"We have a clear vision on target's daughter." Mara said to the small microphone attached to her small radio on her left ear while she adjusted her dress. For weeks they had went after Templars in chaos. Half of their clothes were damaged beyond repaired. Mara was frustrated about that fact and intended to take great care of the clothes she still had. "Are we clear to proceed?"

-Yes, good luck hunting-

"Okay"

Mara then turned to Tadashi who was sitting across from her. They're at one of a lovely café in Rome and the target was near. This was the first time in 3 years that Tadashi got to wear something colourful. He was wearing a light brown pants, black T-shirt and light brown blazer. A cap was on his head along with an expensive sun glasses Mara told him to wear to make he looked 'Absolutely irresistible'.

"Let's go."

Mara crooked her head to the side and Tadashi got up. He pulled his faked smile on before walking around the street. His unique look made everyone thought he's a tourist. And he made a good act since this was the first time he was here. He picked up his camera and did what every tourists did, taking photos.

Their job was to kill one of the Templar's supporter who supplied them medicine and medical treatment in Rome. They got the information about her from their brothers and sisters in Venice. And last night the assassin in Venice had sneaked into her office and copied all the information they needed to locate the Templar base in Rome and also her routine of coming to Rome 6 months a year. Now they were going to take out the supporter. The assassins in Rome had spotted her here with her daughter yesterday.

Tadashi's job was to attract her daughter and let the girl leaded him to their target. Their target was a 35 years old woman named Olga de Córdoba who raised her daughter, Victoria de Córdoba, liked a princess. Victoria was 16, easy to get bored and always went on finding new guys she might had a chance to sleep with or something else. Bob and Dave were both too old to catch her attention but Tadashi was perfect.

Right now Tadashi was walking around, taking pictures. He knew that Victoria who was in the clothes store behind was watching him. He knew if he couldn't get her attention before she went on, there wouldn't be less chance they could reach Olga.

-She is drooling over you man, take off your blazer! Show her your biceps!-

Dave who was on the second floor of the restaurant near by suggested him through the phone. Tadashi sighed but still kept his façade. He slowly took off his blazer while facing the store where Victoria was in. He also took out his sun glasses, pretended to be surprised at seeing her watching him. But that's not all, he decided to smile back at her, faking it to be the brightest and friendliest smile.

-There you go dude-

Bob said nonchalantly but Tadashi knew he was smirking. Victoria smiled back at him and made her way out of the store. Her bodyguards followed closely behind her.

"Hi,"

Victoria approached him. Her brown eyes shined with excitement. And Tadashi pretended not seeing her eyes roaming his body. He had to keep acting.

"Hi" Tadashi said, his voice was soft and friendly. "This city is amazing. I've never seen such a beautiful historical place liked this before, I meant, pictures on the internet are nothing compare to ...this!"

"Well, as a local people here, I don't see that it's anything near 'beautiful'." Victoria snored but her interest was still at Tadashi. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Japan. My father is an American but I grew up mostly in Japan." Tadashi answered. Well, San Fransokyo wasn't in Japan but his look was mixed between Japanese and Caucasian, so it sounded reasonable that he was Japan. "Akira, Akira Moore. And you?"

"Victoria, Victoria de Córdoba" She extended her arm and he grabbed her hand before kissing it lightly. Victoria looked impressed. "Well, as you're new here. Do you mind if I offer to be your guide?"

"Thank you Miss de Córdoba…"

"Just Victoria,"

She cut him off and Tadashi heard Bob and Dave chuckled, telling him he got her.

"Sorry, but I can't…"

He kept acting and Victoria looked annoyed.

"Come on Akira" Victoria cut him off again. "I'm free here and I have nothing to do. Where do you want to go? I'll take you there. Trust me that you don't want to get lost here, do you?"

"Umm, no... but…"

"Come with me" Victoria offered him her best smiled. Her brown eyes glittered with anticipation. "I promise you will regret if you don't come with me. I can show you a lot of things than walking alone."

"OK"

Tadashi nodded, pretended to be unsure. But the girl bought it and she started guiding him around the city. Dave, Bob and Mara followed them around until the evening that Victoria asked Tadashi to stay a night at her house.


"Damn, I'm a bit jealous of him."

Bob said to Mara while they followed Victoria and Tadashi to the girl's house.

"He's handsome, friendly, clever, humble and gentle." Mara said nonchalantly to Bob and Dave's pouts. "It's not surprising while girls fall for him that fast."

Bob nodded and sighed before turning back to checking his sniper rifle. If they had a chance, they're going to eliminate Olga, if they didn't, at least they knew where her daughter lived.


