I think this is the shortest chapter so far, barring the prologue. Its also, in my opinion, the most boring. However, there's fighting, blood, yummy things, and Schu taking Omi shopping. ^^ And…finally...the Really Cool Thing Omi's going to do! …Though it's not so cool if you're a Nagi fan…::hides herself from the fangirls on the NagiML::

Ok, so just read the chapter, then review, you know how the process works. ^^

Chapter 7

It was cold outside; Omi could feel it through the windows. He pulled on Nagi's shirt, but opted for the somewhat dirty leather pants he had worn to the club rather than a pair of shorts. Once dressed he made his way to the bathroom, careful to avoid any other members of the house. A small basket full of items such as soap, toothpaste and a toothbrush sat by the sink, on top of which lay a small square of paper that had his name scrawled across it in elegant English.

Just as he was finishing his morning bathroom routine, a familiar nasal voice assaulted him, "My my, don't we look yummy today?"

Omi turned from the mirror to face Schuldich, "Anou…aren't you supposed to not wake up for another few hours?"

The redhead had a predatory look about his, though it was obvious he was more than a little tired. "Special favour, one time only. Brad says you need clothes, and I got roped into it. Farfie isn't the best shopper, Nagi is out for obvious reasons, and Brad is busy, so guess who had to get up at the ass-crack of dawn to take the new kid shopping?" He yawned and stretched, once again leaning against the doorframe. "You ready to go yet?"

Omi turned off the water and followed the redhead out of the bathroom, "Where are we going? You all wear such expensive clothing..."

Schuldich shrugged, "Where do you want to go? Brad has a tailor downtown, so we have to go see him for a few suits and stuffy crap like that, but other than that, we go wherever you want. Unlimited credit, Platinum. But don't ask where all the money comes from."

The boy dissolved the question quickly from his mind. He had a rather good idea where their money came from; it was the same money that had bought all his computer equipment, Youji's roadster, and Aya's insanely expensive Porsche.

"Good boy, you learn quickly." Schuldich patted him on the head like an obedient puppy, "Now shall we go? I wanna get home before 'FruitsBasket' comes on."

Omi let out a small moan as he threw himself onto his bed. Eight hours of marathon shopping with Schuldich certainly was not his idea of a fun day. The redhead had refused to let him buy anything he'd actually wanted; Omi's closet was now fully stocked with all shades of black and dark gray, with a few pieces of deep purple or blue thrown in. His new wardrobe was something he was quite sure Youji would be proud of: form-fitting tops and tight pants, two long black trench coats, plus a lighter jacket and several pairs of shorts that her personally felt were a bit too short.

Schuldich had dragged him to every mall in Tokyo, hitting every store that carried men's clothing, plus several that carried only women's. It was in these stores that he had been made to try on embarrassing pajama sets and several girlish shirts, none of which he had particularly liked. Finally he agreed on two sets of pajamas; a black velvet pants and tank-top set with silver stars and moons scattered across the fabric, and a pale blue silk set with indecently short shorts and had 'Koneko' scrawled across the front of the tank top in messy purple kanji. The redhead had tried to drag him into a women's lingerie store, but that had been where Omi drew the line.

I'm not a girl! He dragged me all across Tokyo to find girlish stuff, then dressed me in the sluttiest clothes he could. "I am not a doll!" Omi threw a pillow across the room in a fit.

"Schu took you shopping, didn't he?" Farfarello stood in the doorway, holding a stuffed dog by one ear in one hand, a glass of chocolate milk in the other. "Crawford wants you downstairs. Schu is done with his show, so you have more training now."

Omi pulled a face at the pale man. Hadn't he had a busy enough day already? He rolled out of bed, straightening his new shorts, "What training? Is it for my fire again?" He followed the silverhaired man down the stairs, into a different room than he had been in the day before.

"Nope, physical training." He ushered Omi into a large room that had been converted into some sort of training room in which the other three members of the house were already waiting.

"Physical training?" Omi looked at Crawford, confused. "Why do I have to have physical training? I've been an assassin for almost seven years."

"True. But before this you never had any active supernatural powers. You should now be faster, stronger, and more agile than before." The dark haired man explained calmly. "You will be put through various tests and training to build on those skills. You are, if I remember, an archer?"

Omi nodded numbly, "Crossbows and throwing darts, mostly."

"How is your hand-to-hand combat?"

Before Omi could answer Farfarello had launched himself at the unsuspecting youth in an all-out attack. Omi threw himself to the floor and rolled, just barely escaping a slash from Farfarello's blades.

Knives? Where did those come from? He didn't have time to think about it; instantly the boy was up and back on his feet, weaving and dodging just out of Farfarello's reach.

It was the same, but different. He really was faster and more agile; he now easily evaded the silverhaired man's attacks where before he would have been cut to ribbons in just minutes.

"Tsukiyono."

Omi tore his attention from the fight just in time to catch a dagger flying at his head. He didn't need to hear Crawford's next command to know to use it. This wasn't really training, it was a game. The first to draw blood took the victory. Lets see if I can do this, then, I've only used knives a few times before, in basic training…

It was an unfair fight; he saw that from the beginning. Farfarello's two short swords and centuries of practice had more than just a small advantage over Omi's one dagger.

Duck, slash, move. Duck, slash, move. Not a single strike touched the silverhaired man. On the up side, however, Omi also managed to keep himself unscathed.

"Faster! Don't just play, try to overpower him."

