A/N - Hi everyone! Especially to those who leave reviews. You guys have no idea how much I smile just reading your messages. Hahaha. Please continue to do so! I mean, only if you guys want to. I just noticed that some of chapters are a bit messy because the flashbacks that are supposed to be italicised aren't! I'll try to fix it soon. Anyways. This chapter is a bit fluffier than usual so let me know if you guys are okay with it!

Despite getting used to the practices that they had in the Far East, Brynn questions whether she will get used to the number of missions against Psions they were assigned, the Casanova's number of attempts to ask her out (she would constantly hide and flee whenever she would see the green haired male). It's been more than a week and they haven't had a single break - Her and the Captain having the most responsibilities - This was due to the nature of their job.

Coming back from the most recent mission, the blonde was making her way back to the room to do some reports that the director had been asking for. The recent mission was with the first unit's captain who had been constantly pestering her about watching his favorite TV series.

She couldn't remember the exact name of the series; she did remember that it had something to do with a cowboy or something. He also explained that he did a 'cosplay' before and that he would show her, not that she was interested. She wouldn't dare to say that out loud of course, despite the orange-haired male being filled with energy, he was still kind to her.

Giving small smiles and nods to the people who acknowledged her, she sighed in relief upon reaching her door. She kicked off her boots not wanting to leave dirt on the floor the moment that she stepped in. She also took note of the Captain's boots which were neatly placed on the side indicating that he was back as well. Hoping that he wasn't using the laptop yet, she burst in.

The room was still the same as she had left it. It had their own personal touches however; some of their books were on the shelves, as well as random photos of Blood and small decor that they had been provided with. The male wasn't in sight, so she scurried over to the desk grabbing the laptop and flopping down on the bed.

Gil would usually roll his eyes whenever she would do this at his room. She didn't get to see him as much since he was usually hanging out with his old friend, Haru; who she was hiding from. So far, her attempts were successful.

She waited for the laptop to boot when she suddenly heard the bathroom door swing open. Knowing who it was, she ignored him and proceeded to work. Her torso was propped on a pillow as she typed away.

The blonde was proud of her progress, her reports were becoming more precise and detailed. They contained important information and her typos decreased in number. It was one of the benefits that being roommates with the Captain gave her. She would bribe him into checking her reports, which often led to him finishing them. Of course, that was only during the first few days, she was capable of doing all that on her own now.

"Vice-Captain, we will be departing for our mission at 12 hundred hours. I shall notify, Ms. Hibari and will be awaiting you downstairs." She held back the urge to groan and flip the portable computer that was in front of her. Closing the laptop, which contained half of the report that she was working on. She heard the door gently click indicating that the male had left the room.

This was what she meant by not getting used to the multiple missions that were being thrown at her. Most of the time that she spent was out in the field. She didn't just participate in the special missions that Blood had been assigned in, she was also assigned to missions with the first and fourth units. As well as the clearing missions that the Captain would tag her along with.

She liked to say that she was in demand.

Her stomach grumbled, reminding her to feed it at least once during that day. She cursed herself for not grabbing a bite the moment that she arrived at the den. Not wanting to hear more of her stomach's complaints, she prompted to head over to the lounge to grab a quick snack, successfully hiding from her Captain who had been discussing things with the operator.

The lounge didn't have a lot of people around during the time that she entered, which was quite strange since usually, she would hear chattering here and there. She preferred making her own meals, but she also enjoyed having other cook for her as well. She made her way to the 9 year old chef who had been busying herself with another God Eater.

"Yo, you have anything for a quick bite?" She casually asked while leaning against the counter, it was becoming quite a habit of hers. After the young girl had served the God Eater his meal, she spun back to the blonde with a smile.

"I have some chicken sandwiches. Just give me a few minutes to heat them up." She then began to do as she said, leaving Brynn humming to herself as she patiently waited. The blonde found herself walking over to the capybara who excitedly squeaked at the sight of her.

The creature had doubled in size once again, she wasn't sure whether it was because she had been smuggling the thing food. Somehow, they still didn't notice. The red ribbon around it seemed to be getting tighter, she made a mental note to replace it with a bigger one. Didn't Julius have red ribbons lying around the room.

Before she could plot stealing her Captain's clothing articles, Mutsumi, the chef, had called her attention. She spun to see the girl waving a brown paper bag in the air, crinkling as she moved it. Brynn grinned appreciatively making her way over to grab the bag.

"Thank you, Mutsu-" She had stopped midway when someone had grabbed the paperbag in her stead.

"Brynnie, have you forgotten about that date that you promised?" A teasing voice echoed through the room as a familiar green-haired captain waved the bag in front of her face. She only sighed and rolled her eyes before crossing her arms over her chest.

"Give me back my food, Haru," She paused for a while to glare, "and don't call me that."