When Tadashi arrived at Victoria's house, Olga was there. The woman just told her daughter not to keep Tadashi up all night and let them both did whatever they wanted while she retreated to her room after dinner. The house was large, enormous and was well patrolled. And Victoria's room and Olga's room were on the different side of the house.

Mara told him they would deal with Olga while Tadashi's job was to take out the security system. Bob couldn't find a place to shoot her with his sniper rifle. The house was too well secured from the sniper, so Mara and Dave had to go in. Bob would provide them cover when they're out. Tadashi was both relieved and concerned. Relieved he didn't have to kill, but concerned because in case anything happened, he might not be there in time to provide them back up. He knew he had to trust Mara and Dave, they had been doing things liked this longer than him but anything could happen.

Tadashi knew what he had to do. He followed Victoria to her room, let she took out his clothes. He let her rode him one times and sprayed sleeping drug he kept in his pants to her face. After that he got up from the bed, threw the condom into a fireplace in her room and made his way to her computer.

He dressed while waited for the computer to boost up. Tadashi hacked into the house's security system through the wireless system. In two minute he had all cameras and security system under his control.

"I've got them all." He whispered to his microphone. "Guess Olga is still in her room. I've replaced the camera footages with their own footages from yesterday night. You're clear to go."

-Good, now get out, try not to be spotted-

"I won't"

He answered Mara and grabbed his bag. Tadashi made his way out of Victoria's room and down stairs. This side of the house wasn't heavily guarded compared to the side where Olga's room was.

-I see you.-

Bob told him the second Tadashi was out of the house. Tadashi easily made his way out of the fence to the ally. The older assassin guided Tadashi to the building he was in. And Tadashi went to wait with him. Ten minutes later, Mara and Dave were out of the house. But they're half way to the building when they heard an alarm.

"I got more information from her computer." Mara said to them while they ran through streets after streets, trying to get rid of the guards. "Her email and stuffs."

"Split up." Dave said, jumping across the garbage bin. "Mara got back to the bureau, took this information to them. We will lead them away."

"Be careful"

Mara said before they split up. Tadashi scaled up the wall liked he's a spider before took a long but clear rout on the roof. His intention was to make sure the guards followed him not Mara. He succeeded, some of the guards turned to him now. Tadashi didn't know how long he had been running. But when he saw that the guard didn't follow him anymore, he was somewhere near the outskirt of Rome.

-Are you alright?-

Bob asked him through the radio.

"I think so." Tadashi said between his panting. "They're not following me. Is Mara safe?"

-I am- Mara voice answered. –But you have to see this. Olga wasn't just a supporter we had thought. She's one of the Templars leader in Italy. No doubt why the guards gave such a chase.-


Tadashi was back at the bureau in time to hear Bob analysed the Templar's next move.

"...see? There're supplies and men ready to shift. I'm sure they're spreading their bases. We have to find out where they are."

"So you're sure they're spreading their bases." Mr. Hoffman, the head of the bureau said. "Very well, what have we got…"

"Did I miss anything?"

Tadashi asked Dave who was near him most when he walked into the room. Dave gestured to the table in the middle of the room where Bob, Mr. Hoffman, Mara and other assassins were.

"They had found out that Templars are moving their men and supplies." Dave said. "Bob thinks that they're moving to their new bases or are constructing it. We have names of cities they're sifting their supplies and men into. We just have to find out 'where' in those cities."

"Tell me the names"

"Bordeaux, France" Dave answered. "Minneapolis, Minnesota. Nuremburg, Germany…" Dave looked at Tadashi before he said the name of the last city. "…And San Fransokyo, California."

Tadashi was stunned. But he had no time to react, for the alarm decided to ring. The alarm told them that one of their supporters in Rome was attacked by the Templar. Dave and Tadashi was immediately out of the Bureau.

It's a bloody night, literally.

The supporter and his family were safe. Dave had escorted them to the nearest airport while Tadashi dealt with the Templar. Normally Tadashi wouldn't volunteer to kill. But now he needed something to get his attention out of what he had just known.

The Templar's new base, San Fransokyo.

They might cross path with Hiro, they must…

His thought was stopped when he heard the gun fired at him. And at life or death situation, Tadashi had succeeded taking his attention from the information he just knew.


That night Tadashi had fought liked he was seeking for death. He smashed tissues, broke arms, slid his blade through throats and did brain surgeons with bullets. He ended up in a street full with injured and dead people. His hidden blades were covered in blood. His guns were empty. His clothes weren't in any better shape than his blade.

