Disclaimer: I own nothing from BlazBlue.

Ragna shrugged as he took a seat in the grass. "Well, you're not the only one who had no idea I was coming."

"Heh. Didn't tell no one, did ya?" Jubei chuckled as Tsubaki sat by his pupil. "And who's this pretty little thing with ya?"

"I-I'm Tsubaki Yayoi." Her excitement reached a climax and left her trembling as words streamed at lightning speed. "It's s-such an honor to meet you, sir. I've always wanted to meet one of the Six Heroes—I mean, I have all the movies and books and..."

"Whoa, now, calm yerself." Chuckling at her exuberance, Jubei slid the basket forward. "Help yerselves, by the way. I heard 'bout Tao from Torakaka there 'n figured ya probably didn't get a chance to eat."

Is that why you didn't stay with Torakaka? Sheesh, you cats are all the same. Ragna rolled his eyes while Tsubaki locked up, not sure how she should react. "Oh, no, I couldn't, Mister Jubei. Or... Sir Jubei? W-What should I call you, anyways?"

"Naw, it's nothin'. And just 'Jubei' is fine. No need to be too formal now." After taking a steamed bun for himself, his face grew more serious. "Well, did ya just want to meet me or..."

"I was hoping to talk to you a bit, if you don't mind." Getting a grip on her emotions, she grabbed a bun as well. "I... if possible, I'd like some guidance from you. A couple of other things, too."

"Go right ahead."

"Thank you." She bowed her head, letting the bun rest in her lap. "Well, first off... I'm sorry if I'm out of line asking this, but I just want to know the truth about Terumi... if he really was a traitor to the Six Heroes."

Jubei sighed and closed his good eye. "Traitor...that ain't a good word to describe Terumi. Can't betray us if he was never on our side to begin with, now can he?"

"Not on your side? Everything I've heard..."

"He only sided with us because Nine put some kinda mind control spell on him. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he created the critter and lost control. After we slew the Beast, Terumi killed Nine n' Trinity, n' tried to trap me 'n ol' Hakumen in the Boundary. Thought we knew too much or some hogwash; I reckon he was just lookin' for the first chance to get rid of us. Probably would'a gone after Valkenhayn too, but Hakumen n' I got him, even if Haku got trapped in the Boundary as well. I thought I was done with him; course, it ain't never that easy. Bastard broke free some time ago."

"How could he, though? I thought no one could survive in the Boundary."

"He ain't human, ain't even got a permanent body. He's more a ghost than anythin'."

Tsubaki nodded, noting that Ragna blanched at the word 'ghost'. "I'm... sorry for asking."

"Ya ain't done nothin' wrong, Tsubaki. Probably a good thing ya know. Wouldn't want ya to fall victim to him as well. Ya said ya wanted guidance, right?"

"Yes." Her glee at meeting Jubei vanished at the thought of Jin. "As you might have guessed from uniform, I'm part of the Librarium's Zero Squadron. I've known nothing but loyalty to the Librarium my entire life. But recently, I received orders—orders straight from the Imperator—to assassinate Major Jin Kisaragi and Lieutenant Noel Vermillion. Two of my closest friends."

Jubei kept his good eye closed in silence. In between bites of his second steamed bun, Ragna asked, "Hey, master. You gonna respond or what?"

"...Somethin' ain't right. Intelligence would'a known if one of their officers had relationships like that."

"That's what I said."

"It makes no sense. Sounds to me like they were hopin' you'd fluster Jin and Noel."

"I see." Tsubaki lowered her head. "I was afraid of that."

"But that don't make no damn sense, either." The sudden ferocity in Jubei's voice startled both of them. "I haven't met Jin, but a war veteran like him ain't 'bout to let somethin' like that into his head."

Ragna nodded. "Yeah, bastard can be pretty heartless. Noel, on the other hand..."

"Has got a Nox Nyctores. Bolverk. If she can't fight her friend, it will." Jubei's eye opened and fixed Tsubaki with a look so intense, she shrank back. "Tsubaki, ya gotta ask yerself who yer more loyal to: the Library, or yer friends."

