Velvet Underworld -- Part One: An Eye for an Eye
By: Murasaki_Honou

Weiss Kreuz belongs to Project Weiss-- Koyasu Takehito and Kyoko Tsuchiya. Gravitation is originally written by Maki Murakami.

''What do you want?''

He was backed up on a wall, sweat trickling down his forehead to his neck. He trembled in fear, looking at the gun aimed at him. A certain person was hidden in the darkness aiming it at him -- ready to shoot him. He fired the gun, the man had jumped out of the way. Yelling out for help and looking back at the stranger that planned to kill him -- he didn't say anything which scared him even more.

''Do you want money? How much do you want?! I'll give you anything you want!''

He grabbed a gun from his coat, laughed and aimed it back at him.

''See you in hell!''

Before he could pull the trigger, he gasped and his eyes widened. a sharp edge of some sort had driven right through him. his hand shook, dropping the gun. He looked up at the stranger who still had the gun aimed.

'' Ima yo!''

He fired straight for the head. And the man had dropped to the ground, the sharp edge that drove through him dripped with his blood. And the gun man had fixated his eyes on the corpse. Holding and gripping the gun tightly, As if he couldn't believe that he had done such a thing. Dark blue eyes gazed kept gazing at him, he felt some sort of contentment. This man who killed so many was dead. He used so many of them for his own plans and they finally finished him off. But he couldn't help but wonder. He was doing the same thing, he was killing people. Didn't he deserve the same fate? His hand was shaking -- still he gripped the gun. He had sold his soul to the devil himself now. This was his choice, this was his consequence. Now he planned to live through it.

''Oi, what do you think you're doing standing around? We have to get out of here before morning comes.''

He looked up. A familiar blonde-haired man standing a few steps from him, holding his sword and looking at him with the same expression in his face as always. He didn't usually use that sword, that was certain. They'd have the same weapon from time to time. But he guessed this was a special case.

''Aa. Saa, iku yo.''

The younger boy turned his back and kept his gun. Walking out the back door, the night was still up. And the moon was full -- he looked up as the wind blew, flowing through his dark red hair. Looking ahead and walking off -- not waiting for his accomplice that was walking behind him. They were there for the same reason, and he remembered what it was. It was these kind of people that took him away. That took the person that mattered most to him -- to them. Without even thinking that he had nothing to do with this kind of life. Of how scared he was when he was pulled into this mess that he didn't want anything to do with. And he blamed himself for not being able to protect him.

This is for you. I'm sorry it took me so long to do this, I'm sorry I wasn't able to do anything. I'm sorry.

There was no use for these apologies now. He was gone and he could never ever get him back, at least this is what he could do. Until he could find the person who was responsible and finish him off with the others. He wasn't going to give in to this guilt now. He had his own mission, and so did his partner. He knew that things weren't going to stay rested now.

Never again.

He wasn't going to look back, he didn't have a reason to. Yes, that man was dead. And I did it, he thought. I did it with my own free will. And I'm not sorry, if anything I'm relieved that he's dead. And I'm glad to admit, that I was responsible for this. I'm not sorry, and I'm not going to look back.

But still there was a stirring inside of him that he couldn't stop.

The next day, he was managing the book store alone. His partner definitely didn't want to -- he never really went here until there was a mission. There was only the two of them, and this book store was usually busy. Mostly, there were a lot of female students around. He didn't really read that much until now. It was just a quiet day as if nothing happened last night. The door had opened and he looked up, smiling and nodding.

''Irrashaimase.''

A young girl smiled at him, nodding as she held with her a small pink bag.

''Ohayo Hiroshi-kun! Genki desu ka.''

Hiroshi looked at her and nodded. ''Kimi wa?'' he said looking at her bag, probably filled with books she probably bought from around here. She laughed softly and sighed looking around.

'' Sou desu ne, atashi wa genki desu.'' She smiled and went to the shelf of new books. ''I see you've got a lot of new books.''

He laughed and nodded. '' Sou, they just arrived yesterday. And I knew you'd come. Sophie's World just arrived. I knew how much you wanted a copy of that.''

''Honto?'' She said blinking and browsing the shelves. '' Ah there it is.'' she picked it up and looked around even more. '' I wonder what else you have here.''

'' Well tell me if you find anything else interesting.'' Hiroshi said, leaning back and turning back to the book he was reading. He almost forgot about it all, getting carried away as he read on. When he had looked up.

''Ne, Hiro-kun.'' She paused.
''Nani sore, Sayaka-chan?''

Sayaka looked back at him, almost as if she were embarassed to ask something that she wanted to know. She took a deep breath and kept looking down.

'' Sayaka-chan? Doushita?''
''Well, before all this -- this book store and all --'' She shook her head. '' Ah iya, I don't want to be nosy.''
'' You're not being nosy. go ahead, ask.''
'' Before this bookstore -- didn't you -- didn't you used to be in Bad Luck?''

Hiroshi paused and looked up, taking a deep breath and then nodding.

