Author: Sorry I kept everyone waiting so long. Gomen gomen! I blame it on school, my laziness, school, school and more school. And then vacation. I can rant and rave about that one for hours to come. I am so pissed at the customs control. . They took away all the anime I bought. On some dark day I shall write an evil evil fic about them.
Sky's relation to Schu will be revealed in this chapter. Don't kill me since this is the longest chapter of this fic I've posted?
Btw. I'd also discovered that my stimulation for people to know more german words seemed to be failing. *sighs* I'll be listing down translations of the titles at the end of each chapter. For those of you who were actually inspired to expand your vocabulary, do proceed!!
*goes back to remove dust from the rest of my notes*
Mission #6: Nichts ist einfach
Funny how sometimes the world could seemingly stop. Suspended in air. It's movement captured on pause. How time would just seem to stop or slow-play. Seconds ticking by like hours. During which thousands thoughts would run through your mind and an endless amount of possibilities would lie before you.
A glazed cage of emotions just broke, spilling all over me. I wanted to hold him and never let him go. The back of my brains was thinking: Oh my god. The front of my brains was thinking: Huh?! I settled for somewhere between confused and shocked. Why the heck was he calling me 'dad'?! Then my brains got over the confusion and the logic part finally kicked in. Of course I looked like dad. It was after all his DNA that had been circulating my blood for the last couple of years.
His expression changed suddenly. It went from surprised to hard and cruel. Rage and hatred were burning in his dark green eyes, allowing the orbs spark with emotion. And I knew how he realized who I was. My eyes. They had stayed the same black as they were years ago.
"You!" He growled and clinched his fists. The tall American stopped him when all he wanted was to rush forward.
Mentally I reached out to him. I wanted to tell him so many things. I collided with a wall. If there were one wall in the whole world I couldn't breach, it would be his. He had always been good in building a mental wall and the years only made him better. I almost wept for the desperation that built up in my body. How could I ever to tell him the truth, if he refused to listen?!
Anger and hurt at the rejection crawled up and spread itself through my whole being. A tactic that had worked in the past came to mind. I was not about to give up so easily.
I wanted to tackle him and beat some sense out of him. That should be able to get him to listen to me. Strong arms went around my waist and the owner pinned me to the ground with his weight. I turned angrily to face whomever the evil perpetrator was and met with emerald eyes.
"Yohji, let the fuck go of me!" I yelled.
He just shook his head and tightened his grip. "Can't, Sky. You're not their match, you can't fight them."
Yohji had completely misinterpreted my intentions. Why would I want to fight my sibling? I just wanted to give him a few bruises and make him talk to me.
"You don't understand!"
I continued to squirm, trying to free myself. Then the others joined in and I had no chance. All I could do was watch how he retreated with his teammates, never looking back.
The trip back consisted mostly of me using every ounce of my self-restraint to not perform some serious damaging on Yohji. It was all his fault. He shouldn't have stopped me when he did. That stupid Kudoh. And he thought he did me a huge favor.
I aimed for his right eye and punched. He doubled with pain, one hand going up to cover his eye.
"Don't ever stop me again, Kudoh!" Punching him did make me feel better.
"What the hell did you do that for.?!" He looked outraged, not understanding why he had deserved such treatment.
"Because you…" And I stopped. I couldn't tell him, or the rest of Weiß. To them Schwarz was pretty much their archenemies. What was I supposed to say? Gee guys, you see the guy you hate the most is actually my brother. I wasn't actually trying to kill him. I would never try to kill him.
"You what? Tell me, Sky!" The look in his eyes was so sincere. It made me want to tell him, for just the tiniest split of second. But I couldn't.
"I'm sorry, Yotan. I was just frustrated I couldn't kick some Schwarz ass for all the times those bastards made your lives miserable." It wasn't a total lie, it was a carefully selected part of the truth.
I sighed and pushed him down into one of the chairs in the small kitchen. I opened the door of the fridge and looked, and looked. We had run out of ice. Time for improvising then.
I handed Yohji a peace of meat wrapped in a towel as a peace offering. It was better than nothing! Right?
His eye had already turned into that nice shade of red that promised to be swollen like a balloon in the next day or two to come. He accepted it with a grunt.
