Wer Hält Deine Hand- II
A horde of screaming schoolgirls stood outside the windows of the Koneko Sumu no Ie waiting for one of the four flower-boys to come unlock the doors. A brown haired girl decided to be bold and lean against the window. She cupped her hands over her eyes as she peered in and looked for the shopkeepers who she, and countless other girls came to see every morning. A grin spread across her face as she found four figures moving around in the shop. Her large blue eyes grew into giant throbbing hearts and she managed to squeal out, "ANOU!! LUCKY!! They're all here today!" before turning back to her friends and jumping up and down excitedly. Two different pigtailed girls took her place at the window, trying to catch a glimpse of what their friend had seen.
"KUDOU YOUJI!!" they screamed instantly, their voices blending together in a high-pitched squeal as they found one of the males they were searching for. The two giggled maniacally and threw themselves into each others arms, hugging each other in bubbling happiness. Inside the Koneko, things weren't quite so carefree.
Ken rubbed his forehead and rolled his brown eyes to the ceiling. "Anou…don't they ever quiet down?" The morning was just beginning, it was too early for a headache. He picked up a box of potted flower arrangements and threw his head in Omi's direction. "Omi-kun, is the rest of Minako-san's order ready? It has to be delivered at the Shinto Shrine by nine-thirty. I only have half an hour to make it all the way over to Jyuuban!"
"Hai, Hai, Just a moment Ken-kun!" the blonde Omi replied, nimble fingers working quickly to tie a finishing bow on the final bouquet of flowers. When finished, he set them in a box with several others identical bouquets of freesias and baby's breath before hefting the box up into his arms and walking out the back door where the car waited. Ken followed him with his box of potted flowers and his car keys.
"Aya-kun, could you get the door and those Mums for me?" The older boys set aside his clippers and rose bush as he grunted an affirmative and proceeded to pick up a box of multi-colored flowers. He reached the door and pushed it open, allowing Ken to go through first and set down the load of clay pots into the back of their delivery van. Ken took a quick glance around before Omi shut the vehicles sliding side door. "Is that everything?" Ken was almost whispering to himself as he climbed into the drivers seat and started the car, still checking, and silently counting the number of flowerpots. Aya slid the garage door open and walked back into the shop with Omi in tow as Ken pulled out into the street and headed towards Jyuuban for the afternoon.
Omi sighed and glanced at his watch. It was a quarter till nine, they opened their doors on the hour- at least when he was home. On weekdays, at school he wondered if the shop ever opened at all. "Aya-kun, do you mind if I open the doors early?" The redhead looked up and met Omi's eyes briefly before grunting affirmative. Omi didn't even bother to ask Youji, seeing as the other boy would probably grab his coat within fifteen minutes and leave.
He walked to the door and turned the key. The doors flew open against the flood as girls pooled into the room , grabbing at their respective flower-boy. A few sighed and walked over towards Omi, with quiet mutterings that sounded suspiciously like, "Maa Maa! Ken-kun isn't here." Omi welcomed them with a tired laugh and even conversed with one or two for a moment before a loud crash was heard.
A girl stared at the flower pot that she had just knocked over. Aya stood over her with a frown as she bit her fingertips, tears threatening to spill from her shaking eyes. Without a word, he bent over and picked up the flower in his hands and carried it to the counter. The girl followed him, nearly running to keep up. "G…Gomenasai…" She apologized softly, her voice frightfully quiet.
"Hn." Aya pulled a new pot out of the cabinet and set it on the counter, looking over the girls head. "If you are not going to buy anything, Get out." some of the girls whined but slowly made their way out of the shop.
"Aya no yaro." One muttered as the door shut with the chime of the bell. Aya lifted the uprooted plant and set it in a new pot, pouring soil around it as the girl watched. When he was finished, he slid it towards her with a crooked smile. It was the best he could do. He'd watched the girl before the plant had fallen, and unlike the others, she wasn't screaming his name in that high-pitched voice that most pre-pubescent girls seemed to have. She had only been looking quietly at the flowers on the wall, probably the only real customer for the early morning.
"For me?" Aya nodded and the girl broke into a grin. She pulled the flower pot closer and hugged it to her chest, blushing. "Arigatou…Aya-san." Her voice was a quiet whisper as she pulled the flower from the counter and turned to leave the shop. She glanced one behind her, pink cheeks smiling as the bell signaled her leave.
"That was sweet Aya-kun." Omi said from behind him, grinning widely behind a fern that he held in hand. Aya's face had already turned to stone again and he frowned at Omi.