Tadashi felt filthy, but he didn't regret.

That's the first time he didn't regret of killing. But he was still disgusted with himself. Killing should felt wrong for him liked other missions. But this time it felt right.

And he realized that he didn't regret because he had accepted that killing Templar meant protecting his brothers and sisters.

Protecting Hiro.


Everyone was very worried about him. But Tadashi told them all he was okay. The Templars he hadn't killed he brought them back to the Assassin's base.

"We will take it from here."

Bob told him and Tadashi handed him the Templar SUV's key he used to transport the Templars here. He had already destroyed the GPS tracker in the car, so the Templar wouldn't know where the Assassin's base was.

"I took only the Templar that were still alive." Tadashi said to Bob. "And I have no intention to be in the interrogate room."

"I understand." Bob nodded. "Go take a shower and have some sleep Nat."

He called Tadashi by his codename. Liked other assassins, Tadashi had been given a codename when he became an assassin. And he started using it after his first mission as an assassin. Others despite the council were Bob, Mara and Dave who knew his real name. And they knew his name because Mr. Norman assigned them to take care of him when he started his training. Tadashi asked Mr. Norman not to tell others about his real name, afraid of danger that might come to Hiro, and Mr. Norman agreed. So the other assassins and novices at Mr. Norman bureau knew him as 'Akira'.

The head of each bureaus would know his real name only if he was assigned to be there. This rule was set to protect the information about other brothers and sisters in case the assassin was captured. The head of each assassin bureaus were called by their codenames too. And of course, Bob, Mara and Dave were just codenames. Tadashi didn't know their real name until he became an assassin that they told him. It's something only the novice which trained with them would know. And Tadashi was thankful they accepted him as a friend more than the junior assassin they had been looking after.

When there were just four of them, Mara, Bob and Dave, they preferred to call him Tadashi. But after he became an assassin, they didn't call him Tadashi again. And Tadashi preferred it that way.

"You look terrible. I will send the medic team after you shorty."

Bob continued nonchalantly while watching other assassins loaded the wounded Templars out of the SUV. Tadashi had kicked their butts hard. Bob knew that the interrogation would going to be difficult. He started to suspect that some of them might not made it through the night.

"Thank you for the comment"

Tadashi smirked at Bob and walked to his room. He threw all his clothes into the basket and got only the cold shower. Pain shot through his body from numerous cut and wounds he received from the fight. He nearly forgot that he was shot on his shoulder. The bullet ripped some skin and tissue of his left shoulder out, at least it's not fatal.

The medic arrived shortly after he had shower. Bob was with them.

"If I hadn't known you, Nat." Bob said. Seriousness was clear in his voice. "I must thought that you're a cold blood killer."

"Why?" Tadashi turned to him, ignoring the doctor that was stitching up the cut on his abdomen. "What had I done?"

"Not much" Bob answered. "Tonight in that street, you killed 10 Templars and brought 5 back to us. Two of them were nearly dead, so I had them… 'Rest in Peace' and the other three have broken legs, cracked rips and stabbed wounds on their stomach. I'm sure that if you weren't in a middle of the fight, the three of them would be dead. Your blades missed their organs just centimetres away."

Tadashi was silent. He felt disgusted. Tadashi in the past would be disappointed with him. He had vowed to help people, but looked what he was doing now. He killed.

"Don't blame yourself." Bob said, patting his shoulder lightly. Tadashi snored but the older assassin continued nonchalantly as always. "You should be grateful that you're not in the team that went to the Templar bases in Rome this night. Mara is with them and Dave is going to join them. He is coming back from the airport. I'm going to be out in a minute, in case they need back up."

"What will they do to the base?"

Tadashi asked even when he already knew the answer.

"You already know." Bob said before he turned to leave. "Kill every Templar we found there, get the information and burnt the place down."


Tadashi woke up after 6 hours of full sleep. His body still ached in some place but he got out of his room anyway. He walked to the feeding hall and found Bob there with liqueur in his hand. The man looked terrible.

"Hi"

Tadashi said, sitting down across the table. Bob didn't even look at him.

"How is the mission?"

Tadashi asked, already expecting the worst outcome. Bob turned to him, his face showed how tired and miserable he felt.

"We killed them all, got the information and burnt the base down." Bob said, his voice was shaking. "We lost 3 assassins, including Bill Paulson and Emma Aubrey."

Tadashi was stunned. Bill Paulson was Dave's real name and Emma Aubrey was Mara's real name. Dave and Mara had been in the same team with Bob since they're novices. He knew this was hard for Bob. Being an assassin had its risk, and everyone knew that. And Tadashi knew that losing their life wasn't what every assassins feared most, losing whom they loved was.

