Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Weiβ or Weiβ Kreuz. Special thanks to Cielo, for reviewing!
Interlude: Hostage
The air was cold, although it was the middle of the day. Omi yawned. He glanced at his professor, who continued discussing the Heisenberg uncertainty principle although none of his students listened to him. Omi's seatmate, Jun Takakura, even snored as he dozed off.
Omi glanced down at his notebook. He doodled for half an hour now, wrote names and made caricatures of his classmates. He sighed as his professor launched another lecture about atoms and electrons.
Just then, the door burst open with a loud bang. "What the hell was that?" a startled student exclaimed. A man dressed all in black stormed into the room. Screams erupted when the man brandished a high-powered shotgun. "What is the meaning of this?" the professor demanded angrily.
Instead of answering, the man pointed the gun at the professor, and shot him in the head. The professor's suddenly headless body stiffened for a moment, then toppled down to the blood-splattered floor.
The man turned to the students. Cocking his gun, he shouted, "All of you, to the right side of the room, NOW!" He fired another shot, this time towards the roof. Amid shouts and crumbling plaster, the students rushed to the right side. Omi glanced at his classmates. Many of the girls cried, while several of the guys had a frightened, stunned look on their faces. Meanwhile, Omi feigned fear, and he clutched his backpack tightly.
The man locked the doors, then stepped forward. "Now, don't you try anything funny," the man said in a menacing voice, his eyes fixed on them. "Or you'll end up like the poor professor over there. Is that understood?"
The frightened students nodded. The boring Physics class suddenly took a deadly turn. The air was indeed cold, but now, it had nothing to do with the weather.
*******
The news of the hostage-taking in the university spread fast, and soon, a squad of police cars and a crowd of anxious parents, media, and curious onlookers formed outside the building of the university.
"Omi," Youji breathed out as he watched the news unfold. Omi studied in that university. Could Omi be among the hostages? He couldn't be, Youji thought with despair. Not when I haven't explained the incident yet.
Youji raked his fingers through his long, curly blonde hair. For several days now after the kiss, Omi steadfastly refused to talk to him. They avoided each other for weeks now, something Ken noticed.
"Is there something wrong between you and Omi?" Ken asked Youji a few days ago while the two of them worked in the flower shop.
Youji flicked away his cigarette. He uncharacteristically ignored the girl in front of him and turned to face Ken. "What makes you say that, Ken-ken? Omittchi and I are getting along fabulously."
"Cut the bullshit, Youji. You and Omi are not getting along fabulously. You two hadn't been talking to each other for days. You have also been avoiding each other. What's going on?"
Youji picked up a bunch of roses and handed it to an adoring customer. "Nothing's going on." Youji then smiled flirtatiously at the girl. The girl blushed and stammered to thank Youji.
Ken threw up his hands into the air. He proceeded to take care of the other customers, but not before casting Youji a dark look.
Youji swore to himself. So, Ken noticed what was happening between him and Omi. Pretty soon, everyone would notice. And when they do, Youji was sure that his eardrums would burst from their recriminations and every bone in his body will be broken from the beatings he will get. Youji shook his head, once again berating himself for letting his impulse take over. Now, he alienated Omi from him, and it will take a long time before his relationship with Omi would go back to normal. Youji sighed as he recalled what had happened a few days ago when he tried to patch things up between him and Omi.
Youji waited at Omi's doorstep to talk to the boy. When he saw the teenager, he immediately launched into his lines. "Omi, we should talk about what happened in the–"
"Iie," Omi replied brusquely, not looking at Youji.
"But–"
"Urusai, Youji-kun. Yamete." Omi said quietly, this time looking at Youji with cold blue eyes. Without another word, he went into his apartment and slammed the door in front of Youji's face.
Youji winced at the memory. He would try to explain things to Omi some other time. However, for now, he thought as his gaze shifted to the TV, I have to make sure he's OK. After all, what good is an explanation when the one you're supposed to explain to is dead?
