Author's Note: My first published fic so be kind. I've no one to beta it
for me so if you've got any tips and such please let me know but do be
gentle ^.^ None of Weiss belongs to me (darnit) - this is purely for
enjoyment purposes - no suing allowed. It's a pretty short story and I may
expand it with more details but I'm not sure if that's necessary so let me
know please. Hope you enjoy it somehow!
ONLY TWENTY: CH. 1
He was only twenty. Twenty years old and he could fight and defeat a variety of opponents with his swordsmanship. He was independent, strong- willed, smart, and a leader of 3 other young men in their duties to rid the world of the dark beasts of the night. Just twenty years old and already he was stained with the blood of murderers, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, gang members, and many others. And now, just twenty years old, he was laying in a pool of his own blood, staring lost at the dark, star-studded sky above him.
"Goddamnit," Youji hissed in one quick breath. He was running to get Aya's Porsche, ignoring the fact that he had a deep gash on his forehead and a painful cut on his left arm. When he saw nothing but a dark shadow in the alley, for a moment the assassin thought that he had run to the wrong place. But, as he walked closer he saw the outline of the vehicle and with a sigh of relief turned the ignition on. Youji swallowed hard but kept swearing if not aloud, then in his head. He couldn't believe what happened. None of them could.
All Youji remembered was Ken and himself trying to keep some guards off of Omi while the youngest member could hack into their target's files. He and Ken were in charge of protecting Omi while Ran went off to kill their target. Apparently, their target had been watching them the whole time because the next thing the three knew, they were being aimed at by a high- powered rifle. Ken and Youji stood heroically and bravely in front of Omi to protect the younger Weiss. But, a dark figure jumped out from the darkness and with a loud cry began to lower his blade toward the gun- wielding man. A gunshot went off. The target fell to the ground nearly cut in half with his warm blood oozing out from his split body. Omi and Ken were about to smile in relief, but the sight and sound of steel hitting the ground followed by a heavy thud of a body, brought them to their wounded leader's side.
"Abyssinian," Omi shouted, calling out to Aya, gently turning him over. He was bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to the chest. They weren't sure what it hit, but from the looks of it, if they did not get Aya to a hospital fast, he would die.
"I'm getting the car," shouted Youji. "Stay with him!"
"Oh my God," was all Ken could say, watching Aya turning paler by the second under the dim lights around them.
Aya opened his mouth but nothing came out except blood. "Don't talk Aya- kun," Omi whispered, not caring that he had not called Aya by his codename. How could this happen? How could he have been shot? He can't be hurt. Sure they've all been shot, stabbed, and wounded otherwise, but never to the point of death. Never like this. Not even with Schwarz. To think that a corrupt politician, head of an underground yakuza nearly killed their leader. It seemed impossible. It seemed impossible to even touch Aya in the first place.
"Kuso," Ken cursed. He tried to stop the bleeding but it was no use. The bullet tore through Aya's slender body, entering through his upper chest exiting through his back.
Omi could feel the warm blood flowing onto his hands and felt it was the only proof that Aya was in fact a human being, not a walking iceberg. Now was the time that Omi wanted Aya to be that iceberg. He didn't want to be holding the fragile body in his arms. He did not want to see this blood. Though he and Aya were never close and for a time even farther when they realized he was Mamoru Takatori, they were comrades. Aya was part of the only family Omi ever knew and he did not want to lose anyone else. "Where's Balinese? What's taking him so long?"
Ken saw the frightened, panicked look on Omi's face and forced himself to be strong for the young boy. Omi was the youngest with the most generous heart. "He's coming. Don't worry, Abyssinian will be fine." He looked down and swallowed hard. The faraway look in Aya's eyes as he stared out a small window was making him rethink his last words. Seeing Aya shot told him NOTHING would be fine. Aya couldn't get shot. Aya shouldn't be laying here silent and pale as ever. "Come on, Aya, you've got too much to do still! You can't die now." Aya-chan was safe now. There was no one else to revenge and no one to get revenge on. Aya, personally, didn't have anything left to do. But, Ken knew that Aya did. Weiss needed Aya to keep them going. He was their leader. He was only a year older than Ken, but he was stronger, he was faster, he was smarter. He was cold and calculating enough to pull them through every mission alive. So why the hell did he have to be the one nearly dead? Damn it Aya! You're a cold bastard sometimes but now is not the time to turn your back on the world and leave us, he thought.
Youji arrived shortly and they gently settled Aya into the car. The wound tore at the movement and Aya could barely keep his eyes open. They drove frantically to the hospital as fast as they could and the redhead watched the blur of lights blend into a haze of colors. He hurt everywhere and he wanted it to go away. He could barely hear what was going on around him, but he could tell what was going on for the most part. Aya was still conscious. Just barely, but still conscious. Yet he wanted to go away and he wanted to reach out to the bright colors and touch them. Aya wanted to stop being cold and be warm like the warm embraces he shared with his family so long ago. He wanted to see Aya and watch her smile and laugh and hug him. He wanted to hear her and hold her. But most of all Aya wanted the pain to go away. Only twenty and Aya was already feeling 2 times older.
