Disclaimer: I don't know for sure who owns Weiss Kreuz, but I don't.
Timeline: Alternate session two.
Rating: PG-13
Chapter: 3/?
Pairings: NagixOmi, in later chapters bits of SchuxYohji
Summary: The teams become suspicious and Nagi has two special birthday gifts for Omi
Warnings: AU. A lot. If you like Kritiker and dislike the idea of Weiss as freelance assassins you probably shouldn't read this. Maybe OOC, that depends on how the story will evolve. I think you'll notice it's m/m slash soon enough. But is there any WK romance that isn't slash?
Author's note: If you would like your ship in the fic, then write it in your review and I'll see if I can fit them in the story. But I can't promise anything, there are some characters I just can't write IC. I don't have a beta reader, so you read this at your own risk, if you get a headache from my mistakes (native German) don't blame me :-)
Author's note 2: If you send me feedback you'll make me very happy.
Love@Net
By Artemis
Chapter 3
Ken shrugged and turned to his best friend. "Whatcha think, Omi? Isn't it weird that we haven't had any confrontation with Schwarz since Aya killed Takatori Reiji? I mean, usually they made our lives at least once a month a living hell and now you could almost believe that they're avoiding us…"
But Omi was too lost in thoughts to hear his friend, mechanically braiding an Adventskranz for the German embassy and decorating it. He's thinking about Prodigy and about their last meeting in chat. Prodigy had told him that he's afraid his telepathic friend had found out about them, after all the other psychic was older and more experienced, he couldn't keep his mind shielded when he's asleep. Although Nagi had never given secrets of Schwarz away Omi was worried for him. They'd deemed Ouka as worth little enough to be sacrificed, so why not Nagi as well…? He's the brains of Schwarz and Bombay doubted that they'd get very far without him, now that they weren't anymore provided with replacement by Takatori, but some anxiety remained.
"Omi, hey, are you even here?" Ken shook him roughly on the shoulder, which had become in the past months the only way to shake Omi out of his daydreams.
He placed four red candles onto the wreath of conifer twigs and red ribbons. "I was lost in thoughts, gomen."
Yohji flashed him a predatory smirk. "We noticed. Hell, you can practically notice the love vibes you're radiating."
"And now let me focus on my work again or I'll never get this done."
"Got you! You're in a hurry because you're supposed to meet your date soon!"
"If you call a brainstorming in the chat room date, then yes."
"Depends on what's the topic of your brainstorming."
Omi's patience was wearing thin today. "*Yohji, just drop it*", he ground out in a tense voice. Maybe too tense for what his friends were used to from him because he felt suddenly three pairs of eyes on him.
"Never! Oh come on, Chibi, you can tell us!"
"Yeah, sure, the day hell freezes over!", snapped Omi. He knew he shouldn't be this defensive around his own friends, it was unfair and made them only more suspicious, but he couldn't help himself. He's now for three months with Nagi, for four months they're friends, and he'd gotten as protective about him as the telekinetic was about him. His friends wouldn't be capable of keeping their traps shut the next time they crossed Schwarz's way and then Nagi would be in even bigger trouble than himself.
But Balinese wasn't about to get scared so easily. Omi's aggressiveness only encouraged him furthermore. He hadn't been such a good sleuth for nothing… "So I was right!"
"Yohji…!"
"Come on, you can really tell us. I mean, who could be so bad that you have to keep it a secret from your friends?"
Omi could virtually see the light bulb going on over Yohji's head and was already pondering whether a wood or metal coffin would look better on him.
"Please tell me it's no one from Schreient!", begged the blond assassin.
Bombay breathed inwardly a sigh of relief. "*No*, of course *not*, how do you get that stupid idea? Schreient, really, Yohji!"
A horde of giggling school girls burst through the doors and Omi greeted them with honest enthusiasm. At least when they're around he couldn't be bugged about Nagi.
His main torturer also had to admit that and whispered, "don't believe
that I'm through with you, sooner or later I'm going to find out who your
mystery lover is!"
"Nagi, could you *kindly* interrupt your daydream for the time of our conference?", snapped Crawford.
"Gomen. What did you said?"
