Title: Cold November Rain [part 18/?]
Book 1 of "Redirecting Destiny" and prequel to "Romantic Resolutions"
Author: Enigma
Series: Weiss Kreuz
Written: January-February, 2002
Rating: R
Pairings: (Yohji + Ken + Aya) (Omi + Nagi) (Brad + Schu)
Category: Dark! Yaoi Angst Action/Adventure Violence Blood Squick Language Romance. AU-OOC.
Archive: fanfiction.net [author: "E-sama the Llama"], Scripta Manent: http://digilander.iol.it/sakaba/Home.html
Spoilers: None, safe for new viewers as well as old.
Warnings: dark! yaoi, heavy angst, action/adventure, graphic violence, large quantities of blood, squick: medical and other, coarse language, agonized and overwrought romance, rare touches of sap, cigarettes, destiny, cruel cliffhangers, original characters. AU-OOC.
Disclaimer: "Weiss Kreuz" is the property of Koyasu Takehito and Project Weiss. This unauthorized work of fanfiction is intended for entertainment only; kindly do not sue me.
Notes: When Ken falls in battle, how can the other members of Weiss cope with the guilt and blame that they all seem to share and will he survive in spite of the odds against him?
++ date and time reference within the storyline beginning with the day of the battle ++
{{telepathic speech}}
*****
++ day: 1. time: 2145-2230 hours ++
*****
When Aya and Yohji returned from checking on Ken one last time, they were understandably solemn yet there was a faint ray of hope shining in jade-green eyes.
Omi looked up from where he was starting to try to teach Nagi how to play Yahtzee to ask, "Any improvement, Yohji-kun?"
"Some, maybe, I'm not sure," Yohji scratched the back of his head uncertainly then glanced at Aya who was lost in thought before he explained, "I think his color was a little better, not quite so gray."
"Really? That's good, isn't it, Aya-kun?" Nagi asked trying to draw the pale-skinned man into the conversation since he was worried by the way the scarlet-haired man's lips were pressed together angrily.
The Weiss swordsman looked up and there was a storm brewing in amethyst eyes that no one in the room, not even his own lover, could read. Forcing a neutral expression onto his face, he answered, "Yes, Nagi, that's good if it's true and not a figment of Yohji's imagination."
The older man cast a questioning glance at the slightly younger one, but in the end Yohji wisely chose not to respond to the jibe. Instead, he stretched languidly and asked, "So, Manx, did you get those hotel reservations lined up? I think we could use some rest."
The Kritiker agent nodded and pulled out a sheet of paper she'd already jotted the information on that they needed and a set of plastic credit card-like door keys. She handed them all to the eldest member of Weiss, saying, "I got you four a suite at the Hilton two blocks from here. You're already checked in, the room number's listed there. Your assassin's gear has been cleaned and decontaminated by Kritiker and should be waiting for you inside by now."
"Um, Manx?" The cerulean-eyed boy looked up with a guilty expression on his face before he asked, "What about my suspenders? I tore them up for Ken-kun's wounds and all."
"Not to worry, Omi," she smiled at him reassuringly. "They've been replaced as have the gloves you lost. Believe me, what you did with those straps of yours this morning was probably something far better than what the original designers ever thought you might do with them."
A slight flush danced across Omi's cheeks at the praise and then he noticed Nagi was yawning again and he asked, "Do you want to head over to the hotel soon, Nagi-love? You seem awfully sleepy."
Nagi held a thin hand over his mouth as he kept yawning yet nodded, then admitted, "I think that would be nice, Omi. I don't know why I'm so tired. It's not like I…" His words were swallowed by another yawn.
Yohji chuckled softly as he stuffed the hotel information and keys into a pocket before stopping to frown slightly as something occurred to him and he asked, "Can I ask you something, Nagi? Does using your powers usually tire you out?"
