I

14/08/955, 1455 hours, Kanade Station Platform 3, Terra

As far as Yoshihide had known, he had only personally stepped foot on the grounds of the majestic city of Eden once.

He remembered that it was at a time when his memories were still fuzzy and jumbled, and he could only truly take in the bright lights and colours of what he saw around him, so he knew it had been when he was very young.

He remembered accompanying his father to the city in the sky. He remembered bits of what his young mind could take in at the time: tall buildings, crowded intersections, and the now-iconic symbol that represented the Eden Government Agency: A Celestial, spreading his feathered wings apart, and pointing a sword up towards the sky.

Now, as he stood on the station platform, the same symbol stared back at him. It was labelled on the sleek silvery-grey surface of the transport that occupied the train track that was meant to send him on an express trip towards the Eden terminus.

The transport had no windows, and was shaped in a way that made it similar to a high-speed bullet train. Needless to say, its appearance made the other commuters understand that it must have been there for official reasons, and hence they wisely began to move away from it, in the secret fear that they would get into trouble if they interfered with what was happening.

As he continued to stare at the official cargo/person carrier for the Agency, the black-suited man behind him cleared his throat.

"Please step inside the transport, sir. We have a busy schedule to follow."

As the man's words reached his ears, he jolted with a start, his train of thought having had been interrupted by the order, and walked towards the symbol on the carrier.

There had been no visible door, or any outlines of a door on the carrier as far as normal eyes could determine. However, as he walked towards the symbol, the outline of the double door appeared and opened in front of him, revealing the room inside, a spacious and evidently luxurious room with armchairs instead of regular seats, and a wool-coated floor instead of the usual steel-coated ones.

With a deep sigh, he continued to walk into the transport and into the room behind the double doors.

As soon as he stepped inside the transport, with the black-suited agent following closely behind him, the double doors closed, and the transport lurched forward with surprising speed, throwing him to the ground.

"Ow, what the hell? Can't they give a warning first?" he muttered as he began to pick himself up from the ground. Fortunately for him, the wool-coated floor was not as hard as the normal ones, so he was not hurt from the fall, though it did cause him quite a bit of pain.

"We're sorry, but as we said, we need to get to the Agency fast. We have lost quite a bit of time, and we have to make it up with speed." the black-suited agent replied as he looked at him, miraculously having not lost his own balance from the lurch.

"Yeah, yeah," Hide replied as he chose an armchair to sit on, gripping the sides tightly to ensure that he would not fall again. After he made himself comfortable, he stared at the black-suited agent, who remained unmoving.

"Mr. Agent..."

"What is it?"

"Are you sure you can't check who nominated me? You can track them down, can't you?"

"No. The identities of nominators will be kept secret from the general public. No exceptions."

"Oh. Right," Hide replied despondently, as he stared at the woolen floor.

His mind had been continuously whirring ever since he had heard the news from his Principal, and it was now throwing random guesses for him to judge using his prior knowledge.

It could be Risa, but she did promise me she wouldn't do it to me. Is it someone I know? If so, why? Did they see me fight before, and think to themselves, that guy's the perfect fit for the Agency, or did they just nominate me for fun? Goddamnit.

As Hide muttered his frustrated thoughts softly, the transport suddenly jerked to a stop, interrupting his train of thought and almost throwing him back to the floor.

At first, he believed that the transport had arrived at the Eden terminus. However, as he made an effort to steady himself and stand up, the black-suited agent shook his head, and motioned for him to sit down again.

"We're not there yet. We just have to pick someone else up first."

II

14/08/955, 1503 hours, Nishi Station Platform 3, Terra

When the transport's double doors opened, and the person waiting on the station platform behind it stepped inside, Hide had the mistaken belief that they were female.

The reason behind that assumption was because the person who stepped inside was an effeminate boy with shoulder-length hair tied up in a ponytail, and an exceptionally thin frame that lacked any hint of visible muscle. In fact, the only part that gave away the person's true gender was his gentle, but unmistakably masculine voice.

