A/N: This story is meant to be the prequel to my crossover of Weiss and Ghost Hunt called 'A Dangerous Partnership'. Neither of which are complete currently, but I hope to finish them quickly.
Oh. I should warn everyone reading that there WILL be gore, sex, and spooky shenanigans.
Chapter One: Unease
Youji couldn't take his eyes off the sight in front of him. Aya lay on his bed sleeping peacefully for once with the sheets twisted around his slim, surprisingly naked, hips. It was surprising for multiple reasons; the first being that he just didn't seem the type to sleep in the nude and, although he never complained; Aya often seemed cold. Not just personality wise either.
The blonde stared at the, now, exposed, milky white skin of the redhead's abdomen and tried to calm the desire making his heart pound and mouth dry. He forced his eyes up to Aya's face. Another shock to him was how much tension was actually expressed on a daily basis. Youji, and most others, often complained how infuriatingly blank it was. It was hard to reconcile, in his head, that the opposite was actually true. Aya's face showed more of his stress than anyone thought. Just no one could tell unless they saw him like this, which would never happen and it was a testament to how tired the man must be. Normally he would have woken the second the door opened.
A lump formed in Youji's throat, making him want to cough, cry or both and he knew he had to stop staring. He was starting to get aroused. If Aya woke and noticed; all the trust the older man had managed to drag out of him would vanish in an instant. He didn't know how Aya felt about him, but knew how angry...well maybe not how angry the redhead would be, just that it was inevitable. If he, in fact, woke and if he noticed. Not risks Youji was willing to take.
Aya stirred. Even in sleep his movements had a sort of grace to them. He was beautiful and with his face relaxed; he looked about ten years younger. The sheet slipped, exposing more skin, a hip bone and a portion of crimson hair. Nothing major, but Youji felt his erection swell and decided that haste would be prudent. Soon he wouldn't be able to walk and if Aya opened his eyes at that moment; he would take one look at the other man and know. Not like how he seemed to just know things. Stuff people wanted to hide. The bulge in his pants was super obvious and quickly becoming super painful. He fled.
In the shower he took care of matters. No amount of cold water or thinking about dead babies would fix his, rather large, problem. He thought about Aya as he pumped, the warm water rushing over him. He moaned as soft as he could and bit his lip. All he could think of was sinking into that smooth, pale skin. A warm body moving against his. It took only seconds to shoot his load and he sagged against the shower wall, panting from exertion.
He quickly got out and dressed. Manx was coming with a mission. One that he prayed would exclude Aya. The redhead wasn't ready. He might not ever be. Youji knew the man wasn't sleeping well. He was good at hiding it, but Youji saw the haunted look in his eyes when Aya thought no one was watching. It was a look the blonde knew from experience. He had seen it in his own eyes when he had been having nightmares where he wasn't able to save Asuka. They weren't gone, but his guilt had been eased and Aya most likely had no clue that it had been all thanks to him and some inane, slightly rude, comment he had made.
So the redhead had never been the warmest of individuals. Youji knew this and still chose him to complain to when he was overwhelmed by guilt. Explaining to him about nightmares and his feelings. The other man had looked at him with that stupid, unreadable expression of his and told Youji to suck it up. He continued in a calm tone that the blonde could either wallow in self pity or he could learn from his mistakes and move on. He had told Youji that in reality she had made her own choices and it was no one's fault she was dead, but her own and that of the men that killed her. The calmly spoken words had been eye opening. Sure he had been told that it wasn't his fault a lot, but no one had made him really see it. It wasn't too long after that that he had fallen in love and released his guilt.
He knew the exact moment his feelings changed. He had always trusted Aya and considered him a friend then there was that moment when everything was altered. The love he felt was potentially earth shattering. The moment had taken place just after the defeat of Schwartz. Aya had grabbed his hand, smiled and had told Youji to hold on. The smile had been real the only one the older man could remember. It had given him a glimpse of the person Aya couldhave been; had his life not been shattered.
Youji had lost consciousness shortly after so he didn't remember the escape; the building in which they fought Schwartz and defeated Esset was rapidly sinking, since it was under a lake. He'd woken up in a hospital to loud crashes, but had been unable to get out of his bed to investigate. Later, though, Omi had come in to visit; having already been discharged since his injuries were relatively minor. When asked what had happened the teen had become grim. He explained darkly the crashes had been the result of a brief fight Aya had had with the medical staff.
