SHIELD

Okay, so here goes the novel I had promised to translate last month. In the off chance that somebody wants to read ahead, I have the Spanish version on my website, so just ask me. I really hope you enjoy, because SHIELD is the culmination of many years of thinking finally put together :P Feedback appreciated too. PROLOGUE - Mission Akin was doing pushups, like always. It was the only thing he did. It allowed him to think. The truth was that Akin's life so far had only consisted of endless training sessions. After all, as far as he could remember, he had always been here, training, in the Black Rose's North HQ. Akin didn't know much about the Rose, only that it was a powerful syndicate that earned it's money with those shady deals that are supposedly common place nowadays: drugs, contraband, but most of all, assassinations. The Rose was quite notorious for being the best in the country when it came to killings. Politics, celebrities or even the guy selling at that one corner shop... all it took was a lot of money, connections, and you were able to sign anyone's death sentence. Despite that, the police had yet to actually catch any member of the organisation. The situation was such, that the name 'Black Rose' actually sounded more like some ladies' afternoon gossip than anything else. Another thing that Akin knew for a fact, was that the Rose wasn't like any other mafia he'd heard of. Why? Because of it's members. Only the 'Superiors' were actually adults, the rest was formed solely by minors. Some teenagers, others mere children still. Having them commit such atrocities as murders could seem like a horrible thing to do in the eyes of society... but for them, it wasn't. In fact, all those 'child soldiers' respected, revered, adored and held the Black Rose as their savior. They were saved from the same society that they were now taking revenge on. Revenge for raping them. Revenge for letting them starve. Revenge for making them participate in wars they'd never asked for... The Rose took advantage of all that rage and hate, and molded it into something useful, assassins, trained to kill or steal since a very young age. And they were quite good at it, some of them even exceeding the capabilities of what regular human beings are able to achieve... All and all, it was a win-win situation, and both parties were quite satisfied with it. Akin was one of those 'assassins'. Except, unlike the others, he didn't adore the Rose. Far from it in fact. He despised it. It had all happened when he was still quite young, so he couldn't remember every detail, but he was sure of was thing: the Rose had killed every member of his family. That enough would be motif to hate, but Akin saw it differently. Since he'd never actually known his family, he couldn't have 'loved' them. He didn't long for them either. In fact, he was perfectly fine being alone. The one reason why he hated the Rose so much, is that they had robbed him of his freedom. They had robbed him of his life. And that, to him, was way more important that any family he couldn't even bring himself to care for at this point. And yet, after all these years, he hadn't gain the opportunity to do much apart from training himself. He had a plan, cert; but until he was allowed to leave this 'prison' of his, it would never come to fruition. He was ready. Ready for the day when his superior, Ahoy, would come through those doors behind him, and pronounce the words: - Mr. Saito wants to see you, brat. Akin stopped his motion right in the middle of repetition number x. Had he heard right? He took a moment to compose himself and glanced towards the double door. There, he could see a tall woman, quite beautiful, with a long black hair, green eyes reminiscent of an eagle and a black spot right below her left eye, which gave her the airs of some kind of an explosive femme fatale. That woman was Ahoy, Akin's superior and the right hand of Christopher Saito, the Rose's "godfather". - Come on, hurry up. - she said with disdain. Akin hurriedly stood up, grabbed a nearby towel in order to dry the sweat on his face and followed her outside the room to the dark corridor of the HQ. Since he had never gone outside of it, he didn't really know what the building really looked like, but from inside, it looked like some kind of abandoned medieval castle, only illuminated by rare instances of lamps here and there. - Hey brat! - she started. - … - I know how much you've waited for this day, but you should really hurry up and come back to us. - … - I mean, who knows what might happen to your little sidekick while you're gone... - *sigh* Suho knows how to defend herself. Ahoy left out her trademark snide giggle. - Touch one of her hairs, I will come back, and kill you. - My! I, am, teriffieeed! Ahoy patted the boy's head as if to annoy him, but Akin was way too used to her behavior to pay it any mind. Or perhaps more exactly, he didn't care much about anything. They promptly reached their destination. Ahoy knocked three times on the door before stepping away from it. The door almost instantly opened, giving way to a particularly luxurious room, the kind of Akin had never seen before. They both entered the room, but Ahoy quickly left after bowing down to the man sited at the desk in the middle of it. - Come closer– said the godfather in a voice lighter than Akin had expected from him. He approached the man behind the oak desk. It wasn't the first time Akin had the opportunity to see him, but never before had he been allowed that close to him. A single jump, he thought. That was the only thing separating him from his revenge. But he wasn't foolish. He knew full well that he'd never make it out alive. He might care for very little, but his life was one thing he wasn't ready to part from so easily. He'd have to pocket his feelings and go with the flow for now... Christopher Saito was all but you're typical "bad guy". He was very tall, blond, brown eyes, quite handsome and an almost fatherly look to him. At first glance, one would never think of him as the dangerous man that he actually was. With his arms crossed, he waited for Akin to reach the front of his desk before showing him the items placed on the table. The were quite a few, but Akin focused on the few that seemed to matter most. An army knife, a pistol, a silencer, a couple of keys, some cash, two photos and ID that seemed to have his name and face on it, Akin Haskahi.

