Disclaimer: If you're reading this, you are a masochist. I just thought I'd let you in on that little secret. Anyway, the only characters that really belong to me are the school people, and I really don't want them. The rest of these guys belong to Take-san. And I think Kyoko Tsuchiya has some claim to at least Schwarz, too. Just so ya know.

Silent Messiah
by Crystal Dawn Phoenix
Chapter Four

The next morning, Nagi woke to find Tot still asleep, clutching his hand with one hand and the stuffed rabbit with the other. He sleepily wondered why this was the first time he'd seen her sleep with it in almost a week. For a while, he had thought that she had simply been comfortable enough to forget to bring it to bed. Then the awkward memories from the night before surfaced in his brain and he knew exactly why she had it in a death grip. It was a security blanket.
N

agi's face burned with shame and embarrassment. How could he have done something like that? Tot hadn't only cried, she had screamed. He briefly wondered what had happened to her before to make her so afraid of being touched like that. That thought was pushed out of his mind, however, when he remembered what it was that he had wanted to do as soon as he woke up.

Find Schuldich.

Choke Schuldich.

It seemed like a solid enough plan.

Slowly, Nagi untangled his hand from Tot's and quietly left the bed. His head still felt as though it had been run over by a cross-country truck. He didn't quite think it was only from doing that assignment, but he didn't know what else it could have been from. A new wave of dizziness overtook him as he stood up and began walking toward his clothes. Was this a side-effect of being mind controlled? He wasn't sure, but he hoped like Hell that an aspirin would take care of it.

Quickly throwing on his slightly crumpled uniform, Nagi looked over at his alarm clock. It was almost noon. Schuldich would probably be in the living room, watching the telly, or else hanging around in the kitchen. First, though, Nagi decided to head for the bathroom to take an aspirin and brush his teeth.

After that was out of the way, he headed down the large wooden staircase into the living room. It was a decent sized room, big enough to contain two couches, a recliner, a coffee table, and a big screen television, among other things. Several bookshelves also lined the walls, each bowing under the weight of the books stacked neatly on them. Crawford had alphabetized each book by author when they moved in. Nagi always thought he was a little odd for that. Or a 'neat freak' would probably be closer to the truth; there was not a speck of dust or an out-of-place article in the entire room. He was certain that normal houses had at least a bit of clutter. Crawford would never allow that.

Along with the bit of routine clutter, Schuldich was also absent. He wasn't at his normal post in front of the telly, nor was he anywhere else in the room. The whole house actually seemed to be still.

The strange absence of Schuldich's mouth didn't deter Nagi, though. He knew he had to be around the house somewhere. There was nothing else he could possibly be doing on a Sunday morning.

Just to be on the safe side, Nagi poked his head into the kitchen to see if perhaps he was in there. But no; the kitchen was not only empty, but spotless as well. He knew that if Schuldich had already eaten, it would have been after Crawford. And Schuldich always left a mess in the kitchen.

Nagi pulled his head back through the door and swore silently. If he was neither in the living room nor in the kitchen, then that meant that he had not yet gotten out of bed. At least that made it simpler for Nagi to figure out where he was exactly. Determined, Nagi made his way back across the living room and up the stairs.

When Nagi knocked on the door to Schuldich's room, however, there was no answer. There were two possible reasons for this. First of all, it was entirely possible that Schuldich was still asleep. Nagi could think of several days that the red head had gotten out of bed past noon. Another possibility was that Schuldich could sense that Nagi wanted him dead on a piece of toast, and was not going to open the door. Nagi believed the latter before he did the former. As such, he knocked again, louder this time. And once more. But there was still no answer. He knew that if Schuldich had been asleep before, there was no way he was now. But there were still no noises coming from inside the room.

Sick of knocking, Nagi finally gave in and opened the door. To his surprise, it was neither locked nor barricaded; it swung open freely, giving him a clear view of the room inside.

Each of the windows had been hung with opaque black crepe paper so that light could neither enter nor escape. As such, the room was almost too dark to see anything at all, but Nagi could still make most of the shapes out. He could see Schuldich's night stand, which held a reading lamp, an alarm, and several beer cans. The chest of drawers in the corner supported a mirror, a lava lamp, and several pieces of clothing. Nagi looked at the lava lamp and briefly wondered if anyone had informed Schuldich that the 70's - nay, even the 90's - had been over for a long time yet. He let the lava lamp leave his field of vision, simply chalking another one up to his teammate's eccentricity.

