates like this, but I don't expect to have a meeting at any restaurant." Vergil answered haughtily. "Besides, you are dressed well enough for the occasion, and I'm paying. There shouldn't be much to argue about."

Lea was not very sure about what to think about the man except that he was clearly dominating and expecting her to go along with his plans. But because she didn't have any other plans, Lea found no protest as she followed behind the man's lead to the restaurant at the top of the building. She had never really asked her patients what their income was like –mainly because there wasn't much of need –but the fact that a simple blind-date was being conducted at such an expensive restaurants made her wonder if the people in that industry was in a higher income bracket than she initially expected.

Neither of them shared another word of conversation until they found their seats by the window booked by a Mr Sparda. Vergil was less of a gentleman and more of a 'Big Man' style in the way he constantly kept his gaze on her as if waiting for her to trip up and do something wrong. Of course, Lea made sure that she didn't do anything wrong, composing herself carefully against someone as watchful as Vergil was.

It was only after they were done ordering their respective meals that they found themselves staring at each other again.

"So, why did you agree to go on this blind date?" The question that Vergil chose to start with felt more like an interview, but if Lea was being serious, she wasn't even beginning to view this as a proper blind-date. The only reason she agreed to this was because Dante had begged and she had been curious to see and get a feel of Vergil's character. There hadn't been much intention on her part to get to know his character better in terms of a prospective partner, and she guessed that that was her fault as she answered honestly.

"Dante always talked to me about you, so I was curious about what kind of person you are and if he was selling you all wrong."

"What exactly about me would he say to a doctor?"

Lea told the man the honest truth, and he only looked barely surprised.

"From your point of view, I guess that warrants enough curiosity to want to get to know me better." Vergil nodded in understanding. "But if Dante has complaints about me, let me hang a few dirty laundries back in reply. There is absolutely no need to keep whatever you hear from now onward a secret; tell him exactly what I told you because he deserves each and every one of it."

And so they talked. Lea was taken by surprise at how much her impression of the man could change, but she found that they actually had many things to talk about. It wasn't so much that they had common topics; no. They actually had less intersecting areas of interest that she first thought, but that was the best thing: she knew absolutely nothing about whatever he was interested in and it was the same likewise. They had millions of words to say; endless explanation to each other and even though Vergil had started off with a stand-offish personality, Lea found out that he had only developed that mechanism after living so long with his twin brother who loved to pick and make fun of any mistakes he made.

They were so engrossed in talking that Lea did not even really know what she was putting in her mouth throughout the whole dinner. They somehow made it through 2 rounds of desserts as well, and when they were kicked out of the restaurant because they had stayed talking all the way till closing time, they had naturally moved to a quiet bar nearby for slow drinks.

Lea could not say that Vergil was a natural flirt or had many things he was willing to share, but she found that he was a good fit for her character. She was the type to explain many things in details and liked to receive likewise. She had topics she was clear to avoid, and so the man had done so. They stayed on safe topics –which was a wide range on its own, and Lea had been very well entertained through the whole night. It was even harder to imagine him as Dante's twin after witnessing the maturity of the man, and Lea completely lost track of time.

Until her phone rang in the middle of her conversation.

"Hello?" Lea greeted as she picked up the call.

"Dr. Olympus, where are you? It is a minute to midnight, and Dr. Cash has to get off shift immediately today. He said he emphasized that you must be on time today!"

"It's already 2359?" Lea asked, checking her watch and getting a jolt of shock to see the needles of her watch almost overlapping.

"Oh my god. I'm rushing back right now. Hold Dr. Cash for as long as you can. I will be back as soon as I can." Lea promised, turning and signalling to the bartender that she was getting the check.

"You have to leave?" Vergil asked politely though she was sure he had overheard her words.

"Yes, I'm really sorry but I'm on shift for Accidents and Emergency today and it starts at 12." Lea grabbed everything she could, decided she was too impatient to wait for the bartender to get her order list and grabbed a bunch of notes, throwing them on the counter. "Got to go."

If it was under any other circumstance, she would have stayed to at least make a promise to see the man again or perhaps get his phone number. But she was a doctor late for her shift with a colleague already threatening to leave the department doctor-less.

Lea didn't make it a few steps when she suddenly lost her balance. Thankfully, she kept herself upright just in time before any damage was done, and she looked down to see the stem of her shoe broken. She had known it would happen eventually on the date, but it was the worst time for her to try solving the problem.

Without really caring about her looks now that she needed to rush back if she wanted to keep her job, she kicked off her shoes and left the bar in a dead run, no looks left behind her.

