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Elan Vital
(Sequel to Devil In the Sun)
"Irasshaimase! And what may I do for
you?"
The words were cheerful enough, his
smile happy enough but they never quite reached his eyes now, unlike before.
His eyes. Eyes that once reflected
a myriad of emotions that rivaled the spectrum of colors in the world…
dancing eyes that made the sun's rays pale in comparison. Open trusting
eyes.
Gone was the vibrant gleam in those
eyes. The cinnamon orbs now held hidden pain and anguish, cloudy and dark
as the murky stream…hidden in an emotionless shield of dark chocolate.
Dead eyes.
Eversince he came back from his Schwarz
abduction, Ken Hidaka had never been the same. He resembled a fragile bit
of glass that fell on the cruel cold floor, broken into pieces. He also
moved with the mechanical precision of a robot and rarely laughed at all
these days- which wouldn't have worried anyone…if it was Aya who did it.
But this was Ken and Ken's laugh always resounded in Koneko. Until now…it
had been weeks since the others heard Ken laugh.
"Come again! And thank you for stopping
by."
Warm insincere words that didn't fool
the brooding redhead hidden in the shadows.
Aya balled his hands into fist as he
looked at Ken. He hated seeing Ken like this, hated seeing him pretend
that everything was fine when he knew damn well that it wasn't. He hated
Ken's inability to share what really happened when Schwarz captured him.
But most of all, he hated Bradley Crawford, the source of all this.
Unlike Youji and Omi who still wondered
what sort of horrors Ken experienced, Ran *knew* exactly what happened.
Schuldich had told him when Weiß had conveniently "captured" the
Schwarz telepath.
The telepath, Schuldich, had said it
to taunt Aya. Throwing a mental image of Ken in the American's arms. A
laughing, vibrant, happy Ken…in the Schwarz leader's arms. Aya hadn't known
what to think or say. He had wanted to kill the Schwarz leader.
***
3 months ago
"You're mine, Kitty Cat!"
Schuldich sneered and lunged at Aya
before Brad could move. This provoked an involuntary sound of protest from
the Schwarz leader though he did recover and lunged for the honey-blond
assassin instead, displeasure in his sharp eyes.
Crawford would not protest in front
of the enemy. He believed in a united front. But Schuldich knew that there
would be hell to pay once they got back, especially since the Schwarz leader
seemed to have made torturing Abyssinian his personal Holy Grail in life.
Abyssinian went home with a lot of
bruises everytime Weiß and Schwarz met. Though the Weiß leader
gave as good as he got. Crawford had a lot of sword nicks to deal with
too. Somehow Schuldich felt that Siberian had something to do with this
vendetta between the two.
Well, whatever it was, Schuldich didn't
care to analyze it or give the two another opportunity to injure each other.
He had his own agenda tonight and he would follow through with it.
He swiped at Abyssinian and while the
redhead ducked, Schuldich entered his mind, slicing through his mental
barriers like a hot knife through butter. He tasted Abyssinian's thoughts.
A unique blend of anger, revenge, love and concern all rolled into one
focused package out for his blood.
::Get out of my head, Schwarz.::
Schuldich felt a mental push. But he
stood his ground.
::My, my. Not exactly very friendly
are we, Abyssinian?::
The sword sang in the air in a vicious
arch aimed for Schuldich's head.
::Not the talkative type either,
I see.::
Schuldich snickered, evading the sword
with a grace and speed that complimented his lithe form.
::Shut up, Schwarz.::
::Its Schuldich, Abyssinian. Be
polite now.::
::I don't fucking care, Schwarz!::
Swipe.
::Is that any way to treat someone
whose going to help you get back something you lost? Something *very* important
to you?::
The sword stops in mid-flight as Aya's
interest was captured by the Schwarz member's mind-voice.
Schuldich smirked, arrogant confidence
radiating in Aya's head. It made him grit his teeth in anger.