Despite being severely injured; the redhead had gone to his sister's hospital room to check on her. She had died, never even waking up from the coma. She was just there one second and gone the next. Aya had turned violent when the doctors tried to take her body away. He hadn't been the same since. He had never been much of a happy guy, but it was as if something inside him had finally broken. His eyes were almost like a doll's. No emotion and lifeless; just dull, dim, and there were times they'd lose focus.
Youji sighed as he headed down the stairs. Something was desperately wrong with Aya. He was different when Ken and Omi weren't around. More open for some reason. It made no sense, since Youji thought of Omi as way more trustworthy. Ken too. They were both more honest in how they treated people. Ken was blunt while Omi was...really just Omi. Technically he was their leader, despite being the youngest. He was also quite knowledgeable about stuff.
Youji thought of himself as overemotional and as wearing a sort of mask. Others saw an easygoing playboy and yes, that was a part of him. The part people underestimated. He hid his more serious side. Surely that would make him less likely to trust, but no. Aya had decided he was the one he was most comfortable with. The one to confide in. Not everything of course, just certain fears, some failings. Nothing major, but nothing he wanted to share with the others.
Now that he thought about it; Ken and Aya didn't really get along. They didn't hate each other, but it would explain a few things. Kind of like not sharing stuff with Omi. It was sort of obvious he and Ken were a thing...not just friends. How long that had been going on was unclear, but if he could tell then so could Aya.
Aya's eyes snapped open. He shot up into a sitting position gasping for air and clutching at the sheets. What had woken him? Was it the sunlight streaming through his open window? The oppressive heat of summer or was it a nightmare? He could handle scary; like blood and shit, but the ones about his sister were too much. As he looked at the clock he decided it might just have been time. It was after noon.
Thinking about his sister made his chest hurt. She was gone now. Nothing would change that fact and it made him feel useless. Like everything he had done...become...had all been for nothing and made him wish, not for the first time, that he had died that day, buried under the rubble that had been his home. If he had then she never run for help; she would never have gotten hit and he wouldn't feel like he was slowly suffocating. Maybe they both should have died. It was selfish yes, but he didn't want the pain anymore.
Give it to me. The voice was distant...familiar...in his head. Sometimes he heard that cold whispering and knew what it was. In his sleep he knew and a violet light pulsed. In his more alert moments, like now, he only had the vaguest of notions. He wrote it off. Easily explaining it away as coming through the open window.
He got out of bed, put his clothes from the night before in the hamper and got dressed. It was long past time to be up. He still felt groggy and like he wanted to sleep for a million more years, but that's what happened when you slept sixteen hours straight. It was probably the most sleep he'd gotten since his sister died. In two months he hadn't slept much more than three hours a night.
"I'm telling you Omi, he's asleep." It was Youji's voice speaking in a hushed tone, just outside the door. How did he know?
"That is highly unlikely Youji, considering the person we're talking about." Came Omi's soft reply. "It's past noon and Aya's never asleep at this hour." True. He was usually awake before the sun. His sleep for the past couple of months had been full of these odd dreams. Not nightmares. Just really weird...also sort of familiar. Kind of like memories from childhood. A person would see something that would spark a thought like 'I had that as a kid'. The memories were usually vague and sort of fuzzy. Just like his dreams.
They all involved this violet light that could speak to him. It pulsed in the darkness, sending him memories mostly forgotten. Some were vague while others were really intense and he had some weird notion that the light was a part of him. He knew that in the dreams. When he woke he still knew it and he wasn't sure exactly what he knew other than it scared people. He wasn't scared. No. It was his parents that had been scared. Terrified of that light. He knew they had sent him away. Somewhere there had been lots of pain, faceless people above him and needles. Lots of needles that stabbed him, filling his body with 'medicine' that had stopped the light from consuming him.
It hadn't disappeared, though, and now that light was breaking free. He had the sense that it wanted to be with him. That's what they all had been afraid of. Him becoming the light, because they knew. His parents and those faceless souls had known. Once he and the light united; nothing could stop them. He wasn't sure if he was right, however, if he was and he shared any of these impressions; especially the idea that the light was getting free, they would lock him away again and for some reason he couldn't bear the thought of leaving Youji behind.
It was weird, but he was more afraid of being isolated from his friend than whatever it was those people would do. The faceless people...well they had a name and they were from Kritiker. Some research branch that was an offshoot of the Kritiker that employed him. A secret branch that not many knew about...if it was real. If any of it was real. The light, the memories; if they were real everyone was in danger, but dreams were false...right?
"I don't think that asshole ever sleeps." Ken's voice was both angrier and louder than the others. It got Aya moving. He had froze in the middle of the room, lost in his thoughts, but now he was heading for the door.
