A/N: Sorry, but no Robin or Amon, at least in the beginning.

Disclaimer: Horst and Karina characters are based on the concept by E. F. Russel. All other characters belong to Sunrise.

As official introductions and a "welcome aboard" speech were being made by Kosaka, the newcomer behaved rather unusually. His gaze, straight and frightfully clear, moved from one person to another, inspecting every STN-J member for several seconds, looking into their eyes and making its target feel a little uncomfortable.

"I'm looking forward to working together from now on," he said politely when Kosaka had finished. "I hope my powers will make a valuable addition to your team."

"Let's just wait and see then," Kosaka concluded, clapping him on the shoulder patronizingly. "Now, the problem is, you'll be working with Doujima. Well, you just listen to whatever she says and do exactly opposite, and you'll be fine. Now, come on, let's get you a sidearm..."

"What does that mean?" Doujima hissed as Kosaka was dragging Kaider away.

"That means we can't afford another slacker here," Sakaki teased.

"Slacker!" Doujima reacted immediately. "I'm no slacker! I'm just... relaxed. That's right, nothing funny about it! You're just envious cause you have no idea how to relax..."

'Why can't I just ask her out?' Sakaki wondered, watching agitated Doujima telling him how boring he was, with Michael and Karasuma shaking their heads in the background. He suddenly felt that he was about to do something stupid, like allow himself to be dragged into that argument. Or kiss her right then. Or get into the argument and then kiss her. Or...

He turned abruptly and started walking away.

"Where are you going, I'm not finished yet!" Doujima was still steaming.

"Coffee," Sakaki explained compactly.

"O-Oh, bring me a cup too, cream and sugar! Please," her voice could make one think that she had already forgotten the speech she had been making few seconds earlier... and she probably had.

"Cause she's too good for you, you fool," he muttered to himself while filling two cups of coffee. "She's a princess and you're no knight."

"What are you muttering there?" asked Doujima.

"I'm saying I'm not your errand-boy," Sakaki complained, handing her a cup of coffee.

"Of course not, I'm the one who does errands for STN-J," she said almost proudly.

"Cause that's the only thing you can do well," Sakaki couldn't help teasing her again, but this one was probably over the line.

"I'll get you for this when I'm done with coffee," Doujima promised ominously.

Solomon Headquarters

A security guard at the gates had minimal clearance, which meant he couldn't even know the real name of the organization he was working for. That did not bother him at all, though. It was early morning, and the approaching car was among the first ones to arrive. The man behind the wheel was familiar to him. Always polite, friendly, thoughtful and a little awkward, probably a scientist or something like that. He couldn't recognize the lady in the backseat, though. She had shoulder-length auburn hair and bright blue eyes. He would've definitely remembered these eyes.

"Good morning Mr. Raymond", the guard greeted him as his BMW had stopped at the checkpoint. "Does the lady have a pass?"

"What lady?" Raymond asked him with a face so straight that he couldn't help a chuckle.

"All right. Have a nice day, Mr. Raymond."

It was all pretty obvious for the guard. Is there a better way to impress a girlfriend than to show her how top-secret and important your job is? This Raymond looked like a fair guy. Fair enough to buy him a beer in return for this little favor, hopefully. He looked a little more absent-minded than usual today, though.

"I'm not good with weapons," Kaider shook his head, looking at the Beretta M9 lying on the table in front of him.

"That's ok, we do not require perfect marksmanship from our personnel, and this is for your own protection," Kosaka tried to convince him.

"I'd rather rely upon craft for that," Kaider insisted.

"Well, that is just my recommendation," the director shrugged, putting the gun away. "Our policy is to let hunters choose whatever methods they consider efficient. It's the results that we demand. As for everything else, you'll probably find that it's nothing more than a supernatural police precinct."

"Anything else?"

"Er... no, you can get to work now," Kosaka said after thinking for several seconds. "I'm sure you can't wait to familiarize yourself with the guys. Ask Karasuma to show you your workplace and give you all the necessary materials."

As Mr. Raymond, who was in fact Dr. Raymond, parked his car and got out, he suddenly became aware that someone else had just got out from the backseat as well. Turning around rapidly, he saw a girl in her early twenties, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, inspecting the surroundings curiously.

"So, this is the place where the world-wide witch hunt is coordinated from," she said, ignoring the shocked look on the face of her unwilling driver. "Well, thanks for the ride. It's a pity your access level doesn't seem high enough for me."

Meanwhile, Raymond's shock was slowly turning into desperation as he had realized that he had somehow managed to bring an unauthorized person to the facility that didn't even exist officially.

"Wh-who are you!" he finally blurted out. "How did you..."

His voice suddenly died in his throat, and the girl's, on the contrary, gained strength.

"You don't know me. You haven't seen me until now," she said in the imperative tone. "Now go to work, as usual."

"...don't know... ...to work..." he muttered obediently, no sign of intelligence in his eyes.

"I wonder what his powers are," Sakaki said, observing Kaider as the latter was discussing something with Karasuma. "Must be pretty neat if they've sent him to replace both hunters we... lost."

"It's not that," Doujima shook her head and finished her coffee. She had already forgotten that she had been mad at him. "Solomon is short on people. It's not easy to find a craft user that would be eager to hunt those of his kind."

"It's not like that and you know it," Sakaki objected. "The hunted ones are not like the hunters."

"I know it, you know it, but hunters-to-be often see it this way."

Kaider moved towards his new workplace but Doujima intercepted him.

"So, what are your powers?"

"Sorry, that's a classified information," Kaider shook his head.

"Come on, we are partners now, right? That means we'll be working together, and I'm going to see your powers anyway."

"Probably," he shrugged, attempting to bypass her.

"So, why not tell me right away?" she kept blocking his way. "It would make our work easier, don't you think?"

"I told you already, it's classified," Kaider repeated, with a hint of irritation in his voice. Sakaki approached, not sure which side to take. Everyone turned their attention to the erupting confrontation.

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, why don't you show it?" Doujima suggested. That made Kaider think for several seconds.

"So, you want a show?" he finally asked. Doujima nodded, smiling, but Sakaki didn't like the glint in the man's eyes.

"Doujima," he whispered in her ear, "I don't think you should..."

Suddenly, she turned to look right into his eyes, with a strange look on her face.

"Doujima!" Sakaki called out, suddenly worried.

"You can do it." Kaider quietly assured her, his eyes now resembling two perfect diamonds, glittering coldly.

Sakaki opened his mouth to ask what that meant, but Doujima's lips were suddenly upon his and her arms were embracing his neck.