(Originally Darkness isn't Always Evil Published September 18, 2005)
Author's Note: I know no one reads these things, however... I don't own Weiss Kreuz, but I do own the writing and what the characters have become for me.
Hiya, I'm Aki and I'm a senior at Temple University majoring in Japanese. I started this story/fanfic/whateveryouwanttocallit in 2005. YES I'm not joking. Go look at the original if you don't believe me. So yeah... the writing is going to SUCK in the beginning and get amazing in the later chapters so.. just keep reading. And REVIEW! Credit goes to Andrea as well for...everything. 3
Prologue:
Welcome to the world where only the dead survive. In this world only shadows rain blood from black skies-only killers are left to rid the world of an evil none can even name. Falling with the ground giving out, there became no more purpose. When you begin to wonder if it really was worth the effort to struggle to the surface only to sink once again, that's when you realize… you're drowning.
Aya gasped, welcoming the salt water to invade his lungs. Choking out, he felt himself slowly suffocating as he began to rapidly sink to the bottom. Was death threatening him-was this what all his victims felt when they were overcome by this darkness? He tried to spit out the water only to pull in another breath of it… the world was ending. He struggled mindlessly to reach what seemed up, but he was only going further down.
How could Crawford not have seen this! Ken's mind blared out at the wavering sky covered in water. He pushed himself up to the surface gasping for a long-held breath. For once he felt thankful for the air, yet it was so cold. He looked around, seeing how far away he was from the shore. There was no sign of anyone. Fear overcame him. Just...where was everyone? The last thing he thought was what ever happened to Schwarz, when suddenly he felt a hand grab his foot. He kicked away violently, but ended up sinking beneath the surface anyway. Eyes snapped open only to be burned and clouded by the salt. He kicked furiously at the one baring the hand until finally he landed one.
Omi doggy-paddled to the surface, struggling to keep his head up. Treading water my butt; it only tired you out more.Omi thought to himself as he tried to stay afloat. It wasn't working. He was only sinking… the pain dragging him to the bottom.
Wave after wave slammed against Yohji, knocking him under and under again. He struggled to get what air he deserved before he was thrust under again. Exhaustion over took him. He knew Farferello was dead, he saw Ken's claw get a clear shot at his neck, with all the blood spraying everywhere and everything. Yohji was strangling Schuldig at the time, he hoped the German never breathed again. He felt the memories slowly overtake his mind before the thrashing waves did.
The walls had been caving in around them, various pieces of stone falling from the ceiling. Yohji sparred a glance to see Manx escaping with the two girls. Good, at least they were safe. That seemed to be the one thing that mattered at the moment, until the topic of their own lives came up once more. Schwarz was battering the hell out of them, but Ken had Farferello down and out, and Yohji was working on painfully suffocating the mind reader in mind-blowing rage.
Omi stood defiantly against the one he had always fought: Nagi. This would surely end their feud and Nagi would torment him no longer. The pain in his back resided, leaving him in a desperate need to survive. His eyes focused onto Ken, who dove at Farferello's neck, slicing four holes into the Irishman's flesh.
"This is for Kase!" He yelled, his blade draining away Farferello's blood. Yohji was pulling at his last strings, strangling the struggling Schuldig still. That left Nagi and Crawford, Omi prepared to attack, darts flying through the air towards the enemy.
"You always look as if you are trying to save the world from the edge of a cliff. Why do you fight? The people you are trying to save aren't worth it; one little push from us and they reveal their true nature, spreading the violence and killing. Why risk your own life to protect people like that?" Crawford's voice seemed to hover in the silence, trying to distract them from the goal.
"There is still hope." Came the quiet response from Aya, as if he was convincing everyone around him as well as himself.
"Oh? And what kind of hope is that?" Crawford asked with a flash of his glasses.
"Love for the people around us-for those who are special to us. We will always fight to protect that love."
"How sweet." Crawford commented again...those annoying comments.
"It ends here. I won't let you create any more people like us who lose the ones they love!" Yohji added as he pulled on his wires only tighter.
"I will avenge you Ouka!" Omi stammered, proceeding to fight the Telekinetic.
