The LYNX Assassin
AN: Sorry that this took so long to come out! Sorry sorry sorry! -bows head in apology to AtobeLover- I had writer's block! But that's no excuse. Here's the first chapter!
I need to come up with a better title for this story……any suggestions?
Ugh, sorry if any of the characters are OOC; its hard to keep them in character half the time. Plus, sorry if I made Fuji, Atobe, Tezuka, and Sanada seem so mean in the flashback. I swear they become nicer towards the end of the story
*This*- indicates location and time.
This indicates flashbacks and thoughts.
"This" indicates speaking over a phone, walkie-talkie, etc.
Disclaimers: I do not own Prince of Tennis, although I am one of the many who wish they do. (Inner voice: Keep on dreaming.) Hey, a girl can dream, can't she? [snorfles]
Story Begin!
*New York City 1:13 AM Skyscraper Office*
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! HELP ME!!!"
The piercing scream filled the air. The victim turned around and fell down at sight of the dark figure that appeared behind him.
"Aw, the game has ended. So boring, giving up so soon?"
The figure grinned a maniacal grin. The victim could only whimper in fear and beg for mercy. His captor soon turned cold.
"So pathetic, humans that is…be glad I'm doing you a favor and ending your worthless life here."
With that he stabbed downward, silencing the unfortunate soul for the last time. They fell silent, their body cold and lifeless on the ground.
"How easily can life be drained away from their earth-bound containers…" he mused as he licked his knife clean. "But, I have found my wings…" A blood-chilling laugh filled the air as he leapt from the window, leaving behind the remains of his masterpiece.
~The Next Day~
"The LYNX strikes again!"
"Who Is This Mysterious LYNX?"
"Politician Found Dead in Office, Only Note Left By LYNX!"
It was everywhere; the headlines of multiple newspapers, every news channel on TV, on radio talk shows, anywhere you could imagine. One unconcerned person sat down in his glistening white kitchen with his morning cup of coffee and the daily newspaper. Ryoma looked up bored. "Ah, they still haven't found me yet. Cops these days are so underrated."
A person stumbled into the kitchen, cursing sleepily when they tripped over the crack in the tiles.
"Oh, Ryoma, you're up already."
Tousled blond hair layered above sleep ridden blue eyes. Kevin yawned, while pouring himself a bowl of cereal. "The LYNX crap again? One would almost think you were looking for the attention, Ryoma."
Kevin was one of the only people who knew his secret identity. They sat in silence for awhile, quietly finishing their respective breakfasts. A background noise of trickling water stopped. Soon, to their expectations, a young woman stepped into the room, bare footed with only a towel wrapped around her lithe body, the water droplets running down in little streams to the floor.
"Are, you two are already up? That's weird, normally, I'm first up and about."
"No one could be later than you, Kurai, because you take super long showers," retorted both Ryoma and Kevin. She ignored their words and raised an eloquent eyebrow at the newspapers littering the little round table.
"Wow, attention hungry much Ryoma?" She dodged the knife thrown her way, which imbedded itself into the wall adjourning the kitchen to the living room. After all, she was the one who taught Ryoma in the way of the assassin and Kevin in the way of the swindler. "Tsk, tsk, naughty naughty little boy," she teased him.
Kevin intervened between the two, fearing for his life. "Guys, lets not blow up the house like last time, ok?"
They abruptly turned their murderous auras on him.
'Uh oh…' he trailed off as they advanced menacingly towards him.
"So…are you going to tell me yet, Ryoma?" The subject of the talk pointedly looked away. "It's been three years already since you asked me to teach you. You cannot hold out any longer."
The twitching pile that was Kevin untangled himself from the floor. "You don't have to share now, if you don't want to," he said as he ignored a deadly glare from the girl next to him. A poor fault on his part indeed. But he was lucky. She sipped her coffee, thankfully ignoring him.
"Well, I've got to get to work. I expect an answer within the week. Take your time to think about it, and whether you want to tell me now or later is up to your decision," she left, walking down the hallway to her room. Kevin also got up, muttering something about going on a date, but slipped on a puddle of water, courtesy of Kurai. Ignoring the curses directed toward her in the background, Ryoma finished eating. A beam of sunlight shone down on suddenly exhausted boy.
What am I going to tell them…?
The New York skyline twinkled majestically in the dusk sky. Kurai stared out of the vast window, sighing in fatigue.
That boy… Alright. Technically, he was the elder, but she sometimes felt that she was the one that was stronger, AND older, mentally as well as psychologically.
