Ragna snatched Noel away once the bell rang for lunch without considering the inquisitive stares from his classmates. Not until they were alone in the stairwell did he notice her frazzled state, but this was an important matter and he couldn't allow Noel to leave without confirmation. There wasn't anyone else Rachel could refer to as "the other one" since, according to her, they were the only two people who returned alive. "So, you agreed to help her out?" he bluntly inquired.

"I did," Noel answered with a nod. "I see you did, too."

"Last night, yeah." Ragna's reply was strained. "I plan to meet her after school today."

Noel wore a conflicted expression. "Will you go to one of those Fractured Worlds?"

"Yeah…" he exhaled. "I guess it's more like 'we' since you're tagging along, huh?"

She nodded. "Rachel told me that she would let me know today. I assumed she would call for me when you two are ready to go."

Ragna noticed her shaky legs. "Do you… want to sit this one out?"

"No!" Noel's determination made him recoil. She withdrew and clenched her skirt. "I'm the one who accepted it. I need to be… used to it. The last thing I want is to be patronized."

"I guess you're right. My bad." Used to it, huh…

"N-no!" Noel shook her head, her blonde hair swaying wildly. "You were just looking out for me! It's… really sweet."

"I dunno about being sweet," Ragna groaned, scratching his flushed cheek. "Anyway, sorry for hauling you over here. I think I might've given some people the wrong idea." He didn't give a damn because a couple more rumors wouldn't damage his reputation more than it already was, but he doubted Noel shared that same nonchalance.

Noel shook her head so hard she must have rattled her brain. "I-it's fine! We're… friends, so being seen with you doesn't bother me."

Ragna cracked a smile. "Alright then. By the way, I just realized, I don't have your number do I?"

"No, I don't think I gave it to you," she answered after a moment. She blushed and knotted her fingers. "D-do you… want it?"

"Don't make this weird." Ragna fished out his phone, expectant. Things would be much easier if they could shoot texts to each other whenever the need arose. Noel steeled herself before finangling her phone from her pocket.

"Okay! I'm ready!"

He sweatdropped. "R-right…" After plugging his number into her phone, she beamed with delight. It's just a number. "Alright, got yours and—" His vibrating pocket cut him off as he checked the caller. He gave Noel a blank stare. "Seriously?"

"I-I need to make sure!"

Glistening, determined eyes bore into him as his phone continued to buzz. She isn't gonna stop till I answer, is she? Heaving a big sigh, Ragna accepted the call. "Yo."

"Okay, it works!" Noel cheered, the pitch hitting him through both ears. Ragna found it difficult to be irritated by her giddiness.

He faced the stairwell. "I guess I'll see ya later."

"Oh."

The disappointment in her tone made him falther. Her eyes were downcast and her shoulders slumped. "Something up?" he wondered.

"Well, no, but I just…" A visible blush spread from ear to ear. Fiddling with her fingers, she spoke to the floor. "I wanted to, you know, have lunch with you. I thought we could enjoy it together. But if you don't want to, then it's fine. I'm sure you don't want to spend more time with me than necessary, I get it. I—"

"Stop!" Ragna raked his hair in annoyance. This idiot has a terminal case of low self-esteem. "I never said anything like that. If you want to have lunch with me, just tell me."

Noel instantly perked up. "Really?! Then let's eat together!"

When she wants to come out of that shell of hers, it's pretty explosive… "I've got someone else I have lunch with waiting for me in her room. Mind going on ahead the roof?"

"Not at all! I actually have to head back to the classroom because my lunch is still there. You, um, kind of kidnapped me."

"...Oh. Er, sorry." Ragna rejected the word "kidnapped" but knew any onlooker would side with her.

Parting from Ragna, Noel retrieved her lunch before hurrying up to the roof. A calming breeze greeted her and made her smile. This was one of the few places she knew of where the off-putting presence of the distortions around the city was considerably weak. Ever since she escaped that fragmented world with Ragna the city felt suffocating, fragile, like she walked across glass. Learning the truth put her at ease and frightened her to no end at the same time. How ironic that school would be one of the few places where she felt safe. Noel claimed a spot near the edge of the roof and leaned against the fence. Setting her lunch box down and untying the pink cloth around it, she decided to wait for Ragna before eating and thankfully didn't have to wait too long before he and his friend arrived.

"So this is Noel!" Celica's charismatic smile and outgoing attitude caused Noel to shrivel a little as they sat by her. "Hi! I think I've seen you a few times, but I didn't know you were a friend of Ragna's."

