One in a Million

By JoocieFruit

7-31-06

Chapter 4

Project 5871


OMG! It's crazy how many of you actually like this story. Hahah thank you so much for all of your support. It's even crazier that this story is actually on people's favorites list! Gahh I'm so excited. Thank you soo much! Anyways. Hope you guys like this chappie. I had to pick my brains out for this chapter. Even if you hate. REVIEW. And if you love, you will definitely Review! I hope. By the way, please excuse any typos or grammatical errors. I try to catch all of them but it's difficult. So I'm sorry!
Author's Babbling: If you're not interested, just skip to the story. I would just like to say that there are three things that a girl can always depend on to cheer her up. Chocolate, flowers and of course clearance sales at the mall.
It was 8:02 PM when Sakura returned after another long day at the office. She pushed the door shut with her foot and tossed the keys on the coffee table in her living room. At least she didn't dine alone tonight. Just half an hour ago, she was sitting across from a very handsome business mogul in an Italian restaurant that was so elegant that she felt out of place. Nevertheless, many women would agree with her that the most scrumptious item in the restaurant during their dinnerwas not on the menu but rather sitting less than three feet away her.

Sakura was still reeling from the fact that her boss had asked her to accompany him to one of the biggest social events of the year. The memorable night had occurred just three nights ago and since then, the bond between them had grown drastically. Its rapidity frightened her a bit, and feelings that she had hidden for a while had been unearthed. It was astounding to her that she had never noticed how handsome her boss was. His chestnut hair and honey brown orbs – like a puppy. A puppy that was so damn fine. His eyesheld the powerandforced her to surrender. At first, She had expected their vision to be shallow, only seeing life as a myriad of numerals, percentages, and dollar signs. Instead, theysaw much deeperthan she had anticipated. Syaoran as a whole , was deeper than she had thought him to be. It had yet to occur to her however, that she was slowly falling for her boss.

A knock resounded at the door. Grumbling, Sakura yelled "I'm coming" and then proceeded to the doorway. She was expecting it to be some weird guy trying to sell her something but she was in for a surprise.

Peering through the peephole, she could see that her visitor was a mysterious female clad in a black suit with sunglasses shielding her eyes and fiery red hair raining down upon her shoulders.

"Wh-who is it?" Sakura called out nervously through the door.Why woulkd anyone wear sunglasses at night? (A/N: I do. hehe.)The woman's intimidating stature was enough to make Sakura hope that she had the wrong door.

The woman replied.

"I have urgent news regarding your father. I think it would be in your best interest to hear it."


Syaoran fiddled with his pen as he tried to concentrate on the papers before him. It was difficult because a certain auburn haired girl kept popping into his mind. For some reason that he could not understand, the last three days seemed different. He couldn't quite describe it...carefree perhaps?His workload was the same yet he felt less tired when he went to bed each night. He was actually sleeping soundly now.

And before he closed his eyes, she would appear in his vision. Sakura. Syaoran knew that he had definitely made the right choice in choosing her for the position. Not only was she an excellent employee but she was kind, caring, compassionate and she made him laugh. There was something about her that he couldn't grasp. Regardless, she had an uncanny ability to keep him coming back for more.


Sakura hesitated at the mention of her father. But something in her gut told her that it would be a good idea to let the woman in. She slowly opened the door.

"My father?" she asked. The woman nodded and stepped into the tiny doorway. Sakura shut the door behind her and both proceeded to the small sitting area a few feet away. The woman took a seat on the small white armchair and Sakura sat opposite her on the matching couch. They were separated by the coffee table on which Sakura had tossed her keys.

"My name is Kaho Mitsuki." said the woman. She extended a hand and Sakura accepted assuming that the woman already knew her name.

"I'm here to discuss your father, Fujitaka Kinomoto."

"I haven't spoken to him in years." replied Sakura. In fact, she didn't even want anything to do with him.

"We know. He's been with us." said Kaho.

"Who's we?" Sakura asked. Kaho removed her shades to reveal a dazzling pair of brown eyes. For a minute, those brown eyes debated on whether or not to reveal a deep dark secret. In the end, they gave in. Kaho sighed.

"The CIA."

Sakura snorted.

"You're kidding right?" she said, about to laugh.

"No. In fact, I'm dead serious."

Sakura took this statement lightly and her face erupted into a grin. She was beginning to think this was some hidden camera show.

"Please," Sakura began, trying to control her disbelief at how stupid this conversatino had began, "My father couldn't have been working to the CIA. He was just some nerd-"

"Probably the best damn nerd there ever was." interrupted Kaho. She stared at Sakura with intense solemness and Sakura felt her grin fade.

"You're really serious…aren't you." said Sakura softly.

"It might be hard to understand right now. But things will start to make sense sooner or later."

Sakura took a deep breath.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

Kaho replied.

"First off I want you to understand the situation. I'm an agent for the CIA and I've worked with your father for the past six years. He was the CIA's top mechanical engineer and designed a lot of the weapons and technological devices that we presently use."

She paused to allow Sakura time to catch up.

"But- He couldn't have been working for you long. I mean-" began Sakura.