"Hnn. It was an accident." The slap of a magazine on a table interrupted the two and Youji stood, slipping on his jacket, just as Omi had predicted.
"Well, I'm gone. Don't forget tonight. Six. I'll be home before then. Remind Ken. At the Penguin. Later." Though his choppy, fragmented sentences would have not even made sense to someone speaking Gibberish, Omi and Aya understood perfectly and chose not to comment. A mission wasn't something to be spoken openly about, especially in public. He walked out the door, the chime echoing in the shop once more.
"Ma~nni!" Torii bent over her friend who was still asleep and called her name out in a high sing-songy voice. Her fingers tripped the light switch, causing an unshielded light-bulb to illuminate the small white room. "Manni, get up. We're going to be late for work. It's already five." A groan escaped Manni's throat and she rolled over, burying her face into her pillow and pulling the blanket over her head.
It was no wonder that the girl didn't want to get up. She had come home crying just before dawn, around six a.m. Torii had been sitting wide awake in bed at the time, flashes of a brutal nightmare replaying behind her eyes as she heard the door open down the hall. The sound of Manni's muffled sobs caught her ears but they were abruptly cut off when the soft bang of her bedroom door was heard. The thought of comforting her friend crossed her mind, but for the life of her, she couldn't get up the courage to slip out of her warm, safe bed. In her dream, someone was waiting for her, and the presence hadn't yet left her senses. She hid under her blanket and went back to sleep.
"Torii?" Manni's tired voice drew her back, and she noticed her friend peeking up at her from under a silky black pillow. The older girls attention visibly came back and she looked at Manni, a friendly smile taking away the blank look in her eyes.
"C'mon Man-. We gotta get ready to go to work." Manni nodded, stretching long, thin arms out above her head with a groan. Retracting into a ball she sighed and rolled out of bed. She landed on her knees with a thump, stretching one more time before pulling her bottom dresser drawer open and rummaging through it. Torii started to leave the room but paused in the door way and turned back to Manni. "Say…Who was that bloke last night, Man?"
Manni selected a short black tee-shirt and slammed the drawer shut with a lingering bang. A frown was set on her lips as she stood and whirled around to the closet. "Old friend. Visiting from Germany." She opened the door with more force than necessary, saying nothing when it slammed into the wall hard enough to leave a dent. Metal scraped across metal as she pushed hangers aside looking for the one that her form-fitting black leather pants hung on. Her frown depend with each article of clothing she passed that wasn't what she was searching for.
"Must have been some friend," Torii said at length, carefully choosing her words. "The way you were trembling I would have guessed you were afraid. 'Guess it was only the excitement, right?" Her tone oozed with sarcasm. She looked at her blonde friend, watching her face for some twitch of emotion but found nothing but anger.
"We had a lot of making up to do," Manni hissed at last, creamy green eyes narrowed to slits. She found her pants and jerked them off the hanger letting the twisted piece of metal clatter against the wall until it landed on the floor, waiting to trip someone. "Now if you'll get your head out of my ass-" she pushed past Torii, knocking her out of the doorway and heading down the hall, "I'm going to take my shower." The bathroom door slammed shut and the sound of running water drowned out the ringing Torii's ears.
The two made it to the Purple Penguin two minutes away from being late. The after-work crowd was at a healthy number. Japanese business men, and women alike, seemed to huddle in every crevice of the room, content to sip their wine and talk loudly. It was usual. The two girls began to weave in, out, and between people just to make it to the far-side of the bar where their boss was waiting. They clocked in and grabbed their aprons, Torii pausing to tie her hair up in a pony tail before sticking a pencil behind her ear. "Manni-" Torii lifted her chin, averting her eyes from her order pad only to see that Manni had already walked out into the crowd to find a table to wait on. Torii rushed to catch her, springing into a jog as she brushed through the crowd. "Please? Tell me what's going on with you!"
Torii had pestered her the entire trip to the bar, begging her friend to tell her what was wrong. It took all Manni's self-control not to slap the other girl across the face and tell her to shut up. The thought of slapping her best friend had never before crossed her mind, but under the stress she felt, strings were snapping. She didn't even toss a glance back at Torii as she allowed herself to be consumed in the mob. It was if the older girl had never even spoken. Torii stopped in her tracks and sighed shaking her head before spinning on her heel and disappearing in the opposite direction.
Torii walked across the floor until she found herself at a familiar corner table where a man sat quietly in the shadows. She kept her eyes downcast as she absently recited her script as a waitress, slowly pulling the pencil from behind her ear. Broken English replied to her broken Japanese.
