~Varia HQ
"Wanted to see me boss?" A boy with untamed blond hair asked. The question was directed to a man sitting across the table from him who he referred to as Boss. The boss slid a manila folder towards the boy. He skimmed through the contents containing pictures, health records, test results and a daily schedule.
All of it on one girl named Celeste Natsuki. Her grey eyes matched her grey hair that stopped just below her shoulder blades. Her school uniform was ironed carefully to show no wrinkles with a blue striped tie that had no sign of struggle when tied. Quickly skimming her records showed that she was excelling at all her classes. Even taking some classes above her grade level. Way above her grade level. She was currently 15 years old, the same as himself but only because of her early birthday. Throughout the piles of pictures and information, he noted that he never once did he see her smile. In fact, he got an eerie feeling that she was looking straight at the camera.
"Natsuki is currently under the protection of the Celeste Famiglia. I want you to bring her here. Alive." The boss had stressed the word alive to further push his point knowing the boy's... particular behavior.
"And the Celeste Famiglia?" The Celeste Famiglia was a relatively new family that was only in its third generation. That fact didn't belittle its reputation of being able to stand their ground. They were known best for weapon creation and battle strategy. Having a member being taken away by him would not end well. Depending on which side you were on.
"If the old man found about this he would send in his guardians after us. I want that girl into my custody before he could do anything. I want no evidence of our presence either. Take that as you wish." A toothy grin broke out on the boy's face as he gave out a strange laugh.
~Japan
Natsuki's POV (Point of view)
I blocked the punch aimed at my face and flipped the man. I placed my foot onto his chest, claiming victorious once again. "Time for school!" He yelled. I groaned as my victory was short lived. I gave my hand to help Ricardo off the floor.
"Is there really a use for me going to school at this point?" I whined. I already learned everything that they teach us from home tutors that the only reason I could see in me going was for perfect attendance.
"Of course there is. As your handler it is my duty to make sure you go. Mistress Celeste also wouldn't approve of you slacking off. Now get changed into your uniform and meet me outside." I groaned once more and followed his order.
If I didn't Mistress Celeste would have my head for not listening to him. Though she acted like it and was legally my mother, Mistress Celeste was my adoptive mother. She had adopted me at a young age that I had no memory of any other form of parent figures in my mind. Not knowing any better I followed her direction in everything.
The drive to my school was on average 24 minutes away from my house. I don't complain though. It was a nice way to cool off after morning training or even take a quick nap. Once we reached my school I went to exit the car.
I paused before closing the door. For a quick second I felt that someone was watching me. Looking around there was nothing out of the ordinary. "Natsuki-sama? Is something wrong?"
I shook my head. There wasn't anything that stuck out that I brushed it aside. "No, it's nothing. I'll be going now."
"Wait." I bent down to look back at him. "You have your bow on you correct?"
I held back the need to give a snarky remark. There hasn't been a single day that I didn't go without it. Not when they were constantly breathing down my neck about self defense. "Yes Ricardo. I'll be going now."
I closed the door letting out a heavy sigh. Does he ever get tired of constanting acting serious? I got strange reactions all the time. This wasn't the first incident of me feeling that something was off. Each time that happened it was over little things. Like telling if someone was lying or holding back on telling me something. I got that a lot from Mistress Celeste.
"Good morning!" I snapped out of my thoughts hearing someone calling out.
Nearby someone ran up to their friend in greeting. I watched them from the corner of my eye seeing that one of them had their lanyard practically spill out from their bag. I walked slightly behind them.
'Should I tell them that their strap is sticking out? That's going to get caught on something. I've never spoken to them before though. What if I come off as sounding picky? Maybe this is a new type of trend. What kind of stupid trend makes it easy for you to lose your keys?' I kept increasing and decreasing my speed while contemplating if I should say anything.
"Oh, your key strap is sticking out from your bag." Their friend told them. They looked to see that it was true and fixed it.
"I didn't even realize. Thanks." I bit my lip. I was only kidding myself by overthinking about things.
