Yuuki tapped his cane against the side of the podium, gaining the attention of the spies and taking their eyes away from their papers. They were too focused on the notes written on the board from earlier that were going to be on next week's test. "Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge." Yuuki's voice remained impassive as always, his gloved finger tapping against his cane handle.

A man had walked in as if on cue, pulling his hat off and nodding to the eight spies currently seated at their desks. His hair was bleached to a bright blonde, almost white, and his fitted black suit accentuated his lithe form. He stood by Sakuma after silently introducing his presence, the man scanning the small crowd with a tight but professional smile.

Yuuki motioned to him with his hands, as if showing off their new instructor. "Today, you will be focusing on desire. This is Hamasaki, but you will address him as Akio for this lesson."

The lesson was obvious to the spies at this point, having observed the stranger's body language and appearance from the doorway. The art of seduction was a delicate but simple operation, given the right methods and technique. For a spy, enticing others into bed was a rather reliable form of information gathering if you choose your targets correctly.

The man called Akio smiled wider and waved at them. "Good morning." His voice held a mirthful tone that matched his impression, his fingers curling back into his palm slowly and his hand returned to his side after greeting the quiet men.

Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki hired a gigolo.

Kaminaga snickered in the second row, having realized it along with the other spies. He felt Tazaki's hand tap his arm as a sign to pay attention, but Kaminaga could see the smile playing on his face despite his light scolding.

"Akio will teach you all you need to know about seducing women and it will be up to you to focus on the lesson. As an accomplished escort, I'm sure you will all show him the respect he's earned through his profession." Yuuki looked at each of them slowly before turning and making his way to the door. "Sakuma, report to me their progress by the end of the day."

"Sir." Sakuma watched him leave, feeling a bit exposed now that his superior had left him alone with eight spies and a stranger. If this was going to be on their exam he didn't know why he had to report anything to Yuuki, unless this was just a study on their interactions with one another.

The door firmly shut behind Yuuki and Akio clapped his hands together as a signal for his lesson to begin. "Yuuki has entrusted me to look after each of you in your progress of developing skills desirable to a woman, which I'm sure will come in handy in the future when you're on a mission," the man winked, "or when you're not. To start, I'd like each of you to pair up with the person you're most comfortable with so we can officially begin your lesson."

Sakuma expected most of the men to move from their seats and switch spots with the others, but no one budged from the desks, their eyes locked onto Akio's from across the room intently. Sakuma didn't miss how it seemed to unnerve the man a bit, his smile wavering before he picked up where he paused.

"Since you've all seemed to have found your partners, we'll start with the basics of holding the interest of a woman." Akio turned to face Sakuma beside him, the military officer startled from his thoughts when a warm hand grabbed his. "I'll have to use you for my examples, if that's alright with you."

The taller man couldn't really tell him no, his mouth turning dry from the sudden contact. Instead, he nodded, his brows knit together in a way that made him look more determined than he really was to be subjected to obvious flirtatious gestures from a stranger.

"When approaching a woman you want to start a conversation with, always come from the side instead of directly behind or in front of her. This will make you come off as friendly and it doesn't make her feel blocked off." Akio demonstrated as such by motioning to Sakuma and the direction of his body. "Start by talking about her and asking about her interests. Most importantly, maintain eye contact because it shows that you're paying attention and focusing on her."

Sakuma was forced into being several examples for the spies to watch, their eyes seemingly piercing through his body as he was flirted with and touched. It was embarrassing, having someone caress their hand against his shoulder and forearm while the group of men in the room seemed to be judging him silently with their gazes. He couldn't tell if they were scrutinizing him or simply focused on the lesson.

One such example had him biting his lip as Akio placed his hand delicately against his lower back, his other arm wrapped around his shoulders as he was supposedly leading them on a fictional walk in the evening after some time at the bar. Sakuma wished he hadn't met eyes with Miyoshi at that moment, because now he couldn't ignore that intimidating gaze from the front row that made him sweat.

