Episode 2: Misguided Foes
Omi woke up suddenly. He glared at the computer screen, realizing that he had fallen asleep on the keyboard, again, somewhere between two and three in the morning. A long string of K's ran for 12 pages. The soft sounds of snoring brought him further from his slumber. He glanced over the couch and saw Ken, sleeping soundly. Omi sighed. He picked up the Stephen King book that was laying open on the ground and placed it on the table. It had been a month and still nothing.
"Morning Omi." Yoji said from the doorway. Omi glanced up at the tall man and tried to smile.
"Did you know I fell asleep?"
"Course I did. I came down around four, after I got home, to see how you were doing and the two of you had dropped off." The brunette came down and handed him a cup of piping hot coffee.
"Why didn't you wake me up then? Aya's sister is out there, and we have to find her!"
"And you have to stay healthy. You've been pulling all-nighters for your exams, and for our missions. You needed the few hours of sleep that you got. I wish I could make you go back to bed."
"Just get me some toast and another cup of this and I'll get back to work." Omi said with a tired smile on his face. Yoji ruffled Omi's golden brown hair and went back upstairs.
Ken moaned from his spot on the couch. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his cyan eyes. "What time is it?"
"9:00 in the morning Ken-kun. Why?"
"Sheesh! I'm late!" Ken shrieked. He jumped up from his comfortable spot on the couch and ran up the stairs, nearly running Yoji over.
"You are rubbing off on me Yoji and I don't appreciate it!" Ken screamed. The last part of his sentence was muffled by his door slamming shut. The oldest member of Weiss laughed to himself and brought Omi his coffee and toast.
"You know I used to hate this stuff." Omi said. He smiled and took a sip of the black liquid, allowing the caffeine to surge through his body.
"Never would have guessed. That's all you drink nowadays."
"Yoji, it's been a month and I've come up with zero. Even Kritiker is stumped. Not one mission has brought us closer to finding Aya-chan. And Aya..."
"Aya is my concern, not yours." Yoji replied.
"If he keeps losing it on missions then it is going to be everyone's concern." Omi replied. He was always more open with the other members of Weiss. He would have never said that had Aya himself been around. "Even the girls who come to the shop know that something is up." Yoji nodded and sighed.
"We'll figure something out Omi. I promised I'd find her, and by God I intend on doing just that." Yoji stalked back up the stairs, leaving Omi to start his searching all over again.
"The little chibi is right." Yoji sighed. Every lead, what few leads that they got, was a dead end. Every clue fake. Aya was becoming more anxious with each passing second. He had screwed up on missions, making stupid mistakes. Ordering Ken to make stupid mistakes, one that had nearly gotten the boy killed. Anger was blinding those beautiful and tragic violet eyes.
Yoji quietly pushed open Aya's door and glanced inside. The curtains were drawn, keeping out the sun. Clothes were scattered around the normally tidy room. The form in the bed didn't even resemble the man Yoji had fallen in love with. His pale face was unshaven, his normally well kept red hair was ruffled from sleep and the days that it hadn't seen a shower. He slept a lot more, fitful naps really, waking every other hour. He was having one of his nightmares. The man tossed and turned, wrapping the sheets around his pale form until he couldn't move.
"Aya. Ran, get up." Yoji walked over to his lover and shook him from his nightmare. Aya awoke, the terror that had haunted his dreams reflected in the pools of violet. The brunette suppressed the shudder that was running down his spine.
"I'm ok." The redhead said. He rubbed his violet eyes and tried to smile.
"Yeah, like I buy that." Yoji replied. He grabbed his companion by the arms and dragged him down the hall toward the bathroom. Aya didn't struggle. He was too far in thought to wonder about what his boyfriend was doing. The water was just barely heating up when Yoji lost his patience. Before Aya could protest, he picked him up.
'My God, he has lost so much weight.' Yoji took in a trembling breath. None of this was healthy, and they had to start making Aya act normally. He dropped the other boy unceremoniously into the shower. A slight smile crossed the brunette's face when he cried out.
"Stay there until you clean up. Come back when you are feeling like doing something to help us help your sister." Yoji walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He contemplated finding a way to barricade Aya in there.
The redhead sat in the shower. The hot liquid ran over him, drowning out all his worries. He washed up and got dressed. It had to end today. All the stupid mistakes and the needless worrying all had to end, or the others would send him to the looney bin. The lone gold earring dangled from his left ear, catching the sunlight as he walked. He went down to the basement and saw Omi, still hard at work. Bags rested underneath the normally perky blue eyes.
"Omi, go get some sleep."
"Aya-kun! Are you feeling better?" Omi turned away from the computer and smiled. He always smiled.
"Hn. Where's Ken?"
"He said he was late for something and bolted this morning. He hasn't been around since." Omi turned off his computer. It had been running almost nonstop for the past month, and it was beginning to lag. There was a little more life in those violet eyes this morning. Maybe somewhere in his heart Aya knew something would be turning up soon. Some mission would lead him to her.
"Morning boys. Yoji and Ken around?" Omi and Aya looked up at the red head standing at the top of the steps, video tape and manilla folders in hand.
"I'm guessing we have a mission Manx." The older boy stated. Manx nodded.
"I think it is an important one. Where are they?" Manx sat on the couch and delicately crossed her legs. The young blond smiled. He was glad Manx decided to come back. He didn't like Birman half as much.
"Hi guys!" Ken yelled as he came down the staircase. Ken's broad grin and sparkling eyes lightened the atmosphere that Manx always brought. "Oh, hi Manx." His smile faded a little and the sparkle in his blue eyes receded.
"We have a mission?"
"Hai." Omi replied. Ken sat. He ran a hand through his messy brown hair and sighed.
"And I was having a good day too." Ken muttered. Yoji was the last to come down the stairs. He was carrying a tray of food for them, knowing that none of them had eaten since yesterday.
"So, what's up Lovely?" He asked, setting the tray on the table. "Well, let's watch the movie, shall we?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well Crawford. I have to say I think this is your best plan to date."
