"I'm so happy! It's crazy how happy I am! Oh, oh, oh! I'm so happy I feel like I'm on a mission!" Kanon exclaimed.

Sitting at the lunch table, Kanon sipped excitedly on a strawberry juice box. As with most things, word spread quickly through the Den of Neo's return. Among those excited about the news was Kanon and Gina, the gunner besties of the 2nd and 3rd Units. Both were disappointed as they had been unable to see her. Neither had been aware of the welcoming party, and visitation was limited, leaving them with nothing to do but chat among themselves and pass the time.

That was precisely how they found themselves gathered around the table with other members of her unit. Tonight was a night for celebration; for enjoying themselves and taking full advantage of their time off. Soldiers from nearly every group had gathered for their get-together; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, as they ate, drank, and made merry. Of course, as was inevitable, not all attendees were as joyful as the gunner pair.

Karel, for one, seemed to be in a particularly sour mood. "Why?"

"Why? What do you mean, why?! Our friend is finally home!"

"Exactly! This is not a happy moment at all! Now that Neo's back, she's going to take all the good rewarding missions again!"

"Seriously, Karel, that's what you're concerned about?" Gina asked, a tiny smirk growing on her face. Leave it to the Den's resident capitalist to make the homecoming of the branch's strongest soldier a bad thing.

Her words had some effect. With a sheepish frown, he shook his head. "Well… not really. I mean, it does suck. I'm glad she's home and all, but I was making a bank with her gone. How am I supposed to meet my quota now?"

"You guys are friends, right? Just ask her whenever she comes out of her room."

"Well, I wouldn't call her a friend… more like a… mutually beneficial alliance."

Gina thew her head back with a bark of laughter. It was such a Karel response, she couldn't help but find it endearing, even if it was a little crass. "Well, either way, I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help you take down another Ouroboros."

"Wait, what?!" Tatsumi choked, nearly taking a spit take of his beer. He pounded his chest to dislodge the liquid, then fixed the blonde man with a wide-eyed stare. "You guys took down an Ouroboros?!"

"A Fallen Ouroboros, to be exact. And honestly, I really didn't do much. Neo did most of the work, I just provided backup. Got paid a ton for it too. That woman is something else."

Shun swallowed his mouthful of rice and interjected. "Oh yeah, she let you keep all the reward money, didn't she?"

"Yup. She's a real class act, that one. Didn't ask for a dime."

"Well, yeah, she's a millionaire. Your mission was probably chump change to her."

"Wait, she's what?!" Kota shouted.

"You didn't know? She's in your unit."

"Neo doesn't discuss finances. We pretty much hang out, watch Bugarally, beat down baddies… you know, the usual. I mean, I rarely see her buy anything, so…"

Otto shook his head. "That's no surprise. Her guard dog takes care of everything for her."

"Watch it," Gina scowled, eyes narrowing in a rare display of extreme irritation. Her teammate scoffed and returned to his sandwich. He was in no mood to tangle with Gina tonight. He just wanted to enjoy his alcohol.

Ignoring the two, Kanon finished her juice and dropped the empty container onto the table. "Come to think of it… have you seen Gunter? I heard he was awake, but I haven't seen him. He doing okay?"

"About as well as anyone can be," he muttered. 'After getting choked out by a beefed-up psychopath.' "Saw him the other day, but he didn't say much."

"Gunter's a lot tougher than people give him credit for," Gina responded. "I'm sure he's fine. Just give him some time, you know?"

"Hmph…" Federico mumbled. He had little to say on the situation. The only interactions he had had with the New Type had been tense at best and nearly disastrous at worst. Though he didn't share the same bitter hatred as his teammate, he wasn't as crazy about her as the other. He had kept his distance for the most part following their last mission together, and admittedly, hadn't given much effort to work with her since. He had to commend Gunter's bravery… although he couldn't help but wonder if that would continue after his recovery. Leaning his face against a hand, he let his mind wander as the others moved on to other topics of conversation.

. . .

The lift doors slowly slid open, a nervous God Eater stepping out onto the executive floor. Word of Neo's return had spread to every corner of the branch; almost every inhabitant had heard, and he was no different. What was different was his reaction to the news. Gunter supposed he should have should have been joyful, perhaps even excited, at the idea of seeing his girlfriend again. Instead, he only felt discomfort and fear.

Not to mention, it could easily be argued that Neo was more of an ex-girlfriend at this point.

