Well...this is my very first fanfic so...be nice and give it a try? Please forgive my beginner crappiness TT_TT

Sadly, Katekyo Hitman Reborn isn't, and never will, belong to me.

I opened the door and then...silence.

And staring. Lots of staring.

Because in front of my very ordinary and by all means normal door was an equally ordinary six foot tall giant of a man.

In a stiff black suit. With a curly mustache. And dark sunglasses. On a cloudy day.

Isn't that just wonderful?

'...Can I help you?' I say, making a fine display of my absolutely exquiste and exotic vocabulary skills.

Can you get the hell out or explain why you are popping my personal bubble of dark and evil?...Was what I really wanted to say, but seeing as he's a six foot tall giant looking armed and dangerous, I doubt that would be good for my physical health.

So instead, I decided to start saying my last words just in case I don't make it out alive.

Dear divine being who rules the universe, if this is your way of punishing me for whatever crime I've done in my past life, please know that I'm very, very sorry and could you please forgive me?

'Yes. You can.' The man said in response, dead serious.

Oh shit.

I'm screwed.

And I was partially right seeing as that was how, unbeknownst to me, the start of a long and permanent personal Apocalypse began and sealed my doomed fate for all eternity.

With no help from the beforehand mentioned divine being.

Just thought I should add that in there.

The event you just read is probably quite confusing seeing as you're, like, a complete stranger who knows nothing whatsoever about my tragic, depressing, and not-quite-so-satisfying life?

So I guess I should tell you everything you need to know about sad little me wasting oxygen in this fair, kind, and totally awesome world that seemed to jump at any chance to screw up my life.

Which is, bluntly put, not the most best thing one can wish for.

Moving on, I'm human, the last time I checked, I'm a girl with all my limbs intact though no one knows for how much longer, and I had the most un-average appearance of all time.

In other words, I stuck out like a sore thumb.

A freaky sore thumb as I've been told many times (Once, I ran into a little girl at night on the streets. She ran away screaming about monsters in the dark. I really, really wanted to strangle her).

I had waist long creepily ink black hair that I never bothered to cut, slightly sideswept bangs that give me a dark aura, slightly pale skin (more like deathly pale vampire skin that I absolutely hated), and piercing, bright silver eyes with black rimmed edges that seemed to glint unnaturally and repel everyone within ten meters.

What sort of person had silver eyes? (They also seemed to have this...this...light turquoise-ish, blue-ish, purple-ish, I-have-no-idea-what-the-hell-that-color-is tint to them! Urg. THE HORROR! You have no idea...) Maybe I got them from my (very, very normal) family...

Anyways, I was forever wearing a blank expression or a frown and my current clothes consisted of a once-whole torn gray T-shirt (It involved glass, money, and lack of food. Don't ask.) with dark jeans (also very battered) and an alright-ish black jacket that kept me alive through winter (despite the fact that I nearly caught pneumonia twice).

I was short. Not just kinda short, but frigging SHORT. I hated my height more than anything.

Now you're probably thinking, how did your life become like this?

Well, I'll tell you (Even though you probably don't give a crap, but that's irrelevant...).

It all happened when I was at the very young and naive age of six.

In the middle of the night at god-knows-when, my parents suddenly woke me up and told me to hide.

I was dumb little kid back then so naturally, I obeyed because there's really nothing else I could do and my tiny brain didn't bother comprehending the situation...

I thought it was weird, creepy, and somewhat scary, but I never thought my life would be in danger until I heard the screams and gunshots.

I was in a closet and froze.

I heard all sorts of seriously nasty noises while petrified in fear, but the sounds that stood out most was the loud 'bang!' and a piercing scream that shook my very soul.

Then something started soaking my socks and I glanced down to see the rapidly expanding puddle of blood forming under my feet.

And that was when I lost what remaining consciousness I had.

That's all I remembered about the day my parents died because you can't expect 6 year old kids to have photographic memory, now can you?

7 years have passed (because I miraculously survived through all the crap that comes along with life) and I was 13 now.

I was old enough to understand that that night, my parents were murdered and pure luck was what saved my sorry butt from extinction.

I had run away from the orphanage 2 years ago, (That place was horrid!) and started the life I'm living now.

Which is really not a life one would wish for seeing as I'm practically on the verge of starvation, living in a cramped tight space that can hardly qualify as an apartment, and, for survival reasons, posing as a sixteen year old despite the fact that I'm, like, quite obviously not sixteen?

