If only a smile
Chapter
6 - Breaking Point
Genre: Angst, Drama, and eventual Romance.
Warning: AU, angst-aplenty, mild Ken and Omi torture, OOC
and...err...blood?
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Ran+Ken, YoujixSchu, Nagi+Omi
Disclaimer: We definitely don't own any of these bishounen. *collective sigh*
Note: Another short chapter. But this one isn't as short as the previous one. Many, many thanks for the reviews so far. We've been working hard on this one. Mostly because we're trying to avoid the little fix we got ourselves into with our other ongoing fic, "Strength". With this one, however, we're able to get into some serious mental torture! *insert cruel, villain laughter here*
OK, we might as well as start this fic before anyone starts killing us, ne?
He felt a strange tug at his chest, but the redhead pushed it away. There was no time to think about petty emotions. He was pissed off and having Schwarz running around and making his team run their errands was making him boil over.
But of course, he had to keep his opinions to himself. None of his teammates were willing to listen to him at the moment. Youji seem to like Ken, apparently they had an interesting conversation while it was the playboy's turn to watch the brunette. Schu's interest for the brunette was blatantly obvious that he knew the German would just tell him to 'fuck off' or 'cool the hell down'. And Nagi...usually the calm and quiet telekinetic would be on his side...but apparently, the Schwarz brat had twisted his mind.
Everyone was against him.
They were looking for the missing member of Schwarz. Since it was obvious to everyone why the brunette took off the first time, they figured the same reason applies for this time too. Trouble was, Ken wasn't anywhere. He wasn't at the park, at the coffee shop, back in the Schwarz home...
He simply disappeared.
He had to admit silently to himself that he was getting worried. Despite his harsh words before, he did have feelings for the brunette. But of course, duty had always come before work. He would never let himself fall for the enemy...although Ken wasn't the enemy. He's from rival camp!
'But you're not rivals anymore.' A quiet voice said in his head. It wasn't Schuldich's or Tsukiyono, because he'd know straight away if it were one of the two telepaths. So, whose was it?
'Santa Claus.' He blinked. 'DUH! Your conscience, genius!'
Great, he had a sarcastic conscience. Now what else could go wrong? It seemed that his question was answered as the door of the Koneko flew open. Youji, Schuldich and Omi all walked in. The last looking flustered.
"Calm down, Omi." Crawford had walked in with Farfarello on tow. For once, the Irishman actually looked concerned. Probably the nearest he ever came to sanity.
"No! I can't calm down!" The blonde shouted. "I can't feel his presence, Brad!" Omi didn't even realize he had just called Crawford by the dreaded first name. However, Crawford didn't so much as twitched when Omi said it. He had other things to worry about.
'I should have known he would break. I should have seen it. And prevented it.' Crawford thought quietly.
"So it only means two things." Schuldich said, frowning. "He's unconscious or..."
"Dead." Finished Youji.
"That is not a possibility." Crawford said coldly. Surprisingly, Farf had an amused smile on his face.
"The kitty cat can take care of himself. After all, all tigers were kittens once."
"Saa, we need to find him first." Muttered Omi.
"Try it again, Omi." Omi nodded at Crawford's...request.
Hundreds of whispered voices flew past his head, searching and searching for the one. The one he was looking for. Almost in desperation, he cried out his friend's name. Anything to awaken the brunette, though it would be impossible if he really was unconscious...or worse.
'Omi?' A small, weak question that sounded too far for comfort.
'Ken-kun!' He exclaimed in joy. 'Are you all right? Where are you?' A moan and then silence.
'I don't know.' The brunette replied, sounding incredulous.
What happened Ken-kun?' He asked.
'I don't remember...I...' His voice trailed off. But suddenly his voice came back, laced with panic. 'The shadow!'
'Nani?'
'He's got me Omi! I wasn't paying attention and I-'
'Ken-kun, hold on! Calm down! Who's got you?'
'The killer.' Omi's blood ran cold. If anything, that was the last thing he thought could happen. Apparently, they underestimated the killer. Anyone who was able to capture Ken Hidaka single-handedly had to be very powerful indeed, never mind the fact that they knew the killer had telepathic abilities. Ken was trained against telepaths.
'Where are you Ken-kun? Can you describe the place?'
'It's...like an ordinary room, I can't say much about it. It looks old though, the walls, the paint...it's supposed to be white but it's peeling off. There's a bed, no window. I can't see anything because this place has no hole anywhere. I've tried the door but it wouldn't budge. And...for some reason, this place looks familiar.' He paused and Omi could sense fear. Alarms rang in the blonde's head. Now there were only three things he feared in the world.
One was Rozenkreuz, two is Brad on PMS (which would never happen and he was grateful for that), but that was impossible so he's pretty much safe and the third...the day he would sense fear from Ken. Ken feared nothing. He would be wary of some things and feel threatened about others but he never feared anything. But what he was picking up from brunette was fear in its most raw form. Absolute terror.