Unlike other members of the Den, he had been doing his very best to avoid her at every cost, which thankfully, wasn't very difficult since she was holed up in her room. What frightened him was what would happen once she finally emerged. Thus, as the survivor of a strangling attempt, he wanted to express his concerns. What he was going to ask for, he wasn't sure, but simply bringing up the topic was a start. Of course, there was the much larger problem of figuring out who exactly to go to. There was simply no way that someone like Neo had been freely roaming the Far East without consequence, not without an ally on the inside. It was very likely the very people most capable of helping him were also on her side. The only thing he could think to do was to go over their heads, to someone who would have the most power to prevent another incident.

Or so he hoped.

A gentle knock on the door signaled his arrival, but silence was his answer. He waited for a few moments, before tapping the surface again, a bit louder the second time. Distracted as he so often was, the director probably hadn't heard him. But again, he received no response. Shaking his head, he leaned forward and tried a different tactic.

"Dr. Sakaki, I —" Gunter nearly choked, startled once again by the scratchy sound of his own voice. It was only the second or third time he had spoken since his recovery, and he could barely recognize it. Not that it was surprising; he was lucky that his trachea hadn't collapsed entirely. The doctors had warned him that there may be some lasting damage, but to actually hear it was… unsettling.

Shaking his head, he pushed the button, startling when the door actually slid open. Stepping into the empty room, Gunter wandered the office, observing the large space; the large wooden desk, the low coffee table… He had only been in the director's office a handful of times, but he had never taken the time to look around. Both for lack of interest and that never felt comfortable doing so. The previous one was far less inviting. Now, given the opportunity, his curiosity led him to stroll through the space, taking note of the documents on the desk, the green couch in the corner — he could've sworn that it was white at some point — the multiple rooms lining the back wall. What was in them was anyone's guess.

After getting his fill, he sighed and made his way toward the couch. Typically, he would give up and come back at a later time. But this was very important; he would wait for Sakaki if he needed to. He did just that, gazing lazily at the papers on the desk. He couldn't read what was on them, and despite his interest, wasn't going to try. He had a disturbing feeling that reading whatever they contained would get him into even more trouble than he already was. A few minutes passed, the hand on the clock moving slowly around the face. How much time had passed was unknown; he had nearly dozed off when the sound of a muffled voice drew his attention.

"… a good idea?"

"I'm not… a choice."

'Hmm?' The pair of male voices were vaguely familiar, carrying toward the door. They were almost recognizable, but very feint. As they drew closer, they became clearer.

"…to get… together."

"It's not… have to."

"… Neo."

A silent gasp left his mouth before he could stop it, shooting straight up at the sound of the name. He could now decipher the voices; Soma and Ichiro, growing steadily louder with each passing moment. They were getting closer. Worried thoughts clouded his mind, quickly overtaking his rational thought. Were they coming to the office? What were they talking about, and how was Neo involved? Even worse… was Neo with them?

The closer they grew, the more panicked he became, eyes darting around the room. There was a single narrow hallway exiting the director's office, with other rooms lining the walls on either side. They were too close for him to escape at that point, not without crossing paths. And if Neo was with them…

Gunter made a split-second decision. His fear was far outweighing his rational thought. His eyes fell on a doorway not far from the couch. It wasn't ideal, but it was his best option. Darting across the room, he opened the sliding door and ducked into the room. It slowly slid shut, just as the entrance door opened, shielding him just in time. He let out a sigh of relief, leaning his back against the metal door.

"I think it's the best option," Soma said.

"I'm inclined to agree with you. It may very well be the only way."

Their voices faded into the background for a moment; his eyes adjusting to the darkness around him. Hid mind was overcome with confusion as it came into focus, an involuntary brow rising in disbelief. He appeared to be inside a bedroom of some sort. If he had to guess, he would bet on that of a child. But that didn't make any sense. There were no small children that Sakaki would have, as far as he knew, let alone living inside of the branch headquarters… so then, who did it belong to?

His eyes drifted over the walls and examined the decor. Pictures and drawings were all around him, crayons and other toys strewn across the floor. A particularly fascinating one caught his attention, lying close to his feet. It was a typical drawing one would expect from a kid. Two characters stood in what looked like a snowy landscape, one with skin and hair as white as snow, the other with brown and violet. What was in their hands was indecipherable; it looked to be a pair of dark scribbles with little specks dripping onto the ground before. What on earth were those things? Was that person supposed to be Neo? And if so, who was the other.…?

"There's no arguing that, but I don't know how we're going to go about it."

Gunter's mind came back into focus, Ichiro's concerned baritone bleeding through the door. Whatever they were discussing sounded important. At the very least, it was stressing him out — which, in Gunter's experience, was relatively difficult to do. Unless of course that something involved Neo. Despite himself, Gunter was soon leaning his ear against the door, listening in to see how much he could hear.

