Mercy

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By: Ryoko

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Track 00:03:00

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It wasn't as hard as he'd imagined it…leaving the apartment building like that. In fact, the second he fled from the doorway, it seemed as though all stress and pressure of leaving, was literally lifted from his shoulders.

For as long as Nagi could remember, he'd carried the weight of the world on his back, without any help whatsoever.

He'd done nothing to deserve it, nothing at all. It really WASN'T his fault he was different from all other people. He was born that way, and it was something he couldn't help. On occasion, he'd caught himself losing control of his powers and destroying everything in sight, but only recently he'd been able to harness the destructive ability.

A streetlight flickering in the distance caught his attention, bringing him back to reality and out of thought.

"Am I right in doing this? In running away from it all?" he mentally slapped himself for having second thoughts. Although, with how far he'd already walked, there was still time to turn back and face Hell once again.

No. I don't wanna go back. He growled, drawing up the collar of the jacket.

)(~ Memory thingy ~)(

"Gah! Stop! STOP! It hurts! Stop! Please! No more!" he cried, getting lashed again with the rawhide whip, across his spine.

"Shut up. I wouldn't have to BEAT you if you'd just LISTENED to ORDERS!" Crawford's stern voice snapped, hitting him again.

Nagi sank down, to his knees, in defeat, holding his arms over his head while crying profusely. "Stop it! It hurts! STOP!"

"Hey, Brad…I…I think you're overdoing it a little…the kid's had enough. Knock it off." Schuldig stepped in, grasping the American's arm tightly.

Just recently, he'd gotten a soft-spot for the kid, since the boy was constantly tortured to no end, kind of like what the German had gone through, himself, as a child.

Letting down his shield of nearly bleeding arms, he looked up at the redhead, who was pushing Crawford out the door, of the bedroom, with all the strength he could muster up.

Schu…why did…? He whimpered softly, trying to stand.

Wait! The man ducked down, just in time to catch the boy as he collapsed back to the floor. Clinging to the assassin's shirt, he blockaded back all of his tears and tried futilely to push away from Shuldig's embrace. What's wrong?

Since when did you care about ME? Since when did ANYBODY care if I'm in pain or not?

Since now. Okay?

You're NEVER like this…what's wrong with you…?

Nothin'. I just don't like when he beats on you for a stupid reason. Hey, at least he wasn't shooting at you…I think he reserved that for ME. Anyway, you might not want to make any sudden moves…it looks like he kinda clipped some of your nerves…so you're gonna be hurtin. Try a cold shower, that'll bring the swelling down.

Schu…

Shh." He winked, holding a finger to his lips. I wasn't this nice to you. Got it? It's our little secret.

)(~ End of the memory thingy ~)(

That was probably the only time Schuldig bothered to be nice to me in front of anyone. I trust the guy a lot, I guess, but he always had that side to him that made me continue to hate him…why DID I hate him…?

He sighed softly, turning into an alleyway and looking around. An abandoned warehouse? How convenient… without a second thought, he pried open the side door, which had been halfway rotting into oblivion anyway, and stepped into the creaking building. It was colder in here, but at least he could rest. Skimming over the room, the telepath's eyes fell upon a large wooden crate that seemed intact and fairly sturdy.

Guess I'm sleeping there.

Resting his head on his arm, Nagi curled into a fetal position, tucking his handgun in the gap closest to his reach. Just as the sun was peeking over the horizon and breaking in through the window overhead, he fell asleep, surrendering himself to the darkness that would never offer salvation.

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A/N: I know that was short, but the next one won't be, I just needed to get a bridge up to connect my timeline sequences…oh yeah, and whoever it was (Sorry, I already forgot your name!) that said Omi was around 17 or something…I kinda looked ALL over the internet and couldn't find ONE website that plainly said OMI IS 17…so I decided to make everyone younger. If you go back and look, I changed the summary, because the day I uploaded this story, FF.Net was being a total bitch…so sorry about that too…I'll try to get my act together soon! Promise! Oh yeah, PS, I'm a HUGE OmiXNagi fan, so we'd BETTER get some yaoi in here…even if it's not a lemon, it'll be close enough! ^_^;

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