A/N: Hello. This is an attempted sap brought to you by an author who should get her head checked, because she usually can't tolerate romances and the general cheesiness that comes along with it. ...Talking about myself in the third person is kind of weird. Although this isn't excessive in sap -because that would probably kill me- the pairing Noel X Ragna is implied.

Simply Complex

Chapter One

Noel Vermillion received her mission upon arriving at the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. It was simple enough: Detain the SS-class criminal, Ragna the Bloodedge, also known as the "Grim Reaper". Though, she had no idea that it would be that strenuous a mission...

~x x x ~

"Ragna the Bloodedge! Turn yourself in!" the blonde officer's voice resonated as she raced through the narrow streets of Ronin Gai, gasping between breaths.

After half a day of searching nearly the whole of Kagutsuchi, Noel had finally tracked the SS-Criminal down. After a quick battle wherein he took off while she was performing her Astral Heat, she had been in hot pursuit for hours. Hot pursuit, meant in a literal way, because the sun was scorching during the time.

Though the sun had finally begun to sink in the background as Noel leapt over a wheelbarrow with her pistols raised, determined eyes unwavering as she chased after the man in the red jacket.

Feeling annoyed that he wouldn't face her or slow down, she yelled out, "Just turn yourself in already!"

"Damnit, she just won't let up!" Ragna hissed to himself as he ran, feeling the cobbled roadway scrape against his shoes.

He was feeling pretty annoyed too. He had wasted most of his time running and hiding all because he didn't wan to pick a fight with an NOL soldier in case news of his presence in Kagutsuchi would spread and be widely known. The crazy vigilante already approached him and he had to take care of him quickly before running off again.

"What a waste of my time," he cussed under his breath, keeping his head low so that no one would recognize his face, what with all the wanted posters up.

Though the biggest giveaway was his red jacket, and he knew it. "It's this jacket, it's this frickin' jacket!" he cursed, skidding to a halt.

Ragna noticed a narrow alleyway, hidden in the shadows between two seemingly desolate buildings. The orange sunlight did not reach the area and he assumed it would be a good place to wait until the NOL soldier passed.

He looked over his shoulder one more time before sighing as he crept in the shadows, pressing his back against the rough brick wall.

Noel tried to catch her breath, rubbing her forehead. The cap she wore was feeling stuffy with all her hair clumped inside. Her bangs, along with loose strands of hair hung forward and continuously pestered her view. She blew a few strands out of her face, huffing in exhaustion.

Why was it so hard to simply capture and detain this criminal? She had successfully arrested many other criminals and neither of her missions were this...this...time consuming!

"Waaaaah!" she yelped, tripping over a pile of bricks. Hoisting herself up, she winced at the grains of stone imbedded in her hands. Noel sat up and rubbed her knees, which was also grazed on the stone. Looking up, she noticed Ragna was out of sight.

"I lost him!" Noel yelled, slapping her hand to her forehead with a hopeless whimper.

Why was this mission so difficult! Was it because she was not a capable soldier? It was true that she had been admitted at a very young age, but, did that mean she was incapable of carrying out her missions the way she would have if she fully completed her studies?

She forced herself to stand up, even though she really felt like sitting right there and resting. She was so tired.

Ignoring her whims for rest, she ran down the road, looking around for any sign of red which would reveal her captive.

"Hold it right there!" A very buff and sweaty looking man jumped down from someplace above, obstructing Noel's path.

"W-wha...?" Noel mumbled, looking up to see where he possibly could have jumped from.

"I saw you give my cute little disciple, Carl, a beating earlier! And for that, I must deal with you!" the man stated, crossing his arms in an intimidating manner.

Noel stammered, confused. "What...? Carl? No, we were just-"

"Listen young man, no one bullies my disciple! You're obviously older, you should know better! That is why, I, Bang Shishigami will teach you a lesson!" the man interrupted her explanation and she blinked a few times, unable to comprehend what he was ranting about.

"Young...man?" she blushed, his words finally settling in. Holding Bolverk in front of her protectively, she defensively stated. "I'm a girl!"

The man stopped his lecture and took a moment to observe her. A look of embarrassment crossed the raucous vigilante's expression. "Ah-I see. Uh, anyway, you're still in need of a lesson! Bullying is unacceptable!"