"Yes sir. Everything is going to plan. She will be an excellent edition to our team, once we eliminate the other members of Schreient." Brad replied. He took a slow sip of his coffee, glad that it was hot and fresh. To many times he had fallen for Schuldig's "I promise I just made it two minutes ago" speech.
"Keep up the good work Mr. Crawford. We will want a report on her progress soon."
"Hai." Brad waited for the other line to go dead before he turned his own phone off. He glanced down at his watch. 12:05 P.M.. Perfect. They were right on time.
"Farfarello give it back!" Nagi shrieked. He threw the white-haired maniac into the wall. "Now!"
"Killing love hurts God Nagi." The man replied with a smile. He held up the picture frame and punched in the glass. Shards fell to the ground, scattering all over the kitchen floor. Farfarello stepped on them with his bare foot, laughing as he churned his flesh onto the sharp edges. Blood spilled to the ground, and he dug his foot in further. He took the picture out with great ease.
"Pull it out of my hand and you'll rip it. Don't pull it out and I'll rip it for you."
"Give me the God damn picture!" Nagi's eyes went red. He threw Farfarello against the wall again. The Irishman released the photograph, allowing it to fall toward the pool of glass and blood. Nagi brought it to his hand and smiled. It wasn't damaged.
Tot was sitting in a field, surrounded by flying petals. He had taken the picture while she sat watching. It was his only photograph of her.
"Farfarello, you shouldn't touch Nagi's things. You know how picky he gets about those things. Besides, after tonight it's all he'll have left of her."
"What was that Crawford?" Nagi asked, turning his attention away from the smiling lunatic in the corner to Crawford. He was sitting in his chair, cool and collected as usual.
"Tonight is the night that we take out Schreient and blame it on Weiss. Have you noticed the extraordinary power that girl has?! Of course you have, you've been the one training her. I never would have thought of her as that useful. She is far too good to be stuck with them."
"But, you can't!" Nagi blurt out. He had gotten so much closer to Tot this past month. He had spent every free moment with them, helping to train Aya. Crawford was right, she was amazing.
"Is that emotion Nagi? I thought we taught you better than that." Schuldig commented from the corner. Nagi's attention turned to Schuldig, then back to Crawford. If emotion made you weak than those two were the weakest of all, because they couldn't even admit it. Especially that...
"Hypocrite." Nagi whispered. His voice was venomous. "Crawford, may I speak with privately?" Nagi turned and walked to Brad's room, figuring he would follow.
"What is it Nagi?" Crawford asked. He locked his door and sat.
"I just wanted you to know, that if you hurt either of those girls..."
"You mean Tot or Aya." Brad interrupted. Nagi nodded.
"If you harm them, then I wanted to let you know that no amount of being able to see the future will save you from me. You might be able to move out of attacks in the nick of time with your gift, but my powers are a little more wide range than that of normal combat." Nagi's eyes turned red and the lamp on Crawford's night stand shattered. "If you're above the ground, then you can't move out of the way."
"You knew it would come to this Nagi. Why are you trying to change what the future must be now?"
"I won't sink so low as to threaten the one you care for. But I also wanted to let you know that I will tell the girl. I'll tell her everything, and if you haven't noticed, she trusts me a little more than she trusts you or Schuldig." He walked over to the door, the evil smile he had picked up from them playing on his face. "But if you do try, I swear that Schuldig will die a horrible and painful death before your very eyes." He whispered.
Crawford's eyes grew wide. How had he known? "Nagi." The boy stopped. He was half way out the door.
"We could trick Aya, but how are we supposed to trick the girl?"
"You're the leader Brad. You figure it out." Nagi closed the door behind him. He walked to his own room and sat on his bed. He looked down at the picture and smiled.
"I won't let them hurt you, even if it means hurting them." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Good Aya." Hell smiled. She took off her helmet and picked up a towel. "You're a natural." She threw the towel to Aya, who used it to wipe the sweat from her brow. Her bangs were matted to her forehead.
"Thanks, Hell. So, when do you think I'll be ready?"
"Soon my dear. You are very good with those." Hell pointed to the Sai Aya was carrying. Aya twirled them around and placed them on the side of her belt.
"Hell! Phone." Tot ran down the steps and handed the older woman the telephone. Aya smiled down at Tot.
"What have you been up to today?" She asked. Tot smiled at her and shrugged.
"Took Bunny for a walk. Then saw Nagi. Tot likes Nagi." She replied.
"Yes, I like Nagi too." The dark-haired girl smiled. Tot twirled her parcel, humming to herself. Shoen came out from her backroom and smiled at the two younger girls. Aya looked tired, but content, and Tot only hummed when she was in a very good mood.
"Where's Hell?"
"Phone." Aya replied. She picked up one of the bottles of water on the ground and took a long drink, glad that they had stayed cool. She was tempted to dump the water on her head, like Ran used too, but thought wiser of it.
"You get your wish Aya, dear." Hell said when she came back into the room. "We go out tonight to meet Weiss." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hunters of the Night, deny these dark beasts their tomorrows." Persia's computer image said just before the screen went blank.
"So Schreient has a secret new member. Oh well, it won't save them. If they know anything about Aya's disappearance then I'm going to find out what it is." Aya folded his arms across his chest and sighed. Hopefully this mission would lead somewhere other than a dead end.
"So I assume you are all in?" The three remaining boys nodded. "Good. Here's the information. I have to go, if you need anything call Birman, ok?" Ken smiled and nodded. Manx smiled back and went out the side door of the flower shop.
"Ok, so it says that Schreient is hiding out in an old warehouse. Man, it smells like a trap. Old warehouses give me the creeps." Ken muttered.
"Don't worry Ken-ken. We won't let the Bogey Man get you." Yoji replied. He took a long draw on his cigaret, the red embers gave his face an eerie glow.
"Shut up."
"Oh, did I make Ken mad? Touch a nerve maybe?"
"Yoji lay off." Omi broke in. Yoji shrugged, putting his thumbs through the loops in his jeans.