"A touch this low and personal can be a disaster or an ace, depending on how you play your cards. If you don't know the woman well and she feels uncomfortable, this touch will send negative vibes and lead her away. However, if your performance was up to her standards for that evening, this little gesture can interest her enough to spend the rest of the night with you."

Sakuma could barely breathe a sigh of relief when his arms finally let go of him and he was separated from the gigolo for the first time since the beginning of the class.

"Now that you've seen the techniques for yourself, I want you to practice them on your partner. Feel free to get up and move around if you wish, or switch with another if you feel confident enough."

This had finally seemed to set them off, noise filling the room after half an hour of instructions and note-taking and it sounded so much better to Sakuma. He stood at his regular spot in front of the class, watching as Hatano and Jitsui were the first to engage in a conversation about books.

The two shortest men were standing beside their desk, Hatano apparently the one posing as the woman in this impromptu discussion. Jitsui was standing erect, confident with his shoulders pulled back and his hands at his sides, only lifting them when motioning with his hands during their conversation. Hatano laughed, covering his mouth with his hand and batting his eyes just enough to pose as feminine and giving the sign that he was somewhat interested in this version of Jitsui.

Kaminaga and Tazaki were in the middle of the room, their voices hard to pick up from where Sakuma was standing, but their body language was enough to tell that Kaminaga was doing successfully with his words. A touch was exchanged between them, Tazaki leaning in slightly and tilting his head in a way that looked too personal for Sakuma to be selflessly observing.

He couldn't help but feel like the spies were already becoming well-versed in romance just from simple instructions, but maybe there was more to it. Their ages were treated as government secrets, so Sakuma couldn't know for certain how old each of them were. It was obvious that Kaminaga was one of the more experienced men in this subject, so perhaps he was one of the older spies based on his socializing habits. Sakuma had seen him openly flirt with a few passing women when they were walking together for errands once before.

The sound of Amari's voice tore him away from the memory, the brunette coaxing Miyoshi into joining him for drinks from the sound of it. At first glance, he could see Miyoshi taking on the role of the female, but something about his stance led him to think that wasn't exactly the case. Perhaps he was posing as an older, more confident woman?

It was odd, watching his body language become more rigid and closed off compared to his usual poised demeanor he often flaunted. It looked more and more like Amari's words were putting him off the longer he spoke. His acting was enough for the taller man to realize his flirting wasn't getting anywhere in their hypothetical situation, leaving them to officially break character.

Only after that did Sakuma realize that Miyoshi's persona was meant to be portrayed as uncomfortable and awkward as a means to alert Amari of his mistake. He had acted too strongly early in the game, which in turn, made Miyoshi less and less willing to contribute to the conversation. It was a convincing show, if you asked him.

"Sakuma," Jitsui had approached him quietly and stole his attention from the scene, "would you mind if I borrowed you for a moment?" He had taken off his suit jacket some time ago, only dressed in his vest and shirt. The incomplete outfit made him look younger to him.

Hatano was no where near their desk now, Sakuma observed, the short spy having joined Fukumoto and Odagiri near the back of the room for whatever scenario they were doing. "Are you sure?"

Jitsui only grinned and pulled him along by his arm, placing him between himself and the edge of the desk. "Akio said we were allowed to switch partners during this exercise so I'm just using my resources."

"R-right." He did say that, but he assumed he was excluded from classroom activities. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Not particularly, I was just thinking we could go with this naturally." Jitsui stood as confident as he was before, his head turned up to meet his eyes with a smile. "I heard no complaints from Hatano, but it's nice to hear from someone else's perspective if there's something I need to work on."

That made sense. Hatano and Jitsui seemed to be rather close so it may be easy for them to agree on most things, including character tastes. Using someone like him would almost guarantee a different point of view, even if his observational skills weren't on par with the rest of them.

"What are your thoughts on today's lesson?"

He was expecting a different kind of question, but he figured it was better than asking about the weather. "I don't believe hiring a male escort was necessary for a spy agency. Flirting with women shouldn't be about gaining information and the whole idea seems rather ridiculous." He was being blunt about his answer only because he trusted Jitsui enough not to ridicule him like the others would.