Her gaze drifted downward once more. "I... can't answer that. I really don't know."

"Ya want my advice? Don't do it. It ain't Jin and Noel they wanna mess with, it's you. If the Library's gonna try 'n yank ya around like that, I'd leave 'em."

Tsubaki nodded again. "Thanks for the advice, but my loyalty to the Librarium is absolute, no matter what they're doing. I... don't believe I will complete my orders, however. Thank you, Jubei."

"No problem." Jubei eyed Ragna, scowl deepening. "Ragna, been meanin' to ask; what's become of yer sword?"

In mid-bite, Ragna froze up. After removing the bun from his mouth, he gave Jubei a nervous grin. "Uh... can we talk about something else? Maybe Tsubaki has a few dozen more questions for you."

"No, but I've got one for you." Tsubaki nudged him with an elbow. "Why did you insist on coming along to talk about losing your sword if you refuse to tell him?"

"...Thanks, Tsubaki. Just spill the beans, why don't you."

Despite his annoyance with Ragna—he had no idea how someone could lose a sword like Blood-Scythe—Jubei chuckled. These kids sure seem to get on well. "Ya actually managed to lose that thing?"

"Well, I didn't so much lose it as I had it stolen by that Luna bitch."

"Little Platinum stole it from ya? The hell'd she do that for?"

"Apparently, she thinks it would be funny if you bitched at me about it." At the sound of a light growl from his master, Ragna rubbed the back of his head. "Um... sorry?"

"I ain't mad at ya. Disappointed, but not mad." He shook his head. "I'm gonna have to give that girl a good talkin' to. I was hopin' she'd be a bit more agreeable."

"Tch. She hates me. I think Sena does too, but at least he doesn't show it." He reached over and grabbed another bun, reminding Tsubaki she hadn't even begun her first. "Well, anyways, it'd be awesome if you could track Platinum down and get Blood-Scythe back for me. Can't be too careful with Terumi around."

"Hold on there." The last part of what Ragna had said left Jubei wide-eyed. "You've run into Terumi? Why didn't ya mention it?"

"Yeah, I ran into him at the Library branch. Thought Rachel would've told you."

"Ain't seen Rachel for quite a spell now."

"...Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since the branch. Crap; damn rabbit's always sticking her nose in my business."

"Ragna. About Terumi... tell me, what did he look like?"

"Let's see... green hair, annoying-ass smile that made me wanna punch his face in, yellow eyes, dressed in a standard Intelligence Department uniform, stupid hat and all."

Next to him, Tsubaki paled at the description. "That... that sounds a lot like the captain that relayed my orders to me. Captain Hazama..."

"You're shitting me. Hazama's what Noel called him." Ragna gripped Tsubaki's shoulder and the fury in his eyes make her jump. "Don't listen to a god damn thing that bastard says and don't follow those orders. Well, unless you can prove your captain isn't Terumi, which I doubt. Screwing with your mind by having you kill your friends strikes as me as something that bastard would do. Not to mention that green ain't exactly a natural hair color."

"I understand." Although her face remained neutral, inside she burned with anger. If Terumi is behind this... then the Imperator... "I have a friend in Intelligence. Although I don't believe she works directly under Hazama, I know she's had contact with him. I can see if she knows anything."

Ragna's frowned deepened, which should have been impossible. "And when it turns out she knows nothing about him?"

"Then I'll do my own investigating. It's a stretch, but I'll see if I can't find out anything in the Kagutsuchi branch." She rose with her sword in hand, sudden enough to startle Ragna. "That's where I'll start."

"By scaring the crap out of me?"

In spite of her conviction, Tsubaki smirked a little. "By seeing if I can't discover how deep Terumi's taint of the Librarium runs. I doubt I'll find much in Kagutsuchi, though."

Jubei nodded. "Yeah, yer best bet's Ookoto."

Looking between the two, Ragna snorted. "Good luck getting in there without being discovered. I doubt even I could take out the NOL headquarters by myself."

