AN: My first Weiss fic. The kittens get thrown into a mission against an enemy they've faced before. With Ken in the state he is, what does that mean for the team?
WARNINGS: Yaoi (if you look for it) Pairings (if you're looking) - AyaxYouji, Omi+Ken
Disclaimer: Weiss does not belong to me, and I promise to return them safely
Please R&R! *holds out pocky to reviewers*
He coughed again on his blood as another fist used his stomach as a punching bag. How he so wanted to retaliate, but he was not about to hit a teammate, even if he was being attacked with no good reason.
"You almost made us fail the mission!" growled Aya angrily, punching him one more time before deciding his victim had had enough and let him fall to the floor.
Well, almost no good reason, he thought grimly. Ken looked up, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth as he tried to stand. He winced slightly at the pain that erupted from his left leg when he tried to stand upon it. Looking down, he saw a bright red gash running from the middle of his calf around to the back of his leg, stopping right under his knee. He didn't remember getting that particular injury, but in the chaos that had erupted in the middle of their mission, he hadn't really noticed anything.
Omi and Youji shifted uncomfortably from their positions on the other side of the room. They had rarely seen Aya show any emotion whatsoever, let alone lose his control like this, and they wondered what had happened to get this kind of reaction out of him. It had not been entirely Ken's fault that the whole building had become aware of their presence. While Omi had been in the control room, being their eyes and ears, one of the guards had walked in on him. Being caught up in trying to warn Youji and Aya of a group of sentries about to come up on them from around the corner, he had not even noticed him.
The guard had pulled his gun and fired, Omi's honed senses the only thing saving him as his instincts told him to duck. The bullet had sailed into the computer mainframe, setting off all kinds of alarms in the building just as Ken had stumbled into a more guarded area of the compound, stepping into the invisible lasers lining the floor, thinking it safe since Omi had not told him otherwise.
"You almost got yourself killed," Aya continued, cold calmness returning to his stature. "Not to mention Youji... and Omi," he added.
Ah so that was it. Youji's life had been at stake, though whether it was in reality or merely Aya's worry of the possibility didn't matter. Ken growled at the red head's retreating back, but he wisely kept his mouth shut until Aya was at the top of the stairs and out of earshot. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to the lovely Balinese, would we?" he muttered darkly, barely loud enough to hear himself.
He looked down as he felt an arm go around his waist and found aquamarine eyes staring back at him. He grinned ruefully. "Na, Omi, what are you doing?"
"Taking you to the bathroom to clean you up," he replied.
Youji moved to leave, patting Omi on the head as he passed. "Take care of him, Omittchi," he said with a lazy grin. He paused halfway up the stairs, glancing down at Ken with a hidden emotion behind his dark green eyes before continuing upwards.
Ken decided not to think about what that emotion had been and let Omi support his weight as they made their way up the two flights of stairs and down the hall to the bathroom. He remained silent as Omi patched him up, only a small inward breath escaping when he began stitching his leg. It would take at least a week before he could use that again. Most likely they would get a lull in missions with one of them injured. Not that he would consider a lack in missions a break, more like just one long hell until he could fight again.
At least while he was on a mission he had a purpose. He had a goal to achieve and nothing could get in the way of it. He could lose himself in that narrow state of consciousness, forget about all his thoughts and emotions, acting on instinct and letting each swipe of his claw help shed away some of the anger and guilt that had become like a second skin to him.
He glanced up as Omi's quiet voice cut through his reverie like a dull sword, tearing and ripping where it should have been only a swift, smooth cut.
"You really should stop provoking Aya like that," he was saying. "It's hazardous to your health..." he said, a weak grin teasing at his lips.
"Aa... But you know me, Omi... I'm a sucker for danger..." he replied, a wide, fake grin appearing.
A small frown flitted across Omi's face at his words. He sighed, shaking his head as he began to put away the med kit. Ken stood, thanking Omi for his help before slowly making his way down the hall to his room, where he collapsed on his bed and forced himself into sleep
He looked up as something wet fell upon his head. He was greeted with the sight of a red sky, blood raining from the dark clouds to fall upon the ground with small plipping sounds that grated on his ears like stone on metal. He shuddered, glancing around in hopes of finding something familiar, but the only thing his eyes found was a landscape covered in red. A red which was quickly rising to form small rivers which rushed about at his feet even as the rain soaked through his clothes from above, settling and clinging to his skin as if to unmercifully remind him of every being he'd ever struck down.
Faces flashed before his eyes, those of both beasts they had been sent to destroy and those of the innocents they had not been in time to save. Screams echoed around him as the thick water reached knee height. The smell filled his senses so thoroughly he could almost taste the coppery fluid as if he had drunk of it.
