Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, or any of its characters. Nor do I own
Sailor Moon, or any of its characters. I own this plotline, however.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TO HEAL A SOLDIER
Prologue—of a challenge
When he had been a child, young enough that he'd not yet become a machine in a human body, he had fondly supposed that all the training he was given was so he could become a secret agent when he grew up. Like all small boys will do, he cherished this fantasy, held it close, and hoped that he would soon be old enough to be sent on missions. Important missions, like James Bond had in the movies.
The doctors, of course, had no idea that he knew who James Bond was. He had snuck out of the compound one night, just to see if he could, and been drawn by the title at the theater. Tomorrow Never Dies. He wasn't about to tell them he knew, in any case. They wouldn't like it, and he'd be punished. He'd been beaten for childish, immature behavior before. But that was okay, because being mature and logical would likely save his life someday. So the doctors said.
Of course, at the time he'd only been four, and didn't know that it was unacceptable for adults to beat children. Even in a secret military training facility. No, that knowledge wouldn't come until much later. Considering how much faith he'd had in his fantasy, it was only natural that he be crushed when he'd had his delusions stripped from him. That was when he first began to plan his escape, when he was six years old. That had been ten years ago.
And what had caused this sudden flashback, he wondered? Perhaps the ironic fact that the man he was to assassinate was going to a theater with his wife, and that the theater was playing a new James Bond movie.
Hiiro's lips tried to pull back in a smirk, but seemed to have forgotten how. His mouth twitched for a moment, then he suppressed it automatically, his young, flawless face smoothing back into the mask of antipathy that he had worn for years. He usually saved the sadistic laughter until after he'd finished a job, if he felt like laughing at all, but the coincidence in this case fit his slightly disturbed sense of humor well.
Normally he wouldn't have chosen such a public spot to execute his plan, but he had taken many precautions that he wouldn't be caught, and it was the only time the man wasn't flocked with bodyguards. Of course, he could always slip past the guards and kill him in his sleep, but that would be messy, and Hiiro was, by nature, a compulsively neat person. Not that even he could tame his own wild, thick brown hair. It was the only thing that he like untidy, anyway.
He didn't know why his current employer wanted this man dead, (he was only an actor, after all,) only that it was some kind of personal vendetta. Hiiro didn't approve of the petty reason behind the crime, and he knew that the doctors would have been pissed beyond all hells to know what their "Perfect Soldier" had got to after he escaped their prison. It wasn't his problem, however, what he thought of the motive, for it was a job and that was the only reason he needed. He certainly didn't care what the doctors would have thought, and truly, he didn't care if his employer wanted the actor dead on a mere whim.
It was the challenge of this job that made Hiiro Yui, renowned in the criminal underworld as the Perfect Soldier and Assassin, accept it. It wasn't as though he couldn't hack into any computer in the world, or successfully take down any major political figure in the world without breaking a sweat, not leaving a trace behind. He could, and in fact had, done both of the afore-said feats. For a high fee, of course. Then why had he taken this job?
The fact that he'd had to track the target down on the man's vacation time, when he could have been anywhere in the world. The fact that he knew some of the bodyguards the actor had hired, and recognized them as among the best in the world.
Unfortunately, the actor was fated with ill-luck when he dismissed his guards for a romantic day alone with his wife. Hiiro was thus robbed of his challenge. He knew that he could wait until the guards were back in place and proceed from there, but he had decided not to let this easy opportunity slide by. He was getting bored of this job, anyway. The best in the world were not equal to the Perfect Soldier, after all.
The man was standing in line to the ticket booth with his wife, and had quite a ways to go. It would create a big ruckus to shoot him where he stood, Hiiro noted. A shadow of a smile briefly flitted across his face. He didn't enjoy participating in mayhem, but he took a secret delight in causing it, and watching the effects from afar.
Hiiro lifted his sniper rifle silently, easily, as he put his eye to the sighting piece. Beautiful, Prussian blue eyes, impossible cold, narrowed as he shifted slightly to get the man within his sights. On a whim, he turned on the targeting laser, though he didn't need it. Perhaps someone would see it on the back of the quarry's head and scream. Then the man would flee, and the fun would really begin. Hiiro held the gun perfectly still, adjusting it only when the actor moved. After waiting a while, during which no one noticed the glowing red dot, Hiiro sighed, a bit disappointed. Then he fired the gun at the chattering man.
There was a sudden, bloodcurdling scream from the wife as her husband slumped over suddenly, crimson life pouring from the hole in his head. He was dead already, Hiiro knew. People were scattering and shouting and creating quite a commotion, while the originator of the trouble stood on a nearby rooftop with a satisfied air. Sirens wailed on the scene in minutes, and Hiiro knew that he should leave, for police were well aware that a criminal sometimes stays near the scene of the crime. They'd figure out the angle from which the bullet had been shot, and be swarming his building in half the time it took to shake a lamb's tail.
"Mission- accomplished," Hiiro murmured, unable to prevent himself from uttering the phrase that had been ingrained in his mind since he was a child. Not that he minded the permanent traces of soldier in his persona; it was what characterized him in the criminal world. It made him seem rather…notorious.
