"The world's last Monday..." The man whispers, a gurgling sound deep in his throat revealing the blood filling his lungs.

He draws a breath but doesn't draw another, and I slowly lower my gun, the agents around me copying the action.

There is a moment of eerie silence as we collectively contemplate the utter failure the mission was. The man's body isn't the only one that litters the floor, but thankfully our team hasn't taken any casualties and most of the civilians are merely injured. Unfortunately, the rest of J's team had managed to escape.

The emergency team we had standing by had already appeared on the scene and was quickly beginning to tend to the wounded, and we leave them to their work. As senior agent, it's my responsibility to direct the other agents, and I quickly move to do so rather than immediately reporting to Kirishima.

That's a conversation I'd rather save for later.

I order my agents to begin rounding up the other civilians. Although we're pretty certain the virus here was a fluke, we can't take any chances. All of them will have to be screened and tested before they're allowed to leave.

Other agents are beginning to set up a safety perimeter but already news vans are appearing, seemingly out of thin air. I order them to do it faster, and I turn to see Kirishima already on the scene.

Determined to avoid him for as long as possible, I head back into the cafe, and it's at that moment that I wonder where Takagi has gotten to. The last time I'd seen the boy, there had been a gun to his head, but I was certain he'd escaped unscathed.

I quickly grab a lone agent passing by me and instruct him to look for the boy. If it were up to me, I'd leave him alone for a while, but I know that Kirishima's going to want to debrief him as soon as possible.

Any information they could get out of him about J could put them closer to shutting the whole operation down, and right now, time was of the essence.

A few minutes pass, and thoughts of the boy have already left my mind when I hear the sound of a commotion from across the cafe. Instinctively, I put my hand on my gun and turn towards the sounds, the other agents still inside doing the same. While the area had been cleared, there was always the possibility that something had been missed.

The sound is coming from behind the bar of the establishment, and suddenly I see a man stand from behind it.

His hands are raised in surrender, but he isn't looking towards us. He's looking at something on the ground that we can't see.

Suddenly I recognize him as the agent I sent to look for Takagi, and immediately panic shoots through my stomach. The man begins to take steps back, towards the door, and at the same time I move quickly towards the back of the cafe.

As I get closer, I can begin to hear what the agent is saying.

"Okay, I'm going. I'm leaving, don't worry." He's saying, giving meaningless reassurances, as if to talk someone down, but his tone is off. He sounds more concerned than scared, and it confuses me for a moment.

Finally he reaches the end of the bar and steps away from it, out of the sight of whoever, I assume, is pointing a gun at him. His hands drop and he turns to look at me.

"It's Fujimaru, sir, I think he managed to get hold of one of the guy's guns, because he already had it when I found him. He's, uhm, not quite himself, sir." The agent mumbles, partially because he doesn't want the hacker to hear and partially because I'm glaring holes into his skull.

"Right. Go find Kirishima and tell him the report he wants from me will have to wait." The agent nods vigorously and runs off, happy to have a different task.

Gesturing towards the other agents to back off, I move slowly forward once they comply. Even though I know it's Takagi behind the bar, I'm not going to take any chances, especially if what the agent says is true.

Slowly, I inch around the bar, hands raised in surrender, telling him I'm no threat.

As I get my first glimpse of the terrified boy, I'm only partially surprised. The brunette is on the ground, looking exhausted. As my agent informed me, he holds a gun in his hands, and it's the sight of it in his slim, unsure hands that shocks me. Despite the brave show he likes to put on, there's something inside me that twists at the very sight of the gentle boy holding such a weapon.

My shoe makes a slight scuffling sound against the floor, and the boy jerks as if burned. The hand with the gun, which had been lowered at his side, comes up to point directly at me. With his other hand, he pushes his body backwards, scrambling to get as far away from me as possible, but his back comes up against the other side of the bar and he is trapped.

There's something about his movements, though, that seem strange to me. His one leg tries to find purchase on the slick ground, pushing himself even further against the bar, but the other doesn't do the same, as if he's favouring that side of his body. There's sweat on his face, hair plastered to his head, and the hand holding the gun trembles slightly, the look on his face saying he's in pain and the look in his eyes saying he's terrified and that something's wrong, wrong, wrong.

"Takagi, it's me. It's Kanou." But he's shaking his head at me and I wonder if he's even listening, even seeing me. "Can you hear me?"

I shuffle another small step forward, and this makes him snap to attention again. The fear on his face is quite apparent, and it confuses me. I knew the boy didn't always get along with me, but I was pretty sure I hadn't done anything to warrant this type of fear. The gun focuses more readily on me, and a small part of me begins to wonder if he'll really use it.

"Stay away from me!"

This time, though he's looking at me, I realize he's not looking at me. His eyes, confused and terrified, are unfocused and can't seem to meet mine. Now that I'm closer, I can hear his sharp intakes of breath, fast and quick, too quick for my liking.

