Disclaimer: Weiss Kreuz and its characters are properties of Takehito Koyasu, Kyoko Tsuchiya, Project Weiss, Marine Entertainment, etc. Meaning, that I do not own them and I don't make any money out of this. This is written for pure fan entertainment and to the fans all around the world! However, I do own this story & the non-WK characters that are in this story.
Writer's note: Again, I have received review-requests for a sequel. This time, for 'Chibi Madness!'-fic! O.o I was a bit surprised about this as well. I never knew you guys do like reading my stuff even though English isn't my native language and not to mention that there will appear some spelling & grammar errors in my fics. mumbles Forgive me for that, if it still bother some of you.
And, I'm sorry for delay. I had this written weeks and days ago, but I had other things in my mind, such as my other fics that I have started to write and how to process with them. - -;;;
Thank you for the reviews so far! I'm very happy about them, telling me that some of you do like reading my WK-fics that has been written so far! I'm also hoping that you will enjoy reading more of my fics that will be on their way! Oh, if Misura happens to read this fic as well, sorry to disappoint you but there won't be any Yôji x Omi-moments in this fic. Sorry. - -
Pairings: Omi + Ken / Ran + Omi (not exactly but they are the main characters.)
Rating: PG
Category: One-shot, very mild shounen-ai, humor, WaFF, slight angst
Fiction note: Sequel for 'Chibi Madness!'-fic! Again, I recommend for you to read that fic before reading this one. Already have? That's good. This fic takes it place after Hirofumi-mission, when Omi began to remember his past. Oh-uh While visiting at the Kritiker's HQ, the 'Youth Serum' fell over Omi. Now the Wei has to watch over chibi-Omi
Warning: There may appear slight OOCness, angst and cute, cute, CUTE Omi!!
Dedicated: To those, who have requested for this sequel!
A Weiss Kreuz Fanfiction
"Return of the 'Youth Serum'"
Written by k-tiraam (a.k.a. Fall Angel) (c) 2003
"I can't believe that I forgot to place the last page into the report I gave to Manx-san!" said the honey-blonde youth, who was marching through the hallways of Kritiker's hidden headquarters, on his way out. "How could I have been so forgetful?! Mou... I'm starting to believe that Yôji-kun is right... I need a vacation..."
"Omi? Is that you?"
"Eh? Ah! Akira-san! Nice to see you again! I haven't seen you since..."
"Since you were signed up to that group, Weiss," a man in his middle twenties smiled at the head shorted youth before him. His light brown hair was short, reaching to his neck and half of his bangs covered his left eye while rest of them was brushed against the right side of his head. "It's so good to see you, Omi. How are you?"
"Well, as well as I can be, Akira-san," Omi scratched the back of his neck, "Missions here and there... working at the shop and all that stuff"
"And yet, you still manage to study at school, ne? I must say that I admire you. All that stuff, and yet, you still manage to pull it through. Ah, to be young again," his aqua-green eyes shone playfully.
"Mou, Akira-san"
"I've also heard from Manx that you have been facing some difficulties during the missions you know, ghosts from the past," Akira whispered low enough for Omi to hear him. Omi sadly nodded, which made Akira observe the youth thoughtfully. 'Poor lad, he had to grow up quickly I really don't get it why Persia trained him to be an assassin' "Well, Omi. At least, your teammates are there for you, ne?"
"Yeah, they are my friends," Omi smiled weakly as he looked up at Akira. "They have been quite understanding and supportive in their own unique ways" the youth mumbled.
"Hah-hah-hah! I can only image, dear friend!"
"Say, are you still working at the lab?"
"Yes, but not as a lab assistant," the older man winked.
"Ah!! You got promoted!"
"Hai! You wanna see my working space?" Akira led Omi to the lab.
"Well... I really should go... but okay!" Soon enough, they were in one of Kritiker's labs. Omi have seen them before, but this was only for Akira's use and to his assistants. Akira is specialized for analyzing drugs and synthetic formulas, discovering their side effects, searching and creating antidotes from them.
"So, this is where you're working now," Omi mumbled as he passed by the bubbling liquids in the bottles.
