1 A one sixth chance at life (Chapter 1)

"So do you like it ?" my handler asks me after showing me the apartment. It was quite spacious and large, it had 2 bedrooms, a well sized living room, 2 big bathrooms, a nice and stacked kitchen, best of all, I had full ownership of the place, courtesy of the Japanese government. "Yeah, it'll do" I say nonchalantly. It was already evening, I had first day of school tomorrow. I needed to go to bed early today. I accompany my handler to the door. She looks at me hesitantly for a moment, I see sorrow and grief in her eyes. "So… this is it then" she says, guilt in her voice. "Yes, this is it" I say. "Remember to take your medicine in time, and if the pain increases, call Aizawa" she adds. I nod. "You know you can reach out to me any time you want right ?" she says with concern in her voice. "I know." I assure her in my same nonchalant tone. She still looked unsure. "I will keep my head down and stay out of trouble, I promise" I say, to reassure her. "Goodbye, see you soon" she says. I take one last look at her. She is middle aged, but she looks younger, her hair is short and she wears large horn rimmed glasses, her stern face was now marked with a weird expression, stuck between sorrow and her normal mask of calmness. "I am sorry for all the trouble we caused you" she says. I say nothing. She takes a final look at me and then finally leaves. I close the door after her.

I go back inside, my sides start hurting again, I take out my box of painkillers and toss one in my mouth. I slowly limp to the fridge, and check its contents, it was already filled with all the necessary groceries. I don't feel like cooking, so I take out a plain bun and start chewing on it.

My name is Katsura Takada, I am 16 years old. I am a genetic experiment, a puppet, I was grown in a lab, a project funded by all the developed nations in the world, for growing an army of assassins against increased organised crime. It was not cheap, and at the end of it, only three other people like me could be produced. I was genetically engineered, my mind specially made, to endure extreme stress and resist corruption, we were made to be stone cold infiltrators, and killers, ready to take down crime bosses who were too protected by the law, my physique enhanced to increase endurance strength and stamina, since birth, I have undergone special training with the Department, intelligence gathering, combat, you name it, I know it. So, what went wrong you ask ? Well, I may be incorruptible, but the people who created me were not. The head of the Department was actually a double agent, working for the biggest organised crime division in the world. So, the killings for good, which I did, which I was told was a work of extreme importance was nothing more than a façade for removing rivals in the business, the governments didn't know, or some of them were paid off to look the other way and I was trained to not question but act. My final mission was supposed to be in the middle east where I would have had to destroy a terrorist organisation, which could become a major player in the nuclear warfare, the mission was a success, within a week, me and my team had most of them killed, it was a final hurdle for world peace, we were told, but something went drastically wrong, at the rendezvous, we were ambushed, my team was instantly killed, but for some reason I was taken hostage.

It was all a setup, to remove us from the equation, no witnesses to figure anything out, but the guys who were supposed to kill us all took me in for "FUN" I wont go into the details, but I was tortured extensively for months, then after I was almost dead, they decided to dispose me off, but I was fortunate, I slipped off, and though I was highly injured, I managed to blow up their base, I was almost dead by then, but my handler, who figured out that the Department chief was corrupt and she tracked me down and saved me. It took me a few weeks to recover, by that time he was arrested, and the organisation he worked for disbanded. The governments were apologetic, they let me go, I was no use to them, I was broken, my body is riddled with scars, my leg broken, no permanent damage, but I was scarred emotionally too, all the mind training I had undergone since childhood was destroyed. They could have killed me, but my handler got me this sweet deal, where they would pay me for life. It was a good amount per month, probably I never need to find another job.

But I am not adjusted to civilian life, even if I was free, what was I supposed to do ? You cant possibly expect me to go to high school like a normal teenager, but that's what handler did. Despite my repeated protests, she enrolled my in Katagiri High, the best high school in the area which would allow a late admission. So, here I was. I have to use a crutch for now to even walk, I could imagine all the eyes looking at me in school. I walk to my bedroom and open the drawer, A stone cold killer that's what I am, I am tired, I think I should spare me the pain, now or a year later, nothing waited for me in life. I should never have been born in the first place. No sane human would come close to me, and I am done with lying, to get close to targets. I pull out the revolver resting in the drawer, a middle sized six shooter, handler made me keep it for emergencies. I take it out and put it on my desk. I look at it for a moment.

I take out the box of ammunitions, from the drawer. Parabellum rounds, strong enough to blow my head apart. I take out one bullet, and open up the gun, load the bullet in and spin the chamber, without looking at it I shut the gun close. For once, I want fate to decide, now or later I was sure to die pathetically anyways….

I point the gun at my head, I unlatch the safety and pull the hammer. My hand didn't shake, I was calm, just like I had been trained to be. I pull the trigger once… empty click, twice…. Still empty, thrice… come on…. Fourth… I stop. I couldn't pull it again, someone really didn't want me to die. I latch the safety and open up the gun. The bullet was in the sixth chamber. So I still had one more chance. I drop the gun back.

My hands slump by my sides. Cant even die properly. Suddenly, I do something strange, something I have never done before.. I start laughing. Loudly. I was not happy, why was I laughing, tears dripped down my cheek, I am messed up, aren't I…..

The next morning I wake I up as trained at 5 Am sharp. I brush my teeth and take a nice long bath. By 7:00 Am I leave for school. I had seen the place, I knew where it was, but since it was my first day, it didn't hurt to be early, I could probably get a better look, plus I had my meeting with the principal.

The principal was cordial man, he sympathised with my injury, and encouraged me to participate in school activities, as if anyone would have me ! I meet with the homeroom teacher of my class. He is a nice looking man, red haired, about 30. "Good morning sensei" I call out to him "No, need to call me sensei, just call me by my name, Yasuda" he says. He takes me to the class. "Wait here, till I call you in" he says. I see him go inside. "Class, we have a new friend joining you today, I hope you all will be nice to him, Katsura kun you can come in now" he says. I walk in. I have a mental image of what I am going to face inside but I don't know for sure. It was a normal classroom, with normal students, I was the only abnormal object there. "Katsura kun please introduce yourself" Yasuda says. "Hello everyone, my name is Katsura Takada, I am new here, I hope I can be friends with all of you" I say out loud, but I have my aura activated, the keep out aura, most people avoid me when its on. I cannot exactly explain it, but it makes me look unapproachable even though I act polite, something in my voice tells people to stay away. Harry Freeman is pretty good at it. Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you to him, he is my mental construct, a training I was given to personify all my skills, I know he is not real, but he allows me a quick access to all my special abilities. Its not like you see in movies, he is not a person, rather a button I need to press when I am in danger.

"You can take the seat behind Hori" Yasuda tells me. I look at him confused. Surely he didn't expect me to know who this "Hori" person was. He sees my confusion and points me to an empty seat behind a brown haired girl. I go to my seat. The girl turns to me and says "Nice to meet you" she says trying to be polite, no doubt "The pleasures all mine" I say apathetically, showing no interest, it was in best interest of everybody to stay away. The girl doesn't say anything else and turns back, she probably thought me as rude. I am sorry, but its for your own good.

And just like that my High school life begun, a journey that would give another shot at life…..