And so, adding all this complete crap together with the 'event' of the past, it is quite safe to say that I'm willing to take drastic measures to survive.

Which was why ever since I left the orphanage, I vowed that I would learn to be strong and never let someone hurt me so much ever again.

But no matter how determined I was, there was only so much a 13 year old kid can do.

Or so I thought.

It had all started with a simple letter that said,

We are offering a well-paying job to unique people.

All ages are accepted.

If you want to apply, please fill out the form attached and call the following number.

XXX-XXX-XXXX

This was by far the most suspicious letter I have ever received and I really doubt anyone would be foolish enough to try it out because it's so totally a scam and stuff?

But my life was already messed up so why not be the idiotic fool and take a chance?

And so, using effort and energy that could have been wasted some other way, I filled out the form and it looked like this:

Name: Mei Kurogane (My name's weird. Deal with it.)

Age: 13

Gender: Female

Height: 4'11 (why, lord, simply why must I be so damn short?)

Weight: around 70 pounds (Here's a tip. If you ever need a diet, live with me for a while and I guarantee you will either starve, lose fifty pounds, or drop dead. Just saying.)

History: I'm an orphan. My parents were killed when I was 6 and I don't know who's responsible. I ran away from the orphanage when I was eleven and I've been surviving on my own ever since. That is all. (...and because I don't feel like telling you anything else, strange-person-who-I-don't-know)

I then proceeded to call the number and a man's voice answered,

'Hello, are you calling to apply for the jobs we offered?'

'Yes'

The fake job that probably doesn't exist but I'm calling you anyways because I'm so freaking bored and I've got nothing better to do...

'Please tell us your address. We will send a black car to pick you up tomorrow at noon.'

I'm sure you will. While you're at it, why don't you send me a million bucks? That'd be helpful...

Meh.

I just shrugged to myself and gave him the address.

'XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXX'

'Thank you. Have a nice day.'

Not.

I don't have nice days, buddy, because do you know all the shit I've been through? DO YOU? No, I didn't think so...

Then I hung up and sat on my ragged little bed that was rotting apart (Was that slimy green thing growing?) and just lay there as I thought about how ridiculous this was.

I mean seriously, who's going to believe in something this cliche? (Like I said, drastic measures. When you're desperate, you'll do anything. Do you know how far I'd go for some well paying job? Despite the fact that it probably doesn't exist?)

As long as the police don't come banging on my door, I'm happy.

~ Tomorrow at noon~

Dingdong~

The doorbell rang (that hasn't happened for a long time since I never get visitors and I usually just shut the door in their face anyways...).

I opened the door...and you know the rest.

Picking up where we left off, I raised an eyebrow at the giant man and looked at him questionably while hiding a colorful array of (negative) feelings on the inside.

'You are the one who called to accept our offer yesterday, are you not?' he asked.

Oh.

And here I thought he was something sent from hell to screw up my life.

I guess I was wrong.

(I was right. But at this point in time, I didn't know about this very important and very significant fact that could have changed my life.)

'Yes, that was me.'

Yep, unfortunately it was sad little me...

'Please hand me the form included in the letter.'

You mean the creepy form I filled out to practice writing because I'm so pathetic I can't even afford paper?

'Sure'

I handed it to him and then he said,

'Follow me.'

...Say what?

This isn't a joke? How...suspicious.

And so, the giant man in a black suit lead me out on the streets to a sleek and shiny limo that I've never before laid eyes on let alone dared to ride on.

'Please get in, miss.'

I nodded, slightly blown away on the inside, but doing a half-decent job of concealing that on the outside. (Living in the streets do wonders for erasing emotions. You should try in sometime.)

'So about this job…' I asked as he drove the fancy vehicle.

'You'll be going through auditions.'

Auditions? Figures. I knew things were way too good to be true.

(Yeah, I mean come on, a random well-paying job out of the blue with no competition? Nooooo way.)

'We're here'

Enter mouth-dropping WOAH.

We had stopped at a giant mansion.

We're having auditions at a place like this? Just what the heck kind of job was I auditioning for?

As the man in the black led me into the mansion and walked past dozens of rooms, I wondered if it was such a good idea to apply for this...thing.

'I be leaving you here. Good luck.'

He then left and I quickly turned my attention to the ominous, evil-looking door in front of me.

I took a deep breath and it to find…

A classroom.

Well, not exactly a normal classroom, but more like some kind of super fancy room filled with lots of high quality desks and chairs (Damn rich people...)

Oh, and every desk had a thick packet and a pencil on it (Maybe some sorta test?)

