Hola, folks! At the usual time, Here I Am! With this filler chapter, where you learn more about certain things concerning Rei's past! :D

Review;

taran taran: Next Plis

A: Well this is short XD But here you are, the next one! Hope you enjoy it!

Alright, without further talks from me, please enjoy the show! And Reviews are much appreciated XD

Chapter Fourteenth: A Fair Deal

She was actively avoiding him.

He was certain about it.

He knew she had been sent on missions more often than she should have, considering all her mental problems he had witnessed so far. Why Komui even allowed it was beyond him. Aside from Lavi and the man Aiden, there seemed to be no other who caught wind of her deterioration.

And he was worried.

Ever since that last nightmare that woke him up, she barely slept anymore, instead going somewhere he didn't know and just waited out until it's her "wake up time", then came back for work. Sleep was becoming something of a legend for her, and he could literally feel that strange air of dread hanging around her whole body.

She surprisingly had her sanity and her wits intact. She worked like she would when she was fully rested, and fought like a devil himself was backing her – in training, she obliterated that guy Galahad, from what he'd heard – and she was more ferocious now than ever.

Kanda knew, however, that she was at the edge of a cliff, and just a simple push can topple her over and she will plunge to her death.

And, to make it worse for him, she always walked towards a different direction every single fucking time he saw her, for one reason or another.

Just. Fucking. Perfect.

"Yuu," Lavi's voice jerked him out form his thought and he looked up with his murderous gaze. He didn't faze; instead he seemed to look a bit amused as he pointed his fork – with a piece of meat speared at the tip still, no less – at his soba tray. "You're going to break not just the tray, but also the table like that."

His eyes followed the direction Lavi pointed at, and saw that his chopsticks had lodged themselves past the noodles and into the tray. The utensils themselves had already half-broken, too, at this point in time. He exhaled sharply as he relaxed his arm, slowly pulling the chopsticks out and laid it on the tray.

"You're worried."

"I am not." He quickly shot back, only to be surprised by Lavi's intense gaze.

"Kanda," He said, and the usage of his surname rather than his name made him jumped in surprise. He looked up only to see the rare seriousness in Lavi's gaze, something he had not seen in a long time. He gulped, unintentionally so, as he lowered both arms until they rested on the table. Lavi said nothing more, and Kanda soon realized that he was waiting for him.

With a heavy sighed, he looked downward and nodded. "Yes… I'm worried. She rarely sleeps anymore, and to be frank, the vibe I'm getting off of her… hell, it's wrong. Everything about it is unholy."

"For you, of all people, to use the word unholy," Lavi said, but his face bore no trace of amusement as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I probably shouldn't tell you this but… you've heard the stories about the Owl's first attack that injured her… right?"

He had. But he didn't understand what Lavi's going with it. "I have. And what about it? Is there something else behind the bush?"

"More than just something else, actually." He said grimly, looking to the sides to make sure he was not eavesdropped. "During our mission in Holstebro, Rei divulged some minor information with me –"

"She what –"

"And she said that before the Owl emerges, she was subjected to physical and mental tortures." Lavi stated grimly without paused, and that last statement had effectively shut him the fuck up. He frowned as Lavi continued. "She didn't say much, but she gave me something – names, dates… so I continue to dig up more by myself."

This was not going anywhere good, Kanda could tell that much.

"To my surprise," Lavi continued casually. He either didn't detect Kanda's… well, discomfort, or he just ignored it. "It turns out that the villagers didn't tell me everything they know. She was kidnapped when she was fourteen – right before the Owl happened, mind you – because she killed someone."

"Who?" He asked, his voice hoarse. She had told him this. But who? Who –

"I don't know." At this, Lavi looked uncomfortable. He twisted in his seat and tried to accommodate himself better, to no avail. "From the guy she gave me the name, he told me the man she killed was his brother, and him and his goons kidnapped her in hope to… retaliate."

"She broke out?" He asked stupidly. Of course she had, one way or another, which brought up another question. "Scratch that; how did she break out?"