The spy laughed anyway, bringing his hands to the back of his neck as a way of showing his sympathy. "This exercise does sound rather unique compared to our other sessions, but I can understand why it would be necessary. We could be going undercover in some red-light district and need information from the women there."

Sakuma sighed, but his expression remained even. "I suppose, if you put it that way. I just imagine that you men would be infiltrating foreign government headquarters and stealing information from files of some kind."

"Perhaps we will. We won't know until we're assigned that mission." Jitsui leaned in and brushed a strand of hair from his eyes. "Risking our lives is what we signed up for, after all."

Sakuma studied his face for a moment before he spoke. "Why did you join D-Agency?" He knew asking the question wasn't going to get an answer, but his curiosity still lingered in his thoughts. Jitsui didn't seem like someone who would willingly join, or perhaps his innocence was a persona of his to trick others into thinking as such.

As expected, Jitsui laughed again and stepped forward, looking up at him with a teasing grin. "You knew as well as everyone else here that our reasons for joining are confidential. I could risk my whole identity if I let something like that slip." He took another move towards Sakuma and his eyes were starting to draw the other in with the way his eyelids dropped.

"Couldn't you just make up a cover story for me instead?"

"Would that satisfy you?"

"... Maybe."

The honest smile Jitsui had was gone and was replaced with something more suggestive and intimidating. His body moved closer and his leg was pressed between Sakuma's, forcing his lower back into the desk and preventing him from moving any further away.

His hand reached out and pulled at his tie, his thumb pressing against the soft material and yanking it down with enough force to keep Sakuma's neck still. His warm breath puffed against his neck and he felt goosebumps rising from his skin at the proximity. "Are you sure that will be enough for you?" Something was brushing against the inside of his thigh and he realized it was Jitsui's other hand. "I doubt some fabricated story about my past will hinder your interests."

Sakuma opened his mouth to reply something, but Jitsui's sharp glare was enough to mute his words. From his angle, he could see now that the other spies in the room were less invested in their training as they were watching Jitsui corner him into the desk. Odagiri, Fukumoto, and Hatano were watching from the sidelines, still in the middle of a conversation but obviously staring.

"W-we can stop this now, Jitsui. I think your skills in this subject are rather proficient just as they are."

"Why stop now, Sakuma?" He didn't miss the way his body involuntarily shivered at the way he spoke his name. "I thought you were curious about me?" Jitsui tightened his hold on his tie and inched closer to his face, reveling in the look of budding anticipation that danced around Sakuma's eyes. "I could let you in on a little something, if you're interested. You know, a secret just between us." His body pressed against his chest and he turned to whisper in his ear. "For a price, of course."

"What?"

A breathy chuckle answered him. "A game, Sakuma. All you have to do is play."

A hand was placed on Jitsui's shoulder before Sakuma could make the situation worse, the shorter man pulling away and letting him go.

His savior was none other than Amari, who had most likely seen the whole thing from across the room. "Class is over now, Jitsui."

Sakuma stood up and glanced at the podium, Akio no where in sight. The instructor must have left while he was distracted with whatever he was doing with Jitsui. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, flinching when the cause of his anxiety spoke in his usual cheery tone.

"Sorry if that was too much, I wanted to see how you would react under pressure."

Sakuma looked up and blinked, Jitsui's face holding the same sincere smile like before, only he now he painted the man in a different light. He was going to be wary of him from now on. Jitsui hadn't waited for him accept his apology, simply turning and leaving with the rest of the spies as they vacated the classroom.

It was only he and Amari now, the taller man sending a look of pity to him. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to explain the situation to him but he figured his deduction skills would answer enough for him.

"You've been on the receiving end of a lot today, it seems." Amari smiled at him, but he could tell the tease wasn't meant to be at his expense. "I'm a bit surprised."

"I never knew Jitsui could be so forceful."

"He isn't normally like that." The spy gave him a once over at his state, frowning at the wrinkled mess Jitsui left his jacket in. Without warning, Amari grabbed hold of his abused tie and he saw Sakuma tense. "Sorry, let me fix this for you."