Searchlights from a hovering helicopter above swept the rooftop not a second later, and all traces of the perfect assassin had vanished like a cold wind.
********
When Hiiro slipped back into his apartment some hours later, the first thing his sharp eyes saw, even in the pitchblack darkness of the room, was the email light flickering on and off at his laptop.
//I seem to be in great demand this time of year,// Hiiro thought with a quick quirk of his mouth. //Nice to feel needed…// The tousle-haired youth slid into his chair with a grace uncommon among most awkward adolescents. Though he, of course, was neither common nor counted among the 'most' of anything.
Without bothering to turn on the overhead light, Hiiro opened and scanned the email without much thought. Then he sat up a little straighter, a spark of interest lighting his normally empty eyes, and read it again. And again. A rare smile curved his lips slowly, transforming his already handsome face into something even more; something so indescribably beautiful that it would almost hurt to look at.
The boy who sat at the computer, infused with as much excitement as a reputedly emotionless person could muster, had no idea of the perceptions someone else might hold, and therefore had no thought as to what he might look like in another's eyes when he smiled. Furthermore, he probably wouldn't care even if he did know, much as he didn't care for other common luxuries, such as comfort. Though Hiiro had accumulated a vast amount of wealth as payment for use of his skills, he was completely content with the small, private apartment which he occupied at the moment, on the East Coast of the United States.
Not for long, though. Not for long, because he was about to accept a job that would take him to Tokyo, Japan. His home country, in fact. It was a job that required him to be totally undercover. He needed an alias so sound, so unthreatening that his quarry would never suspect. And at Hiiro Yui's age, that meant that his alias would be- a schoolboy. Yes, the Perfect Soldier was going to high school.
It was a challenge unlike any other that he had ever faced. Not academically- no. He had learned anything they could teach up to Ph.D. level a thousand times over. The real question was this. Could someone like him: an escaped military superweapon, an assassin, an emotionless warrior- Could he ever pass for normal? A challenge, indeed. It was at the level of challenge he had been searching for ever since he'd escaped from that damned compound.
"Mission- accepted," Hiiro whispered, half-aloud, echoing his words with their typing equivalent in the answering email. A click of the mouse to send the button, and then he went to by airline tickets. Destination- Tokyo, Japan.
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A/N: Okay, I know that's kind of short, even for a prologue, but I felt that it was a good place to end. Should I continue this? Because I won't post anymore if you don't think so. I'll write more, but I won't post it. Please Read and Review, thanx! Tell me what you think!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TO HEAL A SOLDIER
Prologue—of a challenge
When he had been a child, young enough that he'd not yet become a machine in a human body, he had fondly supposed that all the training he was given was so he could become a secret agent when he grew up. Like all small boys will do, he cherished this fantasy, held it close, and hoped that he would soon be old enough to be sent on missions. Important missions, like James Bond had in the movies.
The doctors, of course, had no idea that he knew who James Bond was. He had snuck out of the compound one night, just to see if he could, and been drawn by the title at the theater. Tomorrow Never Dies. He wasn't about to tell them he knew, in any case. They wouldn't like it, and he'd be punished. He'd been beaten for childish, immature behavior before. But that was okay, because being mature and logical would likely save his life someday. So the doctors said.
Of course, at the time he'd only been four, and didn't know that it was unacceptable for adults to beat children. Even in a secret military training facility. No, that knowledge wouldn't come until much later. Considering how much faith he'd had in his fantasy, it was only natural that he be crushed when he'd had his delusions stripped from him. That was when he first began to plan his escape, when he was six years old. That had been ten years ago.
And what had caused this sudden flashback, he wondered? Perhaps the ironic fact that the man he was to assassinate was going to a theater with his wife, and that the theater was playing a new James Bond movie.
Hiiro's lips tried to pull back in a smirk, but seemed to have forgotten how. His mouth twitched for a moment, then he suppressed it automatically, his young, flawless face smoothing back into the mask of antipathy that he had worn for years. He usually saved the sadistic laughter until after he'd finished a job, if he felt like laughing at all, but the coincidence in this case fit his slightly disturbed sense of humor well.
Normally he wouldn't have chosen such a public spot to execute his plan, but he had taken many precautions that he wouldn't be caught, and it was the only time the man wasn't flocked with bodyguards. Of course, he could always slip past the guards and kill him in his sleep, but that would be messy, and Hiiro was, by nature, a compulsively neat person. Not that even he could tame his own wild, thick brown hair. It was the only thing that he like untidy, anyway.
He didn't know why his current employer wanted this man dead, (he was only an actor, after all,) only that it was some kind of personal vendetta. Hiiro didn't approve of the petty reason behind the crime, and he knew that the doctors would have been pissed beyond all hells to know what their "Perfect Soldier" had got to after he escaped their prison. It wasn't his problem, however, what he thought of the motive, for it was a job and that was the only reason he needed. He certainly didn't care what the doctors would have thought, and truly, he didn't care if his employer wanted the actor dead on a mere whim.
