On a cold November night in the 23rd century, Haru wandered through the Underground, looking for a drink when he usually avoided the ill-famed part of the town. The place was said to be the headquarters of the Yakuza, there were prostitutes at every corner, and a rumour said that at night, there was at least one murder on every street - Makoto would definitely kill him if he knew he was there, which was why he would never be informed of this little nocturnal getaway. His eyes caught by a greenish flashing sign behind the fog that read Irish Pub, and since his legs were too tired to go on, he decided to stop by.

The bar was crowded but by chance, from the corner of his eyes Haru saw that there was still an empty seat at the counter next to a man dressed in a black suit. The bartender acknowledged him with a silent nod while cleaning whiskey glasses and went to the other side of the counter. After he gave it a second look, Haru noticed that it was just a cheap cyborg with only one functioning eye and a shirt that was too big for its build. It was then easy to conclude that in this bar, nothing quite belonged to their original owners.

The bartender busied himself with other customers a middle aged man and his chick, who had wide white teeth stained with her red lipstick on the front and an irritating laugh - and left him alone next to a man wearing the black suit. It had captivated him from the start, and that was certainly why he had chosen this seat in particular. The suit was gorgeous, and far more expensive in comparison to what other customers were wearing, even in the furthest corners of the bar. Since it was properly tailored Haru highly doubted it was something his neighbour had stolen; he looked too neat to do anything illegal.

"What are you looking at?"

The man inside the suit scowled and glared at him rudely. Haru had rarely seen such an unpleasant attitude coming from such a pretty face; what a shame that was really.

"The only thing that's worth looking at right now; where did you buy your suit?"

The man made an unamused face and stared at his drink again.

The bartender came back then with the most dreadful sense of timing; without speaking, he asked for Haru's order simply by raising his red eye and taking a glass in his hand. Haru looked for something nice to drink among the bottles to the cyborg's back, but nothing seemed to please him tonight.

"What are you drinking?" He asked then. No one answered. Haru spoke again.

"Hey, 'Nice suit', what re you drinking?"

"It's Rin."

"Never heard of it."

"That's my name! Not 'nice suit' guy... and this is bourbon by the way."

Haru shrugged. "'Thought it was whiskey."

The man called Rin put his drink loudly on the counter and looked up to the ceiling. "It would take too long to explain."

"I'll have a bourbon." Haru said calmly, emphasizing the name, as his gaze drew back to the bartender.

He nodded again and returned a minute later with the best drink Haru ever had the chance to pay for. Unfortunately the bill belonged to the same class as Rin's suit; Haru choked in surprise. "Ha," the man chuckled, and drank a sip. Bourbon is not for rookies like you."

Haru stared at him; he couldn't be any older than he was, so how dare he patronize him?

"Look, I'm sorry for being rude earlier," the well-dressed man added. "Things are getting a little bit complicated at work and my social life is not as great as I thought it would be when I was young and naive-"

"So this is why you spend your night in a shabby place like this, dressed like the Prime Minister and drinking atrociously expensive whiskey. It's not worth the price by the way."

"You seem to know a lot about everything's worth; I wonder what you do for a living. Could you perhaps work in a bank, or for the government?" The man teased.

"I'm an artist." Haru said. "I paint, to be more precise."

"Oh, nice." The man suddenly wore a look of candid surprise, put his drink on the counter and turned to Haru for the first time this night. "Do you still use old techniques like gouache and watercolours?"

"I do," Haru replied, quite perplexed with the stranger s knowledge of art. Nowadays there wasn t a single kid who knew what real paint used to be.

They actually managed, thanks to the bourbon Haru guessed, to have a sort of conversation, and before they knew it the bar was closing down.

"Put it on my tab," Rin offered as Haru was counting every penny he had in his wallet, "It's a way to pay you back for being a jerk earlier."

"You don't have to," Haru replied with his hand still on his wallet, "You're not a jerk."

Rin sighed. "I know, but you're being an ass. Just drop it, I'm trying to be nice and I'm afraid I'm too tired to have enough patience to stay this nice for more than 5 more minutes."

