Shiho had stepped outside the laboratory for a moment. The machine was still analysing the blood sample and she had already transferred all the other information into the computer. With nothing else to do, she decided to get them some food. Usually the organisation provided them with meals, but breakfast would only be served in a few hours. For this case she had a few snacks and packs of ramen in her locker. She grabbed two packages and some chocolate from her stock and walked down the corridor back to her laboratory.

It was eerily quiet. For a brief moment she wondered where the rest of her team was when she heard a voice she would recognise anywhere. Gin.

He was standing outside, probably smoking. and his voice was barely audible through the tilted window. She crept closer to the sound, trying her best not to make a single noise and listened.

Gin was talking with Vodka. She held her breath when Vodka mentioned the 1 Billion Yen. During their phone call last week, her sister had talked about a new mission she had been assigned to. Something with a lot of money and she had seemed even more cheerful than usual. Could they be talking about the same mission?

She almost dropped the food she was holding when she heard Vodka's words and Gin's response.

Getting rid of

If she were to find out about our plans, her reaction could be know what happened the last time. Let her finish her work and then we can deal with the rest.

She waited anxiously for them to leave and only when she couldn't hear their footsteps anymore did she dare to move again.

Operation Icarus. Icarus was someone who got too confident, too careless and ended up dying. Many years ago when Shiho had left Japan to study in the United States, her sister had promised her that she would get them out of the organisation, no matter what. Shiho had never really believed that it would be possible and as the years went by she barely thought about a life in freedom. It would do her no good to hold on to foolish, unachievable dreams. But Akemi had always been the more optimistic of one. What if she had never forgotten the promise she had given her?

1 Billion Yen might be enough to buy Shiho out of the organisation. Or at least make Akemi believe that it could be enough. And as soon as they had the money they wanted to get rid of her.

You know what happened the last time.

Shiho felt betrayed. They had promised her that Akemi was safe. After her sister's boyfriend had been outed as a spy from the FBI, her sister and Shiho had been interrogated for days. Had they known? Were they helping the FBI? Is there another spy? Shiho had remained unwavering.

She may not have liked him, but she had never suspected that he was an FBI agent. Sometimes she wondered whether or not Akemi had noticed something suspicious about him, but she never dared to ask her. The organisation was willing to believe Shiho, mainly because she had barely spent any time with him. But they were not as lenient with her sister, believing that she had helped him intentionally. Her loyalty to the organisation was never particularly strong and she had voiced her desire to leave on more than one occasion.

Shiho had pleaded with them to spare Akemi. She had been careless, yes, but she was just a victim. He had seduced her, recognising her as a weak point to gain access to the organisation. Could one really blame her? After all he was a cunning FBI agent who had even deceived some of the most experienced members of the organisation.

As a last resort Shiho had threatened to cease her research if her sister was harmed in any way. Eventually they had concluded that Akemi had been innocent, simply careless and not treacherous, and had agreed to spare her.

But apparently it was only meant as a temporary reprieve. They had waited for Shiho to finish her parents research and now they wanted to finally punish Akemi for her mistake.

Shiho felt numb. If the APTX4869 had not malfunctioned, her sister might have been dead by the end of the week. But even now she wasn't safe. What had Gin said? Postpone. As soon as the antidote was finished, they would get rid of her. Maybe even earlier, one could never be sure with Gin.

The timer she had set for the blood analysis went off and brought her back to the cold corridor she was still standing in. Right, she had to get back to work. The boy might be the only one currently in the lab, but she didn't know when her colleagues would come back. Shiho relaxed her features to look as impassive as possible. She had to keep her emotions under control. If anyone noticed a change in her behaviour, they might get suspicious and Shiho wasn't too keen to find out how the organisation would deal with that.

She took a deep breath and straightened her back. She had at least a few days to find a way to save Akemi. With this determination she walked back into the laboratory.

The boy, still sitting in the corner and reading a chemistry book, luckily didn't pay her any attention when she entered the room.

"Here." She threw a pack of ramen in his direction. Originally she had wanted to eat something too, but she had lost her appetite. While he prepared his food, she checked on the blood samples. She took one tube out and carried it to the test station.

The next few minutes Shiho focused entirely on her work. She didn't know when Gin would be back, but whenever that was, it was clear that he expected a first update. Besides, she couldn't deny that her curiosity was also a crucial motivator. It was the first time her creation had been tested on a human.

It was truly astonishing. His blood looked completely normal. She couldn't find any trace of the poison. That had been the intention, of course, but it would make her task even more difficult. How was she supposed to reverse the poison's effect if she didn't even understand how and why it had malfunctioned?

At the moment she had a few theories, but not nearly enough evidence.

Shiho flinched when the door was opened. To her relief it wasn't Gin, but her colleagues who entered the laboratory. She had wondered where they had ended up and now she had her answer. Each one of them carried something – books, folders, different chemicals and mice.

"We have everything to start testing, Sherry." Isamu said and placed the cage with the animals on the table in the middle of the room. He was the oldest of her colleagues, a short man in his forties who had joined her team 3 years ago. He was hardworking, but too talkative for her liking.