________________________________________________________________________________

A month later,

"Dr. Olympus, the next patient is a newcomer. This is his details." Her nurse reported as the file was passed to her.

"Thank you, Jenny. Let him in." Lea answered as she received the file, flipping it open. Receiving newcomers was always a good sign that her reputation within the demon hunting industry was getting better and better. While she had not really intended to be a demon hunter specialist when she first studied medicine, Lea had now come to terms with the fact that even though she was not out there saving people's lives from fatal dangers, she was still helping a large group of people in the demon hunting industry by watching over their health and making sure that they knew their limits.

Lea feasted her eyes on the details of her next newcomer patient, but was stunned to silence when she saw the name written.

His brother had reported to her during his first check-up after that eventful day that Vergil had come home without saying much, carrying her pair of broken heels. Dante had tried to fish something out of him, but Vergil never opened up and gave only one comment: "She was okay." Lea had to admit to herself that she was a little bit disappointed to hear Vergil's comments because she had thought that Vergil was more than 'okay' to her. But it appeared that she had not presented herself as well as he did to her, and Lea had settled to accept the fact that Vergil did not feel the same way she did during their one-time date, and her running away was probably the way they were going to remember of their last moments of contact.

And yet now he was appearing to her as a patient for check-up.

Lea forced herself to continue looking through the man's medical details that had been contributed by a collection of many doctors in the city. Because all doctors shared a comprehensive system where they updated the medical details of the same demon hunter, Lea could see exactly how many doctors he had seen and the frequency of his visits. What she saw was something that surprised even her strictly professional self.

She had thought that Dante was one of her most successful patient by coming in for his required check-up almost once every week. It meant that he killed at least one demon per week, and that itself had been a feat to be lauded.

But Vergil... The man had been to the doctors once every few days.

Lea had known that Vergil was the number 1 in the industry, but it had never sunk in so seriously until now as she looked at the records of the previous doctors that he had been to: all reporting that he was pink of health, had no problems and was in perfect shape for any future demon hunting attempts. The man did not seem to have a fixed doctor, and though he did visit a few multiple times, there was never one that he seemed to particularly favor –very much unlike his twin brother who had stuck to Lea ever since the law requiring demon hunters to go for check-ups was passed.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Olympus." The greeting was done in a polite manner, and Lea looked up to see the very familiar man, looking almost exactly the way she had remembered him to. His coat was hung up on her coat rack at the corner of her office and underneath he wore a dark blue dress shirt that was folded at the sleeves and gave a strange atmosphere of a casual businessman instead of a demon hunter.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Sparda." Lea forced herself to forget that she was once the man's blind-date partner. Separating her personal and professional life had been something Lea was confident of doing, and this time she did it the same as she scanned through Vergil's medical profile briefly one more time. "What brings you to me today?"

"I have decided to try as many doctors as I can. I am seeking for one that I am satisfied enough to return to regularly. Dante referred you to me." The man answered evenly, and when Lea looked up at him, he did not show an inch of recognition in those blue eyes.

She didn't blame him: the Lea that had met him on the date had been a very beautiful, complexly made-up woman named Mary Ann, and the Lea now was Dr. Olympus –the doctor hiding her flip flops behind the table, and white coat wrapped around sweat pants and a very casual long-sleeved tee-shirt with 'I love cats' printed.

"Then I hope I will be able to meet whatever expectations you have." Lea answered, putting his file down and opening up another template for yet another regular demon-hunter check-up. "Let us get down to business, then. For records' sake, please tell me which demon you have slayed to warrant this check-up, Mr. Sparda."

"Two Soul Slayers and five Judgement Bringers." The answer was quick and precise.

Lea paused, instincts fighting to make her vocalize her surprised. But the rational side of her told her that she was ready to accept anything that came from this man who was clearly revered to be the top of the demon hunting industry, and was the more hardworking and capable twin brother of Dante Sparda. If Dante Sparda was in the league of being able to kill a Judgement Bringer without breaking a sweat, then his brother could probably kill five of them without much of a problem, and two Soul Slayers thrown in for the count. Lea wasn't even sure how the man had been able to find a mission that had so many Judgement Bringers to kill. Judgement Bringers were usually very high leveled demons who appeared singularly because one was already enough to decimate a whole city –and Vergil had somehow found a place that had not one, not two, but five of them.

"Okay, let's move on then. Do you feel any form of discomfort?" Lea replied, letting her eyes roam over her patient's physical appearance. Like how he had appeared before her a month ago during the blind-date, the man was unscathed and unscarred. Nothing had seemed to happen to him physically in his years as a demon hunter, as well as the past month since she last saw him.

"No."

