A/N: Right now I'm still introducing the characters, but Hei is injected in this chapter a little. Don't worry; he'll be appearing more and more in future chapters. =)


Chapter 2:

Birds chirped in the background as they flitted freely from tree to tree, some landed on telephone wires and continued their songs. The early morning sun rose above the distant mountains, sending its rays bouncing off the early morning dew which hung on emerald green grass, causing them to sparkle like gems in the light. Grasshoppers hopped from one blade of grass to another while dragonflies zipped through the air with lightning speed. Chasing after them were little brown birds, hungry for a bite of crunchy deliciousness. After snapping up the bug in its beak, the bird would chirp blissfully before searching for another.

The sounds of children's laughter could be heard distinctly over all the other noises, coupled with the sounds of their little feet running across the hard paved ground and out of tune nursery rhymes. Kids swung back and forth on swings as a competitive sport to see which could make a whole circle around the thing; more like competing to see who will fly off first and receive the most broken bones.... The playground surely was a child's wonderland; a place where they can simply create games out of thin air and act as if it were real before they eventually grow up and realize the hard truth about the real world.

Sitting comfortably in her wheelchair while keeping watch over the children under the guise of Shizue Takara, a daycare teacher, May made sure that none of the children ran off elsewhere to be kidnapped. Other than the excited chattering of children and stopping the occasional bickering about whose toy is whose, working as a kindergarten teacher was easy. After dealing with the last two children and teaching them that sharing is caring, May was beginning to relax and take a light nap when she heard a sharp piercing cry reverberate throughout the playground blocking out every other noise.

Shooting up from her very comfortable position, May identified the sound to be that of one of her younger students, Seiichi Ichiba. In a hurried pace, she wheeled herself over to where he was, wondering what could have possibly caused him to cry aloud like that. Seiichi was supposed to be one of the tougher boys in her class.

When she arrived, the blond girl realized that Seiichi had merely fallen down and scrapped his hands and knees on the hard pavement. Letting out a sigh of relief, she wheeled herself closer, unhooking a first aid kit from the bottom of her wheelchair in the process. A part of her was glad she was forced to carry the ridiculous thing around every where she went in case of unforeseen injuries. Oh well... No matter how tough they act, children are still children; so fragile and weak, until you break them and rebuild them from scratch; like how she had been. That was her mission at this day care center. Well, it was more like a punishment handed to her for disobeying an order from a superior, but whatever. Either way, she had to find out which children held the most potential to become agents in MI-6; or even better, Contractors. Once they were found at the early stages of their lives, eradicating their existence off the face of the earth while they are still young was easy. No one will notice them after a couple mind wipes were placed. Twice had she found Contractor children and twice did she get the opportunity to hire them into the MI-6 for special training. The children's parents would never see or remember that they had ever existed.

As May thought of those times, she set her body into autopilot mode, cleaning and bandaging the little boy's wounds with a warm and inviting demeanor. She couldn't help but note the shocking resemblance between him and July every time she looked at him. From his blond curls, his cute-in-every-way face, his pale complexion and his crystal blue colored eyes. The boy was only a few years younger than July with only a few differences such as height difference and personality traits. But still, he was a splitting image of July. If her July were human, she was pretty sure this was how he would have been. An adorable little boy.

"Takara-san?" Seiichi said, almost as a question as his teacher placed the final bandage on his knee, kissing it gently so that the pain would go away faster as she called it. "Yes?" she smiled kindly at the seven year old boy who blushed a light shade of pink.

Stuttering out of embarrassment he said, "I-I was just wondering why you're always wearing that." As he spoke he pointed at the small, tear shaped gem which hung around her neck on a fine silver chain. It glinted gently in the sunlight, showing off its dazzling array of colors ranging from the deepest blue to the lightest of purples as she instinctively toyed with it in her fingers. The precious stone was no bigger than her thumb.

May raised an eyebrow slightly, a little surprised by his question, but covered it up with another one of her smiles which she had perfected over the years of undercover missions. She pretended to ponder about the question for a few seconds before responding in a simple manner, "This… it's just a small reminder of my past and what I must do for my future."

The boy fell silent as he thought hard, wondering what she had meant by that. His eyebrows knitted together, but just as they did so, May gently smoothened out his features by running a soft hand over the boy's creased forehead. This action startled him, causing a blush to tint his apple red cheeks."Don't think about it too much, okay Seiichi-kun?" the daycare teacher requested in an endearing tone as she helped him to his feet. The way she uttered his name was so soft, so kind that he could not protest in any way.

"O-okay Takara-san."


Light filtered gently through the leaves which clung to its branches, draping gently over the moss stained bark of its tree. The vibrant green grass swayed to the left as a light breeze passed overhead. Standing under the shade which spread out like an oversized umbrella, was a light skinned boy with wavy blond hair and emotionless eyes which were like pools of clear water. Beside him stood a much taller man also with curled blond hair and light blue eyes, except that he was clad in a pure white suit while the little boy wore a plain white buttoned down shirt, a pair of suspenders and a red hat.

The taller one chuckled softly before speaking aloud, "That May is really good at her job. I don't think I'd be able to put up with a classroom of diapers and screaming babies all day." July remained silent as November 11 spoke. He didn't move a single muscle in his body and stayed as still as a living statue. November noticed that July was much quieter than usual and decided to tease him a little. "Are you jealous that May is spending more time with those kids than you?"

And just as November had expected, his comment was met with silence.


