Awoken Memories

It took a lot of brain cells to work on a strategy working on his eagle-eyed friend. Every movement is calculated, the momentum of steps must be on the right timing, words must be filtered but strong and believable, his facial expressions must be on point. Took a while but it works out in the end.

Aki walked towards the abandoned building like any other ordinary student. He's carrying his backpack filled with his school stuff. He had a full look at his surroundings, trying to feel any presence of humans or eyes on him. When he felt assured he went inside, closing the door quietly then checking his personal things hidden at the insides of the walls and floor. As he finishes changing himself, he tightened his cap and went to a hidden exit of the campus that he discovered just now.

[Hiro! Take note: He also has spies on his company. Be careful on how you'll act you brat or you'll be dead meat!] His boss reminded.

"Tsk! You don't have to scream, old man. My earpiece is too loud," Aki whispered before running at full speed towards the parking lot. He noticed that a guard is on duty and now resting at his motorbike nearby. He pulls out his thick needle and attached it to the syringe containing an instant sleep solution. With his full power, he aims it at the guard's neck. The guard felt drowsy in a matter of 0.05 second.

"Sleep tight, mister." He whispered before carrying him inside an open car. Aki wickedly smirks at the view of the sleeping guard inside the car. The idea of the owner panicking at thought of having a dead body inside its car made him chuckle.

Aki didn't forget the surveillance camera at the place, he pulls out his small gun and set up a suppressor before shooting the cameras. Of course, he wasn't dumb. Before going into the lot, he already hacked the system before proceeding with his plan of flawlessly escaping the campus. Aki won't be the best spy in his company without a reason.

He rides his motorbike and starts its engine. As he reached the road he drives like a normal rider to blend well with the others. The set up that his boss instructed him is a professional plumber that the Flammia Group of Companies contacted to fix the water system.

"Ugh, acting again? I prefer doing some action rather than faking my words and actions. This is such a cringe." Aki complained before dropping by at the market to buy his materials for the act. After paying, he realized that the tools are pricey and it made his wallet hurts.

"That old man needs to pay me bigger than usual,tss." Aki thought before resuming his ride.

After a twenty-minute drive, he arrives at the parking lot of Voltaire's company. He checked his surroundings as well as the car's plate numbers to make sure his plans were precise. He located the surveillance cameras and starts walking to the entrance.

As he enters the main lobby of the company, he felt mixed emotions while roaming his eyes around the place. The feeling of awe, disgust, anger, and agony rages inside him, hence, he must not break his acting as a plumber. He approached the desk to confirm his appointment and another man approached him then leads him to the main water system.

Aki acted like checking and analyzing the mistake of the system but in reality, he has no idea how a plumber works. He probably looks stupid in the employee's eyes.

"Ah, sir? Do you need help? You seemed like you're having trouble. I can lend a hand since my father was once a plumber." The employee interrupted and began teaching him how to properly hold a pipe wrench.

Aki sarcastically chuckled then glares at him, making the employee step back in the disturbance.

"Ah, I cannot hurt you but having you around me sure is a burden to my plans," Aki mumbled before hitting the employee's nape with the wrench.

Gladly, Aki's face is covered with a mask making him unrecognized by the victim.

He, therefore, took out the material that his boss gave him. It looks like a metal tube at a glance but inside it has an attached solution of a chemical containing liquids that may give an upset stomach. He used a screwdriver to detach and attach tubes and he's done.

"Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Tsk! This task sure is boring." Aki mumbled before gathering his tools. He was about to stand when he saw the unconscious victim on the floor. "Now what shall I do with you? Maybe killing you then hiding you somewhere here is a nice plan right?" He asked himself. "But if I do that, the only suspect they'll point out is me. That's a major no, no."

Aki looked at the unconscious employee and starts waking him up.

"Ironic.", As the man opens his eyes, it grew wide remembering Aki's actions.

"You-you're bad!" He stuttered while crawling backward.

"Oh I can be worse," Aki smirked.

Aki held his shoulder and grabbed his pocket watch then whisper words to hypnotize him. The man began to space out, the right timing for Aki to manipulate his memory.

"The plumber man did a majestic job, he left right before you pass out because of fatigue." Aki inputs before the man slowly closed his eyes to sleep.

Aki smiled at his wittiness and felt proud of himself. He brings his toolbox and went to explore the grounds of Voltaire's company.

"This is really huge. That Voltaire punk must be so proud of himself, maybe he became more arrogant than ever." Aki thought having his fists clasped and glares at the portrait of the company name. "I can't believe after everything you've done to me, you're having this richness and living a graceful life. You disgust me."

Aki shakes his head and decided to meet his boss but a familiar person caught his attention.

The body figure, the familiar aura, and the gazes from those smokey eyes. Everything about her is familiar, with that, she has awoken sleeping memories on him.

Smiling, laughing, and joking around serves as their past time on their heavy training. Aki is panting hard resulting from his extreme combat one on one with Keisha. He's been good friends with her at the same time rivals ever since they started training to be a spy. Although there's a wide gap of age between them, their skills just overlap each other every month of evaluation.

"Oh come on Hiroaki, don't pressure yourself on being better than I am, little man. We all know that it's always gonna be me who wins." The 19-year-old Keisha dissed the 13-year-old Aki having a smirk on her bruised face.

Aki rolled his eyes in irritation and decided to throw his dagger, making the girl flustered. But because of her fast reflex, she managed to dodge the tip but not the whole dagger leaving her a cut on the cheek.

Keisha looked at him in disbelief then starts to chuckle. "Hey, no fair little man. You should play fair and square!", Aki glares at her then starts to walk away leaving his words,

"Ugh Selene, you're the most annoying person on this planet." Selene ruffled Aki's hair which made the latter hit her arm.

>>

"Oh, I'm sorry. Wait..." Keisha told him as she collided with him. Aki looks at her with surprised eyes and gazes away as their eyes met. He steps back and walks aggressively to the elevator.

"He's familiar. Have I met him before?" Keisha asked herself, still not taking her eyes off the familiar guy.

~~~~~

Having sight of buildings that once made remarkable memories sure is nostalgic. The training ground for him to grow and have pride is now only sighted. He cannot go further than that.

"The building hasn't changed one bit. I'm sorry, dad for failing you, but now, I need to do what I must. This is too much for me." He whispered to himself as he clasped his fists in guilt and disgust himself.

He quickly walked to the bushes when he saw a man in a mask walking out of the entrance having a toolbox with him. To ordinary people, he seems like any other plumber but in his eyes, he's more than that.

"So, I suppose I'm not the only one." He mumbles.

To his surprise, he trips to the ground causing him to fall to the woman who approached him. He was on top of her, faces were close, and can feel her breathe in his cheeks. The girl is looking at him in surprise making him get a slap.

"Ouch! I'm your boss yet you slap me?!", He hissed having his right hand caressing his cheek. The woman winced at him before gesturing a 'peace' sign. "Sorry sir but you're too heavy. I can't breathe."

He shakes his head and looked again at the plumber who is walking his way to the parking lot. He pats the woman beside him then ordered her,

"Crisa, follow that guy and see what he's up to."