I suddenly realize the true danger I'm in.

There was nothing at all for me to fear from Takagi, the gentle student who doubled as a hacker. But this wasn't him, not really, not right now. This person was someone else, someone I'd seen a few times throughout my career, though usually on other agents.

This is a panicked, desperate man with a gun, one who couldn't recognize friend from foe, and that makes him dangerous.

"Stay away!"

"Okay, I won't come any closer. No one is going to come and bother us, okay?" I pause, uncertain, then sit on the ground where I was standing. "I'm just going to sit here and talk to you, that alright kid?"

This action, unexpected, seems to get through to the kid somewhat. He looks confused, and the gun follows me, but he shakes his head and his eyes clear a bit.

"It's me, kid. It's Kanou. Just you and me now." I don't move, just stare at him and ramble and remind him who I am, try to ground him.

Slowly, it seems to have an affect. The light of recognition appears in his eyes, though there's still confusion on his face. "Kanou?"

"Yep, it's me. I know you don't like me kid, but you're taking things to the extreme here, don't you think?"

"I – I can't... what?" Still shaking his head, the gun shaking too.

"You're safe now. You can put that down."

More confusion.

"J – he's – they're all here – I – J – I don't know what to do -" Grip tightens on the gun and I tense.

"J's gone, I swear. You're safe now. It's just you and me, okay? He's gone."

"But – there's – everywhere – blood – so much blood –" That part of me twists, and I wish for the hundredth time that we'd had never been forced to involve the boy in this mess. He'd seen so much and he was only a civilian, it was only natural he'd eventually snap like this.

I'm thankful he can't see beyond the bar, because while there's broken glass and bottles, he can't see the injured people, which makes my job much easier.

"Hey – look at me." He doesn't. "No, look at me. You are fine. You're safe."

This must be reaching some part of him, because his eyes seem to clear, and he glances around in a new way.

"Kanou. They're gone?"

"Yes. I swear." Some of the tension leaves his shoulders, and I know he's back with me now. "I'm going to take the gun, okay?" It's already been lowered, but I refuse to take any chances when he's this unstable.

He starts a bit, looking down as if noticing for the first time there's a gun in his hands, but he eventually nods. I take it gently from his hand, disarm it and slide it out of reach.

Having done this, I turn back to the brunette and move closer, and this time he lets me. I doubt he could have stopped me even if he'd tried because his body screams exhaustion and pain.

He's crying.

Silently, at first, but growing in intensity until he's taking huge, gasping breaths for air and shaking like a leaf. I manage to squeeze in beside him and wrap an arm around him.

"It's okay, easy, you're safe. You're safe, calm down. Just breathe, okay?"

The sobs slowly begin to subside, though the broken look on his face remains. The gasps slowly turn into noises of pain as the world comes back to him, and I realize the boy is fading fast.

"Where are you hurt?" I demand, immediately noticing where his hand is gripping his side.

"What happened?" The boy just shakes his head, and I quickly unzip the black sweater that had hidden the blood so well.

The white shirt underneath is soaked through with crimson blood too, and I lift it, exposing his abdomen and the still-healing gunshot wound from days ago, now bleeding again. I don't question the boy any longer, realizing that it must have reopened at some point during the struggle.

Anger burns in my stomach. I knew we shouldn't have let him go. He wasn't ready.

I don't ask if he thinks he can stand, because the stiffness in his earlier movements makes me doubt it. Instead I move his hand to put pressure on the wound and then gather him up in my arms. Thankfully, he doesn't protest, though whether that's because he doesn't mind or he's in too much pain to care, I don't know. He turns his head into my chest, eyes struggling to stay open, and for that I'm grateful. I'd rather he didn't see any more of the destruction lest he panic again.

Not wasting any more time, I rush outside and immediately demand the attention of the closest emergency workers. I follow them to an ambulance and reluctantly let go of him.

I back off, letting them do their jobs. I have already been spotted by Kirishima, who hurries over. He goes to talk to me, but follows my eyes and sees Takagi laying there.

He asks if the boy will have to go to the hospital. They tell him it's not necessary, but advised.

He turns to me. "Take him back to Third-I when they're done and he's been tested for the virus. We can take care of him there. Make sure to debrief him as soon as possible, and I'll be wanting your report as well."

I nod, unable to speak. I want to tell him about what just happened, about how we've broken the boy, about how I don't know what will be left of him by the time this is all over. I will have to tell him eventually, but for now the words don't quite make it to my tongue. After a moment, he moves off.

The order doesn't surprise me, after all, even if it does make me feel cold inside, and I don't blame him for making it. I'd probably make the same one, if I was in his position.

It's the job, after all.

It's simply the way things have to be.

Even if it does make men into soldiers and boys into broken things.