- I'm about to give you your first assignment - said the man in his light voice - You will kill this girl, Ayumi Mitsuhara. He pointed at one of the first picture. - You may choose the place, time and method. But you mustn't leave tracks, and the death must be made to look it was intentional. - ...Why? - Her father (pointing at the second picture) was doing some "business" with us, put he pulled back and is now threatening to denounce us. I very well doubt he'd ever have enough proof to make a case, but the death of his daughter should prove quite sufficient as form of warning. Once he was done talking, mr. Saito turned over on his rotary chair. Akin awaited an instant, so as to make sure that he was finished, before starting to collect the items on the desk and putting them on the backpack provided. Once he was about to pick up the photo of the girl however, he stopped. He though for a second and said: - Sir, if I am to assassinate a person ...so important, wouldn't it be better if I were to bring another person for backup... To prevent ... eventualities. Without turning around, the man answered. - …Your superior will be the one accompanying you. And after a light giggle he added: - I will be awaiting for the good news… Akin wasn't surprised, by the presence of Ahoy might complicate thing for him in the long run. He'd have to find a way to deal with her at some point. And if possible he'd have preferred it if he was able to bring Suho along with him. The Black Rose's assassins were put together in groups under the supervision of a single superior. Suho, was part of the same group as Akin's, and she was the one single person that Akin held some affection for. He'd known her since they were children, and they've been together ever since. He could still remember their meetings to this day. Akin was a kid. He didn't understand his life. He was cold and hated pretty much everyone he came into contact with. He just limited himself to train and do what he was told, even if he didn't understand why. He was doing pushups, like any other day, when Ahoy irrupted in his room, much like she had done it today. With her was a little girl which she was strongly grabbing be the arm. She forcefully threw her towards Akin and she fell over when Akin stepped aside in order to avoid her. He quickly glanced at her. She was crying and covered in dirt. She'd probably just been brought here, he though, she'll get come over it soon enough. Ahoy spat on the floor, annoyed by the kid's tantrum. - That's your partner. You know the drill, I got more important things to do. And just as she came she left locking the door behind her. Just then, the girl stood up and attempted to escape through the window, only to discover that it had been firmly condemned. She frantically ran across the room looking for some other place by which to leave under Akin's gaze. He however quickly lost interest and told her in a disinterested voice: - Not that I care, but even if you were to escape from here, you'd end up dead. After hearing this the girl left herself fall on the floor, still crying while Akin got back to his push ups. Days went past in such manner; Akin training and Suho staring at him from a corner of the room, hugging her knees and crying what tears she had left; until one day, she started to imitate him, and they trained together in silence. Of course, at first, it was impossible for the frail little girl to follow Akin's rhythm, who had been doing the same thing for over a year; but she pushed herself as much as she could. Akin couldn't understand her attitude. He though he couldn't care for her, but it somehow annoyed him to see her fail so miserably while trying to copy him. In the end, he started giving her pointers, and helping her in some ways. At least, he was being useful to someone, he felt. One night however, Suho tried to escape again. She almost succeeded, but she ended being captured by some of the older assassins. Drunk, they attempted to 'have fun' with their prey. Akin, feeling that something was wrong, as Suho hadn't been brought back yet, promptly rushed to her rescue. He managed to hurt one of them, but he ended up defeated as well. That night, the little Akin raged for the first time in his life. He cursed the Rose for what he and her partner had to go through, and swore to her that he'd have his revenge. After that event, the both of them started training much more seriously. As individuals, and as a team. And after many years of relentless training, they had become some of the best assassins in the organisation. … - ¡Akin! Akin, are you alright? Akin sprung back to reality. He was seated on a bed inside his room, next to her. - I though you'd fallen unconscious. - N-No,…I'm alright - he answered - I just dozed off for a minute. Akin glanced at his partner from the corner of his eyes. Suho had blue eyes and black hair. She might have looked 'pretty', but her whole body was covered in scars. But Akin didn't care. All he cared for was that she was the one person he had swore to never let any harm come to. Suho stared at him, preoccupied, with her hand on his forehead. The room was illuminated by the reddish rays of the sunfall, going through the bars of the window. That same window gave a precious view over the sea, and you could always hear the sound of waves crashing over what must have been a nearby coast. Akin cleared his throat before talking: - Don't worry about me. This is nothing. I'll be fine. Just... keep training, and watch out for that idiot Ahoy. He stood up, ha sat again on the window's border, marveling a the view like he did so often. He looked back at Suho. She was smiling at him. That smile thug a little bit on his heart. Suho had an habit of putting a smile on even in dire situations, so has to not worry him; he knew that. She stood up as well, and strongly hugged him. - Good luck Akin. Be careful. Akin hugged her back for a moment before breaking loose, collecting his things and walking towards the door. Before leaving, he looked at her one last time and said. - Don't do anything stupid. ...

Thank you, thank you. @Hyera But what do you 'REAAALLY' think?

I quite enjoyed this first part, though I'm a sucker for detail and would like more - clothes, setting, smells, sounds, feelings, textures and stuff like that.

Haha, that might become a bit too loaded though. Plus, I don't Emglish that good.