"Even if you kill us now, it doesn't mean you have quenched the fires of evil. What you are fighting for is totally useless." Crawford began again, an evil look flashing in his foreign eyes.
"It isn't useless. AS LONG AS THERE IS STILL LOVE IN THE WORLD WE WILL PROTECT IT!" Aya's voice faded into the chaos as the ground gave out beneath them. Echoing, the word remained in everyone's minds-protect, to protect... There became no more purpose, but to survive, to be able to live, to protect again, and to enjoy life for just another moment. They were all sick of suffering, sick of the shadows. I want to be buried someplace sunny, and then there won't be so many shadows. And please don't let the tombstone be covered in all the blood I am covered in now.Now… Aya drifted back from the past, and found himself slowly floating to the sky, his mind churning towards the darkness he was sick of-the black he was trying so hard to avoid.
Eventually Omi washed up on the shore, laying there, drifting in and out of what he would want to call sleep, but was really unconsciousness. And before he knew it, he was taken by the same darkness.
Yohji gave up with the waves that only seemed to push him farther from the shore, and as he floated in, emerald eyes snapped opened to feel his feet dragging along the sand. The bottom! Yohji crawled the rest of the way out and his eyes caught sight of the younger blonde. Yohji was at Omi's side in seconds.
Ken was nowhere to be able to find himself. He was attempting to swim, but his head kept fading out, making him dizzy. He continued to discover that he was barely above the surface, just floating there...like a human buoy. He kept losing the little consciousness he had, but not this time; he was too close. In a matter of moments, Ken felt the slightest brush of sand and let himself wash up onto that wonderful shore.
Darkness loomed over the playboy, moonlight piercing through the tormenting cover of clouds. The sun sunk beneath that endless horizon and all light disappeared with his remaining hope. In that time, Yohji still hadn't gotten Omi to open his eyes or even move. There was no longer a point to bring out the words Yohji wanted to spill out of himself. His voice shook as he struggled to rouse the youngest member of Weiß. So far, he was unsuccessful and there was just no way in hell he was going to do CPR on the boy...(especially since he was still breathing and all that jazz).
Shaking him some more, finally the playboy got some sort of a reaction out of him. Omi coughed, spitting out the water lodged in his lungs. He gasped for breath and bright cerulean eyes glimmered in the streetlights at the worried, jade stare he received from Yohji.
"Yohji-kun!" Omi cried and lunged at the dripping wet man, a grin plastered onto his face. The world seemed to turn a whole shade lighter.
"Omi…" Yohji's voice was soft and calmed suddenly, a relieved look now dancing over his exhausted features, "Your back… I saw Nagi slam you into that wall; how is it?" Yohji asked still a bit worried that Omi would suddenly drop dead.
"Oh…it's not…that bad, really," Omi said quietly. To Yohji, though, he wasn't that convincing and in his look he let Omi know that he knew better. Omi countered quickly, "Ken got Farferello." Changing the subject: always a lifesaver.
"I saw." He couldn't care less when he knew the rest of their teammates were out there in that darkness somewhere. "Hey, where isKen?" Yohji looked around, actually expecting to see the brunet, but instead he just saw a pitch-black beach and silence. "Lets go look. Can you stand?" Yohji asked with innocence touching his voice.
Omi glared at him in return, but it was a playful glare; nothing like Aya's. "Of course I can stand!" Omi jumped to his feet and began speed walking down the shore to prove it to the older...more matureone. Yeah right. He ignored the minor protests of his bruised and tortured body. Yohji rose to his feet and followed after Omi, another relieved look in his green eyes. Since when did he care what happened to his teammates?
Blue-green eyes opened to dark, blinking a few times, and focusing on blurry black...no sort of vision was coming to him. Panic streamed through his battered body until he realized, faintly that through the clouds small flashes of stars could be seen. A sigh of relief, and he rolled a little bit to sit up very slowly. Unsuccessful. He failed, mind reeling in shock. The soccer fanatic shut his eyes suddenly and dropped back down into his sprawled out position on the sand.