"Well he was asleep an hour ago when I came to check on him, so if you don't mind, the three of us can discuss the mission downstairs." Youji's voice rose slightly. So that's how he knew Aya had been sleeping. He frowned as he reached for the handle. If Youji had checked on him; why hadn't he woken?
"But we're going to need his help on this one Youji." Omi sighed.
"No we don't." Ken snapped. "Let the bastard sit up here feeling sorry for himself." Enough.
"Ken-" Youji started. All three jumped in surprise as Aya opened his door. His eyes found Ken's and he watched the brunette flinch back under his gaze then look away. He and Ken had never really gotten along and that was fine with Aya. He had never felt like he needed the shorter man's good opinion. Ken was honest to the point of being harsh. His honesty was always appreciated and Aya trusted him to a point. Omi too. He trusted them to have his back rather than stab it, but they weren't close. Ken was an asshole and Omi just knew too much about things he shouldn't, never really shared what he knew about others and was always sticking his nose where it didn't belong.
They lived in the same house, but were far from being friends. Youji, as annoying as he was, happened to be be the only part of Weiss he cared even an iota for now. Why he felt that way he didn't know. Or care really, it was just how he felt. Would he change it if he could? Maybe. Something was telling him if he cast the feelings he had for Youji aside completely than he would be in danger of losing what made him human. No one thought of him as such and at times; neither did he. Since losing his sister he had been nothing but a big ball of hurt, barely holding it together. Almost like a ball of yarn; just one tug and the whole thing comes apart. All that was left between himself and the outside world was a thin layer of ice, brittle and easily broken.
He shook himself, finally noticing the folder in Omi's hand. Aya took it then flipped it open. Scanning the first page he noted the target's name and how much security he had. They would definitely need his help on this one. He didn't think they knew how to deal with more than 30 guards with guns in a skyscraper with several different and separate alarm systems. Even if the three only had to handle that amount of guards; it would be too much. As it was; the four of them would have difficulty getting to the target. Not that Ken would listen. He still had that youthful arrogance and thought he was invincible.
Aya had felt the same way at one point in time. So he understood why Ken might think they could do it alone. He also understood why Omi wanted him along. He could take out multiple guards with a minimum amount of effort. Youji was thinking Aya wasn't ready. It was written all over his face. He was right, however , the redhead knew that if he didn't help his only friend might not come back alive. Not something he would chance.
"When?" He asked quietly; trying to get his mind off images of Youji riddled with bullets.
"Hopefully tonight." Omi replied.
"You don't have to come." Youji said at the same time. Aya glanced between them then back at the papers in front of him. If he didn't want to lose the blonde he needed to suck it up and pull himself together, but he couldn't tell them that. He couldn't bring himself to voice the words. He was scared that something bad would happen to Youji if if he did. "Really, Aya, if you aren't feeling up to it..." Youji trailed off as Aya's violet eyes met his. Even if his fragile state of mind was visible; it didn't matter and the swordsman was an excellent liar; even to himself.
"I'm fine." He said quietly before handing the file back to Omi and returning to his room to get ready, which was easier said than done. The swordsman knew he wasn't anywhere near functional. Less so even than normal.
Youji waited anxiously at the base of the stairs for Aya to emerge. He knew this was a bad idea. There was no way in hell his friend could be mission ready only two months after the death of his sister, his last relative. Also the only reason the damaged man kept it together. Aya could act as cold and robotic as he wanted and he be able to fool everyone else, but Youji could see he was only hanging onto sanity by a thread, which he would, of course, deny like crazy. The fact remained, though, that the stoic swordsman was about to break. There was only so much tragedy a person could successfully handle and Aya had reached his limit.
When he saw the heavy black boots begin to descend the stairs his entire body tensed and there was a heavy feeling in his chest making it hard to breathe. As Aya appeared around the curve Youji opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The redhead's eyes fixed on his then moved away. There was a coldness there, which was expected. The fear, though, that was a shocker. What could scare the resident badass? And why the hellcould he see it? The blonde knew he wasn't dense, but he wasn't all that perceptive either. He stood there, thinking about it long enough for Omi to get impatient and yell at him to hurry up.
He shook himself and headed out to the car. Aya didn't even look at him as he slid into the seat next to him. His violet gaze was fixed determinedly out the window. "About time." Ken grumbled then peeled out of the driveway. Youji felt fear slip into his chest as he stared at the redhead's profile. It was a cold, unsettling weight that moved to his stomach and he knew it was too late to turn back, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Most likely to Aya.