"C'mon, Brynnie," He repeated once again as if mocking her, "no need to be a spoilsport. Are you free right now? Let's go on that date that you promi-"

"I believe that it is I who she will be going on a date with today." A stern and cold voice had made itself known as the brown paper bag had been snatched from behind the flirt. They all turned to see Julius with a rare glare on his face. The room grew cold as grey and brown stared down at one another. Glints of determination were evident with each one.

Before Haruomi could say anything else, Julius made his way over to the female and grabbed her hand. A gasp nearly escaped her lips at the action as the other began to drag her away. It was evident that he had been the one who won in the staring competition. His grip around her wrist had been tight, not tight enough to hurt her however, she still felt no pain.

She did feel her cheeks grow warmer, her heart beat faster, and multiple thoughts ran through her mind. Trying to shake away the feeling as she quickened her pace to catch up with the male who was practically dragging her away.

"Thanks, Julius…" She managed to voice out despite how flustered she currently was. Fortunately, her companion did not have plans of looking back at her.

"Do not stress, Vice Captain. Do let me know if he decides to bother you once again." She couldn't help but smile and hum in response. She knew that it was one way of her captain showing that he cared. But before she could react more to that, she was growing curious of why they were taking another route outside the Den, and that they weren't getting their God Arcs.

She almost forgot that the captain was still holding her hand.

"Captain, why aren't we getting our God Arcs?" She couldn't decipher the expression on the leader's face as he had his back turned against her. He only quickened his pace as she struggled to catch up.

"We were just assigned to examine the walls, Vice Captain." The response had earned him silence as they both proceeded to their destination. Which was inside the armored walls of the Far East.

It was her first time go out on a mission wherein they just needed to assess or to examine. Due to Psion outbreak, the walls were easier to breakthrough and needed constant monitoring. But she still wondered why they didn't have their God Arcs with them.

What if an Aragami suddenly broke through? They would be defenseless and it would result to their demise.

Was her Captain okay?

She was tempted to question him, but the serious glint that she caught from the side of his eye had stopped her. He knew what he was doing and she didn't want to offend him by questioning.

He still didn't let go of her hand though.

They made their way out of the den and walked through various streets. Passing by people that would give them looks that she was growing uncomfortable under. The bracelet on her right arm was exposed to all, voicing out who exactly she was, who they were. She didn't notice the glances that her Captain had been giving her.

"Don't tell me that the outgoing and exuberant Vice Captain is shying away from people?" His smooth voice had caused her to blink. With furrowed eyebrows, she looked at him and puffed her chest.

"What are you talking about? Me? Shy? Psh." What she had said earned her chuckles from the male. She only rolled her eyes, no longer focused on the looks that the people were giving her.

She realized that the Captain had just helped her relax. Her realization caused her cheeks to tint red a bit as she turned to the right to hide her face. Luckily, the Captain had been focused on something else. They both stopped in their tracks when they were met with a busy part of the ghetto.

There were multiple stalls situated in area, crowded with people holding bags of what seemed to be food and wide grins as they conversed with one another. Like when she had first came to the place, children ran around laughing gleefully and played.

Banners were hung with thin lines that were attached to various rooftops, there were red lanterns hanging around and paper fans arranged in an appealing manner. The vendors noisily clamored around, trying to get the attention of possible customers.

"Forgive me for lying, Vice Captain." She turned her attention back to the Captain. He was looking back at her with eyes that held his emotions. His lips remained pursed together but she could identify the slight twitch by the corners indicating that he was holding back a smile.

"What do you mean, Captain?" She was confused, they weren't anywhere near the walls.

The dark blonde male could no longer hold back his smile as he turned back to the scene in front of them. His eyes drinking in the street that bustled with life.

"I'm quite aware of how busy you have been the past few days. Director Sakaki has been assigning you multiple missions which are taking a toll on your wellbeing." He paused for a while as his smile turned into a smirk, "Let's just say that I managed to solicit a day off for us."

Her eyes widened and she nearly squealed at his words. Feeling the fatigue slowly draining away at his words, not just at the fact that they have a day off, rather, that he put effort into getting her one. That he thought of her despite how cold he appeared to be at times.

She couldn't find the words to say, her body moved on its own accord as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest. Aware that the thought of it would embarrass her later on, she chose to ignore it and enjoyed staying in his warmth.

"Thank you so much, Julius." Saying those words, she felt a hand run through her hair, another arm tightening around her.

"There's no need to thank me, Brynn." Her heart skipped a beat when he called her by her name. It was a rare occurrence nowadays.

They didn't know how long they were in each others arms, but their ears perked up when they heard an old couple walking past them speak.

"How sweet, just like us when we were younger." An old woman said, her eyes were nearly closed as her arm was wrapped around an elderly man's arm.

