Disclaimer: I do not own Code:Breaker nor any of it's characters. Which is good, because I could never draw as well as Akimine Kamijyo.
A quick notice, as well, for those about to start reading; this occurs some time after Chapter 83; so expect major spoilers if you haven't read that far yet~

Overture to a Dissolution

Chapter One: Andante

-do you see, friends?
do you not see?
how he shines
ever brighter.
Star-haloed
rising higher
Do you not see?

~'Liebstod', Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner

He was trash; the leftover scraps of a former life that were scattered to the wind years ago, and were now stuck as a static shape that never altered, always tangled in the same expressions and relations and emotions.

She, on the other hand, was brash. Hell, she was foolhardy enough to scratch diamonds, naive enough to make a seasoned sinner ashamed and outspoken enough to give even the deaf a splitting headache. She changed, twisted, and surprised him at every turn.

And she- that is, Sakurakouji Sakura- was currently staring directly at him, the so-called 'Ogami Rei' with eyes only just big enough to contain her rampant idealism. Close enough for him to smell the sunshine-lollypop scent that seemed to always be following her around, like a breath of fresh air.

Not that this was any kind of romantic situation, mind you. If only his life were that easy.

"Ogami~"

No, that was not going to work. He was Code:06, with the left arm of the Code:Emperor, brother to the (recently deceased) 'Seeking One'.. He was not going to be defeated by mere puppy-eyes, not from her or the actual Puppy she was holding in her arms. Especially when one of them was a 4th Dan in both Karate and Judo.

"Sakurakouji-san, I really don't think this is a good idea-"

Her expression turned into a scowl as he spoke, and as Ogami finished speaking he found himself being pointed at in a manner that practically screamed 'OBJECTION'.

"Don't pull that face with me! It's a great idea!"

A vein pulsed. The Noh mask was slipping.

"Ok... Well, in that case- It's a good idea, but I don't see the logic in it..."

Oh, if only she would blink at him bemusedly and say "What is this logic you speak of?" Maybe then his rare-kind, the one with a habit of trying to douse fires with hugs and curing a life of evil with words, maybe then she would make some semblance of sense to Ogami.

However, as it has already been stated that Code:06 lives his life on the highest difficulty setting possible, we can assume that is not how things went.

"The logic is clearly there! By helping the community, you will being to grow an attachment to the people of Shibuya, and then the next time you are even tempted to kill someone you can remember that you did this and are therefore a good person, and good people don't kill. See?"

Oh God. That tinkling noise? Yeah, that was Ogami's mind. Poor thing. He wasn't even going to try and argue with that.

"...But what are we doing here, Sakurakouji-san?"

"Hmm?" Blinked Sakura, suddenly noticing the people other than Ogami that surrounded her. "Weren't you listening? We're helping the community!"

If by listening you mean 'suffering a brain aneurysm due to logic fail' then yes, I was listening.

Biting back the above reply, Ogami was on the verge of calmly reminding Sakura that if community service was enough to cure a blackened murderer's heart then they would've been using in place of the death penalty for years now when he felt an old, slightly greasy hand on his back.

Turning round, he saw their little discussion had gathered them some attention- in particular, the attention of this scraggly, bearded man before them.

"You's with that there Miss, eh?"

"Perfect!" Cried Sakura, figuratively leaping to Ogami's side. "Operation Help-A-Hobo is go!"

"No, no it's not-" Oh, who was he kidding? It was no use; Sakura was already deep in conversation with the homeless man, who in turn seemed to be deep in conversation with Mii-tan and Hii-tan. A sudden urge to smash the man's face in for... for being so unsubtle began to rise in Ogami, though he quashed it as best he could, listening instead to the conversation.

"So would you say you have any problems or issues we could help you with? We're doing a school project on helping the community."

And, yep, there was the lying face again. Well, surely that was enough to make the man turn away and leave them alon-

"Actually, I do have a problem..."

Oh God, what if he said it was his BO and demanded that they gave him a bath or something? Ogami had seen some horrors, but he didn't think he could see something like that and stay sane.

"You do? Ogami would be happy to help!" Sakura exclaimed, to Ogami's horror.

"Haha... Well, y'see, bein' old and... lacking in 'modern sophistication' and all, it's been an awful long since I been able to feel a woman's curves on me hands..."

A confused look on Sakura's face. Ogami, on the other hand, practically breathed a sigh of relief. Now she would realise this was a bad idea, and they could get out of here-

"-I'm not sure how well Ogami could help with that kind of thing, but maybe if we found some padding-"

Noh mask face now lying shattered about his mental state, Ogami grabbed Sakura and pulled her away forcefully.