Did I mention the people in the room?

I didn't, did I?

Well, for one thing, the youngest guy I saw looked about 18 and every single person looked like they were some sort of evil, scary being that can probably give some random old lady a heart attack on the spot.

The said evil, scary beings varied from stony faced business men with powerful auras to nasty, automatically repelling, giant, ogre-like street thugs who have the classic 'get in my way and you will die' aura.

Oh, and one more thing.

The assassins.

The wonderful people of the room who radiated murderous killing intent and deathly aura that far overshadowed my own.

And I had thought that I was creepy.

...You know what, screw being calm and collected, I need to do some major inner ranting.

What the hell is this? I sputtered in my mind.

The Apocalypse has arrived. I mentally groaned, letting loose with painfully negative comments in my mind due to the fact that if said out loud, certain death is guaranteed.

As I took a seat in the back to avoid attention, I felt many heated death-glares and heard people mutter stuff like,

'What's a little brat doing here? Does she want to die?'

'Children these days. Absolutely no brains.'

'A little girl? What sort of joke is this?'

The atmosphere in the room suddenly seemed much darker.

Well.

Thank you, everyone, for your warm and joyful welcome that makes me so happy I can just die.

How nice of you all to display your (violet and murderous) feelings about me via deadly brain waves of malice and harm.

I appreciate it. I really do. And along with all that, I can guarantee myself that my life is officially screwed.

Oh, joy.

The door opened again and a young-ish guy with brown hair and sea blue eyes in a black suit walked in.

Probably our instructor.

'Silence.' he said. (more like demanded)

Everyone shut up instantly. (Wow, dramatic...)

He eyed every person in the room and was it just me or did he look at me a little longer?

I wonder why?

'Maybe because I'm a little kid sitting in a room of grown-ups.' reasoned my brain seeing as I'm, like, a little brat in the midst of a group of deadly assassins?

'As you all know, this audition for a spot in our organization will have three parts.'

There's three parts? I didn't know that...

'There will be a section for intelligence and observation, a section for physical abilities, and if you do well enough to qualify, an interview. We will begin with observation and intelligence. For this section,please answer the following questions in this packet.'

So that's what the packet was for.

'In order to pass and move on to the next stage, you must finish the packet on your desk within 1 hour and get at least 80% of the questions right. I will be walking around to make sure there is no cheating.'

He finished his speech and started patrolling around.

I glanced at my packet and quickly got started on the first question, which was,

Who is Joseph Valachi ,what happened to him in the year of 1930, where was he born, when was he born, and what is his claim to fame?

Uh...what?

I did the normal thing and skipped on to the next question which happened to be,

What is a cinquedea, where was it developed, during what time period was it popular , why did the name mean 'five fingers', and what is its average length?

...What...the heck? How surprising. I have a sudden indescribable urge to rip this packet apart.

But, being ever so calm and mature *cough* not really *cough* I took the time to scan the rest of the packet, since this is obviously a serious job that many people wanted.

One that I'm not giving up without a fight.

I started flipping the packet slowly and looking for any question I might know the answer to because if by any wild chance fate decided to be nice and grant me a freebie I don't want to miss it for being a lazy, air-headed slouch...

Then I noticed a particular question seemed to contain a rather familiar word.

What short sword's name meant 'five fingers', was invented in Italy, was popular in the 15th century, and was 45 cm in length?

Where have I seen this before…AHA! AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PACKET!

Excited, I quickly checked to see if my theory was correct.

Sure enough, all the answers were in the packet. The answer to #1 was in #21, the answer to #2 was in #32 and the answer to #3 was in #43.

It was a puzzle!

Now that I've figured it out, the test was a breeze!

I finished with 5 minutes to spare and glanced around.

Everyone else was scribbling furiously and concentrating hard like the slowpokes they are who couldn't solve a puzzle that a thirteen year old figured out.

Only 3 other people were done.

Unsurprisingly, one of them was the sharp looking business man in a black suit.

Next, was a guy who was dressed up like an assassin.

And surprisingly, one of the street thugs also finished.

The instructor was still patrolling around and then he glanced at the clock.

'…Time's up. Everyone, put your pencils down and give me your tests.'

Groans echoed throughout the room.

Looks like there was going to be less competition from here on out.

That's a good thing because the instructor said there would be a section for physical skills and even though I'm quite strong for a 13 year old, compared to some people in this room, it would be like making an elephant complete with an ant. (Yes, they are THAT intimidating)

'Please wait calmly in this room. After we obtain the results, we will announce who has passed and is eligible to complete in the next round.' with that, he exited.