"Yeah. It is a dangerous work, but not as dangerous as yours."
"I know."
"Konnichiwa, Akira-san!" a young man with bottle-like glasses on said.
"Ah, Tetsuya-kun. Konnichiwa. Working hard?"
"Hai, Akira-san! Working hard but carefully."
"Good to hear that. Oh, Tetsuya-kun, this is Omi. One of my youngest friends from here."
"Konnichiwa, Tetsuya-kun," Omi bowed. "Nice to meet you."
"Like wise, Omi-san," Tetsuya said before turning to Akira, "Akira-san, I have been writing all the information about the formulas like you requested."
"Good, good. You can now start monitoring the formulas over there," Akira pointed at the bottles near to Omi.
"Hai."
"Ne, what's in those, Akira-san?" asked the honey-blonde youth with interest and curiosity as the dark-haired man walked away.
"Some antidotes for the drugs that we found from the last raid that was done couple of weeks ago."
"Oh... Well, I see that you're busy with your work, Akira-san, so I should get going then. My friends may need some help back at the shop."
"A shame. It seems that our work keep coming on our ways, Omi. I would have loved to talk with you more often. It has been for some time since the last time we saw each other," Akira smiled warmly at the short youth.
"That's the price we have to pay for working at the Kritiker, Akira-san."
("Unfortunate truth")
"I better get going then. Sayounara Akira-san." Omi bowed toward Akira one more time and turned away to leave. Just when he was about to leave from the lab, Tetsuya - who walked by him, carrying some tubes - bumped into him, knocking over some of samples over Omi!
Akira's eyes widened in shock; of all the time in the world, his assistant just had to mess things up right now! Goodness gracious. But what's done is done. Messaging his throbbing temples, Akira took a glance at the accident scene; it seemed that Tetsuya knocked some of the samples not only over himself, but also over his young friend.
"Tetsuya!! You, of all people, should have been more cautious around here!! How on earth will you be a researcher if you cannot be more cautious?!"
"G-g-g-gomen nasai, Akira-san!!"
"Now, get going and begin to clean this mess that you have - yet again - managed to create!!"
"H-hai!!"
Akira scowled at his clumsy assistant before turning his attention at Omi, whose honey-blonde hair and shoulders were covered with greenish-blue liquid - which seemed oddly familiar to the youth. "Omi, daijoubu ka?"
"Daijoubu, daijoubu... demo... what is this stuff? Somehow, it seems so familiar to me"
"It ought to be. It was from your last mission... let's see now... about a month ago? Yes, that's about it."
"A month ago?" Omi murmured as he wiped some of the liquid away from his hair. "Ah!! The Takashima-case!! He kidnapped people for his "researches" that turned them into" Omi's eyes widened at the memory. "children OH NO!! Don't tell me that"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. The tube that fell over you contained that same serum - 'Youth Serum'. Which also changed two of your teammates into children."
'Oh no... that means that...' "I will turn into a child as well"
Akira thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "But luck is with you, Omi. If Tetsuya had spilled the serum as much as your teammates had back then, you could have turned into a baby in a blink of an eye. The younger the person is, the faster the serum works. That's why it took some time to work on your friends."
"Eep!"
"But, since only two tubes fell over you... You will only turn into a child. No more, no less. And, it will take some time before the serum will begin to work."
"You don't happen to have any antidote for this?" Omi hopefully looked at Akira, which soon vanished from his face when Akira shook his head as 'no' for an answer. "Great just great Now I have to tell the guys about this"
"You should feel lucky if I were you. Ah, to be young again."
"Akira-san..."
Before leaving, Omi took a quick shower at Akira's lab that was built for a case of emergency. Actually, the shower was brought and built there right after Tetsuya was signed for Akira's assistant. Anyway, after taking a shower, Omi returned to 'Koneko no Sumu Ie' to tell his team about his situation so they can ready for worse that is ahead.
'There's nothing to do but to wait.' "Tadaima..."
"Omi! It sure took you some time to get back. What took you? Say weren't you wearing different clothes when you went out?" Ken slightly titled his head to the right as he noticed Omi wearing different clothes.
"Eh? U-um yeah about that, Ken-kun I have something to tell you guys that will concern for some days"
"Hm?"