His eyes wandered to the sloppy, un-made bed in the middle of the room. The black satin sheets were unfolded, crumpled, and sliding halfway off the bed and into the floor. He studied the folds and creases in the sheets and upon determining them to be most un-Schuldich-like, turned around and shut the door. The sooner he got away from that creepy room, the better.

As Nagi stood outside the door to Schuldich's room, he turned his questions over and over in his mind. If Schuldich wasn't in the house, where was he? Did he get sent out to run an errand or a mission? Or, more likely, did he want to pull a disappearing act until Nagi was considerably less pissed off? Aggravated, Nagi stalked off down the hall. Crawford would almost certainly be in his study. If anyone would know, it would be him.

A few moments later, Nagi stood outside Crawford's study, which was only a few meters down the hallway. He raised his hand to knock, but before he could strike the wooden surface of the door, a voice sounded from the other side.

"It's open," Crawford called. Nagi lowered his hand to the doorknob, slightly irked that Crawford hadn't even given him a chance to knock. Did he already know that he was looking for Schuldich, too? Or for what reason? Nagi sincerely hoped not. Not only was it incredibly personal, it was also terribly embarrassing.

Nagi pushed those thoughts away and turned the doorknob. When he opened the door, the room inside revealed a stark contrast to Schuldich's messy, dark room. Instead, it was much like the living room; neat, well-furnished, and overly organized. It was also well-lit; Crawford had drawn the shades on his large window, flooding the room with sunlight. Even though it was bright, it was still cramped. Between the huge shelves full of books (all alphabetized, of course), the large desk, the leather chairs, the end tables, the new computer, and the old typewriter, there was barely room enough to walk.

Crawford glanced up from the papers he was perusing on his desk to regard Nagi. In all fairness, Crawford thought the younger man looked like Hell warmed over. There was a pasty pall cast over his skin and he looked slightly anemic. He hadn't even bothered to comb his hair before he left his room. Quite simply, he looked sick. Crawford briefly wondered if it was perhaps from overwork.

Nagi looked over all the papers stacked neatly on Crawford's desk. There were file folders and all the usual papers and a datebook, but there was something he hadn't noticed before. It looked almost like a timetable, but with little symbols beside the times instead of appointments. Judging from the state of the desk, he had obviously interrupted him during some work. Then again, Nagi thought, when was the man *not* working? He shrugged that though off and looked at Crawford.

"Have you seen Schuldich?" Nagi asked. Crawford looked at him for another second before shrugging and giving him a dismissive wave of the hand.

"He was called out on a mission yesterday afternoon," Crawford responded, "He and Farfarello have been gone since." Nagi let the words process into his mind. If Schuldich wasn't there last night, then he couldn't possibly have been the one causing him and Tot to act so strangely. He knew that there was no one else who could have caused it. The thought that Tot might have a split personality occurred to him, but was dismissed just as quickly; if she had one, then he definitely had one as well. She wasn't the only one who had acted strange.

"Why?" Crawford asked, obviously having noted the perplexed look on Nagi's face, "What do you need from him?" The way that Crawford was looking at him told Nagi that he definitely suspected something. He took a moment to answer, thinking of the best way to explain without actually telling Crawford anything.

"Tot's been acting strange," he finally replied, "I wanted to see if Schuldich knew anything about it." Crawford seemed to understand at least a little of what he was getting at. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and Nagi hoped that he wouldn't ask for a description of said strange behavior.

"And why would you want to speak to Schuldich about her behavior?" Crawford asked, "Do you suspect he's playing pranks on you with her?" Nagi started a bit to hear Crawford ask such a precise question. Even so, he tried to hide his surprise.

"A bit," Nagi answered, "Or if not, then at least he could tell me why she's acting odd. Telepathy and all that." Crawford seemed to be pinning him down with his stare. He hated to be made nervous like this.

"'Acting odd' how, exactly?" Crawford finally asked. Nagi thought quickly, trying his best to come up with another noncommittal answer.

"Saying strange things," Nagi finally said, a slight blush coming into his cheeks, "Touching me in odd ways. Reading books that are far too advanced for her. And she doesn't burn the toast anymore at breakfast. You don't know anything about it, do you?" Nagi hoped that by asking him a question, he would be able to avoid having to answer any more embarrassing questions.

"No," Crawford responded, turning away to look at the papers on his desk, "No, I don't." Nagi could tell from the tone of his voice and the fact that he was no longer looking up that the conversation was over. And judging by Crawford's avoidance of the question, he couldn't help but feel that he *did* know something about it all.

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Another week passed in relative quiet. Nagi was given a considerably less demanding assignment, a simple data entry job. This one was nowhere near as taxing and didn't keep him up until all hours of the night. For that much, he was at least thankful.