"Tadaima," chorused Kevin and Ryoma from the door.
"You two take forever to play tennis, don't you?" She questioned, raising a slender eyebrow.
"Who are you?" Kevin joked, "You should've gotten used to it already."
"Your point?"
"BURN Kevin, burn," laughed Ryoma.
"HEY!"
"Hay is for horses," reminded Kurai.
Like normal young adults or 21-year-olds their age, they tossed back verbal fights, back and forth, much like a tennis rally. The verbal rally ended in all three of them laughing on the rosewood floor.
"這是我的時代有我給你未來…"
"Shoot. My phone."
Kurai retrieved her phone while looking at the caller ID. Her face broke into a wide smile. She answered it, putting it on speakerphone.
"Kurai! Ryoma! Kevin!"
Identically, their faces were little rays of sunshine.
"Kara!" They answered quite happily. "Long time no see! Or talk…"
"Open your front door!"
Curious, they complied and at once were rewarded by a Chinese girl embracing all of them at once in a bone-crushing hug.
"Did ya guys miss me or what?"
"Yes, we missed you, but not your hugs." She sheepishly let go of them.
"Must be a habit that I picked up from Laurie…"
But, automatically, she turned serious.
"Ok, we've got a new job to do."
Their reactions were immediate, souring the mood almost immediately.
"Wow, must be a big job if they want all of us," mused Kevin.
What would their client need with a group of underground elites, an assassin (Ryoma), a swindler (Kevin), an all-rounder mercenary (Kurai), and a wizard-class hacker (Kara)? They all pondered over this, before leaving the now dark and cheerless room. Meanwhile, in Japan, a certain person, wait, scratch that, a COUPLE of certain people, specifically, four people were arguing in a massive mansion, courtesy of one Atobe Keigo.
*In Japan*
"Keigo~!" whined Fuji. That was surprising; Fuji never whined.
"What, Syuusuke?" Atobe Keigo, now the head of Atobe Corps replied, exasperated with his lover's whining. Sure, the world was shocked when Atobe Keigo, once heir to the Atobe Corporations, announced that he was gay, or as he so eloquently out it, "merely attracted to the same gender" quote for quote. Really, why couldn't he come out of his walk-in closet and just say he was homosexual?! Anyway, back to the current situation.
"But, Keigo, I don't need bodyguards!"
Of course. Atobe mentally face-palmed. This again.
"Syuusuke-" he began, but was interrupted by two more people walking calmly into his office.
"You know, there was a reason why knocking was invented," Atobe said, annoyed.
They both promptly ignored him; Tezuka Kunimitsu and Sanada Genichirou were not people who rose up to deliberate bait.
"Syuusuke's right," Fuji cooed up at Tezuka, where he was wrapped around his lower waist. That was fast.
"We don't need bodyguards," Sanada was quite annoyed, although his face did not express it. Really, these "guards" stalked him everywhere, even when he told them not to follow him because he was just going to train. But, NOOOOOOO, these brainless idiots don't comply. "We're just doing our job," they said monotonously. Didn't the work-obsessed zombies have anything better to do in their spare time?! Sanada broke off his mini rant in his brain, when Atobe sighed. Atobe did look quite tired half the time.
"Ore-sama told you, these bodyguards are here to protect us. There are many terrorists and underground organizations that would like to assassinate me, and would love to use you as a tool to get me."
"But they're interrupting my private time (cough gasp choke) with everyone else!" said Fuji.
"And they're intruding in my personal space." Tezuka added.
Atobe sighed; this was going to be a LONG talk. He dismissed the guards by his side, ignoring their protests.
"But, sire!" One of them protested.
He glared at them. "This is a personal affair. Go."
No argument could be made; they backed out of the soundproof office. An awkward silence filled the room. Surprisingly, Sanada was the one to break it.
"Anyway, instead of completely taking away the guards, Keigo, can you lessen them at least? That should be alright."
Pondering over this, Atobe slowly nodded his consent. Fuji brightened up considerably.
"Now I am able to go outside without an entourage." Frustrated by this, Atobe barked out, "Be serious! You could die anytime! …Just like we lost him…and what a foolish mistake that was…"
Everyone fell silent, not liking how he reminded them of their foolish mistake in the past. Tezuka observed Atobe from afar. Atobe, these days, was different from his youth. He was even tired now, worried about them and his company. Faint black bags were on pale skin, under tired purple eyes all the time.
When is he ever going to rest? He knows we have a trip to New York in a week…
But soon, his question was answered.
"KEIGO!"
