"This... this won't do at all."
"An important asset of ours got into a car crash on his way here. He didn't survive in the end."
"The authorities wrote it off as a mere accident, but with the timing of this incident, I suspect it's an assassination plot from those extremists."
"You think they're from the east, don't they?"
"There's a strong possibility. We have been under high tension with that country for a while now. It seems they're trying to spark a war with us. We must put a stop to this as soon as possible."
"I see. In that case, we should leave that work to our best agent."
"Agent Midnight, won't you take the offer?"
--
It was nighttime in town. Rain poured down on the dark streets, where the shine of the streetlights barely reached the hidden alleyways, but enough to provide light to two figures that stood there.
"I've managed to gather the information you need, sir." A man dressed in a concealing trenchcoat handed over a small folder. "All the minister of foreign affairs' secrets are contained here."
"Well done. With this, I can force him to resign and hand his position over to me. That fool won't see this coming." Another man opened the folder, musing through the countless photos with a grin.
This man's the minister's rival. He really wants to take his place by all means necessary.
"A pleasure doing business with you. Keep up the good work."
As the man in the trenchcoat left, he hadn't counted on a hand being placed on his shoulder, or the familiar voice of the person he had just conversed with to say, "Hey, you! Hand over what you've promised to give."
"Huh? But I've already given it to you—" His blood ran cold at the sudden realization, whipping his head to where his companion had just left to.
He had done a grave mistake!
I... I was set-up!!
"That was easier than I thought." Now having driven far away from reach, the man tore off the mask he had been wearing, revealing a strikingly young face underneath. "Even though my impersonation was last minute, I still managed to get that file out of there in the end."
This man is a spy. In a world where a secret cutthroat information war was ongoing, his mastery of disguise helped him survive throughout this entire ordeal.
"Ah, I'm running late to that date with her. How bothersome." He groaned to himself, running a hand across his choppy black hair when he heard his cellphone ring obnoxiously in his pocket. With his free hand he managed to take it out and hit the answer key.
"Hello?"
"You're late, Haruhiko! Do you have any idea how long you've been making me wait here?!" A woman's voice shouted through the loudspeaker, making him cringe.
"Yes, I know. I got caught up with something important, alright?"
"No excuses! You should know better than to keep me waiting! As my boyfriend, you're supposed to show no tardiness!"
He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Seriously, how had he been dealing with this woman for a while now without snapping? Even as a spy, such people even bothered him.
Oh well. Since his job with her father was now done, there was no need to keep up such an act anymore.
"Hey, Saki. We should just break up."
Simple and blunt. Just like that.
"What? What are you saying, Haruhiko—"
"Plus, I don't sense any sign of intelligence on you anyway. It's better if we part ways now."
"Eh?! Wait a minute—" Before she could continue, he ended the call, tossing his phone on the back of his car.
Sorry, Saki. Your father's served his purpose. And it's time for me to get rid of this "Haruhiko" persona for good, too.
I have no time for such ordinary human happiness. The day I became a spy, I threw away all those things behind me.
--
"Track 5 will be departing to Kamome shortly."
Having boarded a train after a while, he found a newspaper sitting on his seat. Narrowing his eyes at it, he picked it up, unfolding it to read.
I see. Another assignment, it seems. He sighed. The agency really had their ways of relaying messages wherever he went.
[Hello, Midnight. Or should I say, good evening?]
[Good work on your latest mission. Thanks to your efforts, the minister has been spared off his embarrassing fate. You have done a great service to your country.]
[This may seem sudden, but here is your next mission. Your next target is the president of the unity party, Fujida Hachiro. He's a dangerous man who threatens the peace between the east and west.]
[You will need to get close to him and investigate his subversive activities. And Midnight, with the current circumstances, your first step to action is... to get married and have a child.]
Midnight had to refrain from spitting the coffee he had been drinking from the sentence he just read.
Did he read that right? Get a wife and a child? Was the agency pulling his leg right now?!
[Fujida is a highly paranoid man. A hermit, as you would call it. He hardly makes any public appearances.]
[He only shows his face at public gatherings held at his son's prestigious school, which also has a purpose for inviting the biggest players in politics and industry.]
[You are to have your child enroll in this school, so you can have a better chance of infiltrating those meetings.]
[Furthermore, there's a deadline for enrollment, so you are given a week to find a child.]
Furiously he ripped the newspaper apart, crumpling it in his fists. Seven days to find a kid?!! Are they mad?!
Calm down, Midnight. A spy shouldn't lose their cool.
After apologizing to the concerned people around, he unraveled the ruined paper back up again, reading the rest of his message.
[This is Operation Strix. This will be the key to maintaining the peace between the east and west, as well as the world.]