At seventeen he stopped being a teenager and became an adult. At twenty he stopped being just any other adult and became a real killer. A real assassin leading a real assassin group called Weiss. He had not even reached the age where it was said that one really begins life and already he was slipping away from it. A part of Aya wondered if it was worth sticking around to experience the "beginning" of life because Aya felt he had lived long enough. He had watched enough blood spill, killed enough people. He wasn't sure if he could do that anymore. Aya wanted to lead a normal life with his sister but he couldn't do that either. He was stained and Aya-chan was not. She was safer this way too while he could never know the words "safety" or "happiness." Those words disappeared from his vocabulary that faithful day. Only twenty and he was ready to die. Twenty years old and already he was dying.
"Come on Aya," Omi whispered. "You have to hang in there. We're almost there. You can't leave us yet."
"He's not going anywhere," muttered Youji. "That damn bastard's not gonna die on us NOW of all times. Stupid lucky asshole," he added, thinking of their now dead target.
"Manx said she's meeting us at the hospital along with Birman," Ken said, ending his conversation with Manx. He was ready to throw his cell phone at the windshield or punch the dash. This couldn't be happening. "Can't you go any faster?" Ken shouted at Youji.
"You wanna die too?" Youji shouted back.
"Stop it," Omi shouted even louder. "If you go too fast and too carelessly Aya's wound will only get worse! We can't argue like little kids now!" Omi was only seventeen but he could almost take Aya's place. He was the most responsible of Weiss second to Aya. He was the one who did all the technological aspects of the missions. Without him missions would be nearly impossible. Without Aya, missions would be nearly impossible. Now as not the time to replace anyone. Aya could never be replaced and the other members of Weiss had no intentions on looking for replacements.
Aya wanted to tell them that it would be ok, but he couldn't talk. He found it hard just to breathe. He knew that the bullet tore through something important; some organ he would need to stay alive. Aya thought it ironic that the one time he really wanted to talk and break his usual silence, he was forced to remain quiet. The redhead wanted to ask them to do things for him and he wanted to try and reassure them. He didn't know why he felt this sudden need to comfort his friends. Friends? Is that what they are, he wondered. He closed his eyes for a while and thought. Yes, they are friends. Not friends in normal respects, but friends. Aya knew that to Omi Weiss was family. Weiss was the last thing they all had. The last stable thing. And now Aya was disrupting that stability.
ONLY TWENTY: CH. 1
He was only twenty. Twenty years old and he could fight and defeat a variety of opponents with his swordsmanship. He was independent, strong- willed, smart, and a leader of 3 other young men in their duties to rid the world of the dark beasts of the night. Just twenty years old and already he was stained with the blood of murderers, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, gang members, and many others. And now, just twenty years old, he was laying in a pool of his own blood, staring lost at the dark, star-studded sky above him.
"Goddamnit," Youji hissed in one quick breath. He was running to get Aya's Porsche, ignoring the fact that he had a deep gash on his forehead and a painful cut on his left arm. When he saw nothing but a dark shadow in the alley, for a moment the assassin thought that he had run to the wrong place. But, as he walked closer he saw the outline of the vehicle and with a sigh of relief turned the ignition on. Youji swallowed hard but kept swearing if not aloud, then in his head. He couldn't believe what happened. None of them could.
All Youji remembered was Ken and himself trying to keep some guards off of Omi while the youngest member could hack into their target's files. He and Ken were in charge of protecting Omi while Ran went off to kill their target. Apparently, their target had been watching them the whole time because the next thing the three knew, they were being aimed at by a high- powered rifle. Ken and Youji stood heroically and bravely in front of Omi to protect the younger Weiss. But, a dark figure jumped out from the darkness and with a loud cry began to lower his blade toward the gun- wielding man. A gunshot went off. The target fell to the ground nearly cut in half with his warm blood oozing out from his split body. Omi and Ken were about to smile in relief, but the sight and sound of steel hitting the ground followed by a heavy thud of a body, brought them to their wounded leader's side.
"Abyssinian," Omi shouted, calling out to Aya, gently turning him over. He was bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to the chest. They weren't sure what it hit, but from the looks of it, if they did not get Aya to a hospital fast, he would die.
"I'm getting the car," shouted Youji. "Stay with him!"
"Oh my God," was all Ken could say, watching Aya turning paler by the second under the dim lights around them.
Aya opened his mouth but nothing came out except blood. "Don't talk Aya- kun," Omi whispered, not caring that he had not called Aya by his codename. How could this happen? How could he have been shot? He can't be hurt. Sure they've all been shot, stabbed, and wounded otherwise, but never to the point of death. Never like this. Not even with Schwarz. To think that a corrupt politician, head of an underground yakuza nearly killed their leader. It seemed impossible. It seemed impossible to even touch Aya in the first place.