"You have to become more attentive, Nagi, sooner or later you'll be caught by surprise and injured badly, maybe even killed", warned Schuldig his young friend. Truth was he'd been worried about the boy. Already since July Nagi was totally changed. Suddenly he'd become more open and if the telekinetic hadn't been an assassin he'd have even gone so far as to call him kind and friendly. The only thing Nagi sternly refused to talk about – and shielded very well from him – was who'd caused this change.
"I'm concentrated on missions."
"Na klar, and on our last hit an enemy just almost killed you without you noticing a thing."
"Gomen, that won't happen again. Please understand, this are difficult times for me, private problems and such…" The moment the words left his mouth Nagi regretted them, but he's painfully aware that it's already too late to take them back.
"Yes, I suspected that. Why don't you just tell us what's going on, Nagi? Or is this person someone you have to be ashamed of?", challenged Crawford.
If you'd only know, Nagi thought bitterly. Loving Omi was even worse than loving Tot, at least he'd been allowed to meet with her. Determined not to raise to the bait said the dark-haired boy, "I don't have to be ashamed of anyone because there is no one in my life. By the way, Schuldig, can I learn to talk to people who're not capable of telepathic talking? Because it's uncomfortable when I always have to send you a message so that you can tell it Farfarello."
So his lover was an ordinary person. Damn. This only reduced the possible people to 20 millions… "Usually telekinetics are barely capable of talking to telepaths on their own, but you also learned to shield your mind within a couple of days… if there's anyone who can learn it then you."
"I'd be very grateful if you would teach me."
"You're welcome."
"Thanks."
"You know, there is still a mission we have to discuss! Since you, Nagi
and Schuldig, are so talkative today you can ask around in the objective's
favourite haunts."
-- Now talking in #7thPitchOfHell
Bombay: I don't have much time as we have a hit in half an hour, but I wanted to see you at least for a few minutes.
Prodigy: Ooi sunshine! I'm glad you did, I would've been worried if you hadn't come tonight.
Bombay: I'm not totally incapable, you know?!
Prodigy: Yeah, but your darts and arrows can be reflected by a telekinetic and I don't want you to be hurt, that's all. I'm a telekinetic, Bombay, I know how helpless opponents without super powers can easily become. Btw, do you like cats and would you like to have one?
Bombay: What a question is that? Of course I love cats and I always wanted to have my own! :-)
Prodigy: Good
Bombay: What do you have in mind?
Prodigy: You'll see.
It's Omi's birthday.
And the most depressing one since he'd joined Weiß.
His friends did everything to cheer him up, they even closed the flower shop earlier this Tuesday so they could spend more time together, made a party for him. But Omi just wasn't capable to be happy when the person he loved, the one he wanted most to be here, couldn't come.
Only all four years he could celebrate birthday at the right day as he's born on February the 29th, that made it even more depressing that Nagi couldn't come. His boyfriend already hadn't been able to celebrate Christmas and the New Year's Days with him, now he wouldn't be present at his birthday either…
Omi pulled an old black sweatshirt that he liked to wear in the flower shop over. He groaned as he heard the door being opened, he couldn't stand a third try of Yohji to find the name of his boyfriend out today. "Go away, I'll be downstairs in a minute", he wanted to say. But out came only hacked, muffled sounds from under the shirt.
A nonplussed Yohji sat down on his bed. "How does it feels to be 18, Chibi?"
Of course, what had he expected…? "It's cool. What do you want, Yohji, don't deny it, I can see that glint in your eyes!"
"I thought we should have a guy talk. Me being the oldest and you being the youngest of us…", teased Balinese.
"Which can also be translated with, "tell me his name"!", dead-paned Omi unfazed and plopped next to his team mate down on the bed.
Yohji looked at him like a poster boy for angelic innocence. "Would I ever do such a thing?", he asked melodramatically.
"Hai."
"Okay, okay." The playboy raised his hands in surrender. "I'll make you a deal: if I try to find the name of your boyfriend out you can instantly kick me out."
Omi wanted to note that he didn't needed Yohji's approval to throw him headfirst out of the room. But then again he'd never do that and the deal was most likely the easiest way to get rid of him. "Okay."
"I know how you feel, really, my parents hated Askua with a passion and so we also had to celebrate all holidays alone. No matter how hard my friends and family tried to make me feel happy, I always could only think how it would be if she's present. Tell me, do you love him?"
The redhead nodded abashed. "Hai, I love him. I love him very much. Before we got to know each other I wouldn't have ever thought we could become friends, let alone lovers, but now I love him more than anything else in the world. Well, I guess you guys are on the same level as him, but in a different way. I love him so much, it hurts that we can't see each other."