On the other side of the door, Lindow lit a cigarette and held it between his lips. "Well, we have to do something. If what you say is true, then this is going to be a long road to recovery."

"Of course, it is. She was tortured for years, what did you expect?" Soma snapped, earning an appeasing wave.

Lindow gave a silent nod and lit his cigarette. Utsugi's response was far less calm. He shook his head in disbelief, trying to confirm what he was hearing. "I-I'm sorry, what? Did you say tortured?" He waited for a few moments, and Soma didn't answer. It was clear from his hardened facial expression that he wasn't joking. "Okay, we'll circle back to that, but what exactly do you propose we do? Lock down the entire branch?"

"We're probably gonna have to…" Lindow replied.

Ichiro shook his head. "We can't. It'll draw far too much attention to do something so drastic."

"Precisely. Besides, that's hardly necessary."

All four heads turned toward one of the back doors as it slid open. Sakaki stepped through, brushing his hands against his coat and dusting off… something. Entering the office, he turned around and shut the door behind him. "And as Ichiro has pointed out, it is also impossible. Director or no, there are limits to my control. Something of such a scale would require authorization. Authorization requires strong validation and reasoning. And reasoning requires —"

"Information," Ichiro finished. "Which defeats the entire purpose of secrecy."

"So, what are we gonna do?" Soma asked. "Leaving things as they are isn't an option. If Neo is going to safely heal — both for her and everyone else — then we need to be careful. She's going to needs a controlled environment while they treat her to avoid her triggers. We don't want anyone to get hurt, and we don't want her to backslide."

"Which brings us right back to the crux of the problem." Lindow took a long drag of his cigarette and exhaled. "We know what we need to do. Now, how do we do it?"

Sakaki made his way to the desk. "Let's start things simple. We need to control the environment without alerting those around her, enforce policy without shaking the system, and enact change without alerting the people above us."

"Great. Sounds easy enough. No problem." Utsugi scoffed. He rubbed his hand over his eyes with a frustrated sigh.

"There has to be a way to do this. The researchers are easy enough. They are all answer to Sakaki." Lindow blew out another stream of smoke.

The director nodded his head, looking over his documents. "Correct. All branch personnel have been informed. Coats are to be worn only inside of laboratories and other authorized locations. They are to be removed at all times outside of such."

"Including the sick bay," Soma added. "Neo's presence in there is pretty difficult to track. Knowing her, she's going to end up in there at some point or another."

"No kidding," Ichiro grumbled.

"Okay, but what about everyone else? You still haven't told us the entirety of the situation. Pretty sure the only reason Lindow knows is because he was literally inside her head." Utsugi gestured toward the ex-captain who simply shrugged. "We don't know what her triggers are or why they happen. There's no way for people to avoid them if you're withholding information."

"I understand that but alerting people haphazardly will only lead to disaster. The fact is, we don't know who we can trust," Ichiro countered.

Soma crossed his arms. "Exactly. We only know who we can't."

Lindow sighed, exhaling yet another large stream of smoke. "It would be helpful if we did though. If we had a small group of people who we knew were safe, they could help us. Shame we don't."

The four men fell silent, each pensive and exhausted. It was after a few minutes that Soma's head snapped upward. "…Lindow's right. That's exactly what we need."

"Who needs what now?" Lindow asked, clearly lost.

"That's what we can do. We need a small group of people; people we can trust. We gather them together, hold a debriefing. Then, we leave it in their hands."

"A small group…" Ichiro mumbled, yellow-green eyes staring blankly in his direction. He paused for a few moments in silence before finally shaking his head. "Sorry, Soma. I don't follow."

"The rumor mill never slows down in this place. People here are incapable of minding their own business, news spreads around the Den like an infectious disease. If we give the right people, the right information…"

"Then, we sit back and let them do the rest." Ichiro's eyes widened. "That's… brilliant."

"It really is," Soma agreed, in a rare display of pride. "Lindow, you're a genius."

The God Eater in question shrugged. "Happy to help." He still wasn't sure what was going on, but if he had contributed in some way, then that was all he could hope for.

Utsugi, however, wasn't entirely convinced. "Meaning what? We hold a council? Gather everyone together in a single room?"

"That's exactly what we do," Soma said. "Then, we lay out the terms, and leave them to spread the information to the rest of the branch, each within their own units."

"There's no way that's going to work."

"You got a better idea?"

"It's not that it's a bad idea, it's just…" Utsugi sighed. "Listen, what you're asking… it's a lot. You can't just drop a bomb on people and expect them to listen. Even if we give a direct order, that's not gonna be enough to motivate them, especially if you want them to keep quiet on top of it. They're gonna want to know what's going on, and you're going to have to do a lot better than telling them it's necessary. They want answers."