It was the challenge of this job that made Hiiro Yui, renowned in the criminal underworld as the Perfect Soldier and Assassin, accept it. It wasn't as though he couldn't hack into any computer in the world, or successfully take down any major political figure in the world without breaking a sweat, not leaving a trace behind. He could, and in fact had, done both of the afore-said feats. For a high fee, of course. Then why had he taken this job?
The fact that he'd had to track the target down on the man's vacation time, when he could have been anywhere in the world. The fact that he knew some of the bodyguards the actor had hired, and recognized them as among the best in the world.
Unfortunately, the actor was fated with ill-luck when he dismissed his guards for a romantic day alone with his wife. Hiiro was thus robbed of his challenge. He knew that he could wait until the guards were back in place and proceed from there, but he had decided not to let this easy opportunity slide by. He was getting bored of this job, anyway. The best in the world were not equal to the Perfect Soldier, after all.
The man was standing in line to the ticket booth with his wife, and had quite a ways to go. It would create a big ruckus to shoot him where he stood, Hiiro noted. A shadow of a smile briefly flitted across his face. He didn't enjoy participating in mayhem, but he took a secret delight in causing it, and watching the effects from afar.
Hiiro lifted his sniper rifle silently, easily, as he put his eye to the sighting piece. Beautiful, Prussian blue eyes, impossible cold, narrowed as he shifted slightly to get the man within his sights. On a whim, he turned on the targeting laser, though he didn't need it. Perhaps someone would see it on the back of the quarry's head and scream. Then the man would flee, and the fun would really begin. Hiiro held the gun perfectly still, adjusting it only when the actor moved. After waiting a while, during which no one noticed the glowing red dot, Hiiro sighed, a bit disappointed. Then he fired the gun at the chattering man.
There was a sudden, bloodcurdling scream from the wife as her husband slumped over suddenly, crimson life pouring from the hole in his head. He was dead already, Hiiro knew. People were scattering and shouting and creating quite a commotion, while the originator of the trouble stood on a nearby rooftop with a satisfied air. Sirens wailed on the scene in minutes, and Hiiro knew that he should leave, for police were well aware that a criminal sometimes stays near the scene of the crime. They'd figure out the angle from which the bullet had been shot, and be swarming his building in half the time it took to shake a lamb's tail.
"Mission- accomplished," Hiiro murmured, unable to prevent himself from uttering the phrase that had been ingrained in his mind since he was a child. Not that he minded the permanent traces of soldier in his persona; it was what characterized him in the criminal world. It made him seem rather…notorious.
Searchlights from a hovering helicopter above swept the rooftop not a second later, and all traces of the perfect assassin had vanished like a cold wind.
********
When Hiiro slipped back into his apartment some hours later, the first thing his sharp eyes saw, even in the pitchblack darkness of the room, was the email light flickering on and off at his laptop.
//I seem to be in great demand this time of year,// Hiiro thought with a quick quirk of his mouth. //Nice to feel needed…// The tousle-haired youth slid into his chair with a grace uncommon among most awkward adolescents. Though he, of course, was neither common nor counted among the 'most' of anything.
Without bothering to turn on the overhead light, Hiiro opened and scanned the email without much thought. Then he sat up a little straighter, a spark of interest lighting his normally empty eyes, and read it again. And again. A rare smile curved his lips slowly, transforming his already handsome face into something even more; something so indescribably beautiful that it would almost hurt to look at.
The boy who sat at the computer, infused with as much excitement as a reputedly emotionless person could muster, had no idea of the perceptions someone else might hold, and therefore had no thought as to what he might look like in another's eyes when he smiled. Furthermore, he probably wouldn't care even if he did know, much as he didn't care for other common luxuries, such as comfort. Though Hiiro had accumulated a vast amount of wealth as payment for use of his skills, he was completely content with the small, private apartment which he occupied at the moment, on the East Coast of the United States.
Not for long, though. Not for long, because he was about to accept a job that would take him to Tokyo, Japan. His home country, in fact. It was a job that required him to be totally undercover. He needed an alias so sound, so unthreatening that his quarry would never suspect. And at Hiiro Yui's age, that meant that his alias would be- a schoolboy. Yes, the Perfect Soldier was going to high school.
It was a challenge unlike any other that he had ever faced. Not academically- no. He had learned anything they could teach up to Ph.D. level a thousand times over. The real question was this. Could someone like him: an escaped military superweapon, an assassin, an emotionless warrior- Could he ever pass for normal? A challenge, indeed. It was at the level of challenge he had been searching for ever since he'd escaped from that damned compound.
"Mission- accepted," Hiiro whispered, half-aloud, echoing his words with their typing equivalent in the answering email. A click of the mouse to send the button, and then he went to by airline tickets. Destination- Tokyo, Japan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Okay, I know that's kind of short, even for a prologue, but I felt that it was a good place to end. Should I continue this? Because I won't post anymore if you don't think so. I'll write more, but I won't post it. Please Read and Review, thanx! Tell me what you think!