He rose from his seat to tell the others what he just saw, just in case they hadn't seen it yet. Youji swung open the door, only to find Ken in the act of knocking on his door. Youji took one look on Ken's worried face and instantly knew why the brunette was here.
"Come on," Ken told him gravely. "Aya and Manx are waiting for us."
*******
Omi studied their hostage-taker briefly. The man was of average height and of medium build. He had black hair and eyes. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties. On his hand was a shotgun; on the other was a hand grenade–two weapons that could spell death to him and his classmates.
Tense silence filled the whole auditorium now, broken only by an occasional sob. Everyone avoided gazing at the professor's remains. So far, the man wasn't doing anything harmful to them.
"What do you want?" Omi heard one of his male classmates ask, Omi glanced sharply at the owner of the voice. It was his seatmate, Jun Takakura. He sat beside Nanako Murakami, who gripped Jun's sleeve tightly.
The man flashed him a smile that betrayed nothing of his intentions. "A sign."
"What do you plan to do to us? Who are you?"
"You'll see. As for my name, I am Akito Yamada." The man drew something out of his coat. Everyone winced, afraid that he would pull out a gun and shoot Jun. Instead, he took out a cigarette and casually lit it. Then the man raised his shotgun. "Shut up, kid. No more questions, unless you want me to shoot you."
Jun glared at the man for a moment, then looked away. Omi took a deep breath, relieved that Jun wasn't hurt. As he huddled with the rest of them, he began to think of a plan to get him and his classmates out of this mess. He casually reached up to his earring so as not to arouse suspicion, then activated the transceiver.
*******
"Does Patricia know about Omi?" Ken asked Aya when he noticed Patricia was nowhere in sight.
"No. And I have no intention of telling her for now," Aya replied curtly. He studied the blueprint in front of him. "Is this the blueprint of the building Omi's in?" he asked Manx. "Is he really one of the hostages?"
Manx nodded. "I had Birman look for the list of the students having their class in the auditorium during the time the hostage-taking happened. When she confirmed Omi was indeed there, I contacted the rest of you–except Patricia–and obtained a blueprint of the building." She didn't add that Persia disapproved of the mission.
"Omi just activated his transceiver," Youji announced when he saw a blue dot light up on the computer screen. "He isn't saying anything yet. At least we know he's alive," he added with relieved sigh. The news reported earlier that a shot was fired from inside the room, and for a while Youji thought that the shot hit Omi.
"Who is that madman who took the students as hostages?" Ken asked. "Do we have any files on him?"
"We don't know who he is. We don't even know if the he's really a he. We haven't seen the 'man's' face yet, so we don't have that much information yet. We still have to wait for him or Omi to say something."
"By that time, it might be too late. The hostage taker might have hurt or killed one of the students or," he said with a grim smile, "Omi might make a move on his own to save his classmates and get himself killed."
*******
"This is the police. We will not hurt you. You are surrounded. Come out where we can see you." On the background were the faint wail of sirens, and the whir of helicopter blades.
Why do they bother to do that? Omi thought with disgust. I know it's protocol, but it's pretty useless. It's not like the man is actually going to follow their orders. Omi glanced at their hostage taker. There was a small, contented smile on his face, as if the thought of several armed policemen and cars surrounding the building were an amusement to him, that they posed no threat to him.
Omi focused on the man's eyes. The young blonde saw eyes like that before–in the eyes of his targets, those hardened bastards who didn't give a damn about taking another person's life. Youji once called eyes like those 'snake eyes'. Cold, cruel and expressionless eyes. Eyes like that frightened Omi.
Omi saw it on Akito's eyes when he shot his professor. Omi suppressed a shudder. Akito's eyes were emotionless when he blew off the professor's head. This man killed before, and won't hesitate to kill a few more.
