[A/N: My deepest most heartfelt apologies for being the epitome of sloth
that I am. Every single review I got for the last chapter had the word
"UPDATE!" somewhere in it. Gottcha. ^_^' Also, I'd like to dedicate this
update to annakas who just went on a psychotic reviewing spree.]
Chapter 8 The Man On Your Balcony
"Aya?" I said, disbelieving that he's actually waiting for me in my room, on my bed. Wouldn't exactly expect Ran to be the very forward type, would you? I kicked off my shoes as I threw my keys over somewhere onto the table next to my door and hung my jacket up on a hook.
"You've been gone all night," Ran said, surprisingly quietly and without taking his gaze off the ceiling.
Is that a guilt trip or what! "I know." I walked over to my bed and sat down next to him. He didn't move; he looked completely frozen. "You aren't going to believe the bad luck I had."
"You said you'd be back early."
I was, to put it lightly, taken aback by his persistence with this. This must have been one hell of a nightmare. "I know. I'm sorry, but Seven broke down in the middle of the storm and I had to push her all the way to a gas station like an hour away, and there was this pervert there..."
Ran cut me off before I could finish. He turned his head to look at me. "He came last night, and you weren't here."
"It was just a nightmare," I said, trying to be comforting but working to push the annoyance out of my voice at the same time. It's not like it was all my damn fault that I couldn't be here when he'd like me to. And I tried, too! That's what really got to me; I tried so hard to be here, and after all the shit that happened to me, he's still acting like I couldn't care less.
"It wasn't a dream," Ran insisted and sat up to talk to me face-to- face.
"If you say so." I resigned and laid back on the bed with every intention of getting to sleep with him at arm's length and without any more conversation. My head pounded.
"You still don't believe me." I felt him move off the bed, and I forced my eyelids open to see what he was doing. Well, I'll be damned; he was walking away.
"You must be shitting me if you're mad because of this." I perched myself up on my elbow to watch him walk lightly towards my door. He didn't say anything. "Oh, come on! I can't change my life around because you get nightmares!"
Ran looked back at me, apparently unable to resist saying something in his own defense. "You don't understand," he said and walked out.
I flopped back down on the bed, exhausted more from my conversation with him than from the whole night put together. How did he expect me to drop my nightly rituals so that he can avoid a bitchy telepath? I laughed into my pillow. How idiotic. Then I briefly thought that I have to convince myself that it's idiotic because if I started believing it I'd have to throw myself off a bridge for treating him like that. Well, good thing this 'nightmares in reality' philosophy is ridiculous then. Hooray for logic.
I went to sleep with the conviction that I'm perfectly in the right on this safely tucked away in my mind. I was woken up some time later by a knock on my door. I dragged myself out of bed and trudged to answer it. It was Omi. He smiled at me from the hallway and said, "Mission."
"How long do I have to get ready?" I asked, rubbing my face to get the feeling back into it.
"Twenty minutes," Omi said. He had his pro assassin face on. Come to think of it, whenever a mission rolled around, he was always the most professional out of all of us. It's like he became a completely different person.
"Twenty-five," I bargained.
"Twenty."
I sighed and smiled crookedly. "Twenty, then." Omi nodded and walked back down the hall, probably to Ken's room. Ken is rivaling my laziness.
I figured I could take ten minutes to shower and then ten to get ready. I don't really have to look good for assassinating. I stepped into the hot shower and let the water wash away everything that's been happening over the past week. God, has it only been a week? Not even! More like four or five days since Ran has dropped into our lives, and I'm already taking a good one-eighty spin.
I stepped out of the shower and pulled a towel around my waist. I walked back to my room like that. It's halfway decent which is good enough for me. Once I got to my room, I pulled some clothes on and threw my mission jacket on, buttoning it up. I snapped on my watch and searched for my boots, which were nowhere to be found. Must've left them by the front door somewhere so I walked down the stairs barefoot.
Predictably, Ran was waiting for the rest of us in the downstairs hallway. He was standing perched up against a wall, all decked out in mission gear with the katana hanging portentously at his side. He looked up at me almost reluctantly.
"Seen my boots?" I asked, more to kill the painful silence than anything.
Ran closed his eyes in annoyance and signed, "You left them in my room when you were drunk."
Damn. Didn't see that coming. "Thanks," I said miserably and turned around to walk all the way back up the stairs. As I approached Ran's room, the realization set in that maybe he left his room locked just to piss me off so I'd have to walk all the way back down, beg him for the key and walk all the way back up. I would've if I were him. I turned the knob, expecting this scenario, only to find that the door quietly slipped open. Well, he's less petty than I would have been.