"Anything strange? Accelerated heartbeat? Inability to sleep? Headaches?"

"No."

"Any wounds from the demons? Even a nick?"

"No." The straight-forwardness of the man's answer made her remember the very flirty and indirect ways that his twin brother always liked to answer her with. The two were very obviously foils of each other, and at this moment, Dante was losing many points because of his seemingly-perfect twin brother.

"Okay, we will move on to the next part of the check-up. Please remove your shirt, Mr. Sparda."

"Excuse me?" The question was understandable for a newcomer. Lea had no idea how check-ups were done at other doctors, but Lea trusted her eyes more than machines. There were some things that machines could not detect even if it was obvious to the naked eyes, and besides, Lea knew what to look for.

"I apologize for the confusion, Mr. Sparda. My method of check-up is simple: I do visual physical checks. No machines, no hassle. Rest assured that I will not try to take any advantage of your half nakedness, and I have seen many half naked and fully naked bodies through my years as a doctor. Yours will not make a difference to me." Lea answered professionally, moving herself so that she was closer to the man and could place her stethoscope on him.

There seemed to still be reservations on the man's face, but Vergil was strangely obedient as he compiled with her request. Again, there was no flair in the man's movement as he removed his shirt –a direct juxtaposition of his own twin brother –and even folded it nicely before leaving it on the table before turning to face her.

Lea pursed her lips and hung her professional face, but inside she marveled at how perfect the man was. At least Dante had a sword wound on his chest. Vergil was perfect. Even an artist could not carve a figure as perfect and flawless as his.

They were silent as Lea checked for his heartbeat through his stethoscope, and though the man looked calm and completely fine on the outside, she was a little surprised to hear that his heartbeat was fast. It wasn't the complete fluttering of a hummingbird heartbeat, but it was still fast –as if he was still calming down from rigorous exercise.

"Take in a deep breath, Mr. Sparda, and let it out slowly." She instructed, a little worried. Perfect bodies actually hid many silent killers that could have easily been caused by a multitude of factors –especially when it came to demon hunters. A fast heartbeat could be the precursor to a whole plethora of problems that Lea could list.

She heard the man obey her order, but even though his heartbeat had forcefully slowed with that one deep breath, it quickly picked up again. They waited for a few minutes in awkward silence more as Lea waited for his heartbeat to slow down gradually, but it strangely did not happen.

"Did you report here immediately after killing the demons?" Lea asked as she withdrew from the man after she was clear that his heartbeat was not slowing down anytime soon.

"No."

"Can you give me a rough estimate of what time you were done, and if you have any strenuous exercise prior to coming here?"

"The demons were done this dawn. I went back home to take a shower and took a cab down. I didn't do any exercise before coming here; no."

"How about food? When was the last time you ate?"

"I had breakfast right after the mission. It was around 8 in the morning."

Lea's frown was still professional as she searched through her mind for any possible diagnosis for the reason behind Vergil's quick heartbeats.

"Have you had moments where you hear your heartbeats loud in your ears, Mr. Sparda? That, or moments where you feel your heart racing even though you have not done any strenuous exercise recently?"

"It started recently." The man confessed. "I actually have only experienced this once before now."

"How long ago was the last time this happened?"

"One month ago, during dinner. It went on for the whole night."

"A whole night?" Lea repeated, surprised. Did the man try his best to ignore his discomfort for the whole night without thinking of going for a check-up after that? She briefly understood that he wouldn't have imagined about going to the doctors after the same discomfort didn't happen the next day, but still... fast heartbeats for no reason was never a good sign. "Can I ask what you were doing that night, if you remember?"

"I was having dinner, then a drink. I went home after that."

"Nothing out of the ordinary?"

"Not anything in particular; no." The man answered honestly. "But I have a hypothesis for the reason behind these unexplained heart palpitation. I might need you to confirm it for me, Dr. Olympus."

"A hypothesis?" Lea asked, surprised. Demon hunters were not usually the type to bother searching about their symptoms online before searching for a doctor. Then again, Vergil was at the top of his industry. His being overly-cautious would be something that Lea wouldn't be terribly surprised at. "How can I help you confirm it?"

"Take off your shoes."

"Excuse me?" Lea froze at the sudden order in reply.

"I took off my shirt for your check, Dr. Olympus. Taking off your shoes should not be a tall order for you." Vergil answered, face showing nothing as he stood up. Lea unconsciously rolled her chair back at his sudden increased height that towered over her sitting self, but Vergil simply advanced on her instead.

"Wait, wait, wait..." She tried to protest as she rolled back some more with every step he took, and she didn't realize that they had covered so much space until she felt the back of her chair touch her cupboards. She was left with no space to backtrack but still she leaned back with her hands palms out in front of her in some form of weak 'back off' gesture.