Aya didn't even look at the others as he headed up the stairs to get changed. He was too far in the zone now, focused completely on finding his sister. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Aya."
"Hi Nagi." Aya smiled as the boy came in her window. "Why don't you just use the door?"
"This way is more fun." Nagi smiled. It was a genuine smile, one that he did not wear often. "So I hear your first mission is tonight. Have you been practicing any?"
Aya's smile broadened, and a mischievous twinkle appeared in her blue eyes. She turned toward the open window and held her hand out toward the trees. Her eyes went white, and a beam of silver light shot from her hand, punching a clean hole through one of the trees outside.
Her smile faded a little, her knees gave out. Nagi caught her before she fell to the ground.
"Not enough practice I guess." She whispered through rasping breaths.
"It's ok, you have plenty of time." Nagi helped her into a chair. He had to make sure she used all of her energy tonight.
The night sky went black. Thunder and lightning tore the air and disturbed the peace of the night. Rain came down in sheets.
"What a horrible night. I hate storms." Aya muttered. It had been raining that night too. She forced the memories out of her mind. They were too painful, and she had to concentrate. She would pay them back for taking her brother away. For taking everything she loved. The sound of a car speeding toward her filled her ears. She desperately wanted to cover them, to drive out the sound, but she didn't want Nagi to worry.
Nagi stood at the window. Lightning lit up his features. He was glad Aya couldn't see the expression on his face. The familiar car arrived outside. Lightning reflected off of Farfarello's hair. They were preparing, but would Crawford kill Tot? He knew Aya was safe, that was the whole point, but what about the girl he loved.
"Nagi!" Tot cried out. She threw her arms around his neck. Nagi placed his hands on the small of her back and pulled her close. Aya glanced at the two, then back out the window as thunder rolled across the heavens. She caught a glimpse of four men, lurking toward them.
"They're here." She whispered. Nagi pulled himself away from Tot and handed her her parcel. Aya fixed her hair, putting it up in a high ponytail. Her sunglasses fell gently into place, and her right hand traced nervously down the gold earring. She touched the Sais on her belt to make sure they were there. Shoen came in to see if they were ready. The blonde assassin smiled at Nagi. He was a constant visitor now, making the belief that Schwarz and Schreient were working together even stronger. She turned her attention to the girls and nodded. It was time.
"Remember Aya."
"I know who I'm supposed to attack. Even though I want to gut the one trying to impersonate my brother." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That brat. What good is the other girl? She's just going to get in the way." Schuldig exclaimed as they climbed into the car. Farfarello took out his knife and watched it reflect the evening light.
"Well, he's unfortunately gotten himself attached. He's let his weaknesses take him over. The girl trusts him more than she trusts us, so what do we do to keep Nagi quiet?" Crawford wondered aloud. What were they going to do? He didn't want to bring the little Schreient girl into their organization. She was useless, not like Aya. She had great power.
"I've got it." Schuldig whispered. "Leave it to me." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's too quiet." Ken muttered. "Something feels off."
"Get over it." Aya snapped. Ken shook his head. He prayed that Aya wouldn't make any mistakes tonight, or make him make mistakes. Yoji placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about him Ken." He whispered. That was easy for Yoji to say. No matter how far over the line of insanity Aya was he would never put his precious Yoji in danger. It had been him last time.
"Goddamn it Ken! Just hurry the hell up!" Aya screamed out over the intercom. Ken ran down the hall, slashing at the guards that got in his way. All he could hear was Aya screaming at him to follow the creeps that were getting away, in the chance that they might know something.
He had turned the corner, and was ambushed by a dozen guards, all of whom had guns. They began to fire, and Ken had barely escaped. He had been shot in the arm, and reinforcements were coming down the other hall. He had been lucky that Yoji followed him. The taller man managed to get them both out of that mess.
And he got lectured for no-good reason. God. Always him. Not Yoji, not Aya for screaming at him, even though he had one of his bad feelings, no. It had to be his fault.
Ken shook his head. Aya had been worried about his little sister, the only connection back to his life before this job. The living embodiment of his innocence. Aya-chan meant everything to him.
They broke into the warehouse. Nothing looked strange. It was apparent that someone had been living here. Couches and chairs, a dining table, appliances, offices, bedrooms.
"Hey guys, the next time we get a place I say we go for the abandoned warehouse." Omi muttered. Aya glared at the boy.
Lightning split the sky. Light spilled into the room, revealing four figures in the center. Suddenly the lights came on inside the warehouse, emitting a low buzzing sound. Hell and Shoen jumped up first. Shoen didn't attack Ken, much to his surprise, but Yoji. He followed the battle for a moment, leaving the third girl, the newest member, open to attack.
She leapt at Ken, pulling the Sais from her belt. She wanted to scream, to accuse them of taking away everything, but she wasn't allowed to speak. Hell had told her not to, under any circumstances. It had seemed a little strange to her, especially since she could hear Shoen screaming at the guy she was fighting.
Ken noticed the gleam of light that flashed in his cyan eyes as the Sais were pulled out. He dove to the side, rolled out of it, and stood up. The girl before him flipped out of the attack, landing in a fighting position.
'Great, why am I the one that gets stuck with the new girl? I was just beginning to learn the other one's technique.' He thought.
Aya fought with a fierceness that the others hadn't seen since his fights with Reiji Takatori. From a distance Yoji could make out the hatred in his eyes. He could see the muscles tighten, and his lover's technique had dropped a considerable amount, but the rage, the pure hatred, made up for it.
Omi couldn't manage to hit the small girl before him. She kept moving around, and he wasn't very good at close range combat, preferring to shoot things from a distance. He dodged the small umbrella. Tot had put too much force behind the blow, and when it didn't connect she lost her balance. Omi swiftly kicked her in the stomach, using the force of the impact to push him far enough away to pull out one of his darts.