Omi called out the two elder teammates into the mission room. At first, the youth didn't know for sure the current location of the team's lanky playboy, until he saw him come down from the stairs with Ran. Quite a surprise for Omi, but he quickly dismissed it. So miracles do exist after all.
"Okay, chibi what's up now? What's so import that you had to interrupt my nap?" Yôji lazily leaned against the couch, arms folded behind his neck and his right ankle resting over his left knee.
("I guess, I will be a chibi pretty soon...")
"What was that, Omi?" Ken leaned closer to his mumbling friend. The youngest teammate sighed and began to re-tell everything that has happened today. After finishing his story, Ken and Yôji were shocked. Ran didn't show any facial expressions. His eyes showed everything.
"Nani?! You mean that that stuff we found a month ago fell over you!?"
Omi nodded, slightly wincing from Ken's outburst.
"Oh, for the love of..."
"Let me get this straight You're about to turn into a chibi, chibi?"
Eye twitch. "Even though I'm changing into a child, you don't have to call me that, Yôji-kun"
"I think the serum is about to take its effect"
"Eh?" Omi blinked at the scarlet-haired man who has been quiet all this time. The older man just stared at him, his eyes looking at the borrowed clothes Omi was wearing. Still clueless what Ran meant, Omi titled his head like an innocent kitten before he looked at where Ran was looking at right now and gasped. The clothes was it him or did his clothes seem a bit bigger than few minutes ago?
"Huh? What a--??"
"Omi!! What is it??"
"My clothes"
"Oh man! It works faster than it did for those two," Ken thumbed toward Ran and Yôji's.
"Just like Akira-san said: "the younger the person is, the faster it works". It was a good thing that it wasn't a tank of 'Youth Serum' that fell over me, or else you would be dealing with a baby-me right now," Omi looked at his fingers peeking from the over-sized sleeves. "Ne, Ken-kun? It there any clothes left from last time?"
"Umm yeah. Though, I don't know why I saved the children's clothes into those boxes"
"Heh. Perhaps for your future family, KenKen?"
"Grrr Urusei!!" Ken's cheeks became pink.
"Maa, maa..."
Few hours later, the transformation was completed. Now Omi was nothing more than a four-year-old boy, wearing blue shorts with a black and white T-shirt. They were from the last time, when Ran and Yôji were 'chibis'.
The first thing that the three grown men noticed was that Omi was a bit timid - perhaps more timid than his teenager-self. It took a while for Omi to get to know them - again.
Not only that but they also noticed that Omi didn't respond to his name whenever someone was calling out for him. It came a bit of shock for them when Omi walked over to them and said to them:
"I don' understand, why you are calling me 'Omi'. I'm not Omi. I'm Mamoru. Takatori Mamoru."
When the little boy said that, Ran's eyebrow twitched. Of course. At his age, Omi was called by the name Mamoru. He already knew that Omi was an abandoned son of Takatori Reiji. Even though the scarlet-haired man have accepted Omi as his friend and teammate some time ago, but he couldn't help but to feel a bit 'uncomfortable' around Omi.
No. He must abandon those thoughts and emotions from within him. Now. The child is nothing like a Takatori he knows. Nothing like his father. He isn't that like monster who was responsible of his parents' death and his sister's condition.
Yet, he has to deal with that name for now, until Omi is back to normal. He can do that. Omi's - no - Mamoru is but a little boy now and has no ill past behind
Or so he thinks.
Within couple of hours, Ken was the first one who had gained Mamoru's trust and now, the little honey-blonde boy continuously hangs around the brunette, laughing and smiling. Ken really was a natural with the children.
Whenever Yôji stopped by, Mamoru just skipped away from the lanky blonde but only when he has been smoking. (It looked like Omi have hated the scent of cigarettes since his childhood.)
As for Ran let's just say that Mamoru do like being around him if the sword-wielder stops glaring at him. A shame. He seemed pretty interesting character for Mamoru.
"Ne, Ken-nii?"
"Aa? What is it, Mamoru?"
"Why's Aya-nii looking at me the way he looks at me whenever I'm near to him?"