'Omi, I think that I'm in-' He was cut off. Omi's eyes widened, trying desperately to hold on to the link. But he couldn't sense the brunette's presence. It was either that his captor had returned or that he simply passed out.
When the blonde's eyes opened, he was looking straight at concerned blue eyes. Nagi's. Crawford was frowning deeply, obviously waiting for the status, trying to ignore Nagi hovering over Omi. Schuldich was in one corner, apparently on his own search. Youji seated next to him, but his eyes were on Omi at the moment. Nagi looked worriedly at him and Omi could read the emotions in the depths of his eyes.
Worry, anxiety...fear. Omi knew Nagi had already regarded Ken as an older brother of some sort, despite the fact that he'd only known Ken for a scant 3 to 4 days. But then again, Omi managed to 'hook up' with the Weiss telekinetic in just a record of what, three days? Four days?
But what caught him by surprise was the emotions unconsciously shown in violet eyes. The same worry and fear he saw in the others. But there was something else there, something in the depths of cold eyes. Past the cold front, he saw it. Love.
"Omi?" That brought everything crashing back down to reality. The fear factor had seized him once more.
"Crawford-san," Omi began, seeing the American tense immediately. "I fear that I have terrible news."
"State it now." A command, but Omi couldn't help but notice the flicker of fear.
"Ken's been captured."
"Nande kuso?" Shouted Youji, jumping to his feet. By doing this, he knocked Schu over and sent the German sprawling on the ground. One eye cracked open and eyes glared accusingly at Youji.
"What was that for?" Demanded the German.
"That's not everything." Omi said quietly. "His captor is our killer."
"Holy shit." A blunt, to-the-point reaction from Youji yet again, as he helped Schuldich to his feet.
"Are you absolutely certain, Omi?" Crawford asked.
"Ken said so. And I asked him to describe where he was, but..."
"But what?" Nagi pressed.
"He lost consciousness."
"Is he..." There was no reason to continue the question; they knew what he was going to ask.
"I don't know." Omi replied quietly.
"So beautiful." The soft whisper was as soft as a breeze, as eyes gazed longingly to the unconscious form of Hidaka Ken. It really was a shame that he had to be treated like this. But if he was up and about, there surely would be trouble abound.
Besides, the arrival of the rest of the crew was long awaited. Especially for this anniversary. The long-awaited day. Finally, it would be time to release old secrets. Secrets kept for so long, too long. Forget that for now. Playtime will come.
A hand reached out to brush away brown locks away from closed eyes. Lingering for a moment on the brunette's cheek. A soft sigh escaping lips as eyes looked down on the brunette. Soon...
"So what do we know so far?" Asked Crawford. The Schwarz members were back in their shared home, it was way past midnight but none of them wanted to go to sleep.
"He was captured some time at noon, maybe later. He said the place looked like an ordinary room and he mentioned that he knew where he was before he lost consciousness." Omi said, reviewing the clues they had. He sighed. "It doesn't tell us anything. He could be anywhere in Tokyo, no Japan, by this time."
Crawford shook his head slowly; Omi could almost see wheels turning in the American's head. He had something, a clue they missed. Omi waited patiently for the leader to say something, but it seemed as if Crawford didn't know how to put it together just yet.
"Rozenkreuz." Farfarello suddenly said, startling Omi slightly. He nearly forgot the other member of Schwarz. But then again, the Irishman always seems to make his presence known whenever someone forgets about him.
"What? What do you mean Farfie?"
"What would cause Siberian to walk away with his tails between his legs?" Omi frowned; he hated it when the Irishman spoke in puzzles. Crawford looked up slowly.
"That's it." He said calmly.
"What's it?"
"Where Ken is!"
"Huh? Darn it! Crawford, speak in Japanese!"
"Omi, you sensed that Ken was scared, am I correct?" A nod. "And he mentioned that he seem to find his surroundings familiar, correct?" Another nod. "Now I ask you this, what is the place that Ken fears the most? The place that causes him to have nightmares every night?"
It was then that Omi realized what Farfarello had already guessed. Rozenkreuz.
"But the place burnt down years ago!" He exclaimed.
"Not everything Omi." Crawford said darkly. "The orphanage might have, but I'm sure that the labs are still pretty much intact. The blaze took out the ground level but not the underground levels."
"It still exists? Rozenkreuz still exists?" Omi's shrill voice rose. "But we saw it burn down! We saw it!" But whatever he had to say didn't matter. Rozenkreuz lives.
~Flashback~
He felt his eyes sting with tears, biting his lips. He didn't want to cry. If he cried, they would only punish him. He saw it done to the other kids who started crying. He saw it.
