Ayame froze from where she was standing in Master Verlaine’s office, as fifteen handsome young men came in one by one. Fifteen men she knew to be Kpop superstars. Fifteen men who are also the Society’s Yeoldasos. 

Master Verlaine’s voice had a wry tone to it. “I believe you already know the Society’s elite fifteen.”
 
Ayame had bricks in , watching all fifteen watching her. Everyone was there: Leeteuk, Heechul, Hangeng, Shindong, Yesung, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kibum, Kyuhyun, Kangin, Henry and Zhoumi. She had just seen them on their last concert, had even insanely screamed as they made all fangirls scream. She wanted to melt. The only thing that kept her on her feet was the fact that the group in front of her gave off darker vibes. They were dangerous in another whole new level.
 
Dusky was distressed. And it didn’t bode well. He’d been trying to read all fifteen and their familiars. But he kept coming up to a wall of resistance. Well, it wasn’t even a wall, as opposed to a nothingness where he should have been able to read a stray thought or two. He rarely came across an unreadable, much less fifteen in one room.
 
“You watched our concert, didn’t you?” Leeteuk suddenly asked her. He had recognized her particular spirit pressure now that he was in the same room with her. The fifteen had noticed whenever they were in one part of the stage, distracting them enough to keep looking for her. But she stayed hidden, her aura mixed with the other excited girls in the crowd that night, so it was hard to see who she was among the screaming fangirls.
 
She hoped she wasn’t blushing when she replied, “Ah, yes, Leader Leeteuk. It’s an understatement to say you’ve put on quite a show.” She caught the tail end of his smile, apparently pleased with her admission.
 
Snarky maknae Kyuhyun wouldn’t let it pass without a comment. “She’s trying not to scream seeing us here.” He tossed back his head, daring her to call his bluff. Ayame figured he’d lose.
 
The laugh came from Donghae, perched on the windowsill, the golden afternoon light framing his handsome, golden profile. “Ah, hyung, I think she meant our capacity for duplicity. Imagine the Fifteen being superstars in the real world. For her, it doesn’t compute.” He had held her stare before she had to look away, unnerved that the one who was considered the group’s representative airhead would be the one to actually understand what she meant. She wondered what else was an act where these boys were concerned.
 
>>>
 
They argued over how Ayame’s addition into the team changed their configuration, not to mention team dynamics.
 
“Why do we even need her?” Zhoumi asked complainingly.
 
Kangin was unforgiving. “What? This coming from the guy who had a rough time getting accepted as an addition to what used to be The Thirteen.”
 
Zhoumi and Henry glared at him. They were the additional members that made the fifteen.
 
Partners for many years, Eunhyuk noticed Donghae had been pensive ever since they went out of Master Verlaine’s office and received their assignment. 

“Your thoughts Donghae-ah?” he asked.
 
Something had been bothering Donghae. “Why are they assigning Kyuhyun to be her partner?”
 
Kyuhyun had been about to say something about that when Leeteuk answered, “Ah, so you noticed it, too.”
 
Kyuhyun looked around, confused, as everybody else nodded in agreement. “What did I miss?” the maknae asked.
 
“Both of you are solo slayers, which makes you rookies where teams are concerned. And rookies are always partnered first with a senior, never with another rookie.” Yesung explained.
 
“It’s already hard enough to train with just a familiar – it’s a whole new level training with another slayer and his familiar.” Sungmin added.
 
Donghae sent Eunhyuk a look, a silent question. Eunhyuk glared at him first before rolling his eyes and nodding.
 
“I’ll exchange with Kyuhyun, and partner with Ayame. Eunhyuk will start training with Kyuhyun.”
 
Kyuhyun sputtered. Out of all the hyungs, he got along with Eunhyuk the least.
 
Eunhyuk had anticipated that reaction from Kyuhyun. He laughed before trying to reassure the maknae. “Relax Kyuhyun-ah. The only reason I’m even agreeing is that only Saru is willing to work with Yin and Yang.”
 
