The woman arched her eyebrows as she noticed the look everyone on the table threw at her. She nibbled on her spoon, finding their glances a little bit worrying and unnerving. They were clearly waiting for something, but she couldn't point her finger on what exactly.

Still, she then dismissed the worry for a moment and swallowed the greenish thick substance in her mouth otherwise known as the "Today's special" which was forced upon her just a few minutes ago. Of course, she had been suspicious, but it was food and she had seen other people eaten this...dish before, so she considered it non-threatening.

"Are you feeling alright? I mean...do you feel a little bit...sick?" Lucifer's frown deepened at that question and looked at her leader.

"Is there a specific reason why I shouldn't feel...fine...?" Lindow started to smile, much to her irritation. "Great! Sakuya, you know what this means, don't you?" He hummed in a satisfied tone as the medic only sighed deeply.

"Care...to explain what is going on, leader?" "Ah, nothing big." He shrugged his shoulders, crossing his arms before his chest. "I just had a little bet with Sakuya. You see, this is not any type of food. It's Dr. Sasaki's special experimental food."

"So?"

"I can assure you that there are no dangerous substances in there. Actually it is quite healthy, but many people aren't used to having their taste buds go on a rollercoaster ride of nasty taste." The medic explained, offering her a gentle smile. „Lindow and I are already used to it, but rookies on the other hand..." She pointed at Kota who sat beside her and rested his head on the table.

He was still mumbling some incomprehensible sentences like he had done before she had arrived for breakfast. At first she just had guessed, he was watching his favourite series again and didn't get much sleep because of it. "Some rookies have problems to stomach it on their first try." Sakuya finished with a chuckle as the boy failed to stifle a groan to underline his suffering. "He will be fine in an hour or two."

Lucifer eyed the substance on her plate, titling her head a little bit to the right. "I don't think it is that bad, to be honest." "Not this time, Rookie. Last month I think it almost knocked out half of the staff. The director was not amused by this."

"I...can imagine."

"Before I forget...A new member will be joining us today." At these words, Kota jumped back from the doors of the underworld, eyes sparkling and the nasty taste of the food promptly forgotten. "Really?! Who is it? A boy? A girl?" Lindow chuckled.

"Easy there. A girl from the Russian Branch. A New Type just like our Rookie here." Lucifer frowned as she slightly shoved away her food, eying it with suspicion.

"But...why don't you ask her herself? She already is here." They followed their leader's glance which was directed to the stairs. Her shoes clicked against the pavement, her arms across her -one could almost say 'barely covered' - chest. Their glances met and she walked over to them.

Kota seemed flustered at her appearance while Lucifer just spared her a short look.

"Are you the first unit? My name is Alisa Ilinichina Amiella. I was send from the Russian Branch to assist..." Her eyes wandered over the group and halted by the other woman with dark blue shoulder long hair who slowly rose an eyebrow as she noticed her attention. Judging her facial expression, she was annoyed by something.

"You must be the other New Type..." She muttered. "I apologize my sudden question but in your profile I haven't found a name or rather a sick joke thereof." Her haughty tone clearly told her that she wasn't really apologizing or even tried to be honestly polite.

Her new leader grimaced and almost winced as this topic came up. At least, he respected her choice and didn't complain besides the game they usually played, but he felt uneasy.

"I...don't think she or anyone else meant it as a joke." The girl blinked confused, eyes then narrowing.

"I beg pardon? What ridiculous reason would somebody have to name themselves after the devil? It just reeks of overconfidence and immaturity." Lindow sighed, suppressing a curse. This wasn't going to be a peaceful first impression like he hoped it would be.

Then he couldn't decide if he should be at ease or should be more worried about this situation as Lucifer started to smirk and finally glanced back at her.

"As for a new one without any battle experience, you sure don't seem to lack..." Her gaze moved up and down on her, before she looked her straight in the eye. "Overconfidence. I am well aware that this name can be considered corny by some, but it is just a name, isn't it?"

"You don't imply that I would play along with this...this...joke!" The older woman's smile widened just a bit. "Now, you don't have to call me by my name, if you don't like to."