Go to hell... His voice echoed in his head, followed by the sound of gunfire. Never come back. His laugh reached his ears just before the blackness surrounded him.
"No!" he yelled, hands coming up to cover his head, though they did little to stop the memories. Closing his eyes only made them more vivid, but once closed, they acquired heavy weights and would not lift no matter how hard he tried to open them.
He saw himself looking down at Him, the one who had made him what he was. The one who had ruined his life as easily and thoroughly as possible, without shame enough to even feel the slightest bit sorry.
How are you able to live twice? He had expected a question like that. What else would you ask after seeing someone come back from the dead? He had had an answer ready.
I don't like hell, he had replied. That was when He had tried to apologize, though it had all been an act. As he had moved forward, intent on finishing it once and for all He had pulled out a gun, and shot him right in the heart, telling him again with a laugh to go to hell.
The blood was almost to his shoulders now, but he didn't notice, lost as he was in his memories.
He had fallen back, only slightly surprised, before jumping up into the air, coming down moments later, his claw flashing in the moonlight as it sliced through its victim. The body fell, first to its knees, then to lay face down on the ground. Why won't you die, He had asked.
He had stood then, coming into view of his once friend to show Him his bullet proof vest.
I'll be waiting in hell... He had promised with His last breath.
He had looked to the sky then, to the stars that had been shining too brightly for his liking. This is hell...
It was getting harder to draw breath, the red lake threatening to overtake him and bury him for good. It swept him off his feet and pulled him under, though whether or not it was his own blood or the blood that had fallen from the sky rushing in his ears he could not tell, and he did not care. His head was pounding, his chest tight with lack of air.
Something suddenly slammed into his face and he was finally able to open his eyes, gasping for breath.
The first thing he noticed was the darkness, so different from the bright red he had only moments before been so absorbed in. The next was the purple stare; violet eyes with ice so ingrained in them they may as well have originally been that way. The next thing his eyes focused on was the blood red hair and he barely suppressed the urge to shy away from that macabre color.
"What do you want, Aya?" He had meant it to come out threatening, but instead his voice only sounded tired.
"You were having a nightmare and Omi couldn't get you to wake up," he replied coldly.
"Well, now that I'm awake, you can leave." He took some satisfaction in the fact that this time his voice at least had some emotion behind it, even if he couldn't quite tell what it was himself.
Aya turned to leave, somehow still able to give him one of his condescending glares before he left the room.
Ken sighed and settled back down, turning on his bed to stare out the window at the red tinged moon. He laughed, though it held only bitterness. Even the night seemed bent on reminding him of his past deeds, though they were actions that were sure to happen again.
Nightmare... A good of word as any to describe his life. Though most of them happen at night, in people's sleep; but with a line of work such as his, his whole life had slowly become a twisted hallucination, with no escape save death, and he would seriously debate that theory.
He turned away from the window, trying to rid himself of that red moon that had imbued itself upon his retina. It had been almost thirteen months since that day, and still he was having nightmares about it. The past month and a half hadn't helped any either, what with their missions being cancelled, partly because of his leg, partly because of everything that had happened with Schwarz and Schreiend; and Aya treating him even more coldly than before, though even he wasn't sure how he could tell the difference.
He sighed. He really hoped they would have a mission soon. He didn't know how much longer he could stay like this. With his dreams getting more and more real, certainly he was on the brink of actually drowning one night. Maybe when he next fell asleep, Aya would just ignore Omi's pleading to help and he would be left to choke on the blood of the evil and innocent alike.
He was just to the point of sleep where the body is in a comfortable state, deep enough to actually get rest but still awake enough that the slightest of noises would bring reality crashing back down again, when his door opened none too quietly, spilling the harsh light over his form without remorse. He startled awake, sitting up to see who could be wanting him in the dead of the night, and was greeted with the sight of Youji leaning against the doorjamb, one thumb hooked through one of the belt loops on his low riding leather pants.
"Manx is here," he said calmly, his other hand bringing one of his ever present cigarettes to his lips to take a long draw. "You've got five minutes," he added, blowing out the smoke in a long sigh before turning and closing the door behind him with a click of finality.
Ken growled quietly, though he wasn't entirely certain if it was from anger or concern. Manx had never before come in the middle of the night to give them a mission. He dressed quickly, pulling on a loose t-shirt and pants then hurrying down to the basement where he found the others waiting for him. He took his usual spot on the couch as Manx turned off the lights and Omi started the tape.
Persia's computer generated image appeared and his voice began explaining their mission as the screen changed. What greeted their eyes made Ken wish the showdown with Schwarz hadn't happened so they could have possibly taken this mission sooner. Around a small circle of green light that seemed to have been used for some form of ceremony, crudely made crosses had been put in the ground, each with their own child nailed upon it.