Still, Vergil stood in front of her, towering.

"Take off your shoes, Dr. Olympus."

"No." She protested in an incredulous tone. "What are you doing? I'll call security."

"There's no need. I'm not planning to do anything harmful." His reply came, and she watched in shock as he knelt down on one knee and grabbed her left shin, forcing it off the ground. Vergil was gentleman enough (despite the fact that there was really nothing much gentleman in him grabbing her leg by force) to not raise her leg too embarrassingly high. Lea felt her face go slightly red at her unglamorous sweat pants covered leg and flip-flops, and prayed that her feet wasn't smelling. Still, it didn't seem like Vergil cared at all as he removed her flip flop easily, letting it fall to the floor.

And then, from the bag that she didn't realize he had brought in with him (that had been left at the corner of her desk and thus out of her sight), he withdrew a pair of very familiar shoes.

Whatever protests that Lea had on her lips faded away as she watched wordlessly as the heels –with its stem held together in place by duct tape –was slipped on her feet. There was no cramming or squeezing involved –her shoes had found its way back to their owners and they fit her snugly like a glove.

Like Cinderella, her prince looked up from the perfectly-fitted heels with a smug smile to meet her eyes.

"I see now that you are the reason for my heart palpitations, Mary Ann." He said with a hint of reproach. "Did Dante send you to cause chaos in my life?"

"He only asked me to go for a blind-date in return for not playing around during our future check-ups." Lea confessed. "I never thought I would be made up so nicely, and I would enjoy our dinner and drink so much."

"Then why did you run off?"

"I was in charge of the midnight accident and emergency shift. It was 11.59pm, so I had to run." Lea answered. "I apologize for leaving so suddenly."

"You truly left me in the bar wondering what happened. Leaving your shoes; you were out to make yourself Cinderella." Vergil answered in light admonishment, taking off her other flip flop now and putting on the other still-perfect heel so that she had the complete pair.

"That would make your brother a fairy godmother, though." Lea reminded, still embarrassed that her professional exterior had been caught.

"Dante is furthest away to an example of a fairy godmother." Vergil answered quickly with a shake of his head. "If anything, he is my evil step-sister; always out to put me in tight situations."

Lea kindly omitted mentioning Trish's name, mentally correcting the man for having two evil step-sisters who would pay a fortune to do a makeover for a woman just to go on a blind-date with him.

"Evil step-brother, then." Lea corrected verbally with a short chuckle.

"Don't do that." The sudden order surprised Lea as the man turned his face away, his hand rubbing his bare chest.

"What wrong?" Lea forgot their temporary side-track again, professional-self sliding back in as she raced through her mind for whatever that could be wrong with the man's heartbeat. "Is your heartbeat increasing in pace?"

"Yes, and it's all because of you." He answered. "The story of Cinderella lacked one important narrative: They never stated how much the guy's heart had hurt once he found the girl."

"Are you okay?" Lea wasn't sure what to say, a little bit confused.

"I'm going to need treatment, Mary Ann." He said, turning back with a serious face, still rubbing his chest.

"I cannot give treatment, until I have a diagnosis, Mr. Sparda." Lea replied, trying to stand up, but forgetting that her heels were still only taped back. So when they snapped again, she found herself falling forwards straight into the shirtless embrace of her patient.

"For this one, you can give treatment without a diagnosis. You have to go on a second date with me, Mary Ann."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sparda, it is against my code as a doctor to date a patient." Lea made sure she had the broken shoe stable on the ground before she took a step back away from Vergil's shirtless arms.

"I'm not asking Dr. Lea Olympus. I'm asking Mary Ann for a date." He answered. "If you refuse, then I will be back every day until you agree."

"But, I..."

"There are more Judgement Bringers to kill tomorrow."

"I can't-"

"I will be back every day at this time, Dr. Olympus." Vergil answered as he walked calmly back to his seat, retrieved his shirt and put it on comfortably in one fluid move. "Until I have my heart palpitations cured, I will be back to seek your treatment."

"Wait-"

"Don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow." He said, clearly not listening to her anymore. "You can keep the shoes; I have the person I want already."

As the door closed behind her patient, Lea dropped defeated on her seat, taken aback. She had known that Vergil was the type to do whatever he wanted and expected people to follow along. He always had the air of someone who knew whatever he was doing –the signs of a natural leader-by-example.

But this was a kind of leading that Lea never knew she would be forced to follow.

Her Cinderella story was turning out all funny.

Maybe she shouldn't have run away at the strike of midnight...