Nagi leapt at Tot, pushing her out of the way. No, he had not forgotten about his telekinesis. He felt the sharp pain as the dart went into his shoulder. Aya-chan glanced up from her battle with Ken. The blue- haired boy was pushed against the wall, receiving blow after blow to the face from a boy about his height.
"Nagi!" She cried out. Nagi looked up at her, tears in his blue eyes.
Across the room another fighter, Aya, was caught off guard. He paused in mid-attack. He could have sworn that that girl had Aya's voice. But it was impossible, wasn't it? Hell moved toward him, her boot making hard contact with his rib cage. Aya jumped back away from Hell, moving toward the voice. The pain in his side didn't even register.
Ken took the opportunity to sweep the girl off of her feet. Aya-chan crashed to the ground. Her sunglasses slid across the floor, landing near Aya's feet. He glanced down at them, then at the girl. Ken was standing over her, claws glistening in the manufactured light, about to go down for the final blow. Blue hair flowed around her face, and the lightning reflected off of the lone gold earring she was wearing.
"Ken don't!" Aya screamed. The soccer player looked up at their leader, confused. Aya-chan took his feet out from under him. Ken landed next to her on the ground with a loud thump. She pushed herself up, and noticed the man across the way, the one who had told Ken to stop.
They had done a good job. He looked like Ran's evil twin. Hell, even the pain in his eyes looked real.
"Aya it's me! It's Ran!"
"You're not my brother. My brother is dead! How dare you!" Aya-chan pivoted to attack him, but Nagi screamed again. She turned, allowing her eyes to go white. Even the thunder and lightning disappeared. She extended her hand, pushing the energy out. It sliced through the air, leaving her exhausted. Omi moved out of the way just in time.
"Omi!" Yoji caught Shoen's whip around his arm and bit his lip against the sting. He pulled the whip with all his might. Shoen fell toward him. Her body crumpled around the boot in the middle of her chest. She couldn't breathe. While her head was down, he slipped a thin piece of wire around her neck. He tugged the ends of the wire until he couldn't hear her gasping for air. Her lips began to tint blue, until he felt a sharp pain in his side. Tot twisted her parcel inside his wound and yanked it out. Blood gushed down the side of his blue-black trench coat. Shoen took in a long, raspy breath.
Aya-chan collapsed to the ground as the whole world went black. Nagi tried to make his way over to her, he had taken a hell of a beating for this little mission. Aya ran over to his sister's fallen form. He touched the lone gold earring and stroked her forehead.
"What did they do to you?" Aya whispered. He reached down to pick her up. Before his hands touched her again he felt his form lift off of the ground, and make contact with a nearby wall. Nagi was exhausted, but there was no way in hell that this mission was going to fail.
Tot flipped up her parcel and smiled down at Yoji. "You took Neu away, now Tot make you go away." She snickered. Omi grabbed her hair from behind and threw her away from Yoji.
"This is insane we have to go." He whispered, pulling the older man up. "Ken, Aya, let's go!" Ken made his way over to the others. He hadn't even noticed the small stream of blood coming down the side of his head.
"Aya!"
"I'm not leaving her!" He shrieked as he made another attempt at grabbing his sister. Hell stood in his way this time, but she was no match for the rage. Aya pushed her down and reached for his sister again, only to find himself meeting the wall, for a fourth time. Schuldig made his way out of the shadows and dropped down beside the girl. He smiled and picked her up, cradling her in his arms.
"She's a beautiful girl." He said, wicked smile on his face. The German kissed her forehead gently, and disappeared.
Ken ran over to Aya's side and helped him up. He was drunk from the blows.
"Bring her back!" Aya screamed, trying to contain the sobs welling in his throat. He pushed away from Ken and tried to run after the German. Aya tripped, falling to his knees. "Bring her back." Ken shifted all of Aya's weight onto his shoulder. The three other members of Schreient were still around, but he didn't know where. Yoji and Omi had also disappeared.
"Great." He muttered. "Hopefully their getting the car." Aya moaned as he faded in and out of consciousness. Ken could have sworn he whispered his sister's name. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Farfarello twirled the small piece of sharp wire around his hand, watching as it sliced his skin, revealing little rivers of blood. He smirked, and waited for the three members of Schreient to give chase to the two boys that were escaping. Crawford was sitting at the door, waiting to grab Tot. The red-haired German had placed the girl in the car, and Farfarello was bored. What he really wanted to be doing right now was blowing up some church or another, not sitting here in a tree, waiting to kill a girl. It would have been ok if she was a virgin innocent type, but wasn't killing other assassins doing God a favor? He snickered to himself. Crawford was soaked. Water streaked down his glasses and his well-kept hair was in disarray.
He made his move, tripping the girl. Tot fell to the ground, slicing her knee open.
"Tot!"
"Tot ok, you go." The girl replied. Hell and Shoen nodded, and raced down the drive after Yoji and Omi. Tot touched her knee gingerly and sighed. She barely felt the prick of the dart as it made contact with her neck, taking her into a deep medicated sleep.
Schuldig tightened his grip on the sword. He wasn't much for swords, but this called for it. Crawford must have had a lapse in judgement. Farfarello would have done much better with the sword, and him with the wire. Man, sometimes he really wished he could read Crawford's mind.
Farfarello dropped the line and waited for a bite. When Shoen got close, he snagged her with the wire. Hell turned around when Shoen cried out.
"You! What are you doing?" She cried. She didn't even see the blade as it came across her back, exposing her spine to the cool night air.
"Getting rid of the competition my dear." Schuldig smiled. Farfarello pulled the wire tighter until the body on it went limp. He smiled to himself. Crawford pulled the car around and the four conscious boys piled in, and sped away into the night.
A/N: So how did you like Chpt 2? Be honest please. Isn't it getting fun though? I'm tempted to do one of the annoying narrator things... "Will Aya ever discover that Ran is really her brother? How will Schuldig deal with Tot, like he promised to? Will our heroes fall into Nagi's evil trap? Wait that's next chapter! And will the author ever be clued in about what the characters are planning to do? Find out next time on Weiss, the alternate universe!" Ok, had to, sorry! :o) Please R&R.