Truth was, Haru wasn't looking for money; he was merely buying time. Time that he needed to compose himself and to find the perfect line for Rin to stay with him tonight. At first it had just been the suit, but that was far from being the only thing that outclassed and shone in this lugubrious bar. Rin was as gorgeous as anyone could dream a one night partner could be. Not to mention the way he smiled kind of knocked the wind out of him, more than once - or was it the alcohol?

When they were about to part he let his guts speak for him. It was like he physically couldn't bear to say goodbye so soon.

"Let me paint you."

"What?"

Rin halted. "It's to pay you back for being an ass. I could do your portrait, with watercolours if you insist."

To his great astonishment, Rin seemed to consider his demand. "Well, why not?" He said then, his mouth curled into a smile but it was tented with trace of uneasiness, something Haru liked a lot.

"Great. Where's your place?"

"What you mean, right-, right now?"

"Why not?"

"But you don't have any supplies! And I don't have any at my place. I'm just not that much of an artist."

"You have no idea how talented I can be with my bare hands, even with very little."

Haru's mind fuzzed for being reckless but he didn't care. He needed it. He needed the thrill, he needed to feel Rin's muscles under the palms of his hands, and he wanted it to be very clear. His body moved on its own and with a step forward he stopped just a breath away from Rin's chest. They were about the same height, and their noses were so close to touching. Haru caught Rin holding his breath, but he knew he had already won. His pupils were dilated, dark, and full of lust.

"Then," Rin said, his voice hoarse, "we should probably take an elevator."

They went to Rin's place in a silence so sharp and heavy that it cut through their burning skin. Haru felt trapped in a maze or a carousel; his head started spinning the more they hurried in the narrow streets. Rin was an attractive man, that was certain; it was maybe the most certain thing on earth for Haru at this very moment, but he never thought it would affect him so much. Blindly following him felt like a swam dive and it was so thrilling, Haru wanted more of it, more of this stranger he barely knew - almost to the point where he had forgotten why he had gone into that bar in the first place.

Rin owned a flat on the 125th floor near downtown. His place was big and luxurious, there was a lot of heavy and even pompous furniture, it didn't feel like Rin chose it all for some strange reason - as if Haru could know what kind of man he was. Haru's feet propelled him directly to the bedroom and to its large windows, missing the red spot following each of his steps. The lights coming from the streets through Rin's windows were fascinating. It was almost 3 AM - 2:47AM to be precise everything seemed so peaceful outside.

Rin had taken off his coat and was now sitting in front of his computer. Haru frowned and found it extremely rude for at least a dozen of reasons, but Rin was frowning as well and looked worried so he diddn't dare to whine about it.

"What's going on?" Haru asked instead.

"Work. Do you want something else to drink? Or maybe some coffee?"

Haru politely declined. There had been one thing Haru had never been able to pry out of Rin: his work. It was Rin's most well kept secret, he even told him at some point that it was his own Pandora s box, and that one day he'd opened it to the wrong person and that chaos had ruined the world they knew. When Haru rightly mentioned that there would be hope in the end Rin's mouth laughed, but his eyes didn't.

The computer was in a tiny room Haru suspected to be Rin s office. It was just next to the bedroom, and with the door open it overlooked the bed. Haru stood at a safe distance from Rin, watching him, studying him, typing, working, noting every inch of his muscles contracting due to the stress. What could he do for a living? He couldn't be some important bureaucrat, because if he was he wouldn't be built like that. Now that the suit jacket wasn't obscuring the view anymore, Haru could finally see what lay under the surface. His trapezes looked absolutely delicious.

In his daze, Haru leaned on the doorframe. "I'm almost done," Rin told him, "It's probably nothing, I can take care of this when you leave."

"Do you really want me out so quickly?"

"That's not what I-"

Rin was silenced by Haru's hungry mouth eating his lips. He tried to resist at first because Haru had taken him by surprise, but Rin soon welcomed Haru's tongue inside as he felt Haru s firm hands on his face. His steady hold was showing just how desperate Haru was, and how much he wanted it. It amazed even Haru himself how he could be so taken by someone he had just met. God, he tasted so good, kissing him felt so good. It ached so much just to touch him.