Tot, on the other hand, seemed to be a bit more withdrawn since the incident on Saturday night. She stuck to their general routine, but kept quiet more often and generally seemed to be trying to stay out of Nagi's way. Nagi wondered if perhaps her quietness was because she was becoming a bit more reflective. Of course, if he asked her if anything was wrong, she would simply smile and give him an answer that would change the subject. He knew that he would just have to watch and wait.

The weather had changed a bit during the week, making it almost too cold to stay outside beneath their ginkgo tree in the afternoons. Nagi expected snow sometime within the next week or two. As it was, Tot insisted that he wear a jacket every day before they left for school. Since she didn't have one at all, on Tuesday afternoon they had gone out and gotten her a thick pink coat with a fluffy white collar and cuffs. She wore it stubbornly to school every day afterwards.

The two of them were sitting beneath their tree again on Friday afternoon before Nagi noticed anything strange again. The weather that day had been chilly and the sky overcast. There was a sharp breeze blowing, and he and Tot had bundled up into their coats before coming outside. Nagi was halfway through his calculus homework before he glanced over to see what Tot was doing. When he noticed it, he dropped his pencil and gaped.

There, in her lap, was the exact same book that he was working out of. She scratched at a piece of paper with a pencil held in one hand, and tapped numbers into a calculator with the other. Nagi blinked once, just to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating, and then decided that since the scene did not change, that he could officially be freaked out.

"T-Tot," he finally managed to stammer, "Why are you doing that?" Tot looked up at him and smiled.

"Why not?" she asked innocently, "It's easy!" Nagi felt as though he might well pass out. Then he noticed that she had neither her stuffed rabbit nor any snacks.

"Where... where is your stuffed bunny today?" he asked, trying to make the world make sense again. Tot smiled sadly and looked down at her book, making a few more marks on her paper.
"'When I was a child,'" she quoted, "'I spake as a child. And now that I am grown, it is time to put childish things away.'" Nagi tried as hard as he could to appear as though he was not surprised. In truth, however, it really didn't work much. His face adopted a genuinely shocked, if somewhat mortified, expression.

Before he could ask any more questions or become any more disturbed, though, the sound of several pairs of feet approaching their tree broke his reverie. Both Nagi and Tot looked up to see Kawatani and two of his friends walking toward them, grinning.

"Aww, how cute!" Kawatani remarked, a mocking smile painting his face, "Looks like the fag's got a girlfriend." Kawatani's two friends snickered to each other. Nagi pretended not to hear them; instead, he looked back down at his calculus book, stuffing his anger down. Not only did they invade the sanctity of his and Tot's tree, they'd also insulted him. It was almost too much to bear. Tot, on the other hand, continued to watch them.

"Hey, Sumire-chan," Kawatani continued, bending over a bit to be better able to talk to Tot, "Why don't you ditch that loser and come hang out with us? We could take you out for tea..." Tot smiled politely up at him.

"No, thank you," she said dismissively, "I'm fine with Nagi-kun." This answer did not seem to satisfy Kawatani. Nagi watched as he tried to sweet talk Tot into leaving, an unfamiliar anger bubbling up in his veins. Naturally, he had been angry at these idiots before, but never like now. It felt cold and black and hard, like it might explode out at any moment - almost like the first time he'd used his telekinesis.

"Aww, that can't be true," Kawatani said, "Just look at him. No way he could ever make you as happy as I can." There was a patronizing tone to his voice that made Nagi even angrier. He tried to reason with himself against acting out. He knew that if he did anything, he would wind up going too far and using his TK. And if he did that right now, he was sure he wouldn't stop until someone was dead. Not that he was particularly concerned about whether these idiots lived or died; it was more that he didn't want to reveal his powers to anyone.

Tot, too, was beginning to look a bit irked. She scowled a bit at Kawatani before answering him again. "That's not very nice," she pointed out, "I don't think I want to go anywhere with you." Kawatani began to look a bit deterred, but didn't give up yet.

"Hey, don't be such a prude," he said pointedly, "Getting rid of that creep for just a little while won't hurt you, you know." Tot's scowl broke into a full expression of loathing. Nagi, too, was still having trouble containing his aggravation.

"Don't call Nagi-kun a creep!" Tot yelled, putting her book aside and standing up. Kawatani backed up and stood upright, a little startled that she would dare to get in his face. "I don't like you," Tot said flatly, "You should leave now." The three of them stared at her for a second, looking at her pouty, scowling face. Then, all three broke out into gales of laughter.

