Masks. We see them as accessories, pretty pieces of jewelry worn for attention and glamor then hung up or locked away only to collect dust as you go and buy another one for the next party.

Every year in this small, quaint town, a ball is held. It's a masquerade party where all the townsfolk could walk away from the poverty of their everyday lives for one night to indulge themselves like royalty, or even as equals.

But like everything in the world, there is a reason as to why the masquerade started and why they are only held at night.

Centuries ago, the Angels and Demons were at war. It was a fight fought for so long that neither side knew who had started it. They just knew that it was neither of their faults.

It got to the point where the fighting was benefiting no one. More and more human lives were being sacrificed, land was being ravaged, and the worst part of it all: the Angels were losing.

So the Archangel decided to parlay with the Archdemon, and together they came up with a solution.

Every year during the ball, there's a special hunt. Angels were picked and supplied. It started as a messed up treaty between the Angels and the Demons so that the Demons would stop attacking, because what's a few sacrifices for peace. Now the ball was just a party of depravity where even humans were thrown into the mix and it wasn't weird to see two or even three people getting handsy in the middle of the dancefloor.

Yukari watched all of them from the sidelines of the dancefloor with contempt. She hated this practice. She knew about the tradition already. Her mom was a sacrifice long ago and one of the few who actually managed to leave unscathed only by the skin of her teeth.

She had no intention of being one of these sacrifices, so she avoided this mansion and street it's on like the plague. There was nothing for her here. She wanted no part of whatever the Demons in these parts were doing.

This was no place for an Angel to be. But apparently Ikutsuki thought she did since their beloved chairmen signed her up as a sacrifice. All under the reason of it being a training mission, a great chance to "toughen up her wings".

It was pretty words for a suicide mission.

Missions like these were meant for the higher ranked Angels. Mitsuru knew this too. Her argument was swift and sound against the chairman, but he shut her down.

But that didn't mean she just went along with it.

While preparing her for the mission, Mitsuru gave her a special heart shaped charm. It was meant to hide her scent from the Demons and disguise her as one of their own.

As long as the charm was in place, the Demons wouldn't recognize her as an Angel; but even knowing this, she was sweating a little.

She was in no way scared of them. Demons are Demons, but the ones in this part of town were a step above the rest in the worst way possible. This brothel of a party didn't help either. She didn't even want to pick up a drink. There's no telling what was slipped in them.

Whatever. All she has to do is get through the night and this will all be behind her.

"Let go of me!"

There's a commotion a few feet in front of her. Three Demons were ganging up on an Angel. She recognized her. She was two leagues above her. She's seen her around but they've never talked. The three were pulling her by her arms and clothes as she struggled to get free.

There goes the first victim of the night.

"Ah, ah, ah, little Angel. You got caught." One of the Demons said.

"And now it's time for us to play with you." This one was already licking his lips in anticipation. There was no-telling how depraved and devastating the activities cooking up in his rotten head were.

"No!" The Angel struggled even harder. The crowd around them merely watched; some were smirking and some frowning, mostly likely because the catch wasn't theirs. Both of these groups were Demons. No Angel would be caught dead in the middle or even in viewing range of a commotion like this in fear of the Angels doing something that was also common at these masquerades.

Snitching.

The Angel turned towards her and their eyes met. The Angel's eyes then zoomed in on the charm snapped into her choker.

"Take her! She's an Angel, too! Spare me!"

The masked eyes of the three and all the onlookers landed on her and she immediately felt like deer caught in headlights.

One of the three's nose twitched, rather, she thinks all of their noses were twitching. They were trying to catch her scent. The raised eyebrow of one of the assailants was a good sign.

"She ain't no Angel. Did we score a stupid Angel?"

Thank kami they were a bunch of idiots.

"Who cares. She was gonna be stupid after we finished with her anyway. We're just going to make her stupider."

The Angel jumped at that. "N-no! She's an Angel! I swear!" With the Demons distracted, she ripped her arms out of their grasp and sprinted towards her, her movements somehow still fluid in such a long dress. Yukari was stunned. She couldn't step back or away without looking suspicious. She was stuck and now she was panicking.

Suddenly, she was yanked back by the waist. She stumbled back and her heels almost caused her downfall when she collided with something tall, firm, and solid.

"She's mine." His voice was a monotone deadpan that dared anyone to challenge him.

"Huh?" A man had pulled her back. His arm around her waist was a solid weight and shield as he kept her pressed against him. His blue hair was cut short to merely brush his shoulders. His mask was a blue lighter than his hair and rather plain much like his tuxedo. His eyes behind the mask were desolate, but there was a small, flickering flame that meant death to argue.

