Title: Cold November Rain [part 20/?]
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: 2. time: 0530-0600 hours ++
*****
In another part of Tokyo, a worrisome day gave way to a restless night and it wasn't much of a surprise when a dark-haired man was jostled from slumber as his lover tossed and turned in their bed, before coming to rest facing away from him.
Reaching out to run his fingers through the sleep-tangled red mane of the man beside him, Crawford asked quietly, "Are you all right, Schu?"
The German hated to answer and wanted to pretend he was actually asleep, but he knew better than to try that, the American knew him only too well and would most likely only be annoyed with the delay in getting an answer. With a sigh, he answered softly, "It's nothing, Brad, go back to sleep."
Crawford moved to curl warmly against his lover, his bare chest warming and being warmed by Schuldich's equally naked back, a nonarousing sharing of body heat and a physical expression of their shared affection. "You know I can't do that if you're worried about something," the brown-eyed man said and nuzzled the side of the telepath's neck before adding almost hopefully, "Is this about the Ferrari being missing?"
Schuldich snorted softly and said sarcastically, "Oh, of *course* it is, Bradley! I *always* lose sleep worrying over Estet's toys and where I left one of them." The muffled chuckle in his ear indicated that his message was fully understood and he continued with another sigh, "It's about Nagi, as if you didn't know."
"Ah, of course," Crawford responded and felt a coldness enter his heart.
He had tried not to become angry with his partner the previous evening when the German began harassing him about wanting to violate the cautionary vision and try to locate the missing telekinetic. The precog had finally lost his temper and had accused his lover of having a lack of faith in him as well as a problem following orders, something which he as the leader of Schwarz could not tolerate.
Understandably, the emerald-eyed man had stormed out and gone in search of loud music and a drink.
After being gone for several hours, the telepath returned smelling of alcohol, cigarette smoke, and sweat after dancing himself out of his anger. When Crawford had tried to approach him to talk, Schuldich had waved him away, went to shower alone and found several excuses to "drop" the shampoo and conditioner bottles to make noise that he knew would annoy the headache-prone American. After stomping into the penthouse living room in only a bathrobe, he'd flatly stated he was going to bed and should anyone wish to speak to him it could be done the following morning, he wasn't in the mood for it then.
Crawford had looked up from the newspaper he was reading and would have responded, but his Irish teammate spoke first.
Farfarello had already slipped out of his ultra-lucid state and was sitting on the couch munching on a box of Life cereal and watching Alton Brown's "Good Eats" on Food Network when his friend had come out and he'd glanced at him and asked innocently, "Schu? Where's Nagi? He usually likes this show."
An expression of sadness had crossed the older man's face and he walked over to drop a hand on Farfarello's shoulder understandingly and offered, "I wish I knew, Farf. Don't you remember that he disappeared this morning?"
The amber-eyed man had thought about it for a moment then nodded slowly, "Yeah, I guess I sorta do, but I thought maybe he came home and no one thought to tell me about it. Things happen that way sometimes."
Damp red hair had twitched as Schuldich shook his head in negation, "No, I'm afraid not, but as soon as he *does* get home, I'll make sure to tell you, okay?"
"Okay," Farfarello had agreed then added unhappily, "I'm worried about him, Schu. Are you worried, too?"
"Of course I am, Farf," the German had shaken his head slightly then sent a scowl towards his lover and added with annoyance, "But Crawford says we can't go hunting for him yet. Something about one of his visions saying it would be a 'bad thing' and all that crap!"
"Oh?" His single eye had gone wide with surprise and the Irishman stated loyally, "Well, if Oracle says we can't do something, then we can't, I guess. Too bad, I'd like to go find Nagi. Make sure he's all right and not all wet and cold from the rain. He could get sick again."
The diminutive telekinetic had an unfortunately low resistance to the everyday stress and strains he faced in part due to his difficult childhood on the streets of Tokyo, since homeless Japanese children didn't always get the medical care they needed. But there also seemed to be some underlying weakness that was aggravated by heavy use of his powers, a fact that worried Schuldich quite a bit and since the midnight-eyed youth was missing he had no idea if that was the case currently or not.