As Hide stared at him closely, in an attempt to confirm the person's true gender, the person sat down on the armchair that was directly opposite from his position and made eye contact with him.

"Missed the initial trip too, huh?" the person spoke, as the transport began to move again, "What a shame. At least you're not alone in that regard."

"What happened?" Hide replied. For reasons unknown to him, the person's gentle tone seemed to create a friendly and trustworthy aura around him, and he felt relaxed as he talked to him.

"Just some stupid accident. Fractured my wrist a few weeks before the nominations, but still got nominated anyway. And you?"

"It's...complicated. I rather not say."

"All right," the person replied, before he turned away, diverting his eyes to one of the arranged armchairs a few feet from where they were.

"What's your name?" the person asked without turning his head back.

"Hide. Technically Yoshihide, but you can call me Hide."

"Nice to meet you. My name's Shinkichi, but you can call me Kichi."

As the transport continued to travel without stopping, the two could feel the ground shaking under them as it began to pass over a rough part of the track.

"Kichi."

"Mmm?"

"Why are you trying out for the test? From what I can see," Hide remarked as he continued to visually scan Kichi's body, "You don't look like anyone who would survive a brawl, or a fight."

In response, Kichi laughed and said, "Looks can be quite deceiving, Hide."

"I see."

Kichi turned his head back towards the person who was sitting in the armchair directly opposite him and smiled as he remade eye contact.

"Hide, I have a feeling that we are going to be pretty good friends."

"I do too."

After Hide finished his reply, a few more minutes of silence passed between the two of them before they jerked forward as the transport began to slow down and stop.

At the same time, the black-suited agent, who had been silent throughout the entire conversation, finally cleared his throat and spoke.

"We'll be arriving shortly."

"Ok," Hide replied.

"Got it," Kichi replied almost simultaneously.

"Oh, and one more thing."

The black-suited agent stared at the two of them, and spoke without any tonal inflections.

"On behalf of Director Matsuta, we would like to say: Welcome to the Agency."

III

14/08/955, 1555 hours, EGA Headquarters, Eden

Among the gigantic skyscrapers that made up the beautiful Eden skyline that was visible from Terra even as it towered over anything else there, the Headquarters of the Eden Government Agency placed itself right in the centre of the elevated island, easily hidden by its taller counterparts.

It was comprised of several glass and concrete buildings, all used for different purposes, and separated by plazas of grey.

While it looked insignificant for anyone who viewed the island from a bird's eye view, considering how small it looked, the fact that it was entirely out of place among the others created an unusual aura felt by them: an aura of defiance, majesty and at the same time of importance.

As Hide, Kichi and the black-suited agent walked through one of the grey plazas that separated the multiple buildings in the compound, they could sense that aura, primarily of majesty, and for a good reason: In the centre of the plaza they were in, the bronze sculpture of a Celestial stood, with a face contorted in anger, and with both of their hands gripping onto a sword that was piercing through another Celestial, one who had a grotesque-looking face that no one wanted to make eye contact with for very long.

If one were to make eye contact with the statue, it would be obvious who they thought was the worst one of the two.

As Hide stared at the extravagant and overly dramatic sculpture, he spoke to Kichi without turning his head.

"Do you think that really happened?"

The answer was pretty obvious, but Kichi shot back a reply.

"If anything, I don't believe the Agency ever did that. Not to show off in front of anyone anyway."

"So?"

"Everything's got a story behind it, even the most basic sculptures. So no one would really know if that really happened. It's all up to the people who were there in the end to decide whether they wished to tell the truth."

"That's true," Hide replied, as his eyes drifted from the sculpture to a poster attached to the wall that depicted two agents staring into the sky, holding up their bloodstained weapons as if they were fighting a powerful enemy that had been left out of the frame. There were no words on it, so one would deduce that it was attached to the wall just to flaunt the Agency's might.