Another one of her colleagues, Sachiko, also put her things down and walked over to the boy. "I'm supposed to bring you this." She said and handed him a few books. His face lit up and Shiho thought that for the first time he really looked like a child.

"Thank you." He barely glanced at the woman before burying his nose in one of the books.

The next steps were clear. Since they didn't have enough data, they had to experiment more. She grabbed a few pills of the apoptoxin from the cupboard. As much as she hated killing innocent animals, she had no other choice. At least mice were preferable to human test subjects.

She distributed the tasks among her team and they started to work. They extracted the poison from the pills in order to turn it into a liquid they could administer to the mice. One mouse after the other was given the poison, each one of them squeaking dreadfully before ultimately dying. Shiho noticed the glances from the boy in the corner and how he had flinched when the first animal had died. It was obvious how much it was affecting him, even if he tried to hide it. Just a few hours ago he had endured the same pain, with the difference being that he had survived.

They took blood samples from every mouse and documented how long it took for them to die. One hour and 20 dead mice later they had made no progress. The others seemed a bit defeated, but Shiho urged them to continue. Unlike them she knew that it was possible as she had already seen one shrunken mouse, though she couldn't share that fact with anyone.

Their work was interrupted when the door swung open again. They all stopped what they were doing when Gin entered the room, this time alone. He looked even more irritated than usual.

"Any progress?"

"Not yet." Shiho gestured towards the box in which they collected all the dead animals. She saw how he narrowed his eyes and scanned the room. She was bracing herself for his outburst, remembering that he had demanded results upon his return, but to her surprise he turned his attention towards the boy.

"Follow me."

The boy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Why?"

Again Shiho was taken aback by his apparent lack of respect for Gin. Grown men would have obeyed his order immediately, but not this boy. Her curiosity over the identity of the boy and the reasons for his strange behaviour was definitely growing.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Gin's hand twitching, probably longing to reach for his gun, but he stopped himself and took a deep, audible breath.

"You heard Anokata's orders yourself. It's time to start your training."

Shiho barely noticed how the boy closed his book and left with Gin. Gin's words had raised new questions and increased the mystery surrounding the boy. He had met Anokata? When? Why would Gin train him? Who the hell was he?

"Sherry?" Isamu interrupted her thoughts. "Can we continue?"

She nodded and grabbed the next mouse, but she made a mental note to remember the exchange.


Shinichi wouldn't admit it, but he was glad to leave the laboratory. Hearing the squeaks of pain from the mice made him recall the pain he had felt when he had shrunk. It was not a memory he was eager to relive again and again. And as much as he enjoyed reading Sherlock Holmes novels, he felt a bit useless and restless just sitting there.

Gin was briskly walking ahead of him, long steps that made it difficult for Shinichi to keep up with him. He still wasn't used to this new body and he cursed his short legs as he practically ran after the blond man.

They went to the basement and entered a small room with a padded floor. Before Shinichi could ask him what they were doing here, he felt himself being lifted and thrown to the ground, a few metres into the room.

"What?" He tried to get up, but a large hand wrapped around his throat and pushed him against the floor. Gin hovered over him, a maniac glint in his eyes.

Shinichi fought against the fear that threatened to overwhelm him. He wouldn't kill him, would he? His father had warned him about Gin's temperament, his bloodlust and his lack of patience, but Shinichi had felt secure by the knowledge that he was a loyal member of the organisation. As much as he teased him, Gin wouldn't kill the boss's son, right? Somehow Shinichi didn't feel as confident in his own deduction anymore.

"Not so cocky anymore, are we?" Gin said as if he had read his mind. He gradually increased the pressure on his throat.

Shinichi clawed at his fingers, trying his best to lift them, to get some air into his lungs. It was futile. The more he tried, the tighter the grip got. Only now did he truly realise how weak and useless this new body was. He started to panic. He kicked his legs. He tried to scratch him. Pull his hair. Instead of stopping him, it seemed to encourage him. With every passing second he felt his desperation rise and his consciousness slip. A high-pitched noise filled his ears and everything went black.

A slap in the face woke him up. His cheek burned and his throat felt tight. He was gasping for air and tried to sit up, but a foot against his forehead stopped him immediately. His eyes followed the length of the black trousers until he found green eyes. Gin was smirking down at him.

"Your physical abilities are severely lacking."

"It's just this body." Shinichi said with a hoarse voice. "If I had my normal body, I could defend myself better."

"Oh, really?" Gin smirked and raised an eyebrow. "We might have to test this statement in the future. But until then -" He lifted his foot, put it under Shinichi's head and back and kicked him, hard. Shinichi fell forward and could barely catch himself before falling face first on the ground. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the aching pain in his body, when his head was yanked back by a hand pulling on his hair. Gin knelt behind him and Shinichi could feel his breath near his ear. " - you have to learn to defend yourself in this body."

"Remind me to never let you babysit anyone for me."

Gin loosened his grip and Shinichi was able to glance in the direction of the woman who had just entered the room. Slender figure, blond hair, red lipstick - she seemed familiar.

"What are you doing here, Vermouth?