I walked in and felt around for a light switch on the wall to dispel some of this hideous darkness that swallowed everything in the room. I found it after some searching and let my eyes adjust to the sudden light. The boots were in plain sight, at the foot of his bed, as if he were expecting this exact situation. I sat down on his bed and began pulling them on.
A shadow appeared in the doorway and I looked up in curiosity. "Whatcha doin'?" Ken asked, leaning against the doorframe.
"Putting on my shoes," I said sarcastically.
"Too much junk to keep them in your own room?"
I laughed. Ken certainly had a way of saying things. "No, I left them here the other night."
He raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Gottcha," he said finally and slipped out of the doorframe.
"Wait." I looked up to see him vanish. "Got what?" He was already gone, though. What was that supposed to mean? I finished tying up my shoes and walked out of the room, turning off the light on my way through the door. I walked down the stairs towards where I found Ran before to see that everyone was ready and waiting for me.
"Well, let's go!" I said and headed for the door. I reached for the knob and suddenly remembered that we have no car. I swung around, ignoring the evil gazes I was getting from everyone. "We have no car," I declared.
"What?" Ken said. Ran's hand hovered ominously over the katana.
"Seven broke down in the middle of the storm last night. She's at a gas station, being watched over by a perverted prick."
Omi raised his eyebrows. Ken sighed, "Well, we can take my bike but I can only take one other person with me.
"I'll drive, too," Ran announced and moved past me through the doorway. I was off the hook. I let Ken and Omi walk by me before I stepped out and locked the door behind us. I turned to see Ran getting into the driver's seat of his car and Ken pulling on his helmet. Omi stood next to me, waiting patiently for me to give him the key. Smart kid. I handed it over without question and immediately made my way towards Ken's bike. Omi shrugged and got into the passenger seat of Ran's car.
Ran pulled out of the driveway as Ken watched me suspiciously. "You're not going with Aya?"
"What difference does it make?" I asked and pulled on the helmet he handed me.
"Whatever," Ken answered and swung one leg over the side of his bike. I followed example and did the same.
Omi was navigating so Ken drove behind Ran's car the whole way there even though Omi had us all hooked up to communication devices in our headsets. We pulled up to a tall office building, and he gave us directions through our headphones. "Aya-kun will take the west side, you two take the east, and I'll set up in the basement."
"Got it," I said into my microphone, and Ken pulled around the east side of the building as I watched Ran drive to the other end of the premises.
We pulled off our helmets and got off Ken's bike. "Let's get this thing done," he said, partially to me and partially to Omi over the communication device.
"I'm in," Omi declared within minutes. The kid was fast. "Wait for my signal before you go in."
Ken made some conversation while we waited for Omi to disable the system. "So, who was that guy yesterday?"
I pulled out a cigarette to calm my impatience for the coming adrenaline rush. "What guy?" I asked, honestly clueless.
"The one that was on your balcony last night."
I raised an eyebrow. "Aya, you mean?"
"Probably not. Taller, long hair," Ken said, casually leaning against his bike. "I went outside cause I heard noises, but when I saw him I just figured it was someone coming to see you."
Possibilities started running through my head. "I wasn't even at home last night."
"Was it a robber?" Ken asked, smacking himself on the forehead for not thinking of that when he first saw him.
"I don't think so," I answered. "If he was, he was a pretty bad one. Wasn't a thing out of place in my room."
Suddenly, all the lights went out in the building and the small red signal by the door indicating an alarm system went out as well. "Alright, you're clear," Omi said, his voice reverberating through our headsets.
Ken and I wasted no time. The door closest to us snapped open upon Omi's command and we slipped inside. He soon informed us that we were currently on the first floor of the east side of the building and that if we go up to the sixth floor we should come upon the office of one of our targets. He then clicked away from our headphones, probably to tell Ran where he can find his victim.
This was all sounding pretty simple to me, and while I was glad of that, I was suspicious that something will go haywire. Something always goes haywire. Ken and I quickly made our way up the stairs.
"Go down the hall on your right. It's the office at the very end. There are two security guards in front of the door." Omi's instructions were simple and clear.
"Piece of cake," Ken said, and Omi, satisfied with the response, clicked over to talk to Ran. Ken and I swiftly ran to the end of the hall where, as predicted, we met up with two guards. My wire snapped out of its case before they even saw us coming and wrapped itself neatly around their necks, pulling them together and into a corner.
"Don't move if you want to live," I told them and nodded for Ken to go in and take the target. He slipped into the office and the door closed quietly behind him.
"Who are you?" One of the guards questioned me. There's always one who wants to know.
"Weiss," I said. That should sufficiently satisfy his curiosity.