"Please go up to the second floor. One of our best agents will be in the conference room, and he will show you the ropes and let you know what you have missed."

Having walked a considerable distance from the sculpture such that it was now out of sight, the three now stood in front of a staircase that belonged to one of the shorter and wider buildings in the compound. After the black-suited agent spoke again, in the same monotonous voice he had used, he bowed to them and began to move away, leaving the two standing in front of the staircase by themselves.

"I wonder what this agent is going to be like," Hide remarked as they began to walk up the staircase.

IV

14/08/955, 1615 hours, EGA Headquarters, Conference Room 2, Eden

The agent who greeted Hide and Kichi when they entered the room surprisingly did not resemble any mental image of what they thought a 'best agent' of the Agency looked like.

Perhaps, they thought, it was his red hair, which looked like it had been forcefully combed back, that presented a rather fierce image of him, or perhaps it had been his red eyes that seemed to glare at them and follow them when they moved to their seats. Either way, they determined that he was not someone anyone would want to argue with, as it would be clear who the victor would be.

"I thought he would be...nerdier," Hide whispered to Kichi as the lecturer turned around, faced his presentation, and began to speak.

"Alright, listen up. The only reason why I have to give this lecture is because you missed the first trip here, so the others already have a better headstart than you. Hence, I'll try my best to teach you, so that you wouldn't be disqualified immediately during the final test."

"First things first, welcome to the Agency. I know you probably have a lot of questions, but please save them for after the presentation. Long story short, the Agency, together with the Terran Coalition Forces, are the main peacekeeping forces of the three cities. We'll be forced to handle any threats with our primary Anti-Celestial weapons, since the culprits behind these threats are most likely Celestials. You'll be taught how to handle those weapons soon."

"We are primarily developed into three sectors, the Operations branch, the Research branch, and the Administrative branch. I'll be primarily talking about the first sector."

"In the Operations branch, agents will be placed onto the frontlines in any crisis that the cities face. Currently, there are around 20 squadrons in this branch, but the important ones are Alpha, Bravo and Delta Squadron. Those squadrons are assigned to the agents who are able to respond quickly and efficiently to any threats, and have a higher probability of solving the issue. That is not to say that the other squadrons are worse, though. Usually, they could pack a mean punch too."

"At the end of the recruitment period, there will be a combat test to determine if you are truly ready for Operations. The results of that test will determine where you would go."

As the lecturer paused and took a deep breath after having spoken non-stop for a few minutes, Hide raised his hand.

"Do you have a question, Mr..."

"Yoshihide, sir. I would just like to ask, what branch do you belong to?"

"Well," the lecturer responded, as he spoke with a faint air of pride, "I am the leader of Bravo Squadron."

"Wait a minute," Kichi interrupted, with a closer glance at the lecturer's face, "You're Ichida Kado, the Golden Child, aren't you?"

"The Golden...Child?"

"Hide, don't you recognise him? He's the Agency's poster boy! He's one of their best agents! He was practically raised by them since young!"

As Hide stared more closely at the lecturer following Kichi's reply, he suddenly recognised the fierce, silently determined face that adorned the multiple flyers, advertisements and posters that were hung around Terra, including the wordless poster that he saw in the compound.

"Oh. It looks like I may have a fan," the lecturer named Kado spoke, but he did not crack a smile at the recognition.

As he turned around to face his presentation again without any change in his expression, Kichi leaned towards Hide and whispered, "Do you think he didn't like that?"

"What do you think?" Hide whispered back a reply, as Kado began to speak again.

"Moving on, we will now begin the psychological tests. Please proceed to the room next door to do the test."

V

14/08/955, 1715 hours, EGA Headquarters, Interrogation Room 3B, Eden

"Let us begin, then."