Crawford's calm voice commanded Omi on, pushing him farther and faster than he ever thought he would be able to go. Had it been necessary or possible, sweat would have been dripping from every pore of Omi's body. As it was, the boy had barely begun to alter his breathing. Faster. Better. Have to be the best, have to win. Once again Omi threw himself onto the ground and rolled, this time hooking Farfarello's leg with his and bringing the older man down. One short sword clattered to the floor; the other Omi pulled from a pale hand and sent across the room. Omi flung himself on top of Farfarello, pinning him to the ground and pressing the tip of the dagger to the thick pulse at the man's neck.

Omi's heart raced; he was currently pinning the man who scared him the most to the ground, pressing a sharp knife into his neck. It was thrilling, exhilarating. Carefully he drew a fine line with the blade, unconsciously licking his lips as blood welled up over the cut. There! I…why is he smiling like that?

Vaguely he could hear Schuldich lazily cheering him on, Crawford telling him not to get sloppy. He could feel Nagi's eyes penetrating his skull, and Farfarello's breath ruffling his bangs.

And then the breath was stolen from his lungs as the silverhaired man easily reversed their positions. The game was over, Omi had won. But Farfarello still wanted to play. It was obvious who the stronger of the two was; Omi had the dagger, but Farfarello's grip on his wrist was so tight that he was forced to drop the blade. "Ya…me…ro…" a pale hand was at his neck, squeezing tight.

Omi placed a hand around the wrist the choked him, nails digging into flesh. "Ya…me…" He managed enough strength to remove the hand from his neck, but he could already feel bruises forming that would be healed just as quickly as they had been inflicted. "Get off, I won." The boy tried to shove Farfarello off, but succeeded only in pushing the man a bit to the side. Cold fire raged in his eyes and he had to fight to keep himself from making the room burst into flames.

"Farfarello!"

Reluctantly Farfarello drew himself away from Omi, his eye burning a hard amber as he retreated to Schuldich's side. Omi watched in fascination as the redhead gently licked the blood from the other man's neck. Absently he found himself picking up the dagger and crawling towards Crawford on hands and knees, eyes never once leaving the pair. He sat at the man's feet, one hand clutching Crawford's leg, the other clutching the dagger.

Omi found it nearly impossible to pull his eyes from Schuldich and Farfarello's embrace. He watched the intimate display of Schuldich feeding, his hand alternately clutching then stroking Crawford's leg. It was intensely erotic in a terribly disturbing way. He wanted to look away, wanted to give them privacy, but…

How did I get here? Wasn't I…? He was now in Crawford's arms, the man whispering gently in his ear.

"It's not polite to watch like that. You should look away." His own eyes were fixed on his teammates, watching them over Omi's head. He held the boy close, one hand on his shoulder, the other splayed out across his chest. "You did not do terrible today. You held your own against Farfarello, not many can do that."

It was praise, or as close as he could come to it, and it made Omi blush. "Hai, arigatou." He leaned back against Crawford, closing his eyes to the room around them. "It's like a car wreck, those two. I know I should look away, but I can't help but to look. It's...I feel so…"

"Turned on?"

Omi's eyes snapped open; he had forgotten about Nagi. "Urusei. No one asked you." The dagger in his hand trembled from the force of his grip.

The brunette advanced toward Omi, a wicked smile playing across his lips. "But Omi, aren't you aroused? Doesn't it look…yummy? Doesn't it make you hungry? Make you want to…" he reached out to slide one finger across Omi's lips, ignoring the waves of hatred pouring from the boy and the hard glare from Crawford.

A sharp crack pulled Schuldich and Farfarello's attention towards the two boys, "Ouu, cat fight."

An angry red handprint marred Nagi's perfect pale complexion. "Don't touch me, Naoe. I hate you. I will always hate you." Omi launched himself at the unsuspecting boy, knocking him flat onto his back.

Any thought of using their powers were tossed to the wind as they rolled violently on the floor, attacking each other with fists and teeth.

"Hey Brad, should we stop them?"

"Not necessary. Nagi was the instigator, and the boy has proven himself capable of holding his own. I see no reason to--"

Schuldich knew that look; it was the look Crawford got when he had just gotten a glimpse of the future. "Oi, what is it? Something bad? He's not gonna hurt the kid, is he?" he carefully probed the older man's mind for the memory, "Shit. Nagi! Watch out for--"

Too late. Nagi went rigid on top of Omi, then rolled off, clutching at the bright crimson flower blossoming slowly from his stomach. "Boku…boku…"

Omi sat up, heart pounding in victory. He looked down at Nagi, and smiled as he slowly licked the crimson-tipped blade.

Part 7, ende.

And there, my lovelies, is the most boring chapter of my little…whatever. The 'Cool Thing' that Omi was going to do was licking the knife…yeah, I know, not all the great, since Farfie does it all the time…but dammit, I thought it was cool! Kinda yummy, too...^^;

So now I sit here at 11:30 at nite, trying not to allow my Omi-goggles to fall off my head (I have a tendency to wear them randomly) and attempting in vain to stay awake. Aah, and I still need a shower and I must finish my homework…Wow, I hate being in school. No worries though, in less a month it shall all be over. Then I shall be off to A-kon, and then…moving to West Virginia, home of nothing. X.x Yes, you may pity me. ^^; Its not my fault…it's the only college that has everything I needed…well, barring the fact that its in the middle of nowhere. I'm a big-city girl, I've lived in Houston all my life!! I can't go out into the middle of nowhere…::sniffsniff:: I need my Starbucks on every street corner!!

Eeh, enough of my ranting. ^^; Now I just need to work on chapter 8…. I have…a whole page written. ^^; And, surprise surprise, my must has left me!

Actually, all my muses have slipped away. My Weiß muse, my Potter muse…even my Boy Meets Boy muse has gone out to lunch!! ::sniffsniff:: Anyone have a muse they're willing to sell? I'll take good care of it, I promise!!