**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Weiß or it's characters (ohhh, though I wish I did...) so don't sue me. You wouldn't get anything... I have no money! This story takes place after the end of the TV series, but since I haven't gotten to see the OVAs (;_;) it doesn't have anything from there in it.**
**C&C is very welcome! I always want feedback, even if it's just dropping a line and saying, 'Hey, I read your fic.' Email me at saezuru@hotmail.com if you want to say anything. Thanks for reading!**
f a l l e n a n g e l s
a weiß kreuz fanfiction
part two
"How has the search been going?"
"Not well."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
There was a short, unpleasant laugh. "Well, keep looking. It doesn't matter how many get ruined,
as long as You find one who suits Your purposes."
"Hai. But what about You?"
"I'm looking still. Don't worry, We have some time left."
Silence for a moment. "But We don't have forever."
"No."
"I'll continue looking."
"Good."
Akito laughed and pushed his six year-old sister's swing once more, causing her to shriek in
delight. Then he stepped aside and let her swing by herself. Leaning against the metal bars, he
watched her swing back and forth. "Ne, Hisae-chan, do you want to get ice cream after this?" He
wanted to make his sister's birthday the best she'd ever had.
The little girl's eyes widened. "Really?"
Akito nodded, with a wide smile. "Really."
"Hai, oniichan!" She put her feet down and dragged the swing to a halt, rushing over and flinging
her arms around her brother's knees.
Akito pretended to stumble backwards, landing in the sandbox. "Oi, you're getting too big for
that, Hisae-chan!"
Laughing, Hisae grabbed a handful of her brother's hair. "Ice cream!" she said happily.
"Owowow . . . okay, Hisae-chan! We'll go! Let go my hair!"
"Haaaii!" She released her hold on Akito's head, and he stood up, reaching down for her hand.
Hisae took it happily and began skipping towards the ice cream store across the street. They
waited at the corner for the walk signal to light up, and then began to make their way along the
cross-walk. As they reached the middle of the street, Akito suddenly stopped, staring ahead of
him wide-eyed.
Hisae looked up and tugged at her brother's hand. "Oniichan, come on! Oniichan!"
Akito continued staring in front of him. Let's see here . . . the sly, smooth voice was only audible
to him, echoing inside his mind. Sixteen, top student in the class. Lives with his little sister,
parents both dead. Oh, how charming . . . such a happy little family . . .
Hisae tugged harder. "Oniichaaaan! What's wrong? Oniichan?"
Akito's ears didn't even hear his little sister's cries. He didn't even have time to wonder what was
going on. The slithering little voice went on a little louder. Well, nothing for it but to try. I'm
sure you won't mind. After all, you'll either die or serve Me and the others. Wonderful choice,
isn't it? And with that, a sharp pain flooding into overrode any senses Akito might have had left.
Just before his vision went black, he thought he caught the briefest glimpse of a pair of inhuman,
golden eyes boring into his own with an impossible intensity . . .
He clapped his hands to his head, crying out suddenly and doubling over. His little sister
screamed and tugged frantically at his arm, trying to pull him off the street. The 'walk' sign was
flashing ominously, a warning that the light for the traffic would soon change.
He sank to his knees, moaning, clutching his head in his hands. Tears on her face, Hisae tried to
drag her brother to his feet again. But he was sixteen years old, and she was only six. She didn't
do anything except exhaust herself. He whispered something under his breath, something Hisae's
young ears strained to her.
The light changed. But no one could see the small pair huddled in the middle of the crosswalk.
The traffic started to move forward.
Hisae didn't see. Her eyes were clouded by frightened tears, and she kept pulling at her older
brother's arm. He didn't move, except for the slight shuddering of his frame as if he were in
horrible pain. "Oniichan . . . oniichan . . ." Her voice rose. "Oniichan, wake up! Wake up! You
promised me ice cream today-- you promised me oniichan . . ." She knelt down by her brother
and began to sob.
The traffic moved on. A driver spotted something in front of his car and honked as he tried to
brake, hard. But it wasn't slowing fast enough-- the brakes were locked, the car began to skid
towards the intersection . . .
Akito suddenly stood up, fluidly. He ignored the choked sobbing of his sister and glanced
towards the traffic as the rest of the drivers saw him and tried to brake there was a screech of
brakes, a flash of sunlight glinting off a rearview mirror the cars spun into the intersection, a
cloud of dust stirring and rising.