Yohji raced after Omi's gentle footsteps in the sand and caught up in seconds, speeding ahead of him a bit. He looked back with a crooked grin on his face.
"Eat my du—" Yohji tripped and skidded face first into the sand. "—ust!"
"Yohji! Yohji, are you okay!" Omi called after him blindly and tripped over the same thing as Yohji and fell forward, catching himself with his hands. No way in hell he was going to get the same mouthful of sand that Yohji was now spitting out. The salt water was enough, but all that crunchy sand, Omi cringed.
"I'm fine. Just tripped over a log."
"What the hell? Don't you dare call me a log!" That angry voice… Yohji knew that voice from somewhere... "Don't be so stupid, you idiot, it's me!" Ken's eyes narrowed in the night even though neither of them could see it.
"Kenken!" Omi grinned and grabbed at the soccer player, seeming to pull him up a bit.
"I have a hell of a headache mind not yelling in my ear?" Ken murmured lightly, as to not upset Omi too much.
"Oh I'm sorry…" Omi said softly, his eyes still sparkling. "I'm glad you're okay."
"I'm glad you both survived that hell of an ocean." Ken glared at the black sea that mixed into the sky, it was impossible to tell them apart just as hard it was to see his teammates before him. No wonder Omi hadn't seen him. And Yohji just flat-out wasn't paying attention. Typical.
"Where's Aya?" Yohji asked an edge to his voice as if he expected someone ought to know.
"Last time I saw him, he and Crawford were covered by the ceiling," Ken said blankly.
"Nah." Yohji's voice held a hint of worry. "We'll find him."
"This is Aya we're talking about," Omi reminded them as if they hadn't guessed already, "the ceiling would be the one running away." Aya was their leader, and without him it was a bit hard to follow.
Ken was just about to throw in the towel before he realized how much they really needed to find their human ice cube. Without Aya, what were they going to do, go back to Koneko no Sume Ie and wait for him? It seemed more of a waste of time than this was; he might as well just wait it out. It was hopeless, and it was so dark he could barely see his own hands in front of his face...if he bothered to look. Well, there was Omi, frantically looking for Aya all around the beach. The soccer fanatic skimmed over the cool sand and came up with nothing.
To Omi, Aya was his friend-like a part of his family. What the rest of Weiß had a hard time understanding was that Aya defined the word withdrawn, so how was it possible to even hold a decent conversation with the guy let alone befriend him? It was something Ken and Yohji both couldn't comprehend. Omi knew though that Ken and Yohji just didn't realize how much they had really come to respect Aya, and not only for his leadership.
Yohji was about ready to start running in circles and screaming out the stubborn redhead's name, he was so frustrated. Why couldn't Aya have just washed ashore closer to the rest of them? It annoyed Yohji beyond belief, but it wasn't just because they were missing a member, he was missing Aya...and Aya was never missing.
A cold wind blew in around a tattered body, soaking in more seawater as another wave seeped up and brushed against worn skin. Aya was shivering when the wind hit him and it felt as if it was another blow to his already disturbed remains. His thoughts were slow, focusing on the pile up of questions haunting his mind in waterlogged amnesia. He laid there for moments, surrounded in a haze of utter confusion-dazed before the past came crashing down on him like that moment the ceiling fell. Aya hadn't bothered to stop and think how he made it through, he lived and that was all. All he had to do now was to make sure that the rest of his team weren't still sinking at the bottom of the ocean somewhere. To do that, Aya had to open his eyes. Without doing that, all he knew was that he was lying on his back on the beach still.
Endless amounts of time passed by until Ken finally sunk down into the sand with a heavy sigh. Even though darkened by the night, usual teal eyes were now tainted with the exhaustion that suddenly fell over him. Ken sat cross-legged in the sand, staring at it and wishing he had some sort of flashlight.
Yohji had given up on his relentless search for Aya and began walking towards where he thought the road would be, green eyes searching the darkness for headlights… anything. He sighed, and dragging his failing feet across the drained sand, he stumbled once more over what he would call a log.
"Hey!" Ken's eyes attempted to cut through the darkness.