"That man didn't give me much detail." Lavi said, spearing another piece of steak and threw it into his mouth. After it went down, he muttered. "Only that the scene was pretty fucked up. I dug around some more and found reports of the scene investigation."

A pause.

"Whatever trashed their place can't be human."

His words sunk in slowly, and Kanda's eye grew wider and wider with each passing seconds. He promptly snapped his eyes shut and shook his head. Lavi merely observed as he inhaled deeply, and then exhaled. He looked up at the one-eyed man before him and muttered. "Then what did?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I asked Rei, I did, but she refused to talk about it anymore. However, if my assumption is correct, this might be the start of everything – of the Owl incident, and of her… deterioration."

Kanda eyed Lavi pointedly. "So you know about that."

"Just one glance at her right now, and a trained eye would be able to tell." He replied plainly. When no one was looking, Lavi grabbed Kanda's collar and pulled him close, eyes hard as he muttered the next few words. "Yuu, there's something fishy about this. Be careful around her, okay?"

"She's no danger to any of us." Kanda declared, slapping Lavi's hand off.

"She said she is." Lavi said. "Between your words and hers, I trust hers more. It's not like I don't want to help her, but as things stand, there are too many unknowns, too many things hidden from our eyes. Just be careful – who knows what might happen."

He opened his mouth almost instantly in an attempt to retort that comment, but as he let his mind wrapped itself around it, the more Lavi's words ringed with truth. He closed them and reeled back, considering the words the man before him said thoroughly. It's true, there are too many unknowns, and she was being elusive about everything she said.

But that vulnerability she showed that night, the fear in her voice and eyes and the way she forced her fears down – to be frank, it made his heart ache. He didn't want to see it again, but he was… reluctant to get close, and she to tell him even a spec of truth. He guessed she decided to tell Lavi because he was impartial, which still didn't make much sense.

He shook his head – thinking about it now would yield him nothing, so there really is no point to do so.

"Yuu." Lavi called his name again as he got up with his now empty plate, his one green eye unreadable.

"…What…?"

"Despite what I tell you earlier… just… make sure Rei doesn't do anything crazy or kill herself, yeah?"

"You hypocrite." He murmured with a shake of his head, but agreeing to Lavi's request regardless a moment later. "I'll try."

"Why are you guys so jittery?"

Alexi asked as soon as he reached the group of nurses and surgeons standing inside the OR room, preparing for a major orthopedic surgery. He is their in-house neurosurgeon, so he was to take care of the spinal cords and some such while Rei spearheaded the whole thing – which is a common practice in the Order nowadays – and this team was the best one there is in the Order. He just did not understand why they seemed so off.

"Ah, Alexi." The anesthesiologist, Bradford, greeted with an inclination of his head as he rubbed at his beard thoughtfully, eyes glued to the piece of paper with zigzag lines before him. The ECG lines – which indicated the patient's heartbeats, among other things – were printed in a checkered paper. Once he stood beside him, the gray-shirt man said. "Everybody's on edge, that's all."

"Why, though?" He asked with a smile. "It's not like this is high-risk –"

"It's class four, in case you haven't seen the files yet." Bradford cut him off with a frown and gave him the patient's file. Class Four means that the patient has a severe systemic disease that is a constant threat to life. Ah, so now he clearly understood the reason as to why everyone was so on edge.

"Why did she decide to operate then?"

"Pope's order." Bradford said curtly. "No way can you skirt around that."

"No you don't." He agreed and unfolded his arms, clapping his hands and walked towards the door. Spotting an elderly man on the bed with two nurses by his side, he whistled. "That's the patient, right? Take him in, we're prepping for surgery."

Everyone scuttled to where they should be as the patient, already on oxygen cannula as it stood, came in. The nurses lifted him to the operating table while he and the other two assistances looked through the files hastily, cleaning up some minors details and made sure everything was in place. Rei was, to put it lightly, a perfectionist. She hates everything that wasn't in the right Order, so they had to make sure it did.