"I'm going to bed." I was starting to feel a bit pity for poor Yotan. After all, it really wasn't his fault things had turned out the way they did. How to make up?
"I'll switch shifts with you, so you can get some extra sleep and make yourself presentable." I announced before closing the door. It's a shame that was the only way of amendment I could think of at the moment. God knows I hate morning shifts.
I almost made my way upstairs when my head exploded in pain. I stumbled up the last few steps and had to lean against the wall for support. My vision had filled itself with gray. I had trouble focusing. Oh god, not now. Don't let them see me like this. I prayed silently. The white wall offered some coolness to my head and more importantly support without which I would have most likely fallen on my ass. Just a couple of meters before I would reach the safe haven of my room. Just a couple more steps. Dammit, for crying out loud. At the current moment it might just as well have been miles instead here. When I finally reached my door, I was faced with having to open and unlock the door. Stupid locks, never worked when you needed them to. My head hurt a little less. It had almost dulled just a little. It usually took longer for the pain to dull. It allowed me to finally open my door. I slammed it shut, not bothering to lock it again. My bedroom. My pills. Almost there now. That was when another wave of that same skull-burning headache hit me. This time I allowed myself to give in to the darkness…
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Yohji was wrong. The look in Sky's eyes wasn't one of hatred. It was one of love. Sky loves Schuldig. Aya would bet a month of his salary on that piece of information. Now the question would be: what the heck should he do with this wonderful news?
Did Kritiker send them this obnoxiously annoying mix of Yohji and Ken's worst qualities just so they could test their loyalties? Or heaven forbids, that the most wonderfully organized investigating unit was really kept in the dark? Being annoyed a lot was really starting to uplevel his sarcastic nature. Aya groaned as he deposited his nicely bundled 'working cloths' into the pile of cloths, extra bloody. Their special laundry cleaner should be passing by somewhere during the day.
The light in the kitchen seemed harsh and blinded him just momentarily as he stepped inside the kitchen. The smell of freshly baked pancakes greeted him.
"Ohayo Aya-kun." Omi offered one of his trademark smiles. Aya nodded in response. He could live and function quite nicely with only 3 hours of sleep. But pretending to be actually cheerful was too much. Especially since he didn't feel the need of acting, when he wasn't lacking sleep.
A half eaten pancake still oozing with the unnecessary huge amount of strawberry sauce proofed the hasty departure of Ken, whom one could find coaching his kids as usual. Even if Aya had wanted to choose today to reveal Sky's secrets in a full out unofficial meeting, at least two of his teammates weren't present. Speaking of which, were was Yohji? He was supposed to be opening the shop with him today. That was when the small note on the fridge caught his eye.
Aya,
Sky switched shifts with me. Go bang on his door, not mine!!!
Yohji
P.S.: You can unmistakingly recognize the door by the sign 'jerk' on his door.
One delicate brow raised in question. He looked at Omi for an explanation. The youth just shrugged his shoulders, clearly not having a clue either. It was quite…amusing.
Aya thanked Omi for the food and ate his breakfast in silence, considering his options. He finally decided to give Sky a chance to explain himself before he dragged him out and accused him of treachery before the others. Kritiker could damn well wait. Staring at the written sign that had been absent just 24 hours before, Aya wondered briefly how Yohji could act like such a child sometimes.
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I opened my eyes to the sound of someone calling my name. It was deep and male. He would really sound great singing those modern love songs. His slim body dancing slowly to the rhythm of the music. Wait. What the heck was I thinking?! I only knew one person who sounded like that and hell would freeze over before you'll ever hear him sing. I was awake and wished I had stayed unconscious. The headache was there. Annoying as hell, but bearable. The mindblowing stage had come and gone with me being passed out. I do remember passing out on the floor. I wonder how I got back in the bed. Silence fell as I pondered, waiting for my vision to stop spinning. Deep violet filled my sight as it cleared and stabilized.
"You're awake."
Talking about stating the obvious. I swallowed twice before mustering one of my sarcastic remarks, always ready to come at my bidding. God, my mouth felt dry.
"Gee, what does it look like?" My master level skills of sarcasm were always best in the morning.
Aya was glaring disapprovingly at me. He got a glass and let me drink. I drank a few zips of the…something. It tasted bitter. I made a face.