'I missed my chance again. Good job you fucking idiot.' I chided myself in my mind. I prided myself on my strength and intelligence but if there was anything that I couldn't get rid of is my tendency to overthink. Needless to say it definitely had a negative impact on my ability to socialize.
I can study the most complicated textbooks without a problem. Train until I felt that my arms would fall off. Talking with strangers? I'll have to pass. With people I didn't know there was no way to know what they wanted from me. I didn't know how to read people in a way that wasn't over analyzing.
It resulted in this similar pattern of coming off as unwelcoming. At least with that I had some clue how I should present myself.
"Natsuki-chan!" I flinched having someone shout my name. I didn't even have to look back knowing that high pitched voice anywhere.
I planned to ignore him when he started to walk next to me. "Good morning Natsuki-chan. How are you today?"
"Fine." Yoshi Tachibana. I didn't understand anything about this boy. He was the only one that I talked to without overthinking purely because I didn't care about what he thought of me. We did have a bit of history when he got involved with some local thugs. I did save him but ever since then he's clung to me non-stop.
I guess I did appreciate the sentiment. Either I was with him or be entirely alone. Honestly I didn't know which one would be better.
I checked my phone for the 7th time after school. Ricardo was now 36 minutes late. He was never late nor would he ever not pick up his phone. 'No new messages.' I slipped my phone into my pocket and gave out a sigh. 'Looks like I'm walking.' I readjusted my bag before taking off.
After an hour and a half walk I finally made it back home. When I made it to the front door, I took notice of it being open ajar. I peeked between the doors. Inside were men dressed in all black with the same shield crest on their sleeve. 'Varia? What's that?' I looked down at their feet to find bodies. Though the closest one was caked in blood I made it out to be one of the maids I often passed in the halls. More bodies were littered around but the room was too dark to tell who was who.
I took out my compact bow and a few arrows. I don't know what Mistress Celeste had involved herself in but now I was starting to see why they were so protective. I took a few deep breaths in before slamming the door open. All the men turned their attention to me. Nine men were currently present but that didn't mean more weren't spread out throughout the house. "Who are you people and why are you here?"
"Varia is here to take out the Celeste Famiglia." One man spoke up. The same man came close enough to throw his fist at me. I ducked and punched him in his stomach. I quickly moved my hand to take the knife off his belt and stabbed it into the back of his leg.
One of his friends came at me from behind. I kicked the first man away to make room for me to back flip over his friend. I used his shoulders to support me and shoved him onto his fallen friend. I unfolded my bow and shot both in the neck.
This was the first time I had killed. I may sound like a psychopath but I don't feel guilty. This was just self-defense and revenge. Why should I feel bad? As I was thinking one shot at me. I moved on instinct to the side to avoid major damage but my aiming arm took the bullet. I used the top of my bow to stab through his stomach and knocked out another with a hit to the back of his neck. I took advantage of their weakness to put an arrow through them.
I clutched my arm to somewhat stop the bleeding. The remaining five took out their weapons and surrounded me. I kept a close eye on each of them when a shiver was sent down my spine. At the same time a knife punctured the ground in front of my feet.
"Ushishishi you idiot grunts killing the target is forbidden." The voice seemed to be amused as it spoke. I found the source of the knife was a boy at the top of the staircase. He held his hands behind his head as he descended the stairs. His men backed up to give me some room.
This boy was different from these guys. His mere presence demanded that people's attention to him. Though he took his time going down, I couldn't move. I was terrified of this boy. As he got closer I found myself backing up until I was against a wall. He grabbed my chin to inspect my face. I flinched at the contact.
"Celeste Natsuki." I gave one last attempt to save myself by trying to stab him with my arrow.
He moved faster than I could see. He disarmed me and held my hands above my head. With his other hand I could feel something metal pressing against my neck. I couldn't control my breathing as he tightened his grip on me. 'I-I was beaten?'
"Shishi, now I can see why Boss wants you." Boss? I opened my mouth to say something when everything went black.