"Hello there, mister…" Alexi trailed off, hand busy ruffling at the papers. There were so many, and he just couldn't find the name –

"Giovanni," The man responded in thick Italian accent. "Giovanni Acconcio."

"Alright, Mister Acconcio," He said, flipping to the blank page and started scribing the plan of surgery down. He raised his brow as he asked, "What kind of underlying diseases are you having these days?"

"Ischemic Heart Disease." He responded. "Akihiro had performed coronary arteries catheterization twice already, if that is what you're looking for."

"She attends to you personally?" He asked absently and slapped himself inside his mind – of course she did, why else would she receive this order from the fucking Pope?

"Ah, yes… I am an old friend of the Pope, and he recommended this person, so she is my doctor." The old man said, lifting his arm absently as the nurses put the blood pressure cuff around it. "And where is she, by the by?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea, honestly. She mostly showed up after patients are already under."

"I see – oh, there you are."

His eyes followed the old man to the young doctor who walked in while tying her surgical mask over her face. She gave the team brief, polite greetings before standing beside him, inclining her head slightly as a way to acknowledge his presence. He nodded back and handed her the chart.

"I wished we'd be able to meet under more… relaxing circumstances, Giovanni-san." She stated with a smile, hidden under her mask. Without flipping the chart, she continued. "How are you?"

"There's no dyspnea or breathlessness whatsoever for the past week." He said with a grin. "Your treatment has been very effective."

"Thank you." She said with a salutation. Then she turned her eyes towards the chart, flipping it to the anesthetic page, and then to the vital sign pages, and back again. She then did a brief physical examination. "Hmm, your fluid input-output seems a little off, sir. And there's some crepitation – voices, if you will – in your lungs. I'm not really comfortable operating with that in mind. Let me consult with the team for a bit, and I'll get back to you, yes?"

"Of course, child." He laughed merrily.

He felt a tug on his sleeve, and he followed without question. She dragged the internal medicine doctor with her, and Bradford, too. Once they were out of the OR and in the nearby planning room, she literally slammed the chart on the table, making everyone present jumped.

With a weary sigh, she said slowly and clearly. "Who looks after him?"

"Um… me, Ma'am." The internal medicine specialist said, raising his hand hesitantly. He nervously scratched his bald head. "I can explain –"

"I've look through the orders. Where's the necessary medicine? Where's even the progress note? Do you know how to medicine… sir?" She reprimanded, her eyes hard as steel as she stared the man down. Unfolding the glasses with one hand and put it on, she continued, her voice grew colder and colder by the second. "Why did the orders stopped two days before surgery? Is it because those two days were weekends? Who were on shifts those days?"

"Um… me, Ma'am," The man stammered. "I, ah –"

"Did you come to round?"

"I did –"

"I'll not repeat myself." She gritted out slowly. "Did. You. Come. To. Round?"

"I had the nurses do it!" He half-shouted. "They did and said –"

"How would the nurses know what the lookout for if you don't tell them? And whose responsibility is his health fall to?" She cut him off, anger clear in her voice. Alexi got chills running up his back.

Doctors, nurses, physical therapists, etcetera – they are all parts of the team, and each has their own responsibility. Nurses might be able to cover some of the doctor's works, sure, but they couldn't have known all, much like how a physician can't do some the nurses do.

So this is ultimately the doctor's fault. Poor sod.

"But I check with their reports! It's all –"

She cut his excuses off with a sharp look and a talk through her gritted teeth – he could literally hear the grindings. "I will not tolerate anything that will jeopardize our patients' safety. I give you three days to think about what you should and should not do. If you're not satisfied with the way I work, points me where I did it wrong. If you have reasons to support your claim, then I will change. If you do not, I expect you to change. Am I clear?"

The doctor opened his mouth, closed them, and repeated a few more times before his shoulders slumped. He bowed low and said in a terrified voice. "Yes Ma'am! I'm sorry; I'll think it over and start again, Ma'am!"

She sighed. "Apology accepted. Can he handle the operation, Bradford-san?"