But who is he calling his?!

"Wha-what!" The Angel was dumbfounded, and the three Demons caught up to her in her shock.

"Ya' got caught. Now come here, little wingette."

"No! No!" The Demons started dragging her away into the depths of the crowd, her screams eventually fading out into the hustle of the multitude.

Yukari let out a sigh of relief as the people turned away from her, having lost interest.

"H-hey! What are you doing!?" She panicked again when the stronger man started pulling her along. She thought he was going to take her to wherever they had taken the other Angel, too. Instead, he led her further onto the dancefloor, closer to the edge than where she had been standing before. The outskirts of the dancefloor served as the invisible barrier that meant you and your partner were off limits to all the depravity of the center.

"That Angel tried to oust you. With that big outburst, they're still looking at you suspiciously." While explaining this, he moved them into the perfect dancing position. He joined their hands together and brought them outwards, his hands flat against the curve of her side and he pulled her closer at a comfortable enough distance. He guided them into the dance as the music changed. "So a dance should get their eyes off of you."

"Why are you even helping me?" What was his goal? He couldn't be helping her out of his own free will or out of the kindness of his heart. He'd have a better reward and result if he just revealed who she was. And how did he even know who she was? This charm was supposed to be full proof. It's been working for the last hour and a half and no Demons have noticed her yet. The only reason the Angel knew she was hiding was because she recognized the red, heart-shaped charm since she was one of the higher ups. He shouldn't know what the charm was and he couldn't have recognized her from any missions since she hasn't been on the frontlines, instead working under Mitsuru on the more secretive missions.

"You really don't like getting help from anyone, do you?"

"What? What does that have to do with-"

The time for the spin came. He slowly spun her around in time with the music and the other dancers, but when she came back around he pulled her impossibly closer to his body, moving her hand to his shoulder and their conjoined hands closer to their bodies. She was in such shock that the protest got stuck in her throat.

"Ikutsuki sent you to find me."

What?

"Ikusuki thought that by sending you here, he could lure me out. He's using you."

"Ikutsuki-san wouldn't do that." The Senior Angel has been helping her since her father died on one of his missions. He's one of the reasons she was able to earn her wings so fast. The man had no bad bone in his body besides all of those bad puns he'd make. To be honest, the man was far too kooky to scheme out nefarious plans.

"Isn't this the same man who signed you up to be a sacrifice for this obviously sacreligious party?"

She couldn't reply to that one.

"He's probably going to ask you if you met someone suspicious, or someone who looks like me while you were here. Tell him no." He pulled back to spin her around again and led her into a dip. He followed her down, and he whispered in her ear.

"Don't be fooled, Yukari."

The resounding ringing of the grand bell sounded just as he pulled her back up to her feet. It signaled the end of the hunt.

When she turned around to regard her mysterious partner, he was gone; disappeared into the commotion he arrived in.

On that note, it was time for her to leave.

How did he know my name?

"Good to see you're back in one piece." Ikusuki-san was eager to see her when he heard she'd returned. He was shocked to see not a blemish or scratch on her person or her psyche. The other Angels were too. Rarely any Angel came back from the Demons' party unscathed. It was even hard for the higher ups. So how could this random, new blooded Angel do it? Now even more people were talking about her.

But Yukari didn't care. She was already used to people rudely talking about her behind her back. What that Demon had told her was still racing through her mind.

"He's using you."

"Don't be fooled, Yukari."

"Thank you, sir." She bowed to the senior Angel.

"Of course! This was a difficult mission that even some of the higher ups couldn't handle. You deserve the praise." The chairman leaned back in his chair in his office. He folded his hands together in a fist and settled them in his lap. The light was forming a strange glint on his glasses.

"But I have to ask, did you see anyone suspicious while you were there?"

"Sir?" Yukari quickly raised her head. Did he just ask that? He couldn't have just asked that. Ikutsuki raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

"The Demons are a very dangerous race of very dangerous creatures. We need to find out every countermeasure and secret weapon they have. Is it weird to want to be able to protect our own, Takeba-chan?"

"No, sir." She hurried to respond and correct her bow. "I haven't seen anyone suspicious."

"Hmm. A shame." The chairman stood from his seat. The glint remained and his serene smile was replaced by a grim frown. It was like a new person replaced the chairman where he stood.

"Good job, Yukari." He patted her once on her shoulder and congratulated her again before walking out of the room with his hands folded behind his back.

The mysterious boy was right. He. Was. Actually. Right. That means that even Ikutsuki-san couldn't be trusted.

She can't trust him, she can't trust Mitsuru, she can't trust her mother. Then who could she trust?