"Why do you always seem to be in the way, Ken?" Yohji smiled dully and sunk down next to the faint outline of the ex-goalie.
"Beats me."
"I'm beat to all hell," Yohji said lamely.
Omi, being the smart one of the three, had better luck. Upon finding washed up sunglasses, he also found a set of footprints leading in the direction of the road. His waterproof cellphone proved to be waterproof and also served to light the way where the streetlights didn't reach. As he continued going on down the long beach a while longer, Omi began to grow further and further away from the highway. His attention drew quickly threw away that fact, as he seemed to come across what appeared to be someone lying in the sand. It had to be Aya. Omi was positive as he sped up towards the figure.
Violet eyes slid open slightly to focus on another world dripping in shadows that only brought more flashes of pain into his mind. Long red streaks coated his vision in blood that he soon recognized as his own hair. It matted to his forehead, soaked in the seawater that continued to claw at him. He would have brushed the strands aside if he had had enough energy to try. The world was a blurry reflection of his own conflicting thoughts-a black sky staring back at him, spinning around him, and only threatening to send him into a deeper darkness if that were even possible. From the faint look of things, Aya saw that it had to be well into the night, judging by the stars and the fact that the moon has sunken in the sky...or maybe it was a new moon. Aya didn't know, but he couldn't stop his mind from analyzing it. He shut his eyes again, preparing himself for the attempt to pull himself up.
Eventually Aya forced his body to obey him and pulled himself into a sitting position. In a matter of moments, he felt the world spin so rapidly he could barely keep up with it. The next thing he knew was he was racked with coughing fits. He began spitting out large amounts of saltwater, the taste stinging his mouth and making him gag. It was the worst feeling in the world until finally he realized it was all the saltwater he had been inhaling while drowning.
"You're awake?" Manx looked confused, her eyes watching Aya's sister's every move.
"I— What has been— What happened?" Ayachan stared ahead, her eyes scanning over the glowing ocean as the dawn came. "Who are you?"
This time, Sakura spoke. "I'm a friend of your brother's. I'll tell you everything that happened while you slept..." The girl smiled and held out her hand to Aya-chan. "About Aya and everyone else."
"Aya? But that's me."
"Yes, it's also the name of someone who lived on while you slept." Sakura gave a slight smile as the sun rose about the water's surface, sending light all around them. There was silence for a while as Aya-chan's thoughts settled and she finally realized what Sakura was actually saying.
"Ran?" Her eyes shimmered in the sunlight, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. Why did it seem as if she hadn't seen him in such a long time? She sighed, trying to calm herself. The last time she saw him was—was when… their parents— …Aya-chan shut her eyes tightly and her hands went up to her head. No… when her parents were killed and their house exploded. Why, why did it take her such a long time to remember something like that? "Ran, where's Ran?"
"Aya! Aya!" Omi rushed to the redhead's side, flashing the rays of the cellphone into the dull icy eyes of his leader. It's always darkest before the dawn. As the sun began to rise, Omi no longer needed the cellphone and shoved it into his wet pocket. He bent down to Aya and placed his hands reassuringly on the man's shoulders. "Are… are you okay?"
"Hn." Aya blinked and looked up almost as if he had just realized Omi was there.
"Aya?"
"What?" Aya stared at Omi, a question entering his eyes.
"Are you okay?"
"I— …I don't know." Aya took a deep breath and found that it just took all he had to merely sit up and breathe. Omi took in the sight of Aya's struggling into consideration as the young blonde began to scan over Aya's body with his eyes.
"You…you're bleeding, it looks like," Omi said carefully and stood up. "I shouldn't leave you alone, but wait here." With that, Omi took off across the sand, "YOHJI! KEN! YOHJI! KEENNN!" Omi scanned the whole beach, his eyes searching everywhere until finally he spotted the two perched up on top of a few jagged rocks below the road curve.
"Omi?" Ken squinted in the bright, too early sunlight. Yohji just sighed in frustration and covered his eyes with his hand, looking as if he were saluting the younger member of Weiß...like he would ever do that. He gave his where-are-my-sunglasses-when-I-need-them-the-most look and sighed again, hopping off the rock to walk the rest of the distance to Omi with Ken in tow.