*New York9:00 PM*
Strangely, just as Atobe collapsed in his office back in Japan, Ryoma was getting shivers down his back.
Must be the night air, he decided, as he packed the "tools" of his trade, of choice, of course. He decided to be safe, bringing poison (no fun!), daggers, a gun, and a small katana.
"Ryoma! Hurry up your prissy behind out here! We've got 3 hours till we can reach our client's place. They requested us IMMEDIATELY."
"Hai, hai," he shouted down the stairs. "Jeez, women," he grumbled under his breath.
"I agree."
Kevin situated himself next to Ryoma. Ryoma wasn't startled; in fact, he had sensed Kevin's presence moving towards him for a quite awhile now.
"This client's a lot pushier than normal," he commented.
"We're going to ditch you if you don't hurry up~" sang Kara, down the stairs.
"Coming, coming," they chorused.
*Limousine*
Kevin fell asleep as soon as he got into the limo.
"Ah, well, today was an exhausting day for him, I guess."
Kara smiled affectionately down on the golden haired male, before wrapping a fleece blanket around him. He unconsciously leaned into the warmth of the blanket. One should not be surprised by this; Kara practically thought of Kurai, Ryoma, and Kevin as close as blood siblings and family.
But today, there was something wrong, even if the others could not sense it. They were tenser than normal, due to some unknown reason. Being above an average wizard-class hacker, if they could be considered average at all, had sharpened her mind well into the insights of the workings of the human psyche. But Kara had a hunch in her mind that it was related to why Ryoma had suddenly appeared before their doorstep one warm evening and demanded to be taught the arts of assassination. She was so lost in her thoughts that she did not hear Ryoma call out her name.
"Kara. Kara!"
Startled, she responded with an intelligent "What?"
He rolled his eyes at her. "Can you snap Kurai out of her reverie? It seems like she's lost in Lala land right now."
"Oh, lemme fix that."
With that, she leaned over and grabbed a water bottle out of the cooler. Popping the top of it, she proceeded to dump the whole thing over Kurai, who was pondering over useless things like "Why is Barney purple with green spots?" out the window.
…well, after Kurai was drenched unceremoniously with ice cold water, she let out a string of curses, while Kara and Ryoma were rolling over in mirth.
Jack, the driver of the limousine as well as a very close friend of Kara's and Kurai's, cried over the speaker, "Hey! What's so funny? I want in!"
"Focus on the road, Jack." Was heard over the speaker as Toki, another one of their friends, reminded him.
"Kara!" Kurai shrieked, "What's the meaning of this?!"
Kara ever so innocently pointed to Ryoma, inflicting whatever fate that Kurai had in store for her onto him instead.
Ryoma held up his hands in defense. "I was going to tell you about what you asked a couple of days ago."
Instantaneously, the mood turned grave. Kara now had no doubt that it was about that day that Ryoma decided to become an assassin. Abruptly, she turned around and spoke into the speaker.
"Sorry, Jack. I'm going to have to disconnect all the microphones and video cameras. No complaining. This is a private issue and I would like to have no evidence of it at all."
Some complaints were heard over the speaker, but in the end, reluctantly agreed. The elite hacker took out her trusty companion in her line of work and efficiently shut down every possible record of the conversation about to take place, except for their very own human memory.
"Please continue." She continued in a business-like tone.
Ryoma exhaled and settled himself down. "Well, you guys better make yourselves comfortable; it's going to be a LONG story."
Flashback
It was like the distasteful ending of a wonderful dream.
One day, Ryoma moved in with his lovers, but another day, that fragilely spun web snapped. Slowly, he was ignored by all of them and moved into a different room than the rest of them. It was smaller than any of the other rooms in the mansion. He was made to do menial chores for them, like any other servant. Maybe this was the reason why he got along so well with them. Each day was a constant nightmare for him. Get up, do the chores they assigned him, and go to bed.
Karupin, his loyal, faithful, companion, was the only one that he could show his emotions to; he would laugh and play like any other child with her and only her, and cuddle her when crying to sleep. Karupin worried constantly about her owner, worry evident in her motions, always made to ease and soothe the pain of Ryoma as much as possible. The strain was getting to him. Each day, his face and arms would bear the stress of constant abuse to them, bruised and sometimes even bloodied.
They used him as a doll, as some sort of stress reliever of their personal lives. They beat him, hit him, sometimes threw objects at him; tortured him physically in any way possible. Other than that, they completely and utterly ignored him.
Scratches and small wounds criss-crossed his pale arms and marred his clear skin. Ryoma fell exhausted onto his worn bed-spread. Karupin worryingly padded over to her most precious owner. He smiled a faint smile at her.