I was quite confident I got more than 80% correct.

Now the new question was, who were my opponents?

As I waited for the results, the people around me started muttering quietly and I tried my best to blend in with the wall and stay unnoticed…and failed.

Because I'm pathetic like that.

The guy who looked about 18 with messy blond hair and light green eyes came up to me and asked,

'Are you some sort of child genius? I'm quite sure that this organization wouldn't recruit ordinary children.'

'Ummmm…I've experienced things that are unsuitable for my age.'

That was technically true.

I've survived on my own without any help for 2 years and I had come out of a mini-massacre alive.

That counts, right?

'Interesting. Since we are the two youngest candidates, why not form an alliance? I'm sure it'll help the both of us get through the next stage.'

And suddenly, alarm bells screeched in my mind and I was on full guard.

After my long years of unwanted experience, I had learned that when people offer to be your allies, they usually come with less-than-pleasant hidden intentions.

Past memories did not help. No, not at all.

But, in this situation, I needed all the help I can get seeing as if I don't, there's just...Oh...a 99.9% chance that I'll be ripped limb from limb and hurled headfirst into the after life.

So really, what choice do I really have?

I can always ditch him, can't I? (Yeah, I'm that twisted)

'Sure.' I responded at last.

'My name is Luke Mignoga. '

'Mei.'

He smiled oh-so-charmingly with a wink and all, but I was only thirteen so I was immune to his...um...flirty-ness.

The instructor came back in and said,

'We will now announce the results. The following people scored above 80% on the test.'

Finally.

I get to see who my overwhelmingly powerful/scary/creepy competition's gonna be.

'Gennaro Giorodano, Mei Kurogane, Luke Mignoga, Desmond Murphy, and Shio Sanchez.'

Only five people? That's a shock…not.

I figured there wouldn't be too many people since when the time was up, half the room was still scribbling furiously. (HA. In your FACE. That's what you get for underestimating me...)

'Everyone who was not called, please leave.'

With a lot of grumbling, muttering, and cussing, all who were not called exited the room because they were all pathetic sore losers who can't accept the fact that the world hates EVERYONE.

No exceptions.

I looked at the few lucky (ish?)people who were still here.

All of them looked sharp, intimidating, and downright deadly.

I was so totally screwed.

Oh, wait, I forgot, I was screwed from the beginning! Silly me!

...Fuck my life.

'Remaining candidates, please follow me.'

I am doomed.

He led us out of the mansion and into what I supposed was the garden.

The keyword word here is supposed.

It was more like a mega sized field filled with neatly cut bushes that created a seemly endless maze-like structure with a giant ten feet tall fountain right smack in the middle.

Considering how large it was, if someone got lost in there, they would probably never find a way out and rot in that maze like the dumb creatures they are who walked into the death trap on their own free will and couldn't think ahead for about ten seconds.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, I said free will.

I don't have a choice so I'm not included in the group of idiots I was commenting about...

'Your task is simple. You just have to reach the fountain and retrieve the item inside it without succumbing to the death traps and make it back to this spot with said item alive. First 3 to return will be accepted for the job. You are allowed to attack fellow participants. You may start whenever you like.'

Our simple task was to just avoid death traps in an endless maze, retrieve an item, and come back alive.

Really simple, isn't it?

I was now glad I had an alliance with Luke.

There was no way I can possibly do this utterly insane hopeless task of suicidal-ness without help.

Not unless some sort of miracle grants me an instant shortcut free of death traps.

…Wait a sec.

Shortcuts.

The instructor never said we couldn't cheat, now did he?

I had a plan and all I needed was privacy and something sharp.

Well, I think it's a plan.

Sort of.

No one had started yet (Fortunately. And because they are human and humans like to take their slow, merry time to prepare.)

They were all getting ready and bringing out various deadly harm-inducing weapons and items with equal harm-inducing potential.

How come I didn't bring any?

Stupid me.

No, scratch that.

I wasn't stupid.

I just had a sudden case of momentary amnesia which caused me to forget that one unimportant little detail.

...You don't believe me do you?

I glanced over at Luke. He was pulling out a gun and a couple awesome looking daggers that glinted evilly.

He was supposed to be an ally right? (If not, well SCREW IT)

It can't hurt to ask for some help, right?

'Can I borrow one of those daggers? I didn't bring any weapons with me.'

He looked over at me and smiled warmly (Warmly? WTF? Are you trying to be my frigging father?) and then, in such a nice tone, said,

'Sure.'

