It was a cold Thursday night, and I felt chilled to the bone. Nevertheless, I sat in the basement of the Schwarz household, staring through bars at my team-mates. Though I sat, on the cold, hard cement, and though they stood, staring back at me, it felt almost as if I was the one standing, looking down at them.
Their faces read of nothing, though their unshaven looks would normally have made Yohji-kun cringe, they seemed very far from caring about anything else. To be honest, they reminded me of a group of cons, people in hiding. And that was how they were treated.
"Don't worry… Soon things will be back to relative normality," I told them, noticing with trace sadness that there was no response to the statement, not even a flicker in their eyes.
"I won't leave you like this."
I stood, and exited, passing Nagi in the hallway, and continuing on into the room I had been designated. Nagi stood in the doorway, now, watching as I flopped myself onto my bed with a heavy sigh.
"Same as always?" he asked softly, moving to sit on the edge of my bed.
"Of course," I responded, staring at the ceiling. "How much longer do we have to wait?"
"Crawford said that we can head out tomorrow, if you feel that you're ready."
I nodded. "Tomorrow then," he continued, "we'll go tomorrow."
I couldn't hold in the tear that ran down my cheek as I thought about what we were to do. There were people in that building I didn't want dead – people in that building that I cared ever so strongly about, and put my faith in. But I couldn't trust anyone right now.
Nagi laid beside me, wrapping his arms lightly around my waist and pulling me close. Perhaps you can trust him, kitten, Mastermind's voice reverberated through my mind, and I nodded a bit, rolling a little to hold Nagi closer.
"Are you… sad?" Nagi asked, sounding faintly puzzled.
"I was…"
"What changed…?" he leaned himself on his elbow to look at me.
"I realized… I wasn't as lonely as I thought I was." I smiled a bit, and Nagi echoed it, in an indistinctly uncomfortable way.
In the last little bit, we'd noticed a change of wardrobe Nagi, from his long sleeves, high collars and long pants, into shorter sleeves and boat-necks. He claimed that the reason for this sudden change had to do with how the sleeves made his burn itch, but Schuldig had already slipped the reason. And it was a reason I appreciated.
I pulled Nagi back down, and his arm gave way allowing for a little 'mph' of surprise from him, before I hugged him in close, lightly stroking over his back. He gave a little shiver, before burying his face in my chest, and we were both quite content to sleep that way, though neither of us was quite ready to sleep.
"Hey… Omi?"
"Yeah?"
"…What… does it feel like to love someone?" Nagi asked, hesitantly.
I blinked. "To love someone… as in care for them? Or… love as in… for all eternity?"
"…Either one."
I looked at the ceiling, petting his head slightly. "Well… I imagine that loving someone for all eternity is like… your heart speeds up whenever you're near them, that they make you want to do ridiculously sappy, and bizarre things, and that you'd want to do anything for them… anything to make them happy, despite whether it's rational or not."
"What about… if you just care about someone?"
"I guess that would be kinda like how I feel about Aya-kun, Ken-kun and Yohji-kun… I can't bear to see them suffer, whether they're aware of it or not. When they make stupid decisions, you want to kick them really hard, and then make it all better. Some of loving for all eternity is probably the same for just caring about someone, and I imagine a lot of caring about someone goes for loving someone as well…
"Why do you ask?" I glanced at Nagi, who looked thoughtful.
"Well… I've never really had the opportunity to love, or care for anyone besides myself… Tot was… Tot was so close… But I don't know if I loved her, I thought at the time I did but…" he trailed off, staring at the wall.
"…But?" I encouraged.
"But… I think that feeling got distorted… sometime in the last few months… made into something smaller than it was."
"How so?"
"Omi… I think… I've… I mean… I think I'm…" He paused, and I didn't push him. He took a deep breath. "I think… I love you."
I smiled and hugged him a bit closer. "I can't imagine your team-mates would be happy to hear that."
"Oh contraire… Schuldig thinks it's wonderful. And Farf can't stop making fun of me," he stated, somewhat monotonously. "I haven't quite pulled the guts together to tell Crawford yet. I don't know that he'd take it quite as well as Schu and Farf."
I kissed the top of Nagi's head with a contented sigh. "Well… I can't say for sure… but I think the feeling is mutual."
Now satiated, Nagi buried his face into my chest again, and closed his eyes. "Goodnight."
"G'night, Nagi-kun…"
"Everyone have their supplies?" Crawford asked. We nodded. "And everyone understands the plan?" We nodded again. Crawford nodded in response, and we all climbed out of the car, one at a time.
Schuldig soon took to the roofs, and Farfarello to the alleys, as Nagi, Crawford and myself stepped out of the car.
"This is my battle," I whispered, "you don't have to be here."
"They're our problem, too, Omi," Nagi smiled, taking my gloved hand in an effort to comfort me. I smiled appreciatively in response.
Crawford glanced back at us, and I nodded, a motion which was repeated by Nagi soon after. We headed into the main office building, which hid the few members of Kritiker who met in one spot.
Stepping into the elevator, I punched in a code, and glanced to Nagi. Nagi nodded, and there was a sudden crunching noise, as two cameras imploded in on themselves, as the elevator started moving.
"You're sure we can trust Farfarello on his own?" I asked, staring at the keypad.
"Mastermind is keeping tabs on him. They are both aware of what they're expected to do," Crawford said in the same steady monotone he always used.
The elevator stopped, and I pulled out my darts. "Get ready."
They're aware that we're here.
A/N: Yes... sap sap and more sap. Enjoy your sap while it lasts. Two more chapters to go... And thanks for all the comments guys, I really wasn't going to hold it hostage; that was my excuse incase it came late, hehe. But I appreciate the sentiment.
