Chapter 1: Rank

Uwah… My life…

Hana Clone: What the heck are you doing! This is terrible! We've been over this too many times! *points at growing pile in trash can*

Me: *groans*

I've rewritten this chapter soooo many times… And it's so early in the morning... But I'll be busy later, so... And fanfiction says its 8/14, but it's actually past midnight where I am, so it's WRONG!

Well, anyways...

Arigato minna, for joining me on the rewrite of COG, originally planned as Godly Contracts, now Hidden Adgendas (cause I think it sounds cooler)! As I've said in the last Author's note of COG, this will have a different concept, but retains similarities. Anything you need to know about this fic that's sort of a mix of KnS and RKnC, is in the last author's note on COG, which I will not be deleting. I also might take some scenes from COG.

This is dedicated to Anisa-chi for drawing me a beautiful welcome back picture! Thank you so much for… actually, everything you've done for me.

This will be updated monthly on the… 15th (Hopefully).

I know, no one cares. Everyone's only here for more Rin/Len fluff… :(

Well, enjoy, nevertheless!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid.

Welcome to the world of Contractors. This is set in a world where there are empires with tensions rising. Contractors, people with contracts to use the powers of the gods, are forced to become Eques, knights, to serve their empire. This follows Len, who at first seems like an ordinary orphan who became a Contractor and was recruited, and his story of becoming an Eques. However, as he meets new people, pasts slowly become revealed. Everything started… the day he entered Sozo Academy…

"Before we end class today, everyone… this is Len-kun. He is a new student."

"Nice to meet you."

A blond teen smiled politely at the students in front of him. His hair was so blond that it was almost yellow, and spiky like he had just been electrocuted. His eyes didn't help with that look, as they were a stunning shade of electric blue.

An immediate uproar.

"Hold on, what's his last name?!"

"Kyaaa! He's so cute! Do you think I have a chance?"

"No way! He seems so serious!"

"Class!" They froze at the sound of their teacher's hand slamming against her desk. Her serious pink eyes flared with annoyance, and her silver hair flew into the air at her movement, like a beautiful veil. Though gorgeous, Itako Tohoku was not a woman to mess with. "Quiet down! We are not here to assess his looks or personal information!" She then smirked. "You all do realize what we are assessing this student for, right?"

Gleams of curiosity and eagerness manifested in each student's eyes. Len, not at all intimidated, simply raised his eyebrows as they all stared at him as if he were prey.

"Len-kun." Tohoku-sensei spoke up again. "In this class - no, in this school, Sozo Academy, it is not your grades or looks that will rise you to the top. As a Contractor, people holding contracts with the gods, you know why, right?"

Of course. Power is all that matters. "Yes, Sensei." He donned a smirk of his own.

"Before we give him the Rank Ceremony, class, his background information is as stated. He is the leader of a group of orphans in a border town that fight to survive. He has fighting capabilities, as the reason he was brought here was because he was defending one of the orphans from a thief and he accidently revealed his abilities. Though most are brought to the Academy the moment a contract is made, he managed to conceal his abilities for many years, so be wary, he is used to his ability. Out of fairness because he doesn't know your abilities either, his Arma and Patron shall not be stated. Any questions?" That explained why he had no last name.

Pretty accurate. But in self-defense, I couldn't just let Rui get hurt. I did go a little overboard though. Which led to Academy officials finding him and forcing him to be recruited to become an Eques because he was a Contractor. He sighed inaudibly, gazing out at the class. Though this could be just a few steps closer to my goal.

"Alright. Len-kun. Choose someone to battle. If you win, you replace their rank. Everything in this school is decided by rank. This test will rank you in the class of first years and determine your seat. This is first seat," She pointed to the desk closest to the front of the room, "and the ranks are placed in rows." So the girl next to first-seat is second-seat then.

"So, Len-kun, be sure to do your best and show what type of Contractor you are. Now, choose."

So this is the type of initiation test this school has, huh? This should be easy. Len had great confidence in his skills. He scanned the room. All of them didn't look very interesting, almost as if they were normal humans and not a Contractor- save the first row.