"I would be more interested to call you by your normal name." "Then group together with our leader. This thing would interest him as well." She stood up. "Besides that issue. Welcome to the team. I hope we get along on the battlefield." Lucifer offered her hand and Alisa shook it, although she hesitated at first.

"So...with that cleared up. Let's get ready for the next mission. Rookie, Alisa, you will come with me this time." Lindow interrupted the scene.

"Understood.", both females answered automatically.

"And Alisa, just call her Rookie if you don't know what to call her."

"Or partner." Kota threw in.

"F-fine then."

"You will get used to it eventually." Lucifer spoke before she followed their leader to the mission corner. She looked at her hand before she glanced back to the girl. The pulse of the creature inside her was there again, a little bit stronger than usual, almost exited. She could swear that she had seen a short white flash as their hands connected.

Her smile vanished as soon as she balled her hand to a fist. "Interesting."

Later that day, Lucifer was back in her room again and flipped through the pages of a book, trying to read, but finding herself unable to concentrate. With a sigh, she titled her head back, her thoughts drifting off again. Still this white blank flash was on her mind and she began to ponder how much of it was real or just her mind playing tricks on her.

A sudden knock on her door yanked her out of her train of thought. Her glance directed herself to the door and she frowned. This was certainly unusual, especially at this late hour. For a short moment, the thought that she should just not answer was highly tempting, but at the end she gave her unusual visitor a chance.

She stood up, walked over and open the door. "Y-yo, how are you doing?" Her leader seemed highly uncomfortable or at least awkward. He always acted like that when he was going to ask for a favour which mostly involved secrecy. For example, when he borrowed beer which made Sakuya consequently less than happy, scolding him for drinking so much.

"Like always I would say... Do you want to talk to me or drink my beer?"

"Well, a little bit of both, actually. Can I come in?"

Lucifer stepped out of the way. "You are lucky that I don't drink this stuff. Help yourself."

"You are a lifesaver, Rookie." He walked to the fridge and grabbed one of the cans.

"It a mystery for me how you like that so much..."

"Says the one who has no official name and no sense of taste." He countered with a smile.

"Very funny, Leader."

Leisurely he sat himself on the couch and she took a seat across from him.

"So...what do you think of our new asset?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Just wanting your opinion. Seeing that you most likely worked with other people and have actual combat experience, I thought it would be stupid to not ask you. By the way, nice reaction to the whole thing about...you know."

"I'm used to it and I would be damned if I lost my cool about something like that." The woman sighed.

"To be honest, that girl is very confident about herself. I have to admit, her scores on the test are impressive, but that won't help on the actual battlefield."

"But she did well today, didn't she?"

"I won't deny that. However, after I read her profile I find the fact that she is taking special therapy sessions a little bit..." The woman halted and searched for the right word. "...odd."

He just hummed in approval as he took a sip from the cold beer.

"Lindow, what did you do to offend your Boss?"

He frowned at her words, but waited for her to explain.

"Two people - one without a record and combat experience and one who is mentally…well not totally mentally stable - were just added recently to your team. Pardon me if I have to break it to you ...Something is not right with this setup."

Although the smile stayed on his face, the silence on his part made her feel alarmed.

He knew.

"No need to hold back your opinion in here...I have gotten rid of bugs. I like my privacy." This time he looked genuinely surprised, but stayed silent for a second.

"Then I have a favour to ask from you." Lindow suddenly said, making her frown in surprise.

"A favour?"

"I want you to keep an eye on her for me."

Lucifer was quiet for a moment, eyes narrowing as she crossed her arms before her chest. This conversation gave off an odd atmosphere, not the joking and light-hearted talk he usually would have.

"Why do you think you can trust me? I could be cooperating with the director and just sell you out at the moment I deem it necessary."

"You don't strike me as that kind of backstabbing person."

"Neither am I generous...What can you give me in return?"

"Look...I..."

"There is no need to decide that now. I just warn you that I expect a payment in return. But I guess we have a deal. I'm curious how this unfolds by myself and you seem really desperate."

She played with a chess figure that were scattered around the table. It had been there since she moved into this room here, but she didn't know what to do with it.

"You play chess?" The woman jerked slightly. She didn't even know the name of this game, let alone the rules. "No...I have never played it." Lucifer admitted honestly with a sigh "Really?"

