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.

S U R V E I L L A N C E.

It was a chilly Sunday morning. Sunrise was only several hours away. The man put a black beanie over his head and swept aside all the hair that was blocking his vision.

He wanted to shave his head, hair was such a nuisance. His was especially messy and uncooperative. Everyone he knew insisted he kept it the way it was. They told him it made him look like a teenager, and people were easily fooled by teens. Take Kinomoto, for example! He would tell them that technically, he was still a teen. Nineteen.

He walked to the truck of his car which popped open on command. He grabbed a black backpack sitting within the scattered mess and quietly shut the trunk.

While walking to the building, he took a second to glance at the marquee glowing in the middle of the grass lawn.

COME SUPPORT THE SEIJYO SOCCER

TEAM AT 8PM FRIDAY- HOME GAME

The man rolled his eyes.

High school.

After silently walking up the entry was steps, he stopped in front of one of the three double doors, choosing the middle entrance. He dug through his pockets and pulled out two pins.

With evident experience, he knelt down and skillfully slid his metal pins into the keyhole to unlock the door. It clicked when he was finished.

But instead of pushing the door open, he first slid a thin magnetic device underneath the door and waited for a second.

He heard a beep from within the building, and the door popped open.

He had temporarily deactivated the school's security system. He had an hour until it would turn on again, although he didn't even need an hour.

He strolled inside. The lobby of the school was dark. He noticed a trophy case filled with metals, ribbons, plaques and of course, trophies.

Every time his shoe made contact with the vinyl composition tile floors, a soft sound would echo off the walls. Suddenly, a device in his pocket beeped. He took it out and a light on the right side of it began to flash.

He smiled to himself. So the room was bugged. The sound of his footsteps had been picked up from a recording device somewhere in the room. His device had picked up the recording bug picking up the sound of his steps. He turned to his right and walked forward. The counter surveillance device was supposed to flash quicker as the person neared the bug.

It started flashing faster.

The man found a wire neatly hidden on the frame of a door. He followed it and found what he was looking for. Pulling out a pair of wire cutters from one of his pockets, he slipped his device back into his pocket and clipped the wire.

He man figured someone else was already surveying Kinomoto. Too bad for them. He had already known that there were other people trying to kill her, all taking their time, of course. People tried to kill her in the past, and they all had failed.

In his mind, he knew he would be the one who got her. He would get his payment for her destruction, and a large payment that would be.

For the next twenty minutes, the man strolled around the school, de-bugging the halls. He even took it upon himself to go into several classrooms and de-bug those, too.

He grinned, feeling like he gained the upper hand. He had already devised a plan that would put him closer to the Kinomoto girl than any other competing assassin could. He had an insider who told him everything he wanted to know about the Kinomoto girl, and had unknowingly advised him about the only place on the school that was worth monitoring.

He unlocked the door leading to the courtyard and scanned the area. Counting his time, he went off to finish his task.

Sunday Morning

"Sir?"

"What."

"All of our recording devices have been disconnected."

"All of them? That's preposterous! Since when?"

"The first one was disconnected at one ten this morning."

"Hm. Just as I should have expected."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"We aren't the only people after her. There are many people who want her dead. Probably every assassination organization in Japan is on her."

"What should we do?"

"We need to formulate a plan to get her first. Not kill her. No. Not yet. We need to capture her so everyone knows that we are the people who have her. Then, we will receive all of their rewards. Do you know how much money is backing up her death?"

"No, sir."

"Bayhem Industries is offering five hundred-thousand pounds. Maho Kyoto is offering two hundred million yen. Giovanni Poccinio, seven hundred fifty thousand euro. The list goes on."

"Oh my."

"If they all knew we had Kinomoto, then they would throw their money at us. Or, they might even raise their prices for her, if she was alive. Think of the possibilities. We could auction her off to the highest bidder. Then they could do what they want to her themselves..."

"What do we do then, sir?"

"Make sure you know Kinomoto's daily schedule. Know where she lives, what streets she takes to school, what after school activities she takes part in, who her best friend is, her boyfriend... everything."

"Yes, sir."

"The sooner the better. Then, I can set an appropriate trap. We will be the ones who get her. I can feel it."

Julian stopped the car and allowed Sakura to put on her roller-blades. It was Monday morning, and she had already been attending school for a week. He thought that she was pushing herself too hard, trying to juggle school and training. She looked so tired all the time, and Julian was very worried.