Only two people were in the dimly-lit interrogation room, facing each other while sitting down and resting their arms on the steel table. One of them was holding and consulting a clipboard in his left hand, while his other hand was holding onto a fountain pen. Beside him, a recorder, already set to record any words, lay on the table.

The other person, who was Hide, opened his mouth and spoke.

"What's all this for?"

"To test your...psychological attitude and subsequently determine whether you would be a good agent for the Agency."

"So, you'll record what we say about the Agency?"

"That's correct."

"Then, how are you able to tell whether that person is lying?"

In response, the tester snapped his fingers, and the room immediately changed.

Hide blinked in confusion as the dark concrete walls of the room shifted into black voids, such that they were now in complete darkness.

"It's one of the new things we've been working on. Dr. Wakasaki has determined that this environment will induce 56% more truthful responses."

The tester now faded into darkness, leaving Hide alone in the black void.

"Question 1, would you say that you share the same interests as the Agency. Are you willing to sacrifice your life to save humans and Celestials?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a blast of dissonant voices, loud and cacophonous, sounded in the room, causing Hide to jerk back in shock.

"What the hell?"

"Question 1, are you willing to sacrifice your life to save humans and Celestials?"

Hide could hear the voices more clearly now. They were screams of pain. The screams rang in his ears, forcing him to cover his ears as he spoke over the loud screams.

"Y-yes..."

"Answer the question truthfully."

"Yes! Yes!"

"Question 2, have you ever had any thoughts of dissent or of rebellion?"

The voices changed. Now, they were of a speech by who Hide presumed to be a rebel leader spouting hate towards the Agency. The grating, raspy voice of the speaker was a nightmare to listen to for him.

"No, not that I have ever known before."

"Question 3."

Suddenly, as soon as the tester finished saying those words, the room brightened up again.

But what Hide saw was not the concrete walls of the room he was in.

He was sitting in what appeared to be the wake of a massive attack. Around him, the city of Eden was lifeless. Buildings had been reduced to rubble and corpses lay strewn about the ground.

And of those corpses...

He let out a cry and leaned back dangerously on his chair. With a gaping mouth, a mangled torso, and a missing leg, a corpse that unmistakably resembled him was laying right at his feet.

As he stared at the grotesque thing at his feet, the voice of the speaker spoke again.

"As of this moment, there are approximately 17 outcomes where we could have perished as of this moment. What you are looking at is one of those outcomes. The reason why what you are seeing is not what you are experiencing right now is because the Agency helped to prevent that outcome."

Hide gulped as he continued to stare at his corpse.

"Therefore, Question 3, will you ever go against the Agency? Will you be loyal to us?"

Without tilting his head up, Hide responded.

"I will be loyal to the Agency."

With a whirring sound, the corpse at his feet disappeared along with the desolate landscape.

The tester had now reappeared, and was now scribbling in his notes attached to the clipboard.

"Thank you very much. You can leave and rest now. Remember to be at the training room tomorrow morning."

"Alright, thank you," Hide muttered as he walked out of the room, attempting to erase the image of his corpse out of his mind.

VI

14/08/955, 1830 hours, EGA Headquarters, Bunk 5A, Eden

"This is where you'll be staying for the next few days. Do try to make friends with the people you'll be sharing the bunk with."

Hide and another black-suited agent were now standing in front of the bunk door, and much like the previous black-suited agent, the agent conveyed his warning in a monotonous voice before he walked away.

With a sigh, Hide grabbed his bag, which had been filled with overnight items, and opened the door.

As soon as he opened the door, and the people inside the bunk tilted their heads up to look at him, something that was about his size crashed onto him, causing him to drop his bag.

Reeling from the shock and surprising pain that crash-into greeting had dealt to him, he looked down to determine what had struck him.

As soon as he saw the silver hair, he knew who it was.

"It is awfully nice to meet you here."

The silver-haired girl untangled herself from him, and spoke in her cheery soprano voice.

