Author's Note: This is me procrastinating on an English final… *is ashamed* Just miscellaneous one-shots most likely, nothing serious and I can tell I'm rusty at writing. This focuses mainly on the inglorious trio: Takeo, Tao and M-21 considering they're probably my favorite characters in Noblesse, and their comradery. This picks up right after Frankenstein has defeated Takeo during the DA-5 plot.

~~~GW~~~

Excerpt 1: Becoming Comrades

The mixture of hot and cold that he felt was almost as overwhelming to his senses as the pain that accosted his battered body. His warm back was pressed against the cold cement rooftop, his body both warmed by the hot blood sliding from the gaping wounds in his flesh and chilled by the loss of precious blood. His long hair lay splayed about his head, the fine strands wicking up the sticky crimson liquid that pooled underneath him. He could feel it drying on his face from where it had spattered, his fingers barely brushing the growing puddle. His eyes fluttered closed underneath heavy eyelids and he exhaled a pain filled, hopeless breath. The blonde haired man had left him here without the mercy of quickly ending his life, an odd hesitance in the man's eyes as he'd abruptly halted the finishing blow before suddenly leaving. At the thought Takeo's lips twisted downward, his blood stained teeth baring in an enraged grimace even as he winced in pain.

But then again he deserved to be left here to die slowly didn't he?

Those people he had approached in a whimsical manner, the childish want to be friendly and normal that had compelled him to make light conversation with strangers that he thought he'd never see again. He thought it'd been harmless. So selfish of him…and now…now they were all dead. All of the kids he'd waved to, awkwardly trying to be polite in foreign languages he didn't know. The woman he'd stooped to grab spilled groceries for before finding her quite motherly and hovering nearby like a lost child. They'd chatted about her kids and the weather for god's sake! Not his mission! And now they were all dead, murdered by Shark because of his own selfish social whims.

Selfish! Selfish! Selfish!

Takeo pressed a hand to his tightly closed eyes, his teeth clenched in agony. And as if he couldn't get any more selfish, here he was dying on some god forsaken rooftop for someone else's goals while leaving his beloved sister behind in the clutches of those sick bastards! The thought of his sickly sister alone in that hospital bed sent a shiver down his spine and a sense of determination suddenly kindled in his aching guts. With an audible groan he twisted on his side, a painful hiss causing blood and saliva to drip from his gritted teeth before falling to the puddle beneath him. He had to get up, he had to at least survive this much if only to return to his sister…

With slow haltering movements Takeo planted a gloved hand on the slick cement below him and struggled, managing to wedge one boot clad foot underneath him. The movement caused a ripple in his muscles and he could feel the deep slices that covered his body flex before splitting back open.

"AUGH!" He snarled, his leg wobbling dangerously before suddenly giving out on him. His damaged body crashed back to the ground, chest heaving as strands of his bloody hair clung to his face and lips. "Damnit…" He groaned pitifully, blinking back the tears of agony forcing themselves to his eyes. "Damnit!" He hissed, pressing his forehead against the cool unforgiving cement below him. Just this once…he'd rest just this once and then he'd get back up again. Just for a minute. Just a minute.

Weak!

A voice hissed in the back of his mind.

So selfish! Are you thinking of giving up? Selfish! A coward's way out! Quitter!

But it's painful. He was tired-oh so tired of everything.

Get up!

His sister was his only reason for living. There was nothing else in this world for him. His so-called comrades that he was forced to work with? The job he was forced to do? The strength he was forcefully given? They meant nothing to him. The painful experiments, the sight of his beloved younger sister confined in that hospital bed, the white walls that closed in on them, the stench of antiseptic and the blood that stained his hands a permanent red…

Get up!

Why?

Get up!

"I said get up you heavy bastard! Use your feet!" Snapped an impatient voice and Takeo's eyes fluttered exhaustedly open, his vision slipping and sliding. The world spun sickeningly around him before abruptly hazing back into focus, details sharpening like pinpoints of light.

"Wha…?" He rasped, feeling warm hands touch his chest and lift his arm and suddenly he was being pulled upwards agony shooting through his body. "Nngh!" He gasped, his vision blurring again before a splotch of black focused beside his head.

"Wow he really did you in! Aha how scary! Hold on Takeo, up we go-" Came the familiar voice and Takeo blinked, his eyes focusing on that ridiculous lone streak of white hair.

"…Tao?" He murmured and the lithe hacker blinked and flashed him a relieved smile, struggling to uphold the taller man's weight on his narrow shoulders.

"Yeah it's me."

"You…where are the o-others?" The sniper demanded weakly and Tao pursed his lips, adjusting the other man's weight as he half dragged him towards the stairs. When he didn't receive an answer Takeo let out a pained groan and allowed his eyes to slip closed again.

"Oy stay awake on me stupid! Didn't they train us not to go to sleep when heavily wounded?!" Tao demanded urgently, suddenly jostling his fellow comrade in an effort to wake him.

"Why did you come…?" His bloody lips parted and the words that escaped from between them surprised the both of them. His wounded useless body was draped around the younger man's shoulders, his full weight bearing down on Tao. He could feel his blood soaking into the hacker's skewed skirt, could see the effort it took to hold him up with hands becoming slick with blood. Tao looked battered himself, both of them exhausted and nervous and unsettled by what had happened to them. Why?

"…You're my comrade. I'm just doing what I'm supposed to." Came Tao's soft voice. "Don't worry I'm figuring it out, they don't seem to be hostile, if we can just-" But the babble of soothing words slid into the meaningless noise of the background and briefly he could feel Tao shaking him with alarm, calling out his name. But the tunnel of darkness was narrowing in on his vision and briefly he felt a thin smirk curl at his lips.

Comrades? What a sorry excuse! Isn't Shark and Krantz also our comrades? He thought ironically, an image of Tao's uneasy face suddenly flashing into his mind at the sight of those children huddled before them. Maybe the two of them weren't so different after all. All those missions of barely speaking to one another, he'd kept silent in the corner separated from all of them while Tao sat with his eyes glued to his computer screens, his mind elsewhere in his own little cybernetic world. They didn't even really know one another.

Spending all that time with these people.

Going on missions with them.

Starting wars with them.

Murdering with them.

And he couldn't even claim to know them…

Pathetic!

Takeo's body slackened, the heavy pull of consciousness finally claiming his beaten form. He felt cold on the inside, oh so very cold and numb. But for the time being that was alright because it also meant he couldn't feel the pain. Beside him the warm body of Tao pressed against his, laboring to drag them both down the stairs, so full of struggle and emotion and life. Warm on the outside, cold on the inside. The mixture of hot and cold was almost overwhelming to Takeo's senses but then again it also meant he was still alive.

~~~GW~~~

Author's Note: Please do not proceed to inform me of the plot twist concerning Takeo's sister. I am very much aware of what happens so just let the irony wash over you~ Lol. Reviews would be appreciated, tell me what you think? This is my first time writing a Noblesse fanfic with these characters. After finals I plan on continuing my Blue Exorcist and LOK fics if I can…