There was something wrong. Something they didn't know yet, something important Haru was missing in this whole picture. It was never supposed to happen like this.

Rin was the one who broke the kiss. Panting and out of breath, Haru glanced at him only to find Rin was staring back with the same puzzled expression in his eyes as Haru felt on his own face. He was about to speak but it seemed Rin couldn't find the words he needed to say, even though he had them right there on the tip of his tongue.

That was the perfect opportunity to knock him out. But Haru couldn't do it.

Instead, he kissed Rin with a sudden burst of tenderness, and their next kisses were gentle and soft. It lasted until Haru felt his insides twist so much he wanted to throw up. That was when his senses came back to him, or at least some of them. They were supposed to have sex, not make love; why were they being so sentimental all of a sudden? Haru needed some action to occupy his mind from those disturbing thoughts. He stood up and removed Rin's shirt, and his own flew over his head just as quickly. This strategy worked wonders, there were no more soft touches from then on, just their bodies crashing into each other. Haru finally sat on Rin's thighs and crushed their lips together. Rin's hands settled on the small of his back and crawled even lower, finding their way under Haru's pants. He felt those hands grasp his ass as his mouth licked up Haru's throat, just below his Adam's apple. When pointy teeth brushed past his pulse, Haru shuddered. It didn't look like him at all to react that much and he blamed it on the alcohol, forgetting about a muffled voice that whispered in his ear that it couldn t be that simple. Rin lifted him from his lap and brought them to his bedroom.

They both collapsed on the bed. Haru let himself be loved, let Rin do everything he wanted to him; and gave himself to that stranger without a second thought, without any regrets. Rin was a fantastic lover, always touching in the right places, always kissing with the perfect angle and force, every single one of his thrusts sending him to heaven even as he penetrated him again and again, until bliss stole the consciousness of them both. It was like living on a cloud. Haru's mind, for a couple of minutes, stayed blank, pure, perhaps even happy when Haru couldn't remember what happiness felt like anymore. Rin was warm and still on top of him. His breathing was slowing down, and figuring he must have fallen asleep, Haru let out a deep sigh. He knew he had fucked up the moment he found himself caressing Rin's neck, where the tip of his hair reached the skin there.

There was never supposed to be any kind of affection between the predator and his victims. Haru needed to get a grip. After all, no matter how attracted to Rin he felt, no matter how insane it sounded, there was a reason for his presence here.

The Sakura Mission.

Soundlessly, Haru eased out of bed and stole through the room to sit in front of his ultimate goal Rin s computer. The organisation he worked for needed some confidential information contained within a hidden file named Sakura . It was the only thing Haru needed to know, and the only thing he was told. He had seen the password to the welcome screen from the corner of his eye earlier though it would have taken him less than a minute to guess since it was something as stupid as ILOVESWIMMING1002 . On the desktop background was a nice picture of a young Gou, Rin's little sister, at the beach building a sandcastle. Haru entered his USB key and then let his hacking skills do the job. Soon Haru founded what he was looking for; a list of files with cryptic names. The file wasn t that complicated to find, a simple algorithm revealed the true meaning behind all of the symbols - all were flowers' name. It was almost too simple. Haru gave a small smile in triumph to himself; did they really think that he was an amateur?

Of course, the file 'Sakura' needed another password to be opened or copied, but it shouldn t take long with his powerful algorithm. After a couple of tries and 15 good minutes of hard work however, the file remained unopened.

"Shit," Haru whispered.

That was enough to wake up Rin it seemed, and Haru s blood froze in his veins when he heard him talk.

"You know from the moment I met you, I felt that there was something off with you", he mumbled quietly.

Haru couldn t move a muscle. How could he have made such a stupid mistake?

"I felt... like I knew you before. Like we were old friends from the past. But I was so sure it was the first time meeting you. It s so strange. It s not just your face. It's everything about you."

Haru let out a sigh but didn t completely relax just yet. What Rin seemed to describe was suspiciously akin to what he experienced himself.

