Terios Roth and Liam Clifford went back from the diner and watched a silver-haired male waiting for them in the office. It was Gerald Albrecht, their other colleague. They don't invite him to the restaurant because Gerald is occupied with his work, and they don't want to interrupt his deadlines.

"I almost called you back to the office. I have been working all day on this project."

He opened the folder and took out a sheaf of papers. He gave it to Terios since he's more interested in the project. Liam only took a peek and was uninterested. He might get scolded by Gerald in the future because he knows nothing about this so-called project. Terios got along with it, as long as it was Gerald's idea.

The paper had many pages filled with notes, diagrams, and formulas. Mostly the pages got doodles from a mechanic pencil. The whole thing seemed like some magic spell, but Terios was unsure about this. It was his first time looking at the notes. Everything seems new to him.

"So, this is...?" Terios raised his eyebrow, looking at Gerald.

"Some notes about an incident I found in the city, and the local sheriff asked me if we can help him decode it. It was strange. Maybe you can lend a hand. Don't worry, I will make sure that you're not overwork with your mission," Gerald explains.

"I'm not into magic stuff, y'know, Ger," Liam groaned, "it's not my type either."

"Maybe you can help with hacking and trying to get more information about this case, Liam. You know that you can get sensitive and private information," Liam sighs.

"Sure thing, boss!" Liam said cheerfully, and he got out of the office.

Terios leaned forward. "What kind of incident did you find? Are there any pictures or anything?" Terios asked.

"I will tell you more details in the morning, Terios. You should take a break now."

Gerald took the pages from Terios and put them back in a brown envelope. Terios nodded his head slowly. He feels sleepy after eating salmon steak previously. He's so full that he barely thinks straight for more work.

"Sure, see you at breakfast, Gerald. Thank you for today's hard work," the assassin walks back to his room.

He took off his clothes, put them in the laundry bag, and entered his jacuzzi. He can see gray steam in the air from his tub. He doesn't want anyone to disturb him at this time.

As he tried to relax, he suddenly remembered something. Yesterday, he saw a long white-haired female, approximately 25 years old. He forgot what happened before that. He has to ask Gerald about the name. Hopefully, he could get more information about that girl. She looks very attractive.

Her skin was fair, almost white; her eyes were red, like a ruby. She has a big blue ribbon on her hair; it's quite big for her hair accessory. She's way prettier than Reina, that's for sure. She's not tall; her height is only reached his chest. She is such a lovely lady, but he has no idea why she was in the headquarters. Gerald never mentioned her either to him. Maybe it's because he was busy, and Terios needed to finish his mission that day.

Terios yawned. He was getting sleepy. He dressed up in his pajama and threw himself onto the bed. He tried to sleep. His mind wandered somewhere, as usual. He finally drifted off to dreamland, knowing that he would be seeing that mysterious woman again.

***

Terios and Liam Clifford are inside a hotel near the headquarters. They were in a restaurant, where mostly they take their breakfast. It was Gerald's hotel, and his parents owned it in the first place. His aunt is a chef in the hotel, a five-star chef. Gerald told them that it's okay if they want to take a luxurious breakfast for some time, especially if they have to overwork for a mission.

Liam took a honey pancake and chocolate cereal as his breakfast while Terios ate an omelet. The hacker also takes some orange juice and milk for himself. It's quite rare for him to drink orange juice in the morning- it's not his habit. Terios likes eggs, so he mostly eats eggs for his breakfast. Sometimes he takes some fruits or salad.

Gerald will join later, around 9 AM, since he's still asleep in his bedroom. He won't eat much for breakfast. Gerald won't eat; probably, he was on a diet.

"Hey, Terios, you should take the pancake! It was delicious, you might like it!" Liam teased Terios.

"No thanks, Liam. I'm not hungry at all," Terios replied.

"Come on, it's not a crime to try new things!"

"It's just that I don't fancy pancakes. If you have waffles, I will consider it," Terios gave him a faint smile. Liam quickly goes to the waffle booth and takes some waffles with various syrups. He knows that he likes maple syrup, so he takes more.