Only when everything was silent again did the dust begin to clear. No one noticed that the young
boy was no longer in the intersection, and was standing over on the street corner. There was no
way he could have gotten there that fast. No, nobody noticed all eyes were on the little,
crumpled form of a little girl lying motionless in the middle of the street where an oncoming car
had tossed her.
From the street corner, the boy looked into the intersection. Then, silently, without attracting any
attention at all, he turned and began to walk down the street, hands in his pockets. He was
smiling.
"Aya-kun, you're going to get caught!"
"Caught? It's not as if I'm doing anything wrong."
Omi wrung his hands, glancing towards the flower shop entrance. "But Sakura and Aya-chan are
here now, running the flower shop! You know we have to stay inside during the day so they don't
see us"
Aya didn't respond. Ken rolled his eyes, and added, "He's right, Aya. You can't go out now."
Aya shook his head. "Just because it's daylight doesn't mean I can't make my regular visit to the
hospital." His hand tightened imperceptibly around the bouquet of flowers he was holding.
Youji, sprawled on the couch as usual, leaned his head over the end of the couch so he could
watch Aya upside down. "Why are you still going there? I think I'd avoid a hospital at all costs...
nasty places, really. Your sister is awake, live and well, so why still visit there every day?"
Aya pulled his arm away from Omi's grasp and moved towards the door. "Because I know what
it's like in there. People need company." And with that, he was gone.
Youji stared after him, the upside down door swinging closed behind him. Then, with a loud sigh,
he sat up, swinging his long legs to the floor. "Well, I'm never going to understand him. Not until
he decides to actually show us what he feels."
Omi was listening worriedly for any sounds of surprise from upstairs. "Our whole mission could
be blown if Sakura or Aya-chan see him now. No one is supposed to know that angels even exist,
much less that we've become them . . ."
"Relax, Omi--" Ken began, but Youji interrupted.
"Mission? What mission? I don't remember being given any mission. Sure, we all got our own
sets of instructions, but mine don't make any sense."
Omi sighed. "Mine don't either. But isn't You-Know-Who supposed to be all-knowing? Surely
it'll make sense when the time comes."
Youji made a rude noise in his throat. "Oh, sure, great load of good that's gonna do us."
Aya slipped out of the door to the flower shop, concentrating hard on not being seen. All the
boys had found they could achieve a sort of imperfect invisibility if they simply suggested, very
hard, to observers that they weren't there. Aya felt a shiver go up his spine as people's eyes just
slid around him, like water. He glanced back as the door closed, through the flower shop
window, and had a nasty shock.
Sakura Tomoe, her hair cut short once more, was staring straight at him. Aya froze. I'm not here,
he thought furiously. You're imagining things. Go back to the flowers. I'm not here . . .
After an instant that felt like an eternity, Sakura looked back down at her flowers and blinked, as
if wondering what she was doing. Then she shook herself, smiled, and went back to suggesting
flower arrangements to her customer.
Aya breathed a sigh of relief, and then began walking down the street, still thinking vaguely about
not being seen. But it didn't matter so much anymore-- not many people would notice a
nondescript redhead strolling down the sidewalk.
His mind kept wandering as he walked. So there was a batch of people falling into comas? What
did it mean? How come they were all young teenaged boys? He shook his head. It didn't make
any sense. This was when he needed Ken's wild imagination, Omi's quick intelligence, Youji's
drawling way of shooting down his impossible ideas.
Before he knew it, he had reached the hospital. He glanced up at the gloomy, cookie-cutter
building for a moment before he entered and stopped at the desk. The nurse behind the desk, a
dark-haired young woman, wasn't the usual one. Aya generally came at night, so this must be the
day-shift receptionist. She looked blankly at him for a moment, until he cleared his throat.
"Oh!" she said, blinking a few times. "I didn't see you there before." She looked at him rather
suspiciously. "Can I help you?"
"I've brought flowers," he said quietly.
"For whom?"
"Anyone who needs them."
The nurse looked puzzled. "But who? Surely you have someone in mind--"
Aya shook his head. "No, ask the night-shift receptionist-- I come every day. The place needs
cheering up, and I work in a flower shop." He shrugged, as if that explained it.