"But how do you keep in touch then?"
"E-Mail and chat."
"Where does he lives? Maybe you could visit him in the summer vacation, or he visits us."
Bombay shook his head ruefully, "if it would be only that… The tragic thing is that he's living here in Tokyo and we still can't see each other. It would be too dangerous. If someone finds out that we love each other we'd both have to pay dearly, he most likely even more than me and as much as I want to spend time with him I can't risk his life."
Yohji's eyes widened as realization hit him. In a moment everything fell into place. The endless hours Omi spent on his computer, that he's so stubborn about not giving his boyfriend's name again, the secretiveness… and he remembered the e-mail exchange with Prodigy he'd looked at last year… "It makes sense, I understand. I'll help you to keep it a secret."
"Thanks, thank you very much."
"Let's go, if we extend lunch break and Aya finds out he'll give us hell again." Yohji cursed silently Aya for keeping them on such a close leash in the past months. He understood that they needed the money, now that they're self-employed assassins, but the fan girls loved them, they wouldn't go to another shop just because he's sometimes a tiny bit late – and they anyway didn't bought anything.
Omi nodded in agreement and followed Yohji out of his room. "You're right."
They hurried down to the flower shop. There're only two minutes left
to prepare the shop and like so often Yohji had been too lazy to clean
before he vanished for his break.
Nagi carried the basket till he stood only a stone's throw away from Kitty in the House. It's impossible to get any closer, that would be suicidal.
He put the large basket down and channelled his energy on it. Slowly it floated over the street to the flower shop.
He'd made already sure that neither would his boyfriend be disturbed nor anyone see him with a convenient diversion because of road works. Of course, there wouldn't have to be any road works if he hadn't destroyed the road surface last night…
He watched how the basket landed softly in front of the store's door. One movement of his hand, the door swung open and the basket floated inside. Once it's safely inside the shop Nagi closed the door again telekinetically.
"Happy birthday, Omi."
The plain basket immediately caught the eyes of both Weiß assassins.
While Yohji drew a gun and searched for an attacker, Omi knew immediately that only one person could be responsible. He ran to the door and unlocked it with trembling fingers as fast as he could.
Omi searched frantically for the slight figure of his boyfriend, not sure if he's even still here, if he even wanted Omi to see him.
But it took him only a moment to make the young man out who stood on the other side of the street. Dark strands of hair concealed most of his face, still Omi had no doubt that it's Naoe Nagi. What he knew already was confirmed beyond doubt as a single red rose floated through the air to him. And just before Nagi turned around…
…he could've sworn he'd seen a smile on his face.
Bombay caught the rose easily and returned the smile.
"*Wow*!" Yohji gasped in amazement and stared with wide eyes at the contents of the basket. "Omi, you have to take a look at this!"
"Hai, Yohji!" Omi kneeled down next to his friend and soon his own face mirrored the other man's.
A tiny black kitten, they recognized it as a Bombay kitten, sat in a bed of blankets in the basket.
Since Yohji had already taken the kitten into his arms, Bombay inspected the other contents. There were a bunch of freesias, a guide to cats and a nondescript envelope in the basket.
Happy birthday, Omi!
I can't be with you, I can't even call you by your real name, so I've found someone who would like to keep you company. I hope you like my gift, your very own Bombay tom-cat.
I wish you only the best.
Love,
Nagi
"Nagi", Omi whispered.
Yohji smiled and pretended that he hadn't heard which name Omi had said so affectionately. It figured, Schuldig and Crawford were too old, Farfarello too insane. Still it's nice to know who had stolen Omi's heart – and whom he'd have to slaughter if he hurt his Chibi. "Why don't you take cat-Bombay, you're better with animals than me?"
Careful not to hurt the tiny kitten, Omi accepted it from Yohji. "Now how should we name you, huh, little one? Do you have any idea, Yohji?"
"Uh… are they a boy or a girl?"
"Boy. And don't tell me you haven't read the letter already."
"Scampi? Scooby Doo? Mickey Mouse? Spider? Ares? Elvis? Bandit? Admiral? Shamrock? Flower? Shortcake? Adonis? Rowdy? Sake? Amadeus? Gremlin? Spaghetti? Yummy? Zorro? Banshee?" Yohji was running out of names and just said the first thing that came to his mind. "Moongoose?" Balinese graciously ignored the sputtering laughter coming from Omi. "Okay, my last suggestion: black angel?"