While waiting for his return, Terios stands up from his chair and walks to take some rice and meat. He probably won't have his lunch because he ate too much food during his breakfast, but he will consider bringing his snacks. After work, he might visit a convenience store and buy some chips and soda. He wouldn't be able to drink beer, though, because he promised himself to control his drinking.

"Here, the waffles are ready!" Liam comes back with a plate of stacked waffles. He immediately grabs one. It's delicious, and the waffles are still warm.

"It's good," he nodded his head.

See? I told you! You should eat more, Terios. You look so skinny! Should I give you chicken porridge? It's still warm. I can give you a bowl!"

"You're the one who's skinny, Liam," Terios laughed, "look at you, I can see your wrist bones."

"Yeah, yeah, I will take the egg fried rice over there," Liam points at the buffet nearby.

As they were chatting, Gerald entered the restaurant and walked to them. Terios noticed that he was with that mysterious girl he had been thinking about yesterday.

"Hello, gentlemen. I am glad that you came," Gerald greets the assassin and the hacker.

"Hey, Ger, nice to meet you again," Liam greeted.

"So, uh, let me introduce you guys to our new crew. Her name is Kunagi Hakuya. A scientist, she will work with you two from now on."

Kunagi is a young Japanese woman. She wears a white lab coat with a bow in her hair. Terios can see that she's wearing a white shirt underneath the lab coat, probably a blouse. She's way prettier from close. Terios can feel his cheeks are red.

"Is this somewhat related to that doodles in the page yesterday, Ger?" Liam raised one of his eyebrows.

"Maybe yes, maybe not," Gerald smiles, "now, now, guys, you'd better introduce yourself right now. Behave, okay?"

"I'm Liam Clifford, the chief programmer here. We've been working together for a long time now, and, uh, I'm the leader of the hackers in this headquarters," Liam smiled at Kunagi.

"I'm Terios Roth. Nice to meet you, Kunagi."

"Nice to meet you, Terios, Liam" she bowed her head. "My name is Kunagi Hakuya. I'm a research scientist in a national laboratory in Japan. My field of study in physics, and my specialty is the physics of the human body."

Maybe this is a jackpot for Terios. Liam seems uninterested in her study. He might need Kunagi for his missions, but his position can harm her if he takes her to the missions, which is a bummer. He won't let a young lady like her hurt during her work.

"So I will give you the task today. Liam, I was hoping you could find some news and reports about the diagrams yesterday. It might get tricky. Please don't involve deep webs. Uh, and Terios, I won't be available today since I need to go to the police today. You can take Kunagi for a tour. It's only for a day. Thnk that this is your break time, okay?" Gerald gives his colleagues the task.

"Okay, Ger," Liam grins, "we'll get you back in time."

"Good luck," Terios bows his head.

After the briefing and breakfast, Terios and Kunagi went to see a big city. It's not crowded, thankfully. Terios didn't anticipate this since he's unaware he won't get his mission today. But he has time to spend with Kunagi.

He saw that Kunagi was a quiet person, and she seemed a bit shy. Maybe it's because she's new, or Terios is a male. Commonly, a female is not comfortable talking with a male stranger, but now they are colleagues.

"You don't have to shy. I won't harm you either," Terios commented.

"I'm sorry, I'm nervous," Kunagi added.

"You don't have to act nervous. It's my job after all."

"You're a professional killer, aren't you?"

"Yes, that's right."

They were riding the bus. Terios and Kunagi got off at the downtown area and walked along the road. He spotted an Italian restaurant nearby. He never goes there, but people say that the restaurant is recommended. He wants to ask Gerald for some recommendations, but he's probably busy with work. Taking a break from walks won't harm them either.

"Kunagi, are you hungry right now?" Terios asked.

"Uh? N-No, not really," Kunagi shook her head.

"Are you sure? You should take a break from walk first. Hey, I'll pay for today's lunch. It's not a big deal."