"I never had time to play these kind of games and..."

"Do you want me to teach you?" Irritated she frowned, looking at him for a while, searching for a second thought behind this friendly act. Slowly she turned the figure in her hands. She had always been curious by nature.

"Just to be clear...I won't call you teacher and this as payment for your favour." Despite her harsh words, his face brightened up.

"Okay, let's sort the figures...By the way, the one you hold in your hands is called a Knight."

They played for a while. Between explanations, turns and trying to outwit the other, Lindow tried to stir up a normal conversation and was rather surprised that she actually didn't give him the silent treatment. First they discussed simply tactics against aragami and their weak points, then it shifted to their preferences of weapons until he turned it into a conversation about fellow unit comrades.

She noticed how he slowly pushed the topic in this specific direction, but she played along.

"To be honest, I was rather surprised that you were unfazed by what happened to Eric. I have seen rookies getting mental breakdowns from a scene like that." He looked at her for a second, not knowing if the question was still too risky to ask. The woman moved a white pawn, staying silent for a while.

"Like I said. Not the first death I have witnessed and it won't be the last in this kind of job. I have been dancing with death itself more than I like to admit." Lindow frowned as he did his turn, taking her pawn off the table.

"Sounds like you have seen many…unpleasant things in the past."

"It wasn't sunshine and rainbows if you mean that. Speaking of which...That little Death God of yours didn't seem to have experienced a lucky one either."

Her leader winced at the nickname and his expression turned serious.

"I would like you to quit calling him like that."

"Why?"

"Because he has a name and besides that, he isn't..."

"A Death God?"

She chuckled at his not so amused face.

"Is there something I should know about him?

"He just...isn't good with people." He hesitated. Not a good sign.

"Neither I'm I. And I don't have a kill count concerning my comrades in this branch."

"I have gone on many missions with him over the years and I'm not dead."

"Yet." She punctuated her sentence as she moved her priest and took his second knight off the chessboard, her eyes never leaving him and observing his reaction. Her smirk widened as she noticed how much he was trying to hold back in this very moment.

It irked him, made him angry that he could not defend his little friend. There were things he couldn't deny and he knew this all too well. But he didn't snap at her. He was a very controlled, easy going man who had his own agenda. And something important that he wasn't telling her.

"...There are always reasons why someone gets called like that."

"If you get to know him better, you will understand." The young woman chuckled.

"I can imagine how it is to be sent to the front at the age of twelve." Her thoughts drifted off to his eyes, at these catlike pupils.

"He is different from a normal God Eater, isn't he? His eyes tell me he has seen a lot of things in his life."

"You...can say that. He is regarded as a monster by some."

This time she burst out laughing, making her leader jump in his seat. As she caught herself again, she shook her head.

"I apologize but I always find it amusing how humans have sometimes not even the slightest idea what a monster is. Trust me, I have seen a lot of things as well and he doesn't even qualify. He is too human to be a monster."

"I'm...glad to hear that?"

"Considering his name...He has to correct me and not you. If he tells me to stop calling him like that, I will stop. If he just lashes out on me, I won't."

"You like to tease him, don't you?" Lindow said with a sigh, realization dawning on him.

"I just think some names are important and how you treat them. Although my name is unbelievably juvenile to some people, I still carry it with pride since I have worked for it."

"But what did your parents name you?" Now the hesitation on her side became noticeable as she moved the next figure into place.

"...It has been a few years since I asked myself what my parents would have called me. But I decided I shouldn't waste a thought about it. They never bothered that I existed anyway."

"I...see. I'm sorry."

"Don't dare to pity me for something mundane like this. This is a quite normal circumstance in these times."

He sighed, running one hand through his raven hair. "Still I feel sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know what you have seen in your life, but it wasn't pretty, was it? I didn't mean to stir something up." His eyes looked gazed upon her in an apologizing manner, making her frown in irritation.

"You haven't. You are the leader, so it is natural that you want to know more about me." His lips grazed a smile.

"Then why did you ignore my questions before?"

"Because it was in public and it was annoying." The woman crossed her arms before her chest. "I prefer discussing such things in private." She stayed silent for a moment, closing her eyes and sorting her thoughts.

