Hey guys! XDD
Here's Chapter 2!
S-sorry there's still no action yet, b-but...
Next chapter, I swear...!
As for this chapter, we get to meet some of the other characters and have fun with them!
Well...only half that sentence was true XDDD
And yes, they made the Den a place to torture rookies in! XD
As always, please Read, Review and Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Wolves of the Den

Kaito looked around nervously. He had arrived at this room after Tsubaki's instruction, but he still wasn't sure if he was in the right place... He had a tendency to forget these sorts of things. "Um...excuse me!" he called, taking a deep breath as he opened the door and stepped inside.

There were two men inside, one sitting in front of several screens as he typed quickly. He had a mischievous smile on under his round glasses, and he wore what Kaito remembered from somewhere was called a "kimono". The other man stood next to the one typing and wore a long white coat. Every strand of his blond hair seemed to be perfectly in place, in stark contrast with the messy blond hair the one at the screens had. They both looked up when they heard Kaito come in.

"P-pleased to meet you! I'm Kaito, the new recruit!" Kaito said with a bow as he hoped that he had found the right place.

"Hm...you got here 726 seconds sooner than I expected," the one with glasses said with a smile. "Good to see you, New-type." He chuckled at the term he was using. "I'm Paylor Sakaki, and I'm in charge of Aragami technology R&D." Kaito fought back the urge to breathe a sigh of relief as he was finally reassured that he had found the right place. "Well, we'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on, so welcome aboard, Kaito." Sakaki's welcoming smile faded slightly into an apologetic one. "Now then...as you can see...I'm still a little busy with preparations." He turned to his companion. "Johann, why don't you get your business out of the way first?"

The blond man in the white coat shook his head with a slight frown. "Doctor Sakaki, I think it's high time you learned how to separate business from private matters." For some reason, his voice sounded very familiar to Kaito... The man turned to him, putting on a business-like smile. "Thank you for taking part in the aptitude test. My name is Johannes von Shicksal," he said, introducing himself. "I'm in charge of the Fenrir branch in this region." He gave him a smile befitting the director of the branch. "Congratulations again on passing the test. I expect great things from you." It was then that Kaito realized why the voice sounded so familiar. It had been the one that had instructed him on what to do during the aptitude test, where he had gotten his God Arc. A pang of slight pain shot through Kaito's wrist through the red metal bangle at the memory. He tried to hide the pain the best he could by nodding and giving the director a strained smile.

"Th-thank you. I never expected I would be able to do something like this before," Kaito said, still holding up his polite smile. "I...I don't even know what a New-type is," he replied nervously, giving a weak laugh.

"That's alright. We don't know much about New-types yet either," Johannes replied, giving Kaito another business-like smile, but with some warmth beneath it this time. "That's why we request that you allow us to study you as you continue to grow as a God Eater."

Kaito nodded hurriedly. "O-of course! Anything you need!"

Sakaki chuckled at this exchange, adjusting his glasses slightly as he continued to type. He smirked at Kaito. "He's a former techie too, you know. Half the motive behind his being so nice to you is his curiosity!" He glanced up at Johannes' politely restrained face. "The New-types' medical check-ups interest you to no end, right, Johannes?"

"I decided to retire as a techie because we have you, Paylor," Johannes replied, a silent threat lurking beneath his ever-present calm smile. "Please keep that in mind."

"Did you ever really retire?" Sakaki asked with a chuckle, still deciding to press his luck.

With a slight scoff, Johannes turned away from Sakaki to look Kaito in the eyes. "Hmm...now then, this is where the real fun starts," he began, completely ignoring the doctor's response. "Let me explain the Fenrir Corporation's objectives once more. Your direct duties are very simple." Kaito nodded to show that he was paying attention to him. "They are to keep the Aragami in this region at bay and to gather materials, which are then converted into resources needed to maintain this advance base, as well as to complete the impending Aegis project."

"Ugh, look at these numbers!" Sakaki suddenly yelled out, sounding exasperated and excited at the same time, obviously not paying attention to Johannes' explanation.

The director paused for a second, then began again. "The Aegis project is, simply put, a plan to create a utopia impregnable against Aragami attacks, located far out to sea, close to the former Sea of Japan trench."