After noticing what he was mentioning, Sakuma relaxed and let Amari fiddle with the knot before it came loose and his shirt collar wasn't as restricting against his throat like before. Sakuma watched Amari focus on what he was doing, brown eyes never leaving where his deft fingers worked skillfully on his tie.

Amari's hands slid up and behind his neck, adjusting the fabric under his collar and gently looping the end around. When it came time to finish the process, Sakuma's head was tilted up by his chin so the final loop could be slipped underneath. Amari's thumb lightly caressed his jaw as he pulled down and tightened the knot.

Expecting him to let go, Amari caught him by surprise again when those hands tucked his tie under his suit jacket and smoothed it out, his touch lingering on his chest in a way that wasn't at all comfortable or professional.

With a wink, Amari left him without a word and closed the door behind him.

Sakuma remained standing there, staring at the door with a vacant expression and he felt like he had been violated a third time that day. Cursing himself for getting into whatever the spies were trying to fool him with, he walked across the room to retrieve his hat he had left hanging on the wall, glancing around absently.

His eyes caught a thin pile of paper left on a nearby desk. Placing the hat atop his head, he walked over and inspected it, realizing the abandoned notes were Tazaki's. He found it strange, having never seen any of the spies so absent-minded enough to forget something as important as their notebook.

It was a weird day.

He sighed, adjusting the cuff of his sleeve before taking it anyway. Tazaki didn't seem like the type to give him trouble when he would return his belonging, compared to Hatano or Kaminaga. After being exposed to Jitsui and Amari, however, he clutched the notebook tighter in his hands and prayed he wouldn't run into any of them during his search.

Tazaki looked up from his book in time to see Sakuma open the door to the study, a familiar object secured in his arm. "Oh, thank you, Sakuma." He watched him approach, handing out the notebook for him to take. He set his book down and slid the chair out far enough so he could reach, placing the binded papers on the table in front of him for safe keeping. "How'd you know where to find me?"

"I guessed." Sakuma indeed had, wanting to avoid the rest of the D-Agency after the classroom incident so he could safely deliver Tazaki's notebook. He had checked the dorm room where they all slept, the lounge room, and then the library until he saw Tazaki seated and quietly reading by himself in the study. Luckily, he hadn't seen any of the others as he searched.

Tazaki hummed, flipping his novel over and marking it with the flimsy bookmark beside him before he closed it. "You seem skittish. Any reason why?"

Sakuma's attention, which had been focused on nothing in particular, was now on the man sitting across from him. His expression remained neutral and he couldn't tell if this was his way of mocking him. "Did you not see what happened earlier?"

"What happened earlier?"

Sakuma was about to get onto him for playing dumb, except Tazaki looked completely unaware of what he was mentioning. If he was lying, nothing was giving him away. "You mean, you didn't see Jitsui..."

Sakuma's dying statement only made him lift a brow in question, the spy unable to understand what Sakuma was trying to convey. Tazaki only moved to turn back to his book when the staring contest between them became dull.

"... He said something about a game."

Ignoring the urge to return to his story, the taller man glanced his way as a sign he was listening. "A game?" He let the words settle before continuing. "If he's playing a game, he should be downstairs in the lounge."

"No," Sakuma paused and bit his lip, not sure how to explain, "Jitsui and Amari are in on something, but I don't know what it is."

Tazaki remained seated, staring at the pages of his book for a good minute until he motioned for Sakuma to join him. The seat to his right was empty and his story held little interest to him now that his presence was affecting his concentration.

Sakuma took his offer, his steps wary of whatever he felt Tazaki was going to trick him into, before settling into the chair and facing the spy. He watched as Tazaki pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket and shuffled them in his hands.

"What are you doing?"

"Playing a game."

"That's not-" Tazaki's index finger pressed against his lips, the gesture shutting Sakuma up.

Tazaki resumed shuffling the cards until he fanned them out in his hands, showing Sakuma the suits side and leaning back in his chair. "Pick any card you'd like and memorize it."

Sakuma didn't feel like playing a childish card trick while trying to get answers, but he decided to play along to humor him. He pulled the first one he saw and studied it, inserting it back into the deck. Tazaki gathered the cards together again and handed the deck to Sakuma. "Why am I shuffling them?"