The troubled blade-expert then shoved a handful of cereal into his mouth and turned his attention back to the screen where the food-loving scientist was demonstrating how to bone a whole chicken using a model of the skeleton of a T-Rex to explain the poultry's bone structure. [1] He'd pointed to the screen and asked distractedly, "Can Nagi and I cook that for dinner sometime, Schu? It looks fun."
Schuldich had laughed softly and gave his friend's shoulder an affectionate squeeze and answered, "Sure thing, Farf. As long as that guy's going to make something decent with it *and* you follow the recipe this time! I almost died that night you substituted habañeros for jalapeños in one of his Mexican dishes."
The Irishman had looked up at him with an expression of innocent agreement and shrugged, "I'm sorry, I thought they were the same thing, Schu. But I'll be more careful." He'd taken a breath that turned into a sigh as he thumbed the VCR to life and began taping the program as he added, "*And* I'll wait for Nagi to get back. That way I won't screw up."
"Sounds like a plan," the telepath had agreed before turning away to cast a glance at the silent brown-eyed man that was a mixture of sadness, worry, and residual anger over being held back from going in search of the boy they were all concerned about. Letting a low sigh escape his lips, he'd said simply, "I'm going to bed." He'd then turned around and walked away, resisting an urge to send a gentle mental urge to his lover to join him, even if they didn't talk, at least he wouldn't have to fall asleep alone.
Despite the lack of invitation, Crawford had reached up to adjust his glasses with one hand as he set aside the paper with the other and announced, "I'm going to bed, too. Farfarello? Did you need anything further this evening?" The fact that the amber-eyed man had been contentedly munching on cereal again indicated his mood was most likely a stable one and the precog didn't feel as if he might need to monitor him too closely for a change.
"I'm fine, Crawford," Farfarello had said with a dismissive wave of his hand, then he turned and added knowingly, "But if I start feeling weird, I'll let you know. Without Nagi here to help me I know better than to risk letting myself lose control."
"That's very wise of you," the leader of Schwarz had granted him a rare compliment and then added, "Sleep well, Farf."
"You, too," the younger assassin had answered and then returned his focus to the unfolding scenes of culinary exploration on the television screen.
Soon the tall American had slipped into the loose silk pajama bottoms he wore when he was trying to resist the temptation that the naked European man in his bed was without Schuldich ever even trying to be seductive. Sex, of course, was out of the question after such a tense evening, but sleeping together in the literal sense might give them both some much needed reassurances. With a quiet sigh, the younger of the two had rolled over and nestled himself against the former boxer's well muscled body and had fallen asleep fairly quickly, tired from the exertion of dancing and the long day of worrying.
But that had been hours prior to the pre-dawn conversation that they were sharing now and he finally remarked unhappily, "Damn, but I wish the kid would at least *call* or something! I mean, he's more powerful than *I* am with that TK of his, so he really *ought* to be fine wherever the hell he is, but would it be so hard to pick up a phone?" [2]
Crawford didn't even try to suppress the small chuckle his partner's remark inspired, it was just too funny to hear the often acid-tongued redhead acting like a worried, whining mother. Letting the soft amused noise rumble up through his broad chest and reverberate against flame-red hair in the darkness, he commented, "You sound like a character off one of those dreadful black-and-white reruns Farf likes so much." He felt his lover chortling quietly in return and he added, "But June Cleaver was never as se--" his words trailed off and he suddenly inhaled sharply, then froze, eyes wide and staring at nothing anyone else could see.
Sensing the shift, Schuldich quickly rolled over and wrapped his arms around his lover, silently projecting strength through the duration of the precognitive vision he was experiencing.
With a shudder, the black-haired man seemed to fall back into himself almost too quickly and he ran a trembling hand across his eyes as he muttered angrily despite the onslaught of a headache, "Damn! That was too short! I didn't see enough!"