"Rightfully so," Sakaki agreed. While he wasn't thrilled about the idea, but Lenka had a point. If they provided such large expectations and offered nothing in return, soldiers were going to start asking questions. It was inevitable. They would need a reason to keep their silence.

"Then, that's exactly what we'll give them," Ichiro replied. "If anything, it might actually help us… for people to know the truth about Neo. At least, to some extent of it. It certainly will for the people who care about her already as a person."

"Which is exactly why the people selected will be so important. The ones we entrust with this need to be careful. They need to be discreet. They need to be open-minded, and they need to be capable of keeping their mouths shut." Soma emphasized, eyes shifting toward the squad captain.

Utsugi scowled. "I told you I wouldn't tell them, and I haven't said a word. And I still won't, so long as this works."

"That's not promising," Ichiro snapped.

"Well, what else do you want me to do? Maybe if I knew what was going on, I could be a bit more sympathetic, but as it stands, there just isn't enough information."

"Which is why you will be attending the meeting. All of you."

Lindow sighed, stepping forward to place himself between the two men. They were finally making progress; he didn't need them breaking into a fight again. "Alright, it sounds like we have an understanding. Good. Now, who all is coming and how do we decide? And where will we be holding the meeting?"

"It will not be here. It is unwise and it is unsafe," Paylor declared.

Soma nodded. "Sakaki's right. The office — the executive floor as a whole — is too risky. People are gonna notice a bunch of God Eaters congregating in this area. There's no way to avoid it."

"Well, it can't be my room," Lenka added. "As captain, people are constantly coming around to speak to me. It's impossible to do so without someone noticing."

"Same here." Lindow put out his cigarette in an ashtray on the desk. "I'm staying in Sakuya's room now, and we have the same problem. "

Soma offered nothing but a grunt in response. There was no sense in contributing an answer everyone already knew. People didn't associate with Soma. Period. Anyone congregating around him in any way would raise alarm without question.

"I would argue holding this session in the Den, in general, is a bad idea," Sakaki declared, placing a folder into his desk. "I would recommend going as far as plausibly possible."

"So, the answer is simple." Ichiro stepped forward, looking around the group. "We don't do it in the Den. We do it outside, in an undisclosed location. Cellphones off, under the cover of night."

"How are we going to do that? People are going to ask questions if a bunch of God Eaters go wandering out into the night," Utsugi argued.

"Then, we don't go all at once," Soma suggested. "We separate into groups of three or four, and head out on separate missions. Scouting, population control, whatever it makes the most sense. Late night missions are uncommon, but not unheard of."

"Soma is right," Ichiro agreed. "We head out on the missions in various sectors, then converge into one."

"Well, if that's the case, we can add Hibari to the list," Lindow muttered, putting out his cigarette on an ashtray.

"Can we trust her?" Utsugi questioned.

"We're gonna have to. At the very least, she'll have to be informed on what's going on. She has access to everyone's trackers, she organizes all of the missions… and in the event that anyone lost contact, she'll alert soldiers and request backup."

"Leading an entire squadron right to our location." Soma frowned.

"Point taken." Lenka took a long breath and rubbed his temples, trying to wrap his mind around the lunacy of the entire situation. "Speaking of, how exactly are we going to pull that off? Night missions are rare, but multiple in the same place? That just doesn't happen."

Sakaki stepped in. "I will authorize the departure. I'll request the missions on the given date at staggered locations and times. That should answer any potential questions that may arise."

"Will it?"

"He invented the First Love Juice, it'll track," Soma grumbled. The director shot him an annoyed expression which he promptly ignored.

Utsugi shook his head at the display. The fact that even the director was in on this was still mindboggling to him, but he had long since given up on trying to rationalize the situation. All he wanted to know now was how to solve it. "Alright. So, now we have a plan. Who do we bring and how do we alert them? We can't exactly put up a sign that says, 'secret meeting, gather here.'"

"Let's focus on issue at a time." Ichiro leaned against the wall. "First, we're going to need at least one person from each unit, the more, the better. All members of the 1st go without saying, so what about the 2nd?"

"…Kanon," Soma suggested. "Kanon is both open-minded and understand. Plus, she actually cares about Neo. Chances are, she'll be more than willing to help."

"What about Tatsumi?" Lindow asked.

"Difficult to say," Ichiro responded. "He's not a bad guy, but… I'm not sure he has much loyalty to Neo."