"I don't know how much longer I can take it Karupin; it's a wonder that I haven't broken yet."
Today, one of his so-called "lovers" had sneered at him, even after Ryoma had helped him up after he got backhanded by Sanada, who had left the room.
"You're a doll, a toy to be exact. You're supposed to stay like a wallflower and not show any emotion."
Fuji had sunk to a new low, tearing down the boy's soul. Ryoma bit his lip, struggling not to show any tears and backed out of the room quickly, leaving Fuji to his own devices. Not any sooner than when he was walking down the hallway to his room, he crashed into Atobe.
"Watch it, brat," he growled and all but grabbed Ryoma's already bruised wrist and swung him into the wall. As Ryoma lay there dazed, Atobe walked away, saying "You're an eyesore."
Really, if he was an eyesore, why didn't they let him leave already?! The other times Ryoma had tried to leave were a disaster; they refused vehemently and treated him with even more violence and disgust. So much for that idea.
"Ryoma-bocchama."
Ryoma slowly turned his head toward the dinghy door, wincing as his neck cracked and reopened old wounds. Nori, the head butler looked concerned about his wounds. He immediately sat down and treated them like a pro.
"Ryoma-bocchama," he began, but Ryoma interrupted him.
"I am no longer worthy of that title anymore, Nori-san."
But Nori shook his head. "In my eyes, you deserve that title far more than any of the other young masters."
Karupin instantly meowed her agreement. Chuckling, the butler leaned down to feed her some kitty treats and give her a gentle rub behind her ears. She purred in delight.
"Ryoma-bocchama" he started the sentence with the same thing that he said before Ryoma had interrupted, "Enough is enough. You don't have to deal with them anymore. I'm moving you out with force if I need to; you don't belong here to be crushed by their hands. Live your life a little; take this old man's advice."
Ryoma tried to draw breath to argue, but stopped. There was no way he could defend himself from the truth. Since when did I become so masochistic? He wondered. When was I already this broken…? When Nori saw that Ryoma would not argue, he smiled.
"Everyone has already gotten most of your stuff packed; all we have to do now is to wait for the right opportunity."
Ryoma gathered enough wind to speak. "Where will I stay?"
Nori's eyes twinkled. "Ah young man, I do recall the day we first conversed, you mentioned a very dear twin sister of yours. I have tracked down her whereabouts and contacted her. She was very upset when she had found out about your treatment."
Ah, I had forgotten about Kurai. Spending time with Keigo, and the others had made him forget all other people precious to him in his life. To be honest, Ryoma thought that they had probably forgotten his name, instead referring to him as "the doll" or the "toy", courtesy of Fuji. He really needed to go, before he forgot how to live. With a new resolve, he hardened his heart and vowed never to fall in love with anyone again.
A day later, that opportunity presented itself. His supposed "lovers" went out partying at a popular club downtown for the night. Ryoma and the other servants took this opportunity to make sure Ryoma left the mansion. The tearful farewell was too much for the others to handle, but they were happy now that they knew Ryoma was going to a safe haven. Ryoma left the mansion to his new future, without looking back.
End Flashback
Kara and Kurai had to pause there, thunderstruck.
"NOW I know that I will KILL them, without a doubt."
Kurai was furious. She had heard of the treatment, the bruises and pain that he went through, but he never told her the full story.
Kara pondered this in silence, her heart churning in anguish as she thought about all the hardships that Ryoma went through before. No wonder he became such an extraordinary assassin; talent like his rarely entered the underworld. She grew cold when she thought about it. No one, NO one, deserved to be treated like that.
"And I'll help you Kurai," she growled out.
She was skilled at the double-gun fighting style, a unique way of fighting that she had taught herself and invented after a close call.
Ryoma looked at the two who were furious for him, with new eyes. He never knew that they would understand and care for him, on their behalf.
"Thank you," he whispered.
Their eyes softened and both leaned over the aisle between the seats to give him a hug.
"That's what's family is for."
Out of the tinted windows, Ryoma could see the looming warehouse in his peripheral vision.
"Guys," he called out, "we're here."
End of Chapter 1
Well, that's the end of Chapter 1; hope you all enjoyed it. There's barely a mention of Karupin in here...... I couldn't fit her into the story. Cry. Wait for chapter 2 soon! Happy Thanksgiving or Happy Turkey day to y'all! Hope you like the plot so far, AtobeLover~! :D
Please click the green review button below so I know how I did on my first OT5 story~