[You agents are "shadowless heroes", and your efforts will never see the light of day. No recognition whatsoever.]
[But despite that, never forget that the daily lives of the people are built atop your sacrifice.]
"..." He lowered the paper down, glancing outside the window.
Fine, then. I've already thrown away my face and name to become Midnight. I'll show you that fatherhood is just another role to play.
All for the sake of a better world...!!
"How bothersome, indeed."
I've managed to find a decent living space upon arriving at Kamome. This should serve as residence for my would-be family as long as this mission keeps on.
"This is our family unit." The landlord presented the living room. "It comes fully furnished and it has an AC. Not only that..."
"It seems suitable enough. I'll take it." It's a good thing that this place isn't bugged. Pays off to check the place thoroughly before making a move.
"Right away, Yugi-san! You can sign these documents here and the place will be yours!"
That's right.
My new identity, as Yugi Amane, a psychiatrist working near the school. This is my new life.
"But gee, sir, isn't it wonderful moving into a new home with your family? So what's your kid like? A boy? A girl?"
"Ah, well..."
A beloved family and a household... To someone like me, they're nothing but a burden.
"I'll decide later."
"Huh..?"
--
"Hey, get back here! You little rapscallion!!"
A little boy dashed out of the ragged-looking building, sticking his tongue out at the man shouting at him. He had just so happened to have stolen that unfortunate fool's food when he wasn't looking. He cackled to himself.
Hi! My name's Haruto. At least, that's the name I gave myself. I'm seven years old!
Back then, some scientist people kept calling me Subject 007. I used to live in a lab, but I escaped. I got no parents, so I've been sent to orphanage to orphanage since.
I got a special talent, you see! I'm what those scientist people call, an es... esu... what was that word again? Ya know, the one that says you can read people's minds?
Anyways, I can do that thing! Which is probably why no other kids wanna play with me. They think I'm weird. Am I weird? I don't think so. Sure, my hair looks like an ice cream flavor and my legs are kinda fat, but I don't really care about that.
"Got you! You thought you can run away, brat?!" A scruffy looking guy grabbed him by the back of his shirt, lifting him into the air.
Haruto made a face, crumbs all over his mouth. "Too late! I ate it already!"
"Why you—you're gonna pay for that!" The man shoved him down on the pavement rather harshly. "It's kids like you that I hate a lot!"
Dragging himself back up to his feet, Haruto slipped a little, his knees giving in. This was all a daily occurrence to him. Causing trouble to the neighborhood weirdos, to their chagrin. There wasn't anything new to them hurting him.
No one would care enough for him, anyway.
"Consider this payback, brat!" The fist that was about to strike him never came, however.
Instead, someone else's voice chimed in. "I believe you shouldn't treat a child like that, hm?"
"Huh?" Haruto's eyes widened at the sight of the rather well-dressed raven-haired man in front of him, tightly grasping on the other guy's wrist and preventing him from laying a hand on him.
For some reason, his amber eyes bore a huge resemblance to his own.
"Wha—let go!"
"Suit yourself." He released the man's wrist and he lost his balance, tumbling down backwards on the ground. Haruto could hear the mysterious person's thoughts at the close proximity.
"Ugh, I reacted out of instinct seeing this guy try to hurt a kid. This isn't like me at all... I can't let emotion manipulate my mission."
Mission? What mission is this mister talking about? A spy mission? Could it be... he's a spy?! Spies do mission thingies, right? So cool!!
Haruto was now looking at him with admiration. Some say he was probably starved for entertainment. Maybe this guy would be perfect!
"Who the hell are ya?!" The scruffy man yelled, pointing a finger at him. All of a sudden, Haruto grabbed onto the other man's pant leg, much to his surprise.
"He's my papa! He came to get me, so back off!"
"What?!"
"What?!!" He heard the poor stranger internally yell in his mind. "What's this kid talking about?!"
"Aren't ya an orphan, you brat? There's no way some guy like him is your dad!"
"Nuh-uh! Not anymore! He's my papa now!"
"I'm not your dad. Why are you saying this. Wait." Haruto saw how the man's face lit up in realization.
"This is exactly what I've been searching for! Operation Strix is going to a breeze with this opportunity!"
Oh. So he is a spy guy! I knew it! The child grinned to himself proudly.
"Ahem... that's right. I'm his father. If you don't mind, I'll be taking him with me now."
"Yeah, yeah!"
All of that aside, the run down orphanage Haruto had been in merely let him leave without any regard to the legal repercussions and whatnot. He never understood how adults work, and he wasn't really looking forward to.
This tall guy sorta looked a lot like him, which was weird. Disregarding the contrast of how Haruto's hair was a bit more disheveled compared to his, no one would suspect they weren't actually related in many ways.
