Whee-hee! I'm back, kiddies! Didja miss me? No? Didn't think so.... *sigh* Anyway, here's the latest chapter of Reflections. I've got the whole rest of this fic planned out, which is very unusual for me. Let me just say this: It's...Well, you're probably not expecting it. Despite my vows to never watch anything that has to do with Gluhen, I downloaded the second season opening. It's actually bitchin' cool. The sequence itself, not the designs. Actually, I really don't mind the designs all that much. Aya looks like a cross between Duo and Trieze from Gundam Wing, but somehow pulls it off. Ken and Omi look pretty cool. BUT YOUJI LOOKS HORRIBLE! *sobs* HE LOOKS LIKE FRIGGIN' COWBOY ANDY FROM BEBOP! *composes self* Anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimers: I don't own the Schwarz boys or the Weiß boys or any other original Weiß character mentioned in this. I do own Ivy. Nora is the property of the Sort of Great, Semi-Powerful Otaku Fae-chan.

Warnings: Yaoi/shounen ai/slash/whatever you wanna call it, sap

Home.

After a long, annoying flight (where I was seated behind a large man with very bad gas), I was home.

This was the closest that I'd been to happy in a long time.

"YES! YES! THERE IS A GOD!" Schuldig crowed as he trampled me on his way into the apartment. He proceeded to drop to his knees and kiss the carpet.

"I could have told you that," Farfarello muttered from behind the uncharacteristic smile that was on his face. "I've never been so happy to see this hunk of crap."

"We're home, guys!" Nora yelled happily. She did a very, very un-Nora-ish dance on the doorstep before skipping merrily into the apartment. "All RIGHT!" I was perfectly content with watching Schuldig and Nora dance in a circle before Ivy decided to tackle glomp me.

"Good old, Tokyo!" she cried. "No eternally happy mice! No screaming children! No stupid Americans! Except Brad, of course."

"Watch it, Mercoda," Crawford said with a wry smirk as he stepped into the apartment. He cleared his throat and addressed the entire team. "Welcome home, Schwarz." Schuldig hopped up from his prostrate position on the floor. "You should all start unpacking. I suspect that a mission will pop up soon."

"Is that a fact, Oracle?" Ivy questioned mockingly.

"No. Just a hunch." With that, Crawford turned and headed towards his room.

"Going to spend a little quality time with Mr. Dildo," Schuldig said in an audible whispered.

Everyone choked back a laugh.

Crawford continued walking but paused long enough to make a loving hand gesture in Schuldig's general direction.

"What an inappropriate finger. That was uncalled for." I smiled and walked back in the general direction of my room.

For some reason, I instead stopped in front of Farf's. My legs carried me into his vacant room, through the "secret" door, and into the room that used to belong to Omi. My ass proceeded to sit itself on the floor since my mind had decided to take a short vacation.

I hadn't had a chance to think about him much. Now that I had it, there was a weird feeling in my stomach. Kind of like I was nauseous, only this carried all the way up through my chest and into my heart.

"You miss him." I turned around to face Schuldig who was leaning against the door frame.

"That must be it," I muttered. "Yeah, I do." He smiled and sat down beside me.

"I'll try to set you two up." I rolled my eyes. "Well, I've got to go, chibi."

"Where are you going?"

"To visit my Yo-tan."

Figures.

*****

I flopped onto my bed and sat there, staring at the Gackt poster on my wall. After a good ten minutes, I removed my journal from my still-packed suitcase.

*~*~*~*

Journal of Nagi Naoe

8/26

Love is a scary thing.

It can show up whenever it damn well pleases and in many different ways. Schuldig loves Youji. I love Ivy. Nora loves Farf. All three circumstances involve love, but they're all different. Schuldig and Youji have the, "I pretend to only care about the sex, but I really care about you," type love. I understand Ivy, and she understands me. She's my best friend and more than likely always will be. If we were high school girls, we'd buy one of those cheesy, overpriced friendship bracelets. You know what I mean. They come in a pack of two, and one bracelet says "Best" and the other says "Friends." But that has nothing to do with anything. Ignore that. Nora and Farf...the love of a brother and a sister. They do everything together. Farfarello can't stand to be without his "little sister." He truly believes that Nora is his sister. Nora's just happy to have someone to talk to after being in that asylum for years.

I don't know where that came from. I've been in a philosophical mood lately. Oh, well. I'm done for tonight.

*~*~*~*

With a small sigh, I gently placed my journal back into its convenient little lockable drawer and locked it. Then, I removed my laptop. Ahhhh, my wonderful, beautiful, perfect laptop. I opened it up and immediately received the feeling that I always get when I open my laptop: the feeling that all was right with the world.

SomeRandomGuy322: Hey, there!

It's strange. This guy always seemed to be online whenever I was. It was like he could sense me.

KissMyAssAuthority: Hey. What's up?

SomeRandomGuy322: Nothing much.

KissMyAssAuthority: I'm back in Tokyo.

SomeRandomGuy322: All right! Do you want to try to meet up soon?

