If
only a smile
Chapter 2 - A Schwarz's Past
by ~Solaris~
Warnings: AU, OOC, shounen-ai and twisting the original Weiss plotline and
rewriting the story
Pairings: Ran+Ken, Youji+Schuldich, Nagi+Omi
Rating: PG-13 (dark themes, cussing etc.)
Standard Disclaimer applies
Notes:
"Speech"
'Telepathy/thoughts'
It's not everyday that you get to meet another assassin group, especially if it happens to be a rival assassin group. Yes, despite all this rivalry between them, Weiss and Schwarz have never met. This is why both Manx and Birman have been wondering all these years why these two even stated they were rivals!
Don't you need to come face to face with them before you can call them your rival? Whatever logic these two assassin teams were using, they seem to be using the same one. So why the hell can't we all just get along?
One agitated Youji was standing in one corner, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, close to finishing his fifth pack of cigarette for the day. Even though he smokes, Youji doesn't usually smoke this much. But he wouldn't be nervous with the prospect of meeting a longtime rival? One you've never met before, mind you.
Nagi and Ran were the only calm ones. Ran was glaring at Youji, finding himself being slowly annoyed by the blonde one's antics. Nagi, however, was casually flipping pages of some magazine he found. Ran just hoped it wasn't one of Youji's magazines. Kami knows what magazines Youji keeps.
Schuldich was the one making the most out of this meeting, watching Ran glare at Youji and the obvious discomfort shown on the blonde's face and in his thoughts. But Schu promised Birman that he wouldn't pull any of his telepathic powers just for the day. After all, we can't go scaring the other team can't we? Maybe at the end of the day...
Birman looked at her watch, making a small noise of disapproval at the time and then looked up. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Manx was late. But before she could mutter any comment to the other secretary, a noise from the floor above confirmed Manx's arrival. Along with Schwarz's.
Of course, both secretaries are on name-to-name basis with each assassin group. Birman usually takes care of Schwarz's mission tapes and Manx takes care of Weiss', but on occasion, the two women can change roles. Sometimes Manx would bring in tapes for Schwarz and Birman would call Weiss for the report on their latest mission.
"Birman?" Manx called out.
"Mission room." Sounds of footsteps going down the staircase to the mission room could be heard and the occupants of the room waited with trepidation at the arrival of Schwarz. Manx came down first, looking annoyed at something and she shot a glare at someone behind her.
The person behind Manx had silver hair, nearing white. He had a patch over his eye and was leering at the room, expecting someone to jump out and ready to strike. Manx threw the man one glare and he smirked, an insane smile and then moved to the side waiting for his keeper of the day.
The next one caused them to raise an eyebrow. A kid of about Nagi's age, perhaps older, stepped down. He had blonde hair and was blinking his blue eyes to look around the room. He quickly stepped towards the first man, pulling him over to an unoccupied corner of the room.
The third member that came down caused Ran to freeze altogether. Rich brown hair and jade eyes peered at the room, widening for a moment when they clashed with Ran's violet eyes but it was quickly masked with a false cheerfulness. Ken has one effective mask. The cheerfulness was almost genuine.
And lastly, the figure that stepped down caused the members of Weiss to drop their jaws altogether. Ladies and gentlemen, Bradley Crawford is in the building. Crawford was wearing one of his well-tailored business suit, picking a suitable color of black this time, with a matching tie. His dark sunglasses reflected the light coming from the only source of light in the room, a small lamp on one of the nearby desks. He's not just a member of Schwarz, he IS Schwarz. Or so the members of Weiss thought.
Omi raised his eyebrow slightly, some of them were thinking a little loud after all. But because he's such a sportive little bishounen, Omi blocked any thoughts from filtering through. For now, he'll do with the introduction with Weiss, who didn't look as intimidating as Farf does.
There was the tall, lanky blonde, who looked too sultry for his own good in tight clothing. Omi forced himself from making any comments of the blonde's clothes and then turned his attention to the next person. The boy, around his age, that sat silently near one of the redheads. He was regarding the room calmly and for a moment, his eyes locked with Omi's. Omi felt his breath caught for a moment. Whatever it was that he saw in the other boy's eyes...
Placing a mental block, just in case, Omi looked at Ken. 'Ken-kun?'
The brunette managed to peel his eyes off Ran's for a moment to look at Omi with questioning eyes. 'What's wrong Omi?'