"What is it? Find anything?" Yohji eyed Omi suspiciously. "It sure as hell took you long enough." Yohji was rewarded when a pair of actually not too badly scratched sunglasses flew at him. They practically hit him in the head if it weren't for his extremely fast and manly reflexes. "Jeez, what are you trying to do, kill me?"
"I… tried," Omi smiled, out of breath. "Aya… I found… him… he's…" Omi pointed in the direction he came. "Come…on let's go!" He dashed away again. Ken chased after him at an extreme speed. What was that kid on...!
"Hey you sure you should be running like that, Omi?" Ken used his soccer legs and left the too-sexy-to-run-after-them-Yohj in the dust behind him. But Yohji grinned and started racing after them anyway because he cared enough.
"Are you sure you should? You're the one who got your head slammed into a wall."
"You got yourselfslammed into a wall," Ken countered, a small smile on his lips. At least they weren't too beat to argue up their usual storm.
"But it wasn't my head."
"Oh come on children, calm yourselves. We still have to save our wonderful leader," Yohji purred, his eyes sparkling sarcastically. He received two very intense glares from the so-called children. Oh he was so dead when they got back.
The world was a different place on the outskirts of reality. Voices faded into the wind, caught in the churning currents. The redhead sighed, trying to calm his racing heart. The words that were being spoken around him only made him feel like he was still under water. He coughed some more and opened his eyes.
"Aya?" Omi looked down at their leader, worry tainting his bright eyes. A glaze covered over those usually sharp icy blue eyes, and it scared Omi. Ken looked surprised as well, trading looks with Yohji. It seemed that Aya was bleeding a lot, since the salt water still hadn't stopped the flow. Omi shouldn't have left.
"What should we do?"
Aya blinked, forcing himself to sit up once again. It was then that he realized that he had somehow lost consciousness while Omi had left. Everything was just a blur, making the pain torrenting through his body only feel like a slight throb. That was until Omi...
The boy had pulled Aya's long trench coat away from him slightly, checking for the source of the blood. Aya withdrew harshly, wincing. His eyes narrowed to slits, showing nothing more than his usual fierce glare.
"I'm fine." Aya spat.
"Sure doesn't seem like it."
"Just leave him alone, Omi," Ken stated.
"Are you sure?" Omi turned to look at him.
"I'm fine."
"He's too stubborn; just let him be. Let's just see if he'll make it to the car," Yohji sighed in annoyance.
"Don't be so harsh." Omi glared in the playboy's direction and rose to his feet.
"We should go as soon as possible," Ken suggested.
"We don't know where Schwarz could be hiding," Yohji said.
"I doubt they would attack us now," Omi spoke up and stepped away from Aya.
It took enough to sit up and stay there without faltering. Aya prepared himself for the worst and slowly began to rise to his unsteady feet. Instantly, the world sank into darkness and spun around in what didn't even seem like circles. Aya opened his eyes to find himself half on the ground and half on top of Yohji.
The older man stared into those unfocused eyes as they stared back into his. It was scary, seeing Aya so unsteady. His façade melted into the seawater as it continued to lap up against them. It was all just a nightmare, a continuously painful nightmare. Just a small taste of hell shown through those clouded violet eyes.
"Aya? Aya are you okay?" Now Omi was leaning over, with Ken looking over the hacker's shoulder.
"I just got dizzy," Aya said in such a soft voice it made Yohji want to hit him. The leader of Weiß seemed so delicate and fragile at that moment it just wasn't fucking right.
"Sure you did. We're going up now." Yohji smiled and grabbed the redhead under the arms and pulled him up with him. This time Aya seemed to be able to place his feet on solid ground and only leaned against Yohji a little. It drove him crazy, needing others help just to walk. It was ridiculous.
"Your brother, he's—" Sakura began before she cut herself off. Was Aya really dead? Could they all just die like that-lost into that ocean of broken hopes and dreams? And could that just be the end of it, the end of everything?
"Would you like a ride somewhere?" Manx looked at the two girls, a smile sparkling in her green eyes.