Omi woke up suddenly. He glared at the computer screen, realizing that he had fallen asleep on the keyboard, again, somewhere between two and three in the morning. A long string of K's ran for 12 pages. The soft sounds of snoring brought him further from his slumber. He glanced over the couch and saw Ken, sleeping soundly. Omi sighed. He picked up the Stephen King book that was laying open on the ground and placed it on the table. It had been a month and still nothing.
"Morning Omi." Yoji said from the doorway. Omi glanced up at the tall man and tried to smile.
"Did you know I fell asleep?"
"Course I did. I came down around four, after I got home, to see how you were doing and the two of you had dropped off." The brunette came down and handed him a cup of piping hot coffee.
"Why didn't you wake me up then? Aya's sister is out there, and we have to find her!"
"And you have to stay healthy. You've been pulling all-nighters for your exams, and for our missions. You needed the few hours of sleep that you got. I wish I could make you go back to bed."
"Just get me some toast and another cup of this and I'll get back to work." Omi said with a tired smile on his face. Yoji ruffled Omi's golden brown hair and went back upstairs.
Ken moaned from his spot on the couch. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his cyan eyes. "What time is it?"
"9:00 in the morning Ken-kun. Why?"
"Sheesh! I'm late!" Ken shrieked. He jumped up from his comfortable spot on the couch and ran up the stairs, nearly running Yoji over.
"You are rubbing off on me Yoji and I don't appreciate it!" Ken screamed. The last part of his sentence was muffled by his door slamming shut. The oldest member of Weiss laughed to himself and brought Omi his coffee and toast.
"You know I used to hate this stuff." Omi said. He smiled and took a sip of the black liquid, allowing the caffeine to surge through his body.
"Never would have guessed. That's all you drink nowadays."
"Yoji, it's been a month and I've come up with zero. Even Kritiker is stumped. Not one mission has brought us closer to finding Aya-chan. And Aya..."
"Aya is my concern, not yours." Yoji replied.
"If he keeps losing it on missions then it is going to be everyone's concern." Omi replied. He was always more open with the other members of Weiss. He would have never said that had Aya himself been around. "Even the girls who come to the shop know that something is up." Yoji nodded and sighed.
"We'll figure something out Omi. I promised I'd find her, and by God I intend on doing just that." Yoji stalked back up the stairs, leaving Omi to start his searching all over again.
"The little chibi is right." Yoji sighed. Every lead, what few leads that they got, was a dead end. Every clue fake. Aya was becoming more anxious with each passing second. He had screwed up on missions, making stupid mistakes. Ordering Ken to make stupid mistakes, one that had nearly gotten the boy killed. Anger was blinding those beautiful and tragic violet eyes.
Yoji quietly pushed open Aya's door and glanced inside. The curtains were drawn, keeping out the sun. Clothes were scattered around the normally tidy room. The form in the bed didn't even resemble the man Yoji had fallen in love with. His pale face was unshaven, his normally well kept red hair was ruffled from sleep and the days that it hadn't seen a shower. He slept a lot more, fitful naps really, waking every other hour. He was having one of his nightmares. The man tossed and turned, wrapping the sheets around his pale form until he couldn't move.
"Aya. Ran, get up." Yoji walked over to his lover and shook him from his nightmare. Aya awoke, the terror that had haunted his dreams reflected in the pools of violet. The brunette suppressed the shudder that was running down his spine.
"I'm ok." The redhead said. He rubbed his violet eyes and tried to smile.
"Yeah, like I buy that." Yoji replied. He grabbed his companion by the arms and dragged him down the hall toward the bathroom. Aya didn't struggle. He was too far in thought to wonder about what his boyfriend was doing. The water was just barely heating up when Yoji lost his patience. Before Aya could protest, he picked him up.
'My God, he has lost so much weight.' Yoji took in a trembling breath. None of this was healthy, and they had to start making Aya act normally. He dropped the other boy unceremoniously into the shower. A slight smile crossed the brunette's face when he cried out.
"Stay there until you clean up. Come back when you are feeling like doing something to help us help your sister." Yoji walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He contemplated finding a way to barricade Aya in there.
The redhead sat in the shower. The hot liquid ran over him, drowning out all his worries. He washed up and got dressed. It had to end today. All the stupid mistakes and the needless worrying all had to end, or the others would send him to the looney bin. The lone gold earring dangled from his left ear, catching the sunlight as he walked. He went down to the basement and saw Omi, still hard at work. Bags rested underneath the normally perky blue eyes.
"Omi, go get some sleep."
"Aya-kun! Are you feeling better?" Omi turned away from the computer and smiled. He always smiled.
"Hn. Where's Ken?"
"He said he was late for something and bolted this morning. He hasn't been around since." Omi turned off his computer. It had been running almost nonstop for the past month, and it was beginning to lag. There was a little more life in those violet eyes this morning. Maybe somewhere in his heart Aya knew something would be turning up soon. Some mission would lead him to her.
"Morning boys. Yoji and Ken around?" Omi and Aya looked up at the red head standing at the top of the steps, video tape and manilla folders in hand.
"I'm guessing we have a mission Manx." The older boy stated. Manx nodded.
"I think it is an important one. Where are they?" Manx sat on the couch and delicately crossed her legs. The young blond smiled. He was glad Manx decided to come back. He didn't like Birman half as much.
"Hi guys!" Ken yelled as he came down the staircase. Ken's broad grin and sparkling eyes lightened the atmosphere that Manx always brought. "Oh, hi Manx." His smile faded a little and the sparkle in his blue eyes receded.
"We have a mission?"
"Hai." Omi replied. Ken sat. He ran a hand through his messy brown hair and sighed.
"And I was having a good day too." Ken muttered. Yoji was the last to come down the stairs. He was carrying a tray of food for them, knowing that none of them had eaten since yesterday.
"So, what's up Lovely?" He asked, setting the tray on the table. "Well, let's watch the movie, shall we?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well Crawford. I have to say I think this is your best plan to date."