"I don't dislike you."

These words left her mouth faster than she wanted and she was tempted to bite her tongue. One eye cracked open to see him grinning widely at her and a slight feeling of discomfort rose in her chest.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I don't dislike you, but I don't like you either."

"Ah, don't worry, Lucifer. I know what you mean." The woman blinked and then bit her tongue. He took this statement completely the wrong way and his flashing smile was highly annoying for her.

With a straight face, she positioned her next figure.

"Check."

Lindow stared at the chess board. "How...wait...How did you...?"

"You should have put more attention to the game than to such petty details. You will lose if you don't."

"...Y-Yeah."

It was just a few days later as Lucifer stood there in the hallway, alone, reporting that someone went missing in action. Patiently she answered the questions of her superior and her leader's older sister Tsubaki, giving details, location and kind of aragami through.

"This...would be all." Lucifer nodded in silence before she turned around and left. The whole Den was in uproar about what happened. God Eater running to the left and right, demanding answers on what happened out there.

In the middle of this chaos she spotted the people of the first unit or what was left there off. Her glance moved over their faces, taking in the shock, anger and all those conflicting feelings all at once.

Her eyes narrowed.

How they crumbled and succumbed to emotion, how they wept, how they believed...How pathetic they were, crying over a person who was most likely dead. Tears won't bring him back neither would a tantrum.

Lindow seemed to have chosen this fate deliberately without even thinking about them. She had warning him not once but multiple times that something like this might happen. That this Alisa was a liability that need to be corrected, to be prepared for. Just her watching would do nothing.

He didn't listen. People like him never did.

And he paid the price.

Her attention moved to the left of her, at the sound of something punching onto metal. It was the death god who tried to vent his anger and frustration somehow, his face was composed although he gritted his teeth. He would never admit that they had been close.

Lucifer parted her lips, trying to speak and yet she closed them without making a sound and shrouded herself within her own chosen silence, before she just turned around and left. Her shoes clicked against the pavement and her eyes now fixed on way before her as went to her room.

Slowly the woman opened the door and looked into the beckoning darkness. It seemed peaceful, quiet, luring her in and she followed the unspoken call. She didn't turn on the lights, welcomed the darkness and silence, for it was an old companion to her. Slowly she lowered herself onto her bed and looked at the fridge.

His presence still lingered here or rather in her memory: The smell of cigarettes she had permitted him smoking once in a while, the empty beer can on the desk.

"Well, I did warn you, didn't I?" Just a question to the dead, a discussion with no one in particular. She leant back.

"You were a fool, too good, too believing..." Her voice sounded satisfied, wickedly sweet as she closed her eyes.

"And yet you knew very well what was coming for you."

Her eyes opened a little bit, her green eyes grew distant for a second. He had asked her for a favour and just because he was dead, didn't mean it was rendered invalid.

"Look after the girl...that indirectly murdered you. What a disgustingly good person you were."

She stood up and moved to the abandoned chessboard. After that one evening he still visited her to play. The figures still stood in place after he had declared himself defeated and went to his next mission.

"You are not quite bad, Lucifer."

He was the only one who had used her name without looking confused or uncomfortable. After their first game, he had begun to use it more frequently, much to the confusion of the other God Eaters and he had stopped asking her for her 'true' name.

Something told him to trust her. Maybe it was desperation or he was just being a fool again.

Her green eyes flickered over the chessboard. Now she had to search for another partner or play alone. Thin fingertips moved over the black pawn, but stopped in the middle of the movement. Suddenly her expression changed as the realization hit her.

She clicked her tongue.

"Fool." Lucifer said quietly to herself as she grimaced. She took the golden cross around her neck into her hand. She hadn't won their last game.

Lindow had set her checkmate.

Withholding vital pieces of information why his life was in danger or why someone tried to get rid of him and dragging her with a petty little favour into his play.

The director gave her an offer she seemingly couldn't refuse and would try to install her as his pawn.

Her leader gave her an offer she took without really knowing what exactly was happening around her.

And both didn't notice that they invited a dangerous person into their play.

A wicked smile graced over her lips. It seemed there was another one who called for her attention.

"You paid the price, Lindow and I will do as you ordered."