The shrill ring of a cell phone made the students jump. Their anxiety turned into fear when the man reached into his pocket again. To the students' astonishment and relief, he only drew out a cell phone. "I've been waiting for your call, old man," their hostage taker said in a mocking voice. "What kept you? Are the lives of your students mean so little to you?" The man laughed harshly. "I should have expected that. After all, you couldn't care less about your son, so why care about your students?"
Omi slowly edged towards a slightly inconspicuous corner and began to talk. "Anyone out there?" he said in a voice loud enough for only the Weiβ Kreuz members to hear.
"What's happening?" a curt voice that Omi identified as Aya asked. "Who's the hostage-taker?"
"He said his name's Akito Yamada. He isn't making a move yet. He's currently talking to someone. He has a shotgun and a hand grenade. He killed my Physics professor. He hasn't stated his intentions. By the way he acts and looks, he may have experience in killing."
"Can you describe him?"
Omi did. Then he asked, "Are you going to do something?"
"Maintain contact, Omi. Don't make any moves yet and wait for orders," replied Aya, then he was gone. Omi turned back to Akito. His eyes flashed with anger, and he gesticulated wildly, the gun in his hand swaying.
"–how dare you do this to me, after all I've done for you!" the man shouted angrily. "I killed people for you! And what did you do? You threw me away when I needed you! You bastard!" He hurled the phone across the room then turned to them. The students shrank back fearfully under his intent, suddenly malicious gaze.
*******
"What are we going to do now, Yamada-sama? If he goes on like this, he may reveal information that–"
"I know that, fool! You need not say that!" the man shouted to his frightened underling as he leapt out of his seat. He was furious. "I had been assured that he will not give me any problems. What has happened to those assurances?" He turned to his other men. "I want you to deal with this problem immediately. Nobody tells the police anything. Do not let them get any closer to the building than necessary."
"But the students, they may get hurt or killed!"
The man swung his furious gaze at him. The man shrank back in fear. "We can always get more students," he stated coldly. "Their loss is…regrettable, but no one must know. If it means involving the students, then so be it."
"The parents may suspect us."
"We can blame it on the madman," came the reply in a chillingly flat voice.
*******
"We finally identified who Akito Yamada is. He's the youngest son of Junichiro Yamada, the president of Omi's university and a former Minister of Education," Manx told the group. "According to our sources, Akito threatened Junichiro to make him sorry for abandoning him when one of his missions failed a few weeks ago. Akito was his father's wet boy, you see. He's a good one–too good, unfortunately."
"What?!?"
"His father's assassin. The elder Yamada used his son to kill people he had…differences with."
Ken whistled. "That's incredible! I mean, using your own son to do your own dirty work! Of all the lowest–" he abruptly stopped his tirade when he remembered something. His eyes went wide.
"Youji and I will get into the building and try to get near as possible to the auditorium where Omi and his classmates are being held hostage." Aya turned to Ken. "You watch and research for further details about the hostage-taker. Maintain constant contact with Omi and us through the transceiver."
"What about Patricia?" Aya glared at Ken. "I mean, if she knows about this she might get upset and hurt–"
"She won't find out, Ken."
"Enough of that already," Youji cut in. "So we know who the madman is. What are we going to do?"
"Try to get Omi and his classmates out of there before either Yamada kills him," Aya said simply. "The younger will kill Omi if he makes a move to stop him. The elder will kill Omi because Omi and his classmates may know too much about him and his son. A man who uses his son to kill will not hesitate to kill students if it means preserving his reputation."
The thought scared Youji. Either way, Omi would end dead. "What are we waiting for? Let's get to work."
*******
"What the hell are we going to do?" Hiro Yamaguchi whispered to Omi. "We can't just sit here and wait!" He glanced furtively at their captor. He then turned to Omi, an expectant look on his face.
Omi shook his head. "We have to wait. If we do anything, it might startle the man and kill, if not us, the others. The best thing we can do is to wait for the authorities to save us." Or for my teammates to act, Omi didn't add. He heard their conversation. He couldn't believe their kindly-looking president was actually a monster. Gods, what kind of a father uses his own children for his own twisted means?