"Yes sir. Everything is going to plan. She will be an excellent edition to our team, once we eliminate the other members of Schreient." Brad replied. He took a slow sip of his coffee, glad that it was hot and fresh. To many times he had fallen for Schuldig's "I promise I just made it two minutes ago" speech.
"Keep up the good work Mr. Crawford. We will want a report on her progress soon."
"Hai." Brad waited for the other line to go dead before he turned his own phone off. He glanced down at his watch. 12:05 P.M.. Perfect. They were right on time.
"Farfarello give it back!" Nagi shrieked. He threw the white-haired maniac into the wall. "Now!"
"Killing love hurts God Nagi." The man replied with a smile. He held up the picture frame and punched in the glass. Shards fell to the ground, scattering all over the kitchen floor. Farfarello stepped on them with his bare foot, laughing as he churned his flesh onto the sharp edges. Blood spilled to the ground, and he dug his foot in further. He took the picture out with great ease.
"Pull it out of my hand and you'll rip it. Don't pull it out and I'll rip it for you."
"Give me the God damn picture!" Nagi's eyes went red. He threw Farfarello against the wall again. The Irishman released the photograph, allowing it to fall toward the pool of glass and blood. Nagi brought it to his hand and smiled. It wasn't damaged.
Tot was sitting in a field, surrounded by flying petals. He had taken the picture while she sat watching. It was his only photograph of her.
"Farfarello, you shouldn't touch Nagi's things. You know how picky he gets about those things. Besides, after tonight it's all he'll have left of her."
"What was that Crawford?" Nagi asked, turning his attention away from the smiling lunatic in the corner to Crawford. He was sitting in his chair, cool and collected as usual.
"Tonight is the night that we take out Schreient and blame it on Weiss. Have you noticed the extraordinary power that girl has?! Of course you have, you've been the one training her. I never would have thought of her as that useful. She is far too good to be stuck with them."
"But, you can't!" Nagi blurt out. He had gotten so much closer to Tot this past month. He had spent every free moment with them, helping to train Aya. Crawford was right, she was amazing.
"Is that emotion Nagi? I thought we taught you better than that." Schuldig commented from the corner. Nagi's attention turned to Schuldig, then back to Crawford. If emotion made you weak than those two were the weakest of all, because they couldn't even admit it. Especially that...
"Hypocrite." Nagi whispered. His voice was venomous. "Crawford, may I speak with privately?" Nagi turned and walked to Brad's room, figuring he would follow.
"What is it Nagi?" Crawford asked. He locked his door and sat.
"I just wanted you to know, that if you hurt either of those girls..."
"You mean Tot or Aya." Brad interrupted. Nagi nodded.
"If you harm them, then I wanted to let you know that no amount of being able to see the future will save you from me. You might be able to move out of attacks in the nick of time with your gift, but my powers are a little more wide range than that of normal combat." Nagi's eyes turned red and the lamp on Crawford's night stand shattered. "If you're above the ground, then you can't move out of the way."
"You knew it would come to this Nagi. Why are you trying to change what the future must be now?"
"I won't sink so low as to threaten the one you care for. But I also wanted to let you know that I will tell the girl. I'll tell her everything, and if you haven't noticed, she trusts me a little more than she trusts you or Schuldig." He walked over to the door, the evil smile he had picked up from them playing on his face. "But if you do try, I swear that Schuldig will die a horrible and painful death before your very eyes." He whispered.
Crawford's eyes grew wide. How had he known? "Nagi." The boy stopped. He was half way out the door.
"We could trick Aya, but how are we supposed to trick the girl?"
"You're the leader Brad. You figure it out." Nagi closed the door behind him. He walked to his own room and sat on his bed. He looked down at the picture and smiled.
"I won't let them hurt you, even if it means hurting them." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Good Aya." Hell smiled. She took off her helmet and picked up a towel. "You're a natural." She threw the towel to Aya, who used it to wipe the sweat from her brow. Her bangs were matted to her forehead.
"Thanks, Hell. So, when do you think I'll be ready?"
"Soon my dear. You are very good with those." Hell pointed to the Sai Aya was carrying. Aya twirled them around and placed them on the side of her belt.
"Hell! Phone." Tot ran down the steps and handed the older woman the telephone. Aya smiled down at Tot.
"What have you been up to today?" She asked. Tot smiled at her and shrugged.
"Took Bunny for a walk. Then saw Nagi. Tot likes Nagi." She replied.
"Yes, I like Nagi too." The dark-haired girl smiled. Tot twirled her parcel, humming to herself. Shoen came out from her backroom and smiled at the two younger girls. Aya looked tired, but content, and Tot only hummed when she was in a very good mood.
"Where's Hell?"
"Phone." Aya replied. She picked up one of the bottles of water on the ground and took a long drink, glad that they had stayed cool. She was tempted to dump the water on her head, like Ran used too, but thought wiser of it.
"You get your wish Aya, dear." Hell said when she came back into the room. "We go out tonight to meet Weiss." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hunters of the Night, deny these dark beasts their tomorrows." Persia's computer image said just before the screen went blank.
"So Schreient has a secret new member. Oh well, it won't save them. If they know anything about Aya's disappearance then I'm going to find out what it is." Aya folded his arms across his chest and sighed. Hopefully this mission would lead somewhere other than a dead end.
"So I assume you are all in?" The three remaining boys nodded. "Good. Here's the information. I have to go, if you need anything call Birman, ok?" Ken smiled and nodded. Manx smiled back and went out the side door of the flower shop.
"Ok, so it says that Schreient is hiding out in an old warehouse. Man, it smells like a trap. Old warehouses give me the creeps." Ken muttered.
"Don't worry Ken-ken. We won't let the Bogey Man get you." Yoji replied. He took a long draw on his cigaret, the red embers gave his face an eerie glow.
"Shut up."
"Oh, did I make Ken mad? Touch a nerve maybe?"
"Yoji lay off." Omi broke in. Yoji shrugged, putting his thumbs through the loops in his jeans.
