R_M : Darn ... I knew it ! I knew it ! oh well ...

***

Schuldich patiently waited for Crawford's visit . Sorting through what has been happening the past few weeks as a way of understanding his situation ...

The queerest thing was , he could not remember what has happened the past few months . Nor could he explain why he was locked up in a padded cell . Or why the stick up Crawford's ass was partially dislodged . It made him raise an eyebrow that the American was a bit off-character these past few weeks ; taking time to actually converse with Schuldich and not just boss him around and be the prick he usually is .

:: Hmmm... what could have made him change his mind ... ?::

A random thought inserted in his mind .

:: Or was it a change of heart ?::

He shrugged and grinned to himself . As close to impossible as what was happening the past few weeks , that was beyond impossible .

Damn , he wanted to get out of that hellhole cell . He didn't even know why he was holed up in that place anyway . When he asked Crawford about it , the bastard merely replied with a " You have been ill " statement , before subtly steering him to another topic .

For some bizarre reason he could fathom , he could not read Crawford's mind . It was something new to him , but in a way , it was welcome . He had not had a day's rest from his powers since the day he had learned to talk , and it was maddening .

He just hoped to God he was going to get out shortly . Crawford had promised him 'soon' and though he hated to admit it ; the smug bastard was always true to his word .

---

Schuldich leaned back against the padded wall as he watched the personnel cleaning up his cell . It occurred to him that it was the procedure conducted to dog kennels ; get in , clean up , lock down .

::Well , woof woof:: . He thought dryly .

Crawford could never stand an unsanitary place . The prick .

One particularly young boy glanced at him , his heart stopped beating for a split second . He was wearing a black cap , mandatory for regular cleaning personnel , but Schuldich could tell there was a shock of brown hair underneath it .

And then the moment was gone . The boy had gone back to spraying the room with a large spray gun filled with chemical cleaning agents .

...

Something nagged at the back of Schuldich's mind . Something he was sure was very important to him . Yet try as he might , it would not come to him ... only laughter .

No , not his (Schuldich's) laughter , nor was it of any person he knew ... it was someone else - someone very important to him .

Dusky grey ... the color of stormy clouds .

Chestnut brown in silky waves ...

The scent of pine and newly cut grass ...

All his dreams and waking moments were filled with hazy memories ...

::Goddamn it !::

He couldn't put a finger on it !

His teeth bared up in a snarl and frightened workers beat a hasty retreat , packing all their equipment with them . They knew Mastermind was the devil incarnate when he was hit by bouts of insanity ; and it was something to be reckoned with .

He was like this when worked up in a rage . A roaring fury on one moment , spent up in the next .

He couldn't deal with it right now ; it was as if something was wrong and it was the cause of all his confusion .

That laugh again ...

::Schuldich ... why did you betray me ?::

" No ... no ... I didn't do anything ! WHO ARE YOU ?!" He shouted at the empty room

" Brad Crawford ." Crawford had just closed the door behind him and was staring at Schuldich coldly .

- - -

Suzume nudged the sliding door close behind her and set down the tray on the glass table on the veranda .

Ken was playing with the soccer ball she had bought for him handling it with a deftness uncanny to most people .

As of the moment he was juggling it on his thigh , never missing a beat , alternating it from the left and right and on his infoot , then bouncing it on a header before resuming juggling on the thigh .

She now understood why he used to be a J-Leaguer . She noticed his eyes as he played , they were alight with a different kind of fire . He had a passion for the sport; the kind that most people never experienced even once in their own lives about anything or anyone . It was strange ... because she ::did:: experience that kind of passion ... but only when ... it involved Him ; Ken .

She knew about the scandal . It was sad that he suffered all of that , his bright future destroyed because of that hypocrite friend of his ... if only the bastard was alive right now , she'd make sure that he would regret what he did for the rest of his miserable life .

He glanced at her for a moment and offered a small , tentative smile . One of the rare occasions , which she never failed to lock away in a small corner of her mind .

Ken had been living with her for a week now , despite the beautiful room and the large garden in the ß.S. facility , she found the atmosphere oppressing and decided to move him to her house ; which would suffice for both their needs .

The organization doubled the security for that reason .

" Come Ken , time for a snack ."

He dropped the ball and headed for her , his hair shiny with sweat .