'Okay, that was a bit confusing.' "Er, like how, Mamoru?"
"Like this," Mamoru showed to the brunette, trying to look angry, which looked more like a cute scold to Ken. The brunette controlled his snigger.
"I see Well, don't mind him much, Mamoru. He's just having a bad day, that's all. But I will talk to him and ask his to stop, if it's bothering you."
"Not much. I have gotten used to it my 'tousan does the same"
'So as he is now, Omi remembers something about his past interesting.' "I see"
"Ne, ne! But I'm with you! You're now watching after me, now that 'kaasan and 'tousan are on a trip! Ne? Ken-nii?"
"Aa," Ken chuckled at Mamoru's happy personality. They had to come up with a cover-up story for little boy so he won't start asking too much questions. They told him, that his brothers were on a fieldtrip while his parents were on a trip of their own and had left him into their care.
Oh, how he hates lying to the little boy. But it was for his own good.
"Mamoru?"
"Hmm?"
"You wanna go out after my shift is over?"
"Yeah! When will it be over, Ken-nii??"
"Oh, pretty soon..." Ken mumbled softly.
"Nee?? When?? Ken-nii "
Ken laughed. Oh, how cute his friend's chibi-version looked now.
"Nee!! Ken-nii!!"
You know what, these following days is going to quite interesting for Ken and the others.
The next couple of days, Mamoru grew. As the honey-blonde boy grew, the trust and friendship between the ex-soccer player and the boy grew deeper. Sometimes, during the evenings and night times, Mamoru became withdrawal and moved away from the others - except from Ken. No one knew why.
There were also times, when Mamoru wanted to get closer to Ran. Unfortunately, Ran didn't want to be with him to the painful memory from the past. Ken scolded the scarlet-haired leader-in-action about his rude behavior toward Mamoru. Reminding him, that he is nothing more than a child now.
"I can't believe how you behave around Mamoru!"
"Hm." Ran had his eyes focused on the flower arrangement.
"He only wanted to play with you, and what you did? You ignored him! Chased him away!! For god's sake, Aya, he only wants to get to know you!!"
"Oohhh... Ken-okaasan is on the road," Yôji sniggered behind the counter.
"Shut up, Yôji!"
"I don't want to deal with him at the moment..."
"Eh? What do you mean by that?" Ken turned back to Ran. But the older man just ignored him and continued with his work. "Ehh?? What did you mean by that, Aya??"
"Oh, leave the Ice King alone, Ken. Can't you see that he's ignoring you?"
"I just want to know what he meant with his words!! Well?? Aya, explain to me why?"
Again, Ran remained silent, making Ken growl.
"Aya!!"
"Eh? Chibi? What are you doing there, hiding behind door?"
The two other men turned to look at Yôji first, and then at the direction where the lanky blonde was looking at. There, right behind the door was Mamoru, trembling slightly with his blue eyes wide. Mumbling something under his breath.
"Mamoru?" Ken stepped forward, worried about the boy.
"Don't fight" the boy quietly mumbled, "Please... stop fighting..."
"Wha? Mamoru..."
Before Ken managed to finish, Mamoru ran away from him and went to his room, leaving three dumbfounded men behind.
"What just happened?" Yôji finally found his voice to speak out.
Sigh. "Mamoru doesn't like people to fight... Last night, he told me he had a nightmare of his father."
"What?"
Ken turned to Yôji, frowning. "I think Omi is getting his memories back from his childhood He told me that he remembers pieces from here and there about his family. How his own father kept glaring at him and argued with his mother so that he could hear them. From what he told me, the only persons who ever cared for him deeply, were his mother and his older brother, Hirofumi."
Ran's eyebrow twitched from the mention of Hirofumi's name.
"Harsh. Even in his childhood, Omi had a harsh time. It's hard to believe that a guy like Hirofumi once cared for someone!"
"He was much younger and different back then before he became more like his father," Ken frowned. Like Yôji, Ken also had hard time to believe the same thing, but eventually he believed in what chibi-Omi had told him.
During this time, Ran was quiet. Not wanting to interfere the two of his teammates' conversation. He was thinking about what Ken just told them, with his emotions raging within him. Hatred and despise forward Takatori Reiji. How can a father treat his own child like that?
