*Shimizu Hada's POV:

I awoken, squinting from the blurry light on my ceiling. I put my glasses on, my eyes beginning to adjust from blurry into 20/20 vision. A deep yawn escaped from my mouth as I turned my body over to my right.

I tried to sleep these mixed emotions off but I couldn't. Imagine not only seeing your sister and best friends again for the first time in precisely five and a half years, but also learning that your mom passed away that long ago and you never even knew. I didn't have the time to grieve though. I had to pull myself together and focus on the mission.

I wanted to break down and sob, but this mission had to go as planned.

We lost a few people from previously failed assassination attempts and they were surely dead by now. Thankfully, they never revealed who they worked for. Every chance we got, we honored them. I thought about how weird it was seeing my sister and friend's faces again.

Most of them looked so different.

Gaia wasn't as skinny as she used to be. She had an average built, but was more developed. Her hair was also out. As a teen it was always braided or in buns.

Hikari looked the same somewhat, just taller but with shoulder-length hair that wasn't in pigtails anymore.

Kimberly grew her hair down to her shoulders with bangs, but still had those striking gray eyes that could look through your soul to find any evidence of fear.

Beval had his hair in a man bun with a couple of faint gray hairs. He had a stubble beard and his braces were gone.

Danny grew a beard, but that's all that changed about him.

Robin...was just as gorgeous as the last time I saw her. Her body was still athletically in shape. Her hair was longer, reaching down to her lower back, but was now in a high ponytail. She gave off a more settled, more feminine vibe now.

When I reunited with her, I was expecting a punch to the arm or a loud lecture about how stupid I was for not coming back to find them. She didn't give me that. She was shy, reserved, and seemed scared to even be near me.

I understood. Last time I saw her, I told Danny to give her a letter I wrote on a piece of clothing explaining my feelings for her. I was almost sure I made her uncomfortable. I had urges to ask about it, but it would be wrong to ask. I'm was in a relationship.

Growing up, I rambled on and on about Robin to Ashley. The whole time, Ashley had feelings for me. For a while, I asked myself if it was the right choice to date her, or if I was just doing it to distract myself from the girl part of me still loves.

My thoughts were interrupted by three knocks on my door.

"Who is it?", I asked in annoyance. I just wanted to be left alone for just a few minutes. The consequences to being leader was that everyone was always turning to me for help.

"Come on, don't be like that, it's Beval."

I swung the covers off of me and jumped out from my bed before running towards the door. Unlocking it and swinging it open, I ended up startling him.

"Oh, sorry, I guess I opened it too swiftly. I was just really excited," I chuckled in embarrassment.

"Really? Excited for what?", he asked with a confused smile.

"To see you of course...so um, what's up?" I asked awkwardly, placing my hands on my waist.

"Oh, you know you didn't show up to our meeting. We were supposed to meet you in the head office like forty-five minutes ago to discuss the assassination plot", he chuckled pointing with his left thumb.

"Oh my god, I overslept", I groaned, face-palming myself. "I apologize bro. I've been so tired lately, I can't even think straight at times."

"I mean, the others are still at the head office, or we could just resched-"

"No, no, I'm ready, just give me a quick second", I interrupted Beval before closing my door. I squirmed on army pants along with a black tank-top. I put on my timberland boots and headed towards the door. It probably took me about five minutes to get fully dressed.

"Ready?" Beval smiled, trying not to stare at my messy hair.

"Yeah."

After making our way to the head office, I opened the door and saw Ashley sitting alone. Danny was tapping the table with a pencil and Robin was surprisingly talking with Gaia. It was nice to see those two chat, I had a feeling something was up between them, but maybe I was thinking too much into it. Kimberly was sitting with Alex and Sargent Adrian next to her.

Sargent Adrian was my right-hand man and spy for the outside world. He was around our age, of middle eastern descent. He was tall, had short brown hair, muscular and usually wore army wear. He worked with the World Leader personally, and with us secretly. That is how we got our information. I trusted him more than anyone else.

"Where the hell have you been? We've been waiting here for like an hour!", Kimberly lashed out at me. Typical.

"I overslept", I said my rubbing my face in fatigue.

"How can you oversleep when we have something like this planned?!"

"Easy Kim. People make mistakes", Robin smiled before looking at my direction. The eye contact between us came to a halt as I looked away, blushing. I guess, she wasn't the only one afraid to come close or talk. Hopefully Ashley didn't notice, but I felt her eyes on us.

