It was now late at night and Rei found himself sitting on a park bench lost in thought after he had been dismissed from standby status. He had always been sure that he had done the right thing by distancing himself from Sakura. He had been so sure on that long ago day that the decision he had made was the right one for them both. He had grown to understand human emotion and Sakura had melted his heart. He knew he loved her and that more than anyone else she was his family and that he wanted to protect her. But could he really protect her this way? Had he been selfish to make that decision for her and then enforce it so thoroughly? These were the questions that plagued him as well as a fear that Sakura and he would not be able to pick up where they had left off. Five years was a long time and he had not spoken to Sakura at all in that time. He feared most of all that she would not feel the same as she had when they lived together in the shibuya mansion and that the past five years had made her fall out of love for him. He no longer wanted to be alone and had always planned on sharing his life from a distance with Sakura, but he was now beginning to realize the reality of his decision. Watching Sakura was no longer a game of protecting her and if he was honest with himself it had never been in the first place and that he had simply used that as an excuse to still see her. Watching Sakura had turned into seeing her move on first hand and he still felt the sting of seeing her ask out another man. Could he really sit back and watch her fall in love, get married and have children. Just the thought of Sakura growing old with another person made his heart hurt and filled him with jealousy.

As Rei sat lost in thought he never saw Heike and Toki lingering in the shadows of the park. From this distance Rei looked so troubled and Heike knew the reason was Sakura. Toki had already come to him to tell him about his man to man chat with Ogami and that he may have actually gotten through to him. However from this distance anyone could tell that Rei had no idea what to do about this dilemma and that he was going to need a little push.

As Toki and Heike turned to walk away Heike came up with an idea." I've got it, I know how to get Rei closer to Sakura."

"Good, what's the plan? I don't care for playing match maker, but Ogami looks like such a pitiful bastard sitting there." Toki replied as he lit up a cigarette. It wasn't just Rei that Toki worried about either. He had heard from Yuuki that Eden had decided to make Sakura official and gave her a code number. This meant that it would be impossible for Eden and Heike both to continue to cover for Sakura's missions and that she and Rei would eventually cross paths. She had been the driving force behind Eden's new policies and behind the way Eden now ran. Her mother had been a founder of the old Eden and Sakura had risen up to the occasion and had helped build the foundation for the new one. It had been a miracle that the existing code breakers and Eden personnel had been able to keep her secret for this long.

Heike turned and whispered something into Toki's ear. "Heike you are a genius, this is downright diabolical, but I have a feeling that this is going to work." He knew he could count on Heike to come up with something brilliant. With that they both went their separate ways to put their plan in place leaving Rei lost in thought and none the wiser.

As Rei sat he thought he heard a noise close by, but brushed it off. He was going to have to come up with a plan to find out how Sakura felt about him. He felt like he was ready to see her in person, just the thought made his heart beat faster. He never got nervous, he was a code breaker and faced death regularly but thinking about walking up to Sakura made his stomach hurt. Even after this long he was still not used to the way being near her made him feel and the feelings she invoked in him.

As he sat he looked at his watch and decided that he better get home. It was going to be a long week and he felt that he needed a long hot soak to help settle his troubled mind. He felt sure about one thing and that is as much as he hadn't wanted to admit it that bastard Toki was right. He and Sakura had been terribly naive to agree to the terms he had set. He understood his own motivation, but he knew that Sakura wasn't an ordinary human and expecting her to fall back into that role had been wrong. He didn't like to think that she had struggled trying to fill the role he had forced her into, but he knew deep down that she had.

As Rei walked along contemplating his younger self and Sakura his phone rang. "Hello Heike." Rei replied a bit too forcefully. He hadn't realized he was so on edge until he heard it in his voice.

"Chipper as always I see Rei. I have a mission for you."

"You always have a mission for me." Rei sighed.

"Come now don't be that way, this mission is special. I think you're going to like this." Heike replied slyly.

"Just spit it out and tell me what you want me to do already." Rei replied with impatience.

"Fine, but Rei you sound so tense perhaps a massage would do you some good. We need you to keep an eye on Sakura. It appears that she may be targeted by the ability user group that we have been following." Heike smiled slyly. This was going to be just too perfect.

"Heike, you know that I already keep an eye on Sakura so what exactly is it you want me to do?" Rei bit out. He did not like where this was going.

"You are to enroll in university courses of course. If something happens you need to be close enough to react and you won't be if you're hiding in the bushes outside of her courses. You need to be in the same room as her Rei." Heike could just feel the disbelief on the other end of the phone before Rei even replied.

"You can't be serious Heike. I can't do that, I haven't seen her in five years! Being around me is going to put her in danger." Rei yelled back into the phone.

"No need to get angry Rei, to be perfectly honest I spoke to Toki about doing this first and he said something about seeing how Mii-tan and Hii-tan have grown. I thought I would offer it to you since you would take the mission more seriously, I would hate to see Toki's unsavory habits rub off on her." Oh he was too good at this Heike thought. He knew exactly how to push Ogami's buttons when it came to Sakura.

"Like hell he will, I don't want that bastard anywhere near Sakura. If he lays a finger on her I will kill him!" Rei seethed."I'll enroll tonight and be ready for classes as soon as possible, but it would be easier if Eden could speed up the process for me. Don't you let Toki anywhere near her class or her school for that matter!" Rei knew his demands were a bit much, he knew all of the code breakers would want to protect their friend. However he also remembered all of the groping Sakura had endured at the hands of Toki. He had always suspected that Toki had a crush on Sakura and that maybe he was a little in love with her too. He had caught him looking at her longingly a couple of times when they were younger a feeling he himself knew all too well. Sakura was way too sweet and innocent for the likes of him.

"Done and Done. You won't be able to enroll in all of her courses since she is a med student, however you will be in the rest of her classes. You are to watch for anything out of the ordinary and take down anyone that may be out to harm her." Heike knew that his plan was perfect. Rei didn't know that if anyone actually came after Sakura she would be more than capable of holding her own. Maybe he could also find a way to show Rei how strong she had gotten. This was going to open up so many opportunities.

"Fine, I'll talk to you later Heike I have to go prepare." Rei knew that this was his opportunity to figure out how Sakura felt about him now. He could figure out her feelings and protect her at the same time. He also wanted to make sure that bastard Toki didn't show up to make a move on her while she was vulnerable.