Noel recoiled at his loud tone. Why was he yelling like that? She straightened her posture and proceeded to clarify this misunderstanding, "I can explain, I wasn't bullying Carl. He-"

With a thunderous yell, the man name Bang charged into battle. "Prepare yourself!"

Noel sighed, dropping her arms at her sides and coming to a dreary stop in the middle of the cobbled road. Her body ached all over and she felt a burning pain somewhere, but couldn't pinpoint where exactly due to the pins and needles all over her. "That battle was so unnecessary, that man didn't even listen to any of my explanations."

"I. . .I lost him. This time I really did loose him," she hopelessly muttered to herself, rubbing one arm as she regarded the area.

All the happenings of the day, including her aprehensive thoughts, piled up to form a heavy lump in her throat. She gulped, dismissing herself from crying in the middle of the street. She didn't need to disgrace the Librarium any further...

Noel's knees buckled under the weight of her body and the broodingthoughts of her mind. She felt herself falling to the ground. "...I'm so tired," she sighed. A resulting thought occurred. If she was tired now, so easily, did that mean... Was she a failure?

Feeling too weary to move, Noel decided to lay right there. She couldn't stop the tears from surfacing. "You win, Ragna...I give up."

Ragna heard a dull thud in the direction of the road and choked sobs following soon after. He hoisted his hands on his knees, lifting himself up from where he slumped to the ground in his effort to wait the soldier out.

"What the hell?" he muttered when he saw the blonde girl lying in the middle of the road, her uniform creased and her pistols a few feet away.

He looked in the opposite direction. There was his chance of escape. He directed his have to the downcast girl. But for some reason...

With a cautious albeit probing air, he walked over to her quivering body.

"Hey, you got a death wish?" he carelessly asked, after a pause taken to observe this odd predicament. "Get up. You're gonna get run over or something."

Noel did not respond, instead she curled in even further and squinted her eyes shut.

"Are you stupid? You're gonna catch a cold. Get up!" he urged exasperatedly when she appeared to be ignoring him. He prodded the edge of his shoe to her back; in attempt to gauge a reaction from her.

"I give up...you...win," she muttered causing him the furrow his brows.

Ragna looked down at her, he couldn't believe that he was even considering doing what he did next! This was out of character, even for him...and he knew it.

He groaned in annoyance, kneeling at her side. "Hey, get up, will you?" he offered with a softer albeit gruff tone, slipping his hands underneath her body to lift her. She tensed under his grip, but calmed again, letting him turn her over and cradle her up against his chest.

Lustrous wisps of blonde hair was revealed when her titled cap finally rolled off. Ragna felt his eyes widening, why did she look like...?

"You..." he uttered in bewilderment. Tired green eyes blinked in response, one tear still frozen in place. Unknowingly, he caressed the teardrop away.

Noel stared up at this SS-Criminal. For a most-wanted criminal and enemy of the NOL, he didn't seem...bad. He didn't have the look of a murderer. She saw something else, in his eyes. A sealed off memory tainted her hazy thoughts, and she was the white-haired man as someone else. Who...? She couldn't remember all of a sudden.

"What?" he asked curtly, despite his softened expression.

Uncoordinated nostalgia drained from her thoughts and Noel shook her head. With lidded eyes, she looked up at his features. "It's nothing, you just..."

"Hm?" he sounded, waiting for her to carry on.

"You, you don't seem like a bad person, that's all," the blonde told him. She couldn't stop a small smile when an almost ghost smirk appeared on his lips.

"Heh," he went, his mind taking in her childish comment. Noel closed her eyes, resting them for a while as she leaned her head slightly on his chest. Ragna looked down at her.

"H-hey, wha...?" she was startled when he stood up, cradling her in his arms.

"I'm going to get you at an inn before you start dropping down in roads again," he simply explained, starting to walk down the road.

"N-no! Wait, you-" Feeling very confused, she stretched her arms, reaching behind him. "What about my weapons!?"

"You can come pick it up again when you go back to chasing me tomorrow," he responded, stifling a chuckle at her resulting blush and muddled expression.

The residents of Ronin Gai peered out of the curtains of their homes to inspect the commotion. They saw a man clad in red carrying a weakly flailing NOL soldier down the street.

With a flustered expression, she gathered the remainder of her energy and shouted. "Ragna the Bloodedge! You're...You're impossible!"

A/N: I reeeally don't know what to say apart from, go clicky clicky on the review button right now and put me out of my misery! Please? :3