"Well, I'm not planning on fighting everyone in my way." Tsubaki reached down and dragged Ragna to his feet. "Which is another reason to start in Kagutsuchi; the branch should still be deserted. It's the safest place to start."

"Listen to me. Both of ya." Jubei signaled for the two to sit back down. Once they'd complied, he continued, "Don't ya dare actually fight Terumi. I reckon me 'n Rachel are about the only ones that stand a glimmer of a chance against him right now, especially with Ragna missin' Blood-Scythe. Even the Azure Grimoire ain't gonna..."

He trailed off as Ragna signaled for him to shut up. It was far too late, though. Tsubaki asked, "Wait, Azure Grimoire?"

"Ya didn't tell her?"

"...Uh..."

"Ragna, ya fool." Now Jubei looked angry. Ragna tried to shrink behind Tsubaki before Jubei's anger could roll over him. She pushed him back into the open. "The Azure's far too dangerous for ya to have people taggin' along without 'em knowin'. Why don't ya explain it to her?"

"To be fair, it doesn't do much I don't want it to..." Grumbling to himself, Ragna shrugged and shucked his red jacket. Tsubaki gasped when she saw his right arm, an unnatural limb as dark as anything she'd ever seen. Ragna scowled at it. "Behold. The source of all my power, the Azure Grimoire. Taps into the power of the Azure to suck away life and amplify my attacks. Uh... should I tell you about the Azure?"

"No, I know a bit about it." The fact that Ragna had such power frightened her, yet she also found herself gripped with curiosity. More on instinct than anything, she reached over and grabbed it to look it over. It felt normal enough, in spite of its appearance.

Ragna tried to jerk it away, but it remained in her grip. "Hey! Don't touch it! It's dangerous, dammit!"

"Ah! Sorry!" She let go, face red. "I... don't know what came over me..."

"It's fine. I overreacted." He sighed and pulled his jacket back on. "Also, Jubei says that bad shit will happen if I overuse it, but he refuses to tell me what."

"That's 'cause it ain't somethin' ya should know."

Ragna rolled his eyes. "How bad could it be? What, would it turn me into another Black Beast or something?"

"Can't rightly tell ya."

"Some help you are." Ragna shook his head, scowling. "Well, anyways, that's my grimoire in a nutshell. Sorry about not telling you earlier."

"It's fine." Tsubaki smirked. "I guess I couldn't have captured you even if I tried, huh?"

"Depends. Do I chuck myself into a building in this scenario?" Although Tsubaki chuckled, Ragna looked far from amused. More like depressed. "You know, I really don't wanna talk about the idea of fighting you."

While Tsubaki gave a solemn nod, a mischievous grin formed on Jubei's face. "...Well, now, ain't this interestin'."

"What the hell is 'interesting'?"

"Well, unless my eyes deceive me—and I doubt they do—you've finally found yerself a girl, eh, Ragna?"

"Huh?"

Their reactions came at the same time. Tsubaki gathered her thoughts first. "No, it's nothing like that. Really. He's just... um... a friend, I guess. He was just taking me to see you…"

"I see…" Pointed teeth showed as Jubei's smirk widened. "Ya sure got an interestin' way of takin' a girl out."

"The hell?" Although fire seemed to spew from his mouth, Ragna's face glowed with embarrassment. "I offered to introduce you to her so she wouldn't kill me!"

"N' now she's sayin' yer her friend." Jubei snickered as Ragna broke into stunted, indecipherable grunts in an attempt to defend himself. "Come now, Ragna, just messin' with ya. Thought I'd lighten the mood a bit."

"I'm just tired of people thinking that. It's really damn annoying. Damn near everyone we've seen has assumed that." Ragna rubbed his head; a splitting pain still pounded within. "Well, got anything else you wanna say, Tsubaki?"

"Not really. That's... really a lot more than I had in mind." With a smile, at odds with the confusion boiling inside her, Tsubaki nodded at Jubei. "It was really nice meeting you, Jubei. Thank you for your guidance."

"Ain't a problem. Ya ever need anythin', let me know." Jubei rose. "I should get goin' myself. I was hopin' to meet with that brother of yours, Ragna. See if I can't talk a little sense into him."