The nurse looked hard at him for what seemed like a long time, and then sighed. "Very well. If
you'll follow me, I'll take you down to intensive care, and you can pick one of the rooms to put
your flowers in." She smiled, ever so slightly. "It's a good thing you're doing, you know, if a
little odd. People need flowers, even if they're in no condition to enjoy them."
Aya didn't reply, but merely followed the young woman as she left the desk to lead him down to
the intensive care rooms. He looked in at the windows on the doors as he passed. There was an
old mad in one room-- Aya remembered him. Two days ago, he'd left flowers in his room. He
craned his neck slightly, and saw them on his night-stand, in a vase of murky water. They moved
on to the next room. If Aya remembered correctly, the next room should be a little boy of about
ten, who'd fallen off his family sail boat and nearly drowned. He remembered the little boy well
thinking about him brought a tiny smile to Aya's lips. Despite being in the hospital, the boy had
been so full of energy, so cheerful. Aya had been going to leave the flowers there that day, but
the boy had told him to save them for someone who needed them more than him he'd showed
Aya the teddy bear that his parents had brought him, and talked about how that took the place of
flowers.
As they passed the window, he looked inside. The bed was empty, the sheets clean and folded up
neatly at the foot of the bed. The teddy bear was gone.
Aya smiled, and turned to the nurse. "So this boy got released from the hospital?"
The nurse glanced at the room, and shook her head quietly. "No-- no, he had a seizure yesterday.
Probably from the stress or trauma of his accident."
Aya's eyes widened in shock. But just yesterday the boy had seemed so alive, so healthy. Aya
shut his eyes, clenching the fist that wasn't holding the flowers. The woman laid a hand on his
arm, and he opened his eyes to look at her.
She didn't say anything-- she didn't need to. She just touched his arm for a minute, and then
continued to lead him down the hallway. As they passed more rooms, one figure inside caught his
eye. It was a little girl, lying motionless on the bed. She looked very alone, surrounded by the
relatively large hospital bed, with a white sheet tucked all around her.
He stopped short in front of the door. The nurse stopped as well, puzzled. Aya pointed through
the window and asked quietly, "Who's that?"
The nurse reached up to get the medical file in the slot near the door. Flipping through it, she
replied, "Kusaragi Hisae. Coma."
Coma. Something resurfaced in Aya's mind, something that had been pushed out by the visit to
the hospital. "Coma? Like the recent episodes with the teenagers?"
The nurse glanced at him sideways for a moment. "No. Though why that interests you, I'm not
sure. It's a horrible thing-- I hope whatever it is that's causing these boys to collapse is taken
care of soon. No-- this girl has nothing to do with the attacks."
"May I go in?"
"Sure. She has no family-- there hasn't been anyone to visit her at all."
Aya opened the door and crossed the room to the girl's bedside, sitting down in a chair next to
her. "No family? But she has to have someone-- someone had to take care of her . . ."
"Oh, here it is-- she has an older brother, and he was the one who took care of her. But no one
has been able to find him to tell him about his sister. He's just disappeared."
Aya picked up the little girl's hand, noticing how lifeless and limp it was. "What happened?"
The nurse looked through the file, and made a low humming noise under her breath. "Says here
she's been in a coma for a few days now. Apparently, she was hit by a car-- a shame, it was her
birthday, too."
Aya froze. The woman continued talking, oblivious. "The report says that she had been on the
crosswalk when the light changed. Several people reported seeing a young boy whose description
might possibly match that of her older brother there with her, but didn't think to look for him
until after the girl was safely on her way to the hospital. He wasn't anywhere to be found,
though, when they did finally look.
Aya forced himself to swallow, looking down at the girl's face.
The nurse sighed. "It's horrible, I know. But it says here that she's been showing signs of waking
up any day now."
Aya didn't reply. Aya-chan 'showed signs of waking up' at first too. But she didn't wake up for
years. This little girl . . . she can't be more than six years old. How . . .
The nurse stood up. "I have to get back to the desk, now . . . do you want to stay here a little
longer?" The nurse must not have been oblivious as she had first seemed, because she was
looking at Aya with a mixture of concern and pity.
Aya nodded silently. As the nurse opened the door to leave, he looked up. "Th-thank you," he
called out hesitantly.