"What do you want?" Or not.
"Shut up," I said and pulled a little bit on the wire, only enough to draw a few drops of blood to keep them quiet. No need taking more lives than necessary.
I heard a scream from behind the closed door, and Ken stepped out into the hallway right after, bloody bugnuks and all. "Oh my God," said the other guard.
"Hey, knock them out," I said to Ken.
"You're a saint," he told me as he banged their heads together. He knew it was either this or their deaths, and it was up to me to decide. They lied unconscious on the ground.
"How was it?" I asked.
"Cleaner than usual," Ken answered and clicked a small button on the side of his headset. "Bombay, come in."
"Is Abyssinian with you?" Omi's voice echoed into our ears.
"No," I answered. "Why would he be?"
"I can't reach him on his headset. It might be nothing."
"It might not be," I said, worry taking over me despite the fact I desperately tried to wave it away. "I'll go look for him."
"Balinese, the stairs are back down the hall. Abyssinian should be somewhere on the seventh floor. Don't lose contact with me. Siberian, there is a fire escape to your left. It'll take you longer, but you'll avoid the guards this way. I'll meet you on your way down."
"Got it," Ken said, but I was already halfway down the main hall to the stairs. I was on the seventh floor in no time, blindly looking around in the dark for any sign of Ran.
"Bombay," I said into my microphone, holding down the button on the side that opened the communication line. "Where is the office of Abyssinian's target?" I figured it was a good place to start.
"Two halls down from the staircase." Omi's voice came in clearly. "I still can't reach him," he said after a moment, innocent worry resounding in his words.
"It's ok, kid. I'll find him," I said, trying to convince myself of the same as I let go of the communications button. I could see the office Omi was talking about, and the doors to it were wide open. There were no guards around. I walked in cautiously, and confusion as well as some unexplainable anger took over me when I saw what was happening inside.
The body of our target lay on the ground in a puddle of blood, sliced across the chest. Ran stood over it in a trance, katana lying lifelessly by his feet. A man stood next to him with one arm around Ran's shoulders and the other hand holding his chin. Ran did absolutely nothing to stop this. I froze. The man turned to look at me.
/Oh, it's you./ A voice ricocheted inside my head, and I felt like throwing up.
[A/N: I don't know why I torture you so much. I really don't plan on ending chapters like this. It just happens. Honest.][Too bad I'm making Schu the bad guy. He's one of my favorites to write. Oh well, he's a sexy bad guy so it works.][How was my update time? Improved?]
Chapter 8 The Man On Your Balcony
"Aya?" I said, disbelieving that he's actually waiting for me in my room, on my bed. Wouldn't exactly expect Ran to be the very forward type, would you? I kicked off my shoes as I threw my keys over somewhere onto the table next to my door and hung my jacket up on a hook.
"You've been gone all night," Ran said, surprisingly quietly and without taking his gaze off the ceiling.
Is that a guilt trip or what! "I know." I walked over to my bed and sat down next to him. He didn't move; he looked completely frozen. "You aren't going to believe the bad luck I had."
"You said you'd be back early."
I was, to put it lightly, taken aback by his persistence with this. This must have been one hell of a nightmare. "I know. I'm sorry, but Seven broke down in the middle of the storm and I had to push her all the way to a gas station like an hour away, and there was this pervert there..."
Ran cut me off before I could finish. He turned his head to look at me. "He came last night, and you weren't here."
"It was just a nightmare," I said, trying to be comforting but working to push the annoyance out of my voice at the same time. It's not like it was all my damn fault that I couldn't be here when he'd like me to. And I tried, too! That's what really got to me; I tried so hard to be here, and after all the shit that happened to me, he's still acting like I couldn't care less.
"It wasn't a dream," Ran insisted and sat up to talk to me face-to- face.
"If you say so." I resigned and laid back on the bed with every intention of getting to sleep with him at arm's length and without any more conversation. My head pounded.
"You still don't believe me." I felt him move off the bed, and I forced my eyelids open to see what he was doing. Well, I'll be damned; he was walking away.
"You must be shitting me if you're mad because of this." I perched myself up on my elbow to watch him walk lightly towards my door. He didn't say anything. "Oh, come on! I can't change my life around because you get nightmares!"
Ran looked back at me, apparently unable to resist saying something in his own defense. "You don't understand," he said and walked out.
I flopped back down on the bed, exhausted more from my conversation with him than from the whole night put together. How did he expect me to drop my nightly rituals so that he can avoid a bitchy telepath? I laughed into my pillow. How idiotic. Then I briefly thought that I have to convince myself that it's idiotic because if I started believing it I'd have to throw myself off a bridge for treating him like that. Well, good thing this 'nightmares in reality' philosophy is ridiculous then. Hooray for logic.