Those thoughts dwelled in Ran's mind for hours later after the closing time of 'Koneko'. Thoughts such as those only caused his hatred toward Takatori grow stronger.
On that same day, in the middle of night, something woke Ran up from his slumber. A strange feeling as if something was going on. The first thought that came into his mind was to ignore it whatever it was and go back to sleep, but he couldn't shake off the feeling. Unable to continue with his sleep, Ran woke up and peeked from his door into the hallway.
Nothing.
Just when he was about to go back to bed, he heard a weak whimpering. Coming from Omi's room.
Protective instincts kicked in and he quickly went to Omi's room, quietly opening the door and then entered. Soft gasp escaped from his throat at the sight what he was seeing before him. Omi - in his ten-year-old body now - was rolling around in his bed, whimpering and sweating. His short arms were waving around as if he was fighting an invisible enemy.
But the scarlet-haired man knew better. This was no ordinary nightmare. It was more than just a nightmare. It was also a memory.
"O- M-Mamoru... wake up. You are having a nightmare," Ran spoke loudly as he sat next to the boy, shaking him up a bit to snap him out of his dreams. But it didn't have an effect on him, so Ran tried again, speaking louder.
"Mamoru, wake up! Mamoru!"
"P-please... don't hurt me... 'tousan... Where are you, 'tousan?"
'What a--?' "Mamoru! Wake up! It's nothing more than a dream! Wake up! You are safe now! Wake up!!"
"Iie!! Don't hurt me!!" The small boy pounced up from his bed and into Ran's chest, sobbing and trembling. "Don't hurt... 'tousan where are you? 'Tousan..."
'Is he just dreaming or is this... from his memory?' Just then, Ran remembered something that Omi told him after their mission, when they killed Omi's older brother, Hirofumi.
'Back then, he told me that he was kidnapped from his family, but his father didn't pay the ransom and from what he have told us about his father couple of days ago that can only mean... he really was an unwanted child, at least by his father...'
Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around the sobbing boy; bring him closer to him and trying to comfort the boy.
"There's nothing to fear of now, Mamoru you are safe now You are with friends"
Sniffle. "S-safe?"
"Aa. Safe."
Mamoru's lips trembled still as he burst into tears again, this time in relief, wrapping his short arms around Ran. When the boy's arms were around him, Ran began to rock him back and forth, resting his right cheek on the top of the boy's head.
After ten minutes or so, the honey-blonde boy finally fell asleep in Ran's arms - feeling safe and protected. Gently and carefully, Ran placed the boy back into his bed and wrapped the blanket around him. From the sight of Mamoru's innocent face, Ran vowed that not only will he avenge for his family, but for this boy as well. He had suffered and endured a lot more than he had ever dared to image. Being born into a family who didn't want him - except his mother and his elder brother Hirofumi.
'Don't worry, Omi... I will look after you...'
Some time during Mamoru's cries, Ken came to see his friend and was about to go in when he saw the scarlet-haired man being in the room already, calming the boy. The ex-soccer player smiled at the sight.
'Despite his 'cold' act, Aya does have a soft spot in his heart' When the brunette saw Ran standing up from Omi's bed, he quickly retreated from the door and back to his own room. Not really wanted to see their leader-in-action's famous 'shi-ne'-glare at this time of night
Next morning, Mamoru asked the others to call him 'Omi' for short from his birth name - or so he explained to them. But the members of Wei knew the truth behind that. It was a sign for their youngest teammate becoming his old self again.
It was also surprise to see the honey-blonde boy hanging around Ran all the day. Well, maybe for Yôji but not for Ken.
'Good to see that Aya came to his senses and why shouldn't he? After seeing Omi last night'
"KenKen... Do you see what I see at the moment?"
"Oh, I dunno what do you see?"
"Chibi hanging around the Ice King..."
"Yeah. What of it?" Ken chuckled.
"It's weird yesterday, the Ice King didn't want to do anything with the chibi and now he lets the chibi hang around him!"
"Well, people change their minds a lot and Yji."
"What?"
"You should run."