It was no secret that the other familiars tend to stay away from Kyuhyun’s prickly dragons. Only playful Saru, Eunhyuk’s monkey familiar, had the necessary personality to handle the dragons when they were being snarky.
 
“Mwo?” Ryeowook asked. “How long have you and Donghae-hyung have been discussing this?”
 
It was Donghae who replied. “Not long, really. We’ve just noticed that Kyuhyun’s training have been routine, that’s why we were exploring the possibility of training Eunhyuk and Saru with Kyu and the dragons. Not actually partner, mind you, just get Kyuhyun to train on another level. But now that we have another rookie, it would be opportune to assign Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun as full partners while I take Ayame under my wing.”
 
Heechul scoffed, knowing Donghae’s penchant with ladies. “Are you sure that’s the only reason?”
 
In all seriousness, Donghae replied, “If time is of the essence, or so our assignment says, I’ll have to dreamwalk her anyway. That should be easy if I’m around her most of the time.”
 
The rest of the boys groaned. Dreamwalking with Donghae during training meant he delved into one’s deepest psyche during one’s most vulnerable moments – sleeping.
 
“Eh, hyung…how many females have you dreamwalked?” Kibum asked, not wanting to invade Donghae’s personal activities, but also curious how he’d handle their first female trainee. The dreamy look that came across Donghae’s face didn’t bode well for Ayame.
 
“How many? Frankly, I’ve lost count.” Donghae answered, earning him another round of disgusted looks. But none of the Fifteen even bothered to offer taking Ayame off Donghae’s hands – they knew who they would choose between Kyuhyun with the dragons, and Ayame with her daemon dog.
 
>>>
 
Ayame studied the Yeoldasos’ profile once she got home from her day job. She had been berating herself for missing that important piece of information before she recalled she could not sense any spirit pressure from the fifteen when she first saw them live. So it wasn’t her fault that she didn’t recognize the Super Junior stars to also be the Yeoldasos. But what made her really irked was that they easily recognized her. That was more than embarrassing.
 
Shrugging off the momentary discomfort, she switched on her work mode. Her studies in the Slayer Academy touched on the Elite, the special group within the slayer hierarchy whose members were assigned special cases. Of course, the membership changed in time. But as of 150 years ago, they were officially known as the Yeoldasos. The Fifteen. There were few people who had access to their profiles, which was now available to her because of her new assignment.

The current batch had the distinction of being composed by slayers whose spirit familiars completed the animals of the Chinese zodiac, as well as having special representatives from the Society’s other special groups.

Hangeng has the spirit familiar Seolchilyu, the Earth Rat. He is also known as the Truthsayer, as his particular expertise dealt with getting to the truth, including being the team’s interrogator. He’s the de facto bodyguard for First Officer Heechul since Hangeng’s interrogator duties makes him Security Chief Kangin’s lieutenant. He fights with a bladed staff.

Kangin, the Bull, partners with his spirit familiar Niu, the Water Ox. True to his moniker, he is considered the strongest in terms of physicality, usually fighting using a broadsword and relying on his strength before resorting to using spirit pressure or kidou techniques. It’s no surprise that he’s the chief of security for the group, on top of being Leeteuk’s bodyguard.
 
Leeteuk the Leader works with Claw, the Fire Tiger. He is also known as the Slasher, as his particular expertise is with the use of claw knives, as well as the kidou technique known as the fire scythe. While he is designated leader for being the eldest in the group, he also has the Tiger qualities that make him ideal for the position: authoritative, self-possessed and have strong leadership qualities.
 
Sungmin has a particular fondness for Usagi, his Air Rabbit familiar. He works best with nanchuks though with his rabbit qualities would prefer to avoid confrontation. Hence being known as the Peacemaker, and the group’s liaison officer.
 
The maknae Kyuhyun may be the youngest but he handles one of the most powerful spirit familiars – the Fire Dragon. And he wields twin dragons named Yin and Yang, enabling him to have abilities of the Equalizer - restoring balance wherever chaos reigned. His weapon of choice is the bow and arrow. His position as the maknae clashed with his being a natural born leader, good at giving orders and doing what’s necessary to remain on top. It’s also why he comes across as snarky where his hyungs are concerned. And where his duties as justice chief needed a feistier attitude.
 