The woman smiled. "You're welcome, sir-- You know what? You never said your name."
"Ah Ran. I'm Ran."
Her smiled widened. "Ran . . . a nice name for someone like you." Before Aya could ask her to
explain what she meant by that, she had slipped out the door.
"Wait!" Aya called. "You never told me yours!"
Faintly, he heard a call coming back to him. "Reika!"
Aya blinked. "Reika . . ." Then he looked back down at the little girl in the bed. He put the vase
of flowers on her bedside table and then sat back down in the chair he'd pulled up to the bed.
"What happened, Hisae?" he murmured, his brows furrowed. "Why did your brother disappear
right after your accident, and never even come to see you?"
He had a brief flash of a young, redheaded teenaged boy stumbling through the rain, his eyes
burning with anguished fire, an old katana clutched tightly in his hand-- Takatori . . .
Aya closed his eyes, pushing the memory away. Glancing back down at the girl, he saw her face
twitch slightly. Was this what the doctors had ben talking about when they had said 'signs of
waking up?' Or had they just been trying to reassure anyone who visited her? Not that it did much
good, anyway . . .
Had Aya-chan sat all alone in the hospital, just like this, trying her hardest to wake up and only
being able to move her face just a tiny bit?
"Oniichan . . ."
Aya's eyes widened, and he snapped his gaze back to the girl on the bed. Her eyes were half
open, and she was staring at the ceiling blearily.
"Hisae?" he murmured. "Y-you . . ."
"Oniichan?" she asked hopefully, turning towards him. Then her face fell as she focused better.
"Where's oniichan?"
"He's . . ." Aya hesitated. "He's busy right now. Is there something you need?" For some reason,
something deep in his chest was tugging at him.
Pity?
Hisae shook her head weakly. "No, I want my oniichan."
"He can't come right now. But I might be able to find him, if you . . . can you tell me what
happened, Hisae? Hisae . . .chan?"
The little girl's eyes were shadowed. "Oniichan was gonna buy me ice cream," she mumbled.
Aya nodded, taking hold of the little girl's hand again.
"We were crossing the street, but we looked both ways and made sure the crosswalk sign was lit
up, just like he always says." She paused, tiredly, but then looked up at Aya and continued. "And
then when we were in the middle of the street, oniichan just stopped moving. He-- he wouldn't
listen to me, I tried to get him to move-- the cars were gonna come--" Her voice quit suddenly,
and her eyes filled with frightened tears.
Aya squeezed her hand softly. "It's okay. You don't need to tell me." The little girl was making
him feel very strange. It was as if Aya-chan was little again.
"No, I want my oniichan back!" said the little girl fiercely. She took a deep breath and went on.
"And then he yelled, and fell down. And the cars started coming, and I tried to pull him away,
but--" Her eyes widened. "Did he get hit? Is he alright?" Her voice in intensity, and she clutched
at Aya's arm.
"No, he didn't get hit," he reassured her quickly, wondering about what she had said. It sounded
an awful lot like the attacks that were somehow linked with Schwartz-- and those yellow eyes.
"He's just not in right now," Aya added.
She frowned. "Who are you?"
He paused, hesitating. "One of your brother's friends," he said eventually.
"Oh. Alright then." There was a comfortable silence for a while, before Hisae said quietly, "He
whispered something, before the cars came," she said quietly.
Aya almost didn't hear her. He leaned forward just a bit, and asked just as quietly, "What did he
say?"
She bit her lip. "He said 'The graveyard-- they're meeting at the graveyard . . .' and then I don't
remember any more."
The graveyard? Aya was puzzled. If indeed this was the work of Schwartz, what were they doing
in a graveyard? And how come the Schwartz were only clouds of shadow, while Aya and the rest
had perfectly functioning bodies once again?
The door opened then, and a nurse rushed in. Aya looked up, but it wasn't Reika. She was
probably back at her desk. "She's awake?" the nurse asked incredulously. "Please, sir, move--
we need to examine her, make sure she's alright . . . she's tired . . ."
Hisae let out a low cry. "I don't want him to go! He's gonna help me find my oniichan! I don't
want to be here by myself!"
Aya stood up, letting go of the child's hand gently. "Don't worry, Hisae," he said, smiling one of
his rare smiles. "I'll come back to visit you again, alright?"