'Anno, will Manx-san be introducing us with our real names?' There was a nervous twinge in the thought and Ken noted it straight away. Ken has always been the perceptive one. Someone's got to be after all.
'I don't know, Omi. But it doesn't matter anyway.' Ken said, eyes looking back at Ran. But before Omi could ask more questions, Manx spoke up.
"As much as both Weiss and Schwarz hated this meeting, it's inevitable." Manx stated. "This new mission will involve the two teams working together." Manx caught Birman's eyes and the latter nodded her head.
"However, to gain trust from both sides, however impossible as that might seem, we will need BOTH teams to cooperate and state your code names AND real names." Birman said. There were protests from Weiss, but Schwarz remained silent. Mostly because Ken had expected it and Omi...was glaring. The young assassin shook his head in disgust, not at all willing to disclose any information regarding his past.
Hell, none of the members of Schwarz was willing. Too many blood, tears, and torture shrouded their pasts. Especially one involving a place with the name of Rozenkreuz (Just for the record, the Rozenkreuz we're talking about is NOT what you guys are thinking.) No, Schwarz didn't want to share any information with Weiss, especially concerning their past. And they knew by giving their real names, Weiss would definitely start a search for any background information on them.
But who's willing to argue with Birman? Especially when she has Manx to back her up. It was too confusing, too much of a headache and a total waste of time. Next thing you know, they'll have direct orders from Persia.
Birman's glare directed straight at Omi. She had an idea what the young telepath was thinking and as a punishment of some sort, she's making him start with the introduction. Omi sighed inwardly and threw a glance at Ken. The brunette shrugged in response and raised an eyebrow as if to say, "It's your call."
"Which name do you want Birman-san?" Omi said calmly, although Ken knew his best friend was far from calm. Upon hearing Omi's answer, Birman's eyes softened. Omi looked at the members of Weiss and with a smile, he finally spoke to them.
"Code names Bombay. Real name Tsukiyono Omi." He said. Birman thought he had finished and was about to gesture to Farfarello to say something when Omi added, "Former name Takatori Mamoru."
Ah, the ultimate name. Ran's eyes flashed and he snarled something under his breath. His teammates were ready to leap out of his path. But Manx knew this was coming and intervened before anything drastic might happen.
"Omi is Persia's son." She said simply, drawing a snort from the young blonde.
"Calling me his son might imply that he actually cares for me, Manx-san and I'd rather not do that. Takatori Mamoru died the day the gates of hell opened." Ken threw a concerned look at Omi, but it looked as if the blonde's mask was on again. He was smiling cheerfully at everyone. Ken nearly winced.
But of course, Hidaka Ken never shows any unnecessary emotion. Never his real emotions. He would throw on various emotions in order to maintain a 'genuine' idea for his own mask, but he would never show what he's really feeling. That would break his mask and Ken had the strongest mask of all. No one knows it existed.
"Gates of hell?" Asked Youji.
"In a place called Rozenkreuz." Ken said, voice flat. His direct nature, however, caused Crawford to glare at him.
"I don't think it's appropriate that you release such information, Siberian." He snapped at the brunette.
"So what? They're going to be looking into our files later anyway. Might as well give them a shortcut." Ken said with a shrug. Crawford looked ready to murder someone while Farf chuckled.
"You know you shouldn't piss Brad off kitty-cat." Farf said, causing Ken to roll his eyes.
"I thought you were keeping an eye on the madman, chibi?" Ken muttered at Omi, who blinked innocently.
"Alright, enough!" Snapped Manx. "Siberian, state your name now."
"Code name Siberian and real name Hidaka Ken." He answered smoothly. Being the one in trouble most with Crawford, Ken has mastered the art of answering any question with one sentence. It's saved his life more than once when it comes to Crawford's temper. Of course, the fact that he's also a telekinetic never hurt either.
"Real name Farfarello Jei and code name...Farfarello." Omi said, answering for the Irishman. After all, Ken and Omi were the only ones with a real codename anyway. They can't afford to have anyone digging into their pasts while Farfarello and Crawford didn't really care, except of course, of the events in Rozenkreuz.
And then came the moment they were all waiting for. Crawford. Is he or isn't he? The three members of Schwarz knew Crawford HATED his name and would do just about anything to keep it a secret. Including kill.
"Bradley Crawford." There was a slight twitch in his left eye as he said it, which caused Ken, Omi and even Farf to look away before they piss Crawford off. But damn! Containing laughter has never been one of their skills.