With a tender smile , she produced a towel and proceeded to wipe him down , as a mother would with her child . Nearby , the head of the guards watched them curiously .

Ken ate the cake with a flourish , nearly choking on it before gulping down the iced tea .

She watched all this with a fond smile . She wasn't sure :how: exactly she felt . On one hand , she felt like a mother would for her son , on the other ... she felt a profound inkling of another type of affection ; the kind that was not purely platonic .

" Tsuyukaze-san . Phone call for you ."

She raised an eyebrow as one of the men handed her the black wireless phone with the ß.S. logo . ( almost everything on her house had that logo X_X I can't imagine mine with a symbol on every single item ; I'd go mad )

" Suzume here ."

" Sean Devlin ."

They spoke in English , a language that she was sure Ken did not understand .

" I thought you had forgotten all about him ."

A laugh on the other side of the line " Why would I ? He is after all , very vital to our operation ; how is he ?"

" He's much better . The improvement is astonishing . He actually *talks* now ."

" Is that such a big thing ?"

" You have no idea ." She smiled when she caught sight of Ken stuffing another cake indelicately in his mouth .

" Would it be long ?"

" I'm afraid it's going to be longer than we expected . He still has many wounds to heal - in body and in mind . Besides ; we both know what he's been through this past year , the added emotional trauma would just be too much to take and he might break down - permanently . As of now I'm having a lot of trouble restoring his mindset to normal . Besides , it would be inhuman of us to place him back inside the battlefield A.S.A.P where he could get hurt in his state ."

There was a long pause during which she assumed he was contemplating on the right thing to do and " I must admit that you are right . I'm still in Japan right now , I have a few things to clear up . There's a lot of confusion around here . Ever since Weiß Kreuz has gone out of commission , the organized crime rate has gone through the roof . I'll be back as soon as possible ... he IS my child after all ."

" And I'll be lonely if you take him away from me again ."

A laugh .

" You can keep him with you for now . But remember , The Black Wolf is still out there ."

" Yes , yes , yes . Not even -He- can get through all the guards you reduced me to live with . I have no privacy ! Sometimes I think they're watching me even while I'm bathing ."

" Of course not . I didn't allow videos inside the house ."

" Good . You should see him Sean . Such innocence . I feel like an old woman compared to him ."

She could almost hear him smiling on the other end . " Darling , you're too young for that kind of thinking . I'd better be going now . The Prime Minister is looking quite strangely at me ."

" Good-bye then ."

" Take good care of him will you ?"

" Of course ."

And he put down the phone .

- - -

R_N : So ! I guess you know who the mysterious talking faceless unknown unidentified weirdo creepy psychopathic maniacal sinister eerie people are in Confused Identity . I've been browsing through the fic , trying to find the chapter where I wrote a part for them but I couldn't find it ... ( the chapter where they are , I mean . Not the fic ) I'm pathetic I don't even know where I put stuff . *wails loudly* how miserable .

Ooooh ! I bet I gave you some food for thought on one line up there didn't I ?! Now go figure ! Mwahahaha ! (.) [I laugh like that too often these days ... I creep myself out ...] *LOL*

Mariki : *cowers and throws furtive glances* SOOOO... You want Ken to end up with Schuschu huh ?! Mwahahahahahahahaha !!! Oh he'll end up with Schu all right ! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes ... he'll end up ... with Schu !!!!! Bwahahahahaha !!!

*borrows an anime antagonist's evil laugh ... preferable Kodatchi Kuno's*

Suisei_ Lady_Dragon : I did didn't I ? I am evil ~ I am the evilest of all the evils in the whole wide world ... ( ) Just kidding . You won't find anything there . But you can't demand that from me ! I happen to like torturing my bishounen ... it goes with the territory XD . ( besides , you DID admit that you liked me torturing them ne ?) *winks winks* ^___~

Uh ... I have been struggling to make a webpage for a couple of days now ; although I have absolutely no idea how it's supposed to be ... I just try to make it up as I go along . Could anyone please tell me how to - you know . When you click something and make it lead to another page ? ( using Frontpage that is ) Arigatou in advance to anyone who does try to help . ^^;

Well , at least I know where to find my reviews and my faithful reviewers ne ? And that a good thing ! ^^;

RnRnRnRnRnRnRnRnR Onegai !!!!