Blooded Petals

By Eternitys End

Normal disclaimers apply: I do not, nor do I claim to, hold any ownership over Weiss Kreuz or any of its parts. More's the pity.

Chapter Six: The Dangers of Unlabeled Bottles

"Ota!" Was it really so necessary to touch every time they saw each other?

"Nobaria, how's it hanging?" Did he really have to inquire as to the state of his reproductive organs?

"Fine, fine. How about you?" Was it too much to hope he'd let him off with a single word answer?

"Well, let me see…" Yes, apparently it was. "Did you hear I got married?" The man's every movement seemed bouncy, full of life. Thankfully, that wouldn't last for long. He'd make sure of it.

"You, settling down?" Akai couldn't keep that hint of a sneer from his voice.

Yoshi chortled happily. "I know, I know. It's hard to believe." He was either oblivious, or he didn't care. One could never be so sure. "Where we going?" So he was oblivious. He had too much trust for one of his position. It would get him killed someday. That day was today.

"A place I know." The baboon just nodded, accepting. Was this really the state of their government today? Perhaps it was a good thing that Gran would soon take over.

"What's in the case? Pictures. You've got to see my Remi, bet you never thought I'd be a good father." Oaf! He didn't even bother to wait for an answer. "Told the wife I was meeting with an old friend later tonight. She wanted to come, fancies herself tough. But I thought you might be too much for the little lady. Never met a man as efficient as you, I told her. Our history isn't too pretty; best she doesn't hear about it."

What was this man babbling on about? Did he ever really consider him a friend? "We're here." It was a quiet little bar, perfect for what he wanted. Gran held a grudge against the owner. She'd be pleased if they got trashed by the media. Harboring dead bodies could really ruin a place's reputation. "I reserved a room." Everyone was so base. He'd reserved the room under a false name and paid cash. He'd requested complete privacy. The idiots didn't think twice.

"Always thinking ahead," Yoshi clucked appreciatively. "I never got the real story, why was it that you had to leave?" The door slammed shut firmly. The moron owner was thoughtful enough to provide a lock. He deserved his fate. So did Ota.

"I had to leave," It felt good to drop the amiable façade. Twisting his face into a goofy smile, politely chatting with the enemy, he was barely able to pull it off. Gran was stupid to choose him for the Weiss plant. He'd have done much better switched with Tadashi. Being Persia, having all that power…he'd have it all if Tadashi screwed up.

Now there was a thought.

"You heard correctly." Akai continued after a while, setting his case on the worn table top between himself and Ota. "I was sent off to that crazy old widow. The kind, gentle old woman who takes in broken soldiers, she's been taking care of me." The first trickle of adrenaline entered his bloodstream. The rush relaxed him, even as Ota tensed up, backing away from the transformed man before him.

"You mean she really is…the Sato hag is…" He actually choked at the appearance of his blades. Pathetic! What was their army coming to today? Gran really would be better off in charge.

"Plotting?" Akai nodded encouragingly. "She's going to take over, you see. She's taking out the competition, using their own dogs against them." His blades screamed for blood. One step, two, had Ota backed against the wall. They squealed with delight, raised up on either side of their victim. "But that's no longer important to you."

The smaller curve tucked into its victim's neck. The pulse beneath the silver was erratic, fearful. The fool didn't so much as have the sense to fight. "You won't be around to see it." The larger glided over his abdominal region, tearing away an expensively tailored suit. Abdominal muscles quivered at the metallic kiss. "I am, however, concerned about this wife of yours." Seeing his eyes go glassy with fear, it had been too long since he'd witnessed death so closely. "You told her you were meeting me? A good operative wouldn't leave her to talk, would he?" Protest was visible in Ota's eyes. He wanted to speak, but fear for himself kept him silent. Really, he was so base. An animal was completely selfish in protecting himself. His family was no longer a concern.

"P...please." A word, simple though it was. It had probably taken all his courage. Otherwise, he was no better than a mannequin.