"It s in the way you talk, the way your shoulders get down when you re bored, the way your eyes sparkle when you talk about something you love, the way you kiss me when you want more, the way "

Haru eagerly waited for what was coming next with something warm growing inside his chest, but his efforts were in vain since Rin stayed quiet, most likely having fallen back asleep. For a minute or two Haru waited with bated breath just to make sure Rin wouldn t wake up again. Maybe he had talked in his sleep, Rin often did that when he was younger.

His eyes rested on the screen, fell on Rin s sister's face and her red eyes. When did he mention her by the way? Was it after the third glass of bourbon or was it before? Haru couldn t remember. It came like a flash then, the password. It appeared clearly, obviously, and it made perfect sense. It fit with who Rin truly was.

Haru glanced one last time over to his sleeping face. He was really gorgeous, so much so it coloured Haru s cheeks. He could still feel Rin s hot breathe on his skin. Somehow, he knew already just how much he would miss him. And yet without any second thought, he typed the letters on the keyboard.

IswimBestFree!ForTheTeam1220.

"I can t believe I just let it happen!" Rin said, when he saw on the international news that the confidential information from CIRO had been stolen. "It s all my fault. How could I have been so stupid?"

"Because the guy was gorgeous?" Sousuke proposed.

"He was so fucking gorgeous, you should have seen him! God I feel like I was on drugs or something."

"You know, maybe he actually drugged you. Considering what he was after." Sousuke brought him a cup of coffee. "I won t tell anyone." He said softly.

Rin looked awfully tired, and it made him appear as if he were ten years older. Something was bothering him; there was absolutely no doubt about that.

"If you weren t my boss I would be fired on the spot."

"Don t worry about it." Sousuke comforted him. "From what I ve gathered so far, the guy is a genius."

"He s good at acting. I was so damn sure he was after my dick."

Sousuke laughed and patted Rin s shoulder. "It seems you re more upset about your sexual misadventure than about your work."

"Shut up! You know how important my job is to me! We ve dreamed about being secret agents whilst watching all those James Bond movies together, remember?"

"Oh you remember it too, my dear Moneypenny?"

"Sousuke, you re a double zero, and I don t mean the kind of one who has the license to kill." Rin pestered.

"Don t be a dick. You re still a young agent, of course you ll make mistakes. It s not that big a deal."

"Yeah, I know "

Rin's gaze was lost on his steaming cup of the new black gold. His face was showing traces of nostalgia that belonged to him alone, something Sousuke never really understood. "Then what s bothering you?" Sousuke asked his oldest friend.

Rin ended his cup and put it on Sousuke s desk. "You told me that Haru entered the password manually? That he didn t crack it?"

"That s what the experts said."

Rin s frown deepened. "Then how did he know about Gou? What her birthday was?" Rin told him. "I never mentioned her during our night. I m absolutely certain about that."

"This is a mystery that will stay unresolved until we find our guy." Sousuke said wisely.

He took Rin s cup from him and tossed it in the sink. "You shouldn t think too much about it. Take a few days, go back to beach, swim a little."

"Before making any important decisions, I need to eat. Lunch?"

"Not this time, I have an appointment; but I ll catch you later."

Rin didn t reply. He was too lost in his thoughts, too lost in his memories of the wonderful night he had spent in the stranger's arms.

Alone on a narrow street that reeked of piss in the Underground once more, Haru waited for his appointment. The Sakura file was well kept on his USB key, and his payment was due to arrive any time soon. They were supposed to meet in the upper city but Haru refused, arguing that he would feel more comfortable in a familiar place a place devoid of cops at any given time.

A couple of minutes later a man appeared out of nowhere, or rather with incredible discretion considering how tall and well built he was. His teal and cerulean tinted eyes scanned the street, making sure that no one had followed him.

"Well done," the man said, and handed him an envelope.

"This is what we agreed on. There s also a bonus."

"Why?" Haru asked, suspicious.

"It s not money. When you read it, think about it, and call me when you make your decision. We ll wait."

Sousuke then turned on his heel without waiting for an answer. After all, he had very little doubt about what the future would hold.