"Could you… could you drive us to the flower shop?" Sakura asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Is that really where you want to go?"
"Yes, they'll go back there." Sakura said mostly to convince herself.
"Flower shop?" Aya-chan watched the two of them as if they were talking about something so out of her league.
"Ay—Ran and his friends, they…are florists," Sakura smiled.
Aya-chan clapped her hands together and a bright smiled covered her face. "Oh really?"
"Birman, take us to the Koneko no Sume Ie, please," Manx said from her seat in the back. Then the redhead slipped out and went around the car to the passenger seat. "Come on, we have to leave," Manx said sternly.
"Where are we?" Ken seemed to mutter for the hundredth time.
"I told you just keep walking… the car should be parked somewhere around here…" Omi trailed off, barely able to convince himself this time. His feet dragged behind him in exhaustion.
It had taken a while to climb the huge cliff that reached the beach and it took everything Aya had to stand. Yohji practically carried the heavy bastard. Their leader was much heavier than he looked. Soon after that, they had wandered around for hours according to Yohji's watch. It became well into the morning: almost six, and people were beginning to stir on the sidewalks and in their houses. It was becoming harder and harder to blend in, especially with a slight blood trail that occasionally dripped from them. It was only a matter of time before their leader burned out of what little energy he had.
Omi looked back to see the figures of Yohji and Aya a bit too far off from them. He almost began walking backwards before Ken spoke up. "Maybe we should wait for them…"
"I didn't even notice how far they had gotten from us, did you?"
"Not really." Ken exhaled and leaned against the side of a building. They were a pitiful sight, but luckily there was rarely anyone out on the street.
"Hey guys thanks for waiting for us at the last minute!" Yohji looked from Omi to Ken who, both in their own way, had worried expressions on their faces. "What?"
"Aya, is he alright?" Omi ventured to ask, moving closer to the slumped red head that was draped over Yohji's shoulder.
"He went out of it a little way back," Yohji murmured.
Aya lifted his head up slightly, hearing his name and wishing he hadn't. His eyes focused blankly on the two of them then suddenly the sharp violet looked past them.
"You know, the car's right there," Yohji said, following Aya's eyes. They had taken both cars just in case: one was Aya's white Porsche and the other was Yohji's Seven: the womanizer mobile. He stared at it before them, glimmering a green that matched his eyes. Yohji fished in his pocket as he always did for the keys, and drew out his hand keyless. Panic overwhelmed him. They were still so far away from the flower shop and they would barely even be able to drive. Yohji almost dropped to his knees in defeat...if Aya wasn't giving him all his weight.
"You lost the keys." Ken stated plainly, his words coated in disgust and anger. Omi just moaned. What the hell could they do!
"Aya," Ken demanded suddenly, moving closer to him. Yohji involuntarily stepped back.
"What w-why?" He had never seen Ken act so...so authoritative...
"He probably didn't lose hiskeys."
"It wasn't my fault. I was practically drowned in the ocean and you expect that my keys wouldn't fall out of my pocket?"
"Maybe his didn't. Aya is more responsible." Ken replied.
Yohji's car was indeed parked closer to where their mission had taken place, but Aya was much more cautious; his car was much farther away and he had made Ken walk with the silent and brooding redhead all the way to the Temple place. Aya eyes slipped opened once again, hearing the conversation. He barely realized that he had closed them again. The sight of the car was so fulfilling so nowwhat did they want? Aya sent Ken a death glare.
"Aya, do you have your keys?" Ken asked suddenly, shaking him, which in turn shook Yohji and aggravated him further.
"Ken stop shaking him, can't you see he's going to kill you?"
Aya groaned and shut his eyes slightly. It was obvious any slight movement caused him considerable amounts of pain. "Left pocket," he forced out, voice raspy and quivering.
"Let's hope—" Ken pulled at the zipper of Aya's trench coat that was already unbuckled slightly from Omi's attempts. Ken slipped his hand into the pocket and instantly he felt the keys. He pulled them away from the leather still dripping wet. A bright smile filled his face as if he had just won a soccer game. He jingled them in front of everyone and then threw them up into the air like confetti. Catching them, he began walking off in a random direction, but he seemed to know where he was going.
