Title: If only a smile
by: ~Solaris~
Genre: Romance, Humor
Warning: Shounen-ai (No actual Yaoi! We're not good at writing lemon or lime), AU, OOC and overall weirdness
Pairings: Ran+Ken, Youji+Schuldich (not sure yet), Nagi+Omi
Rating: PG-13

Teaser: (AU) Schwarz and Weiss, two assassin teams that are employed by Kritiker and yet are arch enemies. It all becomes a roller coaster ride when the two are forced to work together to piece a complicated mission involving a serial killer and his next victim...one of Schwarz's members.

Note:
"Speech"
'Telepathy/thoughts'

Disclaimer: (Aki) Let's put it this way: We all have only five bucks each. Do you honestly think we can afford to own ANY character from Weiss Kreuz? (Minna) *sweatdrops*

One day at the Koneko...

One Kudou Youji was busy, as usual. Not busy helping out his fellow team members with the going ons in the flower shop, no! Surely, the playboy has better things to do than just that! He had an even greater purpose in life than just tending some measly flower shop.

He, had a mission. His sole purpose in life, besides killing of the 'bad guys' by the moon's light, which is nothing more than...getting all of the phone numbers of the girls of 18 years and older.

His team leader, unfortunately, has a different idea in mind. And by threatening glares and promises of certain death by the all-known katana-wielder, the playboy finally succumbs to the hell that is cutting roses.

"Kuso! Itai!" The fifth time today that sound came from Youji, only to be met by two dozen girls tending to his needs. That being, bringing him drinks, food and one too many band-aids. From one corner of the shop, Ran was eyeing his katana darkly, ready to kill Youji if he doesn't get back to work in five seconds.

Meanwhile, at another part of Kyoto...

All was well in the lair of the feared assassin group Schwarz. Or as good as it gets. The leader of this group was busily typing at his notebook, a mobile in one hand. Apparently he was busy talking to the secretary again. New assignment must be nearby.

A maniacally happy one-eyed Irishman was sitting on the table, polishing some of his prized possessions. If a mission is near, he might as well keep his beauties shiny and sharp. And a little demonstration and test-trial wouldn't hurt either. But not just yet, maybe when there's no one else around. After all, can't have nosy tell-tales to report this to Crawford later.

Another normal day for Schwarz and Weiss....Well, sort of...

Back to Koneko...

Ran was losing his patience, glaring at Youji with his trademark glare, causing anyone within close proximity to the redhead to run away. But before the leader of Weiss could practice his swordsmanship on his fellow team mate, the other two members of Weiss walked in. Seeing the usual stand-off, they smirked.

'Having trouble, gracious leader?'

A low growl rose from Ran's throat, now ready to go on a rampage. This was not what he needed. A lazy ass playboy who was slacking again and one bothersome telepath. His glare shifted from Youji to the other red-head in the group.

"Take care of that, Schuldich." He ordered. The response he got from the other was a wide grin, just a hint flirtatious as he strolled casually towards 'The Kudou'. The youngest member of Weiss watched with amusement as Schuldich tapped Youji on the shoulder and pointed out the glaring Ran to Youji. Immediately, the little troop dispersed and Youji went back to cutting roses.

"Manx just called." The rather short brunette informed Ran. Ran looked back in expectation, as if waiting for the kid to say something more. But he didn't.

"What did she say Nagi?" He finally asked in exasperation, after hearing no response.

"Just that there's a new tape coming." Ran nodded once, his attention turning back to Youji. Luckily this time, the oldest member of Weiss has learnt his lesson and stuck at working. The only problem of course now, is that he has one 'Schu' stuck to him. Nagi resisted the urge to laugh, trying to distract himself by fussing over a fern instead of seeing Ran's reaction.

Schuldich, who looked as if he wasn't planning on having his arms pried off of Youji's waist, merely smiled at their leader and gave a wink. And that was when Koneko had closed early...again.

Back to Schwarz's lair...

"KEN-KUN, LOOK OUT!" Shouted one genki assassin, his girlish voice raising a few decibels.

~CRASH!~

"Itai!"

The Irishman looked up from his 'work' and grinned. "Klutzy kitten hurts God!" Just as he said that, in came the other two members. One Omi was shaking his head, an 'I-told-you-so' expression on his face. The other, the older brunette was rubbing his, um, behind due to the fall.