I glanced at the clock on my table. It was only seven o'clock.

KissMyAssAuthority: What are you doing tonight?

There was a pause. I think I startled him. I tend to do that. Heh.

SomeRandomGuy322: Sure, why not? I'll meet you at the entrance to Daisetsan Park in twenty minutes.

He logged off pretty quickly.

I stared at the blank screen for a few seconds before closing it.

What the hell had just happened?

And what was I doing?

For all I knew, this guy was a thirty-year-old child molester. Not that I wouldn't be able to deal with him if he was. I'd had my share of those before Schwarz picked me up.

Well, I'd never find out by just sitting around.

I quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a black shirt that proclaimed "Quiet, brain, or I'll poke you with another Q-tip" and headed out the door.

"Where are you going?"

My head snapped around. Ivy stood in the hallway with her arms crossed.

"Out," I said quietly. She sighed and bit her lip.

"Nagi, I feel like we aren't as close as we used to be." I looked at her for a few seconds.

I'd been thinking about that for a while. Whenever I had free time, I would usually talk to Schuldig and Youji (not that anyone else knew about the latter) or listen to music. Ivy had kind of been pushed to the back of my mind.

"I know, Ivy. But I've just been going through some stuff lately that I have trouble talking about-"

"But you can talk to Schuldig about it?" she asked coldly.

"Ivy-"

"No, it's fine. Go. Go do whatever you have to do." She turned and walked back to her room without another word.

I watched her retreating back for a few seconds before stepping outside into the cool, night air.

I felt like shit.

*****

I caught sight of it after a good ten minutes of walking.

Daisetsan Park.

I slowed down and stopped at the foot of a tree. The big metal sign a few feet away proclaimed the park's name for all to see.

Oh, shit, what was I getting myself in to?

Sure, I could take this guy if he was a normal pedophile. But what if he was an Esset pedophile? I still had nightmare's about Esset's twisted version of "training."

Funny. I didn't know that fucking me until I couldn't walk qualified as training.

...Forget I said that. I'd rather not think about it.

Esset probably wasn't too happy with me. I knew that they probably had their mindreaders out, digging into us without our even knowing. Esset's professional telepaths are far more subtle than Schuldig. They can slip in and out of someone's thoughts without a trace. If Esset's personal telepaths knew that I was having doubts about my status in Schwarz, they'd tell those seemingly senile old bats that held my very existence in their wrinkled hands. Sending someone to scare me (or fuck me) into getting rid of those doubts sounded like something that Esset would do.

But then again...

Maybe this was just a normal guy.

Just a regular, slightly lonely kid who wanted to make friends.

But if he was, why would I want to fuck him up by mixing him up in Schwarz's business.

No way. I wasn't going to ruin this guy's life. Or mine, for that matter.

I turned quickly and began to walk back towards the apartment.

"Nagi?"

I stopped dead in my tracks.

I knew that voice.

Very slowly, despite my better judgment, I turned back towards the park. A pair of cornflower blue eyes met my own midnight blue pair.

The late Reiji Takatori's nephew.

Weiß's Bombay.

Omi Tsukiyono was standing in front of me.

*****

I was completely dumfounded.

The last person I expected to see was my teammates' mortal enemy, who, by the way, I had a massive-ass crush on despite the fact that we were the same gender.

My mouth opened and closed wordlessly. I felt like a beached fish.

...Words...not...coming...to...mouth...

"Omi!" I finally choked out. "W-What are you doing here?" He smiled at me. Somewhat nervously.

"I'm guessing that you're the one that I'm supposed to meet," he said quietly as he pulled a printed copy of my online conversation with SomeRandomGuy322 out of his backpack.

So Omi was SomeRandomGuy322.

How ironic. Small world, isn't it?

I glanced back at Omi. He was shuffling his feet, staring at the ground, and looking generally uncomfortable.

May as well make the best out of an awkward situation.

I sat myself on the badly-painted green bench directly outside the park and patted the empty space next to me. He looked at me for a few seconds before flashing a relieved smile and settling down.

God, he was beautiful when he smiled.

"I've been...I've been thinking lately," he said after a few seconds. I cocked my head to the side.

"About what?"

"About...About that day. When you let me go."

"What about it?"

"Why did you do it?" I smiled. I've been giving out too many genuine smiles lately. People are beginning to get used to them.

"I already told you. You were sick and you needed help."

"But you were trying to kill me anyway." He looked at me for the first time. "What did it matter if I was sick?" I didn't have an answer to that.

"It was an impulse. I felt like I should follow my gut." He seemed satisfied.

"One more question."

"All right."

"When you let me go...Why did you kiss me?" I jerked my head up and felt my face turn beet red.

Crap, I'd forgotten that I did that...

Omi was looking down at his lap. Even in the dim moonlight, I could tell that his face was as red as mine.

Naoe, it's time to put up or shut up.

Tell him?

Or not?

Well, gut instinct, what do you have to say on the matter?

I paused for an answer from my omniscient gut.

...I was afraid that it would say that.

"Because I...I have....I have what you might call a....well, a crush on you."