'' Yeah, I did.''
''Anata wa -- Bad Luck no guitarist desu ka.''
'' Aa. Shuuichi was the vocals and Seguru was the synthesizer.''

She stood up picking up another book and looking through it.

''You guys broke up -- because of --- S-Shindou-san's death?''

There it was. His eyes widened again -- he started to remember. It was Bad Luck's seventh tour and they were doing so well, That was Shuuichi's dream! It was about to come true!

'' Yeah. Sadly, he -- he did die.''
'' I'm sorry... It must have been so hard for you. you were best friends after all.''

Nigero! Hiro!

'' We -- We were. It's alright, you don't have to apologize for anything. You didn't do anything.''
'' Hiro-kun?''
''Nani yo?''
''Doushite? Doushite --Shindou-san wa? -- ''

He paused, looking down. His dark blue eyes were narrowed into angry slits as he remembered. Even he didn't know why Shuuichi had to pay for this. They had no right to do this to an innocent young boy, he didn't have to die!

''They said they just found him -- beaten and shot through the head in one of the less busy streets.'' he paused and looked up. '' We -- We don't know who did it. We still don't.''

But he did know. And it wasn't just an ordinary death. Someone had him killed and he knew who it was. He saw his face, in that black car. He knew what his name was, he felt the anger arising within him. He wanted to take his gun and hunt for him right now. He didn't want to go through every night dreaming about Shuuichi trying to escape, struggling from those men who killed him. And he could only watch. He wanted to kill him, he wanted to do it now.

''Hiro-kun?''
''Eh? S-Sumana. I guess I just trailed off.''
''I'm sorry, that must be my fault. I'll never speak about it again.''
'' No, it's okay. I didn't want to forget about him anyway. ''

Sayaka walked back to the counter and put down two books, taking out some money from her purse she smiled and nodded.

''Arigato, Hiro-kun. Anata wa honto ni yasashii desu.''

Hiroshi shook his head as he put the books in a paper bag and took the money from her. '' Betsuni.'' he said softly. His voice was gentle and sad at the same time as he nodded to her. She took the books and bowed. ''Arigato gozaimashita!'' she walked towards the door. ''Mata ne, Hiro-kun! Ja!'' She opened the door and stepped out, walking away.

He smiled and sat back down, looking out the window. Bad Luck. It's been a long time since he heard that name from himself. He didn't say and talk about it much after what happened. He and Seguru decided to seperate after things got ugly. He wished he'd hear from N-G. If Seguchi Touma knew what he was doing. What would he say to him? Would he understand? If K-san knew about it? Sakano-san? And if Shuuichi could see him now, would he be happy that he was killing for the sake of someone he loved?

He was distracted as the news suddenly went on.

Masato Hajime-san had just arrived from his trip from New York. His new experimental medicine is now in progress and is so far being tested in science labs everywhere. Everyone expects it to be a great success and soon to cure any kind of disease that may be inflicted here in Japan or any other place in the world. There will be a conference concerning this matter on Sunday...

Hiroshi's eyes widened as he saw him on screen. Those grey colored eyes and that brown hair. It was him, Masato Hajime. A familiar scene suddenly flashed in his head.

He fell on his knees and slowly to the ground, wincing as he looked up. Holding the bleeding wound he had by his side. He looked up as Shuuichi was on the ground, bleeding -- scarred -- wounded, slowly weakening and dying.

''Shuuichi!''

He weakly looked up, wincing in the terrible pain he was in. ''N-Nigero! Hiro!''

Gunshot...

He was silent, the news was over. And he could still remember the face he saw, entering his car before he had lost consciousness.

Masato Hajime.

The door opened again, he looked up as a woman with long black hair entered. She smiled at Hiroshi and nodded, removing her sunglasses, revealing her dark green eyes.

''Pandora...''

''Call up Aries, will you?'' she said as she looked at him. '' We've got some business to attend to.''

The black car stopped in front of the book store, he looked up and saw the sign. He had closed it pretty early, something was up. He stepped out of his car, locking it and then heading inside. He didn't like staying around here to often, he came by once in a while. They did have good books after all, and when Pandora or Hiroshi called him up. Then he really had to come over.

He knew he was headed here anyway. He had just been waiting for it to pass by -- it wasn't like he was new to this killing people thing. He had already killed someone before joining this group. Took his name and then became a big shot writer, part time assassin. Wow, now there was a schedule. Not that he felt some sort of guilt, from time to time. There would be little pangs of it. But he would shake them off VERY easily.

He couldn't forget the reason why he was here. After Hiroshi had told him everything that happened -- he felt angry that he wasn't there to do anything. But then -- there was the fact the Shuuichi didn't know a certain thing that he should have a long time from now. He couldn't help but picture him dying, struggling to escape them. Did he stand a chance? He could handle himself out there. But against men like them -- they had weapons, they had beaten him up before finally finishing him up. he didn't have a chance against them, but he did. He could have saved him .