A man like my father, Omi thought with a bitter smile, remembering how callously Reiji had used his two older brothers, Masafumi and Hirofumi, and how Reiji abandoned him when he was kidnapped. Although he knew his father and brothers were not worthy of any affection, Reiji's indifference for his welfare and his brothers' betrayal and abuses still had the power to hurt Omi. And what about Ouka? Did he use her, too? Omi shook his head, trying to get rid of his unpleasant thoughts. However, given the situation he was in, it wouldn't be easy.
Why do the people I give my affection to always seem to end up hurting me one way or another? Omi asked himself. My father did, My brothers did–even Ouka, in some way… even Patti-san and Youji-kun have–
He stopped. The thought of Youji immediately brought the 'kiss' into focus. Why am I dwelling so much about that? It was just a kiss! For all I know, he was just teasing me. Youji tried to explain a few days back, but Omi, in a burst of childishness, brushed him off. Now, he and Youji weren't talking to each other, something that made Omi really regret that action. He and Youji had always been close friends. It would be a shame that that closeness would be ruined by a single kiss. It was just a kiss, wasn't it?
He bit his lip. This wasn't the time for him to think about that. Omi carefully opened his backpack and felt the poison darts he hid in a secret pocket in his bag. He glanced at Akito. Omi could take him out, but how would he explain to his classmates and to the authorities his familiarity with its use and his possession of such deadly weapons? What were the authorities doing, anyway? They hadn't announced anything for a while now.
There was a soft hissing sound, and suddenly, the air in the auditorium began to change. Omi quickly pressed his shirt to his nose and held his breath. It was gas…but what kind of gas? he thought. Gods, I hope this isn't like the ones the Russians used on those in that Moscow theater. He looked around. His classmates didn't seem to be aware of it, but Akito was. He covered his face with a mask, and he looked at Omi curiously.
"What's that?" Hiro shouted, sniffing the air. The others noticed too, and began to cough. "It's gas! They're gassing us!" Panic broke in the room and the students covered their noses and headed towards the door–
–which burst open to reveal seven hooded men, holding SMGs*. The men then opened fire at them. Several students fell down dead at the first spray of bullets. The others ran to different directions, desperate to escape death. Omi saw Akito Yamada slip out of the room, dodging bullets and using students as shields. Grimly, Omi set out to follow him, but not before throwing a few poison darts at the armed men. His classmates were being murdered in cold blood in front of him and he was not about to watch idly. Fuck the consequences! Three of the seven men fell down immediately–it was a very strong poison–and that certainly startled the others. The shooting paused for a while, long enough for his classmates to run to safety. Omi then made his escape.
Aya and Youji were heading to the auditorium when they heard the gunshots. "What the fuck happened?" Youji demanded of Omi. When Omi didn't reply, Youji's panic level hit an all-time high. "Omi!" he shouted.
"I'm OK." Hearing Omi's voice nearly made Youji's knees buckle with relief. "Help my classmates. Someone sent up some guys to kill Akito and us. It might be the elder Yamada. I'm currently chasing Akito."
"What?!? Omi–" Youji started to protest but Aya cut him off. "Proceed, Omi. We'll take care of the others."
"Hai." Then Omi was gone. Aya glanced blandly at an outraged Youji and said, "Let's go."
*******
Ken gulped as he watched the live coverage of the hostage taking. The situation in the university was getting worse. He hoped Aya and Youji got into the university in time to save Omi and his classmates.
"Ken, do you know where Fujimiya is?" a familiar voice suddenly asked. Ken jumped, then turned to face a Patricia, who stood at the door with a puzzled look on her face.
Uh, oh. "Anou, Patricia, where have you been?" Ken asked with a slight stammer, desperate to stall things. He stood behind the TV, making sure Patricia wouldn't see what was on the news.