"What's the mission?" spoke an emotionally detached voice which came from behind a pure white mask. Clad in full black, the man, nearly five feet ten inches tall, easily blended into his dark background in a deserted alleyway which was easily hidden from the public view. Although it was in the early breaks of dawn, the buildings that towered overhead cast a dark shadow in the alleyway.

A grunt coming from a rather short and pudgy man on the opposite side of the alleyway could be heard. The man wore a plain brown beret which matched the color of his slightly muddy coat. His hair stuck out messily from under his cap showing that he cared nothing for appearances sake. After taking a puff from one of his infinite stash of cigarettes, he spoke in a rough, grating voice which fit perfectly with his appearance. "You are to retrieve this," he said as he handed his subordinate a picture.

"A girl…?" the raven haired man questioned with uncertainty in his voice, a small amount of confusion lingered as his eyes scanned the picture several more times. The girl was rather beautiful and fair skinned, that was sure. From her long, golden locks, to her ocean blue eyes and finally her enrapturing pearly white smile which lit up her features beautifully which caused her eyes to sparkle in the lighting. And that was just a photograph. He couldn't help but wonder how she looked like in person. The wheelchair she was in was a minor setback in her usefulness, which caused the masked man to wonder why the Syndicate wanted her.

That was, until he finally tore his gaze away from her delightful features and landed on her neckline. What he saw caused his eyes to widen and his lips to tremble behind his bone white mask. Although what he felt was clearly shock and horror, it did not show in his steel like tone. "A synchrotron gem…?" he asked, even though it sounded more like a statement. Even though it looked only like a chip off the larger synchrotron stone which was situated in the middle of Heaven's Gate, now wiped off the face of the map, it was still a piece of it anyway. But how could she have gotten it in the first place?

The shorter man took another puff at his cigarette before dropping the stub onto the paved ground and grinding it with the bottom of his shoe. Nodding his head he merely stated, "Get that gem before anyone else gets to it first."

Sensing the confusion in the masked man's uncomfortable shifting, the elderly man sighed before speaking in a coarse tone, "We are unsure if she's a Contractor or not, but by the looks of things, she doesn't seem like one of you." The masked man remained silent; his muscles tensed slightly as he wondered what he would have to do to retrieve the gem. He didn't want to kill her if he didn't have to. Without waiting for another question, the field agent spoke, "Most probably she accidentally stumbled upon it after the war at a jewelry store. Who knows if there were other survivors of that war."

The masked man seemed to cringe slightly at the remembrance but soon nodded, pocketing the picture in the folds of his cloak. He didn't need any more reminders of his glory days. Those times were what he wanted to forget the most. Without another word, he turned his back on the rounded field agent and left at a leisurely pace. As he continued to walk, he soon found himself thinking aloud.

"At least I know for certain that she's dead…"


"Shizue Takara?" a voice called out from behind the daycare teacher, causing her to turn her head to face the person. Behind her stood a rather tall and slender woman with short, cropped hair which had been spiked in an upward motion. Seiichi hid behind his teacher's wheelchair, slightly terrified by the woman who stood in front of them. Although the woman had a friendly demeanor, her ice blue hair and amber eyes were all too strange for the little boy to take in. To add onto that, the woman's skin was as dark as smoothened chocolate, she was a foreigner.

In a calm voice May, currently known as Shizue, smiled gently at the blond, urging him to go and play with his friends in the sandbox.

Once the boy was out of earshot and beyond visual range, May let her charming smile fall into its natural state, a firm frown. The blonde's sapphire blue eyes narrowed on the woman with suspicion written all over her face. Why was April here? The MI-6 had strictly told both she, November 11 and July that they must not meet with her while she was carrying out her mission. They didn't want May to gain suspicion from those around her.

Crossing her arms over her chest, deliberately showing her disdain, the agent spoke in an irritated tone, "This better be good April, or else-" Before May could finish her sentence, April placed one of her slender on the blond girl's lips, silencing her. "November 11 wanted me to pass a message to you," she simply stated.

November? Figures…

Instead of speaking, May kept quiet, letting April continue. "He said, and I quote, 'Tell my dear May that I've found a way to free her'." At first May's eye twitched once when she heard the words, 'my dear May', but once April finished her sentence, the girl who was confined to restricted movements in her wheelchair pushed all other thoughts out of her mind; all but one, and that was, freedom.

May's whole body began to shudder from anticipation; so much so that she could hardly control the half crazed smile that curled onto her lips, lighting her eyes ablaze with fiery emotions incomprehensible for the normal human to feel. Her lips quivered with eagerness while her hands trembled as they gripped her armrests, turning white from the force she was putting on them. She had to bite back the demented laugh that was building up inside of her ready to explode like a bunch of C4 charges in her stomach.

April, who wasn't expecting this kind of reaction from such a simple message, took an involuntary step backwards. A part of her felt the deep rooted fear she held whenever she witnessed May become… excited. This was the second time in all her years of knowing May to have observed her frightening, maniacal form. The first was when she was asked to join MI-6. It was not a pretty sight that time. Back then, May had not bothered to hold back her banshee-like laughter which had been near earsplitting.

Many minutes passed before May was able to calm down enough to somewhat control her twisted facial features. But she was still fighting to reign in her emotions. If one of her students had seen her right now, that child would have cried or stand rooted to the spot in fear, maybe even both. Bending her body forward, not releasing her grip on the now dented armrests, she let her hair fall in front of her face to block others from observing her not so frenzied appearance.

'Hei… Once I am free from this accursed state… I will hunt you down… and I will kill you…'



A/N: Wow… I made May sound like a crazy person… She's not really crazy! Just very mentally scarred….umm… Please review!