"Ahh...I see..." Sakaki said, nodding in understanding. But it was obviously not about the director's words. Kaito gave a worried glance at the doctor, then at the director, worried about what would happen if the doctor pushed the director's patience too far.

Clearing his throat, Johannes continued. "Once the project is complete, humankind will be able to avoid extinction, at least for a while."

"Amazing! So this is what a New-type is like!"

Annoyance obvious on the director's face, he turned to face Sakaki, his polite smile cracking slightly to show a hint of anger. "Paylor, you're interrupting my lecture."

"Oh, sorry about that." Sakaki gave an apologetic chuckle as he glanced up at Johannes' face. "I was just taken so aback by these stats, I got carried away."

Shaking his head slightly, Johannes turned back to Kaito. "At any rate, the fate of humankind is at stake, so give it your best effort." The young man nodded hurriedly, feeling the weight of the responsibility that he had been given on his shoulders. Johannes fought a smirk that threatened to come onto his face and give away all the plans he had for this easily influenced recruit. "All right. I'll be taking my leave now." He shot Sakaki a smile. "Paylor, I'll leave the rest to you. When you're done, send me the data." With that, he gave a nod to Kaito and exited the room, leaving Kaito and Sakaki alone.

Kaito stood nervously in the middle of the room which was silent except for the sounds of Sakaki typing. After a few seconds of this awkward silence, though, he finally looked up. "Okay, the preparations are complete!" He smiled at Kaito from behind his screens. "Please lie down on that bed over there," he instructed, pointing at a bed in the corner of the room. Kaito turned to look. He hadn't noticed it before because he was so distracted by Johannes and Sakaki, but he now realized just how much like a laboratory this room was.

"G-got it," Kaito said as he headed for the bed.

"You'll get sleepy for a little while," Sakaki started. "But I assure you there's nothing to worry about," he added, seeing the worried look on Kaito's face. "The next time you awaken, you'll be in your own room." He chuckled. "Just a little catnap, so to speak... You'll get about 10,800 seconds." Kaito nodded, looking up at the ceiling, feeling himself starting to drift off like Sakaki had said. He tried to tell himself to relax, that nothing bad would happen to him, that everything was alright. But Kaito found that he couldn't trust anyone so easily, especially since the reason he was here was... He tried to blink, losing his train of thought as he subconsciously fought to keep awake, but his half-closed eyes refused to open anymore, giving in to the sleepiness.

The last thing he heard before he went unconscious was Sakaki's ever-cheerful voice. "Sweet dreams!"

Sweet dreams...at a place like Fenrir...?

Johannes sat at his desk, watching as numbers ran by on the screen in front of his eyes. However, he was only focused on one person's profile. He went over it again and again. "AliceBlue...it can't be..." He scanned the rest of the rookie's profile again. "It must just be a coincidence... It's no use dredging up the past for just a coincidence." But it felt like he was just saying it to reassure himself. He shook his head.

No. It was just a coincidence. It most definitely was.

"Nn..." Kaito rolled over in the bed, covered by blankets. Wait...in bed...? He shot up, pulling the blankets up around his chest as he looked around with wide eyes. "W-where am I...?" he asked, staring in confusion. He was on a bed in a corner of the room, a terminal tucked into another corner of the room at the end of his bed. There was a window set into the wall opposite the door. Well...at least he tried to call it a window. It was, upon closer inspection, a screen that displayed an emerald green grassy field beneath a sparkling blue sky...something that no longer existed in the real world outside. Kaito gave a soft exhalation, half a sigh, half a laugh, as a wistful smile crossed his face. "If only it were like that outside for real..."

He turned his head, deciding to move on. There was a table with seats around it, just like in that other person's room. For a short moment, Kaito was afraid that he was in some random stranger's room, but he quickly realized that all the rooms were probably just set up the same way. There was a counter that ran along the wall to the left of the door with a sink and what looked like a small refrigerator built into it. A little distance away from the bed, between the bed and the door, there was the same wooden counter that had been in that other guy's room. On it sat a flowerpot with lilies that weren't quite in bloom yet. Kaito smiled upon seeing it.