"Why don't you trip in the kitchen, kitten, that way you can hurt God more." Ken glared at the him. He knew too well of Farf's collection of knives in the kitchen. Tripping there would mean a shower of knives on him.

"No thanks." He growled as he sat down on the couch, Omi sat down beside him.

"Crawford busy again?" Asked Omi.

"Must be." Ken said, before muttering something in the line of 'workaholic' and 'inhuman'.

'Uh, uh! Ken-kun, he can see the future, remember? If he finds out...'

'Relax, Omi. He can't do anything to me anyway.' The telepath of Schwarz frowned, he didn't seem too sure about that. Even though Ken was the telekinetic of the group, there was still a chance of Brad...err, Crawford being able to kill him in his sleep!

"What the hell was all that noise?" Speak of the devil. Crawford stalked into the living room, glaring as usual at the klutz of the group. Ken shrugged, smiled and started talking to Omi. Omi didn't groan, he instead sigh as he shook his head.

'He tripped over the laundry basket.'

"You tripped over the laundry basket?" Crawford stated, rather than asked, at Ken. The brunette turned to his best friend, glaring at him and mouthed the worth 'traitor'.

"So what?"

"All my best suits were in that basket!"

"Yeah, well, lets just say you should buy new ones, ne Omitchi?" Omi groaned, hiding his face in his hands. That's the way of digging a deeper hole, Ken!

"My clothes were in there too, Hidaka." The fourth member of the group supplied. "Nothing happened to them I hope, for your sake."

"Geez! They're fine, alright!" Ken shouted in exasperation. "Never thought you guys to be the neat freaks." He muttered. Crawford's eyes flashed from behind the dark glasses.

"Birman wants to meet us, all of us, so we can't afford killing you yet, Siberian. If you no longer prove to be any use for us, you might as well be eliminated." Ken rolled his eyes.

"Now where did I hear that one before? Yesterday maybe?" He said dryly. "Come within a five meter radius of me and you'll be taking a tour around the Earth!" He warned.

"Maa, maa, Ken-kun, Jei-kun, Brad...err, Crawford-san." Omi immediately blushed at his mistake, causing Crawford to glare at him. 'Ken-kun' and 'Jei-kun', however, chuckled at Omi's little slip and especially at Crawford. It was his own mistake that he had left an old business card, with the name "Bradley Crawford" typed in gold letters, for them to find.

"Get a move on!" Snapped Crawford, as he marched back to his room, no doubt to grab a few of his belongings and then departing for the rendezvous point. Farf went to put away most of the knives away, talking to each one as he put them all away.

Ken looked at Omi at this point. "Tell me, chibi, are we the only normal ones out of this crackpot of an assassin group?"

"We're hardly normal, Ken-kun. After all, we both have special powers." Omi pointed out, paused and then added, "And don't call me chibi!"

Ken grinned. "Alright, we're the only sane ones then...chibi."

"Mou! Ken-kun!"

He stared out at the field, watching silently at the screaming children who were all playing a game of soccer. Innocence maintained. On each of the faces of these young boys and girls, it was unmistakable. If any maniac should want to erase innocence with one swipe, this was the place. He gave an involuntary shudder.

He noticed, however, one brunette who was shouting louder than the rest of the spectators. Then he noticed the dark-haired man's attire. There was only one word to describe him.

The coach.

What he noticed next was the stares he was getting himself. After all, he always find ways to stand out from the crowd. Now, maybe it was his red hair that contrasts the green grass...or maybe the color of the orange turtleneck he was wearing now. the object of many of Schuldich's teasing. At the thought of his team mate, he frowned a little. This was a mistake in his part as he lost track of the game, or more importantly, the ball. What he heard next startled him out of his wits.

"LOOK OUT!"

And then he saw stars.

He blinked a few times, trying to focus in on his surrounding, which was, as of now, just swirls of blue, green and lots of brown. As his focus returns, the swirls finally start to take shape.
One shape in particular, was of a man standing right above him, waving his hand about his face.

"I think we have contact." He heard a voice said.

Then he blinked again and all swirls disappeared and he finally was welcomed back into the real world. And saw that it was the brunette, the coach, that was sitting beside him. The apologetic smile on his face unmistakable, but nonetheless...breathtaking.

And of course, the pain took this moment, the moment where he had just caught himself staring at a *guy*. Cursing under his breath, he struggled to sit up, only finding the brunette carefully helping him up.