"I thought you weren't coming."

"Well," Hide grumbled, "I had no choice. I was nominated by someone."

"I'm glad about that."

Hide stared at the smiling, cheerful, unchanging expression the girl had plastered on her face. Suddenly, a thought presented itself in his mind.

"Are you the one who nominated me?"

"Weeelllll," the girl replied as she looked away, avoiding his stare, "You weren't exactly doing it yourself, so I did it for you."

"You are kidding me."

"Not in the slightest. Truthfully, I think that you'd be a great asset to the Agency, you know."

"And have you ever considered my thoughts about this?"

"Uh, not really? But I figured you'd be cool about it, so-eep!" the girl cut off her sentence as Hide grabbed her collar and pulled her towards him.

"Listen to me. Since I'm in this mess now, I'll do it, but if I'm pulling out of this, don't you dare pull me back in," Hide growled as he held onto her collar.

"Ok, I'm fine with that." the girl replied as she pulled herself away from his grip and readjusted her collar.

"As long as you have tried, I'm fine with that."

The other people inside the bunk, who had been quiet during the whole argument, returned to talking to each other, the crisis having been averted.

With a sigh of frustration, Hide picked up his bag, and began to look around for an available bed.

"Oh, I don't have anyone sleeping on the bed below mine, so you are free to use that bed," the girl pointed to an empty bed and spoke, as if she knew what he was thinking.

"Fine," Hide replied, as he walked over to the empty bed and placed his bag below it, while the girl followed closely behind him.

"Oh, by the way, I still do not know your name."

"Really?"

"You didn't even introduce yourself the first time we met!"

"Fine then!" the girl remarked as she pretended to pout, "It's Azami. Okuda Azami. Remember that."

"Well, nice to meet you, Azami."

VII

14/08/955, 2155 hours, EGA Headquarters, Bunk 5A, Eden

Beep.

"Hey dad."

"Hide, where are you? You were supposed to be back home by 7!"

"Yeah, er, I have to stay back. Important business at school."

"..."

"Really busy right now, so I'll have to-"

"Hey, Mr. Sakakibara! Your son is fine! He's going to be away for a few days! Agency recruitment test, you know?"

"Azami, give that back! Are you still there, dad?"

"I thought you had decided that you weren't going to go for the test."

"Well, I wasn't, but the girl you heard just now nominated me, so I guess I have to go for it. I hope you aren't too angry about this."

"..."

"Dad?"

"I can't say I'm happy. However, if the Agency wishes to recruit you, then so be it. Just remember to update me."

"Wait, dad! I'm not..."

"Just do the best you can."

Beep.

-----

"Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?" Azami remarked as her upper half hung upside down from the bed above Hide's, and watched him with interest as he put down his phone in confused frustration.

"Just don't interrupt my private conversations anymore, all right?" Hide replied as he raised his phone up again and dialed another number.

-----

Beep.

"Hey."

"Well, well. The Agency recruit has finally responded. How's it like being in there?"

"My father has given me the approval for me to be in the Agency."

"Oh? Has he changed his mind as well?"

"I don't know...he seemed a bit...disappointed when he found out, but he still asked me to do my best."

"Can't help it. You're already in, so pulling out would not be the best right now."

"What about you?"

"I'm adjusting pretty well to the Forces. Saeko's my partner too, so overall, it's been fun."

"Huh. Well, good for you, I guess."

"You still sound pretty down. Tell you what, why not we meet for dinner after the Recruitment Assessment? You can tell me everything that's bothering you then."

"Fine."

"Then it's settled! We will meet at the Hellfire Bar, and then you can bring your partner along too, if you want to!"

"Don't get into any more fights before then."

"Ha ha. See you."

Beep.

-----

"Who was that?" Azami inquired curiously as Hide put down his phone again and began to lie down on his bed.

"Just a friend. No need to know too much."

"Just? Are you suuurrree?"