"Morning, Masacchi!" he chirped cheerfully, greeting the plant like a close friend. He slid off the bed, yawning as he stretched his arms over his head. He realized he was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing before, but he had something else he had to do first. "Here you go," he said as he poured some water he had gotten from the sink into the dirt, watering the lilies. "This water is a lot cleaner than the water we used to have, huh?" He chuckled as he finished pouring the rest of the water in before setting down the cup. "I guess it's true what they say. You get all these benefits if you become one of Fenrir's operatives." He tilted his head as he noticed a blinking light from the terminal. "What?" He walked over to it curiously, wondering what it meant. Upon further inspection, he found that it was notifying him of a new mail in his in-box.

"From...Kota?" It took him a minute before he remembered: that other new recruit who had joined at the same time he had. His eyes scanned the message quickly. The message inside was one that made Kaito laugh.

'Subject: Nice to meet you!

Message: By the way, do you know when my medical checkup is? I think Ms. Tsubaki told me, but I can't remember. I want to ask her, but she seems kind of scary.'

"...well...it's already too late for me to help him," he said, fighting back giggles as he imagined Kota running around helplessly, trying to find out when his medical check-up actually was. "I hope he managed to make it on time..." He sighed, finally getting his laughs out of his system, before he turned and caught sight of his reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall opposite the door.

"Maybe I should change clothes and try to get used to getting around the Den," he said as he headed for the mirror, trying to comb his messy silver hair into place with his fingers, slipping his black and blue headphones down to rest around his neck. However, just as soon as he combed it into place, his bangs went back to nearly falling into his eyes and the rest of his hair just fell to just under his chin, random hairs sticking out. He frowned slightly as he tilted his head this way and that, his eyes, whose shapes made him look kind of like a cat, following his reflection in the sleek surface. His nose, almost delicately pointed, had caused him some trouble in the past when people had teased him for looking so feminine, but he was okay with it. His mouth twisted into random shapes as he tried to make his hair actually stay in place.

"...I think I should give up here." He caught sight of a set of clothes draped over a chair next to the terminal. "Wonder if these are for me," Kaito said, lifting the shirt up to look at it. It looked like it would fit. Humming softly, he unzipped his shirt and slipped it off, revealing pale skin and a slim body. He hadn't ever trained his muscles before, so he was very glad that becoming a God Eater made him stronger and faster than most ordinary people. He quickly changed into the other outfit, which reminded him of a military uniform. It was probably standard Fenrir clothes. "At least they got me some black clothes..." he remarked as he fixed the collar. He didn't look too bad, if he did say so himself. "Well then...time to go meet some people!"

The door slid open in front of him as he stood before it, holding the card-key in his hand contemplatively. His eyes scanned the hallway. It looked just like the floor he had gotten lost on last time, but the carpeting here was green, like the color that grass would be if it still existed. There was someone standing in the middle of the hallway, back turned to Kaito. He wore a black cap over his reddish-pink hair. The young man also wore a light green jacket and blue jean shorts, along with greenish-yellow boots. He was talking to himself. "What a puny reward. Rations are getting worse, too. God Eaters may get better pay, but it's not nearly enough to cover risking your life..." The young man sighed, but he turned at the sound of the door closing behind Kaito and Kaito's footsteps. "Oh, hey, you're new," he said, his eyes flickering up, giving the new recruit a quick once-over. "You must be that rookie that Tsubaki asked me to get," he decided as he nodded slightly. "I'm Shun. Shun Ogawa."

"I'm Kaito!" Kaito replied cheerfully as he reached out a hand to shake Shun's. However, Shun kept his arms folded over his chest, and Kaito slowly retracted his hand awkwardly.

"Anyways...Tsubaki wants you to go upstairs so she can brief you on how to do missions." Shun chuckled like he knew something that Kaito didn't. "Rookies like you have to work hard for the chance to earn rewards, you know." He turned to meet Kaito's eyes with his. "But listen, just do enough not to get killed. Without your life, you're nothing!" Kaito stared at him, slightly in shock at the sudden advice. Shun's serious face turned back into his normal smiling one. "Well...good luck, kid!" he said, waving as he left Kaito standing alone in the hallway.

"...huh?" He stared after Shun for a moment before he shook his head. "Right...well then...I should probably go talk to Tsubaki!"

"Oh...hello there..." Kaito turned at the sound of a girl's voice, and found himself looking into a pink-haired girl's kindly face. She smiled at him, her springtime-like green dress brightening her cheerfulness. "So you're the rookie! They said we'd be getting two new kids..." She reached out a hand to shake. "I'm Kanon Daiba!"