"Indeed, young love." They both pulled away with red faces, looking back at each other and laughing at how embarrassed they were. Brynn could tell how flustered the usually calm and collected Captain was when he ushered her forward.

"Now then, didn't you want to try authentic Takoyaki?"

The two God Eaters made their way through the various food stalls and booths that crowded the area. A wide grin could be seen plastered on Brynn's face as she excitedly eyed the food displayed, tempting her. Aware of the reaction and the giddiness that his Vice Captain was expressing, Julius offered to buy her.

Her hesitation had been evident, he even teased her that she was being all shy and demure now, but back at Friar and the Den, she would shamelessly ask every soul to treat her. This earned him a bright blush on the female's face and a bruised upper arm.

After a few more prompts, her hands had been filled with bags of food and treats that they would be lugging around the entire time. She didn't mind, she finally had something to snack on at the den.

The problem was hiding the goods from the others. It wasn't contraband, she just wasn't fond of sharing, Julius would be an exception since he did buy it for them.

At the thought of that, she looked over at him, the two had been walking around more after they decided to share the load of bags. It's been quite some time since she was able to relax like this, holding bags of food instead of her God Arc, and talking casually with the Captain. Despite the two of them staying in the same room, due to the stack of paperwork and missions that had been raining down on them, they hadn't been to have a decent conversation.

Happy would be an understatement to what she was feeling right now.

"It's been awhile since we were able to hang out or even talk, Julius." She voiced her thoughts out as she looked ahead. They were weaving through the stalls that had merchants noisily calling after them. Although she wasn't looking at him, she noticed the motion that he made to look at her.

"I believe that you are correct, Brynn," Her heart skipped a beat, it was one of those rare occurrences when he would call her by her name instead of her title. "I have to admit that I did miss your company." Her heart skipped two beats.

She couldn't help but wonder what was causing her chest to swell up like this.

"Well," she began, clearing her throat in order to forget the thoughts that were crossing her mind earlier, "Old man Sakaki is flooding us with missions, not like we're going to disappear into thin air." She chuckled dryly at her joke. Julius merely huffed in response.

"It's a marvel that I managed to sway him into allowing us to take the day to rest." The ochre haired man admitted, he had submitted requests for day offs, and all of them had been disapproved, that was until he approached the director and attempted to ask him in person.

"I'm guessing that it took you quite some time to convince him." He couldn't help but wonder if his companion had read his mind. He nodded slowly, with a small crawling on his face.

The duo continued to talk, stopping every once in a while in order to mingle inside a store or negotiate with merchants. Brynn remained observant, the entire time that they were there, her companion had been receiving a lot of attention.

She couldn't blame him; he was tall, wore clothes that looked as though he was of royal blood or was a noble, of course, the fact that he was pretty good-looking. A charming face and an aura that screamed notice me. The thought had caused her to release a small chuckle. This earned her a quizzical look from the older one.

"Anything that you find to be amusing?" He asked.

She only chuckled again before replying, "You're quite the celebrity, Captain." Julius only quirked an eyebrow at this, still not getting what the female had been implying. She only waved her freehand in the air, a motion to dismiss the subject. The male chose not to push on.

Something seemed to have caught the Captain's eye as he straightened his posture. Turning to Brynn, he gave an apologetic smile, "I hope that you do not mind exploring the area alone for a few moments?" He paused before continuing, "I just recalled something that Gilbert had asked me to purchase for him."

Although Brynn was curious and was tempted to ask what it was, she figured that it was probably scotch or something alcoholic. She simply gave a small smile and a nod in affirmation.

"I don't mind," She replied. "So, we'll meet up here in…?" Her question trailed off as she waited for him to respond. The young captain paused for a moment in thought before answering.

"20 minutes will do, I believe."

The pair went their separate ways, although Brynn didn't have much of an idea where she wanted to go, she allowed her feet to lead her through the different stalls that had caught her attention. The ones that they previously had not gone to.

"It's amazing how there's still something like this." She remarked, not once did she expect that a small place like where she was would still be bustling with life. It as if the aragami really didn't exist. She figured that this was the normal situation during the pre-aragami age.

She was limited to looking at the different merchandise and food that were tantalizing and calling out to her. Having left her credits back at the branch and relying on the Captain who was now out of sight.

Not seeing the point of further torturing herself by staring at the food that she knew she couldn't have - either way, she couldn't gain too much weight - , she made her way to the bench that was located behind some of the smaller stalls.

Her feet were killing her, despite being a God Eater and having that extra edge, the two had been walking around for hours, even her shoulders were killing her.

"Who would have known that a bag could be heavier than my God Arc." She noted in amusement, the irony. A few steps away from the bench, she noticed a small purple pouch abandoned on top of it. Out of curiosity, she made her way over to it, dropping her plastic bags on the bench and picked up the seemingly discarded pouch.