The diminutive psychic nodded his head slightly then frowned, "Yes, Yohji-kun, but not this bad ordinarily. After a particularly demanding battle sometimes I don't even make it home before I pass out, but today wasn't that bad, was it?"
"You tell me, bishounen," the eldest member of Weiss responded with concern and then shook his head as he weighed the pros and cons of offering to simply carry the exhausted boy to their temporary residence. After giving it some thought, though, he realized that would be treading on his youngest teammate's area of responsibility and he added, "But it seems to me that this entire day has been one thing after another for you. Let's get you and Omiitchi both somewhere you can sleep for awhile, it'll do you a world of good."
Omi pretended to pout somewhat and teased good-naturedly, "Since when are *you* so fatherly, Yohji-kun?" The effectiveness of the tease, however, was destroyed by his own huge yawn which was followed by a helpless giggle.
Yohji just snorted and lead the way out of the waiting room trusting Aya to follow as he shepherded the teenagers ahead of him saying, "Since when have *you* needed me to be a 'daddy', Omiitchi? C'mon, let's get you and Nagi somewhere more comfortable for sleeping than that chair you were snoozing in earlier."
"Ok, papa," the smaller blond teased back, pleased at the warm expression Nagi was trying to hide as the fairly tender moment played itself out.
Trailing along behind the other three, Aya remained lost in thought. It wasn't until they stepped outside the hospital and he felt the first wet kiss of bone-chilling rain on his face that he found he had something to say. With an angry growl, the scarlet-haired man buried his hands in the pockets of the surgical scrubs he'd worn all day and remarked to himself, "It fucking figures it would be raining again."
Several meters ahead, sauntering after the now running teenagers who were trying to get to the hotel fast enough to not get soaked, Yohji turned his head and asked, "What was that, Aya?"
Cold violet eyes gazed through the shimmering rain to catch tired jade ones and he answered, "The rain, Yohji. It always seems to be raining when things are going wrong for us." [1]
Shrugging and slowing to a standstill to allow his lover to catch up to him, the taller man simply answered, "It's just rain, no big deal." He held out one hand as if to catch the drops and then he added more worriedly, "But it *is* pretty depressing at that. Maybe it'll clear up soon?"
"Don't try to be an optimist, Yohji, it doesn't suit either of us," Aya snorted and passed him by en route to the large glowing "H" ahead of them.
"Aya-kun!! Yohji-kun!!" Omi's clear alto voice sailed above the noise of the rain as the teen waved frantically at them. "Hurry up! You're getting all wet!" Nagi stood beside his boyfriend under the hotel's awning and half-smiled having become more accustomed to his partner's occasional outbursts.
As Yohji lifted his eyes to the pair, the too-slender telekinetic shivered visibly in dripping wet scrubs and he muttered a curse before stepping up his pace and calling back, "Get inside, baka! You two are going to freeze standing there like that." He arrived with Aya at his side and physically grasped Omi and Nagi both by the shoulders and hustled them inside the warm and inviting lobby.
Once they had shaken off the worst of the rainwater, the foursome made their way to the elevators, earning a glare from the uniformed bell captain who strode forward and asked, "May I help you, gentlemen? The hospital is two blocks from here." The insult was clear in his tone and Yohji didn't much care for it.
Glancing over the tops of his sunglasses, rain-dotted though they were and utterly out of place so late at night, the jade-eyed man answered in tones that seemed warm and friendly yet weren't, "Thanks for the info, buddy. Since we're staying in the Presidential Suite be a pal and get us some extra towels and robes for the sauna, would ya?"
Drawing himself up short, the man spluttered something along the lines of regretting his rudeness then rushed off in the opposite direction as the four assassins stepped into the elevator and watched the mirrored doors slide shut behind them. As they rose upward into the residential floors of the hotel, Omi couldn't resist asking, "Are we really in the Presidential Suite, Yohji-kun? I didn't think Persia would pay for something *that* extravagant."