"Shut up and let me rest. I don't have to tell you that."

With that reply, Azami shut up, and soon, Hide drifted off into sleep.

VIII

15/08/955, 0945 hours, EGA Headquarters, Training Room 21, Eden

The training room was packed with recruits when Hide and Kichi entered.

Near the front of the room, they could see Kado, the Golden Child, dressed in the black and dark red armoured suit commonly worn by agents from the Agency, preparing an assortment of weapons and arranging it for display. A large group of recruits were crowded around him, gossiping to each other and pointing at him.

The extra attention he was getting was not just due to the fact that he was the Agency's poster boy, and was thus a minor celebrity as a result.

It was also due to the wings that were on his back. Instead of the white feathered wings that one would normally see, they resembled the wings of a bat more closely, and created an eerie feeling that was felt by the recruits as they began to mutter among one another.

"I can't believe a demon is the Agency's Golden Child."

"Do you think he's dangerous?"

"I don't trust him."

To Hide's surprise, even though the derisive comments could easily be heard by Kado, he seemed to be unfazed by them, as he finished setting up his display, stood up and began his lesson.

"Alright, recruits. Before you are fit to go for any Agency operation, you have to be ready for combat at all times. You never know when or where the enemy might strike."

"Besides close combat, and the ability to utilise your wings as both a combat and defense move, you also need to familiarise yourself with the weapons. Now," Kado remarked, holding up a sword and swinging it close to the recruits, showing them the illustration of a howling wolf which had been etched onto the blade, "Can anyone tell me what this is?"

Silence. Eventually, one of the recruits raised his hand up.

"The Anti-Celestial Sword, Mr. Ichida."

"Good. Now, you should most likely know that Celestials have a higher durability and healing factor than ordinary humans, meaning ordinary human weapons or things that are used to hurt only humans do not hurt us as much. That is why, to counter any possible Celestial threats, we need to use Anti-Celestial weapons that are able to pierce the Celestial's skin and weak spots, which are the brain and the heart."

As he spoke, Kado bent down and put down his sword, before proceeding to pick up a pistol.

"Commonly, this Anti-Celestial Pistol, along with the other guns, is the most effective weapon against Celestials. However, due to the difficulty in making bullets capable of hurting Celestials, we have very strict limitations on the number of bullets we can carry during an operation."

"As a result of this, we have to use an Anti-Celestial Sword for combat instead since the blade is more durable than bullets. It may require agents to get up close to the threat at hand, but it has been effective in taking out threats faster than having to use a Anti-Celestial Pistol."

"Now, moving on-"

Suddenly, Kado stopped speaking and faced the door of the training room, and the other recruits' eyes followed him. Standing in the doorway of the room was another agent wearing the same armoured suit as he was, and with a wave of his hand, he motioned for Kado to come to him.

"Hold on, I have to do something important first. I'll continue the lesson later," Kado remarked as he began to move towards the agent, closing the door behind him once he did.

Almost immediately afterwards, the recruits moved towards the door and leaned in close in an attempt to listen in on the two's conversation. The ones closer to the door were the luckier ones, as they could get to hear snippets of what was being passed between the two.

"How's the plan going for Shunsho?"

"Shigero has been moved to a safer place. Reinforcements are on standby."

"Roger that..."

As the two finished talking, and the footsteps began drawing closer to the door again soon after, the recruits turned and rushed back to where they had been standing.

"Sorry about that," Kado spoke as he opened the door and walked back to his weapon display, "Had to confirm an operation. You don't have to know too much about that."

With remarkable speed, he kicked up the blade that he had put down, and grabbed it with his left hand as soon as he finished speaking, attracting gasps of shock and amazement from the recruits.

"Now, I will teach you how to properly use one of these Anti-Celestial swords. It's not easy to master, so I will have to teach you the basics first."

IX

17/08/955, 1435 hours, EGA Headquarters, Assessment Room 3, Eden

Before Hide had known it, it was the day of the Agency Recruit Assessment.