"And what are you going to do if we don't want to?" Kawatani asked, mocking her. Tot balled her hands up into fists at her side for a second before she raised one to slap him. Nagi stood, trembling with anger when Kawatani caught her hand in midair.

"Ow! Stop it!" Tot said, trying to wrench her wrist away from his grip. Nagi felt something snap in the back of his mind. A wave of cold washed over his body, and a cold breeze began to shake the bare branches of the nearby trees.

"Get away from her," he said quietly, causing all three of the other boys to turn in his direction. They looked vaguely surprised that he had spoken for a moment before Kawatani's face broke into a nasty frown. He released his grip on Tot's wrist and stepped toward Nagi, looking down on him and cracking his knuckles.

"You wanna do something about it?" he asked, the tone of his voice daring Nagi to say something, "You want a piece of me, pussy?" Kawatani's two friends laughed at this remark. Nagi didn't say a word; instead, he stared straight ahead at the larger boy, waiting to see what he'd do. He wouldn't have long to wait.

"You know, I've been looking for a reason to put you in your place for a while now," Kawatani remarked. The next second, Nagi heard Tot scream and felt something very hard and very large slam into his face. Had he been able to reason at that moment, he would have realized that it was Kawatani's fist, and that he had been punched. As it was, however, he didn't think about anything other than the cold snap in his mind. It had finally revealed itself to be a blind rage.

Nagi stumbled backwards for a second before righting himself and bringing a hand to his face. Kawatani laughed mockingly, massaging his knuckles.

"Did that hurt?" he asked in that familiar, condescending tone of his. Oddly enough, though, neither of his friends were laughing. They were both staring at him in abject horror, one of them actually pointing at him. Kawatani, on the other hand, paid no attention to them. Instead, he grabbed Nagi's collar and hauled him over to get a better shot at him.

"Hey, man," one of the boys stammered, "Don't mess with him!" The other looked to be on the verge of running away.

"Lookit his eyes!" the other one said frantically, pointing, "He's not human!" Kawatani glanced back over his shoulder to get a look at his friends.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, turning back to look at Nagi, "Of course he's..." He stopped mid-sentence, releasing Nagi's collar and taking a step back in the process. The look on his face would probably have amused Nagi, if he hadn't been too busy trying to hold back his rage to notice. As it was, however, he didn't have much longer to worry about it, anyway.

"Leave him alone!" Tot finally screeched, knocking Nagi back from the verge of a murderous rampage. What happened next, however, sent him from being angry to being confused and more disturbed than he had been all week. Tot held both hands out in front of her, palms outward, and bared her teeth at the three bullies.

"What the hell is she doing?" Kawatani asked, stopping to stare at her. His two friends, on the other hand, looked once again to be ready to flee.

"Her eyes!" one screamed, "They're the same as his!" With this, both of them began to run. Kawatani also noticed what they were looking at. Nagi looked over as well, curious to see what they were rambling about.

When he looked at Tot, however, he not only realized that her eyes were far different from what they normally looked like, they were far different from his own. Instead of their normal, clear blue color, they had hazed over into a dull gold shade. Perhaps more disturbing was the fact that her pupils had elongated, turning into thin, vertical slits. Nagi thought they made her look like a demon, and he began to wonder if his looked the same, and if so, why. Then something even stranger happened. A small, electrified ball of black energy began to form between Tot's hands.

"Holy..." Kawatani muttered, frozen in his tracks. Even if he'd had time to run after that, he wouldn't have gotten very far. As it was, the blast sent him and his two friends flying into the brick walls of the school building, a good thirty meters away. Nagi wasn't sure if the three of them were hurt, or even alive. And he knew that he didn't care, either.

Instead, Nagi stared in horror as Tot took several deep breaths and lowered her arms, sweat pouring down her face. Whatever she had just done wasn't telekinesis, of that much he was certain. And when it happened, why did he feel that chill run down his back again? He put his questions on hold, however, when he saw Tot slump to her knees and cover her mouth with her hand. He rushed over to her, throwing an arm around her back to support her.

"Tot, what did you just do?" he asked finally, almost frantic. Instead of answering him, though, Tot began coughing uncontrollably. Nagi noticed a few drops of thick, black fluid slide between her fingers and to the ground. When they hit the dirt, the drops hissed a bit and then evaporated. He had never seen anything like it before in his life.

Finally, Tot stopped coughing and slowly looked up at him. Her eyes were their normal blue color again, and her face clearly betrayed the fact that she was spent.

"Nagi-kun," she said softly, trying to smile at him, "I want to go home now." Nagi nodded and got her to her feet. A few steps later, Tot lost consciousness.