The green-eyed man just shrugged then laughed humorlessly, "I have no idea which suite we're in, Omiitchi. I just didn't care for his tone and if he needed something to do other than to badger newly arrived guests, that was something, ne?"
Nagi snickered softly between the small yawns that returned to play with the corners of his lips even as Omi laughed, "Yohji-kun, you're incorrigible! What would Manx say if she saw that?"
Unexpectedly, Aya interrupted and asked with annoyance, "What suite number *are* we in?"
Yohji's eyebrow arched up as he pulled out the door keys and handed out the cards, saying, "Sorry, Aya. We're in 535."
"Hn. Top floor then." The scarlet-haired man snorted softly then commented acidly, "If we really *are* in the Presidential Suite, Kudou, it's *your* problem to come up with a tip for that guy if he shows up with what you asked for."
"Well, fuck, if we've got rooms *that* nice, I'll just put it on the tab!" Yohji laughed, then smirked broadly at the two boys who looked confused by the conversation, "C'mon, Aya, don't be such a wet blanket! We're in a four-star hotel at someone else's expense for a change, enjoy it, why don't ya?"
A look colder than death itself sliced the air between the two older assassins as the elevator door opened and the teens stepped out to go in search of the correct direction to go to their suite, and Aya hissed for Yohji's ears alone, "Why *don't* I 'enjoy' it, Balinese?! Maybe because right now, Siberian could be dying and you're over here acting like some goddamned high roller! Keep in mind why we're really here!"
Aya began to stalk away but he found his arm crushed in the grip of a hand that could easily break a neck without much thought and Yohji spun his lover to face him, growling softly, "Don't think I've forgotten about Ken for even a moment, Abyssinian! But don't *you* forget those kids up ahead of us, either, you bastard! They're both asleep on their feet or worse and if I can get their minds off this, I thought they might sleep soundly enough that the two of us could double back and keep watch over Ken later while they rested."
Releasing his hand with barely restrained fury he added, "Or would you really *prefer* to push them to the edge just to watch them get stuck in that fucking hospital, too?! Who knows *what* might happen if we let Prodigy get a little farther gone? Maybe he doesn't just 'pass out' if he's tired enough, or is that what you want? To see how far we can push both him *and* Bombay?"
Sparks seemed to fly through the air between the two men briefly as Aya fought a desire to shove some of Yohji's hurtful words back down his throat, but he soon realized he'd been over the line and admitted it. "All right, Yohji, you win." He shook his head and moved to follow in the direction Omi and Nagi had walked towards. "I'm sorry. I just can't get rid of a feeling that we ought to still be over there."
Yohji forced himself to calm down and he nodded as he walked beside his partner, "I agree. But I'm serious about getting Omi and Nagi taken care of first." A happy shout ahead of them indicated Omi had opened the door to their suite and found it to be beyond acceptable. The jade-eyed man then added quietly, "Besides, Manx said our gear would be waiting for us here. Wouldn't you rather infiltrate that place wearing something a little less 'casual' than these scrubs?"
Aya quirked an unanticipated smirk then replied, "They're good camouflage, I guess, but, yeah, I'd rather have my boots and leather."
"Same here," Yohji agreed darkly, then forced a bright smile as he stepped into a well-equipped though not "Presidential" suite and looked at the two teenagers. Nagi was leaning tiredly against a wall while Omi was inspecting their accommodations. "Does it meet with your approval, bishounen?"
Omi glanced up with a smile that was broken by a yawn and then he frowned, "Which one of us were you speaking to, Yohji-kun?"
"Both," the man shrugged then asked, "Did you pick out a room yet, Omiitchi? I think your boyfriend is dead on his feet over there." His meaningful gaze was directed towards the youth who was now standing slumped against the back of a chair and yawning so hard, tears had formed in the corners of dark blue eyes.