"Do you have your vest?" Julian asked.

"Yup." She tightened the strap on her left roller-blade, responding in English. Her grandfather had taught her how to speak English, and she learned French and Chinese as well. She liked to perfect her accent sometimes, seeing that being proficient in many languages was very useful. Since Julian was originally from England, he enjoyed speaking in his native tongue whenever he could. In Japan, he didn't do that very often.

"Bracelet?" He asked, switching to English.

Sakura strapped on her knee pads and allowed her special bracelet to shine in his vision. "Yup."

"Anklet?"

"Yup."

Julian paused, thinking of her last gadget. "Chap stick?" He said thoughtfully.

"I have everything Julian, don't worry. I am completely armed and dangerous." She smiled gently. Her face was so pale compared the how it was before the shot, and it pained him to see her that way.

"I know, I know." Julian said. "I just want to make sure. You never know what may happen."

She nodded and stepped out of the car. She grabbed her backpack from the backseat and backed away from the car, ready to leave.

"Do you have your lunch?" Julian asked.

Sakura nodded.

"Alright then... have fun at school!"

"Right. Fun." She laughed bitterly. "Bye Julian!" Sakura waved, and skated away. Julian watched for a moment and made sure she was safely on her way to school. After he saw she was okay, he put his car into drive and drove away.

He hated having to drop her off and make her roller-blade to school. He would feel much better if he could just drive her all the way, but Clow would have none of that. He had told Julian it would be better if Sakura was let out at random places from the town. Unpredictability would throw off any pursuers trying to find a pattern in her schedule.

Clow also told him that she needed to be as unpredictable as possible, given the weak state she was in. That would lower the rate of possible traps she could fall in.

Julian told them that going to Seijyo was predictable.

Clow told him not to worry about it.

But Julian couldn't help but feel worried.

Sakura sat on the steps to the entrance of her high school, removing all of her protective gear. People stared at her as they walked up the steps. Knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmet. What a weirdo, they probably thought. When she was younger, she used to think wearing all of that protection was ridiculous.

Now, she realized, it could really come in handy.

She stuffed all her gear in her bag and entered the high school, heading towards her locker. She ignored all the stares.

As she stepped inside the building, she stopped. Students slowed their pace and watched her curiously, wondering what she was up to.

Something felt... odd, Sakura thought. Like something was missing.

Cautiously, she walked to her locker, her eyes scanning everything in sight. She must have looked very strange as she observed everything, because someone whispered, "Bet she's stoned."

Sakura ignored it. She set the bag full of her roller-blade gear inside her locker and dropped her high calorie lunch inside. She quickly glanced at her reflection in a mirror on the door of her locker. Pale, almost gaunt face. Dull hair. Dull eyes. Sakura frowned and quickly shut her locker. When she turned around, a student was in her way.

"Hey Kinomoto." The student said. He was taller than her, with blond hair and dark eyes. Sakura had no idea who he was. She guessed he was an under classmen.

"Hi." She responded.

"I was wondering," he scratched his head nervously. "If you could get me any bud…"

Sakura paused for a moment. Was he really asking her for drugs?

"No, I can't." She rolled her eyes and walked off, leaving the boy alone.

The bell rang suddenly, and Sakura made her way toward her homeroom. Nothing had changed during the weekend. Fellow students were still pointing and whispering as she passed.

Sakura walked into Terada's class, not bothering to look at the people staring at her.

Would things ever change? She thought sadly. Tomoyo was talking to Meilin, Sakura could hear. She set her stuff down on her desk and prepared to sit down.

"Kinomoto-san?" Terada-sensei called.

Sakura looked up. "Hai?"

He walked over to her desk. "I have arranged a tutor for you. He will be available every Tuesday and Thursday after school for about an hour. Will that work out for you?"

Sakura paused. Tuesdays and Thursdays? Maybe she could get out of Pilates.

"Yes, that will work." She said.

"Excellent. I thought of something to make going to these worthwhile. Every tutoring session you go to will substitute a quiz grade." He seemed very excited about his idea.

"Okay." Sakura replied. Terada kept talking.

"There have been quite a few quizzes, so this will end up being a huge help to you. You can do your make-up work with your tutor. It will work out well and you won't have any problems catching up in my class!" He said enthusiastically.

Sakura nodded. "Thank you so much, Terada-sensei."

"Of course." Terada beamed, and then went on to start his class.

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