"See what?" The telepath asked with curiosity, it was rare that the American actually seemed to want to extend an experience like what he'd just had, the longer the vision, the greater the headache that was to follow. Moving to prop himself up on an elbow so he could gaze down at the man beside him he added more urgently, "Was it about Nagi? Is he okay?"
"Yes and no." Crawford sighed and rubbed at his temples, explaining, "Yes, it *was* about Nagi, but no, he's definitely *not* okay, or at least he won't be sometime soon. It didn't look serious, but I think he was in a hospital and he seemed to be laying on a gurney."
"Fuck!!" Schuldich exclaimed, impotent fury rising as he bit back the automatic comment that he wanted to go find the sable-haired psychic right then and there and make sure the boy was safe. Instead, he asked, "What did you mean about it not looking serious? Did you get an image of a doctor talking about his condition or anything?"
"No, it wasn't that," the older of the two said as he frowned, brows drawing closer together as he tried to explain, "There wasn't any blood or bandages showing, and I'm fairly certain he'd only passed out, much like he did yesterday morning, but it's hard to say. As for how far into the future this is, I really don't know, but it seemed not too far. Perhaps today, for that matter."
"Damn it all!" The younger of the two cursed again and gave in to the need to express his frustration by saying, "I can't *stand* the idea of him being out there wherever he is, possibly all alone and maybe hurt! Shit, Brad, let me at least *try* to get a feeling for him, please? Just let me see if I can pick up even a small trace. For all we know he's unconscious already and shouldn't we *do* something about it?"
"No, we shouldn't," his partner answered and added, "Besides, what good does it do to see if he's passed out right now or not? It's not as if we can do anything about it. Plus, that vision was of the future, not the present, I can tell."
"It would help me to stop worrying for one thing," Schuldich asserted hotly, then pleaded, "If he's sleeping right now, he'll never know and it can't possibly change the future, can it?"
Reaching for the bottle of aspirin he kept by the bed for emergencies such as this one and then swallowing several of the pills dry, the precog answered with a soft sigh, "All right, go ahead, but keep it *very* light and don't try to communicate with him. Let me 'piggy-back' on the search and leave no traces, understand, Mastermind?"
For once, the German was more than pleased to be called by his Schwarz code-name since it meant he was being given permission for the search at a level he hadn't dared to hope for. With an almost ecstatic expression, he nodded acceptance of the limitations then leaned over and kissed the other man briefly, then slipped back into the American's arms and closed his eyes, asking, {{Ready, Oracle?}}
{{Yes, but remember, use caution, Schu,}} Crawford sent back, settling himself deeper into the pillows and holding his lover close, their physical proximity making their mental merger easier.
{{Absolutely! He won't feel a thing, I promise,}} the telepath answered and then took a calming breath and sent his mind wandering. The light mental sweep reached past Farfarello's noisy, blood-spattered yet somehow playful dreams and out into the night.
Schuldich ghosted past hundreds of people from all walks of life as he sought the "flavor" as he called it of their youngest teammate's thoughts, knowing he would be drawn to those familiar to him most easily. He paused ever so briefly as he detected someone he recognized, a complex "flavor" like iced raspberry tea with mint, and he asked, {{I've found Abyssinian. Do you want to listen in? He seems rather disturbed about something and is definitely *not* sleeping at the moment.}} [3]
{{No, we don't have time to waste being voyeurs, Schuldich,}} Crawford chastised more gently than the words would imply, {{Keep hunting for Prodigy.}}
{{Aye aye, captain,}} the telepath agreed easily and continued his search. He didn't mention the others he recognized, the mellow café latte "flavor" of Balinese slipped past, as did the light, innocent French vanilla that seemed to sparkle on his mental tastebuds that was Bombay's. The fact that Siberian's usual pungent and honest ginger wasn't detected fit the precog's earlier vision and the telepath didn't give it any thought, not caring in that moment whether the claw-wielding assassin was alive or dead.
In a distant corner of his mind that wasn't connected to that of the man holding him close, Schuldich reflected on how pleasant yet complicated the "flavor" of his lover was. Crawford might have hated knowing it, but to the German psychic, his thoughts were like dark chocolate mixed with brandy, intoxicating, rich, and unexpectedly hiding a sweetness that would have appalled the American had he known about it.
