It hurt so badly that he started to cry. He tried opening his mouth to start wailing, but found that it was glued shut. No. Zipped shut. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt. Sure enough his intructor had gone through on her word.
"Fukuro," she'd asked him, "why are you so noisy?"
At the time, Fukuro didn't think he was that noisy. He just liked to talk.
"Fukuro," she'd said, "you need to be quiet."
But he was quiet. He'd mastered the art of silence. His every cell worked constantly to ensure that he could move without being heard. It was quite impressive actually, considering his size and stature. He was completely unheard to the ears of even the most trained assasins.
"Fukuro," she'd told him, "if that big mouth of yours causes CP9 any trouble, any trouble at all, I will have a zipper sewn in its place. Do you understand me?"
Fukuro had laughed it off, with a quick 'Chapapa' and a hop skip away from her.
She'd done it. She'd really done it. He'd suffered a major infraction on his latest mission, and had spilled a highly confidential file's contents to the enemy. He'd gotten back, and as soon as his report was reviewed, the surgery was issued. He didn't think she'd actually go through with it. He really didn't. He sat up in his hospital bed, wondering. Was he worth this much? Why didn't they just kill him? Instead of taking the most precious thing in the world to him: his speech. He raised his hand to his mouth, gingerly tapping the teeth in this metal chain now attached to his face. His fingers traveled delicately to the left side of his mouth, where he encountered a metal tab connected to a slider. He wanted to pull on it, but stopped, afraid.
"Go ahead," said his instructor, stepping into the room. Fukuro became enraged at the sight of her. He had about a million different profanities, ready to be launched at her, but when he tried executing them, it hurt. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt.
"Go on," she said, sitting down at his bedside, "unzip it."
Fukuro touched the tab tentatively, and began pulling it. It made a clicking sound as it traveled from one end to the other. It hurt all the way through, but his mouth was finally open. He found though, that he had nothing to say. His head was exploding with questions and accusations, but he couldn't voice any of them. He could only sit there, his mouth gaping.
"How does it feel?" asked his instructor, giving him a starting point to focus on. She understood how he felt. Not by personal experience, of course. She'd done this to several of her students now. But right after the surgery, she knew, their minds are always swimming. So a question, even to the chattiest of her students, was a good place to start.
"It hurts," said Fukuro, the zipper's teeth grating on each other as he spoke.
It always hurts. His instructor knew this as well. It was to discourage them from trying to speak anymore. Their chatty nature would appear back in adulthood, as they became accustomed to the devices, but for now, she had silenced him.
A.N.: More 'baby' CP9 on my part for you guys. Lots of CP9 birthdays this month, which I am thoroughly enjoying. I loved the Enies Lobby arc to death. With Fukuro, taking into consideration his nature, I found this piece to be easier than that of Lucci's. He's a very clear-cut character, and I tried to go more in depth with him. Reviews, Favourites, Subscriptions, Birthdays, and Requests are welcomed and much appreciated! I'll see you tomorrow for Perona!