He tossed one over and I caught it (barely).

It was extraordinarily sharp, about 12 inches long and 1 inch wide (Not to mention really, really fancy. What are you, secret mafioso?...Don't answer that, I don't want to know.)

It would do pretty fine for what I had in mind.

Now the main question was, should I tell Luke about my plan?

I pondered over it for couple it for a couple seconds and thought, Nah…He can manage on his own.

If not, too bad.

It's a cruel world. Learn to deal with it.

I ran into the maze and went straight as far was possible until I ran into a dead end.

Now to try out my plan (-ish thingie. I really wouldn't call it a plan. It's more like something random that I thought up of to survive because randomness is necessary for survival in the streets of the cold, hard world.)

Using the dagger Luke gave me, I cut a slit just my height (this is one of the few times when I'm glad I'm short) and pushed the leaves and branches aside so it was sort of like a tiny door.

I squeezed through it, put the leaves back in place, and turned around to examine the spot I just came through.

It was unnoticeable and you can't tell there was a hole there unless you looked really, really closely.

Yes! My plan would work!

I was the only person small enough to fit through such a tiny slit without leaving much evidence behind.

Anyone else would have to carve out a giant, gaping hole that would be noticed instantly.

This way, instead of taking the twists and turns, I can just go straight and avoid most traps.

You do realize that I said most traps right? I never said all.

Even though the route I took was waaaaaay shorter than anyone else's, that doesn't mean it isn't filled with deadly, life-threatening traps.

So far, I've narrowly avoided a pitfall filled with snakes, dodged a sudden wave of arrows (who the heck uses arrows these days?), a mine, and a giant hound that didn't stop chasing me until I cut him up with my newly obtained dagger.

Sorry doggie, but I can't afford to die (I might be a low-level human, but personally, I still think my life is still worth more than that of a mentally deranged dog with a serious case of rabies).

Far behind me, I heard explosions, gunshots, shouts, and other sounds that signaled destruction of some unfortunate being.

Looks like someone's fighting.

Does this mean I'm ahead of everyone?

That's good, 'cuz if I run into one of my fellow participants, I wouldn't last more than 10 seconds in a battle. (No, I'm not ridiculously weak. I just can't fight seemly ridiculously strong people emitting fear-inducing auras.)

I quickened my pace and glanced behind me yet again when suddenly,

'SLAM!'

I was on the ground with a throbbing head.

No way, no way, no way. Tell me I did not run into someone! I'm too young to die!

I glanced up to see…Luke.

'Mei?' he said. He looked pretty shocked it was me and put his gun down.

'Heyyyy.'

'I'm surprised you're ahead of everyone else! I thought I was the only person who already made it this far. You really must be some sort of genius.'

'Ummm… yeah….'

I'm not a genius buddy, I just took a short cut.

'C'mon! We're allies right? Let's get going before the others catch up!'

He then grabbed my arm and started pulling me with him.

As helpful as he was, I needed to shake him off because even though he can probably survive any traps we run into, I can't.

But maybe running into him was a good thing.

I started weighing the pros and cons in my head.

Pros: If we run into other candidates, he can fight and perhaps give me a chance to run like hell, he can walk into traps first, maybe protect me, and lastly, supply me with weapons in case I lose my dagger.

Cons: I can't take shortcuts and he might backstab me.

I chose to stick with him.

After all, 3 people can make it, right?

'Hurry, we're almost there!' he called.

Sure enough, the giant fountain looked like it was only about 10 meters away and all we had to do was figure out which twists and turns to make.

SCREW SECRECY.

Victory was ten meters away and Luke was proving to be a trust worthy ally since he didn't kill me instantly and end my sorry life right then and there when I bumped into him.

'Wait!' I yelled. 'I know a shortcut!'

He stopped and looked at me with a surprised expression.

'Really?'

'Yeah, just hold on a bit.'

I took out the dagger he gave me and began carving out a slightly bigger hole.

This one wasn't gonna go unnoticed but compared to victory, it's a small price to pay.

I went through quickly and gestured for him to follow.

'So this is how you got ahead of everyone!' Luke exclaimed.

Uh...yeah. No duh, idiot. Did you really think I was actually strong?

I just shrugged and said,

'Let's go.'

When we reached the fountain, we saw 3 silver pocket watches and I quickly grabbed one and left.

Earlier, I had taken a few extra precautions and marked the path I took to find my way my back easier and avoid unnecessary traps because I'm smart like that and I actually think ahead unlike many beings in this universe.

