Observing the Heavens

"Daisuke, this is Miyako from Calabria. We effectively tracked down the hideouts of the five republics. But the Albanian is nowhere to be seen." She paused, considering the situation. "I think they've been transferred to Napoli already."

Daisuke ended his conversation with Miyako as he peered out through a set of binoculars on the roof of a building. He swiftly dialed another number on his cell phone. "Ken, get ready to make contact with the Albanian."

"Roger." Ken, five miles away, answered as his violet eyes flashed with preparation.

[Several years ago, my step-brother, Daisuke, and I…joined an organization called the Social Welfare Agency, in a public corporation.]

"Let's go, Takeru." Ken adjusted his crooked tie and motioned for the smiling seventeen year old boy to follow him.

"Yes, sir." The blonde boy smiled obediently, his cerulean eyes showing no emotion.

[Officially, it promotes projects to support the physically challenged under the support of the government. But actually, it gathers physically challenged people from all over the country and modifies them into cyborgs.]

He clutched his briefcase while holding Takeru's hand with the other. "Don't move until I confirm they're Albanians."

[It is a secret service organization that the government uses to do their dirty work.]

"Are you afraid, sir?" Takeru inquired as he and his handler strolled down the sunny streets.

Ken shook his head and smiled.

[The cyborgs have no memory of their previous life. They go through a brainwashing procedure called conditioning.]

*********************************

"We were notified that Calabria was attacked."

"What?"

"Someone is after the Albanian. If so, they might…"

Koushirou tapped his chin and finished the sentence, "Come here too."

A girl with short, red hair scrunched up her nose in disgust. "I heard the guy who attacked Calabria was with a kid."

Koushirou's ears perked up. "…Come to think of it, I heard a rumor. There is a government agency that uses kids as assasins."

Knock knock.

A boy around the age of thirteen seized the gun from his pocket and glanced through the peep hole.

"Iori, do you see anything?"

Iori stepped back from the door and looked at Koushirou with a worried glance. "Well…a guy in a business suit and a boy with blonde hair."

"…open it up." Koushirou commanded.

The child nodded in understanding and stuck the gun in his jeans pocket. He opened the door.

"Hello. What do you want?"

Ken's eyes remained composed. "I'm a reporter with Libero Italia."

Iori's eyebrows knitted. "What would a reporter want with us?" His hand was still tightly clenched to the door knob.

Ken smiled calmly. "I heard Mr. Izumi of the Costero company is here, and I would very much like to talk with him."

Koushirou motioned to Iori to dismiss the man at the door. "Nobody by that name is here. Did you check the address?" He glared, about to shut the door.

"Yes. I confirmed the address, and this building. Is it-"

Takeru watched the thirteen year old boy draw out a gun and pressed it against Ken's chest. "Hey…I told you, you got it wrong…"

"But…" Ken murmured in protest.

"If you don't quit bothering me, you'll be sorry." He poked the nose of the gun deeper into the older man's torso.

The blonde boy examined the situation behind Ken's back, seething as his face turned red. "….grr."

:Whack:

Takeru slammed the leather briefcase he held into Iori's face. The younger boy stumbled back and collapsed.

"No! Iori!" A girl with auburn hair cried, slamming the door wide open with a gun held in one hand.

:Bam bam bam:

Takeru shot the girl three times. The briefcase lay open on the floor, containing weapons and ammunition.

:Bam bam bam:

More men collapsed to the floor. Takeru's hardened blue eyes met Koushirou's dark, afraid ones.

:Bam:

Takeru clutched the gun to his chest protectively.

"Having fun?" A sweat drop slid down Ken's cheek as he entered the room.

"Uh.."

Ken picked up his cell phone. "Hey, Daisuke. Mission abortive. Send back up." He pocketed the electronic device inside his jacket and shot a look of disappointment at his assistant.

"Takeru," he started. "Why did you go out of control?"

Tears collected at the corner of large, innocent ocean eyes. "Well…I can't let anyone hurt you…" Takeru sniffed, his cheeks reddening.

Ken leaned closer to the boy and patted his head. "Did you forget what I just told you?"

"No, sir." Takeru looked down in shame.

"You've been hit in the arm. Are you alright?" The nineteen year old observed the wound on Takeru's arm.

"It's nothing. I'm okay."

*********************************

"Ken…" The two figures clambered into the van.

"Yeah?" Ken stole a look at Takeru. "Are you in pain?"

The blonde squeezed his eyes tightly. 'No! I, I…just wanted to be of use…" He stared at his handler sadly.

Ken sighed. "Be sure to have a doctor take a look at that injury as soon as we get back."

*********************************

Inside a grand but worn out boarding house, surgery was taking place.

"Doctor, how is Takeru?" Ken interrogated, a look of concern on his face.

"The bullet just shaved off some skin and artificial muscular tissue. I don't think we need to replace the whole arm." The surgeon replied, scrutinizing the blond cyborg's condition. "Good. I only have to use a little bit of medication on him."

Ken exhaled in relief. "That's good." The color from his face was still drained as he saw the amount of blood Takeru had lost.

"The kids here are already taking large doses of it for their conditioning. If we keep using it as tranquilizer every time we do repairs…" The doctor drifted off. "Eventually, they'll become addicted or suffer memory dysfunction."

"I see." Ken commented timidly.

"So what happened today?" The doctor pried. "I heard he ignored your order and went crazy."

The blue haired boy rolled his fists into balls as he spoke. "Takeru counts the bodies he creates for me…"

"That's a hell of a thing…" The surgeon injected the medication. He looked up from his work and stared at Ken. "I appreciate that you love this boy, but…don't you think you should consider her brainwashing more carefully? Treating a cyborg assassin like a normal boy will only create more unhappiness."

Ken walked away. 'But I can't do that…'

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