"So you don't think I'm cheating."

Fair enough. Sakuma took a few seconds to mix the stack, handing Tazaki the cards when he was finished.

Tazaki didn't even peek at the cards in his hands before he pulled out a random one from the deck, leaning closer to him and holding it out in front of Sakuma. "Is this your card?"

Sakuma blinked and registered the suit symbol, shaking his head.

Tazaki wordlessly put the card back into the deck and shuffled them again, pulling out another card. "This one your card?"

"No."

He shuffled them again and shot a look to Sakuma before he returned to the deck in his hands. He slowly pulled out the third card, showing the man. "Is it this one?"

"No, and I don't think the fourth one will be, either." Sakuma stood up from his chair and turned to make his way to the door. He came to see Tazaki and return his notebook, not sit and watch him fail at a card trick. "I have better things to be doing than this."

He heard Tazaki's own chair scrape against the floor, half-expecting him to get up and leave with him. What he didn't expect was a firm hand on his shoulder and an arm reaching out and snaking around his front. He became startled, accidentally stepping back and bumping against Tazaki's chest. He felt something in his gut sink and he knew this was going to be like the last situation.

Tazaki's hand slipped into the breast pocket of his jacket, pulling out a card that was identical to the one he had memorized in the deck. "The Ace of hearts was your card, right?" He heard him speak behind him, his mouth dangerously close to his ear.

"You're in on it, aren't you." It wasn't as much of a question as it was a realization, Sakuma cursing himself for believing Tazaki to be innocent of such scandal.

Tazaki hummed in confirmation, the hand with the card disappearing behind him, but the other remaining on his shoulder. "Jitsui did in fact set you up to this. Why, I'm not sure myself. What I do know is that we had a very good instructor today and we were all interested in watching his assistant squirm in class."

Sakuma clicked his tongue and tightened his hands into fists, staring at the door just a few steps from him. Of course they were doing this to mock him. He lifted his arms to brush Tazaki away, but a firm palm latched onto his wrist and it took a good portion of his self-control to not throw him across the room.

"Because I don't hate you," Tazaki muttered, feeling the wrist in his grip start to relax, "I'm willing to share a word of advice: whatever happens today, don't fight it." He eased his way out of their position, letting him go and taking a step back. "Fukumoto will be starting dinner soon."

Sakuma turned himself around to face him, not comfortable with being exposed after what had just happened. "Does this have anything to do with your advice?"

Tazaki answered with silence, sitting back down and flipping to the page he left off on in his book.

"Guess so." He sighed, seeing himself out and walking towards the kitchen he so dreaded going to.

Sakuma was nearly bent back against the kitchen counter, Fukumoto's larger body pressing him there. His head inched closer, dark eyes flickering across his face in a way that made the shorter man wonder if he was really going to go through with what he thought was going to happen.

Tazaki's words echoed in his mind, but he was not prepared for this amount of harassment from the seemingly gentle man. The sound of the door opening made Sakuma shift, a dark suit peeking out from the doorway.

"It's a misunderstanding!" Sakuma's arm had reached out instinctively, as if to prevent their onlooker from actually seeing anything out of context. He didn't know why he felt the need to defend himself when Odagiri was most likely a part of the spies twisted game, too.

In a moment of awkward silence, Odagiri only stared at the two before Fukumoto's own arm stretched above Sakuma's head to retrieve the stack of pots that sat neatly on the shelf. He shared a glance at the man across the room, setting the cookware he needed on the stove and continuing with his cooking as if nothing had ever happened.

"Right," Odagiri looked from Fukumoto to Sakuma, "I was sent to bring you to the lounge. The others wanted to play a game of poker, but we're short on players."

They hardly ever invited Sakuma to play cards with them, so the invitation was already suspicious enough without Jitsui's flirtatious game. "Who is playing?" Rather, who was left out of the eight that were ready to provoke him?

Odagiri seemed troubled by the question, only motioning for him to follow as he walked out into the hall.

Sakuma didn't like it.