Distance and proximity meant nothing to the searching telepath, but familiarity did and it was amazingly reassuring when he next detected the subdued and somehow pensive toasted almond that was associated with Nagi's thoughts. With an overwhelming sense of relief, he pulled Crawford's awareness into the "flavor" and sent, {{Found him.}}
{{So I see,}} the American sent a feeling of relief back to the man who was extremely cautiously probing the outer edge of the telekinetic's dreams and he added, {{Sleeping peacefully it would appear?}}
{{Yes, thank goodness,}} Schuldich responded with delighted lightness in his "voice" then he began to carefully draw away from Nagi's mind, hoping he hadn't done anything to be detected, yet wanting to allow Crawford to see that he would follow his orders despite not liking them. Of course, if he had been given a choice, the redhead would have opened a more full contact with the missing boy and tried to determine where he was and his situation. Yet, simply knowing he was okay was enough and he closed the connection fully before slipping back into himself totally and laying quietly in his lover's arms once more.
{{Happy now?}} The brown-eyed man asked the tired redhead he cradled close to himself, letting his own appreciation for the telepath's efforts slide through his thoughts and into those of his partner.
{{Yes, very much so,}} the German answered with a yawn that shook him slightly and he added, {{Thanks again, Brad, for letting me do that. I'll still worry because of that new vision of yours, but at least I know he's okay right now.}} He didn't add how much more he wanted to know and the fact that he felt frustrated by not having a chance to discover it since this was too obvious.
{{You're welcome, Schu, but that wasn't just for you, of course,}} the American found that he, too, was yawning, an atypical lassitude seemed to be calling the pair back to sleep. {{I may not show it much, but I'm as concerned as you are by this. I just happen to realize what's at risk more clearly than you do and won't gamble that we can outsmart fate by denying the warnings of the visions.}}
{{I know and I'm sorry I've been such a pain in the ass about all of it.}} Schuldich's tone certainly didn't sound contrite as he added, {{But until Nagi's back here where he belongs, I'll keep worrying about him.}}
Crawford nodded and drew his lover tight against him then rolled them to lay spooned together on the bed once more. He didn't bother to agree or disagree, the conversation had reached an end and he allowed sleep to carry them both into her velvet depths.
The issue of just where, exactly, Nagi truly belonged wasn't as clear as the slumbering couple believed, of course. The young Japanese psychic had given his heart to a member of Weiss yet part of his soul remained attached for better or for worse with the men of Schwarz.
The eternal stress of family ties versus romantic ones would plague the youth for months to come and it would take the involvement of a third group of assassins to bring the issue to a shattering resolution, one that wasn't necessarily what any of them wanted at this point. Compromise wasn't the forte of any of the eight assassins of Schwarz and Weiss, yet they would all certainly have to learn it if they wanted to survive.
*****
To be continued.
Author's Notes:
[1] I don't recall the title of the episode this is in, but this really *is* part of the show and my kids pointed it out to me one night saying Farfie would love seeing Alton "playing with knives and a dinosaur" and I had to agree. This is an excellent program to watch if you enjoy learning a bit of science while laughing at the host's delightfully irreverent remarks and seeing some fairly easy recipes take shape. Gee, who knew the Llama liked cooking shows? Um, almost all of his GW fans who've read a few of his food-oriented fics, maybe?
[2] "TK" is a common abbreviation in paranormal research for telekinesis as I am discovering helping my eldest chibi with a research paper on poltergeists. Hmm, manifestations called by a German name that involve the possible telekinetic powers possessed by teenagers? Why is this sounding familiar all of a sudden?
[3] The idea that Schuldich recognizes the "flavors" of people's thoughts is based on that great line in the series about them tasting like honey. As to the "flavors" given here, they were all selected carefully so as to fit the images of the characters in this continuity more than anything else and I hope they don't seem too strange to anyone.
Full Author's Notes to Run at Conclusion.