There were twenty six children in all, but two ceremonies had been held with thirteen each. The children were all between the ages of seven and fifteen, and other than that seemed to have nothing else in common; though he knew there had to be something else that they had all shared. The screen flashed with close ups of all the children and Ken felt as if every nail that had been used had been cruelly driven into his heart.
But what got him the most was the picture of their main target. "Your target: Jei. Also formerly known as Schwarz member Farfarello," came Persia's voice, followed by pictures of Jei's counterparts. "White hunters, hunt the tomorrow of these dark beasts," came the closing. The screen went black.
"We're requesting that all four of you work together on this one," stated Manx, flipping the lights back on. "Of course," she continued, "you always have the right to decline."
"I'm in," declared Ken and Omi in one voice.
"So am I," came Youji a heartbeat later.
She turned to Aya then. "How about you, Aya?"
"Aa."
"Alright, then. Here is all the information our intel has collected." She handed them two manilla envelopes before wishing them luck and taking her leave.
Omi pulled out the contents of one of the folders and laid them on the table, revealing pictures and background information on every single victim, including interviews of friends and family members. Youji reached for the other folder and found the same for the perpetrators, only the pictures were fuzzy and not much information was available.
Ken picked up the one folder Omi had had and turned it upside down. What fell out was one of the nails that had been used, still colored in dried blood; squared and rustic. Ken shuddered as he thought of how this nail, and others, had been used.
There were also schematics of the grounds used for the previous ceremonies as well as possible locations for the next.
According to the information provided, they had a week to prepare; the time until the next full moon.
"You think he's up to his old tricks to 'hurt God'?" Omi asked quietly.
"Of course," replied Ken, just as quietly. They began their preparations in silence, a grim aura settling in the air around them.
Ken couldn't decide if the following days were better than the previous or not. He had a focus now, yes, but something kept pulling at the corners of his mind. It didn't help that the tension between all of them had risen for some unexplainable reason, as if they sensed something big was about to happen, something that would change all their lives.
Aya would not even look at him anymore, unless it was because of something that had to do with their mission, and Youji had taken to avoiding him as well. Omi was still acting like his genki self, but the sadness behind his eyes was more obvious now, and it pained Ken that it was even more so when the blue eyes were focused on him.
He was beginning to feel as if he were the one responsible for their dispositions. 'Just one more mark to my slate,' he thought. 'One more reason to send me to hell.'
They arrived at a small field on a starless Friday evening, the thirteenth of that hallowed month. They had spent the entire two weeks searching for more information, and even then the final clues they had dug up had seemed like some sort of twisted charity, as if the lunatic had known they were after him and had welcomed it, playing with their incompetence. That thought hadn't settled well with any of them.
They remained deathly silent as they spread out in their pre arranged positions. Ken took his post on the West, Omi the South, Youji on the East, while Aya watched from the North.
Ken quickly hid himself in the shadows of the branches of a tree. He had opted against wearing his orange sweater around his waist for once, fearing it would contrast too much against the darkness of night. Usually that wouldn't have mattered to him, but he had felt the need to leave it off this night. Right now he wished he had worn it anyway, having a strange feeling that something terrible was sure to happen this night, a black sun ready to rise over the horizon; a bubble about to shatter into a storm.
The tingling of chills on his neck alerted him even before the chanting of low voices reached his ears. He crouched lower into the enveloping darkness as one by one their targets emerged out of the forest from all directions, and one by one formed a circle in the field. Each was dragging a cross with an unconscious child upon it.
It looked as if they had been right in their location choice after all, but Ken didn't know whether to feel relieved by that or not. He settled in to wait; they had agreed not to make themselves known until Jei made his appearance.
The twelve below began their ritual, hammering the crosses into the ground, and each thud of the hammer pulsed in the back of his mind with a blinding numbness. As the last one was pushed into the ground, they made their way to form another circle around the one made by the crosses.
They seemed to be waiting for something, and a few moments later, Ken realised what as their thirteenth member, their leader, emerged from the shadows, a cowl pulled low over his features. He made his way to the center of the two spheres and pulled back the hood, revealing his cropped moon-white hair and amber eye, the other covered by a patch. He reminded Ken of a placid-faced demon; and he knew his laugh was a laugh like the damned.
Omi's voice came to him over the small mic in his ear, telling him to get ready. Aya would be the first to attack, and in the confusion created, the other three would follow his lead. All he had to do was be ready for his cue.
Moments later, a flash of moonlight signaled Aya's assault, his katana taking down two of the thirteen before the others even realised what had happened. Youji's wire sang out of the West moments later, hooking a third around the neck as Omi's darts took out another two. Ken fell from the tree, rushing into the chaos to strike one down even as Aya's blade pierced the heart of another. Within moments another five were laying on the ground, dead or dying in growing pools of blood.