"Tch. Good luck. He'll probably take a couple slices at you before he decides to listen. See ya, master."

"Well, goodbye, Jubei." Tsubaki rose and dragged Ragna to his feet by his wrist as she did so.

"Hey! I am perfectly capable of standing on my own." With no mind for Ragna's protests, Tsubaki turned and headed towards the massive building the overlooked the entire city. Jubei chuckled as Ragna was pulled along, which didn't amuse the criminal in the least. "Laugh it up, fuzzball. And I can also walk on my own, dammit!"

"Heh. Those kids really do get on well." Jubei smiled as he started in the opposite direction. The smirk was not long-lived. He sensed a presence in the tree's shadows, faint enough that few would notice it. Snarling, he drew a kodachi. "Alright. I don't know what ya are, but I know yer there. Why don't ya show yerself?"

After a few moments, a figure rose from the darkness. Purple robe, pointed hat and an abyss where a face should be... Jubei gasped and his grip on Musashi weakened. "...Konoe...?"

"Man, you can be forceful when you want to, you know that?" Ragna rubbed his wrist. Tsubaki's grip was firmer than he thought it would be. "And thanks for just deciding that I would go with you; totally didn't have any other plans or anything."

"Sorry. I guess I got carried away there." Tsubaki gave him a sidelong smile and leaned softly against his side. "Besides, I wanted you with me."

"Well, you could've just asked. I'd have gone."

They stood outside the great door of the NOL branch. Or what was left of it, anyway. The steel lay on the floor in pieces. Tsubaki looked it over. "May I ask exactly what you did here?"

"Dispelled the barrier Ars with my grimoire and kicked the door in."

"Kicked it?"

"Yeah."

"You shattered a metal door with a kick?"

"…Yeah."

Wow. How did he not totally destroy Bang? She shook her head in disbelief. "Well, we can't be too careful; someone might have put another Ars up."

"I doubt it; Library officials ain't gonna waste time with pointless shit like that. But…" Ragna stepped forward, raising his right fist level with his face. A red light glowed from it and shined on the ruins of the portal. After a few seconds, he smirked and lowered his hand. "Nah, looks like we're good. Don't sense anything. Want me to go first?"

"Hold on. Even if the branch is empty, there will still be surveillance set up all through the building."

"Wonderful. Who'd be watching?"

"No idea. But like I said, we can't be too careful." She leaned against the wall in thought. "I obviously can't just walk in with you, in case someone sees. Really, I should've thought this out better. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Well, this is where Librarium officers would take criminals they captured…"

Ragna groaned. "Ah hell, I know where this is going…"

"Um, would you mind being my, um, 'prisoner' for a bit? Just as an act, you know."

His next groan was even deeper and he clutched his forehead. "What exactly does being a prisoner involve?"

"I'd have to put some form of binding Ars on you. I could keep it simple, so that you'll still be able to use your grimoire. Just not your arms. And then we just walk in, pretending to be confused that the branch is empty."

"And if we run into Terumi?"

"I break the Ars and we try to run."

"Nice plan." He sighed and stood next to her. "Well, go ahead, I guess. If you think it's the safest thing to do."

She nodded and quiet words streamed from her lips as she placed her hands on his shoulders. The Ars took effect and clamped Ragna's arms to his sides as though held by invisible rope. "Gah! I can't believe I'm letting you do this. You sure it's gonna work?"

"Better than nothing. Technically, I should bind your legs as well, but I doubt you'd enjoy being dragged around."

"Damn right I'd hate it. Just don't try pulling anything."

Tsubaki turned to give him a mischievous grin, a shark-like expression he hadn't thought her capable of. He paled at the sight. After holding it for a few moments, she broke into giggles. "Sorry, couldn't help myself. Besides, like I said, you can still use your grimoire. You can shatter the Ars anytime you want."

"Don't scare me like that! Geez… Good to know I can end this crap whenever, though." He turned back to the remains of the door and tried to tap Tsubaki on the shoulder. Of course, the Ars prevented him from doing so. "Hey, Tsubaki? Just a quick question?"