The moment that she picked it up, she felt it chink, indicating that there were coins inside. The blonde hastily opened it, trying to see whether there was some sort of an identification to see who it belonged to. Fortunately for her, upon zipping it open, she noticed the silver card that Fenrir would issue to the people living in the Ghetto.

She had one herself, but it was black and had the title of God Eater in it. It was also where their paychecks were loaded and it contained all their credits. Whoever lost the pouch must have been panic-stricken. She knew that she would be.

The Vice Captain had to admit that she wasn't exactly broke, she was known to be the 'Blood Unit's Freeloader' sneakily persuading her teammates to treat her every once in a while. Most frequent victims were usually the Captain and Gil, victimizing Romeo every now and then.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, she took out the small card and began to read what had been indicated. A gasp nearly escaped her lips as she felt her skin begin to crawl.

"How convenient!" A familiar voice, one that she didn't want to hear, rang through the noisy air of the area. "You found it for me, killing two birds with one stone." She didn't need to turn around to see who it was.

"Nessa." Of all places that the creep had to appear, it had to be here. Where she was trying to escape the life of being a God Eater. She may have for a few hours, but the sight of the brunette made her cringe. Said brunette probably had another deal to make with her. Without realizing, she was gritting her teeth.

"Woah, woah, Eos." She defensively put up both of her hands in the air, as if admitting defeat, "No need to bare your canines in public. I just came here to get my wallet back. I've been looking for it all over, you know?" Brynn remained as tense as she was from earlier. The strange woman was always unnerving.

Wanting to get things over with, she tossed the pouch which the other had caught without much trouble. There was a knowing smile on the other's face.

"Thank you so much!" Nessa gleefully expressed as she stuffed the pouch into her pocket. "Now then, what about I give you something back in return?"

The blonde cocked an eyebrow at this, and was somewhat perturbed. She already disliked the fact of interacting with the constantly disappearing woman. She didn't want to deal with anything that she had to offer her. Merely watching in silence as the other shuffled through her pockets before sighing deeply.

"Looks like that has to wait a bit, I forgot to bring it." There was a pout etched on her face but Brynn couldn't help but ponder on the words.

Nessa had already planned for them to meet today. Or so she thought.

"Anyways, I really have to get going, Eos." Before she could question the brunette anymore, the other had turned on her heel. "Don't forget about our deal!" The mysterious woman had faded into the crowd of other people. Leaving the other to her thoughts.

She couldn't help but think about what the other had been planning to give her. It bothered her to no end. Not finding the point of just staying there, she decided to continue walking around, hoping to shake away the thoughts.

But whatever it was, she knew that it couldn't be anything good. True, the other hasn't done anything bad to her so far, but she still trusted her gut. And her gut was definitely telling her to stay away from that girl.

"Vice captain," She flinched the moment that a hand found its way to her shoulder, nearly dropping the plastic bags that she was holding on to. Turning slowly, her eyes met with grey ones that caused her to sigh in relief. She gave a brief smile, eyes mirroring it.

"There you are!" She said, the mirth was evident in her face. Her companion only chuckled in reply before using his freehand to ruffle her hair. The shock registered in her face for a brief moment.

When did the captain get so touchy? She dismissed the thought, missing the shocked look on the other's face as well. It had reverted to its usual calm and collected expression.

"I could say the same." Brynn tilted her head at what he said. "I've been looking for you everywhere, Vice Captain. I was quite worried that you got lost." His last sentence had earned him a pout and a glare, one that he found quite endearing for some reason. As a response, he chuckled, ignoring the complaints of the younger one.

"That was just once, Julius!" She countered, trying to nullify what the other had just claimed. It wasn't her fault that the buildings in the City of Mercy looked the same, she wasn't that fond of staring at the letters in the maps provided as well.

Okay, so maybe she wasn't the best when it came to directions. She wouldn't admit that of course. It would only hurt her pride. In addition to her being quite stubborn as well.

Julius wasn't able to keep track of how many times he had chuckled today, but he was certain that it was because of the blonde girl glaring at him while defending herself. He didn't know whether or not that was a good thing, but he was certain that he was glad.

"No need to get so worked up, Vice Captain." He teased, knowing that she would get worked up. "It was you who began defending yourself, I haven't said anything, actually." Just a little bit more, and he was sure that he would be seeing smoke coming out of her ears.

Instead of retorting, Brynn merely huffed before turning on her heel to the direction that they came from. She had assumed that they were going home anyways. Aware that the captain had followed her, she heard his soft chuckle which caused her to smile a bit.

At least somehow, she managed to make him smile. She hasn't been seeing it for the past few days. Stopping in her tracks and turning back, this earned her a quizzical look from the Captain who was drawing nearer.

"Thanks for today, Julius."

Although taken aback, Julius managed to respond.

"It's the least that I can do, Brynn."