C8: Them

He was aware that she was posing as someone else.

Nonetheless, he chose not to push her any further.

Perhaps, because he is certain he already got her.

"Well, I guess we have to continue this conversation some other time as there are still matters that I need to attend to, unfortunately. I'd like to contact you at a later date to further discuss this contract. Many thanks for your time, Mister Moonlight."

No. This is his way of saying he'll give her time to countermove; that she could take as much time as she needed to fight back or submit.

Avyanna would never, ever allow something the latter to happen.

***

The next day, a woman dressed in all-black cargo pants and a long-sleeved mock collar crop top, paired with black combat boots, a heavy black jacket, and sunglasses can be seen strolling down into the city's famous XK security agency. The building was made up of stone and has a wide sliding door made up of glass that acts as the entrance to the company. Most of the walls on the first floor were occupied by windows, and lots of people in suits can be seen walking around the hall.

The woman head straight to a particular golden elevator and pressed the button meant for the underground floor. Each of the people inside the building never once bats an eye on her as there is a golden rule that you should never lay your eyes on people who have access to the golden elevator. 

And Avyanna was the reason for such a rule to ever exist in that agency.

Only those whose fingerprints are registered on the data system can have access to the underground floor, the button for it is equipped with a fingerprint scanner. Unless you're an outsider, once you try accessing the underground floor or the golden elevator itself, the alarm will automatically activate and locked you up inside until guards could capture you. 

The elevator opened as the bell dinged, and Avyanna casually walked her way toward the red door. Inside is a wide private room that has soundproof walls, a meeting room meant for the underground business of XK Agency.

She went straight in without knocking.

Avyanna can feel three pairs of curious eyes blatantly staring at and examining her whole. She didn’t pay attention to them and went to sit on the swivel chair meant for the highest person in the room. 

“Hello!” A loud voice of a feminine-looking boy echoed in the room. Avyanna glanced at him sitting on the sofa, eyes wide, obviously glistening. “Were you also recruited? My name’s Jay, btw. Nice to meet you!” He greeted her after standing up, he half walks and runs towards her. Exposing his dimples and white set of teeth as he smiled brightly. 

He's dressed in a beach short and long sleeveless shirt with the words "Die young." written on it. He's the lithe but muscular type of guy, tanned and the same height as she is, 5'4. His tanned skin looked great with his butterscotch brown hair.

Avyanna nodded, acknowledging his greeting. She couldn’t help but ask if this person was scammed as he doesn’t look anything like a person who has the same profession as her.

Was he lost? Are they the people Mr. Black was talking about?

The boy became even more enthusiastic even with her lack of response. "Zeke! Look! We have a new member!" He shoved the guy he called Zeke in front of Avyanna as he hold him on his shoulders. “This is Zeke. And that guy over there-” He pointed towards the guy leaning over the desk on the other side of the room who slightly smiled in response. “-is another member of ours. Ugh, you don’t need to know his name, he’s a chick magnet.” Jay whispered the last sentence. Avyanna sidely glanced at the guy he was pertaining to, he has a warm look on his face and a gentle smile. She could immediately tell why Jay called him that.

“Hey bud, get off me will yah.” Zeke shoved Jay off of his shoulder and glared at Avyanna, scanning her from head to toe. “You. How dare you sit on that chair? Looking at your outfit, you don’t have a single accessory on you that could tell what position you have in this organization, which only means that you’re a complete noob. You aren’t supposed to sit on that chair as common sense. And you,” Zeke turned toward Jay. “Can you stop being so over-friendly to every single people that you meet? That’s why people think that you’re a pushover.”

With an irritated look on his face, Zeke went back to sit on the couch and continued to mind his own business with his laptop on his lap. 

Jay chuckled, “I’m sorry. Don’t mind him. He’s just concerned that you might get scolded by Mr. Black for sitting on that chair. However, as usual, he couldn’t be less provocative when saying it. “ He apologized, scratching his nape.

“I am not concerned!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jay completely ignored him. And decided to converse with Avyanna who was still comfortably sitting on the swivel chair. “Anyways, have you heard of Raven? I heard that he’ll be joining us too. Fuck, I was so excited when Mr. Black told us about that that I wasn’t able to sleep immediately last night. He’s such a legend!” Leaning forward with his elbows on the table, Jay had a glimmer in his eyes as he talk about his “idol”.

“I mean. I heard Raven only does solo missions. And I’ve never really heard of him being part of the team. So it’s baffling but also very exciting to be part of the same team with the person who raised XYS to the top!”

Avyanna wasn’t used to this. She feels she suddenly became an idol because of this person who’s fangirling over her other identity as “Raven”.

If you were to look closely. The top of her ears was starting to turn red from embarrassment.

“Tsk. What’s so great about that person anyway.”

Jay rolled his eyes and looked in Zeke's direction. “Dude, he’s like at the top of the top in the worldwide assassination board! He had already killed thousands or even millions of criminals from the moment his name was known in our world. The living legend who made all the police burn their hair off from causing havoc in that particular massacre years ago! Shit. He's every assassin's icon!"

"And is that something to be proud of?"

Jay was confused. 

"You said it yourself. He had killed thousands or even millions. Doesn't that make him a monster? We're all assassins. We kill people. But remember that particular massacre you just mentioned? Raven chose to kill even innocent people at that time for no particular reason. That is against our morals. I heard he was even grounded because of that. We're all killers. But that Raven is much more dangerous. " Zeke said in a serious tone, before glancing towards Jay. "So you should stay away from the likes of him. Legend or not. He's the type of person who just likes to kill for fun. A same specie as the other blood-driven dog of the other shitty organization."