"I went to a board meeting. Have you seen Aya? He has the keys to the locked apartment." When Ken shook his head, she sighed. Then her eyes narrowed. "What's behind you?" she asked, pointing at the TV.
"Nothing."
"Really?" Patricia looked straight into Ken's eyes. "We'll see about that."
*******
Omi, for his part, chased Akito. He took out his poison darts and headed for the president's room, where he was sure Akito would go. He rushed up the flight of stairs that led to the president's room. When he heard gunshots and screams, he knew his hunch was right.
Reaching the president's floor, Omi ignored the bodies sprawled on the floor. He carefully headed for the president's room. He was only a few feet away when he heard someone shouting.
"Why did you abandon me, father?" a tortured voice cried out, making Omi stop in his tracks. "What I do wrong? I did everything you wanted me to do! I even killed for you! Why did you abandon me when I needed you the most? Is my life worthless for you?" The owner of the voice–Akito, Omi assumed–began to sob. "I did that all for you. Why couldn't you love me? Why couldn't you accept me, father?"
"Don't you ever call me father! You are nothing to me." Omi started at the man's chilling, callous words. Reiji said nearly the same thing to him more than a year ago. "You were just a tool to be used then to be discarded away. A worthless, weak person like you could never be my son. I could never love you. I have never loved you."
A moment of ominous silence followed the revelation. Then Akito shouted in a bloodcurdling voice, "You fucking bastard!" A scraping sound followed the shout, then by several gunshots.
Omi bolted out of his hiding place and stood in front of the president's door. His eyes widened in shock when he saw Akito falling to the floor. "Otousan…" Omi heard Akito whisper brokenly as he crumpled to the floor. There was a look of astonishment, anguish, and a peculiar peace on his face.
The youngest assassin of Weiβ then raised his eyes to face Junichiro Yamada. The president of Omi's university held a handgun in his right hand and there was a look of hatred and disgust on his face that Omi found familiar. Junichiro then turned to him, and swung his gun to his direction. Omi stared at the man then at the corpse. When he looked back at the president, he didn't see him as Yamada, but as someone else.
Omi remembered little of what happened after that. He recalled Youji rushing towards him with a concerned look on his face. Then the oldest member of Weiβ wrapped his arms around him tightly, whispering words the young blonde couldn't comprehend. Omi didn't resist Youji; in fact, he was thankful for the comfort the blonde playboy gave him. Youji then proceeded to lead him out of the building, and into the waiting car.
*******
When they arrived at the apartments, they found Patricia arguing with Ken. As soon as Omi stepped out of Aya's Porsche, Patricia rushed towards her nephew. "Oh, thank God!" She hugged him tightly. "You're safe!"
That was when everything that happened came crashing down on Omi. "Patti-san," he said softly, embracing Patricia, startling his aunt. She felt so warm, so close.
"Daijoubu desu, Omi," she whispered gently, stroking her nephew's hair. "You're home now."
*******
"My classmates, what happened to them?" Omi asked Patricia. They were alone in Omi's bedroom, with Patricia sitting on Omi's bed. She had just finished giving her nephew a check-up, making sure Omi wasn't injured or poisoned. Omi lay on his bed, a worried look on his face.
"They're safe–at least many of them are." Several of Omi's classmates died because of the assault while the injured ones were rushed to a nearby hospital.
"I see," Omi remarked. Then the boy sighed. "Poor Akito."
"Why poor Akito?" Patricia asked carefully.
"Akito just wanted his father to love him. But he never did. He never would. Junichiro abandoned him when he needed him the most." Omi let out a bitter laugh. "Just like my own father." Then his voice became very quiet. "I wish I never knew who I was. I joined Weiβ to find the truth, and look what the truth gave me, what it did to Akito."
"But at least, he was free," Patricia remarked gravely. Omi gave her a surprised look. "All of us are held hostage voluntarily or forcibly–by something–the past, love, duty, fear–in Akito's case, his desire for his father to love him. When his father told him the truth, he was no longer bound to that desire, so he let go. Truth can oftentimes be painful, but it sets you free."