Please be advised: Parts 19 & 20 will be posted together.
Special Announcement: This evening's posting run is dedicated to a very special friend, the one, the only, Zania, the Lemon Princess!!
{gets out the Official "Festooned Flag of Friendship" and waves it about gladly letting the many colors unfurl in the glow of the light of your monitor}
Now the bragging begins.
{genki smile}
My beloved Zania has gone out of her way to make my life a happier one throughout the release of this story and who surprised me with what was easily the sweetest gift I've received in a *very* long time! Just the other day she sent me an illustration of the scene in the ICU waiting room where Omi falls asleep in Nagi's arms and it was positively the most kawaii thing I'd seen in ages! My Chibis loved it, too, both giving a classic fangirl squeal of, "Awwww!! They're so *cute*!!!" Of course, then they urged me to run out and buy one of the color cartridges that I usually don't mess with for budgetary reasons ASAP so they could print it out and put it in their lockers at school. I've received precious few illustrations for *any* of my 70-plus works of anime-based fanfiction and since I'm so well known for basing fics on pics, I've always found this rather puzzling. Then again, it also means that on the exceptionally rare occasion that one arrives, I tend to go bananas about it, so here's a serving of "crazy fruit" for you, too!
{huge smile of pure delight about all of this}
Since I was in worse migraine pain last night than I am now, I couldn't string together the words to thank Zania for it and ask permission to share it with you immediately, but I've sent a special thank you "song and dance" to her this evening that included a request. If she says yes, I hope to quickly find space on someone's web page to post it and will share the URL right away. If she'd prefer that it remain private that's fine, too, and I'll be forever grateful all the same.
{keeps smiling and wonders if fanfiction.net has an image posting capability to compensate for his own egregious lack of a web-page, doesn't know, and doesn't have time to go find out right now}
Other wonderful things Zania has done that I'd like to take this opportunity to brag about include all the fabulous works of fanfiction of her own which you, too, can go worship and adore at fanfiction.net under pen name "Lemon Princess". She's also taken the time out of her busy life to send me interesting notes about various things we don't need to go into here.
{smirks at Zania and whispers "Gig 'em, Aggies!" fully expecting a response of, "Go, Longhorns!" then bursting into ex-Texan chuckles}
Last but never least, Zania is the kind of friend that lovingly lets me know what she'd like to see more of in a fic and this really helps. Never a demand that I "must" go throw a given pair of bishounen into bed together nor a whiney plea for "more, now, right now, I don't care if you feel bad, give me fic to read!" Instead, I get gentle notes of adoration for the guys and quiet points about what could use a second look in a future story or whatever. To me, *this* is what feedback is all about! To hear what a reader truly enjoyed in a story and that they want more! The only WK fan who can hold a candle to Zania for this most marvelous of abilities is the darling Yanagi-sen, who received the last solo posting run dedication and will get a giftfic later this Spring.
Hmm, come to think of it, Yanagi-sen got not only a posting run dedication but also has a giftfic in the works, whereas Zania has already received a full fic dedication for "Romantic Resolutions" and a posting run dedication here. Does anyone besides me see a pattern here?
{looks at the audience hopefully, then yawns and feels tired and goes off to post this at the MLs before reformatting for fanfiction.net and collapsing into a pile of exhausted, headachy, worried-about-his-poor-sick-chibi llama}
That's it, folks! The "long-awaited-by-Melpomene" introduction of the leader of Grün as well as a look at the remaining residents of the Schwarz penthouse! I hope you enjoyed the angst and will eagerly await more of the story as soon as Lauren feels better and I can edit more of it. In the meantime, send me a note, okay? I'll probably not get a chance to answer it if I'm lucky enough to be able to write or edit, but you know I'll read it and as long as it is kind and supportive, it'll only spur me to get more out faster, ne?
~~~E-sama the Llama~~~
(who is dying of curiosity to know what the readers think of not only Calico but also the way Brad and Schu interacted! damn, but writing new-to-the-author bishounen is *so* much fun!)
Posted 05 February 2002 ~4:30am