Kaito took her hand and shook it, glad that someone else was friendly towards him. "I'm Kaito. Pleased to meet you!"

Kanon smiled at the politeness of the greeting. "Are you all done with the medical check-ups?" she asked with a girlish giggle as Kaito nodded. "Used to the Den yet?"

Kaito shook his head. He most definitely was not. "Not at all...I just got here."

She nodded knowingly. "I understand. To tell you the truth, neither am I. And I keep getting lost...and it's been quite a while for me already! But my instructor's always yelling, saying I'm stuck in rookie mode."

"You get lost a lot too? On my first day, I couldn't even find the testing room!" Kaito replied, warming up at the thought of a kindred spirit. "Th-there must be something strange with the Den, like...like maybe every time you turn around, everything switches places or something!"

"But that would be expensive!" Kanon answered, eyes wide. "And what purpose would it even serve?"

"I...I don't know! Maybe they like torturing rookies!" Kaito concluded loudly.

"...move."

"Huh?" Kaito turned at the sound of a low voice from behind him.

"I said, move. You're in the way," said the young man whose room Kaito had walked into on the first day he had come to the Den. "If you have time to stand around and chatter about getting lost because of stupid reasons, you're just wasting my time," he growled as he strode past them, heading for the elevator.

"Wha-?" Kaito stared after the hooded stranger as the elevator doors closed behind him. "Kanon...who's that?" he asked curiously. He couldn't keep referring to him as "that guy" in his mind anymore, right? But that wasn't the only reason he wanted to know his name.

"Him? He's Soma. He's been a God Eater for a really long time, but he's never been promoted because they say that he's too much of the lone wolf type."

"Soma. So that's his name," Kaito repeated in a soft whisper as he kept his eyes focused on the doors of the elevator that Soma had disappeared behind. "...Soma..."

Kaito wandered around on the top floor of the Den, right by the entrance. Luckily, Kanon had known the way, so he hadn't gotten lost. However, he had looked around everywhere, and it appeared that Soma was no longer there at the entrance. He had probably left on a mission...

He easily found Tsubaki, though. She stood out because of her commander's aura. She looked up from her clipboard when she saw Kaito coming towards her. Tsubaki was standing right by the quest counter. "I see you're done with your check-up..." she remarked as he approached. Kaito nodded as he came to stand in front of her. "Fine. Then I'll have you take on a mission right away. Next to you is Hibari Takeda," she said as she pointed at the cute girl behind the counter. Hibari bowed to him politely and Kaito gave her a slight bow in return. "She runs the God Eaters' mission information processing. Speak to her in order to receive an order for a mission. After that, use the terminal to prepare yourself before you leave. Got that?"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" Kaito replied, giving her a salute as he tried to commit everything he had just heard to memory.

"Very good. I'm expecting a lot from you!" Tsubaki said before she left Kaito to speak to Hibari about what came next.

"So you're done with your medical check-up!" Hibari said brightly. "Again, I'm Hibari Takeda, and I oversee mission orders!" After she shot Kaito a quick smile, she put on her professional face. "Now then, let me explain to you about how missions work. First, you receive an order for a mission. Then, based on enemy intelligence, you should change your weapons at the terminals." Kaito nodded again and again, afraid to interrupt her, afraid to miss a detail that could be important later. "Then you should launch your mission by gathering at the Den Gate before heading out." She paused, catching the lost expression Kaito was trying to hide. "Um...do you follow me?"

After a few seconds of silence to process everything that he had been told, Kaito nodded. "Yes, I understand."

Hibari gave a relieved smile. "Oh, that's good! I may cause you some inconvenience at times, but I do look forward to working with you!"

Kaito smiled back at her, half in response to her smile, half in response to her change back to her normal attitude. "Thank you! I'll be relying on you a lot in the future..."

"Hey, you a rookie?" Kaito paused as he was just about to go up the stairs. He turned in the direction the voice had come from and he found himself looking down at a man sitting cross-legged on a blanket in strange clothes, random items strewn around him. He nodded slowly in response to the question. The man chuckled and gave him a broad grin. "You're gonna need more than rations and rewards to take on the Aragami. Just listen to me...replenish your supplies right here!" The man paused. "...I think my prices are pretty damn good."