"Not to mention he's obsessed with Hibari," Soma finished. "If he learns the truth about her, he might panic. If he even thinks she might be in any danger, he'll jump ship immediately."

"Brendan." Ichiro looked up, struck with realization. "Brendan… I spoke with Neo after our rescue mission. Turns out those two have history; met each other in the North American branch. He helped her then. It's likely he'll do it again, especially since she returned the favor threefold."

"What about Karel?" Utsugi mentioned.

"We could probably buy his silence." Ichiro shook his head. "But true loyalty can't be bought, and neither can trust."

"But the guy's a capitalist through and through. Neo is his best money-maker; he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Would cut into his profits," Soma disagreed.

"Damn… That's messed up, but you're probably right."

Lenka spoke up again. "Annette? We all went on that mission together, all the New Types. She's a bit excitable sometimes, but she really respects Neo. She helped her train, so she's grateful to her."

"Annette might not be a bad idea," Ichiro mumbled. "Do you really think she'd be willing to stand against the organization?"

He nodded his head. "Annette cares more about principles than propriety. I think she'd choose what she thinks is right over Fenrir's wishes."

Lindow nodded. "Sounds like we've got a good handful from the 2nd Unit… oh, what about —"

"Gunter is out of the question," Soma shut down the idea immediately, with a nod of approval from Ichiro.

"Soma's right. There is no way he can be trusted. Gunter is the last person we should be inviting to this… aside from Shun, obviously."

"Uh… mind if I ask why?"

"It's… complicated."

"She put him in the hospital," Utsugi answered.

The glare her guardian shot him was murderous, but he restrained himself from saying anything in response. Instead, Soma did so for him.

"There's more to it than that."

"Still true."

"You know that isn't —"

"Alright, enough. Stay focused," Lindow reminded. "3rd Unit, who do we got?"

"Otto is a hard no," Ichiro said. "Even bigger no than Gunter… Caleb too."

Utsugi pondered. "Federico isn't unfriendly with Neo, but… he's been pretty uneasy around her ever since the Infernal Subway. Probably best not to add fuel to the fire. Oh, what about Gina?"

"Gina's…" Ichiro paused. "Gina is a great idea. She practically idolizes her. She loves her personality, her skill in battle… From what she tells me, she even likes her fangs. If anything, this will make her like Neo even more."

"Aki?"

"Too timid. She's terrified of Neo as it is, this will only make it worse."

"What about…" Lindow paused mid-thought, trying to recall his name. "There's that new kid. Uh… Terrance, was it?"

Ichiro shook his head again. "He's too new. We don't know anything about him. He's a wild card; too much of a risk."

"Sounds like you have your audience." Paylor spoke from across the room, gathering his utensils as he made his way back toward the lab. "I will finish this experimentation, then get to work organizing the missions. When you've decided on a time, inform me. It will be handled."

"Alright. I guess we should decide on our method of notice?" Lindow asked.

"Sounds like a plan." Ichiro moved toward Sakaki. He had to run some experiments of his own. "The exact method doesn't matter. So long as it is discrete."

"Understood." Lenka likewise, made his way toward the door, unlocking the soundproofing mechanism. "Let's try and do this as quickly as possible. Something tells me Neo isn't going to wait around in your room forever."

"You'd be right about that." Ichiro sighed. "She's already getting restless.

"Then, let's get a move-on. Everyone in agreement?" Lindow asked, receiving a series of nods. "Alright, let's get it done." There was a quiet shuffling as every member went their separate ways, vanishing through the different exits to carry on with their own activities.

As the doors slid clothes, Gunter remained on the other side of the door with widened eyes and clenched fists. The idea of secrets was nothing new to him; Neo kept secrets from everyone, it seemed, with the exception of her guardian. What bothered him was their final determination. Though it probably shouldn't have bothered him… it did. He couldn't believe them! He was a risk? The only outside person in the Far East aware of her power couldn't be trusted? The same person who — to this day —had not revealed anything about her or the incident since waking up from it. He hadn't told a soul.

He had always known there was something special about Neo; something that went far beyond the scope of being a talented New Type. The disturbing final image he had seen of her just before his world went dark was proof of that. Now, they were finally going to reveal the truth of it, and they were leaving him out? No, Gunter would not let that stand. As her most recent victim, he deserved to know. If there was a reason why she had very nearly killed him, he was at least owed an explanation. Even if it meant changing his understanding of her forever.

After all, he would forever bear the scars of her assault. It wasn't likely his image of her could get any worse. He waited silently in the bedroom, listening carefully for any sound. He heard none, but still waited for another 10 minutes before emerging from the room. Moving quickly, he strode across the office and out the door, vanishing into the hall.