M A D W O R L D
The life of a teen spy is hard, especially for Kinomoto Sakura. Her family is dead, her best friend has abandoned her and everyone thinks she goes to rehab. Whats a girl to do? Certainly not... fall for the guy assigned to kill her. SS
Author's Note:
This is a super-revised version of the original Mad World. There are little changes, but the plots basically the same.
Disclaimer:
I do not own CCS or the Alex Rider series.
CHAPTER TWO
C L O W. R E E D.
Sakura arrived at school a little earlier than usual. She planned on talking to her teachers in the morning so she wouldn't have to linger around after school any longer than she had to. This way, she could be saved by the bell rather than being stuck with long questions and mindless rambling that after-school time allows. She had already visited her other teachers, who either handed her a stack of work or had not arrived yet.
She strolled into her math class and noticed Terada-sensei shuffling his things. Sakura guessed that he just arrived.
Sakura cleared her throat. "Terada-sensei?"
He turned around. "Oh, Kinomoto-san. You are here early."
Sakura glanced to the side. "Hai. You said that you wanted to talk to me yesterday?"
"Oh yes." He said. "Give me a moment. I prepared a packet for you."
Sakura nodded and took a seat while waiting. Early-riser students began to enter the class room.
After setting up his materials for the day, Terada walked over to her and placed a packet of papers on the desk in front of her.
"These are all the assignments you missed. I also took the liberty of writing down the page numbers of the sections were covered and what would help."
There were a lot of papers.
"Thank you, sir." She tried to sound as nice as she could.
"No problem. I am also concerned how long it would take you to catch up with the rest of the class." He said.
"I'll be fine." Sakura said. Probably. Math was not her strongest subject, but she was sure Julian would help her out. It wasn't like she had anything better to do.
"Well, there's a very good math and science tutoring program available here on campus. College students from the local university come here Monday through Thursday. And these students are majoring in the subject they tutor, so they know what they are doing."
Sakura groaned inside. More time at school? When she didn't have to be?
"Maybe." She said.
Terada frowned. "I am going to make it required for you to go. You missed a lot of information. Normally the cost of the tutoring program is high, but I will try to get it waived for your case. "
Great. "Oh, thank you so much. I'm sure it will help a lot. Math was never my best subject." Sakura said with the appearance of sincerity and gratitude.
More students had arrived in the class. School was about to start.
"Of course, Kinomoto-san! That is what teachers are suppose to do! Now, if you look over the packet I prepared, I wrote down days when you can turn in specific work. You can work off that with your tutor."
"Hai. Thank you again." Sakura said. When he walked away to write the morning practice problems on the board, Sakura sank in her seat.
Great.
It was lunch time.
Sakura leaned against a nice cherry blossom tree, mindlessly shoving food down her throat even though she was not remotely hungry.
School had become a prison. Fellow classmen would act as if she had some infectious disease. They wouldn't get too close or talk to her about anything that didn't have to do with drug usage or distribution.
She could not blame them. She did look terminally ill. Sakura was very thin; she had lost a lot of weight and color. She had scars from Clow's previous assignments. She just looked awful; her uniform was not as flattering as is was before. The pale blue blazer more her skin seem ultra pale. The black skirt she was required to wear awkwardly hung off her hips and made her legs appear extremely thin. Her tube socks wouldn't stay up on her legs.
Sakura watched students behind fat sunglasses as she continued to throw food in her mouth. It hurt her to see all the worry-free attitudes her classmates possessed. She envied them greatly. What she missed most was her cheerleading team. She wanted to join so badly, but doubted that they would let her back on the team.
She should have been more careful. She should have worn a Kevlar vest when she stepped out of the office. Of course she would have been a target, after ruining the terrorist organization and saving the world.
Sakura rubbed her eyes from behind her sunglasses and pulled out a fat-stack of papers she received from her history class. Glancing over the first assignment, she saw that she already needed to read twenty-five pages from a text book and write a five-page analysis about some historical event. She put it back in her backpack and started working on a tasty pop-tart instead.