Aya didn't even look at the others as he headed up the stairs to get changed. He was too far in the zone now, focused completely on finding his sister. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Aya."
"Hi Nagi." Aya smiled as the boy came in her window. "Why don't you just use the door?"
"This way is more fun." Nagi smiled. It was a genuine smile, one that he did not wear often. "So I hear your first mission is tonight. Have you been practicing any?"
Aya's smile broadened, and a mischievous twinkle appeared in her blue eyes. She turned toward the open window and held her hand out toward the trees. Her eyes went white, and a beam of silver light shot from her hand, punching a clean hole through one of the trees outside.
Her smile faded a little, her knees gave out. Nagi caught her before she fell to the ground.
"Not enough practice I guess." She whispered through rasping breaths.
"It's ok, you have plenty of time." Nagi helped her into a chair. He had to make sure she used all of her energy tonight.
The night sky went black. Thunder and lightning tore the air and disturbed the peace of the night. Rain came down in sheets.
"What a horrible night. I hate storms." Aya muttered. It had been raining that night too. She forced the memories out of her mind. They were too painful, and she had to concentrate. She would pay them back for taking her brother away. For taking everything she loved. The sound of a car speeding toward her filled her ears. She desperately wanted to cover them, to drive out the sound, but she didn't want Nagi to worry.
Nagi stood at the window. Lightning lit up his features. He was glad Aya couldn't see the expression on his face. The familiar car arrived outside. Lightning reflected off of Farfarello's hair. They were preparing, but would Crawford kill Tot? He knew Aya was safe, that was the whole point, but what about the girl he loved.
"Nagi!" Tot cried out. She threw her arms around his neck. Nagi placed his hands on the small of her back and pulled her close. Aya glanced at the two, then back out the window as thunder rolled across the heavens. She caught a glimpse of four men, lurking toward them.
"They're here." She whispered. Nagi pulled himself away from Tot and handed her her parcel. Aya fixed her hair, putting it up in a high ponytail. Her sunglasses fell gently into place, and her right hand traced nervously down the gold earring. She touched the Sais on her belt to make sure they were there. Shoen came in to see if they were ready. The blonde assassin smiled at Nagi. He was a constant visitor now, making the belief that Schwarz and Schreient were working together even stronger. She turned her attention to the girls and nodded. It was time.
"Remember Aya."
"I know who I'm supposed to attack. Even though I want to gut the one trying to impersonate my brother." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That brat. What good is the other girl? She's just going to get in the way." Schuldig exclaimed as they climbed into the car. Farfarello took out his knife and watched it reflect the evening light.
"Well, he's unfortunately gotten himself attached. He's let his weaknesses take him over. The girl trusts him more than she trusts us, so what do we do to keep Nagi quiet?" Crawford wondered aloud. What were they going to do? He didn't want to bring the little Schreient girl into their organization. She was useless, not like Aya. She had great power.
"I've got it." Schuldig whispered. "Leave it to me." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's too quiet." Ken muttered. "Something feels off."
"Get over it." Aya snapped. Ken shook his head. He prayed that Aya wouldn't make any mistakes tonight, or make him make mistakes. Yoji placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about him Ken." He whispered. That was easy for Yoji to say. No matter how far over the line of insanity Aya was he would never put his precious Yoji in danger. It had been him last time.
"Goddamn it Ken! Just hurry the hell up!" Aya screamed out over the intercom. Ken ran down the hall, slashing at the guards that got in his way. All he could hear was Aya screaming at him to follow the creeps that were getting away, in the chance that they might know something.
He had turned the corner, and was ambushed by a dozen guards, all of whom had guns. They began to fire, and Ken had barely escaped. He had been shot in the arm, and reinforcements were coming down the other hall. He had been lucky that Yoji followed him. The taller man managed to get them both out of that mess.
And he got lectured for no-good reason. God. Always him. Not Yoji, not Aya for screaming at him, even though he had one of his bad feelings, no. It had to be his fault.
Ken shook his head. Aya had been worried about his little sister, the only connection back to his life before this job. The living embodiment of his innocence. Aya-chan meant everything to him.
They broke into the warehouse. Nothing looked strange. It was apparent that someone had been living here. Couches and chairs, a dining table, appliances, offices, bedrooms.
"Hey guys, the next time we get a place I say we go for the abandoned warehouse." Omi muttered. Aya glared at the boy.
Lightning split the sky. Light spilled into the room, revealing four figures in the center. Suddenly the lights came on inside the warehouse, emitting a low buzzing sound. Hell and Shoen jumped up first. Shoen didn't attack Ken, much to his surprise, but Yoji. He followed the battle for a moment, leaving the third girl, the newest member, open to attack.
She leapt at Ken, pulling the Sais from her belt. She wanted to scream, to accuse them of taking away everything, but she wasn't allowed to speak. Hell had told her not to, under any circumstances. It had seemed a little strange to her, especially since she could hear Shoen screaming at the guy she was fighting.
Ken noticed the gleam of light that flashed in his cyan eyes as the Sais were pulled out. He dove to the side, rolled out of it, and stood up. The girl before him flipped out of the attack, landing in a fighting position.
'Great, why am I the one that gets stuck with the new girl? I was just beginning to learn the other one's technique.' He thought.
Aya fought with a fierceness that the others hadn't seen since his fights with Reiji Takatori. From a distance Yoji could make out the hatred in his eyes. He could see the muscles tighten, and his lover's technique had dropped a considerable amount, but the rage, the pure hatred, made up for it.
Omi couldn't manage to hit the small girl before him. She kept moving around, and he wasn't very good at close range combat, preferring to shoot things from a distance. He dodged the small umbrella. Tot had put too much force behind the blow, and when it didn't connect she lost her balance. Omi swiftly kicked her in the stomach, using the force of the impact to push him far enough away to pull out one of his darts.
Nagi leapt at Tot, pushing her out of the way. No, he had not forgotten about his telekinesis. He felt the sharp pain as the dart went into his shoulder. Aya-chan glanced up from her battle with Ken. The blue- haired boy was pushed against the wall, receiving blow after blow to the face from a boy about his height.