"What happened?" He asked, surprised to find his voice not in the usual 'growling, snappish mode' that his teammates like to call.

"You, um, got hit on the head by a soccer ball." The brunette said sheepishly.

"I got hit by a measly soccer ball and PASSED OUT?" He demanded. The brunette grinned.

"I was pretty surprised by that too. Didn't know Yuko here is such a good kicker." The brunette said, gesturing to a guilty looking 8 year old girl with dark hair tied neatly to a pony tail.

He wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Fearless, cold leader of Weiss, taken out of commission by a measly soccer ball kicked by a GIRL! That's it, open mind vault, put this...'accident' in there and lock the vault and see to it that Schu never gets his nosy mind in there. God knows what would happen if anyone finds out about this.

"Don't worry about it, you were caught by surprise." The brunette told him, after a moment of silent observation. The red head looked at him with hidden surprise, his mask back on. But for some reason, the brunette ignored it completely.

"Hidaka Ken." He said, extending his hand. And in turn, as if taken in a daze,

"Fujimiya Ran." He didn't even know he said it at the time. Moments later, he felt incredibly stupid. The lectures that he gives to his teammates at not giving their real name to just anybody...Looks like he'd have to eat his own words now.

What the hell made him do it? It's not as if no one has ever asked him for his name before! But why would this time, this guy be any different? He snapped back to reality to give a quick observation of Hidaka Ken.

There was something about him. His eyes tell his story, he's seen a lot. But despite all that he has seen--whatever they may be--there was no mistaking of the air of innocence, of naivety that he holds around him.

"What were you doing out by the field today anyway? I've never seen you around before." Remarked Ken. There was only one way to answer that question. Lie.

"I was just out on a walk and saw the game, that's all." He said, shrugging his shoulders as if it was nothing. But he saw the look in Ken's eyes. He knew then that the brunette knew that was a complete and total lie. But then he saw acceptance in those eyes.

"Aa, I see. Lots of people usually come around to look at the game anyway. It attracts a lot of attention."





"He's late."

"I know."

"But he's NEVER late!"

"I know."

'Ken-kun!'

Kami-sama... "Omitchi, he'll be here, alright?" Snapped Ken. Of course, the reply Ken got for
his remark was a pouting Omi. He groaned, knowing he very well deserved it.

'Ken-kun, it's not like Crawford to be late.'

"I know, Omitchi. But I don't think you should go to panic mode just yet." Ken said
warily.

'Why not?' He was being difficult, Ken knew it. But the youngest of the group always
chooses to stick to telepathy when he's sulking. ESPECIALLY when he's sulking.

Ken pointed at the door, which soon opened to reveal the man of the hour.

"I thought Crawford's the one that can see the future, not you." Omi said, astonished.
Ken smirked.

"Not when you have his organizer in check every day." Ken said. But upon seeing Omi's
blank look, he elaborated. "He had a meeting with Birman."

"Oh."

"So how did the meeting go?" Ken asked, after ruffling Omi's hair, much to the younger
one's discontent.

"Did you hurt God?" Another voice chipped in. The two younger members sweat dropped while
Crawford sent a direct glare to the third. He marched on into the kitchen, a first-glance
inspection. They were too used to this, knowing Brad's...err, Crawford's dislike of
leaving anything plugged in. Too often he found the blender plugged in.

"That blender better be in perfect condition." He said icily, before marching back
into the living room. "We've got a mission. And you're not going to like it."

'That's a great start.'

"So, who's in?" Asked Manx, looking at the group with expectation. And not expecting their answer.

"Hell no." Youji.

"......" Nagi.

"Hmmm...." Schuldich.

"Iie." One blunt leader of Weiss, Ran.

Manx sighed. A group of professional assassins reduced into a group of spoiled brats. What will the world come to?

"I know this is not your dream mission, but in order to crack this case, you need to work together." Manx said reasonably.

"We never needed their help before, why start now?" Youji pointed out.

"This is no time to argue. You have no say in this anyway." Manx said.

"Even though both groups are employed by Kritiker, Weiss and Schwarz have never exactly been working companions." Nagi said diplomatically.

"We're rivals." Ah, yet another blunt play of words by Ran.

"Tell me something I don't know." Muttered Manx, before saying in a professional voice, "Schwarz has been most helpful, they are willing to set differences aside for now so both groups can work together."

"Well too bad." That was it, they've crossed the fine line to Manx's patience. And that means they've also crossed the line of fire.