At the moment, Clow's assignments seemed a little more appealing.
Then suddenly her cell phone rang.
The school secretary was sitting mindlessly on her comfy chair, looking through student's profiles on her computer out of boredom. She read the addresses on some of the students profiles and frowned. Some kids lived in the very nice, very expensive parts of town. She envied them.
"Ahem."
The secretary looked over at the window. It must be a parent...
Or not. There was a tall, extremely buff man standing awkwardly in a polo shirt and sunglasses. His light hair was buzzed and he looked more like a body guard or security officer than anything.
The man cleared his throat a second time and the secretary realized she was gawking. "M-may I help you with s-something?" She stuttered, intimidated by the man's appearance.
The man nodded curtly. "I need to take my kid to the doctor."
The secretary nodded. "H-hai. What is his n-name?"
"Her." The man corrected. "Kinomoto Sakura. I am her legal guardian, Julian Star."
The secretary pulled up Kinomoto Sakura's profile. Oh yeah. That girl. That was the one girl who always missed so much school.
"Uh... what is the purpose for her leaving?" She asked.
"Doctor's appointment! That girl was in the hospital for a month after getting hit by a fricken' car, woman!"
The secretary blushed. "R-right. Um... The students are on lunch break, I'll h-have to page her..."
"No worries. I called her phone, she should be-" The man paused. "There she is!"
"Kero-pin? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, a little surprised to see her trainer here.
The woman failed to hear the girl's response.
"Time for the doctor, Sakura-chan."
The secretary held out a small sheet for the man to sign. He signed it, his signature was only a straight line and a squiggle.
"She'll be back shortly, just a quick check-up."
The secretary nodded and watch the strange man walk out of the school with Kinomoto-san.
Sakura walked over to the silver, bullet-proof Bentley that was parked in front of the school. She got into the car in the front seat after throwing her stuff in the back.
"I'm surprised you're not complaining, Sakura." The man said.
Whenever Sakura was pulled out of school like this, it was usually for a last minute mission. She hated them and usually tried to talk her way out of them. She always failed, of course.
"School isn't exactly inviting at the moment." She rolled her eyes. "I hope you and Reed-san know that I am not going on another mission. I can't even do a push-up."
The car started gliding across the pavement without a sound.
The man smiled through his sunglasses. "Not a mission, but this little meeting is just as important."
"Right." Sakura replied.
The man driving was Keroberos. Sakura did not know his real name, but she did know that he had worked for Clow's agency for a long time. He had received the name "Keroberos" some time during the seventies. Sakura wanted a code name like that too, like something ridiculous and random like Cherry Blossom or Cardcaptor.
He stuck with the name ever since. Sakura liked to call him cute names like Kero-chan or Kero-rin, just to piss him off.
The rest of the drive was fairly quiet. When they arrived at their destination, Sakura stepped out of the car and grabbed her things. She looked at the building.
The NIA headquarters was disguised as a bank. At the top of the tall building was a plain sign that read "National Bank". Sakura didn't know if the building actually worked as a bank as well.
Sakura and Keroberos walked into the building. It looked like an ordinary bank. There were people working behind tellers. A few of them looked at Sakura, although she did not return their gaze.
She headed straight for the elevator.
The two walked into the elevator. The doors slid shut and it stalled on the floor for a moment. Sakura knew that heat sensors were scanning her body, checking to see if she had any weapons that would stand out on the screen, like a gun or a bazooka.
The elevator suddenly shot up to the top of the building. Sakura did little more than swagger a bit. She was used to it, of course.
The elevator door popped open, and Sakura and Keroberos stepped out into the hallway.
At the end of the hall was an automatic door. The two stood out in front of it for a moment until the door swung open.
"Konichiwa, Kinomoto-chan." A voice in the room greeted.
Sakura entered the room. "What do you want now, Reed?" Her tone was not very friendly.
Clow Reed. He was the head director of the NIA. He had a sharp, handsome face and jet black hair. He was brilliant. He was evil.