"Nagi!" She cried out. Nagi looked up at her, tears in his blue eyes.
Across the room another fighter, Aya, was caught off guard. He paused in mid-attack. He could have sworn that that girl had Aya's voice. But it was impossible, wasn't it? Hell moved toward him, her boot making hard contact with his rib cage. Aya jumped back away from Hell, moving toward the voice. The pain in his side didn't even register.
Ken took the opportunity to sweep the girl off of her feet. Aya-chan crashed to the ground. Her sunglasses slid across the floor, landing near Aya's feet. He glanced down at them, then at the girl. Ken was standing over her, claws glistening in the manufactured light, about to go down for the final blow. Blue hair flowed around her face, and the lightning reflected off of the lone gold earring she was wearing.
"Ken don't!" Aya screamed. The soccer player looked up at their leader, confused. Aya-chan took his feet out from under him. Ken landed next to her on the ground with a loud thump. She pushed herself up, and noticed the man across the way, the one who had told Ken to stop.
They had done a good job. He looked like Ran's evil twin. Hell, even the pain in his eyes looked real.
"Aya it's me! It's Ran!"
"You're not my brother. My brother is dead! How dare you!" Aya-chan pivoted to attack him, but Nagi screamed again. She turned, allowing her eyes to go white. Even the thunder and lightning disappeared. She extended her hand, pushing the energy out. It sliced through the air, leaving her exhausted. Omi moved out of the way just in time.
"Omi!" Yoji caught Shoen's whip around his arm and bit his lip against the sting. He pulled the whip with all his might. Shoen fell toward him. Her body crumpled around the boot in the middle of her chest. She couldn't breathe. While her head was down, he slipped a thin piece of wire around her neck. He tugged the ends of the wire until he couldn't hear her gasping for air. Her lips began to tint blue, until he felt a sharp pain in his side. Tot twisted her parcel inside his wound and yanked it out. Blood gushed down the side of his blue-black trench coat. Shoen took in a long, raspy breath.
Aya-chan collapsed to the ground as the whole world went black. Nagi tried to make his way over to her, he had taken a hell of a beating for this little mission. Aya ran over to his sister's fallen form. He touched the lone gold earring and stroked her forehead.
"What did they do to you?" Aya whispered. He reached down to pick her up. Before his hands touched her again he felt his form lift off of the ground, and make contact with a nearby wall. Nagi was exhausted, but there was no way in hell that this mission was going to fail.
Tot flipped up her parcel and smiled down at Yoji. "You took Neu away, now Tot make you go away." She snickered. Omi grabbed her hair from behind and threw her away from Yoji.
"This is insane we have to go." He whispered, pulling the older man up. "Ken, Aya, let's go!" Ken made his way over to the others. He hadn't even noticed the small stream of blood coming down the side of his head.
"Aya!"
"I'm not leaving her!" He shrieked as he made another attempt at grabbing his sister. Hell stood in his way this time, but she was no match for the rage. Aya pushed her down and reached for his sister again, only to find himself meeting the wall, for a fourth time. Schuldig made his way out of the shadows and dropped down beside the girl. He smiled and picked her up, cradling her in his arms.
"She's a beautiful girl." He said, wicked smile on his face. The German kissed her forehead gently, and disappeared.
Ken ran over to Aya's side and helped him up. He was drunk from the blows.
"Bring her back!" Aya screamed, trying to contain the sobs welling in his throat. He pushed away from Ken and tried to run after the German. Aya tripped, falling to his knees. "Bring her back." Ken shifted all of Aya's weight onto his shoulder. The three other members of Schreient were still around, but he didn't know where. Yoji and Omi had also disappeared.
"Great." He muttered. "Hopefully their getting the car." Aya moaned as he faded in and out of consciousness. Ken could have sworn he whispered his sister's name. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Farfarello twirled the small piece of sharp wire around his hand, watching as it sliced his skin, revealing little rivers of blood. He smirked, and waited for the three members of Schreient to give chase to the two boys that were escaping. Crawford was sitting at the door, waiting to grab Tot. The red-haired German had placed the girl in the car, and Farfarello was bored. What he really wanted to be doing right now was blowing up some church or another, not sitting here in a tree, waiting to kill a girl. It would have been ok if she was a virgin innocent type, but wasn't killing other assassins doing God a favor? He snickered to himself. Crawford was soaked. Water streaked down his glasses and his well-kept hair was in disarray.
He made his move, tripping the girl. Tot fell to the ground, slicing her knee open.
"Tot!"
"Tot ok, you go." The girl replied. Hell and Shoen nodded, and raced down the drive after Yoji and Omi. Tot touched her knee gingerly and sighed. She barely felt the prick of the dart as it made contact with her neck, taking her into a deep medicated sleep.
Schuldig tightened his grip on the sword. He wasn't much for swords, but this called for it. Crawford must have had a lapse in judgement. Farfarello would have done much better with the sword, and him with the wire. Man, sometimes he really wished he could read Crawford's mind.
Farfarello dropped the line and waited for a bite. When Shoen got close, he snagged her with the wire. Hell turned around when Shoen cried out.
"You! What are you doing?" She cried. She didn't even see the blade as it came across her back, exposing her spine to the cool night air.
"Getting rid of the competition my dear." Schuldig smiled. Farfarello pulled the wire tighter until the body on it went limp. He smiled to himself. Crawford pulled the car around and the four conscious boys piled in, and sped away into the night.
A/N: So how did you like Chpt 2? Be honest please. Isn't it getting fun though? I'm tempted to do one of the annoying narrator things... "Will Aya ever discover that Ran is really her brother? How will Schuldig deal with Tot, like he promised to? Will our heroes fall into Nagi's evil trap? Wait that's next chapter! And will the author ever be clued in about what the characters are planning to do? Find out next time on Weiss, the alternate universe!" Ok, had to, sorry! :o) Please R&R.
