Chapter 4: Mission

Sakura took a deep breath. She never thought she would see Aya ever again and vice versa. She opened her mouth to speak, "Aya-kun, it's been… Aya-kun, I'm so happy to see you—". "Sakura-san," he interrupted, "congratulations, but I have to go now."

~~

The battle was fierce. "Who?! Who the hell is the mastermind of all these things?!" Sena screamed in anger, punching the hell out of the S and G Class students. "What did Nozomi-chan and the others ever do?!" He shouted as he threw a G Class student against a tree trunk. Suddenly, stepping out of the darkness, Todou spoke, "It was Inagaki-san, of course." Inagaki looked confused, "Todou, what the?!" "It was him, Sena-san. He allowed the students to be brainwashed. This was all a part of his plan," Todou whispered into Sena's ear. "No, that's not true. I disagreed about the installation of the new brainwashing system," Inagaki argued. Unfortunately though, Todou's words were like a god's. Sena's anger led him to believe what Todou said and so, he jabbed his weapon into Inagaki. Everything was silent to Sena until a laugh came from Todou's mouth. "I didn't think a member of Weiss would be so easy to manipulate. Heh, what an idiot you are," he hissed, pointing a rifle to Sena's back. "Sena-kun, watch out!" came a voice from nearby. The voice grew louder as the person went near Sena and pushed him away from the shot. Sena turned around to see a bleeding Kyou on the ground. "Kyou…" he whispered. Though weak, Kyou stood up and smiled at Sena. "Go, Sena-kun. I'll take care of this. Hurry," he told him. Sena protested but Kyou kept on shoving him away. "Sena-kun, for the short time that I've met you, you instantly reminded me of my brother. I wasn't able to save him before and I… just please go, Sena-kun," Kyou said. Sena thanked him, nodded and ran.

He reached the edge of the fields when he heard another shot, followed by a menacing laugh. Kyou was dead.

~~

"What the hell were you thinking, killing Inagaki?!" Aya asked angrily, pushing Sena against a wall. "Take it easy, Aya. The kid's new… although he DID ruin the mission… which was to investigate! Not to murder, you moron!" Youji said. Sena's eyes drooped to the floor in sadness and guilt. "Gomen…" he whispered. Aya released Sena and sat down. "This mission is all screwed up!" Youji whined, "Ken's so lucky he chose to fuck that cute girl… haay, I miss having sex." He was to whine some more when Ken suddenly entered the room. "I heard that. Anyway, it's not like I'm not doing anything for the mission. It just so happens that the girl I'm seeing is Todou's older sister and unfortunately, Youji, I didn't get to sleep with her," he stated. "Todou's sister? What if she's involved in the conspiracy as well?" Aya asked, "you and her meeting might be a part of their plan, you know that, right?" Ken rolled his eyes, "It's not like they know about our organization—" "They do… right before Todou was about to shoot me he said he never thought a member of Weiss would be easy to manipulate…" Sena interrupted. Ken took off his shades and then spoke, "Well, if she is a part of their plan, I'll just have to kill her."

~~

"Sakura-chan, are you ok?" asked her fiancé. Sakura nodded. 'Aya…' she said to herself. She couldn't stop thinking about him. He looked more handsome than she last saw him. "Yuu," she whispered, nudging the back of her fiancé gently, "do you have Aya's number?" "Yeah… it's in the teachers' directory. Why?" Yuu said, "Do you know him even before I introduced you two?" "Yes… he's an old friend," she replied.

~~

It was past midnight and the Weiss retreated to their own sanctuaries. Sena lay in his bed, recalling about what just happened. It was his first kill and he could not help but feel guilty about it. Kyou died in the process too… in order to protect him. He felt weak, useless and stupid. He needed someone to talk to, but who? He had no friends… no family. He turned his body sideways and looked at his door. How hard he hoped someone would knock and finally, after a few minutes, someone did. He stood up and let the man in. he was carrying a grocery bag in his right hand while the other one was in his pocket. Sena sat on his bed and stared blankly while the man took out the grocery bag's contents.

"Sena-kun," the man said, throwing Sena a can of beer, "it's not really my nature to give these things out, especially to minors, but it really is calming."

"Arigatou, Aya-sensei."

"So how are you feeling?"

"Guilty…I just, I feel like—"

"Don't blame yourself, Sena. We all die sooner or later. Kyou knew that…"

"I can't help it… I just feel as if I have so many weaknesses! I feel so stupid!"

"What's so bad about having weaknesses or being stupid once in a while?"

"…what do you mean?"

"All humans have weaknesses. I do, and so do you. The fact that I still have weaknesses makes me feel proud. It means I still have a bit of humanity in me… I'm now going to say something that is from Fujimaya Ran's thoughts…"

"Ran? That's your real name?—"

"If you want to quit, do it now. Now that you still have time for redemption. I won't stop you."

~~

Sakura was restless. The sun had started to rise but still she could not sleep. She so desperately wanted to talk to Aya. She twisted and turned but it was no avail, her brain was commanding her to call her 'long lost love'. After another hour, she finally gave in to her brain's commands and dialed Aya's number on her cell phone.

"Good morning" Aya greeted, "may I know who's on the line?"

"Ummm… ummmm… it's, it's… uh, Sakura."

"…"

"I got your number from Yuu-kun."

"Oh. Congratulations, by the way—"

"I just want to find out how you're doing… I miss you, Aya."

"… I'm okay. How is Aya-chan?"

"She's doing fine. She's studying abroad already, did you know that? You should have seen her. she looked so pretty in the pictures she sent me."

"That's good. How are you doing?"

"I'm alright too. Yuu is treating me well and I'm taking up medicine."

"That's great."

"Yeah, it is. Um, would you like to meet up with me?"

"Now?"

"If it's okay… it is a weekend and all…"

"Sure."

"That's great! I'll go dress up. Meet me at Central Perk, okay? That's near the 2nd avenue."

"Okay, see you there."

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NOTE: ahhhhhhh!!! That's it! Thank you for the reviewers that reviewed and kazaa members that upload Gluhen!       You're the best! Anyway, I'm pretty confused about what next to write so please please please review and        give me your suggestions. Thanks again! ^___________^

            P.S. You might be wondering where I got the name Central Perk for Aya and Sakura's meeting. It's from       FRIENDS.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own gluhen!