"I never got my scotch last night." She didn't have to see his face to know he was grinning widely. She frowned and her dark gaze darkened.
"The asshole." Her mind whispered. She recognized the teasing tone and sparks began to fly behind her eyes. This was someone she didn't have patience for tonight. She stepped back a pace and grunted. "You again? Christ." Without any further comment, she turned and walked away. Youji smirked, thinking about asking her out for Friday when she came back around, but his PHS rang drawing him away from his thoughts.
"Balinese here. Siberian?" Youji kept his voice neutral save the slight questioning tone at the end of his sentence.
"Bombay here." Omi informed him on the other end. "Any sign of the target yet?"
"Negative. Abyssinian or Siberian seen anything yet?"
"Iie. Not yet. Keep in touch Balinese. Bombay out." There was a beep and Youji's cell phone cut out. With a anxious sigh, he settled back into a relaxed position with his feet on the table, keeping a sleepy eye open, watching for their target.
The target was a middle aged Japanese business man, easy to spot due to abnormal height and a nervous twitch in his left eye. Himemiya Shinobu was his name, a ring leader of a small-time child slave trade and drug dealer on the side. Persia said something about connections with higher ups in society but no elaboration had been made in the video. Youji growled in his throat and rolled his head backwards. He hoped this guy would show up soon, he had a hot date at nine.
As if obeying his silent wish, a shrill cry was heard across the room and Himemiya made his appearance. Youji checked his watch and pulled a small knob on the side, releasing the sharp garrote wire within. Standing from his chair, he tossed a quick glance around the room looking for his teammates, easily spotting Aya perched in the rafters like a cat who had spotted a mouse. The younger assassin's sword was drawn and he was preparing to jump down and make the kill.
By the time Youji noticed the hostage in the targets arms it was too late. "K'so!" he growled, sprinting forward, calling out Aya's code-name. "Abyssinian! MATTE!" The redhead landed one sword-length away from his target, his eyes shifting only momentarily to his partner in reassurance before returning to Himemiya and the young blonde hostage in his arms.
Aya stared into the man's eyes, cold violet meeting frightened dark chocolate, gageing the other quietly. "D-dare?" The man's voice quivered, as did his hold on the gun. It didn't get past Aya, who held it sword steady. "Who are you?" He repeated, no less afraid. The assassin said nothing, and stared numbly at the two as Himemiya raised the gun to the girls head. She cried weakly in protest, her mouth falling open as she stared at Aya, begging him without words.
"Weiß. Hunters of darkness." Aya lowered his sword and stepped slowly forward, gripping the gun in Himemiya's shaking hand, which offered no protest. So concentrated on Aya, the man didn't even notice as two lean arms rose over his head and laced a thin wire around his neck. Youji pulled it taut and Himemiya released the waitress, and the gun into Aya's arms, his gecko-like fingertips immediately searching for the wire, clawing furiously at the invisible force.
Slippery red blood trickled down his neck and fingers, dying the white collar of his shirt. He choked and gagged as he tried to breathe in, blood leaking up through parted bluing lips. Youji pulled and pinned the smaller man against his chest, lips set in a tight frown as he strangled the life from the dark beast. Himemiya's body went slack and Youji dropped him to the floor, his wire retracting into his watch. He turned and ran without looking back.
Aya, on the other hand, stood still, rooted in place, his violet eyes wide and cheeks pink as the tiny waitress buried her face in the folds of his jacket, her arms laced tightly around his waist. She had clung to him when the target released her, and Aya had no clue what to do. "K'so." He whispered, gently pushing her away as the crowds gathered around. The girl released him and glanced up to meet his eyes. Aya looked away, his color deepening.
"Manni!!" Torii's voice interrupted, frantic as she pushed through the crowd. Manni turned to her, forgetting the redhead as she threw her arms around the other girl. Tears suddenly came to her eyes and her voice turned into a ragged sob.
"Torii!" she cried, "I'm sorry!" Torri's only reply was to hug her back and hush her quietly. Maybe now the girl would open up and tell her what was going on. Torii suspected, and not without reason, that the dead man behind them was in someway connected with what Manni wouldn't tell her. A blur of movement caught her attention and she looked up, over Manni's shoulder to see her friends rescuer slip away into the crowd unnoticed. He was gone before she could cry out for him to wait. Biting her lip she pulled away from Manni and cupped her face in her hands.
"Are you alright?" She finally asked, studying the blondes face carefully.
