"I'm not sure why Akuma has taken such a liking to you, but it's definitely worrying."

Akinari was trying to process what Phoenix had told him with a calm expression, but he was inwardly panicking. After all, Saiko was the new recruit, and she was already being targeted! In the past two days, no one had reported being attacked by Akuma. Saiko definitely had some sort of affect on the demon herself, and Akinari was determined to keep Saiko at all costs.

"Worrying? Why? Saiko made a new friend!" Saiko innocently questioned, completely forgetting that she had seen Akuma take down Cana the very first time they had met. "You all are the very first friends Saiko has ever made!"

"Look, Saiko. I don't mean to be harsh, but you need to cut off ties with her!" Cana interjected before Akinari could rationally explain to the other girl. "She's a killer. A murderer! Someone like that doesn't belong here."

"B-But she's nice..."

"What Cana means to say," Akinari sighed, shooting a quick glare towards the pink haired female, "Is that Akuma is known for slaughtering all of us for no reason. She could be trying to lead you on, only to betray you later. I know she may have seemed nice to you, but she has only ever brought death and destruction to us. You don't want to see us struggling anymore, do you?"

"No, Saiko doesn't want that," Saiko agreed, but she still had an upset look on her face. "Does that mean Saiko has to stop talking to her?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, but it's for your own safety. Akuma is too unpredictable to risk your personal health."

"...Akinari, we're dead. How can you risk something when we can't even die?" Celeste sighed with an indignant look on her face. Saiko had totally forgotten that the Afterlife Academy Angels were still in the room. "I don't want Saiko getting hurt either, but wouldn't the extra information be nice?"

"Safety must always be our number one priority," Akinari scolded Cana with a knowing look placated on his face. "You know how much it hurts to die. Just because it doesn't actually kill us doesn't mean I want anyone to go through that painful procedure."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry for even questioning it..."

"Well, I'm not! We've been fighting this war for so long, don't you think we could use a mole?" Allegra finally spoke up, a snarky tone in her voice. "She could figure out how to stop Akuma!"

"A mole? But that's just...against my morals!"

"Ooh! Saiko would be willing to do that! Is there a mole costume Saiko gets to wear?" Saiko exclaimed excitedly. Phoenix had to gently explain to her that that wasn't the case.

"No, sorry," Phoenix said with an amused look on her face. She was careful enough to explain it in a way where it didn't sound like they were being awful by spying on Akuma. "It means you'll be talking to her in order to find out more about her."

"Ooh...She is really interesting. Is that all Saiko has to do?"

"I mean...Basically," Cana shrugged. "But it's still too dangerous. Our code is safety first, and we can't change that-"

"Please, please, please let Saiko go!" Saiko begged, a doe eyed and innocent look in her bright blue eyes. "Saiko wants to be useful, and do fun stuff! Please?"

"Absolutely not-"

"Fine," Akinari relented, making both Phoenix and Cana gasp in surprise. "But I will accompany you myself to make sure no harm comes to you."

"In that case, you'll be fine," Lydia crossed her arms. "Akinari and and Cana are amazing with a gun. As long as you aren't caught unprepared, you'll be okay...unless a random shark jumps out of the ocean just to attack you."

"Great!" Saiko beamed. "Saiko's so happy!"

"Good," Akinari bit his lip. He was hoping that he wasn't making the wrong decision. "In the meantime, Saiko, why don't you go socialize? I heard Cameron is dying to talk to you."

"Okay! Saiko will see you all later!"

As the blue haired female dashed out the room, all everyone could do was pray that Akinari was making a good call here.

"I hope you know what you're doing..." Cana sighed, worried for Saiko's safety. He nodded, a slight smile on his face. Akinari knew Saiko would be safe.

"I do."

hey everyone! well...hey people reading this book. ig it's not everyone because a lot of people dipped :P tbh i would dip too if i had to wait that long

but anyways thanks for staying, hopefully more stable updates coming. as i explained in month of may, i...actually didn't have a story board for some of my books, and while i had one for this one, i was unhappy with it. that meant that i would write a sentence, hate the direction it was going, delete it, and then quit wattpad

not kidding lol

but yea i erased the old plot and i'm in with the new so here we go!

thank you so much for reading :)