"Kya! Hey- Ogami- What're you-"

Turning back to the homeless person she'd just been propositioned by, Ogami gave a wide smile- that was thrown completely off point by the murderous intent in his eyes.

"I think we're done helping the community for today. Thank you for your co-operation."

Ignoring the complaints of both Sakura and the Hobo, Ogami walked off with the rare kind behind him and didn't stop until they were back in the main streets, and out of the back alleys he himself had been dragged down less than half an hour previous.

She was being quiet again. Ogami didn't like it when Sakura was quiet. Two minutes, without a word? It wasn't like her. Turning to her, Ogami was surprised to find his acquaintance was looking rather sorry for herself, facial expression quite similar to the one puppy in her arms had on it's face.

"I'm sorry, Ogami."

He looked at her, she got the 'what am I going to do with you' meaning of it instantly, and all was forgiven. Sometimes it made him worry, how they could understand each other so easily with just the slightest of looks. It suggested a level of intimacy that, for him, was impossible to even hope to attain.

Even with her pulling stunts like this, he couldn't be angry. The fact that she was trying, even if her attempts were more trouble than they were worth, meant a lot to him. It was odd, having someone who believed in you. But not unpleasant. Never unpleasant.

"Let's go back. It's getting dark."

She nodded in response, and the two of them headed home together- to the President's mansion. As they lapsed back into their usual rhythm of conversation, Ogami began to let his mask slip once more, the amusement on his face at how she could recover so quickly from a near-molestation by hobo being hard to hide from her.

If it had been up to him, at that moment, things would've stayed as they were forever. He would have been content with that; just walking, the reality of his and her life miles away, a forgotten dream. Except that could never happen.

Nor would it.

Because Ogami, he was just trash. Something barely fit to be living. To skulk in the shadows, to be a shadow, something defined by the existence of persons separate from himself; that was his fate. Sakura, on the other hand...

A few days before, he had found himself staring at his hands intently, eyes examining every loop and whirl of the prints on his fingers, noticing the subtle differences that reminded him only one of his arms was his own- as far as he could 'own' anything. He had done horrible things with these hands. He had maimed, killed, bathed them in blood and fire and flesh.

However, with these hands he had also touched Sakurouji-san. The very idea that he had let something so impure touch her smooth skin... It gave him a feeling he couldn't describe.

At that point, it occurred to Ogami that although he couldn't burn her, it might be her who was scorching him.

The pair eventually reached the President's house, where as per usual everyone was waiting for them. Toki had been training with said cat-suited man all day, and was so tired he could barely tease the two of them for spending such extortionate amounts of 'private time' alone together. Yuki, on the other hand, was about as energetic as ever, although after smashing through yet another sliding-screen door in an attempt to 'Wake Four Up' he received a Rui-headbutt-to-the-face and was out for the rest of the evening.

That night, Ogami lay awake listening to the sounds that echoed through the house- trees swaying, Sakura breathing, birds soaring.

This peaceful menagerie, however, was quickly interrupted by the buzzing of his phone. Reaching over towards it, Ogami tried to see who it was from. A private number. Hmm.

"Yes?"

"Hello, Code:06."

He knew that voice anywhere.

"President."

"Life is treating you well?"

If there was one thing that really annoyed Ogami about Eden, it was that they still kept up the pretence of friendliness even when they knew he could see right through it. Why bother with something like that when it was nothing more than a waste of energy?

"Of course."

"We have an assignment for you."

Ah, that was more like it. Ogami had no room in his life for frivolities. At least, that's what he tried to convince

himself.

"I see."

"It's about the rare kind you've been observing."

His grip on the phone tightened slightly, without him realising it.

"What about her? She's done nothing out of the ordinary-"

"-She's been deemed a 'yet-to-be-seen-threat', Code:06, and must therefore be disposed of. I can trust you will do that, hmm?"

The grip slacked.

What...

"Code:06?"

He had been expecting it to happen, waiting for it to happen, but at the same time...

"Is something wrong?"

It was at this point he realised something. He was actually hesitating. Hesitating wasn't something he did very often. But why would he hesitate for her? Maybe, maybe this meant...

No.

Of course not. Evil must be erased. Hesitation was not a liberty he could take.

Ogami's eyes turned colder, more withdrawn; to a passerby it would've seemed that they turned into something dead.

"Of course not, sir. Consider it done."

A chuckle from the other end.

"Good boy."