Fourth-seat. The silver haired girl occupying this seat smiled flirtily at him, batting her eyelashes. Despite her actions, he could see a blood-covered fighter in her eyes of the same color, cold and dangerous.

Third-seat. The only male in the first row looked outwardly dangerous, unlike the other three girls. His left eye was obscured by a eyepatch, and scars were littered all over his body. He seemed like an Eques though, as he nodded respectfully as the two made eye contact.

Second-seat. He knew as soon as he lay eyes on her that there was something about her that was indescribable. Her short, pastel blond hair was held away from her face with snow white bobby pins. Her eyes, a sparkly blue like lapis lazuli shone, holding a challenge in her eyes. She seemed the type to go up to anyone, no matter how strong, saying, You think you're so good? Then, fight me.

Finally, first-seat. An immediate sense of alarm pounded him as he glanced at her. A regal aura surrounded her, like she belonged at the top, much like some people he once knew. To add to that, she even looked regal. Her hair was a light shade of purple, lilac. It was completely straight, with perfect little curls at the ends. She then opened her eyes, feeling his gaze. Before, she seemed to have not been paying even a bit of attention. Her eyes, staring at him coldly, were like two round emerald orbs had been placed on her face.

That regal aura… who was she?

Better play it safe first. He decided. He wasn't reckless. He knew that he might not be able to beat her no matter how much confidence he had in his abilities. And he really was pretty confident. So he chose the other person who had caught his interest the most out of the four.

"I'll fight second-seat."

Why the heck is there such a huge arena in this freaking academy? was not the first statement that popped into Len's mind when he entered the gigantic thing after school.

No, his thought was, Been a long time since I've seen something like this.

Students of ages were scattered across the rows. Some as young as nine. Even though the arena was so huge, there was no way that even all of the students in the school, who were all present, would be able to take up all of this space. After all, Contractors were not exactly common throughout the Sozo empire, no matter how large it was. Roughly ninety students… Len noted. Roughly ninety Contractors still in their first three years of training before they become Eques of Sozo.

"Today is a Rank Ceremony!" Itako-sensei announced through the speakers. "It is for Len, an orphan who seems to have been Contracted young, but hasn't been recruited by the Academy until now. He has chosen his opponent from this year's class of first-years. Second-seat of the first years, the Flower Child, Rin Kagami-san!"

Rin-san, huh? As the blonde girl entered the stage, the audience went into uproar. He could faintly hear whispers about how bold a transfer student was to challenge the second-seat. She must be pretty good.

"Hello, Len-kun." The girl smirked at him. "Hope you have fun in this match. I certainly will have fun beating you to the ground."

Len didn't react, simply watching Itako-sensei to begin the match.

"Summon your weapons!"

"Mortuus species! Lend me your strength, Goddess of Spring! Floresco!" The girl before him immediately tipped her head back. The Signum, the star shaped symbol of the gods, glowed a shade of light green, appearing on the hollow of her throat. When it died, Rin held her Arma, a bow, in her hands. It was made of birch wood, decorated with small flowers and leaves. However, there was no quiver.

She's a Naturae Contractor. Len realized. One of the Contractors of the eight nature gods, the oldest and strongest gods that only contract with one person at a time.

Well, that explained the uproar. It wasn't any day that you could find someone with a Patron that was a Naturae.

Now, everyone's eyes were on him. Trying to see what the transfer student could offer.

"Horrendum potestatem! Give me your power, God of Lightning! Aurum!"

A deadly golden broadsword, sparking with electricity, was now in Len's hands as the yellow glow of the Signum died on his left hand.

"Len-kun's Patron is revealed to be the God of Lightning! His Arma is called Aurum, a sword of pure gold!"

"Tch." Rin grinned in anticipation as she spotted his weapon. "So you're a Naturae Contractor, too? This is interesting."

"Begin!"

Rin is long-ranged. Len noted. That means that she'll try to gain some distance first.

As predicted, Rin leaped back to the side of the arena, eyes focused on Len's movements. She drew her bow as a flower arrow materialized in her hand. "Lilium Pluvia!"