The two of them stopped in front of a nice looking house. He had never seen anything as nice as that. Maybe spies were loaded with a lot of money?
"Okay kid—"
"Call me Haruto!"
"Okay, Haruto. Now that you're living under my roof, there's a few things you'll need to remember. One," he raised a finger at the kid. "You may have just been taken in today, but to everyone else, you've always been my son."
"Mm-hm!"
"And two, you shall address me as 'Father'."
"Got it, Papa!"
The man sighed, and Haruto could hear him say "That'll work too, I suppose." in his thoughts.
An elderly woman passed by them with a smile. "Oh my, you have such an adorable little boy! Hello there!"
"Ah, hello ma'am. I'm Yugi Amane, me and my family just so happened to have just moved into this neighborhood." His father quickly switched to a polite persona the moment the lady came near.
Papa's so cool! Is this how spies are? So cool!!!
"I see! What's the young one's name?"
Remembering what Amane had told him, Haruto pointed at himself. "I'm Haruto, and I've always been Papa's kid!"
"Hm?"
Amane grimaced at his words, deciding to grab his adoptive son before he could say anything too descriptive. Bidding farewell to the old woman, they both head inside the house.
Haruto scanned the entire room. It was great! He had only seen decent houses like this in his picture books and in TV! And to think he was now living in one of them!
"Oh, TV!" He quickly ran over to the television, tapping at the screen. He pressed the button, switching it open and changing it to the cartoon channel. A spy anime was currently on air.
"Is that your favorite show?" Amane asked him, and he nodded vigorously. He could have sworn he heard him mutter a quiet "out of all things".
"Well, I'll need to go buy some groceries for us." The child perked up from his show upon seeing him prepare to leave.
"I'll have to forge him an ID too so he wouldn't look suspicious."
I wanna come too! I wanna do spy things too!
Haruto clutched onto his leg like before, and Amane had to attempt to shake him off. "You can't come with me, just stay put!"
"But you're going on an adventure!"
"This isn't an adventure, I'm just going to the store!"
In the end, Amane gave up and let Haruto come along with him. As his son walked ahead of him, talking about wanting a silenced pistol (which was rather unsual for a child his age to want as a toy, but whatever), he let out a long breath.
I need to try not to stand out too much. That's what the essence of a spy is—to look as "ordinary" as they can.
I'll have to ensure that I look indistinguishable from your average father!
"Papa! Why are ya so far away!" He noticed Haruto had already wandered a little too far ahead, in the middle of the crowd waving his little arm up.
Why are you standing out like that?!
He cleared his throat, putting on a smile as Haruto was guided back to him by a kind woman in the crowd. "Come on, little boy, you gotta hold Dad's hand while walking in a crowd, okay?"
"Okay!" He stood beside Amane with an innocent grin, just opting to look up at him instead.
Yet another sigh. I'm incapable of defending myself from my enemy with one hand occupied, but... If I must.
He didn't notice Haruto's shocked face upon hearing his thoughts. Enemy? If I hold Papa's hand, he'll get hurt by the enemy?!
Quickly he moved back from his father's outstretched hand, shaking his head. This confused Amane, however.
"...what are you doing?" Does he hate me? This isn't good. I need to stay on good terms with him until this mission's over.
I just can't understand kids at all... But I'll have to try. That's the first step for world peace, after all.
Haruto felt touched. His dad wanted to understand him for world peace? His dad cared enough to want to get to know him? That, and world peace?
"I... I like donuts!" He spoke, eyes glimmering with determination.
"Huh? You like donuts?"
"Yeah! I like plain donuts the most!"
Amane was quiet for a moment, before giving him a smile. "Is that so? They're my favorite too."
"I also hate carrots."
"Uh-huh, I see."
--
Children are an enigma.
That's what Amane thought to himself, having borrowed loads of parenting guides from the nearby library after putting Haruto to bed.
He sat there on the living room couch, rubbing his temples. The amount of times Haruto had caused a ruckus by throwing a tantrum when he hadn't even said a word confused him. The kid had just began to spout words like "Don't throw me away!" and "I'm a good bargain!"
It was like he could read his mind, somehow.
The open page of one of the parenting guides read "For the sake of their future, try to raise them with confidence. So they'll need to learn to think about themselves in the future."
Who am I kidding. This is ridiculous.
He's returning to the orphanage once this entire mission's over, anyway. That's the extent of our relationship.
And yet, somehow, he felt this strange feeling welling up in his chest, somehow.
It'll probably go away tomorrow.
--
spoiler alert: it didn't
haha new fic anyways uh yeah yashiro's probably coming soon idk
well see ya lol