haha, I'm such a terrible tease when it comes to these things, but this is a story dedicated to my good friend, Dear4Life, as her Christmas present ^^

A theme story where the theme is Rainbow (hence the title).

Enjoy! And I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas~

Operation Rainbow

Chapter 1 – A New Assignment

Shuffling his feet as he walked along the concrete pavement, Hei buried his hands deep into his pant pockets. His gaze was averted downwards, a slight hunch to his shoulders as he continued along the way. He was headed towards the park where he was to meet the others, but he was dressed as Li Sheng Shun since that was his regular cover; the shy and unassuming foreign exchange student from China.

When he slowly entered the park, it was to find that he was the last to arrive – not that it was surprising. From the corner of his eye, he could see Mao resting in the shade of a tree. The cat returned his gaze when he slowly opened one eye. He sat up slightly to let out a big yawn before resettling himself in his resting position.

Yin was in her usual location, sitting at the top of the short children's slide. She didn't show any visible signs that indicated her acknowledgement of his arrival. Even so, Hei knew that she would realize his presence. As for Huang, he was sitting on the circular bench, reading a newspaper.

The papers rustled as Huang flipped the page and Hei went to take a seat on the other side. As he wandered by, he could see a pile of cigarette butts which had accumulated; the only way Huang knew to relieve his stress when things did not happen according to his exact schedule.

"About time you got here," Huang stated, Hei's butt not even seated on the bench yet.

"You knew I would come."

"In your own damn time. That's what I hate about you Contractors…"

"I'm here now," Hei said, cutting in as he knew the man could rant for hours regarding his hatred towards Contractors; something he didn't want to hear.

"You have a mission," replied Huang, not skipping a beat.

That was the usual reason why they got together like this since he hadn't been assigned any previous tasks. As a result, Hei remained silent. From behind, he heard rustling before something was slid across the bench towards him He waited for Huang to resume his reading before he reached for it. When he pulled it towards himself, he was stunned by the picture he found himself staring at.

"What do they want?" he finally asked when Huang didn't offer any explanations.

Instead of replying verbally, he heard Huang put something else on the bench. Like the picture, it was slid towards him before reading of the newspaper resumed. Reaching a second time, Hei found himself closing his fingers around a small, leather-bound box. Carefully opening it, all he found inside were small vials numbered 1 to 7, each containing a colourless liquid.

"That's your target," Huang finally informed him. "They want you to test each vial on her, starting from 1."

"Why?" he couldn't help asking.

"Beats me. I don't ask these things. Sounds simple enough to me. Even you can't mess up this one."

Finished relaying the message, Huang gave the paper a firm snap before refolding it. He rolled it into a small cylinder, tucked it underneath his arm and stood up to leave. He finished the last of his cigarette and put it out before he walked off.

"What is it this time?" Mao asked, meandering his way towards the bench.

Jumping up onto it, he stretched one paw in front of himself and then the other. Glancing around at the park, he finally settled himself in a spot close to the one Huang had just been occupying. Yawning again, he waited for Hei to provide further instructions.

"We're not needed."

Surprised that Yin was answering instead of Hei, Mao lifted his head and tilted his ears in her direction. That didn't make sense at all since they were a team. It was his place to support Hei, whether he wanted it or not.

"Huang never said that," Mao stated. "What do you know that I don't?"

"Kirihara Misaki."

"The lady officer? What about her?" asked Mao.

"She's my target," Hei answered.

"What?"

Hei placed the picture face up on the bench and slid it back so Mao could see it. He turned slightly to see the cat gaping at the image. At the same time, Yin went down the slide and wiped off her dress before wandering out of the park. Like she had stated, they wouldn't be needed this time around.

"And the box?"

"Some sort of potions," Hei said.

"I guess your cover comes in handy."

"That's probably what the Syndicate was banking on."

"Well, good luck," Mao replied as he stood from his spot.

Slowly raising a paw to his mouth, he started to lick at it while turning to look at Hei. He returned the gaze, no visible signs of discomfort; not that he had really expected any. Even so, the lady officer was an odd target choice as she had never been a major threat; perhaps a hindrance, but never a threat to any of their operations. The Syndicate's reasoning still remained debatable.

Lying on the floor of his apartment, Hei found himself staring up at the picture of his latest target. It looked like her picture on record from work, which wouldn't surprise him as the Syndicate had their reaches to every nook and cranny imaginable. That wasn't the point. What he didn't understand was why her. She was to be a test subject, but surely there was a better way to test mysterious potions.

Whatever the case, he didn't have much choice in the matter. First he had to figure out a way to administer these vials to her, obviously without getting caught. It wouldn't be hard, but it would be a nuisance because it meant he had to play Li constantly, for however long it took to finish this; a mission, surprisingly, without a timeline on it.