"Whatever for?"
"Aya is behind you, looking murderous at the moment."
Not wanting to look behind, Yji made a quick retreat from the shop to backroom, giving excuses that he has some watering to do. Omi giggled at the comical sight. Ran was glaring daggers after the lanky playboy and Yji was making hasty retreat and witty excuse. Meanwhile Ken was laughing his head off so that tears were streaming down his cheeks.
By the end of their working hours, Ran took Omi out to the park, to give the boy a day of his life before his memories as an assassin merges back. With a smile, Ken watched them leave. 'Aya, you softie...'
"Aahh!! Chibi!! You're your old self again!! Glad that you are!"
"Mou..."
"Geez, Yji is happy because he doesn't have do overtime at the shop anymore"
("Mou, Yôji-kun, you jerk...")
"Hm. Well he won't get that easy," Ran loudly murmured.
"Ow! You are cruel, Aya!" But the lanky blonde became quiet under Ran's glare.
"This is weird..."
"What is Omi?"
"Now I understand you guys," Omi thoughtfully looked at the two elder teammates, "about being a kid again and yet, unable to remember, what had happened at that time." 'Except for these last days I do remember those days. Being with Aya-kun,' he blushed.
"Yeah, it was a strange experience," Yôji brushed his hair away from his green eyes. "Good thing, though, or else I would have died from embarrassment."
"Oh, I dunno, Yôji. You were quite cute lil' kid... Heh-heh-heh..."
"Urusei!!"
Omi coughed, covering his chuckle, and again blushing as he remembered those days. "Maa maa... calm down, you two. Today is our day-off and you really shouldn't waste it with your bickering. Honestly, sometimes you two fight like a married couple having a bad day or something."
Twitch.
That was a wrong thing to say, dear Bombay.
Ran calmly continued drinking up his coffee, while Ken and Yôji were chasing laughing Omi around the house - being careful not to break anything. Okay, nothing too expensive. After ten minutes or more, Ran's temples began to throb. All this running around was starting to annoy him. A lot.
Finally, having enough of the foolishness around here, Ran left from the kitchen and grabbed his jacket. Before he was about to leave, just then, Omi ran by him. The older man grabbed onto his arm and dragged him with him and away from two other teammates who were out to get him.
"Hey!! That's not fair!!" Yôji childishly called out, but the two of them were already gone.
"Geez, can you believe that guy!?"
"Yeah, well" Ken scratched his neck.
"And I was this close to grab him too" Yôji pinched his forefinger and thumb together, but Ken tuned out of the older man's childish ranting, still looking after the two of his teammate down the street.
'I think that both of them will be all right now I think Aya has finally come to realize that Omi really is Omi, and not a Takatori...'
Whistling softly, Ken went back to his room to fetch his soccer ball so he can go to the soccer field and couch some of the neighborhood kids. Ah, and such a nice day it was today for soccer practice.
- OWARI -
Translations:
1. mou a mild curse, or an expression of frustration or anger; drat, rats, geez, gawd
2. -kun a suffix used for people of equal/younger age and equal (social) standing
3. -san a polite suffix meaning Mr., Miss or Mrs.
4. ne? eh?, right?; a very common supporting word
5. hai yes
6. konnichiwa 'hello' or 'good day'
7. sayounara 'good bye' or just 'bye'
8. gomen nasai I'm sorry
9. daijoubu ka? are you all right?
10. demo but
11. tadaima 'I'm home' or 'I'm back'
12. chibi a preshrunk version of a character; also literally means 'kid'.
13. nani? what?
14. KenKen a nickname for Ken
15. urusei! shut up!
16. maa, maa now, now
17. (o)niichan older brother; 'Ken-nii' can be translated as 'brother Ken'.
18. aa yeah, yup; a masculine expression
19. (o)tousan father; ''Tousan' can be translated as 'dad' or 'daddy'.
20. (o)kaasan mother; ''Kaasan' can be translated as 'mom', 'momma' or 'mommy'.
21. Koneko Kitty AN: remember, that this is a short name of 'Koneko no Sumu Ie'.
22. iie! no!
23. shi-ne die
First draft: November 06 - 15, 2003