Now wasn't exactly the time to think about that. Though he couldn't help but remember.

He entered the backroom of the place, looking up to see the lights were off, but there was a monitor before them. This is where they would receive missions from the ever so mysterious boss they work for. She prefered to go by the name Persephone -- they heard that she used to work for some organization called 'Kritiker' but that's about all they knew about her. They would meet her one day, but not now. Pandora told them. Pandora was their informer, she worked for Kritiker herself but left and followed Persephone.

He sat down on the couch and looked up, Hiroshi was seated near the screen. He looked up and saw him -- he sighed.

'' You're ealier than usual, Yuki-san.''

He looked up as he lit up a cigarette, puffing out a smoke. He looked back at him.

'' Where's Pandora?''

''I'm right here, Aries.'' She said as she handed him a folder. '' Keep your eyes open, and listen up. This mission is very important.''

Hiroshi and Yuki looked up as the monitor went on, There stood a shadow figure of a woman.

''Strafe, I have a new mission for you. Masato Haijime, has been handling shipment of illegal drugs ---''

They both looked up. Masato Hajime -- that name that they loathed ever since they had joined Strafe. They knew they'd run across him someday and get him for what he did. Now was that chance. Hiroshi looked up, his eyes looking straight at the screen, and all he could do right now is say the name over and over in his head. Masato Hajime... Masato Hajime... Masato Hajime... He was almost scared of the feeling. He felt as if he wanted to kill everyone that helped that man ruin one life. Everyone he loved, everyone he cared for, everyone who knew him. He suddenly looked up as Pandora put a hand over his shoulder, as if she understood and knew what he was thinking. He looked over to Yuki who had a serious and stern look on his face. They wanted the same thing. They wanted Masato dead.

All your friends, All your loved ones.
I want to get them all and you, Masato.

'' He has sources that help him out. Some of them have been identified, but there's more to this.'' She paused. ''This drug testing has been proven to be deadly to many youths around the country.''

On the screen flashed images of lifeless young boys and girls. They looked so pale, pained and helpess. Hiroshi studied them very closely, this man did deserve what they were planning to do to him. He believed it and he wanted to do it.

'' Takatori Reiji, is also working together with him. These two have to be stopped before anyone else gets hurt. Hunt these dark beasts down, Strafe. And punish them accordingly.''

The screen went off, Yuki looked up at Pandora as he put out the cigarette. '' Takatori Reiji? Isn't he running for Prime Minister?''

Pandora nodded, her expression was serious and her voice was stern. '' Sou yo ne. He's been helping Masato with the shipments and they've been kidnapping and picking up young girls and boys to experiment it with.'' she said handing Hiroshi a folder. '' The symptoms are extreme and unbearable body pain, serious nausea, they would get painful wounds and rashes from the chemicals. They seem to be perfecting the drug for what ever it's worth.'' she sighed and looked at them. ''Are you both in?''

They both nodded in response.

''Ii yo. Then, you can start by identifying all Masato's sources.'' She looked at them and smiled slightly. '' You're going to have to work together on this one, boys. And if you need any help, you can contact me.'' Pandora turned towards the door. ''You can't let this target get away, Aries -- Hermes. You have to punish him accordingly.''

And with this she walked off.

Hiroshi looked up. '' Punish him accordingly?'' he repeated. '' No problem with that.''

Yuki looked at him, lighting up another cigarette. '' Sore wa --''
Hiroshi didn't let him finish, he looked up at Yuki. '' Ore ga iku.''

Yuki puffed out a smoke and gave Hiroshi a look. He knew the boy could do it. For someone new at this business he seemed to know what to do. He's seen him handle a sticky situation. And he got out of it, his gun loaded and everyone down for the count. They needed to work together? Though they weren't exactly the best of friends. They did know how to work together and they did a very good job every time they did. He was someone sensible enough to talk to. That was good enough for him.

''Fine, then tell me what you have so I can find out who his other sources are.''
''Deal.''

In the dark room, the monitor turns on. Through the little light, four people were in the room. Sitting and waiting -- they all looked up seeing the shadow figure of a man. They looked serious and attentive. A woman stood by the stairs, holding a few folders. They all looked towards the screen.

'' Weiss, I have a new mission for you. Someone has been testing and shipping illegal drugs from Japan to all countries. Your target -- Masato Hajime and Takatori Reiji.''

Violet eyes suddenly look up, staring at the screen with intent. Anger, hate, bitterness and sadness -- all mixed up in his eyes. That name, that name which he loathed after what he did. This was the chance, this was it.

'' This drug has resulted to many deaths of youths all over Japan. He has other sources which are unknown to us for the moment. ''

A young boy sat on the couch, the light not showing him completely. Beside him was another young man -- his brown hair was reflected. His emerald green eyes looked up.

''White hunters.''

Another one stood by the corner of the room. He was smoking, he looked up the ashes of his cigarette dropping to the floor.

''Hunt these dark beasts of tomorrow!''

Tsuzuku