The look of sadness on the younger blond's face as he nodded said a great deal and Omi pointed at a room with a double bed and a few elegant furnishings then he asked, "Will this be okay? The other room's got a bigger bed but we don't need it."
"It's fine, Omi," Aya said flatly, then moved past the two blondes to quietly ask, "Nagi? Did you need anything else? Or just some sleep?" The violet-eyed man had tried to suppress the feeling of connection he was beginning to feel towards the fifteen year old, but there was something achingly familiar in the boy's soul he couldn't deny or explain.
Exhausted, the Schwarz telekinetic merely nodded and moved to step away from where he'd propped himself up but stumbled. Without so much as a mumbled curse or other exclamation, the scarlet-haired man swept the small psychic up into his arms and carried the youth to the bedroom Omi had indicated.
Cerulean eyes went wide with shock as Aya tenderly laid the already dozing teen onto the bed before shooting Omi a look that clearly asked how long he intended to leave the other boy alone. The Weiss archer blinked the shock from his face and then smiled warmly at Aya before gladly climbing into bed and spooning himself against the smaller teen's back, cuddling close and falling into a deep slumber almost immediately.
After covering the sleeping pair with a comforter, Aya stepped out of the room with a softly murmured traditional wish for pleasant dreams for the two boys before closing the door soundlessly behind himself.
The expression of amazement on Yohji's face was one well worth remembering, but instead of dwelling on the fact that he was still capable of surprising his lover, Aya asked simply, "Where's our gear?"
Damp shoulder-length blond hair was brushed back with an elegant gesture and his partner answered, "I saw it by the wet bar." As they walked back to the living area of the obviously expensive suite they were about to turn around and leave, he added as he stripped the cleaner's bags from his navy blue trench coat and leather pants, "Did you need anything before we go?"
"Some caffeine might be a good idea," Aya admitted with a yawn of his own, he'd been awake for more than 36 hours and it was catching up to him, but it wouldn't stop him as he shoved his feet into tight riding boots once more.
"Sounds reasonable," Yohji agreed and slipped the trench coat around his midriff-baring sleeveless turtleneck, adjusting the shoulders so that the white crosses on the sleeves were positioned correctly. He grabbed a polishing cloth and gave his sunglasses a quick swipe then suggested, "Want to grab a Coke or see if there's some No Doz in the coin-op?"
Slipping the final of the various buckles on his burgundy trench coat into place and cinching the belt in tightly, Aya answered, "I don't care, whatever you want is fine with me."
"Cool," Yohji agreed, pulled two violently overpriced cans of soft drink from the wet bar and tossed one to his partner who caught it in a gloved hand. He couldn't help but smirk at the image Aya created, all lethal leather with his katana concealed beneath his coat as always sipping at the overly carbonated beverage in the cheerful red and white can.
"What?" Aya asked not particularly caring as Yohji shook his head in amusement and quickly left a note for Omi and Nagi in his usual less than neat kanji.
"Nothing," the taller man snickered before popping the top of his own drink and swallowing some of it with gusto. Wiping his mouth with the back of his own gloved hand, he added, "Ready to rock, Abyssinian?"
"Always, Balinese," the slightly shorter man agreed, all business as they dropped their empty soda cans into a recycle bin and headed for the door.
The pair of deadly young men then left the hotel as silently as shadows and vanished into the dreary wet night on their self-appointed mission to guard their fallen lover, one that was about to turn unexpectedly crucial.
Left behind them, two boys huddled together in slightly disturbed sleep as Omi moaned softly, "Don't die, Ken-kun. Please, don't die!"
Too drowsy to comprehend anything beyond the fact that his beloved was in distress, Nagi simply rolled over and wrapped both arms around the slightly taller youth and they both settled into a deeper sleep. The innocence of slumber washed some of the weight of the day's events from their faces and they would remain blissfully unaware of the life-or-death struggle that would unfold for their friends within a few hours.
*****
To be continued.