He merely smiled. "Sit." He gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
The door slid closed behind her. Kero was gone.
"I'm fine where I stand."
Reed nodded. "Did Keroberos tell you anything?"
Sakura shook her head. "He didn't. Just so you are well aware of my status, I am not going on another mission. I cannot."
"Kinomoto-chan, you are a valuable agent. I know whether or not you are physically able to work. But what you are here for is not a work proposal, this meeting is meant to discuss your personal safety, especially now that you know, from personal experience, that you are wanted dead. Now please, if you will, take a seat."
His tone was firm.
Sakura sighed in defeat and slowly made her way toward the seat in front of his desk. Reed swiftly walked over to his desk and sat down on a black leather chair across from Sakura.
"Okay." Sakura said, and folder her hands on her lap.
Reed quickly pressed a button on his phone and waited. It beeped, and a voice spoke soft curtly from the line.
"May I help you, Reed-san?"
"Kinomoto-chan has arrived."
"Hai."
Reed hung up the phone by pressing another button. He turned to his desk and opened a drawer, pulled out a folder, then shut the drawer. He looked at Sakura.
"Today, several of our sources informed this agency that six assassination organizations have your profile." He said in a frightfully serious tone. Her heart sank. She was silent.
He was quiet for a moment. "Like I said moments ago, you are a valuable agent. The incident after your arrival three months ago opened the eyes of many, and now this agency has seen how much you are truly worth."
If Sakura had cared enough, she would have blushed. He was complimenting her, something he never did in the past.
"Once you leave this building, you will be properly equipped with items that will promote your safety."
As if it was staged, the door buzzed and a pretty woman walked into the room, pushing a metal cart inside. She stood with the cart besides Reed's desk. Sakura watched her.
"Now," Reed started.
The woman held up a black bullet-proof vest for Sakura to see, then set it down.
"First off, you will be wearing a Kevlar vest from now on. This specific one has been made customary for you alone, designed so it will not show from under your clothing."
The women held up a trendy Hawaiian style anklet with six small beads woven into it. She set it down after Sakura was finished observing it.
"The next item is a tracking and communication device. It allows this agency to know where you are at all times. As for communication, if you break the beads on the ends, it will inform this agency that you are in a bad situation. For our equanimity, try not to step on it."
The woman then held up an expensive looking chain link Tiffany's bracelet. A silver heart with Sakura's initials was engraved on it, and on each side of the heart was a red and green stone. One end had a clasp and the other had a pretty yet very small bulb hanging off it.
"This next item will detect if a drink is either poisoned or drugged. Just move your wrist over your drink and allow the sensor to dip into it for at least three seconds. When the green stone flashes, the drink is safe. It the red stone flashes, do not drink the liquid and get out of where ever you are as quickly as possible."
Sakura nodded.
"The next item..."
The woman held up a small stick of lip moisturizer.
"If you turn the cap and press it inward, it shoots a small needle filled with tranquilizer. It has twelve needles inside. It also doubles as flavored lip balm."
Reed stood up and nodded to the woman. She bowed and walked out of the room.
"Now." Reed started. He picked up the folder from his desk and took out a slip of paper and gave it to Sakura. "This is your after school schedule for the next month."
Sakura read over the schedule. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were her usual Martial Art lesson from five to seven. Tuesdays and Thursdays were scheduled for cardio and some random work outs like Pilates. Saturday was an all training day, and Sunday was training from ten until two in the afternoon.
She didn't have time to do anything fun.
Sakura sighed. "Why don't you just send me away to one of the training camps like you usually do?" Sakura asked. She actually preferred to train in the wretched training camps then stay at the wretched school.
"If you were sent away, more people would get involved in your search. Your fellow classmates and Julian might be harmed." Reed answered reasonably. "Besides. This is your last year of high school. You shouldn't miss it."
Sakura nodded, slightly disappointed. "Is that all you wanted to say?"
Reed nodded. "Keroberos will take you back to school. Be sure to wear your vest."
His quickly walked out of his office, leaving Sakura alone with her thoughts.
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