Hisae's large, dark eyes were wide. "Promise?"
Aya smiled again. "I promise." And then he turned and left the room, heading back towards the
entrance. As he passed the reception desk, Reika smiled and nodded to him as he left. "Come
back soon, okay, Ran? We need more people like you."
Whether he was still being affected by Hisae's need or something else entirely, Aya found himself
smiling back. He nodded once, and then ducked out the door. The young woman watched him
leave, a faintly troubled expression on her face.
"Aya-kun, you're back!" Omi looked like he might have been about to cry. "You took so long
that we got worried, I thought you'd been caught!"
Aya shook his head and sat down, crossing his legs at the ankles. He looked rather thoughtful.
Youji popped over the back of the chair, startling Aya into actually having an expression for a
moment. "So what's wrong?" Before Aya could protest, Youji shook his head. "No, no, you
can't hide it from us. Something happened this time. What was it?"
Ken nodded, pulling the computer stool over to the armchair so he could sit down. "Yeah, you
look kind of thoughtful. More so than usual, anyway."
Omi flopped down onto the ground at Aya's feet and nodded as well. "Come on. Tell us."
Finally, Aya caved and told them what had happened at the hospital. After a brief silence, Youji
let out a low whistle.
"Damn . . ."
No one really had anything else to say. Finally, Omi said thoughtfully, "It sounds a whole lot like
those attacks on the teenaged boys."
Ken nodded, frowning slightly. "But . . . why didn't they find him? Do you think he survived, and
isn't in a coma like the others?"
Aya shook his head. "No, I don't think so. If he was alive, he would have come to find his sister."
Youji raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? He might not know where--"
"He'd be able to find her!"
There was silence for a while. They'd rarely seen Aya raise his voice like that, except when bent
on revenge. Finally, Youji pushed himself off the back of the chair and leaned against the wall,
taking out a cigarette and lighting it. "I'll trust you on this one," he said quietly.
Aya didn't respond. Omi stood up as well, glancing towards the darkened television screen as if
he could still see the video clip he'd lifted from Manx's apartment. "Maybe . . ." he began
quietly. "Maybe . . ."
"Maybe?" asked Ken, curiously.
Omi blinked, as if surprised that he had spoken out loud. "What? Oh, no, it's stupid."
But Youji was watching Omi with narrowed eyes. "No, you've thought of something . . .what is
it? You're thinking about Schwartz, aren't you? How can they still be alive . . . ?"
Omi snapped his fingers. "That's it! That's it! Oh, Youji, I could kiss you--" he paused for a
moment. "Ahh . . . but I don't think I will." With that, he scrambled out of the room.
Youji blinked, watching him go. "Er . . . was it something I said?"
When the others found Omi he was in his room, poring over a map, tongue poking out of the
corner of his mouth.
Ken leaned over his shoulder. "What? What've you found, Omi?"
Omi was muttering under his breath. "I see . . . I see! Oh, it's just so simple . . ."
Ken frowned. "Omi! Tell us, too!"
Omi was either ignoring him or truly couldn't hear him. "It's so obvious . . . staring us right in the
face, and it's us, too . . ." He found the page he was looking for and glanced over it quickly.
Then, grabbing a nearby pencil, he circled something on the map.
A vein was twitching in Ken's forehead. "Omi . . ."
Youji reached over Omi's shoulder and plucked the map from his grasp. Omi made a half-hearted
grab for it, but gave up. Youji was a lot taller than him, after all, even as an angel. Youji peered at
the map, asking curiously, "The graveyard? So this is . . .oh, like Aya said. 'They're meeting me
in the graveyard . . .' So you think that Hisae-chan's brother will go there?"
Omi shook his head. "No . . . well, yes, but no."
Aya, leaning against the wall rolled his eyes. "Stop speaking in riddles. If we're supposed to
understand, speak more clearly."
Omi took a deep breath. "I don't know what they're doing--"
"Who?" Ken's brow was furrowed. He looked as if he knew exactly who Omi was talking about,
but didn't want to be the first to say it.
"Schwartz."
"But how can they be doing anything?" asked Ken, bewildered and slightly angry that Omi was
being so ambiguous. "They're dead! Unless . . . do you think they survived, somehow?"