Kibum is also one of the youngest in the group, with the Water Snake Baem as his spirit familiar. His weapons are needle darts, mostly tipped with the various poisons he could cook up. He may be known as Poison but only because it was the more notorious side of his being a medic.
 

Hardworking Siwon is also known as the Traveler, with complex shield manipulation abilities that punched through space, dimension and time when working with Knight, his Fire Horse. Rifle in hand, he loves to roam free, though sometimes seen as a drifter.

 
Henry came late into the group, one of the Chinese members as opposed to the predominantly Korean makeup of the Yeoldasos. His familiar is the Earth Goat/Ram named Goungyang and he fights with a shepherd staff. His particular expertise is the manipulation of space to form illusions, but he prefers to be called Aesthetic rather than artistic.

 
Eunhyuk is also known as Chaos, working with the Air Monkey Saru and a chain whip that could create a storm worthy of his moniker. It is this element of unpredictability which makes him the group’s chief tactician.
 
Zhoumi is the second Chinese member. His spirit familiar is the Air Rooster Goungjii and he wields a blade fan. Also known as the Stormbreaker with his ability to dissipate illusions and cut through murkiness, making him ideal for the chief analyst duties.
 

Ryeowook is also known as Morpheme. His particular expertise is in shifting forms, an ability developed with his Water Wolf Bada. His weapon of choice is the entangler. He excels in business but has trouble with the girls – the business expertise, though, makes him the group’s chief financier.
 

Shindong is also known as the Consul, the group’s resident diplomat, a role ideal for his being good mannered and sophisticated. He has had more dealings with factions, and often represents the group in meetings with the Council more than Leeteuk. He works with the Earth Boar Sutwaeji and wields a hefty double-blade axe.
 
Outside of the zodiac but an integral part of the Yeoldasos nonetheless are the Special Envoys, called so because while they are part of the Elite, actually belongs to a different hierarchy that make up the Society.
 
Heechul is from the witching world, and properly called Wizard as his title. He is designated second-in-command after Leeteuk, in part because of the age rank, as well as being known for his impartiality where members are concerned. He is accompanied by his spirit familiar Neko, an Air Cat of the Blue Russian breed, who happens to be a princess in the feline world. Heechul wields a wizard staff and is an expert in all forms of magic and potions.
 

Yesung formally trained with the Slayer Academy, and received further training from the sage monks. He is called Sage because of this. But as a sage monk, Yesung has the prerequisite intelligence – he’s the only Yeoldasos who can do six impossible things at the same time and all before breakfast. And because he thinks too much all the time, he is known as the group’s representative cloud-head. His curiosity and endless interest about things makes him ideal to be the Yeoldasos’ research analyst. He fights with a shield blade and his spirit familiar is the Earth Turtle Kame.
 
Donghae also studied in the Slayer Academy but spent further training in the water havens for his Dreamwalker abilities. As a Dreamwalker, he is a natural Psyche Specialist, with special powers and training designed for delving into one’s conscious and subconscious. As an elite, Donghae’s abilities had reached a level where he can also repair a broken consciousness, or perform mind control. Like Kyuhyun, he has twin spirit familiars – fishes named Aurum and Argentum. He wields twin swords as his weapons of choice.
 
Ayame noted that their profiles matched their Super Junior profiles, placing them between 22 to 28 years old. But she knew they were way older than that – the youngest known slayer prodigy in recent Society history is at least forty in human years, and even she wasn’t anywhere near the A class slayers. To be an elite, they would have to be at least eighty years old.
 
She took the in stride. Spending six years in Slayer Academy taught her that people didn’t look as they ought to be. Besides, she had yet to see who the Yeoldasos really were – profiles don’t necessarily reveal anything important.
 
It was with mixed emotions that she contemplated the move. But she started packing anyway. Orders were orders, and following it was the first thing she learned in the Academy.

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