The laughter was forgotten when Nagi spoke up, after getting a nod from Manx. "Naoe Nagi, codename Prodigy."
"Kudo Youji, code name Balinese." Youji said, still observing Schwarz, but with much interest this time. His vision of Schwarz is a complete opposite of who Schwarz really is. What seem to be a ruthless team of amateur assassins turned out to be a mix of two strange men and two ordinary, naive boys. Whether or not their skills were up to Weiss standards, they would have to see.
"Schuldich." The German, smiling seductively at the members of Schwarz, ignored the expectant look from Manx. But they seemed unfazed by the name and by his smile. Damn assassins, too many masks.
"Fujimiya Ran, code name Abyssinian." Ran's glare was still fixated on Ken, but the brunette was looking at anywhere but at him.
"Now that the introductions are settled, we can go down to the mission." Birman said looking relieved that it was over and done with. She produced videotape out of her bag and proceeded to the VCR. Manx handed out files to the members of both team as the TV flickered on.
"Your mission is a difficult one. It doesn't involve infiltration of any sort, but it involves trying to catch a killer." Manx said.
"Killer?" Youji asked.
"Hai, a serial killer to be exact. No one knows who this person is, but he or she has killed 5 people so far."
"The Sakura Murders? The ones left unsolved, right?" Ken said, causing all eyes to rest on him. He shrugged. "I did my homework." He simply said.
"Quite right, Siberian. And this killer seem to have a pattern of some sort."
"Wait, you mentioned earlier he or she...You think a woman is capable of these killings, Manx-san? I've heard about the crime scenes and it sounds...I don't really think a woman would be able to do this." Nagi commented.
"Never underestimate a woman, Nagikins." Schuldich said.
"A woman has a complicated frame of mind, she's able to do what we think she's incapable of doing." Reasoned Omi. Schuldich raised an eyebrow at the statement by the young assassin.
"And you would know this how, Schwarz?"
"To delve into the mind of a woman would be to come out with a headache." Omi said simply. Schuldich froze.
"You're a telepath too?" He asked incredulously. Oops. Apparently, Manx and Birman had forgotten to tell Weiss and Schwarz a couple of things.
"What do you mean 'too'?" Omi asked.
"There are a few things we forgot to mention. Omi is a telepath, like you Schuldich." Said persons looked at each other. "And Ken is a telekinetic, as is Nagi."
"And Crawford is an Oracle while Farfarello...well, he can't feel pain."
"Excuse me?" Youji raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean he can't feel pain?"
"Like this." Ken said and he took a scissor that was left on a table nearby and tossed it at Farfarello. Never one to decline on offers such as this, Farf took the scissors and began poking his fingers. It drew out blood, but the Irishman doesn't even flinch.
"What the-"
"He can bleed, but he can't feel the pain of the wound." Explained Ken.
"Gott." Muttered Schuldich.
"So what can you do?" Omi asked, directing his question at Youji and Ran. "What abilities do you have?"
"None." Replied Ran.
"We're the only normal ones here. The better assassins, since we don't have powers." Youji said with a grin.
"Just because we have powers it doesn't mean we use them all the time." Ken stated.
"Ken-kun doesn't use his telekinetic powers during missions." Omi said. "He believes in the power of brute force, ne Ken-kun?"
"Why bother to smash them against the wall when you can render them unconscious with one punch?" Ken said simply. This drew a chuckle from Omi and Farfarello both and even Birman and Manx were smiling. They've heard of the infamous Siberian temper. Mess with Ken and he'll break your jaw. Mess with people he cares about and you'll end up six feet under.
"Back to the mission please?" Manx said after she had a glimpse of the reaction from Weiss. Which consisted of a stunned Youji, an expressionless Nagi, an amused Schuldich and Ran, who had developed a twitch in his right eye, as Crawford had done earlier.
"First victim is a nineteen year old female, Amano Yumi. Found strangled in her home." The video paused on the crime scene. The victim was laid out on the floor of the room, presumably her own, once azure eyes that were filled with laughter was reduced to blank cold eyes with no expression, no life. Her mouth was slightly opened, as if frozen in mid-scream. Her dark brown hair fell beside her, as if encasing the horrific picture.
"The second victim is a nineteen year old male, Kaiso Ryuichi. Found hanging outside his bedroom window." The next was a video of yet another victim with dark brown hair. The color of his eyes can't be seen considering his eyes were shut, bangs covering them partially as his head hung limply. A noose was tied tightly around his neck as his lifeless body swayed with the slight breeze.