Kunagi tried to decline, but her stomach rumbled.

"S-Sorry, oh my gosh, I'm sorry about that."

"Great! Let's go then!" Terios suggested.

The restaurant is called Il Pesce. Terios looked at the menu carefully before he decided what to order. He ordered spaghetti with seafood and garlic sauce. Kunagi's order is carbonara pasta.

"So how do you know Gerald?" Terios asked.

"We met in Tokyo a few months ago. Technically, I met his oldest sister first since we're in the same class at university. Then I met Gerald at the basketball yard. He's a basketball player on his team, and then we play for several matches. Since that day, we become more closer."

"Was it fun to play basketball with him?" Terios asked curiously.

"Oh, sure! I'm not good at sports, so he teaches me a lot about basketball. We're always laughing and joking during the game," Kunagi smiled.

"Really? That's awesome."

"Now, what about you, Terios?"

"Uhm, when I met Gerald?" Terios asked back. Kunagi nodded her head. "My memory is faint, but we met at a private party. I was supposed to kill Gerald that fateful day, but I protected him from other assassins. It was a bloody mess. He's still around 6 or 7 years old, so it's understandable that he's not strong as he now," he continues.

Kunagi widened her eyes. That's a long time ago, but isn't that supposed to be that Terios looks older than he seems? His face is way too young. He must be around his fifties today, but his face tells otherwise. He looked like a 25-year-old youth.

"I'm not a human, Kunagi. I'm a demon, a bioweapon, a killing machine created by Dr. Roth several years before. You probably know that," Terios gave a fake smile.

"Y-Yes, I heard about you. It's scary," Kunagi replied.

"How do you think about me? Do you believe in my existence?"

"Well, no, I wouldn't say that. I'm surprised that I'm working with a dangerous living weapon like you. I mean, you look way different back then when you were a kid, I didn't expect much," Kunagi tried to give a reasonable explanation. She might hurt Terios' feelings, but she is genuine about her situation.

"I see. Well, it doesn't matter. It's just that I want to keep my identity secret until I retire. So, do you have questions about me?

"I have a lot of questions, but I don't know where to start. How did you get your name, Terios? What kind of a life did you have before you started working for-?"

Kunagi barely finished her question, but Terios quickly answered. "Terios is just my, um, 'human' name so I can blend in with humans. I don't really want to answer what is my real name, but you might know sooner or later. Asking this to Liam or Gerald won't help you either since they know nothing."

"Oh, how about your relationship with the headquarter?"

"I only work here occasionally. Those people don't know I'm the killer, so I have no idea whether that makes sense or not."

"That's, um..."

Their orders are just done, and Terios doesn't want to continue the conversation. It is awkward for Kunagi, but it seems she has more information about Terios. Gerald does tell much about Terios back then, but she never had a lucky chance like this. He's a busy man.

She just noticed that the assassin eats a lot today. Probably it's because of lunchtime. She finds a stack of plates early morning in the restaurant, and now he's eating again. They take a lot of time walking, so it's understandable if Terios is already hungry.

"Terios, are you that hungry?" Kunagi asked.

"Nah, I guess. Gerald will scold me if I don't eat much for a day," Terios chuckled.

"Oh, wow. You even look skinny."

Terios eats his lunch. It was okay, not as good as the pasta in the restaurant. Seafood is his favorite, so it's not harmful either. It's cooked perfectly as it should be. To be honest, he doesn't even care much about his food. He's not even a chef or food expert.

"Do you have any plans after this?" Kunagi asked.

"Uh, not really," Terios shrugged his shoulders, "Gerald doesn't even contact me for further mission, so let's just say it's my break time."

Kunagi take a bite of her carbonara pasta. Kunagi eats it quickly because she's hungry. She doesn't think about table manners. Terios doesn't notice. Even if he's noticed, he won't scold her.

"I'm glad you like it," Terios grinned, "I want to ask something."

"What?"

"If it's fine, would you ask Gerald something for me? It's not really that suspicious, but I need someone to help me," Terios asked.