"He can, and my team will be prepared if something happens." He said quite confidently. His confidence was not baseless, however, as he was known to be a very thorough and strict man. He folded his arm as he continued. "If you take it a little slower than you usually would, then I think he can handle the stress just as well as any class threes. I'll personally monitor this case."

"That'd be for the best." She nodded. "And you, Alexi-san?"

"Truth be told, I've not reviewed the case yet –"

She snorted. "I figured as much. I heard you had it rough last night."

He took a glance at Bradford, who also sighed in relief. Well, yeah, before the case today he was on call, and guess what – multiple injuries came in because a fucking idiot blew up sets of oil containers because he lit a cigarette. Multiple traumas weren't fun, much less so when said trauma was involved with burns and ingrained metallic shards.

"Thanks to you saying I hope you had my luck, Chief." He muttered back. Man, the woman before him sure had such a dick luck.

She laughed merrily. "That was unintentional. Anyway, let's review the case together. Get the team in – I want this to be thorough."

Cross laughed so hard when he walked into the lounge one day to find Rei on the couch, stretched across the furniture, with four bottles of red wines on the glass table next to it.

"Are doctors allowed to get drunk?" He mused as he walked to her, a glass and Romane Conte in hand.

She peered up at him, her face red with alcohol and her eyes half-closed. Her words were a bit slurred, but he could still make it out, somehow. "General Cross. Fancy meeting you here."

"Fancy meeting you here," He corrected, sitting down on the sofa by her head and placed his liquor down. She groaned slightly at the sound, and he chuckled to himself. "This is my place. I don't know you drink."

She held up three fingers. "I usually go with three glasses… this is a bit much for me."

"Figures." He muttered and popped the cork. "So… what makes you drink?"

"Stress." She replied, her brows knitted together as she shut her eyes. Putting an arm over her eyes to cut out the light, she murmured. "The patient is a Cardinal, and the one who put in the request was the Pope himself. Failure was not an option. He lived, but…"

"When did you start the operation?"

"Uh… Two days ago… I think?"

"That explains all…" He paused, lost for words, and opted for hand motions that gesture to her overall state and the environments. "…of this."

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, General." She muttered, and as if spatting the last words gave her the worst headache of her life, she groaned and shifted so that she would face the back of the couch. "Ow, my head."

"How long did it take you to down these four bottles?" He asked, amused at the usually cool, calm and collected woman's state. This was equivalent to seeing General Nine flirting with someone.

Well, not that he ever did. It was a figure of speech.

She squeezed her eyes tighter before answering with what he would describe as a hybrid between a spat and a moan. "Two hours. My god everything's spinning. Like I'm rolling off a hill."

"I can't call you a soft neck for being able to hold your own this long against these, kid." He muttered and took a sip. Letting out a sigh of contentment, he glanced at the clock. "Damn, it's already four in the morning. You should get back to your room and rest."

"Four…?" She repeated, mild terror edging into her voice. And then she bolted upright before putting her head in both her hands to stifle a hit of vertigo he imagined must be pleasant. He had a lot of hangovers before. He assumed it would be bad because she cussed in Russian at that. "Oh my god I've got work at six. What have I done? Oh my god…"

"Just call a day off. I'm sure they'll understand."

She groaned. "You're right. I still have to check in on the Cardinal, though. He's the one real VIP in my care at the moment."

"At the moment? You mean there's more you gotta look after?"

She turned to him and smiled, her eyes barely opened at the moment. Rei shifted slightly to accommodate herself better to the stiff, black couch of the lounge. "I'm in charge of exorcists' health, both physical and mental. If one or more of them lands themselves in a bad spot, I'll have the responsibility to personally look after their treatments and the like."

He noticed something strange. "You said they, not us."

"Well," She started, scratching her cheek sheepishly. "You see, if I'm injured I can't take care of myself. That's someone else's job. Or would you rather I put the knife on my own skin to save my life? –" She laughed "– no, thank you."