"Really now. There's no point in poisoning me. What the heck is in that glass?"
He settled the glass on the nightstand and sat in the chair I used for clothing.
"It's coffee, mixed with some painkillers."
I frowned at him. "Water would've been fine."
He shrugged. Aya was the only one who didn't drink coffee and I was the only one who didn't drink Yohji's idea of coffee. Yotan liked to put coffee as black as possible. It was his equal of a wake-up call. Me, I liked my coffee mixed with plenty of sugar and cream. You'd think that living with someone for months, they'd know your habits by now. Apparently, Aya didn't.
"Aya, I like my coffee with sugar and cream. Could you please remember that for future references?" He glared at me. He must be thinking about how I was being very ungrateful.
"How are you feeling?"
I shrugged and winced. Not moving sounded like a really good idea right now. My whole body hurt. From head to toe.
"I think I'll skip the aerobics today."
"Why did Schuldig call you dad?"
I looked at him, my eyes widening out of surprise. Definitely not the question I had been expecting. Great. Chances had been very slim that any of my team mates knew German. Yeah, right.
"I'm impressed. When did you learn how to speak German."
He shrugged gracefully.
"Only a few words."
His face returned back to it's previous state of perfect blankness. Even his eyes were void of any emotions. Not a trace of anger. But I knew he had to be. I sure would be if I lived with someone for months and suddenly find out he could very well proof to be an enemy.
I was buying time to decide what I wanted to say. The truth or a lie.
He narrowed his eyes. "Tell us about Schuldig. Do you know him?" Oh look! I guess he wasn't the only curious cat in the group.
I sighed. "Yes. " I blinked. What I wanted to say was: I've never met him in my entire life! What came out was this. I fought to keep my face blank.
"Are you close?"
"Yes." I frowned. I was sure I wanted to say no. It was like my mouth no longer belonged to me. What he hell was going on?!
"Aya…what did you do to me?" I looked him in the eyes and willed him to tell me. His eyes stayed their state of blankness.
"Nothing." He lied right into my face.
"Bull!" I was getting pissed. Then I realized.
"The coffee! You fucking basterd, you put something in the coffee!" His face flushed red with anger. I guess he didn't like being called names. Well, I had more rights to be angry.
The coffee had been black to hide the taste of the drug or whatever. Aya was the kind of person who watched things in everyday life very sharply. He should have known the way I liked my coffee.
I laughed bitterly.
"Gee, let me guess. You wanted me to give you information that would be guaranteed truth, so you slipped some truth pill or whatever into the coffee pretending you didn't know the way I preferred my coffee? Ya know, the most recent versions of those don't have any taste. You should ask Kritikers to get you some of those. This way your won't get caught in the act. Not so soon anyway."
I closed my eyes. I could feel tears forming underneath them. God, don't let him see me cry.
"Get out! Get the fuck out and stay the fuck away from me!" I heard him get out of the chair. Dammit, leave Aya! Get out before I can no longer hold down my tears.
I felt the faintest brush of cloth against my face and opened my eyes. The teardrops fell as I stared into his face. He had moved to the bedside. His eyes were no longer hard, but soft. I wiped away the tears. No, this has got to stop. Pull yourself together, Sky! You really don't want to cry in front of him. Now he would call you a wimp for the rest of your uncertain life.
But the look in his eyes was so sincere, so…human, so…inviting. I fell against him, burying my face in his shirt. His arms closed hesitantly around me as I clung to him. Later it occurred to me how pathetic and odd it must have looked. A grown man hugging his team mate in his bed. At the time, I couldn't care less. All I knew was the warmth and comfort his embrace offered. The tears started again and this time they just wouldn't stop.
TBC
"Life is a bitch. What else is new?"
"To be strong is to admit you are weak."
*grins mischieviously* I also mentioned misinterpretations in the way so people knows 'Vater' means dad and isn't some kind of German name , never said anything about it being true…
A big thank you to all the people who are still reading this! Without you, this fic would have been deposited on the pile of 'given up' a long time ago. ^^
*gives out cookies to the people who are reading*
I shall be back soon! Promise!
Translations:
Mission 1: A new member
Mission 2: The first assignment
Mission 3: They have arrived
Mission 4: Sweet Gentian
Mission 5: The goal of life
Mission 6: Nothing is simple