It began with a written assessment that tested him on his knowledge of the Agency, general history of the three cities, and their mental capabilities in general. Hide knew that he had answered it to the best of his ability, and was sure that he had made a couple of large mistakes that would likely cost him marks. As a result, he was sure he had just passed it, or at the very least, had done passably well.

Next was the practical assessment, which tested him on his use of close combat techniques and use of Anti-Celestial weapons. He was sure he had done a better job in it than the written assessment, due to his prior experience in combat. The Anti-Celestial weapons were hard to accurately wield for him, but to his relief, he was able to hit all the practice targets. He was sure that the judging panel had nodded their heads slightly at the end, so he was confident that he had done well for that portion of the assessment.

Now, it was time for the last assessment.

The one-on-one fight.

He initially believed it was fake. However, when he questioned the judging panel, they had said that it was to 'simulate a realistic combat scenario', and was thus the most important part of the assessment.

Now, he waited on the benches, looking at the arena he was currently in. It closely resembled a gladiatorial arena, with the addition of a mesh fence to keep the fighters in the arena. To him, it felt like he was trapped in a birdcage with no way out and gave him a sense of panic.

All right, calm down, Hide, he thought to himself as he calmed himself down, it's not that dangerous. It will just be a short while, and then it'll be over. It'll be over.

However, the speaker attached on the wall disturbed his thoughts, as it began to loudly announce the next fight.

"Sakakibara Yoshihide, please step into the arena."

With a deep breath, he stood up and stepped out into the arena, unfolding his wings in the process, which gave him more confidence.

As he stood in the position he felt was the best for him, he watched as the doors on the other side of the arena opened, revealing the opponent behind them.

-----

On the other side, Azami stared back at him, with a wide smile on her face.

"What a coincidence, huh?" she spoke, as she began to twirl the weapon in her hand, a sword made out of wood. To prevent unnecessary incidents, all of the weapons had been designed not to kill anyone.

"I believed I was going to fight a big tough guy, but I guess you will do."

Hide said nothing. His eyes began to scan his smiling opponent, and he moved to a defensive stance.

He knew that his opponent would be different from mere thugs and criminals. He had not fought her before, so he did not know her strengths or weaknesses, or even her strategy to win the match.

Silently, he drew out his unloaded gun from its holster.

Far off in the distance, but clear to hear, a bell sounded.

As soon as they heard the bell, the two opponents made their first move.

Azami's attack reached Hide first, as her wooden sword struck his left shoulder, Hide having partially blocked it in time such that it didn't fully hit his chest. He responded with a strike to her face, which caused her to stagger a few steps away from him.

"Careful there, Hide," she teased, "I nearly won that time. You need to be more careful."

"You haven't seen what I can do."

"Bold words. Can you back them up?"

"We'll see," Hide replied as he pulled out his sword.

-----

It was all over before he could even comprehend what had happened.

As the bell rang for the second time, he found himself on the ground, aching all over. Standing over him, with her wooden sword pressed against his neck, was Azami.

"Looks like we have ourselves a stalemate," she remarked, as she glanced at the unloaded gun pointed at her temple.

"Looks that way," he replied, as he slowly lowered his gun, and she got up.

"Let me help you up."

With a groan of aching pain, he grabbed onto her outstretched hand and got up from the ground.

"Let's hope that that performance had gotten us good marks."

Azami had put her sword back into her scabbard, and began to walk back to the bench area.

"Um...wait!"

Hearing his shout, she stopped.

"Uhh, I'm meeting my friend later at the Hellfire Bar. I was wondering whether you would like to join."

She turned back to him, and smiled.

"Sure. What time?"

X

17/08/955, 1955 hours, Hellfire Bar, District 1, Terra

With its brightly coloured exterior and high popularity, the Hellfire Bar, which was a relatively posh bar and bistro, was a landmark known by both humans and Celestials as one of the best spots to chat or to get together with friends. With its reputation, it was not surprising to see a familiar face among the patrons in the bar.