"On behalf of Kritiker, I am forcing all of you to accept this mission whether you like it or not. And I will not tolerate any whining, shouting and any offensive language coming from ANY of you. Whether they be by use of tongue or by use of telepathy." She said, practically heaving by the time she finished. That was a real mouthful.

A sudden chorus followed her words,

"Sure." Nagi

"I'm in." Youji, albeit grudgingly.

"Hn." What do you expect from Ran?

All eyes rest now on Schuldich, who pretend not to have noticed what was going on and was too busy flipping through a magazine.

"Oi, Schu, you're pissing her off." Youji said, nudging the German.

"I was under the impression that I never refused the mission in the first place." He answered calmly, although his eyes was dancing with laughter as he watched Manx's reaction. She looked ready to kill every one of them.

"I will come, along with Birman and Schwarz, at 1800, two days from today." She said curtly and picked up her things and left in a huff.

"Guess she wasn't happy about my answer." Schuldich said with a shrug.

He looked at the field, soccer practice yet again. The brunette was cheering for his team yet again, a brilliant smile on his face.

'What am I doing here?' The redhead asked himself, shaking his head in self-disgust. But before he could turn and walk away, the brunette had spotted him.

"Fujimiya-san! Fancy seeing you here again." Ken said with a grin. He motioned the older man to come over. Reluctantly, the redhead approached. But he didn't sit down next to the brunette, instead he pretends to watch the game, although he was more than aware of the stares he was getting from the brunette.

"You teach everyday?" He asked. Ken's grin widened and he nodded.

"Pretty much." He replied, looking back at the game. "I love kids and I love soccer even more."

"You play?" There was a flash of pain in the brunette's eyes and Ran immediately regretted asking the question. But Ken sobered enough to put the mask over his eyes and smiled.

"Used to. A while back." He said, but Ran noticed that his voice was rather strained.

"Aa." He said, eyes never leaving the younger man's form. And Ken, in turn, pretended not to notice. But after realizing he had been staring, the redhead looked away quickly. Ken noticed this and tried to hide a knowing grin on his face.

"I still don't get why we have to go to their turf." Muttered Ken, shaking his head.

"Quit your complaining, Hidaka." Snapped Crawford, he looked more irritated than usual and acted more like an asshole than usual too. Ken rolled his eyes and shrugged.

'Don't get him angry, Ken-kun.' Warned Omi.

'A little too late for that, chibi.' Ken said wryly. Omi didn't even protest over the nickname that Ken used and instead looked at their leader and sighed. Ken, on the other hand, had his eyes on the fourth member of their team, lagging behind.

"Farf, keep up will you? We don't want you lost."

"Being lost hurts God." The Irishman said with an insane grin.

"No, a psycho loose in a city like this does not hurt God. We don't want Crawford to maul your ass now do we?" Ken asked, when the other didn't look convinced, he added coaxingly, "Besides, Schwarz and Weiss in the same room together hurts God more."

It was then that he complied, walking next to Omi this time.

'I watch the crazy one-eyed man?'

'Yes, Omitchi. You watch Farf.' Ken said, massaging his temples.

"Alright, we're approaching Weiss grounds." Manx said. "I don't want any of you misbehaving." She paused, pointing a manicured finger at Farfarello. "Especially you. I mean it."

The Irishman looked at her skeptically then turned to Omi. "Would killing the cat hurt God?" Omi tried to muffle his chuckles by attempting to answer the question.

"No, that would only make God happy." The youngest of the group replied, earning a glare from Manx and a chuckle from Ken.

"Alright then." Farf said, agreeing the Omi's answer.

"Nice save." Whispered Ken.

'I thought Manx was about to kill me.' Omi thought, groaning. Ken grinned.

'Doubt it, if she kills you, Farf'll kill her.' Ken pointed out. But the smiles on both Ken and Omi's faces dropped when they stopped in front of a flower shop. The shop's name caused the members of Schwarz to raise an eyebrow.

"Koneko no sumu ie." Read Omi.

"Nani? Not exactly a name I'd think for where a group of assassins would work." Commented Ken, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Would a group of assassin work in a flower shop in the first place?" Omi said.

"Weiss obviously does." Crawford said, his tone back to normal. Apparently he didn't know this bit of information either.

"Let's go inside. They're already waiting in the basement." Manx said impatiently.

Thank you for reading the first chapter of "If only a smile". Please review.

~Solaris