That didn't stop him from complying, unfortunately.

The lounge was decorated with nice furniture that ranged from loveseats to recliners, all designed to induce a relaxing atmosphere. Other accessories included a small bookshelf for light reading and a four-seated table in the middle of the room.

When Sakuma checked earlier, the lounge was completely empty. Now the room had about five spies present, including Odagiri, all scattered about and conversing among each other.

Amari and Hatano were taking up the couch, both holding a discussion about the expensive bar a couple blocks away. They didn't pay much attention to Sakuma's arrival, Hatano watching him walk in before his attention was back on Amari.

It was obvious he was meant to join the group of three at the table in the middle, Sakuma recognizing the back of Jitsui's head from the doorway. After what had happened earlier, he didn't feel comfortable sitting anywhere near the smaller man. The only vacant seat was directly next to him, too.

Odagiri sat down across from Jitsui, pulling the seat out for Sakuma to take while Kaminaga shuffled the deck of cards so they could start playing.

Swallowing his fear, Sakuma made his way over and nodded to Kaminaga when he was given his five cards to start. The only ones at the table that were left in the game were Odagiri and Kaminaga, his body tense at the thought of their poker game being a trap. Was it really a trap if he saw it coming, though?

Throughout the game, Sakuma could barely focus on his hand when any of the spies so much as fidgeted. He was waiting for something to happen: a touch, or maybe an inappropriate comment to throw him off. If he was being honest with himself, it wasn't just Jitsui's presence that was making him so nervous. Fukumoto's act of seduction had only added fuel to the fire and he still wasn't completely over the near-kiss he had with the other.

"Raise." He could barely get the words out above a whisper, staring down at the table and sliding the pile of betting chips into the middle in order to flush out what competition he had.

A second later, Odagiri folded and placed his cards down as a means to show he'd quit this round.

Kaminaga bet in the same amount, as did Jitsui, but that wasn't what had him on edge now. No, what had him ready to quit the game was the warm hand that had blatantly made itself comfortable on his knee.

Looking over, Sakuma planned to call the offender out, but noticed that each of the spies had one of their arms hidden under the table and away from his gaze. They were all quiet, as if contemplating their next moves, but Jitsui still had to fold or call.

He kept his eyes on him, narrowing them and ignoring the hand that continued to crawl up his pant leg in a way that was very distracting. Sakuma got what he wanted when the hand on him disappeared and Jitsui's own reappeared to call in his chips.

He smirked, discovering the offender, but his words failed him when he noticed that the other two had also raised their arms from under the table at the same time. It confused him, but he knew then that they were working together to give him a hard time.

He clicked his tongue, discarding two cards and replacing them from the stack, the others doing the same. It didn't take long for their teasing to continue, the mysterious hand back on his knee just like before.

Unlike before, however, Odagiri only had his arm under for a moment before both were present and crossed against his chest as he studied the game. The hand on his knee remained and both Jitsui and Kaminaga sent him a disapproving look.

He backed out.

His choices were narrowed down to two spies, both of them equally capable of teasing him in such a way now that Jitsui had shown him his true colors and Kaminaga was still the same open playboy.

Sakuma recalled Jitsui's actions from earlier in the classroom, remembering his strong grip on his tie and the smell of his cologne when he leaned in too close.

The hand on his knee moved further up his thigh and the touch was suddenly familiar, his eyes widening when Jitsui sent him a smirk and that hand squeezed-

"Sakuma."

The sudden puff of warm air into his ear made him panic and his leg jerked up, slamming it into the underside of the table and smashing the hand on his leg into it.

"Fuck!"

Kaminaga dropped the cards he was holding onto the table and clutched his other hand that withdrew from its hiding spot, his knuckles red from the impact.

Sakuma didn't even have time to celebrate the accident as he turned around to accuse the one responsible for whispering his name in his ear. Hatano stood behind him, grinning like always, his own hands shoved into his pockets.

"Kaminaga lost."

"That's because you cheated!" The man across the table tried to shake of the pain in his hand, wincing when it throbbed. "If anything, Sakuma was the one who lost the game."

