M A D W O R L D

The life of a teen spy is hard, especially for Kinomoto Sakura. Her family is dead, her best friend has abandoned her and everyone thinks she goes to rehab. Whats a girl to do? Certainly not... fall for the guy assigned to kill her. SS

Author's Note:

This is a super-revised version of the original Mad World. There are little changes, but the plots basically the same.

Disclaimer:

I do not own CCS or the Alex Rider series.

CHAPTER ONE

W E L C O M E. B A C K.

It was an ordinary day at Seijyo High.

Students crowded the halls, leisurely conversing with one another. The minutes ticked by and finally the first bell rang. Slowly, the crowds began to disappear into classrooms.

It had been a month since school began.

There were twenty-one students in Terada-sensei's calculus class. All of them were in their fourth year of high school.

Today, he saw a note on his attendance sheet that informed him of a new student that would set his class at an even twenty-two students.

Kinomoto Sakura.

Terada-sensei had heard about this girl from his students and fellow teachers quite a few times before. She was very popular her freshman year. After that, things sort of fell apart for her.

It began with long absences, some that would extend for weeks at a time. After she returned, Kinomoto would have multiple injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones and sprains. To everyone's surprise, her work would always be completed in a timely manner and her grades would remain intact.

Even though he didn't personally know the girl, Terada already felt sorry for her. Based on what he heard about Kinomoto, who had just been appointed as head cheer captain, lost the position that she worked so hard for. To top it all off, she was booted off the squad.

Things must have changed drastically during the summer, Terada thought. If anyone in the school was to deserve the spot, it was Kinomoto.

The minute hand on the classroom clock jerked to the right, and the tardy bell rang.

"Alright class," Terada-sensei said and clapped his hands together. "Time for warm-ups. These problems are great!"

The class groaned and settled down. They pulled out their math notebooks.

A late student suddenly rushed through the door.

"Li-san, you are late." Terada admonished, not even needing to look at the student to know who she was.

Li Meilin smiled, her black ponytail still swaying from her rush. She was sitting in her seat with her notebook out. "No I wasn't, see? I was sitting here the whole time!" she said, slightly out of breath.

"Right." Terada shook his head. She wasn't particularly bright, he wondered how she made into his class. He decided to mark her late anyway. "Today we have a new student." He announced.

There were a few comments and hushed giggles. Terada-sensei scanned the room. "I don't think she is here at the moment, but please make Seijyo High a pleasant place for her, okay?"

Her, eh? The boys in the class started their own side conversations and glanced at the door every once in a while.

Ten minutes into class, the students were settled in and working away and the warm-up equations. As expected, the door opened and the new student walked into the class room.

Unexpectedly a student shrieked, "SAKURA!"

The class burst into a series of whispers. Kinomoto was standing at the door way and did not seem to notice the hushed conversations about her. Terada noticed that she was terribly thin and very pale. Her hair was a dull brown color and tied in an unimpressive low ponytail. Her eyes looked wary, and below her left eye Terada noticed a thin scar.

Terada-sensei turned to Daidouji Tomoyo, who was standing by her desk, gaping at Kinomoto. Kinomoto smiled at Daidouji, then walked over to Terada and handed him a note.

"I apologize for my lateness, Terada-sensei." She said quietly. Terada scanned over a copy of a doctor's note and nodded.

"Please excuse Kinomoto Sakura extended absence. . ."

She was hit by a car and was in the hospital for the past month.

"Alright Kinomoto-san. I will prepare a packet of the homework and material you missed during your absence. I will most likely have that available tomorrow after school. I would also like to discuss some of my concerns with you joining my class so late. Will you be available?"

He was concerned if she could catch up with the month of math she missed. After all, they were already on anti-derivatives of trigonometric functions which was not so easy to learn.

Sakura nodded. "Hai, Terada-sensei." Her response was low and lethargic, yet incredibly articulate.

Terada scanned the class. Daidouji was still standing with her jaw practically on the floor as she took sight of her long-lost friend. "Please sit down please, Daidouji-san."

"Oh." She blushed and quickly sat down. A few students laughed.

"Kinomoto-san, go ahead and sit by Hiragizawa-san, right over there." Terada-sensei pointed to a blue-eyed young man with round glasses.

Kinomoto nodded and walked over to her seat, then set her supplies on her desk. She looked over at Daidouji, who gave her a look that screamed, where the hell have you been?

Kinomoto mouthed "Later", and the class settle back to normal.

x

x

"Where the hell have you been?" Tomoyo Daidouji shrieked as she stood in the hallway. Several students stopped and decided to listen in.

Sakura Kinomoto let out a small, sheepish grin. She spoke quietly, "This morning my toaster broke, so Julian and I decided to try-"

"No!" Tomoyo shook her head. "For the past summer? I have been so worried about you!"

Sakura immediately looked at her feet. "I was hit by a car."

Tomoyo had known Sakura for years now, and she knew that Sakura was lying.

"Liar." Tomoyo hissed.

"I'm not." Sakura said automatically.

"Yes you are!" Tomoyo blew up. A small group of people were beginning to form around them. "I can tell when you lie Sakura, you always stare at you feet! And why are you lying to me, you know you can tell me anything!"