"And what is the second hardest thing after losing them you know?" Bob spitted out, nearly unable to hold back his tear. "Telling their families. Mara's sister, Dave's son and wife, I can't. I can't tell them, not now."

"I'm sure Mr. Hoffman won't let you take the job of telling them." Tadashi squeezed the older assassin's shoulder. He gently pried Bob's hand from the liqueur. "If you allow, I will tell them for you."

"No, Tadashi, no." Bob shook his head. He called Tadashi by his real name and was nearly sobbing. "I promised Erika I will keep Emma safe. I promise Dave's son his father will be home this Christmas. I can't let anyone do this Tadashi. I… I just need time."

"You don't have to go tell them alone Bob." Tadashi offered. "I can keep you company."

"No, you don't have to." Bob shook his head. "Thank you but no, I have to do this alone. I have to. Go rest or go see Mr. Hoffman. I'm sure there're still plenty of works we have to do."

"OK"

Tadashi nodded and left. He wanted to stay with Bob but the older assassin wouldn't allow it. The only two people who could really convince Bob were his best friends, who had already dead.

A tall healthy woman walked passed Tadashi when he exited the feeding hall. He recognized her. She was Erika, Mara's only sister. Erika was also an assassin. He didn't know her real name because 'Erika' was just a codename too. She had been working in Rome for years. Tadashi felt his stomach made 180 degree flipping when he saw her. She had tears in her eyes. Tadashi watched her walked to Bob. But instead of blaming him for Mara's death, she hugged him. And they cried.

Tadashi immediately left.


"We have wiped out their master base." Mr. Hoffman said to the assassins in the room including Tadashi while pointing at each mark on the map. "Our base in Madrid is sending us reinforcement. We will be rid of them for a while."

Tadashi sighed in relieve. He knew Bob nor him was ready for another mission yet. But Hoffman wasn't finish.

"The information we got from their base confirms Bob's presumption." The oldest assassin in the room continued. "They're building new bases. The council is discussing what we will do. Right now you all are free to have some rest. We will meet here again in the evening."

Tadashi got out of the conference room and walked back to his room. He spent hours staring into the ceiling, imaging the worst case that could happen to San Fransokyo and Hiro. He tried to block those images away, only to be hallucinated by the people he had killed yesterday.

He ended up going to the small gym in the Bureau before dinner. The doctor didn't like his decision but as long as he promised to not break anything in his body, they wouldn't have him thrown out of the gym.

Tadashi went to dinner after showering with foul mood. But he kept smiling to everyone. He didn't see Bob that evening and was on his way to find him when it's time to go in the conference room.


Mr. Hoffman had announced that some of the assassins here would be move to other bureau to help their brothers and sisters. Bob was sent to France while Erika would still be in Rome. Tadashi was hoping that he would be sent back to San Fransokyo. And his wished come true.

"…and for San Fransokyo." Mr. Hoffman read the message from their master base. "Nat will be sent there along with others from the nearest bureaus."

'Yes!'

Tadashi mentally shouted in joy but he kept his expression blank. Mr. Hoffman then told them to pack up, the Assassins who had to go to other bureaus were scheduled to go in the morning. Tadashi went to pack his things up immediately and went to Bob's room.

He was at Bob room in time to see Bob finished skyping with Dave's family. The older assassin looked terrible from lack of sleep and misery.

"Will you be okay?"

Tadashi asked. Bob offered him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry to make you worry." Bob said. 'I will be ok. Not now, but there is nothing time can heal…or at least makes you forget."


Next morning Tadashi was on the plane to New York. The assassin didn't have a bureau in San Fransokyo, the closest bureau to San Fransokyo was in San Francisco. San Fransokyo had just two assassins assigned to go from San Francisco sometimes, to see if the Templars were there or not. But now they're going to set up a bureau at San Fransokyo. And Tadashi hoped he would be assigned to take care of the bureau despite his young age.

Tadashi met two assassins who were going to San Fransokyo with him at New York. One was a middle age man from England and one was a young woman from Canada. Another assassin from South Dakota went with them to San Fransokyo. He was a young man, raised as an assassin from the start.

It's good to be back.

Tadashi thought while he watched San Fransokyo approaching from the window. They're on the train from San Francisco to San Fransokyo.

He wondered what Hiro was doing. And then he remembered he couldn't go see his brother, for danger he might bring to Hiro.

It made his heart ached, but he ignored it.

He was not Tadashi Hamada anymore. He's now an assassin with a codename 'Nat'.