"Yes?"

"You… seriously consider me a friend? Even with all the crap that's happened because of me?"

"Yes, I do. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Course not. I'm just surprised. I mean, hell, less than a day ago, you wanted me dead."

She turned to smile at him. "And pretty much all you've done since then is help me."

"Well, all you've done is bail my ass out." Ragna chuckled to himself. "Nice to know, though. Um… since this will probably take a while, wanna go get something to eat when we're done?"

Tsubaki's eyes widened and her face burned. "…Are you... asking me out?"

"Huh? Well, I didn't mean it like that, but... I guess you could see it that way. It's just... it's really nice being with you and stuff. Nice talking to someone who doesn't insult you every other damn word. But as soon as I'm done in Kagutsuchi, I'm off. No idea if I'd ever get to see you again."

"Ah. Sorry, I guess I was reading too much into what you said. Sure, I'll go with you. Restaurant again?"

"Eh, I suppose we could hit up a restaurant, although my money's kinda tight. I kinda want to do some cooking, actually, although I have no damn idea where I'd be able to."

"You cook?"

"Yeah. Kinda a hobby of mine. Of course, I don't get to do it very much anymore…"

Shuddering at a certain memory, Tsubaki asked, "Um, when you say you cook… well, Noel says she cooks, but…"

"It's terrible, huh?"

"'Terrible' doesn't do it justice."

"Totally inedible?"

"...Try 'explosive'."

Ragna stared at her. "What the hell did Noel make that exploded?"

"Stew."

"Bullshit."

"I assure you it's the truth, no matter how outlandish it sounds." Although she shivered again at the thought, she felt her face crack into a grin as he chuckled. "I got lucky; I didn't actually get a bite. Poor Carl Clover, though, broke his teeth on what was supposed to be mousse."

The silent chuckling that came from Ragna, strained by his efforts to stop it, threatened to drop him to his knees. Tsubaki reached over to keep him from doing so; at her touch, he looked up straight into her eyes. Their faces mere inches apart, they stayed still for several moments, as though held in trance by each other's eyes. Ragna broke out of his spell first with a quick shake of his head. "…You know, shouldn't we kinda be searching the branch instead of talking about Noel's amazing ability to suck at cooking?"

"Y-Yes, you're right. Um, I should probably have you lead. We are trying to make it look like I'm turning you in, after all, so we should follow standard protocol. I'll guide you."

After stepping in, Tsubaki glanced around. Most NOL branches shared the same general layout. This looked to be no different. She turned and prodded Ragna to head down a hallway. He did, not thinking about where they were headed. "Um, Tsubaki? What exactly are we looking for?"

"Anything we can find out about Hazama: who he's been in contact with, if he's given any orders here recently… anything, really. If we can prove that he's been in Kagutsuchi in the last few days, it'll be a nice start." Tsubaki bit her lip; the fact that he delivered orders straight from the Imperator to her worried her. If he actually is Terumi... "I'm heading for the office of whoever the highest ranking officer was. With any luck, he'll have some documentation we can search through. Orders, arrivals of other officers, et cetera."

"And if the Library finds out that you've been poking around in some general's classified documents?"

"Oh, I'd face a court-martial for sure." They entered a statue-lined corridor. Tsubaki passed by several doors, taking a look at the nameplates by each one. "I doubt the Librarium will find out, however; there's no one here, and if you can disable whatever surveillance the office may have in place, they couldn't prove anything."

"…How exactly do you plan on scouring the other branches? I mean, I don't know your rank..."

"First Lieutenant."

"...which isn't all that high, so it's not like you can just demand the information from someone."

"Yes, I realize it will be difficult. Truth be told, I'm not expecting to find much for a while. I don't know how I'm going to evade my orders for that long, but…" She reached out to open a door before pausing. "Um, can you make sure there isn't a protective Ars here? It's the local general's office; I imagine he would have more protection than just a lock."

"Actually, no, nothing." Ragna frowned. He had no idea what could have happened to the soldiers of the branch, but the fact that a general didn't have protection on his office... There's something very wrong here. After Tsubaki opened the door, Ragna's grimoire glowed. "Surveillance is down; all anybody watching will get is static. And your binding crap is gone, too."