"Actually, he'sbeen working with us for at least twenty years. A brilliant man." Kaho remarked.

"So that's the reason why he was never home…" Sakura whispered as the truth hit her. Kaho nodded.

"It's a demanding job." she stated simply.

"But why would he leave us? He use to be there every now and then but th left my brother and I four years ago and he never even bothered-"

"And that is where our little story begins." said Kaho. Sakura waited for her to continue.

"Five years ago, your father began work on a top secret project, Project 5871. His task was to design an army ofrobots capable of following orders and are able to be used in mortal combat. With the rising threat of nuclear warfare, there are millions in the world who believe that humanityis on the brink ofanother World War. I'm sure you remember what happened the last time this event occurred. Japan was forced to surrender after two atomic bombs were dropped on us by the Americans. Japan was humiliated as a country and forced under foreign domination."

Sakura nodded.

Kaho continued. "With the manufacturing of these so called cyborgs, we could use them to fight our enemies instead of sending human soldiers.In the past, billions have diedduring battle and with our advancedtechnology, we can find a way to prevent this and yet still dominate in war.Just think about it-we could prevent the grief that would come to a mother when she finds out her son has died during battle or spare a wife the sorrow when her husband turns up MIA (A/n: MIA- missing in action). These robots can be programmed to fire a gun, operate tanks, execute battle plans- all the things that our soldiers must be trained to do, the robots could do with just a few wire adjustments. They could also self destruct so information can't be tortured out of them. Just imagine a machine that could not only save the government billions but assure that Japanese citizens will not be harmed when all hell breaks loose."

"As soon as your father began this, we made sure that this technology was…"she searched for a word, "- contained. He was to shut off any connections to the outside world, including his family. We couldn't afford any other agencies knowing anything about this or else the third World War could come sooner than planned."

"So what went wrong?" said Sakura, obviously aware that Kaho wouldn't have come unless something was amiss.

"Despite our high level security, your father wasdiscovered missing from his lab about six months ago. There were signs of struggle and all of Fujitaka'sexperiments, labs,and work for Project 5871were gone. We stayed calm at first, thinking that perhaps he had been relocated unexpectedly to anotherinstitute and had left in a hurry but soon found out that this was not the case. Three months passed and we lived in fear of not knowing his whereabouts. His kidnapped hadn't surprised us however- this project is very desirable and many other countries would kill to get their hands on it. Then one day, wereceived an anonymous ransom note from the Red Dragons."

"Red Dragons? Sounds like the name of some Chinese restaurant." said Sakura smiling at her ability to interrupt a serious conversation. Kaho was unphased.

"Don't let their name fool you. The Red Dragons are an elusive terrorist group in China and the kidnappers of your father. In the ransom note, they demanded a ridiculous amount of cash in exchange for your father's life. Although we fear that they have torturedknowledge from him, he's a highly important figure in our agency and his life means the most to us."

"So just pay 'em off."

"It's not that simple. We're short on budget for his department since the cost of the project was very high."

"His department?"

"Yes. Our agency is divided into several sections, each with its own budget and agents."

"If you came here asking me for money, I'm sorry to say but my bank accounts are practically negative numbers and this craphole-" Sakura gestured to the apartment, "- is probably worth less than $1500. So I'm afraid I can't help you."

"The money issue isn't a big deal. We can find an alternate source of cash. But we do need you."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Why me?"

"Because the Red Dragons demand that you be the one to deliver the money."

"Why?" repeated Sakura. Kaho shook her head.

"We're still trying to figure that out but as I said, the Red Dragons are one of the most secretive, elusive groups in the world. It's best if we comply. At least for now until we can find some other way. Each day counts. Time is crucial in an event such as this. You have to come with me to our agency."

Sakura's head was spinning. Why in the world would they want her to deliver the cash?

"I'm sorry but you're going to have to leave." Sakura said, standing up. Kaho looked surprised.

"Sakura. We need your help. This project is very important to us…to Japan and God knows how many ways the Red Dragons can profit from this. We need you to do this. Of course there'll be rewards and-"

"I don't want anything to do with this." Sakura firmly stated. She opened the door and gestured for Kaho to leave. Kaho stood up and grabbed her shades from the coffee table.The red haired womanwalked out of the apartment but turned around before Sakura could shut the door.

"If not for us, do it for him. He is your father." she said with emphasis on the last word. Sakura smiled sweetly.

"See, the funny thing is, a real father would have never left his children."

The door slammed shut. Kaho sighed. She knew that this was a lot to handle. In time though, Sakura would have to comply, whetherthe girlliked it or not.


So how's that? Have I caught your attention? Golly I hope so. Haha that's my new word. Golly. Lol.I'm such a dork. Anyways. PLeaseeeee reviewwww! You guys don't know how happy I am to open up my email and find that my stories are actually being read and commented on! Lemme know how you like the plot so far. Romance and suspense are two wonderful things together? Wouldn't you agree? I'm getting tired of the typical boy meetsgirl, boy falls in love, boy tries to woe girl crap. No offense to anyone.Aite? So pleaseeeee REVIEW REVIEWREVIEW!

Love Always,

JoocieFruit