"But why does it have to hurt this much?"
"I don't know." She smiled sadly. "I wish I knew." There was a faraway look in her eyes as she spoke. "You should never let the past hold you back, Omi, because if you do, you'll never discover what the present and the future have in store for you. The past is a guide, not a hindrance."
Omi nodded. It was time he stopped living in the past; the future awaited him. Then he remembered something he had to take care of. "Anou, Patti-san?"
"Hai?"
"Could you send Youji-kun in? I-I'd like to talk to him about something." He flushed slightly when his aunt gave him a weird look. Then she stood up. "After your chat with Youji, go to sleep, ne?" She kissed him softly on his forehead, something she had never done. Then she whispered in a gentle voice, "Be well, Mamoru-chan." To his surprise, he felt tears fall down his hair. Before Omi could react, Patricia left the room.
*******
"How is he?" Ken asked as soon as Patricia got out of Omi's apartment.
"He's all right," she said in clipped tones. "What happened?" Patricia asked Aya. "Omi looks…changed."
"He killed Junichiro Yamada. As close as we can determine, he grabbed Akito's gun and proceeded to gun down the university's president," Aya replied. When he came to the scene, he saw Youji embracing a dazed and bloodied Omi. When he looked at Junichiro, he took a step back. No words could describe what happened to the eldest Yamada. It was just too horrible.
"Are you mad?" asked Ken. Patricia had a fierce look on her face, like she wanted to kill someone.
"No, Ken. I'm quite sane. I'm not angry with you guys, if that's what you mean. I'm angry with someone else." She turned to Youji, who stood silently beside a stoic-faced Aya. "He wants to see you." Her gold-green eyes narrowed when a wary look appeared on Youji's eyes. "Don't tire him out," she told her. "He needs rest."
"Hai." Youji ignored the pointed look Aya shot him and went inside.
When he saw Omi lying on the bed, looking hurt and vulnerable, Youji wanted to hit someone–or something. He hated seeing Omi get hurt. "Yo, Omi. You wanted to see me?" He stood beside his teammate's bed a guarded expression on his face. He still didn't know how Omi would react to him after the 'incident'.
"It's about the kiss," Omi began. Youji opened his mouth to respond, but Omi cut him off. "I'm sorry I acted so childishly over that. It was just a kiss and you were just teasing me, ne?"
Youji stared at Omi, feeling as if his heart would break. How could he tell Omi that he loved him and that he wasn't teasing when he kissed him, when the boy was obviously not open to the fact? If he were to tell the truth, Youji would risk losing Omi altogether. When Youji kissed him, he reacted with disgust and by nearly cutting all contact with him. How much more if he were to tell Omi that he was in love with him? "Yeah," he finally said. "I was just teasing you." I can't tell you the truth, so, for now, I'll keep this feeling to myself, for the sake of not losing you.
Omi broke into a grin, the first after many days. "I've been worrying about that for a long time. I'm glad we cleared this up, Youji-kun."
Youji forced a smile. "So am I, Omittchi, so am I."
Yue no Miko's long notes: Ah, yes, I have been neglecting Omi and Youji -_-+…Well. In the last chapter, we saw a fairly significant (though foolish) move courtesy of Yotan. I know right now that it may seem like Youji and Omi are just in the background, but believe me, in the later chapters, Omi and Youji will play very significant roles along with Patrick. Right now, I'm just sort of establishing Patricia as a character in the Weiβ Kreuz world, so please hang in there. As for why Omi seems reluctant to start a relationship with Youji, well, as any Weiβ fan out there knows, Omi has been through a lot of trauma. Not only that, he's in a stage when he's very confused. Yes, he is cheerful and quite…affectionate, but I believe there is more to Omi than his eager smiles and big blue eyes. This kid's been through very painful stuff, and ruthless assassin or not, that's bound to affect the way he interacts with people–especially with those he cares about.
*SMGs- submachine guns