Avyanna's eyes turned cold.

"So? I don't really care."

Jay's response made Avyanna look at him.

"Those are just rumors going on around the organization. Something happened and we didn't know the reason behind it so we made up baseless grounds just to satisfy our curiosity. Which in the end becomes the truth because of people like you who think rumors equate to the real thing."

Zeke chose not to disagree and just wave his hand. "Whatever." He's aware that Jay is already mad, but he won't take his words back since that is his own opinion, just like Jay has his own.

Zeke will never understand his friend's obsession with that person. 

But well, he's so used to it by now.

Avyanna couldn't pinpoint what to do. They annoy her, but it's her first time to personally see someone defending her.

However, why does this person seem familiar?

Jay was about to complain again when the squeaking sound of the door interrupted the whole conversation between the two. 

"Ow! You're all here! Wonderful, now should we--"

"I don't like them." Avyanna interrupted Mr. Black just as when he came into the room, her icy tone was enough to stop everyone in their tracks. The sudden shift of atmosphere made the three guys uncomfortable.

Mr. Black was confused. "What? What did I miss?" He smiled, trying to lift up the heavy mood.

Avyanna turned to face Mr. Black as she stood up, combing her hair in the process. The blue ombre on the tip of her raven hair shone under the peeking sun rays over the glassed window. She blinked. "You know very well how I hate working with people." Her brown orb glanced over the man who insulted her, the colors underneath glowed slightly. "Much less with people who  don't like working with me either."

They are noisy, weird, and strange. 

She doesn't like them.

Especially how good this particular person to her.

Zeke was confused. What did he do?

"No. I am not letting you be. No matter how much you dislike this idea so much, you will have a team. So sit down, and let me talk." Mr. Black smiled. His face doesn't show any intimidation, cause his vibes could clearly show that he's serious. 

Avyanna sighed. She went to the back of Mr. Black's desk and sat on the swivel chair comfortably, acting as if nothing happened.

The four men in the room stood dumbfounded on their spot. 

"Wait, you're letting her sit there?" Zeke asked. 

"Hey, now, don't be so rude. You know that Mr. Black is soft-hearted when it comes to ladies. Hi, I'm Lei by the way." The guy, wearing a warm expression, walked steadily toward the center. He smiled, reaching his hand towards the woman.

Avyanna nodded, not bothering to accept his hand. "Raven," she said. 

Once again, the three stood frozen.

Mr. Black chuckled.

Ah, youth.

***

"So... you're saying, that this... person is Raven? As in the very same person who killed more than 300 people a year? That person?" Zeke asked in bewilderment. He can't believe it. He doesn't want to believe it. How come such a fragile looking human, that very same person he called a monster?

Mr. Black smiled. "Yes, that's her."

"H-holy fuck" Jay exclaimed. His amber eyes glowed in admiration, however confused and dumbfounded by the realization. Nevertheless, he quickly accepted the fact that this person is really the one he's been looking up to. 

Lei, the guy with strawberry brown hair, stared at the woman claiming to be Raven in amusement. It didn't also occur to him that Raven would be a girl, since any information about him-or he would say, her-are strictly confidential. No one knows who Raven is, and the fact that she was known as the killing machine made people in the assassin community assumed her to be a man.

Who would have thought that he would be a she?

"Now, Raven. Let me introduce you to your new team. This guy with dark blue hair will be responsible behind the scenes. He specializes in computers, and he'll be a very great help when tracking and looking for escape routes." Mr. Black gestured to the guy with a hair color close to black. 

"His codename is Zeke." Mr. Black turned towards the tanned boy with butterscotch brown hair, he had childishness written all over his face. "Ah and this fellow here is Jay. Don't be fooled by his face, he's already 22. I once thought that he was still in high school when we did the interview."

Avyanna slightly raised an eyebrow.

Oh, she actually thought he was underage.

"He's best in any kind of guns-"

"May it be a sniper, rifle, or pistol! I can fire any of them, Master! Without missing any target!" Jay announced in a cheerful voice. Avyanna can practically imagine him wagging his tail at her.

She opened her eyes and stared at his amber orbs, nodding at him in appreciation.

Jay felt his ego boosted. He was just acknowledged by his Master!

Zeke scoffed at the scene, turning his gaze away from them.

Mr. Black's expression softened. He continued his introduction about the last member. "And this young man here is Lei. He's called the poison master in the underground, according to my assistant's research."

Lei chuckled, arms crossed over his chest, "Please. I'm no master, Sir. Making poisons is just my passion." He humbly responds.

Poisons... how remarkable.

Avyanna has always wanted to learn poison making, if it wasn't for the fact that she gets too lazy, she might be able to learn them by now.

"And lastly, of course, this woman right here is Raven." Mr. Black introduced Avyanna with pride. His eyes are bent in a crescent shape like they always do, although right now his smile is somewhat wider than usual.

Zeke can't help but roll his eyes.

Avyanna nodded and stood from the seat. She began to walk towards the door.

"...Raven?"

"Yes?"

"Where are you going?"

She shrugged. "Home."

"We're not--"

Avyann turned her heels to face the four. "I only decided to be here because you ordered me to. But I never agreed to be part of a new team." said bluntly by Avyanna.

Jay's shoulder slumped down in dismay.

"Ha! How arrogant! Who said we wanted to be in a team with you anyway!" Zeke couldn't help but blurt out. 

"I do!" Jay raises an arm.

"Well, I don't mind," commented Lei.

Zeke could only stare at his two best friend’s betrayal.

Mr. Black smiles at Avyanna. "Give this team a chance."

The woman didn't respond for 3 minutes before shrugging. "Alright."