13 Verdict

His lips curved into a smile, and his face flushed red.

Would you look at that? He's already acting. What a fast turnaround.

"As much as I enjoyed your kiss, babe, I'm afraid I got you as much as you got me," he said, whispering to my ears.

"Got me?" I scoffed. "What do you—"

It was only then that I noticed his gun pointing at my side. He pulled me closer so that I could feel it more.

BZZZZZZZTTTT!!!

'Oh no, the buzzer! My time is up. And he got me, too. Does this mean it's a draw? Or did he point his gun quicker than mine? Then that would mean I… Noooo.'

"Time's up," Assistant Chief Athena announced. The speaker around the arena echoed her voice.

I glanced towards them to read their expression and see how the verdict would go. My brows knitted in worry as I watched the captains whisper towards each other while Assistant Chief Athena listened to them.

"Haah… Haah… Haah… Darn it," I complained under my breath.

Agent Helios got up and stretched while I remained seated on the ground. I didn't even have the strength to stand anymore. I felt too pessimistic about the whole matter. The fact that they were debating instead of getting to a conclusion right away meant that I most likely failed.

'I did my best and even worked on my weakest area, which was flirting, and used that to gain leverage in this battle but still… it wasn't enough.'

Seeing my efforts go down the drain added to my negativity. I didn't even want to hear their verdict anymore.

"What are you all taking too long to decide?" Agent Helios asked the judges.

How great. Way to rub it in. Now, they won't even have the chance to deliberate more on the matter. But this might be good, too. At least it won't prolong my agony.

"Alright, we'll announce the results," one of the captains said. "Agent Selene, unfortunately, this match is a—"

"I lost," Agent Helios cut him off, much to everyone's surprise—including me.

'He… lost? What does he mean when it was obviously a draw, and basically, a draw meant I didn't win, so I—'

Agent Helios then lifted his gun and released the magazine where the bullets were.

My eyes widened when I saw it—there were no bullets!

"Oh my goodness! I… I won!" I blurted out, suddenly feeling ecstatic!

I sprang up and jumped in joy. My lips couldn't hide their grin. I had never felt so happy before that I almost cried.

Then I glanced back at the captains, and they were murmuring again. But Assistant Chief Athena was smiling!

"In that case," she said, "congratulations, Agent Selene. You passed your rank-up test. You've done an excellent job."

"I won! I won! I won! YEAAAAH!!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs in my joy.

In my happiness, I even jumped toward Agent Helios and hugged him. It's alright. I'll look over the fact that I hated him just this one time. After all, he was honest enough to admit he didn't have any bullets, resulting in me passing the test. I'm thankful for that fact, at the very least. That, and I needed to keep up with our act.

"Yes, well done. But don't move your wrists too much," he reminded me. "I might have squeezed them too tight."

Looking at it, his hands left a clear red mark on my skin. Now, I'm feeling pissed off again. Oh well, at least it didn't look like it's fractured.

"You're such a psycho. I know it works as an advantage, but I can't believe you like torturing your enemies."

"Eh? But it's fun. You should try it sometime."

"Fun? Ugh… I'm not as mental as you," I scoffed. "Also," I leaned in to whisper, "don't feel too sad losing from me."

"Ha-ha. Don't worry. I won't be since I didn't use all my skills on you. You didn't really think that's all I could do, right?"

Really, this guy just wouldn't admit his defeat.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I don't believe you anyway.

Soon enough, we left the test area, and I headed straight toward the hospital to get my wrist checked and treated for the minor scratches I received during our combat. Once done, I went back to my room, took a long bath, and finally got my much-awaited and deserved rest.

"Ahhh… the bed is the best."

It didn't take that long for me to fall asleep.

"Appa… I did it. I won."

***

[Agent Helios POV]

"Ahhh… I could finally bathe."

I moaned as the warm water touched my body. Nothing beats a warm bath after sweating a lot.

My battle with her turned out more amusing than I thought it would be. No wonder Assistant Chief Athena liked her. She's full of surprises. I didn't think she'd turn her weakness into a strength during a dire situation.

As the water ran down my skin, I felt a slight sting on my neck. Right, she did bite me earlier. What a feisty cat. Or should I say tiger since she has awfully sharp fangs?

Then, I remembered her kiss. Still feeling the warmth from her lips on mine, I brushed my lips with my finger.

'She's getting better at kissing, too. It wasn't as awkward and forced as the first one. That's good. Her acting improved as well. Despite her emotions, she remembered our facade. Hmm… she was quite a handful at first, but she's a quick learner.'

Considering everything I observed about her and seeing her skills up close during the battle, I would have to admit that, indeed, she's the best fit to be my partner. She was weaker than me in terms of physical strength, but she still managed to fight me in close combat, which was supposed to be a disadvantage for her.

Thoughts circled my mind as I continued to deliberate on her performance. The reason why Assistant Chief Athena chose me to test her out was for me to decide whether I wanted to continue the upcoming mission with her or not. The judges earlier weren't really the ones with the final say on the matter. It was me.

Soon enough, I finished my bath and covered myself with a bathrobe before going out. On my way, I passed by the battle suit I tossed in the laundry basket.

"Ah, right. I should remove that."

Rummaging through one of the pant's pockets, I took out three circular bullets. I stealthily took it out when she started looking sad when I told her my gun was pointing at her. Remembering her expression, I couldn't help but grin.

'Ha-ha. She looked so adorable that time, wrenching her face and almost crying. Too bad, I wanted to see more.'

Staring at the bullets on my hand, an amusing idea crossed my mind.

"I still prefer doing things solo but… this partnership… I guess it doesn't sound so bad, huh?"

And so, I kept the bullets in the top drawer of my bedside table. Who knows? I might be able to use it to tease her in the future.