I went to sleep with the conviction that I'm perfectly in the right on this safely tucked away in my mind. I was woken up some time later by a knock on my door. I dragged myself out of bed and trudged to answer it. It was Omi. He smiled at me from the hallway and said, "Mission."
"How long do I have to get ready?" I asked, rubbing my face to get the feeling back into it.
"Twenty minutes," Omi said. He had his pro assassin face on. Come to think of it, whenever a mission rolled around, he was always the most professional out of all of us. It's like he became a completely different person.
"Twenty-five," I bargained.
"Twenty."
I sighed and smiled crookedly. "Twenty, then." Omi nodded and walked back down the hall, probably to Ken's room. Ken is rivaling my laziness.
I figured I could take ten minutes to shower and then ten to get ready. I don't really have to look good for assassinating. I stepped into the hot shower and let the water wash away everything that's been happening over the past week. God, has it only been a week? Not even! More like four or five days since Ran has dropped into our lives, and I'm already taking a good one-eighty spin.
I stepped out of the shower and pulled a towel around my waist. I walked back to my room like that. It's halfway decent which is good enough for me. Once I got to my room, I pulled some clothes on and threw my mission jacket on, buttoning it up. I snapped on my watch and searched for my boots, which were nowhere to be found. Must've left them by the front door somewhere so I walked down the stairs barefoot.
Predictably, Ran was waiting for the rest of us in the downstairs hallway. He was standing perched up against a wall, all decked out in mission gear with the katana hanging portentously at his side. He looked up at me almost reluctantly.
"Seen my boots?" I asked, more to kill the painful silence than anything.
Ran closed his eyes in annoyance and signed, "You left them in my room when you were drunk."
Damn. Didn't see that coming. "Thanks," I said miserably and turned around to walk all the way back up the stairs. As I approached Ran's room, the realization set in that maybe he left his room locked just to piss me off so I'd have to walk all the way back down, beg him for the key and walk all the way back up. I would've if I were him. I turned the knob, expecting this scenario, only to find that the door quietly slipped open. Well, he's less petty than I would have been.
I walked in and felt around for a light switch on the wall to dispel some of this hideous darkness that swallowed everything in the room. I found it after some searching and let my eyes adjust to the sudden light. The boots were in plain sight, at the foot of his bed, as if he were expecting this exact situation. I sat down on his bed and began pulling them on.
A shadow appeared in the doorway and I looked up in curiosity. "Whatcha doin'?" Ken asked, leaning against the doorframe.
"Putting on my shoes," I said sarcastically.
"Too much junk to keep them in your own room?"
I laughed. Ken certainly had a way of saying things. "No, I left them here the other night."
He raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Gottcha," he said finally and slipped out of the doorframe.
"Wait." I looked up to see him vanish. "Got what?" He was already gone, though. What was that supposed to mean? I finished tying up my shoes and walked out of the room, turning off the light on my way through the door. I walked down the stairs towards where I found Ran before to see that everyone was ready and waiting for me.
"Well, let's go!" I said and headed for the door. I reached for the knob and suddenly remembered that we have no car. I swung around, ignoring the evil gazes I was getting from everyone. "We have no car," I declared.
"What?" Ken said. Ran's hand hovered ominously over the katana.
"Seven broke down in the middle of the storm last night. She's at a gas station, being watched over by a perverted prick."
Omi raised his eyebrows. Ken sighed, "Well, we can take my bike but I can only take one other person with me.
"I'll drive, too," Ran announced and moved past me through the doorway. I was off the hook. I let Ken and Omi walk by me before I stepped out and locked the door behind us. I turned to see Ran getting into the driver's seat of his car and Ken pulling on his helmet. Omi stood next to me, waiting patiently for me to give him the key. Smart kid. I handed it over without question and immediately made my way towards Ken's bike. Omi shrugged and got into the passenger seat of Ran's car.
Ran pulled out of the driveway as Ken watched me suspiciously. "You're not going with Aya?"
"What difference does it make?" I asked and pulled on the helmet he handed me.
"Whatever," Ken answered and swung one leg over the side of his bike. I followed example and did the same.
Omi was navigating so Ken drove behind Ran's car the whole way there even though Omi had us all hooked up to communication devices in our headsets. We pulled up to a tall office building, and he gave us directions through our headphones. "Aya-kun will take the west side, you two take the east, and I'll set up in the basement."
"Got it," I said into my microphone, and Ken pulled around the east side of the building as I watched Ran drive to the other end of the premises.