She shot the arrow, the lily's stem sharpened to pierce skin, perhaps even metal.

Len easily moved away from its trajectory. Who does she think I am, an amateur?

Then, the arrow cloned.

Why was the attack called "Lily Rain"? Suddenly, hundreds of lilies pelted down towards Len.

The fight was obscured with a sea of greens and whites. However, when all of the lilies reached the ground, Len was still standing.

With his sword inches away from Rin's face, who was on the ground. Completely calm and unfazed.

And disappointed. I totally thought she was better than this.

Using the flowers to obscure her vision, he had snuck up and attacked her as quick as a flash of lightning. No godly Contractor powers involved whatsoever. Just simple swordplay.

Rin lay on the ground beneath him, eyes wide in disbelief. Her lapis eyes emitted her disappointment in herself even as her mouth stuttered, "H-how…?"

"Practice." Was his reply. Yes, his speed was definitely practice. Running from thieves, burglars, tax collectors…

And of course, burning fires.

"The new second-seat of the first-years is now Len-kun!" Even Itako-sensei seemed surprised, even as she tried to shake herself from it as she spoke. The arena was dead silent in shock. "Now, Len-kun. You have a choice. Do you wish to challenge Hana Hikarine-san, the current first-seat?"

The purple haired royal-like girl? She was rather interesting. But if he became first-seat, that would attract even more attention to himself.

Attention that he couldn't afford.

And he wasn't sure if he'd make a fool out of himself fighting her either.

"No."

"Then, the Rank Ceremony is now over! Everyone, please proceed to your dorms!"

"Len!"

He glanced over his shoulder, absently spinning his newly acquired dorm key on his finger. "Do you need something, Rin-san?"

She was panting, her golden hair slightly messy from their battle, but her azure eyes held the fire that interested him in the first place. Her face was flushed and sweaty, but she still carried a clear beauty. "I…" She swallowed, as if it pained her pride to admit this, "underestimated you. But this isn't over!" She added strongly. "I will beat you. And…"

Her expression changed, and she smiled sweetly, and through his calm composure, Len almost caught his breath at her smile. "I like you, Len. Welcome to Sozo Academy for Eques - the school to become a Contractor knight of the Sozo Empire."

And Len watched the retreating back of Rin Kagami down the hallway.

Well, he could now proudly tell Rui and Rei and the other orphans back home that he survived the first day of the Academy for Contractors.

Almost.

And that's a wrap, folks! This is the first chapter of HA! Like, dislike? Please leave a review!

So long author's note because this is chapter 1:

I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter. I couldn't find a good place to begin this story so I rewrote it so many times. Like should I begin when he was still an orphan? A student? Or his first day as a transfer student? I was seriously debating on whether or not to make Hana the transfer student and making her beat Len into the ground to start off the story. Lol.

Btw, people who don't like my OC, she's not super powerful because she's my OC, ok? I wouldn't be biased. She's practically in the story because she was in COG and there definitely is a reason behind her power that you will find later. Much later.

This is different from my usual writing style. I usually explain stuff, telling not showing. This time, I did my best to do an awful lot of showing so please don't hesitate to ask if you are confused.

Also, I know I made it much too obvious that Len is hiding something. Sorry.

What else? Oh, translations. I'm going to use lots of Latin in this fic (and it's not right because I use google translate), so yeah… but usually it doesn't really matter if you don't know what it means.

"Mortuus Species" - Deadly Beauty

"Horrendum Potestatem" - Shocking Power

"Floresco" - Bloom

"Aurum" - Gold

Ok, so really ask me if you are confused. Don't worry. This will be a bit confusing. I basically wrote wiki pages for the four major characters to keep track of them so especially later on, if you get confused, tell me. It's good feedback for me as well.

Next chapter! Len meets his roommate. Guess who it is? Not co-ed don't worry. Hint: Everything is determined by power. Also… it's really kinda obvious.

Important notice: Speaking of the next chapter, it shall be published after school starts! Ugh, I'm going to a new school *nervous*... So, I might be a bit busy settling in and adjusting. It might be late if I'm busy, 'kay?

So… leave a review (if you want)!

~Hana