"Where's Farfarello?" asked Omi, glancing around as they regrouped.
Ken caught a flash of white beyond the trees, heading towards the West where he had come from. Without a word, he took off after it, leaving the others staring after him in confusion.
His heart pounded steadily with his every step as he quickly came even with his prey. He shoved himself to the side, knocking the madman off his feet and into a tree. He spun quickly, only to find Farfarello had been the quicker and now stood laughing at him.
"Thank you for saving me the trouble of sending those fools to Hell," he smirked, pulling out a small knife from his cloak. In the next heartbeat, it was flashing through the air, aimed right for Ken's chest. A ring of metal on metal rang out as it was intercepted by his bugnucks. "How does it feel to walk into a trap willingly?" he asked quietly, bringing up another knife in his other hand to strike.
Ken tried to twist out of its way, but still it cut through his jacket, slicing a deep cut on his arm. He had always hated fighting Farfarello, always being reminded of something not quite more than human, not quite less; always being reminded of his mortality. He blocked another strike, breaking the knife in half with the force, but also breaking one of the claws on his own weapon. Farfarello merely laughed and produced another one.
"I know all your moves, kitten. Give up..."
"Not a chance," he replied with a growl, swiping at him from the side. Again another knife broke, and again another claw fell, leaving him with only three.
"You've got three left..." he said, pulling out another knife, this one longer than the others. "How long can you hold out once they're gone...?"
"Long enough..."
"You think they'll come to help you?" he asked with a sneer, as another claw broke.
He refused to answer that. Of course they would come. Whether or not it was to help him, they would come; they would never leave a mission unfinished unless forced to. He was suddenly knocked off his feet as Farfarello tackled him to the ground. He forced himself not to panic as his heart sped up with fear. He kicked and thrashed wildly, but he was held firm, Farfarello not even flinching as he scored a hit on his face.
"I may have let you live, kitten; you've lasted longer than most, but the game's over, and you're merely one player out of the many that needs to be eliminated..." he said quietly, and with those words Ken screamed in pain as a knife was shoved into his chest, ripping downwards before being pulled out as Farfarello got up and made his way into the conspiratorial darkness of the night.
He lie there for some time, the minutes going by as a lost space of time that he couldn't really have named. Moonlight fell down on him as silvered spider webs through the leaves, casting odd shadows on his features. He felt numb, his vision hazy, and knew his time in the earthly realm was near its end.
He heard the fall of footsteps coming towards him, reminding him of the sound of stone on metal as the cold earth protested the weight of their bodies. He felt each crunch of a step in the place where his spine met his skull, like a stabbing of needles... a stabbing of dull nails. He hoped they wouldn't find him, unless it was as a lifeless corpse, but he knew that wouldn't happen, not with their skills.
His teammates emerged moments later, Aya not even glancing at him as he continued on his way, trying to track their target.
"Ken-kun!" Omi cried, hurrying over and falling to his knees beside his friend.
"Did you guys... take care of the kids...?" he asked quietly, gasping loudly as he felt Youji inspecting his wound.
Omi's features darkened and he shook his head slowly. "It... was too late for them..." he said quietly, voice thick with sadness and guilt.
Ken closed his eyes in pain, both from his physical body and from the knowledge that the innocent had paid again that night. "I... couldn't get him..." he said moments later, resisting the urge to cough. He could feel the blood coating his throat, felt the pull of Death as she closed her arms around him.
Omi shook his head, though at what he couldn't tell, or remember. "C-can you stand...? We need to g-get you to the h-hospital..." he said, voice wavering with unshed tears.
Ken smiled faintly. "It's... too late for me, and... you know it..." he answered, and this time he couldn't stop the cough. Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth, rolling down his cheeks like black tears in the darkness. "Y'always were... the one who worried..." he choked, taking a ragged breath to finish. "Never... told you guys... Always considered.... you my brothers..." His voice fell away in a whisper as he closed his eyes and fell into the void that Death offered him. He couldn't stop the pull, had no more strength to resist the call.
Omi looked up at Youji, eyes pleading with him to deny the facts; begging silently for him to give reassurance that they could still save their friend. Youji looked away, not able to stand the sight of those pain clouded eyes anymore, shadows falling over his own as he tried to come to terms with it himself.
He looked back down at Ken, tears slipping free even as he felt the rain begin its fall to the earth. "Ken-kun..." he whispered, though he knew the limp body in front of him couldn't hear; knew it would never hear again. His shoulders shook as he turned his face to the sky, the tears of the heavens washing over him.
There were still no stars.
He doubted there would ever be stars again.