Probation
Chapter One: "…but the beer won his favor…"
Author: Hot Soup11
Long fingers grasped the glass bottle in front of bartender, sloppily pouring clear liquid into a small shot glass. The bartender sighed as he watched the alcohol go wasted when it sloshed over the sides and mingled with the condensation the warm atmosphere forced the cool glass to produce. He groped underneath the counter for a rag, found a piece of cloth passing off as sanitary enough in the dingy light, and bunched it up to soak the pool of cheap liquor off the polished countertop.
"I think you've had enough," the bartender spoke, wincing as cliché line spilt past his lips. His customer didn't move from his slouched over position, cradling the shot glass, but did roll his bottle green eyes up at the bartender.
"Hm. The time?" Surprised, the bartender noticed his speech was only slightly hinting at drunkenness.
"Three ten," he replied after checking his watch briefly.
"And what's my tab come to?" the customer asked, before draining the contents of the shot glass.
The bartender thought for a moment, then returned, "Fifty and tax, thereabouts."
He 'hm-ed' again, grabbed the bottle, pressed it against his mouth, and tipped it skyward. "No… I don't think I'll turn in just yet."
"Listen, we close in twenty minutes… you'll have to head out soon."
"Can I get a to-go bottle, one for the road?" the blonde persisted.
The bartender sighed and replied, "No, I'd be responsible for letting you drive while drinking."
"I took a cab; therefore, I won't be driving. Now how about another bottle of this stuff," he requested while waving the empty bottle in midair.
- - -
Yohji sighed contently, finally feeling drunk after finishing off the bottle bought at the last bar he was at. Although the fuzzy buzzed haze settled over his mind, he still remembered too much for his liking. He staggered--a practiced swagger that a stranger could mistake for a natural stride--toward an all-night convenience store for a pack of beer.
As he entered the warmer atmosphere of the grocery store, the bright florescent light hit his eyes, dilating them and blinding him temporarily. There were other customers, which, at four in the morning on a Wednesday would have alerted the assassin had he not been intoxicated.
The lanky man made his way over to the freezers in the back and opened the door, releasing the frosty air and pulled out his choice of beverage.
"All right! Nobody move this is a hold-up!" Four of the six customers in the convenient store pointed guns in the general direction of the cashier, the pregnant woman currently picking out pastries, and Yohji.
I don't want to get involved, Yohji decided and sat down with his beer, opening one of the cans and taking a long guzzle. He barely registered the conversation between the criminals and the cashier or the woman's sudden screams becoming muffled by a hand.
"Hey you! Get up!" one of the robbers directed toward Yohji. The blonde considered answering the man, but the beer won his favor and he took another drink out of the plastic rings. "I said get up! I have a gun!"
"Well that's obvious," Yohji muttered sarcastically as he hooked his fingers into the rings connecting the beer cans. He used his legs to push his weight onto the wall, supporting the assassin's body while the gunmen thrust the weapon further into Yohji's view.
The man then ordered, "Now hand over any cash you got on you."
The blonde glanced over at the near-hysterical woman shakily removing her jewelry and placing it in one of the robber's bags; and the cashier frantically sliding money from the register over the counter. Yohji plucked his wallet out of his back pocket and tossed it at the other man.
"And your earrings, fag. Don't forget the watch too."
The money he could get more of, the earrings were replaceable, but his watch? No, they couldn't have his watch. To keep his watch, Yohji decided, he would have to take out each one of them. He put his beers down and slipped his earrings out of the holes in each lobe then tossed the small gold hoops up high aimed at the robber. To catch them, he stumbled backwards, paying attention to the jewelry flashing in the light.
Yohji released the catch on the said watch, flung out his wire, and disarmed the thief easily as he was distracted. The gun clattered to the dirty tile floor while Yohji kicked his assailant in the stomach. Again he released the wire, targeting the man's esophagus.
"Ijiri!" the man with a chokehold on the woman exclaimed. The thief guarding the door rushed at Yohji, his gun poised to shoot. Balinese lobbed the man, Ijiri apparently, using his body to block the incoming bullets. After shoving the dying man out of his way, he sought the other man's neck, wire biting into flesh. With bulging eyes, he sought out Yohji, firing aimlessly. A shot connected with a refrigerator door, shattering the glass. Another bullet found its way into the arm of his comrade, who still held gunpoint at the pregnant female. With a final yank of his wire, Yohji crushed his opponent's wind pipe and slacked the hold on the wire.
The thief fell face forward to the ground when Yohji felt a handgun pressed to the back of his neck. "Get on the floor, bastard." The blonde winced as he was forced onto his stomach to the floor. He heard the unsheathing of a knife, and the man turned over his right hand, palm up.
A pocketknife, he realized as he screamed while the blade was shoved completely through his hand and lodged into the crack between two tiles. "Uotan, toss me your knife." The wounded man tossed his captive off to the side when she began vomiting violently. He kneeled down, clutching the shot arm, and slid his own knife across the floor to his accomplice.
It was slow this time. Yohji could feel each tendon ripping apart from the center of his left hand. Blood leaked from the crude incision. He heard the snap of a bone breaking. Still screaming, crying, and writhing from pain, he passed out.
- - -
When Yohji woke up, he would learn the cashier had triggered the alarm for the police the minute he was left unattended and the late-night pastry-indulger had miscarried. He also would learn he was to be taken into the police headquarters for questioning for possible man-slaughter.
- - -
"Let's go over this again, just so I understand you correctly. You were out with the intention of becoming drunk, went into the store with the intention of buying beer, and ended up killing a man. You had no identification on you, despite the wallet, and your name isn't listed anywhere, like you don't even exist."
Yohji was too doped up by the medication administered to him to tell the tale adequately and could only shrug, then nod and say a word or two. The nurse kept trying to push the investigator out the door, telling him to come back in a few days.
The blonde stared at his bandaged hands whenever he wasn't trying to say something. He knew from his PI days it wasn't a positive thing to not look into the eyes of your interrogator, but shock still coursed through him as he knew two fresh, deep scars would mar his hands.
"Sir, I really must ask you to leave now. If you don't, I fear the patient will become worse off and I don't believe he is in the appropriate state of mind to answer any questions you might have," the nurse tried once again.
"I understand, however, I want to know exactly what happened while the incident is still fresh in mind," the investigator countered.
"It's my responsibility to see that this patient doesn't become too overwhelmed and I think he's still in shock. I can also remind you, sir, that he is on powerful drugs to keep the pain of the cuts. As I'm sure you're aware of, he had both hands run through with a knife." She sighed, the look on the policeman's face clearly not giving way. "I'll compromise with you, and let you come in two days… but if you set one foot inside this hospital, I'll see to it you won't be able to see him until he is released from the hospital."
The policeman returned his hat to his head and bid the nurse a curt farewell, telling her he'd be back in the two days.
That gave Yohji two days time to get his head together.
- - -
Next chapter: Yohji gets questioned, lectured, and banned. Manx gets a headache and Aya gets responsibilities.
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Author's Notes: ^^;; It'll get better. Concerning Yohji's earrings, I didn't know what to do. I've looked through my entire gallery of Weiss Kreuz pictures several times over and there was no definite Yohji has one, two, or no earrings. So, here he has both ears pierced. Concerning the hand wounds… if you ever come across the foreign film "Princess Blade," you'll see the enemy slice open the main character's hand with a katana and lodge her sword into the dirt. Obviously, the idea of the pocketknives wasn't mine.
Reviews aren't necessary for me to continue, however they are MUCH appreciated. ^.^