No need for frying pans today, ladies and gentlemen. Use my face to fry your eggs.

He looked at me, stunned. I smiled sheepishly and looked down at the ground.

"You...have a crush on me."

"Yes." I sighed and looked out across the moonlit park.

Omi reached out, tilted my head towards him, and kissed me.

...What the hell was going on?!

It wasn't supposed to happen like this! He was supposed to tell me that I was a piece of Schwarz scum and stick me with his darts!

His tongue snaked its way into my mouth.

Okay, so I didn't really mind the way that things were turning out. In fact, they were really coming out well.

Damn, he was a good kisser.

Eventually, we both had to stop for air. Neither of us said a word. We just looked at each other.

"Well, that was....Unexpected," I said.

"At least you're honest," Omi replied with a small smile.

"So...What happens now?"

"Meet me back here tomorrow at eight o'clock." He started to get up.

I grabbed his hand.

"Oh, no. I've finally got you where I want you, and you're not leaving until I damn well say that you can."

He grinned at me, then proceeded to push me onto the grass and shove his tongue down my throat.

*****

When did it get to be three in the morning again?

I had spent the whole night strolling around the deserted park with Omi. It was the most fun that I'd had in a while.

I soundlessly crept around the side of the apartment and grasped the doorknob. I was suddenly knocked to the ground.

"Who the fuck is this ?" I hissed. (A/N: For you, Ariel. ^_^)

"Same question here!"

"Schuldig?"

"Nagi?"

I quickly pushed the German off of me and stood up.

"Watch it, you idiot. I'll kill you if you get us caught."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I sneak in all the time." I suddenly noticed that Schuldig's eyes were bright and cheerful and there was a wide grin plastered across his face. A real grin.

"What's got you so happy?" His grin grew wider.

"I'll tell you." He silently slipped the door open and walked towards his room. I followed him. He shut the door and motioned for me to sit down. "I went to go see Youji. We broke into an art museum and spent the entire night walking around and looking at the paintings. An art museum of all places! But that's where he wanted to go. It was actually a lot of fun. The security system is crap, though. You'd think that it would be better."

"There's more to this story." Schuldig nodded.

"There was one painting that he really liked. It covered an entire wall. It had a night sky with a moon and all these stars and two lovers sitting on a hill, staring up at the sky. It was beautiful. We sat in front of it for an hour and talked."

"And?" I pressed.

"I told him that I loved him."

My jaw dropped.

"What'd he say?" I cried. Schuldig shushed me quickly and listened for movement in the house.

"He loves me, too."

I fell backwards in the chair with a loud clunk and barely suppressed a school girl-ish squeal. I jumped up and, in a lapse of sanity, threw my arms around my somewhat annoying red-haired friend.

"Congratulations, Schu!" I said sincerely.

"Thanks. So how was your night?" I grinned.

"I went to go meet my online chat buddy."

"And?"

"He's Omi." It was Schuldig's turn to be shushed.

"What happened?!"

"We kind of..." I must have turned red again because Schuldig started to laugh his ass off.

"BWAHAHA! Chibi make-out sessions!"

"Shut up!" I yelled, poking him viciously in the side.

"GO TO SLEEP!" Crawford bellowed from down the hall. Schuldig and I looked at each other and snickered quietly. He playfully ruffled my hair as I walked out of his room.

I padded down the hallway feeling happy for once. It had been weeks since I was actually happy. When I reached my room, I noticed a white piece of paper taped to my doorway.

Nagi,

I'm sorry. You're my best friend, and I love you. Is it something that I did? If it is, I didn't mean to. I'm always here if you need to talk to me.

Su amiga favorita,

Ivy

I stared at the paper for a long time. After a few minutes, I retrieved a pen from my desk and began to scribble.

Ivy,

It's not your fault. Believe me. There's just something that happened. No one was supposed to know about it, but Schuldig found out. We have kind of the same problem, and it would be very, very bad if anyone else found out. I'd tell you if I could, but I'd have to tell you Schu's side, too. He'd kill me. But I love you, too, and you're still my best friend.

Love,

Nagi

I felt satisfied with my reply. Silently, I crept down the hallway, stuck the note to Ivy's door, and slipped back to my own room. I crawled into my bed.

This couldn't go in my journal. Just in case anyone found it.

I soon fell into a comfortable sleep.

Hours later, I half-awoke to the sound of someone entering my room. I felt the someone brush my hair off of my forehead.

"I understand," Ivy's voice whispered. "Sleep well, hermano menor."

She kissed me on the forehead and left. I heard the door close behind her.

"I will," I replied in the general direction of the door. I fell back asleep with a small smile spread across my face.

OWARI

Well, I had an extreme amount of fun writing that. Only a few more chapters left, kids. I promise that the next thing I post will be a chapter of TCMUWOSCAFC! I PROMISE! *smacks self* Anyway, please review you guys. If you're a fic writer, you know how great it is when someone reviews. Besides, I always read my reviewers' fics. Maybe you'll get a review from me. ^-^ Bye, kiddies!