"...How did you do that so easily?"

"The idiots that made these things didn't take the Azure into account."

With a slight chuckle, Tsubaki examined the office. A desk with a computer on it and dozens of filing cabinets in the back; perfect. As she took a seat in front of the computer, she signaled for Ragna to head to the cabinets. "I'll see if I can't get into his computer here; you look through the papers."

"Uh, there's gotta be thousands of goddamn papers in there! How the hell am I supposed to find anything?"

"Well, you don't have to look through all of it; just anything from the past week or so. At least to start. If this general was orderly, they should be in chronological order."

"Alright, I guess." Ragna pulled open a drawer and glanced at the first paper he saw. "April 3, 2197. Yeah, don't think that's gonna help."

Tsubaki gave a blank nod as the computer loaded. She was in luck; the computer had not been shut off after its last use, so she wouldn't need to do anything to get in. As she searched through the various icons on display, she shivered. It was not like a general to leave his office so wide open to intruders. She wondered if Makoto had any useful information... "I just thought of something. Remember that I said I have a friend in Intelligence? I'm pretty sure that I can send a secure transmission to her from here."

"Awesome. I say we wait until we're done with this office." Growling, he opened up another cabinet. June 2199; getting closer. "Also, I should probably mention this; I'm getting a weird feeling. Like there's something strange right above us. I know I've felt it before, too."

"We'll check it out once we're done here." She allowed herself a smirk as she located what she was hoping to find; a file documenting all recent activity within the branch, kept entirely for bureaucratic purposes. Already open. It's like the general just... vanished. Her eyes widened at the very first line. "Well, I've already found proof that Hazama's been in the branch. He reported in on the morning of December 31. So, the morning of your attack."

"Huh. Anything else?"

"No. No orders from him or anything. Of course, any orders he gave were probably either verbal or on paper. Here, I'll help you look."

"Good, I was starting to get annoyed with this crap."

Ragna moved over to the side and allowed Tsubaki to pull another drawer open. She jumped straight to the very last document. She pulled it out and frowned as she scanned it. "Huh. Not an order, but apparently he headed straight to the top of the branch. On orders from the Imperator."

"Huh. What next?"

"Well, let's see." Slipping the paper into a pocket in her uniform, she opened the next cabinet in line. She paled as she gazed into the barren container. "That was the last event ever recorded in this branch."

"...So?"

"Ragna, they knew you were attacking on the 31st. There should have been a flurry of activity via computer, if not on paper. The last thing the general's documentation showed was Hazama arriving. And then nothing." Her grip tightened on the cabinet's edges. "And Hazama had the backing of the Imperator… just like he did when he gave me my orders…"

Ragna nodded and made sure to think through what he was about to say. "You're afraid Terumi's gotten to the Imperator, aren't you?"

Tsubaki didn't move; it was several seconds before she responded. "…I'm afraid that it's a possibility. This isn't proof, just speculation, of course, but…"

A hand clenched her shoulder. Comforting though it was, she couldn't bring herself to smile at Ragna. "I know I've said my loyalty is to the Librarium, but…"

"You're willing to go against them if the Imperator's working with Terumi."

Ragna felt the fury rising inside her; cold, as opposed to the righteous fire she'd displayed with Bang. She nodded, pulling her hand away from the metal drawer. If not for her gloves, she would have cut her fingers on it. "If the Imperator is corrupt, then I will fight the Librarium to purge it of Terumi's evil in the hopes of returning it to being a just organization. Hazama… I know he did something. I need to find out what."

She rose and stomped over to the desk. A communicator of some sort waited by the computer. After kicking the cabinet shut, Ragna walked over to her. "What now?"

"I'm going to talk to my friend in Intelligence. See if she knows anything. You said you sensed something above us, right? Go ahead and check it out."

"…All right. But you'd better be right behind me; like Jubei said, I'm no match for Terumi at the moment. If he shows up and I'm alone, I'm screwed."