"Third victim is an eighteen year old female, Tsukino Kiku. Shot in the back of the head, execution style. Found in her friend's house." The next images were of the grisly murder. From the splattered blood on the once whitewashed walls and the crumpled form of what was once a teenage girl, the victim was ordered to face the wall and was shot without mercy from behind. Yet another brunette and again the color of her eyes azure, as if staring at the assassin team with her lifeless eyes, tearstains on pale cheeks.
Manx paused, grimacing at the upcoming images. "The fourth victim was found just two days ago. Nineteen year old male, Satoru Kou, found in his apartment by a friend. They would have found him sooner if the victim hadn't planned on going away for the weekend." The next image made the room fall silent, faint breathing was heard and Omi slowly looked away. The image was enough for him to be sick. Severed limbs, splatters of blood all over the room and what was left of the body, placed neatly on a chair for a show. Ken grimaced and looked away as well.
"Lastly..."
"Found anything yet Nagi?" Ran asked. Said boy nodded.
"I did what you told me to, following on the 'Rozenkreuz' that Hidaka-san mentioned earlier." Nagi said. "Ran-san..." Hearing the boy's voice all four older members walked over to where Nagi was researching on his laptop. Peering over from the boy's shoulder Youji read the data aloud for his team members.
"The owner of Rozenkreuz failed to comment on the fire, but former workers commented that there is a possibility of arson. Rumors of illegal testing were dismissed by Estet spokesperson. The source of the fire of Rozenkreuz remains a mystery, as police can conclude nothing from clues left. 4 people are still missing, presumed dead." Youji paused. "Rozenkreuz is a...an orphanage?"
"Apparently so. I also found data on Hidaka and Tsukiyono. They're orphans. They took in Crawford couple of years after that, his powers were developed fully by the time. Farfarello was there only for a time, but he got out. Get this though, he was a priest before Estet got to him."
"Are you telling me the mad Irishman was a priest? And that Tsukiyono and Hidaka were both orphans in Rozenkreuz?" Youji asked.
"That's not all. The rumors of illegal testing, they're actually true." Nagi paused, clicking on a link which displayed the full lengths of the testing. "There are old documents that Kritiker obtained when they first signed them up as Schwarz."
"Hidaka Ken. Parents deceased, taken care of by Estet. These people killed his parents?" Youji paused. "Testing started at age 5. Full powers obtained by age 6. Telekinetic by birth, enhanced by Estet."
"Tsukiyono Omi, telepath by birth. Parents unknown. Testing started at age 6 and full powers obtained by age 7. "
"So they got to Hidaka first and then got Tsukiyono?" Asked Schuldich.
"Apparently." Muttered Nagi. "But there are other data. Apparently, they found out about Crawford's precog powers and decided to test him too. They were hiding their illegal operation under the cloak of an orphanage. No one would suspect them."
"How about the local maniac? How did he jump from a priest to a madman?" Asked Youji.
"It seems that he found out about the operation, so Estet decided to experiment on him. They had him for a year, but it was enough to drive him insane." Nagi gave an involuntary shiver. "Kritiker found out about the organization and arranged for its demise. Crashers took care of it. They killed off the scientists and people involved but found potential in Tsukiyono, Hidaka and Crawford. They mentioned in the report that the three are the only ones that can control Farfarello, whom they found years later in another Estet hideout."
"Shit. And I thought my past was messed up." Youji stated, albeit bluntly.
"Better then theirs, liebe." Agreed Schu.
"Did you manage to get into Tsukiyono, Schuldich?" Ran finally asked.
"He let me get as far as his whole personality, characters and all. I never got the chance to look around about his past. Defenses too high. He's a telepath after all." Schuldich pointed out, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice. Then again, Schuldich always finds an amusement in things such as this.
"So, what's the verdict?"
"Trust them. What other option is there?"
"So nothing too gruesome about Weiss huh?" Ken asked from the kitchen table. Omi shook his head, seated nice and comfortably in the den with his laptop, researching on Weiss.
"Kudo-san joined Weiss after his partner was killed, Naoe was recruited at an early age...he was a year older than you were when Kritiker took him in." Omi paused, reading the rest. "Schuldich joined because he had the abilities and apparently he worked for another assassin team at the time anyway. But Fujimiya had the worse history out of all of them."