"Actually," Amari rose from his seat on the couch, "Sakuma was holding out pretty well from where I could see. It was Hatano who caused him to panic."

"So, Hatano lost."

"No, Kaminaga had him on the ropes first! Sakuma was just about to cave-"

"So why did you step in?"

"That's because-"

"Shut up!"

All five of the spies in the room stopped, looking over at the only man in the room that hadn't contributed to the argument. His brows were furrowed and it was difficult to tell whether the red on his cheeks was the cause of embarrassment or anger. From everything that's happened to him today, it was most likely both.

"Could one of you explain what the hell is going on?" Sakuma breathed in, trying to compose himself before he continued. "I have been touched in many, many different places today and I have been in a constant state of anxiety because of some game that you-" he pointed at Jitsui- "are apparently the cause of!"

Each of the men in the room looked at each other, wordlessly debating amongst each other whether they should tell Sakuma the truth or not.

Jitsui was the first to speak. "This game was to test our abilities against someone who was least likely to accept heavy advances."

"In other words," Hatano cut in, "we were trying to win you over by flirting and seeing whether or not you responded accordingly."

"The winner was determined by how well they were able to gain your favor or trust while the loser was decided by how negative your response was to their actions." Amari only spared him a look of indifference, eying the dirt under his nails as if Sakuma was only a second thought.

"However, if you were to shoo any of us off before we could even begin, violently or otherwise, you would lose." Kaminaga added as he popped his fingers in a way that didn't look enjoyable. "Since smashing my hand was apparently an accident, your response to both of our advancements won't be counted."

Odagiri leaned back and decided to help clear things up. "You were tolerant of Kaminaga's groping by itself. Your response to Hatano would have been deemed as safe, but since Kaminaga's hand was at the wrong place at the wrong time, he paid the price. However, neither one's actions were answered with an absolute negative response, so no one lost the game, either."

Sakuma could only look at them all, the man slumped in his chair and processing the information. It made sense, from what Tazaki had disclosed to him in private. Now that the game was supposedly over, they had nothing left to hide, much less lie about.

He turned to Jitsui this time, his brows still furrowed in thought. "You said something about a price earlier, when you brought up this game. What did you mean by that?"

Jitsui smiled as if he had completely forgotten about their conversation during class up until now. "Oh, I meant the price you had to pay for playing. You know, the possibility of you losing your sanity."

"You promised him information, too."

"I didn't promise him anything, I only offered it in exchange. If he won, he was rewarded with a fact about the player of his choice."

"I thought you said it was an answer to any questions he had about us?" Hatano huffed, throwing his arms behind his head and staring down at the group.

"Well, he won, didn't he?" Amari took a cigarette out from his breast pocket and lit it, blowing out the smoke and looking at Sakuma. "Let him choose what and who he wants to find out about."

The sound of the fan whirling above them filled the silent room as each of the men stared at Sakuma in disguised anticipation. What they were offering was against the rules of the D-Agency, but as long as it was a harmless question, Yuuki didn't have to get involved. Each of them had planned for an invasive question and were ready to respond falsely if it would jeopardize their true identity, whether Sakuma had won fairly or not.

A few more seconds ticked by before Sakuma rubbed at his eyes and sighed, staring at his lap. "What is Miyoshi's real name?"

They all looked at each other before turning back to Sakuma. No one knew anyone's real name except themselves, so his question was completely useless without him being present.

Besides...

"Miyoshi isn't a player."

It was Odagiri who decided to break the news, feeling like Sakuma at least deserved some kind of response. "He was the only one who didn't want to play." Excluding himself, of course.

"He said he has enough fun toying with you regularly." Kaminaga stood up from his chair and started to collect the cards from their unfinished poker game. He had a feeling Sakuma wasn't in the mood to continue anymore. "He also said something about not needing practice with his flirting. Can you believe that guy?"

"If it makes you feel any better, we can reveal something about ourselves in place of Miyoshi." Amari offered a gentle hand on his shoulder, trying his best to cheer him up after a hard day of what they put him through. It was Jitsui's idea, so he wasn't taking most of the blame.