::Aa, definitely interested now,
eh, Abyssinian?::
Aya savagely protested, swinging his
sword once again.
::There is nothing you can help
me with, Schwarz.::
::Isn't there?::
Schuldich loved mindgames. And he was
having fun with annoying the Weiß leader. Although he knew he had
to come to the point sooner or later or Crawford would suspect.
::Nothing.::
::So this is nothing?::
Shculdich threw a mental image of the
Weiß member called Siberian into Aya's mind. And Aya staggered in
startlement, falling to his knees. Violet eyes registered confusion and
a flicker of something that Schuldich could only describe as hope.
He smirked to himself. His hunch had
been right to target this particular Weiß for his plan to work.
::Keep moving Abyssinian. Or everyone
will think you're going nuts.::
He kicked Aya in the ribs to accentuate
his point.
::Wha…how…he's dead.::
::No, he isn't. He is very much
alive and kicking.:: Schuldich remembered the image of Siberian Crawford
had let slip. ::VERY much alive.::
Aya tried to punch him.
::And you are going to help retrieve
him?::
::Yes.::
Suspicion.
::Forgive me for not trusting you
Schwarz but how can I be sure this isn't a trap. There is the little matter
that you want us all dead.::
Schuldich chuckled, appreciating the
irony. But he turned deadly serious.
::There is that. But rest assured
that this isn't a trap. Schwarz does not know of this. It is for my OWN
reasons that I do this. That it helps you is only incidental. In other
words, Weiß, I am using you for my own ends. Satisfied?::
It was to the point and honestly brutal.
Schuldich meant it that way. He didn't have time to explain anything nor
the patience to do so.
When silence met him, Schuldich prodded
Abyssinian.
::This is getting bored quick, Abyssinian.
Do you or don't you want him back? I don't have the time for you to decide.::
/You know you want to, Fujimiya.
*I* know you want to. Why hesitate at all?/
::All right.::
/Good./
Schuldich sighed to himself. He needed
this one's cooperation for his plan to work.
::Then we don't have much time.::
Punch.
::What do we do?::
::You will have to capture me.::
::Capture?::
::Yes, Abyssinian. Trade me for
your precious Siberian.:: /I doubt Crawford will let him out of his arms
any other way./ ::There is no other way.::
Schuldich could feel the proverbial
eyebrow lifting as Abyssinian pondered on what he said. The redhead's next
answer was a dry one.
::And I suppose you think it is
easy to capture you when I can't even fucking hit you as it is?::
Schuldich's taunting grin surfaced.
::Aa. I will take that as a compliment
of my skills. But you will have help. Swipe at me for a three more times
and I predict that I will stumble before the fourth. Slam your hilt on
my head and render me unconscious. But make it so we will be too far away
for the little brat to hit you with his telekinesis.::
::You seem to have planned this
to the last detail.::
Pride tinged Schuldich's voice as he
responded.
::Of course. I am Schwarz. I am
Schuldich. So will you do it?::
::Ninmu Ryoukai.::
Schuldich would have crowed in elation
as Abyssinian agreed. If he hadn't then Schuldich's plans would all have
gone for naught. And he didn't want that. He needed to succeed.
::Alright…now!::
Swipe, dodge, swerve, counter.
Schuldich danced back, grinning like
the devil, as Aya furiously lunged at him with the sword. To the casual
observer, the Schwarz member was merely avoiding the furious assassin,
being lured away from the main battleground to the alleyways that zigzagged
outward. No one would have known that such a retreat had been intended.
Swipe, swipe, dodge, stumble.
Bam!
The red-haired Schwarz member fell
to the ground, his grasp on unconsciousness fading.
/Damn. That hurt./
And with that final thought, Schuldich
fell to the ground at Aya's feet, too far away from the battlefield for
the other Schwarz members to see or rescue. Just as Schuldich had intended
from the start.
***
Schuldich opened the door quietly and
let himself in the pristine, expensively decorated office that Bradley
Crawford called his sanctum.