As I retraced my steps, I looked behind me and saw that Luke wasn't following.

Good.

Now, the worst thing that can possibly happen was for me to run into a participant other than Luke.

Fat chance.

I was already halfway back and the others should be pretty far in the maze.

I saw the exit and sped up instantly, spurred on by the desire to get the fuck out of here and to obtain victory at last.

I ran over to the instructor and tossed him the silver watch in a smooth motion.

His raised an eyebrow.

Then he took the watch and said in a monotone voice,

'Congratulations, you are the first one to fin-'

He was suddenly cut off as Luke came charging out of the maze running away from…a bull?

Uh...people.

How the heck did they keep a frigging bull in this maze without it going on rampage and ripping the whole place apart?

We watched as Luke pulled out his gun and fired three shots.

Just three.

But that was enough.

'BANG! BANG! BANG!'

Seconds later the bull was lying dead at his feet.

Wow.

Good thing he's my ally.

'Here.' he said as he tossed his pocket watch at the instructor.

The guy caught the watch and said, in the same monotone voice,

'Congratulations you are the second one to finish.'

Was he some kind of robot? He seriously talked like one.

Then we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Was it just me, or was there dead silence in the maze?

The instructor made a call on his cell phone and then turned to us.

'The rest of the participants have been…disqualified. They won't be returning.'

Disqualified?

I looked at him incredulously. Then I put two and two together.

Oh.

So they didn't survive…well, at least that explains the dead silence.

'Follow me.'

Oh boy.

Here comes the interview.

He led us to a room and told Luke to enter.

Great.

I'm get to be left alone to die slowly and painfully via interview torture.

After the past two tests, I was quite assured that this was not going to be normal by any means.

He led me a few rooms down, went in, sat on a couch, and finally said,

'You truly resemble your parents.'

...Excuse me?

I stared at him like he was batshit crazy.

He caught my expression and said,

'You don't know what's going on do you?'

I shook my head.

Am I supposed to know?

Sorry.

But dude.

You don't just randomly say seriously disturbing stuff like that.

'Sit down, this is going to be a long story.'

We sat on opposite sofas and he started.

'My name is Matt. I was your parents' partner in business. The truth is, no matter how badly you did on the written tests, you would've still been picked. In that maze, Luke was assigned to help you and make sure you survive. The object of this whole thing was you.'

What? My parents' business? What do they have to do with all this? And just what was this business anyway?

'Just what sort of business is this?' I asked.

I had to know because my not-so-awesome nature as a normal human being included curiosity and I felt that information is necessary for survival.

He shifted uncomfortably and said,

'Well…they were in the mafia.'

...Huh?

'Your parents wanted you to have a normal life and they hid the fact from you all those years. They knew priceless, top-secret information and the enemy assassinated them for it.'

I stared. I was shocked.

My parents were Mafioso? They were assassinated?

Also, why the are we having this talk right now and what happened to the interview that was supposed to take place?

...Okay, maybe that's unimportant right now but I needed to rant because when I'm confused, I like take out my stress in my imaginary world of happiness and joy and other cheesy stuff that you really don't have to know about.

And while we're at it, why would you go ahead and do the exact opposite of what my parents wanted?

'But then why did you recruit me when my parents said they wanted me to have a normal life?'

'Errrr…well you see…'

'Yes?'

I'm not into drama so cut to the chase and answer the damn question.

'Any chances of you having a normal life were gone the moment your parents were killed. We decided to keep an eye on you and bring you into this world when you were of age. '

'So then why didn't you just tell me instead of putting me through all this?'

Seriously.

Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just tell me rather than go through all the trouble of staging fake auditions?

'We wanted to test your abilities to see if you were cut out for the job. Oh, and by the way, good job on coming up with a strategy in the maze. Seems like you inherited your mother's cleverness.'

Of course. I wouldn't have been able to survive on my own all those years out in the harsh, lonely, world of cruelty and unfairness if I wasn't clever.

'Anymore questions?'

'Nope'

I was quite sure I understood everything.

'Speaking of inheritance, since your parents are dead and you have no other relatives, you get all the money your parents left behind.'

Money? Sweetness! I could always use some extra cash.

'How much?'

'Well, to simplify things…you're a billionaire now.'

Yeah...kind of lame and stuff, but the characters you're familiar with will show up in later chapters!

So just hang in there!

And...review for me? Pretty please?

I'd love to hear your opinions and by all means, throw in some critics!