"That's it? That is it!"
"Which one?"
"Black Angel! We'll call him angel!", Omi decided excited.
"A boy? Are you sure?"
"Well, at least it's better than shortcake and gremlin, isn't it?"
"Well … yes, I guess."
-- Now talking in #7thPitchOfHell
Bombay: You here hidden, Prodigy?
-- Prodigy has entered #7thPitchOfHell
Prodigy: Happy birthday Bombay!
Bombay: *blushes* Arigatou, koi. Your gift is just wonderful, you made me so happy!
-- Prodigy blushes bright red and ducks his head
Prodigy: I'm glad you approve. When I read the ad in the newspaper about Bombay kittens whom the breeder had to give away I couldn't help myself. I always liked irony and it's just so ironic that an enemy would give a man with the nickname Bombay a Bombay cat.
Bombay: And the irony doesn't ends there. I called the kitten Black Angel.
Prodigy: *lol* You ought to be kidding!
Bombay: Nope! *g*
Prodigy: How did your friends react?
Bombay: They like Angel. And by the way, my playboy friend has now a pretty good idea about us. I couldn't hold the masquerade up any long and I told him a bit, no details though, and he's around when you gave me my gift. But he promised that he won't tell anyone and while he's chasing after everything with skirt or pants he'd never break his word.
Prodigy: Fine then. But you can tell him that if he gets me into any trouble I'll skin him alive and feed him to Angel.
Bombay: I'll rather not.
Prodigy: Thought so :-) Goodness, I wanted to be with you today so badly, tom-cat, but there was just no way. I couldn't give my friends even more reasons for suspicions and the whole kitten thing aroused already enough of them. I'm so desperate, I'm tempted to get my group to battle with yours just so that I can see you again
Bombay: But then we'd have to fight against each other
Prodigy: At least if we're fighting we have an opportunity to see and touch each other. Today I saw you for the first time since last year summer and only now that I saw you again I realized the full impact of how much I miss to have personal contact to you.
Bombay: You're writing exactly what I feel. Don't worry, we'll meet again soon, we're going to find a way somehow. I'm even willing to take the risk of discovery by now, if we do it clever we can at least manage one or two meetings without getting ourselves executed for treason. I'm sure that my friend will help us if I annoy him long enough.
Prodigy: When a year is over we'll arrange a meeting, okay? I want to keep you safe as long as possible but I guess by July we'll anyway be beyond caring.
Bombay: Quite.
Prodigy: Oh, I almost forgot, I have another birthday present for you.
-- Bombay bounces excitedly on his seat
Bombay: What is it, what is it???
Prodigy: *g* We don't need any longer laptops.
Bombay: You've lost me.
Prodigy: The easiest way to explain you is to show you… Just promise
me you won't scream and panic.
Nagi was lounging comfortably on his bed, his back prodded against the headboard and the laptop in his lap.
Now the telekinetic let the computer slip from his lap and concentrated fully on Omi. He double-checked every step of the connection as by no way could Schuldig, let alone Crawford find out about this. In his most seductive voice he purred, /hello again, my tom-cat./
He giggled as he felt through the telepathic connection Omi at first jump, then tense and finally scratch his head in puzzlement. /You know, you just have to think something really hard and then I'll get it. No, Bombay, you haven't gone stark raving mad, this is really happening./ Another giggle upon overhearing that Omi wondered whether he's Schu. /I'm disappointed, Bombay, very disappointed. Is there someone cheating on me, huh…?/, he teased.
/*No! Of course not*!/, shouted Omi.
Prodigy winced at the sheer volume. He'd forgotten that telepathic shouting reverberated so much more than vocal shouting. /You don't have to think it quite that hard. Now, is that cool or cool?/
/Where are you?/
/In my room./
/But how…? Why…?/
/Well, I asked my telepathic friend a few weeks ago if I could learn to talk telepathically to non-telepaths over a large distance and he agreed to train me. But because I wasn't sure whether I would actually manage it and I didn't wanted you to be disappointed I kept it a secret so far. I wanted to be able to do it well enough to impress you./
/You're so cute!/
/Yeah, that's me, cuteness personified/, chuckled Nagi. The dark-haired boy used the established link to dig deeper into Omi's mind and sate his curiosity as good as he could with his very limited telepathic talents. There was so much he'd always wanted to know and now that he finally had the chance to get his answers he wouldn't miss it.