As a result, when Hide, Azami, and Risa entered the bar, Hide and Azami quickly spotted a familiar face sitting close to where they were, and immediately made a beeline towards them.

"Didn't expect to find you here, instructor."

Kado tilted his head up as he heard the voice.

"You can sit here, if you don't mind."

"Thank you."

Sitting close to Kado was a sullen black-haired female who was continually staring down at the table.

As Hide sat down next to her, he asked, "Who is she?"

"That's Riko. She's a co-worker."

"Oh. I haven't seen her around."

"Because I don't like to interact with people."

Riko responded with such a sudden reply that Hide jolted back in his seat.

After the three newcomers to the table ordered their food, Azami leaned forward and spoke.

"While we wait, how about we learn more about each other? Let's start with you, Mr. Kado-"

"Just Kado is fine."

"Fine! Let's find out whether Kado has any secrets, shall we? I'll go first! Is it true that you single handedly captured your first criminal while you were 7?"

"Well," Kado shrugged and replied, "It all depends on what you believe. It can be true, and it can be false."

"I think it's true. Right then, Hide, you ask the next question!"

"I haven't even-oh, alright."

As Hide glanced at the red-haired demon dressed in casual clothes, a question popped into his head.

"Have you really been raised by the Agency since young?"

Silence.

"Yup," Kado remarked as he stirred the contents of his glass with a spoon, "my parents were killed when I was very young, and by some coincidence, I ended up in the care of the Agency. They taught me everything I know. They're the reason why I am considered to be their 'Golden Child'."

"And have you ever, you know, thought about opposing them, or even harbour any negative sentiments towards them?"

"No, at least not that I know of. I'm grateful for what Director Matsuta has done for me."

As the waitress served their drinks to the table, the conversation continued.

"So how are the Forces, Hide's friend?"

"Huh? Oh!" Risa, who had been absentmindedly staring at the entrance of the bar, started and replied hastily, "They're pretty good at what they do, I guess. I mean, we're not as good as the Agency-"

"That's not true," Kado interrupted, as he raised his glass to his mouth, "The Agency may seem better, but in reality, the Forces also play an important role in peacekeeping. That's why we continually seek assistance from them, and that's why they are the supervising authority over the civilians. We normally deal with more difficult threats, or clean-up operations."

"See, Risa? There's no need to-"

Before Hide could finish his sentence, Riko, who was sitting next to him, suddenly stood up and made him jump back in his seat in shock.

"Can you stop doing-"

"Shh!" Kado shushed Hide, and closely watched the female.

"Riko's always had the sharpest senses. She must be sensing something."

Riko was glancing intently at the entrance of the bar, as though she was watching out for something.

"Screams..." she remarked in a dull voice.

The rest of the people at the table pricked their ears up and listened. After a few minutes, they could indeed hear screams coming from outside the bar.

"If there are screams..."

"...then there must be a threat! Let's move!" Kado ended Hide's sentence and rushed out of the bar, with the rest of the party following closely behind him.

As they dashed out of the bar, and pushed past the rushing, screaming crowd, they could hear the crackling.

The black night sky was tinged with an orange-red glow coming from a high-rise building a few blocks away from them.

The roar of the flames drowned out all the other sounds.

As they stared at the burning building, Kado was the first one to respond.

"We're in trouble."

Agency Files #2: The Eden Government Agency

Formed as a government organisation shortly after the Human-Celestial War, the Agency has come to be known today as one of the two organisations that aim to protect the peace in the three cities.

Utilising a mix of different Anti-Celestial weapons and combat tactics in addition to their agents' physical characteristics as Celestials, the Agency has shaped itself to be a force more powerful than most of the other organisations, including its sister agency, the Terran Coalition Forces.