"That's quite an order from Komui, kid." He murmured, putting his drinking spree on a short pause. His one visible eye looked at hers, tired but still full of love and life. "…You do enjoy it, don't you?"

"Saving lives is the best part of being a doctor, General." She said. "Even if you count in all the obstacles and tiring politics medicine has to offer, the science and art itself is a marvelous thing to be a part of."

He smiled at the contentment in her voice. Everything she said and showed through her expressions were no lies – she enjoyed her work because she can do something to save others. Scientists ravel in the thrills of finding new things nature has to offer, but doctors have their passions in the well-being of the ones they cared, and she has the most gentle of heart he had ever seen.

"Which reminds me," She snapped him out of his contemplation with a rather amused tone as she scanned him from head to toe. "You know… I've been meaning to ask about your Innocences, if you don't mind."

His smile turned into a grin. "Curious?"

"Indeed." She smiled.

"If you mean this one –" He said, drawing his gun out of the holster and put it on the table. "– then I'd be disappointed."

Her smile never faltered as her eyes trained on his hand. "Of course not. But I must ask – how did you know that I know about the Grave of Maria?"

"You use secrets as currency, and I've been digging around about you, too. As it is, you seemed to have put quite a bounty on the information regarding a certain man who I had helped in the past –"

"Neah D Campbell." She finished, grinning knowingly. He tipped the invisible hat on his head for her. "But I don't know him as much as I'd like."

"Why do you want to?"

"To save Allen, of course."

He paused at that and frowned. Something was off about it, and he knew what was fishy. But the genuity in her voice was somehow enough for him to set aside his doubt – even though temporarily – to answer her question. But first, he needed to make sure. "And what of Neah?"

"I want to talk." She replied, pushing herself up and leant back on the couch, relaxing fully into it. "But if that fails, and his death would benefit all of us more than his survival, then my blades are ready."

"You do realize that I'm his accomplice, right?"

"Yes, but you're different." She said. "You care. For Allen – the former Allen, the one that was lost during the memory transition."

He paused at that, an alarm having been set off in his mind. How did she know about that? His eye quickly scanned hers, and he found nothing. She's the better poker player here, and the blankness in her expression, with no sighs he could use to discern her true intention, truly is terrifying. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed them as no words came out.

Her smile was a reserved one. Reserved, misleading. A mystery. And much to his dismay, he both loves and hates mysteries. In this case, he despises its existence, because that meant she held the upper hand in this negotiation. As if reading his mind, she spoke calmly. "Information is power, General. You know that. The Earl knows that. The Order ignores that, but it knows the very significance of information. I'm the best information broker there is."

"Best broker?" He questioned and paused. Wait –

"That's right." She replied to his silent inquiry, a disturbing smile gracing her feature. "I'm the broker employed into the service of House of Hanover, to the court of Queen Victoria herself."

"That explains all the rumors I heard about someone in the Order who has more power than the Pope himself." He mused, looking at her in the eyes – dark, unreadable, powerful. "But I couldn't even begin to imagine that a girl so young such as you would be the one said to pull all the strings."

She laughed merrily. "Oh, please, I don't pull all the strings, General. Only enough to influence certain decisions. The reason I even start my own little information network in the first place was to track down and keep tab on the Owl, and nothing more. These… employments, these perks, they merely are the side benefits of it all."

"That's what I've been meaning to ask you for a time, now." He began, looking around to make certain they weren't eavesdropped. Just in case, he silently cast the sorcery of old, mumbling their activation words under his breath as he drew circles in the air. She waited patiently, and once he finished, Cross asked with a hushed voice. "What's your history with the Owl?"

Her body suddenly stiffened at the question, and her eyes turned fierce and outright murderous. The sudden changed in demeanor lasted but for a few seconds before she calmed down and returned to her usual self.

After a long pause, she repeated his question. "You wish to know about my history with the Owl?"

"If I'm going to divulge information of Neah D Campbell to you, I've got to at least know some of your angles. You're not the only one who plays with secrets and information for a living, kid." He said, crossing his arms. He had half expecting her to lash out and refuse his offer outright, but to his surprise, she laughed at him. "What?"