Kaito gave a weak laugh. "M-maybe later..." he replied as he waved to the merchant. Not only did he not have any money, but he was slightly unnerved by the suddenness of the man's self-advertisement. Heading up the stairs, he caught sight of a man with many scars covering his body, his once-black hair now streaked with white.

"Hey, there you are. You look a little more mature now, rookie!" the man called as he neared Kaito, slapping him on the back playfully with a huge grin.

Kaito stared up at him with wide eyes, wondering who he was and why he was being so friendly with him all of a sudden. "W-who are you?" he asked, terrified as he backed away from the man slowly.

The man stared at Kaito for a second with confused eyes, but then realization dawned on him. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Gen Momota, Fenrir Far East Branch's God Eater Advisor. I used to be a God Eater, just like you guys though." He gave Kaito a huge grin. "So I know when a rookie walks by! I saw you wandering around lost before." Kaito stared at Gen, who was laughing boisterously, wondering why the man hadn't helped him if he had seen a rookie wandering around, lost if he was the God Eater Advisor for the branch... "Anyways..." Gen finally stopped laughing and put on a serious face. "Being a God Eater is a tough business. We're despised by some, envied by others." He gave a chuckle. "Even so, we're protecting those same people." His serious face persisted for a moment more before it broke into a smile again. "Heh, but that's just an old God Eater rambling." He started to laugh loudly again. "When you're old enough, I'll buy you a drink!"

"U-uh...n-no thank you...sir..." Kaito replied uneasily, trying to edge away from the man that he was sure wasn't quite right in the head...

"Oh, wait!" Gen called as he grabbed Kaito's arm. "Don't forget to say hello to Licca there!" He pointed at a silver-haired girl in a tanktop and puffy shorts with heavy work gloves and thick boots. She was adjusting her goggles as she stood by the terminals. "That girl is fighting right alongside you God Eaters. Don't you forget that." Kaito nodded hurriedly before Gen could launch into another tirade.

Finally, after managing to somehow politely get away from Gen, Kaito headed for Licca. He had a feeling he would forget if he didn't greet her now. "Hello! I'm Kaito!" he greeted cheerfully, waving.

Licca turned at his greeting and gave him a quick once-over, glancing up and down. "Oh, you were the one Tsubaki was looking for before, right?" She gave a little chuckle. "She said that if I met someone new who was wandering around looking they were lost, that it would be you. She was right!"

"U-uh...B-but I'm not lost this time..." Kaito weakly protested.

"But anyways, I'm Licca Kusunoki." She reached out a work-glove covered hand. "Nice to meet you!" Kaito took her hand and shook it. "I'll do my best to keep your God Arc in top shape to make sure you have no trouble in battle." She smiled pleasantly at Kaito, and he could see why Gen had told him to greet her. "Hey, when you have some free time, let's go to lunch. Later!"

"Later!" Kaito replied before he headed down to talk with Tsubaki about his mission.

Kaito sighed as he flopped down next to Kota. "Tsubaki wants me to go on a mission already..." He rested his head on the top of the seat, stretching his legs out under the table by the Den's gate.

"A mission so soon, huh...?" Kota sighed. "The people here are kinda rough, don't you think?"

"Yeah...I bet they have to be tough though, since they fight every day for their lives," Kaito replied, still staring up at the ceiling on the Den.

"Hm...I guess so," Kota agreed thoughtfully. "Ah! They'd better not haze rookies! That would suck!" he cried, the thought suddenly popping into his mind.

"I-if they wanted to haze us, wouldn't they have done it already...?" Kaito asked worriedly. "Anyways...I think Tsubaki'd kill whoever hazed people and made them unable to go out on missions...maybe."

"Yeah...good point." Kota nodded several times, feeling reassured by that thought. "Oh, speaking of missions... We file for missions with that cute operator girl, right?" he asked with a grin. "Then we leave by the Den Gate and head into actual combat..." Kota gave an involuntary exaggerated shudder. "...yeah...I think I'll wait to head over till I'm mentally prepared!" He shot a thumbs up at Kaito. "Have fun on your mission!"

"Oh, yeah, thanks, Kota..." Kaito replied flatly as he got up, sighing. "Time for me to get to my mission, I guess..."