"Suhweeeet!" Yohji looked pretty happy too, but the lump against his shoulder had no response, it kind of just hung there like a discarded coat that dragged along the ground until it was beat up and frayed.
"Nice going Kenkun!" Omi grinned and headed after him followed by Yohji and the practically unconscious Aya.
More time past and it seemed like forever, but according to Yohji, it was only seven o'clock. After more corners and alleyways and blocks, they seemed to find the bright white car parked somewhere inconspicuously in the shadows. Yohji hoped in the driver's seat after laying Aya down in the back. Omi got in the back with Aya, carefully positioning himself at Aya's head. As soon as Ken hit the passenger seat, he was asleep. Not long after, Omi too fell asleep against the annoyingly vibrating window.
Yohji was alone, speeding into the distance, testing out Aya's fancy car. Then he realized that Aya had willingly given them his keys when normally he would have totally objected to it. That was weird, Aya must have been even worse than he appeared. The tall blonde sighed and drove on, eventually reaching the flower shop: their home, which now seemed like heaven. He pulled up against the curb and was about to wake up everyone else, when out of the corner of his eye he saw…
"Yohji!" Sakura raced across the pavement, her hair flailing out in the brilliant sunlight behind her. Her eyes glinted, shining in tears, which soon began to fall as she came to a stop in front of Yohji and Aya's car. Yohji's head lifted, his sunglassed eyes positioned on Sakura. He pushed his glasses down his nose further and looked at her over the rim.
"Why Sakura I didn't think you would wait for us here." Yohji's voice was a bit hoarse and cluttered with seawater. He looked overly surprised almost as if he didn't want her there. They had completed the mission and that was it. Now he had to accomplish getting the other members of Weiß into the flower shop without revealing too much more to Sakura. Who knew what too much information would do to her?
The sudden cease of motion and the voices drew Omi from the darkness of sleep. His eyes slid open and instantly he pulled himself away from the window. The car windows were all clouded from the heat inside and the cold pressing against them from outside. Omi unclipped his seatbelt and slipped out the door. His eyes focused blankly on Yohji and Sakura. He withdrew in fear, almost ducking behind the car before he remembered that Sakura did know about their missions now. He sighed, calming himself and walked around the car with a dazzling Omi smile on his lips. "Sakura!"
"Omi-kun!" Sakura turned from Yohji and took a look at Omi. The youngest member of Weiß seemed to lean out to one side as if his right side was damaged and causing him pain. His eyes seemed a bit fogged over and there were bruises clearly all over him, some even beginning to blacken. His hair was a mess, the seawater appearing to be the cause of it looking so stiff and tangled. Yohji's hair was much worse though. His was pulled back out of his face so that the tall blonde would even be able to see where he was going. Yohji seemed a bit slumped over than usual and his very common seducing smile had faded.
"Omi?" Yohji looked over tiredly at the chibi who seemed much more awake than he had been ever since they found themselves on the shore.
"Where's Aya?" Sakura asked, adding quickly, "and Ken?"
"Ken is in the car and—" Omi was rudely cut off.
"And Aya is too." Yohji finished for him.
"Oh… is everyone alright?" Sakura inquired softly.
"We're fine." Ken had slipped out of the plush front seat and leaned against the car facing them. He shut the car door with a slam and looked them all over with accusing eyes. Why was Sakura here? He shook flattened brown hair out of his unfocused blue-green eyes and pushed off from the car. At a bit of a stumble, he moved closer to them.
One after the other had emerged from the car, now it was Aya's turn. He was awake and had been ever since Yohji had stopped the car. His glazed icy eyes attempted to focus correctly on the fogged over glass of the car windows. He was in his car, he suddenly noticed. He had actually let Yohji drive it? That was a mistake and now… He looked under him at the soft gray seat that was now drenched in blood. Aya shut his eyes momentarily to gain control of himself. It was just blood, his blood; he saw it all the time. The color seemed to stain his memories as well as his hands, but why did it seem to frighten him now? It wasn't like it was going to stain the seats or anything...