"Hahaha! No, it's nothing! I'm just glad that you are someone who know how to play trader, is all." She said happily and crossed her legs, all the drunkenness gone as if she had never even touched a drop before their conversation, which surprised him quite so. "So… in trade of that?"

"Details on everything I know about Neah." He said. "And after that, if you agree, we can form an alliance, perhaps? Because my goal is to win this damn thing, and on the side… if saving Allen is possible, then… yeah. Why not?"

"Then we have a deal." She said, extending her hand to him and smiled. "We will exchange our knowledge another time."

"Sounds good to me." He took it and shook it vigorously.

"Well, then," She said, fetching her empty glass and extended it his way, her eyes looking straight at the bottle. "In celebration of our little agreement?"

"Sure, why not." He shrugged and filled her glass with his favorite beverage and grinned deviously. "Don't ever lose your touch. I like you more like this."

She grinned back. "I never will, General. I never will."

It was a few nights later that he found her again, this time in her little spot in the garden, where she fell asleep on his shoulder.

She turned into his direction the moment he entered, and he silently cursed and applauded her keen sense as he hung out by the doorway. Her gaze didn't waver as she assessed him. Because he came here without even a good reason to be up at this hour, it would at least took her a few minutes to accept the fact that he'd give her no direct answer before she did something else.

She said nothing and returned her eyes to the horizon, with moonlight, milky white and brilliant, reflecting on the surface of the calm sea.

"Why are you still up?" He asked, more a question to himself than to her. He remained by the entrance, not dare taking a step in. There was… something, like a globe, surrounding her whole body. And just the thought of disrupting the calm sent a shiver down his whole body.

"Why are you?" She asked without looking at him, leaning her head against the tree, her tensed shoulders slumped down as if in defeat. Without his reply, she continued. "It's already late."

"It is." He murmured and straightened himself up. "May I?"

"Certainly." Rei replied, her tender fingers rolling the tiny silver locket he never noticed she had absently. Kanda sat a few inches away from her, resting his back against the wooden bench as softly as he could. Once he settled, he could feel her eyes on him. "Kanda-san…"

"…What?"

She remained silence, only looking at him. After a while, a smile crossed her face as she returned her attention to the moon. "…It's nothing."

He crossed his arms and sighed. "You're keeping too much to yourself. Spitting something out might prove good for your mental health."

"Then why don't you?" She shot back almost immediately, her voice calm – too calm. Too cold. "With the whole Alma Karma mess –"

"You don't talk about that!" He burst out; anger suddenly rose up in his chest and spreading like wild fire all over him. His vision was filled with nothing but red, and he was seething uncontrollably. She seemed unfazed by it, which caused his already untamable rage to spike up even higher. "You know nothing about any of that! You don't know me!"

"Nor you me." She stated calmly, her eyes bored into his as she remained seated, rooted to the spot, unyielding. Then he realized that she must have planned for this. He blinked and held his tongue. Seeing that, she smiled and turned her gaze to the sky above. "We are different, yet the same. You don't know me, I don't know you. You don't know what I've been through, and nor I you. Let's leave it at that, shall we?"

He couldn't find the way to convince her otherwise, so he elected to shut up.

The air was heavy, choking him from every angle, and he couldn't bear it. But just as he was about to get up and leave, something tugged at his insides, stopping him. He couldn't bring himself to leave, nor take his eyes from her. It was like something was dragging his eyes back to her form, feminine yet sturdy like a well-crafted marble statue.

Suddenly, without warning, she said; "A broker."

"What?"

"I'm an information broker." She said, sighing and closing her eyes as she leant her head back against the seat. "As a broker, it is a requirement that you be able to make rational decisions while disregarding all the bounds of moralities and laws. No one who stays in this business longer than a month could keep his or her hands clean… I included."