"Open your mouth." Akai instructed shortly. Yoshi couldn't comply faster. "You don't want to die, do you?" He shook his head vehemently. The small blade slid its way into the moist cavern. "Well, I'm sorry." The slightest pressure cut into his tongue like butter. "I didn't want to be excused either." With a flick, it was done. The lumpish muscle came free as life faded from his eyes. The warm gush of blood over his fingers felt so good. It was like being born again, warm and safe. But it wasn't quite enough. The other blade felt left out, now. And there was no telling how long it would be until they could feast freely again.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Youji elbowed in the screen door. He'd received no answer. "I could use help!" Balancing one grocery bag atop another, and then leaning them against the doorframe, he freed a hand only long enough to push open the main door. Shuffling in to the hallway, the screen door swung shut, catching his heel and sending him tottering forward. Long honed reflexes kicked in, and he managed to save himself, along with the groceries, from a graceless fall. Only a bag of Ken's whole-grain, low calorie, high carbohydrate, no-fun, fake bread-type stuff tumbled to a squashed heap on the floor.

It was bread, no big deal.

Ken, however, did not feel quite the same way, as he entered at that exact, inopportune moment.

"What are you doing to my food?" Ken yelped out, making no move to save the product.

"If I had help carrying things in, it wouldn't have happened." Youji corrected, waiting patiently for Ken to generously offer his services.

"You squashed it!" Ken grumbled, plucking up the bag and attempting to reshape the mass inside. "You're so careless!" He insulted, plopping it back atop the pile.

This was where Ken would take a bag and help him put everything away. Youji waited patiently, watching as Ken made no move to help.

"Thank you!" He ground out after a minute or two. "I really appreciate your help."

Ken watched, flabbergasted, as Youji shuffled angrily into the kitchen. "What crawled up your ass?" He inquired lazily.

"Nothing." Youji didn't seem to be in a very good mood.

"And there in lies the problem?" Ken asked with a half laugh.

Youji dumped the load in his arms onto the countertop before spinning on the younger man. "Can't I get a little bit of help around here?"

"Help? Sure you can. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." Poor, unassuming Ken was about to step into a very big hole. "I was wondering if you could help me with the laundry. I don't have any clean underwear, and Omi's busy in the shop."

Youji made a strangled 'Aaargh!' type noise. Ken backed away slowly. "No one else gets things as soft as you do."

"There's softener right next to the detergent! Use it!" Ken wrinkled his nose.

"I'm not supposed to use bleach." He announced warily. "It's your laundry day, anyway."

The tall blonde in the kitchen turned towards the wall. He braced both hands flat against it, as if he were about to be searched. He began to bang his head against the wall. "Get…out…now." He recommended in between hits.

Ken edged his way from the room.

"It's your night for dinner." Aya popped his head into the kitchen only seconds later. Raising an eyebrow, he exited without a word.

Slumping to the ground, he announced to the world at large: "I am not your mother, servant, nor your slave!" After a healthy amount of sniffling, he stood resolutely and headed to the washroom.

At six p.m. that night, a questionable smell was wafting through the Weiss apartment. An array of curses and exclamations provided background noise for everything the boys might do. Aya was absolutely determined not to go help.

"Is he okay?" Omi bit his lip, eyeing the closed door to the kitchen after a particularly long stint of maniacal laughing. The occasional billow of smoke would gust from the crack between floor and door. "Shouldn't we go help him?"

They'd laid all the chores on Youji today. It served him right for doing the same to them so many times in the past. "He'll be fine." Aya strained upward with the crowbar to catch the gate, closing the store for the night. "He's cooked before."

"He might try to poison us." Ken voiced his worries, sorting out the drawer. "He was scary this afternoon, I think he might have gotten brain damage."

"That's nothing new." Aya reassured him.

Omi looked more worried. Ken rolled his eyes. A shapely pair of legs appeared just before Aya could slam the gate down. "I know those legs." His eyes widened in shock at the words that had just passed his lips. It was the final straw. He could no longer spend time around Youji.

"Abyssinian?" Manx wore an equally worried gaze. She looked from boy to boy before sniffing the air suspiciously. "Why do I smell teriyaki sauce and vanilla?"

"So that's what it was…I knew that bottle wasn't the right one." Youji slaved over the stove, a frying pan in hand. "It does taste good, though. You should try some." He offered the big wooden spoon around, faced with uncertain glances and halfhearted apologies. "Serves you right." He sniffed, putting down the utensil and crossing his arms in front of him. "So what's going on?"