Aya pushed himself up and managed to reach the door handle by his head. He rolled out and onto his unstable feet, and held the side of the car for balance. Omi saw him instantly and rushed over.
"Aya-kun are you okay?"
"Shit Aya you weren't supposed to get out of the car," Yohji mumbled, looking over at Ken.
"Come on, let's go inside. We're wasting time," Ken stated angrily.
"Where's Aya?" Aya murmured, losing his footing and practically falling. Luckily, Yohji caught him by the shoulders and pulled him back up.
"Really Aya…" Yohji glared at him.
Little did Weiß know, but Aya-chan had been watching from inside the flower shop as the door crowded around by all sorts of different flowers. The second she saw Ran, she dashed out as fast as her legs would carry her. Aya-chan had silently observed Ran's friends as they talked with Sakura, but she hadn't seen her brother. She stayed there so she wouldn't feel so out of place with them. Although, she did notice that most of them seemed to be injured in some way... Had Ran made friends with troublemakers that roamed the streets looking for fights? She didn't wait to find out, but knew she had to. "Ran!" She ran towards them as fast as her legs would take her. She had to catch her breath before she spoke again. She smiled brightly and looked softly at her brother.
"…Aya…" He saw his sister, running-actually running towards him-images that only happened in his dreams. At first he thought he was only hallucinating, that he actually lost more blood than he had initially thought, but that was when he heard her voice. His eyes struggled to focus clearly on his sister. She was actually awake, standing right in front of him. He couldn't believe it, it could never happen. She was no longer lying immobile in a hospital bed; he was no longer looking into eyes that would never open. The world seemed to open up and become so much larger, his life was no longer reduced to watching his comatose sister. For a moment, there was no one else alive but him and his sister standing there watching each other as the years-the three long years seemed to stretch out further, separating Aya from his sister. Now there was so much more-so many words he wanted to say-so many things he wanted to tell her, but in the moments his violet eyes set down upon her, nothing came but the shock. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think.
Yohji, Ken, and Omi were just as surprised as Aya. They watched her in shock, their eyes wide. Aya-chan looked from her brother and to them with a sweet smile. How Aya had wanted to see that smile again on her empty sleeping face, but how could it be so filled up again…? How...was it possible...just like that?
"Who are you guys, are you friends of Ran's like Sakura-kun is?" She asked quietly. Yohji, Omi, and Ken exchanged looks since they really weren't accustomed to Aya's real name and it actually scared them...at little. Would Aya leave Weiß since he didn't need the money anymore for his sister's hospital bill? Were they even friends, not just killing partners? But they all just seemed more like…like family. Silence followed and Aya only stared at Aya-chan-just stared at her as if she were a miracle. And...she was. Aya-chan had actually come back to life when Aya was sure she would never open her eyes again. And here she was standing before him after years… years that he killed for her. How could he tell her-how could he explain it? Aya shut his eyes and before he even knew it the darkness took him away from his sister.
Aya went limp as his mind went black, but Yohji was still already holding him up and the extra weight came as nothing to the playboy. Yohji just gripped the redhead's shoulders tighter and leaned more against Aya's car. Omi shot Yohji a worried glance and motioned to the Koneko. They had to get Aya inside before more serious damage was occurred upon their suffering leader.
"Ran…" Why did she feel as if she hadn't seen him in so long? Why couldn't she remember anything after that car… the car that sped towards her and froze the world around her in a never-melting ice. The ice that had made Ran so powerless, powerless to prevent death, so powerless it created Aya who had the power to create death. And yet he still could never prevent it. He was a leader, a shadow that took out the evil that couldn't be brought to justice under the law. But Aya was Ran also; they were the same, mixed together to form a cold heartless killer and yet still a loving brother...and a friend.
His name was all Aya-chan could say as she watched her brother go limp in Yohji's arms. There was so much left unsaid it almost made her feel uncomfortable. So these people were his friends. It seemed they did take care of him, it didn't seem like they were yakuza or anything, but there was something... And she would learn while Aya was the one who slept.
To be continued...