Omi shook his head quickly. "No . . ."
"Then--!" Ken began, shouting, but Youji raised a hand and cut him off. He was looking very
hard at Omi.
"I think I understand . . ."
"Understand what?!" Ken stomped his foot in frustration.
Youji glanced at Ken. "Schwartz is dead. But Ken-- aren't we also dead?"
Ken stared back at Youji, and then at Omi. "But--" he murmured. "But . . ."
Aya's eyes narrowed slightly. "We're dead, yes, but back as angels . . . why would Schwartz
become angels?"
Youji snorted. "You know, we weren't exactly 'angelic' in life either, Aya . . . We were
assassins. Never forget that."
Something twitched in Aya's expression, just above his eyebrow. But before he could respond,
Omi cut in. "I never said they were angels."
Everyone's gaze swivelled towards him.
"They're-- they're demons."
"But Aya! We don't know what we'll find there--" Omi slipped a little on the mud, and stopped
speaking as he regained his footing.
Aya ignored him, continuing down the deserted sidewalk, his trench-coat swirling around his
ankles. The hilt of the katana at his waist glinted sullenly in the lamplight.
Youji was the only one who didn't have to trot to keep up with the pace Aya had set, his long
legs easily out-stripping the redhead. "He's right, Aya . . . this is rather hasty."
Ken nodded, jogging a little and then dropping back into a walk. "And it's not the best weather to
pick a fight with a pack of demons, either . . ." He glanced up at the sky, the icy rain stinging his
upturned face.
"It doesn't matter." Aya didn't turn around to look at him. He seemed angry, almost. "You three
can stay behind, if you want. I never said you had to come."
"Don't be an idiot, Aya," scoffed Youji. "You can't expect us to sit on our asses at the shop
while you prance around out here and have all the fun. Anyway, I think I might have an inkling of
what you're thinking about. So you think that these newly born demons have kidnapped that
girl's older brother. Hmm . . . but why? What for?"
Aya didn't answer; his expression was not unlike the one he wore when he used to contemplate
the Takatori family.
Youji watched him out of the corner of his eye as the other two boys sped up a bit more to
follow. "Hmm . . . kidnaping . . ." Suddenly, his eyes widened. "You-- you can't think--!" Youji
took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pushing his sunglasses further on his nose. "So, you think
they're planning to use him in some sort of ritual, like those old people were gonna use Aya-chan,
right? It makes sense . . ."
Omi was puzzled. "Youji-kun, how come you know all this stuff? It's creepy . . . like you're
reading Aya's mind."
Youji glanced over his shoulder. "Nah, it just makes sense . . . Why else would he be affected so
much? I've spent enough time with you all that I can figure you all out pretty well."
Aya's fists clenched. "I'm going to bring that boy back. That little girl needs her brother . . .
needs him . . ."
The other three boys looked at him in surprise, almost as if they had forgotten he was there. "Aya
. . ."
Aya's eyes were full of fury. "She . . . she was hit by that car, because of Schwartz . . ." Aya
glanced at the other three as they listened. "There was one thing that happened at the hospital that
I didn't tell you."
"What?" asked Ken quietly.
"She-- it was her birthday."
The others stopped trying to convince him to wait, and the four assassins continued down the
street in silence.
The houses lining the streets were getting fewer and more spaced out. Just then, the sky was lit up
for an instant by a flash of lightning tearing the sky, followed by a low rumble of thunder. The
brief light revealed the shape of a church steeple just ahead-- and next to and behind the church,
the semi-rectangular shapes of tombstones.
They reached the gate, and Youji reached out to push it open. It swung open silently, and the four
angels stepped inside. As another flash of lighting illumined the sky, they glanced around the
graveyard. It was completely empty-- and there was nothing to signify that anyone was there at
all. Aya's hand tightened around the hilt of his sort. "Damn . . ." he whispered. "She was wrong.
She heard wrong."
As they set out to search the graveyard, a piece of paper fluttered down from the sky, somehow
untouched by the rain. Aya reached up to snatch it from the wind, and the other three gathered
around him to read it.
You all thought you were so clever, didn't you? Give up and go back to your flowery heaven,
little angels.
--S
Fallen Angels, by Tori: email me at saezuru@hotmail.com