The redhead squirmed under the mental scrutiny uncomfortably, not knowing what he should be thinking about it. /You never mentioned that you're a telepath as well./
/I'm not really, Bombay. I just need telepathy to link us since I can't channel my power right and safe over such large distances. It's really complicated, I don't understand it fully either and don't feel like explaining it right now, maybe another time./
/Does that now mean we can always talk?/
/Yes and no. I'm no telepath, tom-cat, this doesn't comes naturally to me. So it takes a lot of concentration and energy, especially over such a large distance./
/That doesn't makes much sense to me. But then I studied only telekinesis, guess I'll have to learn more than the basics about telepathy as well./
/You studied telekinesis?/, echoed Nagi amazed.
/Of course. At first I did it only because I wanted to learn about my enemies, their strength and weaknesses, how we could trick them. When we befriended I studied particularly about telekinetics because I wanted to understand better what and who you are. I think I could be now a leading expert on psychics./
/Then I guess I'll have to prepare for a hell of a beating if we ever face off again/, Nagi admitted with wry amusement. He'd no illusions, if someone knew the weaknesses of a telekinetic and was cold-blooded enough to use them when looking literally into the face of death, then he didn't stood a chance – and if anyone qualified for this, then it's Omi. The older boy loved him, but he wasn't sure whom Omi would pick if he's forced to choose between his loyalties for Weiß – his brothers-in-arms, his friends, his family – and Nagi – "only" his best friend and lover.
/You shouldn't rely on your supernatural abilities, Prodigy, it's dangerous. One day you'll have to battle a telekinetic more powerful than you or another stronger creature. It can't hurt to be able to do without telekinesis./
/You'll teach me that dart throwing?/
Omi smiled cockily. /Maybe./
/You're overestimating yourself, kitty-cat./
/Maybe./
Nagi rolled his eyes, suppressed his smile and remembered then that Omi couldn't see his face but still feel his amusement. Damn, he cursed silently. And remembered that Omi could hear that as well. The telekinetic groaned in exasperation. Naoe threw a piece of chocolate telekinetically into the air and caught it easily with his mouth. /We have to quit, I'm not all that good with blocking my thoughts while I have a telepathic conversation and the longer we talk the more likely it is that my friends notice it…/
/So we still have to converse most of the time by chat and e-mail? I hoped we could stay always like that./
/We can't rely fully on supernatural means of communication, didn't you just told me the same? And besides, as much as I would like to hear your voice all the time, feel your mental presence always in my mind, there are many things speaking against it. For once, both of our friends are by now tolerating that we are spending hours on end in front of our laptops, particularly yours will become suspicious if you're all the time lost in thoughts without reason or cause. Also, we'd find out things about the other's team we aren't supposed to find out./
Omi heaved a gloomy sigh and scratched Black Angel distractedly behind his ear. /Of course you're right. I just wish things could be different between us./ Why couldn't Nagi be a member of Weiß, the redhead wondered longingly, but didn't "thought aloud" since he didn't wanted to hurt the feelings of his dark-haired psi boyfriend.
But Nagi caught the thought nonetheless. And immediately went into a defensive mood, automatically assuming a rejection. /Why aren't you Schwarz?!/
/Because Takatori … my stepfather only wanted bodyguards with supernatural abilities, because I was at the time he recruited being trained by my real father who never had a single ounce of love for me as his very own assassin and pawn in their damn catfight, because he intended Schwarz to put his evil plans into action, take your pick./
A part of his mind noted idle that he should've been more angry with Nagi, but Omi was too tired for that. He's tired of fighting with Nagi, his obsessive distrust and fear of rejection, he's tired of hiding his relationship from his friends and lying to the people he called his family, he's tired of fighting the inner demons Weiß' showdown with Takatori Reiji had summoned.
To be continued…
An Adventskranz is a traditional German piece of Christmas decoration,
just in case you wondered. It's really pretty, braided of green fir twigs
with red ribbons, with tiny Christmas decoration and four candles. The
Advent time in Germany starts four weeks before Christmas and at each Advent
Sunday one more candle is lit on the Adventskranz.