The bespectacled, raven-haired Schwarz
leader was still typing away on his laptop, immersed in work. The intensity
by which he threw himself into his work was frightening. The man was like
a machine. He made the word "workaholic" pale in comparison. "Bradholic"
would have been a better description.
Working…Schuldich wanted to punch some
sense into the Schwarz leader. Bradley had been working like the devil
incarnate even now that Esset no longer existed to make demands on Schwarz.
Schwarz were free agents now.
Crawford said he needed the focus.
That Schwarz needed to keep busy. But Schuldich knew it was a load of crap.
Needing focus didn't mean going through work with the intensity of a man
who seemed to have a death wish on his head. Keeping busy didn't mean working
himself into dead exhaustion every night.
***
Bradley Crawford, leader of Schwarz,
focused on his work. Ignoring his fatigued body's demands to rest. Resting
meant staying idle. Staying idle meant thinking. And all mental roads led
to one person, one voice, one face. A pair of eyes whose last reflected
image of Brad had been one filled with betrayal.
/How is he doing, I wonder…/
No. That was a dangerous thought. One
Brad could ill afford to give in to. Weiß thought Schwarz were dead.
He would think that Brad was dead. It was for everyone's good.
As Schuldich had kept telling him before…
He is Weiß and Brad was Schwarz, and never the twain shall meet.
Reasonable, practical and logical.
The only things that Schuldich ever said that were sensible. Words that
should have appealed to Brad's ordered mind. But they had not. Not even
when he realized them for the truth they carried and gave up the one thing
that he had wanted above everything.
His heart had felt torn but he had
sublimated it for the good of Schwarz. He was their leader and he owed
them his loyalty. He pushed all thoughts of him to the back of his head,
placing iron control over memories as they fought for their respective
sides once again, made his face impassive as he let Farfarello cut him
up in the sorties.
It helped to have something to do even
if it was for Esset. Now Schwarz were free agents, Bradley found that he
had too much time to think. And the iron control wavered. The memories
trickled back in.
Ken….
The monitor screen blinked the word
at him. Bradley didn't realize that he had typed his name in until he saw
the name in big bold letters in front of him. He quickly erased the name
from the screen, rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as he
leaned on his chair.
::Just remember Brad. He is Weiß
and you are Schwarz, and never the twain shall meet.::
Yes, even now that Schwarz betrayed
Esset, Schwarz would still be Schwarz and Weiß would still be Weiß.
It still hurt.
If he could erase the memories with
a vicious uppercut, he would have. He didn't want or need them anymore.
He had thought he could get over it soon enough but the rich carefree laugh
and shining eyes of Ken Hidaka were deeply etched in his mind.
/Damn./
***
Schuldich caught a whiff of Brad's
thoughts as the American leaned back on his chair. The image was that of
shining brown eyes with auburn hair tumbling into them, laughter ringing
out in delight as he spoke Brad's name. The taste of the thought, one of
yearning and confused anger.
/Up to now, Brad? How can you think
of him like this up to now./
Brad. If Schuldich had called him that
in a playful way, Crawford would have ripped his lungs from his chest for
his audacity. As it was, Schuldich only dared use Crawford's Christian
name when he was taunting Crawford. At least those times, Crawford was
too busy being angry to notice that he had called him Brad. But Ken Hidaka
had called him Brad and got away with it.
Schuldich clenched his hands at this.
/He had to go Bradley. He had to.
You used to be focused on Schwarz. But when he came in, you changed. He
made you soft, lured you away from us. Schwarz will be here far longer
than Ken Hidaka will ever be for you. Bradley./
He stared at the unguarded tired expression
on the raven-haired Schwarz leader's face and saw the shadows beneath his
eyes, normally hidden by the glasses he wore, noted the furrows of tightly
clenched emotions running down the side of the American's face.
/Schwarz will always be here for
you. As will I./
TBC
^_~ Can you see where this is headed?
lol>