"Why are you telling me this?" He said what he thought without holding back, and he blinked in surprise at his own questions. But… she seemed relieved, and if he dared say, improved, even if it was barely noticeable. He gulped and dared add a bit more as she didn't reply. "Why are you telling me all of this? You were pretty keen on keeping it in the low before –"

"I don't know." She said at last, her gaze fixated on the ground, her hands and fingers intertwined together. A faint smile crossed her lips as she let out a humorless laughter. "I don't know, really. Believe me. Sometimes it felt like I just… needed to share this with someone else."

He snorted but remained silent otherwise.

Her smile turned somewhat ironic-like as she looked straight at him. "I'm… rather surprised. No more question for me, Kanda-san?"

"I figured you wouldn't spill anything more anyway." He said casually with a carefree shrug, arms crossed tight over his chest as his dark eyes met hers, the warmth in her chocolate brown orbs morphed into something that made his gut twisted. He inhaled deeply once to rid his mind of the dark thoughts and continued. "But if you want someone to listen to your stories… I'll be here."

She blinked in surprise at his offer. In truth, he too was taken aback, but at this point, when he realized that he had an uncertain feeling for her, he no longer give a fuck about it. She opened her mouth, her facial expression that of a woman who was about to retaliate with sarcasm, but she clamped it shut and instead smile to herself.

Her smile was that of contentment, not born of some bad joke.

"Thank you. Truly, I am grateful." She said, at last, without looking at him.

They fell into a comfortable silence, where her eyes remained glue to the ground before them; the ghost of smile lingered on her face still.

And when he thought that was the end of it, she fidgeted uncomfortably and scooted a little closer to him, her eyes still glued to a single speck of dust on the ground. He looked at her strangely, an eyebrow arching up on its own as he studied her. She is a genius, there's no doubt about that, but sometimes (well, most of the times, to be honest) she could be a literal blockhead and couldn't tell herself what she really feels sometimes.

She opened her mouth and closed them repeatedly, her eyes stopped between the ground and his face. Finally, after seemingly mustering enough courage to do something, she said; "Kanda-san… if it's fine… can I –"

It's such a silly question he almost laughed. Without waiting for her to finish, he patted his shoulder. "Go ahead. I don't mind."

She blinked and blushed furiously before pursing her lips into a thin, straight line. Hesitantly, she lowered her head until it met his shoulder. She shifted to find herself a more comfortable position and sighed. "Thank you."

It's fine. Even if she had a thousand of reasons to remain just friends, this is all I could ever ask for.

Just this is enough.

"My lord,"

Her voice jerked him out of his thoughts; his gloved hands stopped moving as his eyes, through the round glasses, glanced up at the owner of the voice. The woman before him, now wearing dark skin, golden eyes and stigmata of their family proudly, bowed at his attention. He smiled and put down… whatever it was he was knitting. "What is it, Lulu Bell? Something to report?"

"The preparations are ready." She said, at last, her voice as calm as ever. "We have completed the first three "Successful Model" out of the flesh and blood of the willinngs."

"Perfect. I've been waiting for so long." He said, leaning back against his rocking chair and grinned to himself. "And combat-wise?

"They are ready, sir. I'll sent one during one of their deployments to evaluate her capabilities, as ordered.."

"Well done!" He laughed merrily. "Ah, and what should we named these things?"

"I heard the Order called the original the "Owl", sir." She said with a bow. "If I may, I'd suggested calling them "Artificial Owls", if you are content."

"Of course!" He nodded and got up of the rocking chair, tapping his cane lightly on the ground and smiled to himself as the skin of the "Earl" enveloped his body, his golden eyes glinting deviously before they were concealed by the ever-happy skin he made out of boredom. He grinned underneath as he walked past Lulu Bell, who silently followed him, out of his room and to the wider world.

"Then let the party begins!"

There! Some fanservice for you! :D And Premonition of something terrible looming in the dark ;) Guess what is going to happen! XD

Also I'll take 3 weeks break here, I think, because National Exam comin' up and I don't wanna screw myself over ;) Also a trip aboard after, so... Yeah... XD

Stay tuned! R and R as you like! And see you later! :D