Author's Notes:
[1] Ah, rain. Precipitation, clouds, and storms are common cinematic devices used so frequently in anime as to be a cliché in and of themselves. Yet like Yanagi-sen, Mami-sama, and a host of other WK writers, I find depressing rainy weather too wonderfully suited to these "hunters of the night" to *not* use it heavily, obviously. Of course, I also use it quite a bit in my GW work and in one series (the "Gifts Arc") it is actually a positive element and specifically indicates rebirth for the spirit of one Trowa Barton where his "secret love" Chang Wufei is involved, that is! Ah, rain. It's so multifunctional, ne?
Full Author's Notes to Run at Conclusion.
Please be advised: Parts 17 & 18 will be posted together.
{{the following end note was written for the original posting runs to the Mailing Lists and hasn't been edited to reflect the final uploading to fanfiction.net since it was accomplished 12 hours later}}
This evening's posting run was *supposed* to be dedicated to all the lovely people who have left me incredible, tremendously supportive feedback at fanfiction.net with a nice long list of names of those responsible for making me smile, too! Unfortunately, it was down this evening and I'm not even sure when I'll get a chance to upload the new Parts there before I fall asleep at the keyboard. Arghh!! My fanfiction.net fans will be *so* unhappy and I feel just dreadful about it!
{shudders with fear at the reaction of those loyal souls who only want a little taste of angst at the end--or the beginning in some cases!--of their day and will have to wait until the archive is back up to get more of the damp Angst-fest entitled "Cold November Rain", then the llama shrugs and goes forth once more bold in his exhaustion}
Oh well. In the meantime, allow me to turn my attention elsewhere for this dedication.
Looking back in my inbox to see who has sent me kind and supportive words directly since the last list of marvelous direct respondents, I see several names I can always count on for kind words and some new ones, too! Therefore, tonight, I dedicate this posting run to the following wonderful people as well as those who wrote to me but AOHell ate their words before I got them. Damn, but I hate when that happens, don't you?
Thanks and Pocky go to: Kitsu-chan (who likes my medical stuff! which is good since there's more on the way!), Ami-chan (who is sweet enough to forgive me for being out of touch with her, out of touch with reality, out of touch with whatever, she's forgiven me and I feel better), Diana (who is beyond "wonderful" and rapidly approaching goddess-hood since she's so darling!), Ryoko (my koi, my kitten, my friend!), Yachii (who complained that I wrote too much, but I think that was to be taken as a compliment?), An old friend who knows who he is even though he's saving this to read later, bearilou (also a friend of that adorable guy who's reading this later), Nebula Omega (did Neb see the salute to her/him in last night's posting run?), Portia (who wisely chose brownies to bribe me with, yumm!), DragonSoul (who is *always* special!), Yanagi-sen (who liked her dedication! sugoi!), and Rubious (who is easily one of the most supportive people in my life! thanks, dude!)!
Arigatou, gang, especially those of you who send me something after each posting run! It helps more than mere words can say!
As soon as fanfiction.net is on-line at the same time I am again, I'll try once more to get that list of names for a dedication here. I hope the readers there will forgive the lack of new fic tonight, but I'm sure the admins needed to do something important to take away our connection on a Friday night like this.
{shrugs again, looks unconvinced at 4:00am his time and then goes to post this to the regular ML's without a clue in the world as to when it will post at fanfiction.net and still feeling apologetic about it}
Take care, everyone! I'll hopefully be back soon with the answer to the now burning question the ending of Part 18 left us with! After all, if I of all people promise you a "life-or-death struggle" you just *know* I'm going to deliver, now don't you?
~~~E-sama the Llama~~~
(who is too tired to even *think* about the new twist Melpomene added to the rough draft earlier this evening! it's just too late--or is it too early?--to think in such a convoluted fashion as well as wondering which medical references to check to make the plot line that the Grecian beauty has in mind realistic in the first place!)
Posted 02 February 2002 ~4:30pm