Sakura was silent. No Tomoyo. Not anything.

"Could you just tell me what happened?" Tomoyo asked.

"I was hit by a car." Sakura repeated, looking her square in the eye.

"Come on, Sakura! I can't believe this. You know what people have been saying about you? They say that you were sent to rehab for meth and crack and all of this ridiculous stuff." Sakura stood, watching Tomoyo with distant expression. "I always defend you whenever I hear people talk. Especially at cheer, which, by the way, you were kicked off!"

Sakura blinked. "I was kicked off?" She repeated.

"Yes! You did miss all of summer practice, what did you expect? You would know if you tried to call me. I was so worried about you! I called you like a million times and no one picked up, and I never got a response." She choked. Her eyes were watering.

Tomoyo wiped her eyes. The crowd had become quite large now. Sakura had nothing to say.

"You know what Sakura? Forget it. I'm tired of trying. If you're not going to tell me what really happened, don't ever bother talking to me."

And with that, Tomoyo walked off, pushing her way through the crowd as she left.

Sakura stood rooted to the ground. Her expression was sorrowful. People still crowded around, watching, waiting for her next move.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered to no one, and the crowd continued to stare.

Suddenly, the bell rang.

Sakura was in a terrible mood.

Her first day at school was horrible. She knew what people thought of her. She knew they were talking about her, but all she could here was "Blah, blah, blah, I have nothing better to do with my time than to spread gossip."

Some underclassman even had the nerve to ask her where he could buy the best cocaine. She just glared at him and he ran off.

It did not faze her that most students in her high school were complete idiots. She just wanted to talk to Tomoyo, maybe have a nice mindless conversation with her best friend, catch up and then head over to cheer practice.

Lying to her was awful. Of course she could catch her lies. Sakura deeply craved to tell Tomoyo everything and have some peace-of-mind for both of them, but she couldn't. Tomoyo would, in no way, be a part of her mess. She had been Sakura's best friend for years, and never questioned her more than she was comfortable with. Now that Tomoyo didn't want anything to do with her, she felt really lost.

For the past two and a half months, Sakura was unconscious in a hospital, recovering from an almost fatal gun-shot wound that was millimeters away from puncturing her heart. She was released from the hospital only two days before.

She walked in the front of the school waiting for her English guardian to pick her up.

Julian Star was twenty-three years old and originally from England. His family and the Kinomoto family had been very close. As a child, Julian was good friends with Sakura's older brother. When Sakura was only three years old, her mother, father, and older brother were killed in a simple car accident. The Star family then moved back to England, not being able to handle the tragedy of the Kinomotos. When Julian was eighteen, he attended a Japanese university were we was later united with the last Kinomoto. When Julian was twenty, he became Sakura's legal guardian.

What Sakura liked most about Julian was that he was ridiculously optimistic. He made every crisis seem manageable, which was what she needed at this point of her life.

Right on schedule, a black topless convertible pulled up in front of Sakura. Sitting in the driver seat was Julian Star beaming at her. Sakura got into the car.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan! How was your first day of school?" He asked cheerfully, his big, round glasses glittered.

Sakura frowned and buckled her seat belt. Julian pulled the car ahead and started driving home.

"Terrible. Tomoyo blew up on me. I told her the usual bull and she didn't believe it, of course. I know I can't tell her the truth. Who knows what could happen to her?" She sighed. "Also, I learned I was kicked off the cheer team and Li-san replaced me as captain."

Sakura put on a pair of aviator sunglasses on that were lying on the dashboard.

"I'm sorry. I wish you were never involved in the whole business." Julian said.

Sakura shrugged and scanned the streets as they drove past, gazing at nothing in particular.

"Wait, Li-san? Are you talking about that one girl who used to try to get you into trouble?"

Sakura nodded, not looking at him. "She took my squad."

"No," Julian started. "Clow stole you. Because of that man, you missed out on all your cheer shenanigans. I'm sure you can get your spot back. "

Clow Reed was the head of the NIA, a savvy intelligence agency bent on infiltrating any and all suspicious activity in and around Japan.

"I doubt that." Sakura said miserably. She knew he was trying to help, but it didn't seem likely that she would be able to do what she loved anymore.

"Tell you what, Saku-chan." Julian said. "We'll go to your favorite ice cream shop and you can get whatever your heart desires."

Sakura looked over at him. "Really?"

"Of course." He smiled.

"Sounds good." Sakura smiled. Ice cream always made her feel better.

They drove to an ice cream parlor while Sakura looked over her new school text books.

Unknown to Sakura, a man was observing at her through a pair of binoculars on a roof top. He was speaking on a cellular phone.

He brushed his chestnut hair out of the way of his vision. "I see Kinomoto."

"Excellent. Keep her under within your sight. This one is hard to get rid of."

"Yes, sir." He watched as the girl and another man park and walk out of their car. They walked into an ice cream parlor.

"Remember, I want you to break her, this girl has done so much, despite her age. Destroy her... and make sure you don't fail like the last guy did."

The man smirked and set down his binoculars. "I never fail."

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