I looked around."Where's Hikari and Tyler?", I asked.

"They are still asleep", Alex responded.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Shimizu is here now, so let us begin," Sargent Adrian suggested, clasping his hands together as he stood up. He looked my way. "Do you remember our last plan?"

"Yes", I responded, walking over, picking a chair at the table to sit in between Ashley and Robin. "Completing a drive-by was not the best idea, especially when they chased us down for a good hour but we thankfully lost track of them."

"Wait a minute, YOU did a drive-by on the world leader?", Kimberly asked, surprised that out of all people, I would complete such a task.

"Yes. But my aim wasn't too good and I ended up shooting the bodyguard in the arm. This was about a few months ago during one of his speeches. I like to place our attempts far apart, that way it's unpredictable. This next one coming up, will be two weeks from now", I said, leaning back in the chair.

"Do you seriously think that's enough time? I mean, two weeks is a short amount of time to plan something so serious", Gaia asked worrisome.

"We already have the basics in order, we just need to figure out how to add you all in", I responded, stroking my chin.

There was a few moments of silence between everyone as I thought for a bit.

"Okay", I said, slapping my hands onto the table before getting up out of my seat. I grabbed a remote before moving towards a projector screen that was in front of a whiteboard. "Okay, this is what we're going to do. Somebody, we don't know who yet, will go and apply for a job at J.V Inc. It can be any occupation you are qualified for."

"What is J.V Inc?", Beval asked.

"The World Leader's headquarters. It's located in Los Angeles. He comes there often", Danny replied to him. For someone who stayed in an underground shelter for five years, Danny sure did keep up with current events. "The goal is to get close enough to him, but don't be suspicious. Once you are close enough, then....wham!", I made a stabbing motion. "Stab, twist, then pull out."

"Yeah, it's official, Shimizu has lost it", Kimberly sighed, a bit fearful of my demonstration. "This place clearly raised you to become a psychopath."

"Or a hero", Robin added on, trying to sound positive.

"Stop simping", Kimberly whispered to Robin, teasing.

"That is pretty much the basics into our plan. We cannot try to murder him at one of his public speeches anymore because he switched to virtual, for obvious reasons", I finished.

I'll admit, I wasn't expecting my friends to be so understanding with this plan. I didn't even have to explain much, it was as if it clicked well for them. I didn't expect it to. They recently came the other day and we had so much to catch up on that I wasn't sure where to start.

I remembered finding Tyler, injured and weak, as I walked through a nearby town. I didn't know what to do with him. I would've took him to the shelter with us but it was kept a secret from the public and was exclusively for experi-babies unless you were trusted to protect us. That's when I had an idea to send him to the exact same shelter that Robin and our friends were in. I asked Ashley to use her powers to track down their exact location...it was north California. We found out he was an orphan. We fed the boy, tended to his injury and even gave him food and water before paying a sailor of a large boat to take him to California.

I did not expect him to return. I wasn't even expecting to see my dearest friends ever again. Thank god I did, and yet, I wished they were still at that shelter in a sense. My feelings for Robin was growing stronger and it scared me. Plus, maybe had they stayed, I would've lived in somewhat bliss not ever knowing that my mom had been killed years ago. But I easily turned that grief into motivation to get rid of this lunatic leader once and for all before he takes us to the brink of war.

"I have made a decision", Sargent Adrian said, standing up. Welooked his way, silence surrounding us like a fog. "Shimizu, you should be the one to get close to the World Leader. Your calm personality, passiveness and intellect would impress John Victran, even as a janitor. He wouldn't find you intimidating at all. He would want to talk to you even more. But don't reveal to him too much. Just tell him that you live with roommates and this is your first full-time job."

"Me? You want me to go?", I asked, a bit confused. I wasn't scared, yet surprised that Sargent Adrian would pick me. I figured he would pick Ashley or Alex because of their outgoing personalities.

I sighed, decided to not complain. No complaining was one of the rules of the shelter.

"I hope this works out. We cannot risk any loses, especially not this gang", I looked at Celosia. "I care too much about them", I finished before looking at Ashley, who crossed her arms before looking away from me.

"Great, then it is settled", Sargent Adrian said with a wide grin.

I turned to look at my friends. Each one of them were concerned for me. Danny was shaking his head, not agreeing with the decision.

As the leader of the shelter, I had to face the probability of being front-line in these kinds of plots. I had to be mentally strong and show no fear. If I show fear, it would only spread to my friends, they we didn't have time for any of that.