"I-I, um, yes!" came the blonde's flustered response.

"Easy," Ragna warned Celica. "As you can see, she's shy."

Celica studied her, then nodded in understanding. She bowed apologetically and immediately toned herself down. Noel gave Ragna an appreciative look, relaxing. "Well, I'm Celica A. Mercury. It's good to meet you, Noel."

Noel struggled to respond. "Like…wise. It's good to meet you boo– ah!"

Silence for a beat. "Boo?" Celica tilted her head in puzzlement.

She bit her tongue, Ragna deduced by the way she covered her mouth. Shrugging, he got situated and Celica followed suit. At that moment he noticed something very strange. "Uh, Noel?"

"Yes?"

"That's not your lunch is it?" Ragna gaped when Noel nodded.

"It is. Does it smell bad?"

"The smell isn't an issue or a concern for me. It's just… are you going to eat all that by yourself?" He wondered if she hadn't eaten breakfast before coming to school. No, scratch that; even if she hadn't, the size of her lunch was much too large for one person.

Noel remained unfazed. "Yes. I only made a modest sized lunch today because I was in a hurry."

"That's fucking modest?!" The tower Ragna beheld was not a modest lunch; it could feed five people and then some, yet the petite girl in front of him considered it a typical bento!

"That is quite a bit," Celica commented.

"I-is it? I, uh… don't think it is. This is the portion I, um, normally eat for lunch."

He couldn't believe it. "Then what was the first time we ate together?"

"That was more like a… snack?" Ragna's eyes widened dramatically. "I wasn't really in an eating mood that day, so I only made a few sandwiches."

Recalling that day, Noel had eaten at least half a dozen sandwiches which he definitely didn't consider a "snack". Ragna watched in amazement while Noel laid out her multiple bento boxes. Their contents were appetizing but the feast before him was not a one-woman meal, and he couldn't see her finishing everything. Celica, on the other hand, remained unbothered and ate what normal people would actually deem a modest lunch. "Oh, Celica?"

"Hm? What is it? Do you want some?" She proffered the pork between her chopsticks.

"I'm good. It's just that I've got something to take care of after school so I won't be able to walk home with you today."

Her expression turned sullen. "I see."

"Sorry," he apologized.

"No no, it's okay." So she said, but…

"Are you mad at me?"

"Of course not. Take care of what you need to, you don't have to tell me or anything."

"So you are mad." Celica pouted silently. Ragna guarded his neck on reflex in case she tried biting him again. A light mark remained when he checked last night and he didn't need anyone getting any funny ideas, least of all Noel, since he doubted another person's presence would affect Celica's judgment. "Anyway, Noel, we meet– shit that was fast!"

"What was?" Noel blinked at him, her voice muffled by the food she chewed.

"How are you almost done?!" Ragna had looked away for a minute at most. Apparently, being able to empty four of the five lunch boxes in record time wasn't an abnormal feat based on her puzzled response.

"I don't think I'm a fast eater. There wasn't a lot, anyway."

He stared in awe. "The hell there wasn't! And you said this is your regular?"

"Mhm."

"Seriously? Shit Noel, if you keep eating like this, you'll get…" A presence not unlike the eerie distortions loomed over him and made his blood run cold. Every danger alarm in his body went off and he wisely chose not to finish his remark lest it end up on his gravestone. The source of that malignant aura originated from the blonde grinning at him.

"I'll get what?"

"...Noel, your face is smiling, but your eyes aren't."

Lunch proceeded, and although Celica's eccentricity and outgoing social nature would certainly take time for a girl like Noel to grow accustomed to, despite Ragna's attempt to temper her, it was clear she didn't dislike her. Time ticked by until the final bell resounded throughout the school. Abnormally ear-piercing, but only Ragna and Noel thought that. They exchanged looks and headed for the front gate while everyone else exclaimed how excited and relieved they were to go home and relax.

An hour later, there was still no sign of Rachel. "Where the hell is that stupid Rabbit?" Ragna tapped his foot impatiently.

"I-I'm sure she'll be here soon." Noel wanted to know that herself. "Maybe she… forgot?" she posed.

He frowned. "I'll wring her by the neck if she did!"

"Do refrain from such baseless accusations." The woman of the hour's sudden appearance made them jump back like a fire had been lit under them. Once again Rachel's arrival was heralded by a sweet floral scent. Their reaction clearly pleased her as a tiny grin canted the corner of her mouth.

Noel placed a hand over her chest to calm her heart. "That scared me…"

"Do you just, like, get off on doing that shit?!" Ragna yelled.