We pulled off our helmets and got off Ken's bike. "Let's get this thing done," he said, partially to me and partially to Omi over the communication device.
"I'm in," Omi declared within minutes. The kid was fast. "Wait for my signal before you go in."
Ken made some conversation while we waited for Omi to disable the system. "So, who was that guy yesterday?"
I pulled out a cigarette to calm my impatience for the coming adrenaline rush. "What guy?" I asked, honestly clueless.
"The one that was on your balcony last night."
I raised an eyebrow. "Aya, you mean?"
"Probably not. Taller, long hair," Ken said, casually leaning against his bike. "I went outside cause I heard noises, but when I saw him I just figured it was someone coming to see you."
Possibilities started running through my head. "I wasn't even at home last night."
"Was it a robber?" Ken asked, smacking himself on the forehead for not thinking of that when he first saw him.
"I don't think so," I answered. "If he was, he was a pretty bad one. Wasn't a thing out of place in my room."
Suddenly, all the lights went out in the building and the small red signal by the door indicating an alarm system went out as well. "Alright, you're clear," Omi said, his voice reverberating through our headsets.
Ken and I wasted no time. The door closest to us snapped open upon Omi's command and we slipped inside. He soon informed us that we were currently on the first floor of the east side of the building and that if we go up to the sixth floor we should come upon the office of one of our targets. He then clicked away from our headphones, probably to tell Ran where he can find his victim.
This was all sounding pretty simple to me, and while I was glad of that, I was suspicious that something will go haywire. Something always goes haywire. Ken and I quickly made our way up the stairs.
"Go down the hall on your right. It's the office at the very end. There are two security guards in front of the door." Omi's instructions were simple and clear.
"Piece of cake," Ken said, and Omi, satisfied with the response, clicked over to talk to Ran. Ken and I swiftly ran to the end of the hall where, as predicted, we met up with two guards. My wire snapped out of its case before they even saw us coming and wrapped itself neatly around their necks, pulling them together and into a corner.
"Don't move if you want to live," I told them and nodded for Ken to go in and take the target. He slipped into the office and the door closed quietly behind him.
"Who are you?" One of the guards questioned me. There's always one who wants to know.
"Weiss," I said. That should sufficiently satisfy his curiosity.
"What do you want?" Or not.
"Shut up," I said and pulled a little bit on the wire, only enough to draw a few drops of blood to keep them quiet. No need taking more lives than necessary.
I heard a scream from behind the closed door, and Ken stepped out into the hallway right after, bloody bugnuks and all. "Oh my God," said the other guard.
"Hey, knock them out," I said to Ken.
"You're a saint," he told me as he banged their heads together. He knew it was either this or their deaths, and it was up to me to decide. They lied unconscious on the ground.
"How was it?" I asked.
"Cleaner than usual," Ken answered and clicked a small button on the side of his headset. "Bombay, come in."
"Is Abyssinian with you?" Omi's voice echoed into our ears.
"No," I answered. "Why would he be?"
"I can't reach him on his headset. It might be nothing."
"It might not be," I said, worry taking over me despite the fact I desperately tried to wave it away. "I'll go look for him."
"Balinese, the stairs are back down the hall. Abyssinian should be somewhere on the seventh floor. Don't lose contact with me. Siberian, there is a fire escape to your left. It'll take you longer, but you'll avoid the guards this way. I'll meet you on your way down."
"Got it," Ken said, but I was already halfway down the main hall to the stairs. I was on the seventh floor in no time, blindly looking around in the dark for any sign of Ran.
"Bombay," I said into my microphone, holding down the button on the side that opened the communication line. "Where is the office of Abyssinian's target?" I figured it was a good place to start.
"Two halls down from the staircase." Omi's voice came in clearly. "I still can't reach him," he said after a moment, innocent worry resounding in his words.
"It's ok, kid. I'll find him," I said, trying to convince myself of the same as I let go of the communications button. I could see the office Omi was talking about, and the doors to it were wide open. There were no guards around. I walked in cautiously, and confusion as well as some unexplainable anger took over me when I saw what was happening inside.
The body of our target lay on the ground in a puddle of blood, sliced across the chest. Ran stood over it in a trance, katana lying lifelessly by his feet. A man stood next to him with one arm around Ran's shoulders and the other hand holding his chin. Ran did absolutely nothing to stop this. I froze. The man turned to look at me.
/Oh, it's you./ A voice ricocheted inside my head, and I felt like throwing up.
[A/N: I don't know why I torture you so much. I really don't plan on ending chapters like this. It just happens. Honest.][Too bad I'm making Schu the bad guy. He's one of my favorites to write. Oh well, he's a sexy bad guy so it works.][How was my update time? Improved?]