"I've been in Italy." Manx announced. "On assignment, recruiting a hard to find agent for non-lethal." She looked around the kitchen. "Only recently, have I discovered the operation was a hoax." Seriously, she stared into their eyes, confirming their fears. "It seems that Kritiker has been infiltrated. We are no longer in control of our own company."

"What are you talking about, the new Persia…" Omi hoped for the best but received the worst.

"Was voted in." Manx agreed. "By the members of our board, they'd been paid off."

"Then Akai…and Tonkinese…" Aya made the connection, a scowl forming.

"I only know so much." Manx evaded nicely. "But they were hired by Tadashi Sato, the new Persia. He was the son of a brilliant military scientist, Baiko Sato, in charge of training specialized recruits." She shrugged. "He committed suicide half a year ago. Tadashi was discharged from service shortly before that. He was supposed to be in his mother's care, an Arisa Sato. I don't see how this could have escaped Kritiker, I'm afraid the organization may very well be corrupt." She rubbed a weary hand over her face. "I'm not quite comfortable making this decision on my own, but, White Knights, deny these evil beasts their tomorrows."

The room lapsed into stunned silence. Tentatively, Ken spoke up. "Um, Manx…" He chuckled nervously. "Who exactly are the targets?"

"Where's Omi?" Ken stood in the kitchen, spooning an awful looking paste into his mouth. "We have to go out to dinner and work on finding evidence against this Sato guy, right?" He looked over to Youji, who had a proud look on his face.

"See, it is good. Isn't it?" He prodded Aya repeatedly as he spoke. "You really should eat it, nutritional value or not. It does taste good." He pointed at Ken and then back at Aya. "He likes it."

"That's not enough to go on." Aya replied truthfully. "A few hours from now he'll be sick." Ken blanched, staring at the pot in his hand. Slowly, he placed it on the counter top. Youji let out a forlorn whimper.

"I'm not paying. It was edible, you just chose not to eat it."

No one gave him a straight answer. "Where is Omi?" Ken waited impatiently.

A moment later scuffling of feet gave them their answer.

"I have it!" Omi couldn't quite decide whether he was happy or disgusted as an array of expressions flashed over his face.

Youji looked hopeful. "You have the money to pay for dinner!"

Omi looked confused, but explained his comment nonetheless. "I have the proof we need." He waved a small cassette at them. Thoughts of dinner were forgotten as they followed him downstairs to listen to his findings.

Popping the tape into a small player, the group gathered around to listen. There was a moment of whirring tape, as Omi located the proper section, then the low, controlled voice of Akai filled the room. "You heard correctly." Youji, lax on the couch, jerked to attention at the unexpected familiarity. "I was sent off to that crazy old widow. The kind, gentle old woman who takes in broken soldiers, she's been taking care of me." Aya frowned as the control in the voice slipped, filling with emotion. "You mean she really is…the Sato hag is…" The new voice shivered with fear. Ken ducked his head as he finally placed it with the man from the last mission, the one they'd shrugged off along with suspicions of Akai.

"Sato hag." Aya stopped the tape for a moment. "Tadashi Sato's mother?" His inquiry was met with nods.

"Plotting?" The tape rolled again. "She's going to take over, you see. She's taking out the competition, using their own dogs against them." Their suspicions were confirmed ten times over.

"We're not dogs!" Ken scoffed.

The tape played on. "But that's no longer important to you." Omi quickly shut off the sound, betraying an idea of what might follow.

"So Akai's in on it." Youji silently cheered his instincts.

"We need more information on Tonkinese. And there might be others involved." Omi procured a file folder, fanning out the information inside. "Arisa Sato and her son Tadashi are our main targets." He gave a small, forlorn sigh. "Akai, too."

"How are we going to do this with a target sleeping under the same roof?" Youji glared upwards, as if condemning the roof for shielding Akai.

"Manx is stopping by tomorrow." Aya ordered abruptly. "Until then, we don't know anything."

A/N: Continued in Chapter Seven, I apologize if this seems shorter and choppier than the rest. Its not as happy and comical as the others either…oh well, I'll make up for it in the next chapter. Please review. Thank you to my reviewers:

Chibi-chan no Hentai: The stitches scene was my favorite, I'm glad someone else liked it!

Sky-rat: Thanks for reviewing (so much!) and I updated tonight as promised.

Anime the Fallen Angel: Now you know Gran.

Methodic Madness: Thank you for your in-depth review!