"Yeah, like Kaminaga being an M." Hatano snickered.

"I am not!"

The two spies went on to bicker like they sometimes did, leaving Sakuma with an unwanted image of Kaminaga that he would have been fine without. "I'm... I'm going to report your progress to Lieutenant colonel Yuuki. He should be in his office by now." He slid the chair out and stood, making his way towards the door.

Everyone let him pass, none trying to make him stay longer and bare listening to Hatano's and Kaminaga's pointless argument. The least they could do was leave him be.

After the door shut and Sakuma disappeared into the hallway, Amari found it safe to speak. "You owe me dinner, Jitsui."

"You bet he would ask Miyoshi's age, not his name. I don't think that counts."

"I think it does, considering I was the only one who bet he'd ask anything about Miyoshi at all."

"Odagiri, back me up on this."

Odagiri sunk more into his chair and silently wished dinner would be ready soon because he didn't want to stay here any more than Sakuma did. He regretted not leaving with the other when he had the chance.

"Will that be all, sir?" Sakuma kept his gaze forward when reporting to Yuuki, the man seated at his desk and writing something on a paper that was placed inside of an unmarked folder. He knew his nervousness must have been evident, considering Yuuki hadn't even bothered asking how he was.

He had just finished his summary of the spies and their success in the lesson earlier today, having conveniently left out the competition he was forced to partake in at his expense. Now all he wanted was to eat a hot meal and retire for the night.

"No, you may leave."

"Yes, sir."

Sakuma turned to see himself out, completely unaware of the smirk Yuuki sent his way when he wasn't looking, and closed the door to his office.

Outside waiting was Miyoshi, his hands in his pockets and back leaned against the wall. It was the same pose he did every day while he waited for Sakuma to complete his report and pesture him with whatever he was in the mood for.

Instead of waiting for Miyoshi to tease him, he simply nodded his head and excused himself. Walking past Miyoshi was a different story, the spy smoothly pulling his hand out of his pocket and latching onto Sakuma's arm to stop him.

"I'm really not interested in whatever you have to say to me today."

"I was going to ask if you wanted to join me tonight after dinner. We could go out into town and maybe catch a show?"

Sakuma closed his eyes and counted to three, knowing that his remaining hours of relaxation would be better if he ignored him. Instead, he knew he had nothing left to lose after the tiring day he had. "Why?"

"Because you're so adamant about not breaking our non-existent curfew."

"No," Sakuma turned and faced Miyoshi, "I meant, why did you not join their game?"

Miyoshi's eyes widened for no longer than a second, briefly caught off-guard by his question. His surprise was replaced with a grin, his body moving away from the wall so he could have a proper conversation. "I didn't know you'd ask something about me."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Miyoshi held his hand up passively to pause him before he started interrogating. "I felt like having you as a target for flirtatious antics would be too easy for me. You're too honest of a person to be subjected to copious amounts of romantic invitations and not be flustered or angry at some point. I was doing you a favor."

"Why-"

"Because I like you."

Sakuma opened his mouth to reply with something witty, but after he heard it wasn't the insult he was expecting, he didn't know what to do.

Miyoshi stared at him before sighing. "Flirting is an art used for seduction, not usually for honest feelings of the heart. We were taught these techniques to seduce women for information and I simply felt using them on you for deception would be too cruel of me."

"But-"

"I tease you a lot, I know. I tease you for pointless things you should be teased for, such as your political views and the like. I won't go out of my way to convey my true feelings through some sadistic game made to watch you squirm. I believe our tutor did enough of that today without my help."

Sakuma only nodded, still processing this new information that had yet to be completely registered. Miyoshi liked him. He was having a difficult time believing his own mind as the words repeated in his head.

Miyoshi liked him.

"So, does that mean-" Sakuma cut himself off, thinking of his response thoroughly before he continued, "you'll be able to answer my question?"

He chuckled, reaching out and taking Sakuma's hand in his. "That depends on the question. I may consider telling you one day, under a condition."

"What condition?"

He was met with a smile. "Do you want to join me tonight after dinner?"