"You should have been prepared for my arrival."

His brow twitched. "Yeah, we have been– for an hour! The hell took you so long? It better be fucking good, and don't tell me you had the runs."

"I was having tea."

"…Huh?" Her answer was so straightforward it took Ragna a second to comprehend it. The fact that he couldn't tell if she was lying made him even angrier as a vein popped up on his forehead. Noel took a big step away from him, believing he would explode in a matter of seconds and had no interest in being caught in it. "Are. You. KIDDING?!"

"More importantly—"

"This is pretty important!" Ragna grumped.

"I believe we should be on our way." Rachel ignored the flailings of the simmering man beside her and faced the school. Her attention toward the academy drew theirs. "Our entryway is here."

"Really?" Noel scanned for anything out of the ordinary. She exchanged confused looks with Ragna, who shrugged.

"Follow me." Rachel stepped through the gate, vanishing right before their eyes.

"Wha?!" Ragna gasped.

"She disappeared– kyah!" A small hand reached from empty space and grabbed Noel by the skirt. On reflex, the terrified, teary-eyed Noel clung Ragna.

"H-hey! The hell are you– oh shit!"

Their screams were silenced once they'd been yanked into nothingness.

"Seems like that kid's testimony was worth looking into." Kagura sat up in his chair as Bullet entered his room with a stack of files in hand, ready to hear anything close to good news; however, the conflicted expression on her face made it clear things weren't looking up just yet. "Well… somewhat." She slapped several folders onto his desk covered in files from the previous unsolved cases.

The chief eyed his colleague inquisitively. "Somewhat?"

"It took some time, but I managed to locate and speak to the families who were noted to have been with the victim before they were killed. All of them had similar statements that the victim vanished, then reappeared later on dead." Bullet thought there needed to be a stronger word for "dead" with the states the deceased were discovered in. "The reason I said 'somewhat' was because the locations for all these fatalities are not consistent at all. Which makes this so frustrating. Because while this is all well and good, the fact this person has the ability to operate across such great distances without detection leaves me with more questions." There were designated hot spots which saw the most activity, but its space apart and areas were so inconsistent. Warning people did little to help in the long run, and if enraged her more than civilians still find themselves up shit creek without a paddle.

"Maybe he has a car?" Kagura's well-intentioned joke earned a vicious glare from his subordinate. He could've sworn he heard knuckles cracking. He raised his hands in surrender, not ready to be killed just yet. "Kidding, kidding! But I see what you mean." Coinciding witness testimonies meant nothing if they still didn't have a face to put to the crimes. "Y'know, Bullet–"

"Not interested."

"At least lemme finish…"

Bullet frowned at him. "I don't need to. Besides, I'm not trying to find a piano wire in my locker."

Kagura waved a dismissive hand. "Oh please. No one does that anymore."

"Lia certainly would," she countered.

"She didn't hold the door for you and you think she's a she-devil?" the chief wondered. "Lia's a sweetheart. A little feisty, but a sweetheart."

Bullet rolled her eyes. "Take a look at those files. I already had Tager peruse them, and figured another pair of fresh eyes could give me some more insight. The headache wasn't worth coming in here…"

"Hey, c'mon, don't say that. I'll give you my thoughts in the next hour."

She heaved a sigh. "Thank you."

"We can get coffee afterward?" Kagura persisted with a grin, and a pregnant pause followed.

"If…"

His head cocked to the side. "If?"

Bullet hesitated, like she regretted entertaining her current thoughts, but continued nonetheless. "If, and I mean if, you find something useful, anything that will help find some kind of concrete correlation that we can use to catch the bastard, I'll get a cup of coffee with you." Her brows knitted as Kagura blinked at her. "What?"

He leaned forward, curious. "Something going on with you?"

She made a face. "Why would something be going on with me?"

"You usually don't give me the time of day." In all honesty he asked as a joke because he knew –at least thought he did– Bullet would brush him off like always. It was like their thing, and however slight, it helped lighten the mood whenever dampered. "Something on your mind? We can chat now if you'd like. Shoot." Kagura motioned his hand to give her the floor and patiently waited for her to say anything. Something bothered her, and the momentary crack that appeared on that inscrutable face of hers when he'd asked provided all the evidence he needed.