"I'm ok Torii…I'm ok now." She hugged Torii again and stood to her feet, wiping her sleeve over her eyes. She pulled Torii up with her and slung an arm over her shoulder as she did a quick once-over of the room, searching for the man who had saved her only moments ago. "Where did he go?"
"C'mon Manni. He's gone…" Torii nudged Manni forward, dragging her into the crowd that parted for them to get through. "Let's get you all cleaned up, hm?" They trudged through the now silent mass of people, their eyes downcast away from the shocked stares. They walked into the backroom and shut the door with a click. "Will you tell me what is going on?" Torii's soft but demanding voice drew a sigh from Manni as she climbed onto the counter by the sink and turned the knob on the faucet.
She held her hand under the spray of water and let it leak through her fingers and into the drain below. "Personal stuff." Manni kicked her feet absently against the cabinet door under her, drumming a familiar beat. "His name is Kristian Sonne." She admitted at last, dipping her head under the cool water and let it soak her hair and dribble across her face. She sat up again and ran her hands up her face, rivulets of water spilling down her arms as she raked her wet hair back. "I lived with him when I lived in Germany. All that bullshit I told you about my Aunt and Uncle taking care of me after my parents died? Well it's just that." She pause to gage Torii's reaction, looking for the resentment she expected to find. Discovering none, she continued. "I lived alone before meeting Kristian, selling everything I had." The emptiness in her eyes reflected the old memories that were hidden just below the surface. "…And I really did not have very much." It was then that Torii had realized she had not meant material possessions. "Kristian found me when I was fifteen and took me in. I assume it was out of pity, but he offered me a place to live, so I accepted the offer. It wasn't long after I had been there that I realized it was a place that I did not want to stay in." Torii by this point in Manni's story had settled down opposite her on another counter, listening intently. "There was a price for living there, but with nowhere else, what was I to do?"
"Remember when we met in England a couple years back?" Torii nodded and Manni offered a crooked smile. "I was with Krisitan during that time. Seventeen years old and already a blatant whore. Meeting you and the guys was the best thing that could have happened to me. When I met you, it really made me see how poor of a position I was in. I had realized it before but not to the extremity that I did then." She stopped for a moment realizing she was getting off track, but then again in a speech confessing the foundation of lies you had built a relationship upon, never really had a specific track. "I was in England because Krisitan was making deals. Of what sort I have never been quite sure, but it gave me an idea…and I asked him if I could make a deal with him."
"A deal?" Torii had been silent until this interjection, but Manni didn't seem to mind the interruption and nodded solemnly.
"Yes. He told me that if I could pay him twenty thousand Marks in exactly one year, that I could be free to live my life. That is when I called you to arrange plans to live with you in London. It was after that we decided to move to Japan, and I had at the time thought it would keep Kristian away too. So all was set, the deal was made, now it is nearly a year later, and I don't even have a fourth of the money in my name. I've tried to get it, believe me, but life isn't as sweet as it sometimes should be. Looks like I'll be going home soon."
"Damnit Manni! What do you mean "go home"? Run away for chrissakes!" Torii was suddenly enraged, her normally peaceful face contorted with anger and a hint of fear.
"He will find me Torii. It is like he's everywhere. No matter where I go…" Her voice cracked and she slid into the strained silence between them. "I can't run forever, so I may as well face him now."
"Go to Canada, stay with Rhys's brother. Or go home to New Oreleans with Draven. The band can take a break. You'll be safe there-"
"Didn't you listen to me? I told you, no matter where I go he will find me!" She yelled it this time, enunciating clearly as she glared irately at her friend. She raked her hands through her hair again gritting her teeth and turning her angry gaze to the floor. "It will only complicate matters for me if I run away this time." Her voice was softer now. "I am sorry for yelling." She tried to offer a crooked, pasted-on smile. "No worries mate," she began in a terrible imitation of an English accent like Torii's, "everything will be ok. I promise."
"I hope so." Torii inched nearer and embraced her friend.
*****
Ok. Yeah. It took me forever. I'm sorry. I've bought a computer for myself and have been quite busy with school stuff. *nods* I had to re-write all that I had written because well. A: I am a perfectionist and a rough draft doesn't cut it for me. And B: the A: drive on the other computer is corrupted and destroyed the entire story that I had. Without that I didn't feel right about moving on, so I rewrote it. I'm much happier with it. Sorry it's so much Manni and Torii so far. Yeah blah blah, damn those original characters. I hate stories with original characters. Anyways- I promise to have much more Weiß in here. (Lots of Aya and Youji since…we all love them so. Danke Schon, Asche.