The man left, the syringe and needle in his hand. Blue eyes looked down at his arm, the small trickle of blood that came when the needle pressed against his skin. He got up slowly, but as soon as he got to his feet, a wave of nausea hit him. Every time, every single time they gave him the dose he would feel sick. He held back a whimper as he carefully made his way out of the room.
Jade eyes filled with concern greeted him on the end of the long hallway, heading towards the dormitories.
"Daijoubu ka?" The brunette asked carefully. He was a year older and had been in the place longer than Omi did himself. Two years in this cursed place.
"Daijoubu." But despite his answer, the brunette grabbed his arm and led him carefully to his room. An overprotective brother that was what he was. Omi hid a small smile. He welcomed the warmth of his covers as the brunette helped him on the bed and waited until he snuggled into the covers.
"You want me to stay with you?" Omi hesitated for a moment. In truth, he did. But did he say it? Of course not.
"Iie. I'm fine, Ken-kun." He replied with a smile. The brunette looked at him with jade orbs, scrutinizing jade orbs. And without another word, he drew up a chair and sat down by Omi's bedside. Blue eyes blinked. "Nani? I said I'm fine!"
"Sure you are." Ken said flatly as he picked up an old magazine from the floor and began to read. Sometimes, Omi wondered who was the real telepath around. Ken had the ability to know what anyone is thinking with just one look. And he wasn't even a telepath!
He woke up to the sound of whispers. Instead of opening his eyes, however, he chose to listen. He recognized Ken's voice straight away. The other voice he couldn't recognize. Not straight away anyway. But then he knew who it was.
Kase.
"They're going to run tests again." He could hear Kase whispering.
"I know. I'm the first on the list." Ken said quietly. Always Ken. Why couldn't they pick on other kids? But selfless as Ken is, he simply refused to let his fate be handed to someone else. Not an innocent, he always said.
"Do you really think this would be the last one?" A pause. "Really? I thought it was."
"Two more and then they're finished with us."
"I wonder what they'll be doing next."
"I don't." Ken said flatly.
"Come on, Ken! Aren't you at least curious?"
"I don't care. I don't want them to prod anymore. I'm sick of the tests, the injections and the chambers." Ken said, a waver in his voice.
"You're such a chicken." Omi could picture the sneer on Kase's face. Damn him.
"Call me whatever you want." Ken said quietly. "I only want to be normal again."
He was running as fast as he could, but he had no idea where he was going. He needed to find Ken! The smoke was thickening and he was coughing. He couldn't leave there, not without Ken! He promised! Eyes darted around the place, trying to figure out where he was. But the place was unrecognizable with the smoke and the flicker of flames.
Suddenly, he heard a shout. A man with dark hair pushed through the flames. Omi recognized him then. He had seen the older man, the foreigner, somewhere before. The lab. They took him in too, but Omi had been there once and never saw him again. But he still remembered the name of the man.
"Crawford-san?" He asked carefully. Cool eyes regarded the young boy for a moment.
"We need to find your friend." He stated, causing Omi to blink. How did he know? "I'm a precog."
Ah, that would explain it.
"Do you know where he is?" Omi asked anxiously, walking alongside the man. Crawford nodded.
"We have to hurry though." He said, voice barely a whisper as his quickened his pace. Finally, they reached the end of the hallway, the smoke thicker here. Omi was barely able to breathe, coughing every two seconds. But Crawford didn't seem to be affected by the smoke.
He pushed open the door and Omi took a step back at the fire that seems to reach out for them. From the flames, however, he could make out a form. His eyes widened, seeing the flames that danced around the figure.
"KEN-KUN!"
~End Flashback~
He felt a sharp pain on his right arm, causing eyes to flutter open. He felt the wetness of the blood before his mind even registered what it was that was dripping down his arm. Eyes widened, realizing that he was shackled to the wall. His eyes took in his surroundings.
He was back.
Fear paralyzed him, he was afraid to move, breathe or even think. It was all overwhelming. There was no way. He couldn't be back! He thought he buried this part of his past when he buried his old identity. He became a part of Schwarz in hope that no one would dig into his dark past and bring back old memories. Memories he didn't want to remember.
Tumbling, tumbling further down. Down into the past. Down into the web of lies. Moving towards...
Breaking point.
OK, that's done. Hopefully no one was too bothered with the length of the last chapter. Call that one a teaser or an interlude. Ah well, it was Aki's idea anyway. Adds in to the dramatic effect.
We'd like to stop for a moment to answer two questions from last chapter's reviews:
Kyra - Hehehe! You'll have to wait and see!
casey - Whoa! Breathe! Calm enough now? Well....We're not telling. *evil smirk*
The Schwarz members returns to the place where it all started. Along with Weiss they have on clear mission. Rescue Ken. But with haunting memories and old fears resurfacing, can Schwarz live through this? The killer is revealed, with disturbing consequences.
Next time, Chapter 7 - Nocturne