"It's… not too serious. Or I guess it is? I don't know." Bullet spent a moment gathering her scattered thoughts into something remotely cohesive. Anytime Kagura shifted gears to what one would consider a real boss, it always took her aback. She took a deep breath, then let it out. "We've been pursuing this asshole for how many months, and yet there's barely anything to go on." He nodded and Bullet carried on. "I spend nights and days searching for clues, re-examing all the evidence, but I always come back empty handed. Not to mention all the families I had to go and apologize too because I'm too fucking incompetant to find whoever took their mother, father, uncle, their child away." Bullet realized how breathless and heated she'd become from her little rant, and that she'd moved to lean against Kagura's desk. He waited until Bullet finished before commenting, considering her words.

"Basically, you've hit a roadblock and don't know how to proceed," he summarized.

Bullet let out a deep sigh as her squared shoulders drooped. "Pretty much. I just feel like I'm out of my league, and I wanted to know how you feel about it."

"I see. How I feel, huh?" Kagura nodded and looked thoughtful. After hemming and hawing, his expression turned serious. "I feel like I want to get that coffee with you."

Disappointment tinged her voice. "And any respect I had for you just went right down the drain."

"Hold it!" Kagura stopped his irritated detective before she stomped out his room. He swiftly grabbed her arm. Oh, if looks could kill… "You asked how I felt, that's how. I think I've told you countless times that you're way too intense."

"So I should be like you?" Bullet spat.

Kagura let out an uncharacteristically irritated sigh. "I get it, you've hit a snag. But I don't think you're out of your league. You're hard-working, and one of the best I've got here in this department. I know kissing your ass isn't what you wanted to hear from me, but maybe some positive reinforcement is what you really need." The tension in Bullet's arm eased and he let it fall to her side. "When's the last time you went out drinking?"

Now she was lost. "Drinking? Where'd this come from?"

"Answer. When? Actually, better question. Do you have anyone to drink with? Name three people. Y'know what, name one– and you can't name Tager." Bullet's mouth clamped shut at that last criteria. Kagura looked serious; he wanted an answer but supplying one would be impossible. A woman in her late twenties without any drinking buddies seemed grimly pathetic. "See?"

Bullet threw her hands up in resignation. "Yeah, okay, fine. I don't have anyone. So what? I don't go out every night getting plastered like you seem to do. Wait, when did this conversation become about my social life?"

"When you came to the conclusion that ignoring basic facets of your life was worth boxing yourself in. If you had a friend, you could've ranted to them all night long about your problems. It's free therapy."

The detective stopped her retort short. "Is that why you–"

"They're not all romantic. Of course some of them are, but they're ways for me to meet people, talk things out with coworkers like Lia. Things like that build bonds. Would you have come to me if we didn't interact so much, or would you just sit at your desk groaning aloud?" Kagura pressed.

"I would've come to you regardless," she replied.

"Because I'm the station chief? Despite the fact there are several people in this station with far more experience than me? People who aren't as flirtatious?" Kagura saw her mouth that was preparing to say "of course" stop mid-sentence. "I hope you aren't so pretentious as to consider the other detectives and members of this branch beneath you."

Bullet frowned. "I didn't say that." She respected her coworkers. Even if there were some that didn't click with her, they all worked hard to solve this case and many others.

"Love it or hate it, you've gotten to know me, you can trust me. But I'm just one person among a sea of equally competent officers and detectives with different experience in both the force and life. Y'know that girl, Lia? She was the one who encouraged me to give that disappearance story a go when I was ready to drop it. And look what happened? It ended up being one of the most consistent testimonies among multiple witnesses."

That surprised her. "Wait. Then you weren't lying about it all being professional?"

"Well, not everything was professional." Kagura admitted. "But the fact of the matter is she was someone I could rely on to lend an ear and advice. The only thing you can do is hobble up." His sharp tone left the detective unable to refute him. "Are you free tonight?" he asked after a brief silence.

"I am."

"Good. We're going drinking. It coincides with plans I have with Lia. That cool with you?"

"Fine by me." Although he'd asked her, it didn't sound like a question.

"Nice." Kagura's laidback smile returned as the air-thinning tension left the room. "I'll be waiting for you once your shift ends. Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta use the bathroom."

"Right." Bullet remained rooted to the ground even after her chief exited the room. She then sighed. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

That will bring an end to this chapter, for the month anyway, and I once again praise my beta-reader Wild Blue Sonder of continuing to look over my work.

Next chapter will start their first real visit into a Fractured World and I hope that's an enjoyable one for you guys. As per usual, I will insert that I stream on YT under the same name here DripGodRagna.

Guest: That appears to have gotten an incredibly positive response from people lol

I will see you all next month. Tell me what you think in the review section!