"Kuso," Ken cursed. He tried to stop the bleeding but it was no use. The bullet tore through Aya's slender body, entering through his upper chest exiting through his back.
Omi could feel the warm blood flowing onto his hands and felt it was the only proof that Aya was in fact a human being, not a walking iceberg. Now was the time that Omi wanted Aya to be that iceberg. He didn't want to be holding the fragile body in his arms. He did not want to see this blood. Though he and Aya were never close and for a time even farther when they realized he was Mamoru Takatori, they were comrades. Aya was part of the only family Omi ever knew and he did not want to lose anyone else. "Where's Balinese? What's taking him so long?"
Ken saw the frightened, panicked look on Omi's face and forced himself to be strong for the young boy. Omi was the youngest with the most generous heart. "He's coming. Don't worry, Abyssinian will be fine." He looked down and swallowed hard. The faraway look in Aya's eyes as he stared out a small window was making him rethink his last words. Seeing Aya shot told him NOTHING would be fine. Aya couldn't get shot. Aya shouldn't be laying here silent and pale as ever. "Come on, Aya, you've got too much to do still! You can't die now." Aya-chan was safe now. There was no one else to revenge and no one to get revenge on. Aya, personally, didn't have anything left to do. But, Ken knew that Aya did. Weiss needed Aya to keep them going. He was their leader. He was only a year older than Ken, but he was stronger, he was faster, he was smarter. He was cold and calculating enough to pull them through every mission alive. So why the hell did he have to be the one nearly dead? Damn it Aya! You're a cold bastard sometimes but now is not the time to turn your back on the world and leave us, he thought.
Youji arrived shortly and they gently settled Aya into the car. The wound tore at the movement and Aya could barely keep his eyes open. They drove frantically to the hospital as fast as they could and the redhead watched the blur of lights blend into a haze of colors. He hurt everywhere and he wanted it to go away. He could barely hear what was going on around him, but he could tell what was going on for the most part. Aya was still conscious. Just barely, but still conscious. Yet he wanted to go away and he wanted to reach out to the bright colors and touch them. Aya wanted to stop being cold and be warm like the warm embraces he shared with his family so long ago. He wanted to see Aya and watch her smile and laugh and hug him. He wanted to hear her and hold her. But most of all Aya wanted the pain to go away. Only twenty and Aya was already feeling 2 times older.
At seventeen he stopped being a teenager and became an adult. At twenty he stopped being just any other adult and became a real killer. A real assassin leading a real assassin group called Weiss. He had not even reached the age where it was said that one really begins life and already he was slipping away from it. A part of Aya wondered if it was worth sticking around to experience the "beginning" of life because Aya felt he had lived long enough. He had watched enough blood spill, killed enough people. He wasn't sure if he could do that anymore. Aya wanted to lead a normal life with his sister but he couldn't do that either. He was stained and Aya-chan was not. She was safer this way too while he could never know the words "safety" or "happiness." Those words disappeared from his vocabulary that faithful day. Only twenty and he was ready to die. Twenty years old and already he was dying.
"Come on Aya," Omi whispered. "You have to hang in there. We're almost there. You can't leave us yet."
"He's not going anywhere," muttered Youji. "That damn bastard's not gonna die on us NOW of all times. Stupid lucky asshole," he added, thinking of their now dead target.
"Manx said she's meeting us at the hospital along with Birman," Ken said, ending his conversation with Manx. He was ready to throw his cell phone at the windshield or punch the dash. This couldn't be happening. "Can't you go any faster?" Ken shouted at Youji.
"You wanna die too?" Youji shouted back.
"Stop it," Omi shouted even louder. "If you go too fast and too carelessly Aya's wound will only get worse! We can't argue like little kids now!" Omi was only seventeen but he could almost take Aya's place. He was the most responsible of Weiss second to Aya. He was the one who did all the technological aspects of the missions. Without him missions would be nearly impossible. Without Aya, missions would be nearly impossible. Now as not the time to replace anyone. Aya could never be replaced and the other members of Weiss had no intentions on looking for replacements.
Aya wanted to tell them that it would be ok, but he couldn't talk. He found it hard just to breathe. He knew that the bullet tore through something important; some organ he would need to stay alive. Aya thought it ironic that the one time he really wanted to talk and break his usual silence, he was forced to remain quiet. The redhead wanted to ask them to do things for him and he wanted to try and reassure them. He didn't know why he felt this sudden need to comfort his friends. Friends? Is that what they are, he wondered. He closed his eyes for a while and thought. Yes, they are friends. Not friends in normal respects, but friends. Aya knew that to Omi Weiss was family. Weiss was the last thing they all had. The last stable thing. And now Aya was disrupting that stability.