"Oh?"
"His parents were killed in a rigged explosion and his sister was hit by the car of the perpetrator." Omi sounded strained when he read that info off the screen so Ken had a guess who the evildoer must be.
"Takatori Reiji I presume?"
"Bingo." Ken let out a dry laugh.
"It doesn't take a genius to know that."
"A brain is well needed for this new mission and I expect you to be using them, Hidaka." A stern voice said. Ken looked up from the tabletop and grinned at Crawford.
"Point noted, Crawford. Omi is researching on the mission as well as Weiss' background." Ken pointed out.
"Any developments, Omi?" Crawford asked.
"Nothing much. Looks like we know more than the police do." He sighed. "I'm still unsure about this mission though. Why do we need a bait?"
"To catch the killer we need a victim." Crawford replied.
"But why Ken-kun?" Omi protested, looking at the brunette.
"Because I can protect myself, Omi. No one needs to worry about me." Ken said reassuringly. "I have both physical strength and my telekinetic abilities. I won't let the killer do anything drastic, alright?"
"Besides, he's the only one that fits with the description of the victims."
"The kitten has 'potential victim' written all over him." Another voice supplied and the three in the room looked up to see Farfarello has entered the room. "Even if he doesn't, I'll be willing to write it. In red."
Ken sweat dropped. "No thanks, Farfie."
"But are you sure it's going to be safe, Ken-kun? I mean, the last victim..."
"Omi, we're assassins, we risk our lives all the time. Besides, I can't just sit here and be safe when I know I can be out there, in danger but able to do something to stop these killings."
He was burning; he felt the flames running across his skin and the soaring pain that went along with it. The agonizing torment of the fire, almost as if he was sent straight to hell. Straight into the devil's arms. He wanted to scream, to shout...to release a bit of the pain, but his mouth was sealed shut and all he could do was bear the pain.
No one will help him.
And still the pain seared through him, cutting at him like knives. Tears prickled his eyes and he was consumed by the pain and into the darkness.
Ken woke with a start, shaking uncontrollably. He stared at his hands, they were untouched, but the dream was too real. No, it wasn't a dream. It was a memory. His subconscious had picked up one of old memories, one of the darkest ones.
He stared at unmarked skin. It was almost amazing how little could be left after he was left with the dancing flames. He could have died and yet he was given a chance to live. Schwarz is his family and he fights to protect those he loves.
Whether or not to trust Weiss...He felt something for Fujimiya, that's for sure. But after all that he went through, he doesn't trust anyone easily. Can you honestly blame him?
To Be Continued
It's dark, we know. Blame the writers. *points at Aki and Wai* Aki was in the early stages of catching the flu and Wai read too many deathfics in one day. Apologies about messing up "Rozenkreuz", but we need it for later. The chapter's darker this time because we had to have it this way in order to explain the mission to Weiss and Schwarz AND introduce bits of Schwarz's past. More details of the killings will come and you'll find out why they're called the 'Sakura Murders'. Sorry for the flashback, we need the Ken-torture and Omi-torture, even though there was much protest from the writers of this chapter.
As for those waiting for the coupling to start working, you'll have to wait for future chapters. We need to establish a trust between the two teams and get their pasts straightened out before any romance can spark, ne? But there's no denying the tension between Ken and Ran anyway.
Wai and Aki wanted to focus on Ken mainly because of a discussion they had with a couple of Weiss fans at school. The others thought that Ken had the easiest past out of the Weiss members, after all, Ran lost his parents and his sister is in a coma, Youji lost Asuka and Omi was brought up without a family and came from a messed up family.
Wai's comments:
It pissed me off to when I heard their opinion. First off, I think that Ken had
it the WORST. He had the perfect life before it was all taken away from him. AND
none of the other Weiss members were burnt. Ken took an emotional and physical
blow. He lost his world. So, although I respect other people's opinions, I think
that they should consider those facts first.
I don't really think that Ken had it the worst; I think he and Omi have it pretty bad. But I do agree that Ken got the worse deal, especially when he was left in flames...literally.
~Solaris~
Oh
and an additional note, thanks for the reviewers of the previous chapter. We're
really sorry we couldn't add humor to this chapter. But you can only read so
many death fics...So, anyone willing to write a short, fluffy RanKen to lift my
mood? *grins* I promise for Nagi and Omi fans
as well as RanKen fans that Aki and I will get all the good stuff in next
chapter.
- Wai