"Of course." As she messed around with the dial, she looked up to give him a smile. "I'll be there shortly. Just be careful."

"Yeah, you too." Ragna turned and left the office; Tsubaki felt strange being apart from him. Her call sent, she waited in silence…

"Private Makoto Nanaya speaking. May I ask why I'm getting a call from a dead general?"

Dead general? "Makoto, it's me. Tsubaki."

"Huh? Tsubaki, why are you…? Never mind, that's not important. What do you need?"

"I need you to tell me anything you can about Captain Hazama of the Intelligence Department."

"Hazama? Yeesh, I hate that guy. He seems friendly and all, but it's just an act; that smile is so fake. He, um… actually tried to kill me a bit ago. Probably would've if Jin hadn't been there."

"What?" Tsubaki's fist gripped the device so tight, she felt like she might break it. Everything kept pointing towards the worst possible scenario. "Why did he…?"

She trailed off as a deep voice on the line sounded. She couldn't make out what was said. Makoto's voice, distant as though she were facing away from her radio, followed. "Give me a minute, Tager. This is kinda important."

Tsubaki's mouth dropped. "Tager? As in, Sector Seven's Red Devil? What are you doing with him?"

"Eh…" Makoto chuckled, nervous. "Could you just pretend you didn't hear that?"

"Of course not. Makoto, if you're involved with Sector Seven…"

"I have my reasons; can't explain 'em just yet, but I do have 'em." She sighed. "But Tsubaki, please don't get involved with Hazama."

A chill ran up Tsubaki's spine as a sudden thought struck her. "Um, Makoto? Would you happen to know where Hazama is right now?"

"I know he's in Kagutsuchi at the moment. If I had to guess, I'd say he's probably at the branch. Why?"

"I need to go." The radio slipped from Tsubaki's hands and she raced out of the office, thinking of nothing but finding Ragna.

Makoto stared at the radio in her hands for a moment. Then she wheeled around to face the red-skinned behemoth behind her. "Hey, we've gotta get to the Library branch. Right now. It's important."

Tager blinked. "I… have orders, you know. I can't just-"

After slipping behind him, Makoto rammed her shoulder against the back of his leg and pushed him forward. "Don't care. This is more important than whatever you're doing with Noel."

Something attached to Tager crackled and an annoyed voice shouted, "What the hell are you doing, Private Makoto? You can't just-"

"One of my friends is about to get killed by my former captain. Hazama. Or, if you prefer, Yuuki Terumi."

Kokonoe fell silent before giving a gleeful, manic command. "Tager! Get your rusty ass down to the branch and kill the shit out of Terumi! That's an order!"

After ducking to avoid smacking his head against a low-hanging girder—how can she push me so easily?—Tager asked, "What about Noel Vermillion?"

"Who cares? This is way, way more important than obtaining the Eye."

Panting, Tsubaki glanced up at the next flight of stairs. She had to be getting close to the top of the branch now, and there was still no sign of Ragna. Before she could ascend the stairs, something in another room caught her eye. An unnatural red circle on the ground. It looked similar to an Ars, but it was just… off. "Is… is that raw magic? But how?"

She walked up to it, careful not to touch it. It was certainly no Ars she had ever seen before; everything about it was wrong. And… she leaned closer to it. It sounded like there was someone in there, calling out. On instinct, she reached her hand in. It sunk through what should have been solid ground.

A small hand clenched itself around her wrist.

"What the hell is this? A Cauldron?"

Ragna stared up at the blue monolith before him. It was topped by something he had seen several times before; a cocoon of sorts for a Murakumo unit to break out of. He walked up to it, his surprise turning to determination. So, I do get to blow something up. Good. As he stepped up to, a voice sounded behind him. "Well, well, well, Rags. So glad you could make it."

He whipped around, hand going for his absent sword. He snarled at the man standing by the stairs. "Terumi, you bastard. When did you get here?"

"Oh, I've been here awhile. Unfortunately, you came a bit too early for the main event." With a wide grin and the cackle of a madman, Hazama drew a pair of knives. "But why don't we have a little warm-up act in the meantime?"