If only a smile
Chapter 7 - Nocturne

Warning: Shounen ai, AU, OOC, original character (NOT based on anyone), slight fluff (finally! RanKen!!) and...err...a slightly sane Farf?
Genre: Angst, Action (sort of), Drama and Romance
Pairing: RanKen, YoujiSchu, OmiNagi

Note: A mistake in the last chapter that we shouldn't have missed. Wai's fault this time. Original line: Duty comes before anything. In last chapter: Duty comes before work. Yup...nice one Wai. (Wai: Ehehe...oops!)

As always, thank you for the reviews. Hopefully this chapter will be to your liking. The killer is finally revealed.

Disclaimer: We don't own these boys. *sigh*

The sun goes down
I feel the light betray me

- "Papercut", Linkin Park

He couldn't sleep. Ok, so he really wasn't suppose to be asleep anyway, considering his teammates were downstairs, worrying over a member of a rival team. How the hell did everything turn so complicated in a span of days? A week ago, he wouldn't have known that Ken was one of Schwarz. And Weiss and Schwarz went on their merry, separate ways, not into the tangled mess they were in now.

Tossing and turning in his bed, unable to find peace even in his nightmares. Frustrated, he sat up. There was no way he could sleep. He rubbed his hand over his face and let the hand rest on his forehead. Why couldn't he sleep?

He was agitated. He tried to decipher every emotion swirling in his head. Guilt, for how he treated the brunette. Anger, for the captor, the person would pay. Those were the ones he understood. But the others...Pain, sadness and...something else. Pain and sadness because of the absence of someone from his side. He knew why the brunette had stepped out and caused him to be captured.

But the last one. He feared this one. He didn't have a full understanding of it, lacking it throughout his life. Was this his punishment for his actions? Was this the Gods attempt to punish him for everything he's done? By falling in love?

Youji and Schuldich were downstairs still, the telepath insisted on trying to connect to Ken as Omi had done. Schuldich might be able to get something more information out of Ken. But suddenly, Ran could hear voices. Voices that didn't belong to any Weiss members, yet he recognized.

Schwarz. And then he heard two female voices and his eyes widened. Manx and Birman. He leapt out of his bed and proceeded to stalk out of the room, maybe they found something. Maybe they found out where Ken was held.

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Manx wasn't happy and that could be seen clearly from the deep frown on her face. She was pissed. Birman didn't look any better, she was listening intently on whatever status report Youji was giving her. Ran chose that moment to walk into the room, face impassive as ever.

"Great timing, Ran." Commented Youji, motioning to the group. Apparently everyone had gathered there and he was the last to arrive. He sent a glare at Youji before he leaned against the wall to listen.

"Schwarz has found where the killer is holding Ken." Birman explained. "They're going to need the help of Weiss for this."

"Where is it?" Nagi asked.

"The last place we thought of and the first place we should have looked." Omi said quietly, eyes looking at the ground. In fact, Schwarz seemed unusually quiet. Although lacking Ken, who usually spoke for the group along with Omi, Crawford never usually stay silent for too long. He always have a comment of some sort, the same goes for Farfarello, who usually has something unusual to share.

"What's going on?" Schuldich asked suspiciously, he wasn't buying their silence. There must be something behind it. And from what his senses were telling him, he wasn't going to like it.

"Schwarz has reasons to believe that Siberian is being held in Rozenkreuz."

"What?"

"But the Kritiker files state that Rozenkreuz was burnt down over a decade ago!" Exclaimed Youji.

"The orphanage was. But not the labs, they were underground, so the fire didn't touch them." Crawford said grimly.

"So we have to go there then, to rescue Ken-kun." Nagi said carefully.

"As much as we'd hate to, but yes." Omi said, nodding his head.

"Hate to?"

"Rozenkreuz brings back bad memories, Schuldich-san. What Kritiker has on their files are not entirely true." Omi said quietly, avoiding Manx and Birman's eyes. The two secretaries looked at him with suspicion.

"What are you saying, Bombay?" Demanded Manx. This was definitely not helping her mood. If they thought she's in PMS mode for most of the day, now they would think that she's on PMS 24/7.

"The fire wasn't caused by Crashers. They didn't even rescue us from the fire."

"What?" Whispered Manx.

"By the time Crashers arrived at Rozenkreuz, Manx-san, all they saw were three people standing at the side watching a burning pyre. Crawford-san, Ken-kun and I got out from the burning building all by ourselves. Although Ken-kun did need some help." Omi stopped, closing his eyes. The horrific images was playing in his head again. The way Ken looked, half-eaten by the flames. His face was untouched, but his arms and legs...

"Crashers took us to Kritiker, getting us the medical help that we needed. The medical help Hidaka desperately needed, considering his condition at the time." Crawford continued the story, knowing Omi couldn't possibly continue. "We made a deal with Crashers, they would get the glory of saving us and burning down Rozenkreuz and we wouldn't tell anyone of their dirty little secret."

"What was that?"

"That, is none of your business." Crawford said coldly, ignoring the death glare Manx currently had.

"Who caused the fire?"

"Someone Ken knew." Omi spoke up. "The only person Ken trusted, apart from me. He left Ken there to die, his own best friend. He-" Omi couldn't continue, his battle of suppressing his tears ended. He lost to the tears. But he continued, ignoring the tears falling from blue eyes. "He betrayed Ken. The only thing that can break Hidaka Ken is betrayal and Rozenkreuz. And currently, he's going through both. I can't let him break again! I won't!"

"Who was it, Crawford?" Birman asked.

"Kouchirou Kase."

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The plan was finally set, they were leaving that very moment. The drive would be long, so Birman and Manx offered their services as drivers this time. Usually it would be out of the question for them to take part in any mission by the two teams, but this was a special case.

On the first day they met, Schwarz and Weiss would have gone in separate cars, but no one even cared by this time. Omi and Nagi sat on the backseat in the car Manx was driving. Youji sat on the front seat, not flirting with the redhead secretary as usual, instead he was discussing the plan. Farfarello sat at the very back, where there was enough room for him to turn this way and that. But the Irishman was sitting quietly, not even moving.

Birman wasn't quite as lucky. She had Schuldich sitting next to her and Ran and Crawford sitting behind. The two leaders were visibly glaring at one another. Crawford sending a glare of blame to Ran and Ran sending a death glare back. Schuldich watched the exchange from the rearview mirror with slight amusement.

The plan would commence at exactly 2000 hours. Hopefully everything would go as planned. But then again, there was the fact that they don't know anything about the killer, so it's regarded as the unknown factor. No, anything could happen. All they could do is hope--maybe pray--that everyone would get out of this alive.

By the time they arrived at the agreed 'rendezvous' point, the sun was setting. The place was a mere two minutes walk to the gates of Rozenkreuz. They got out of the cars, nodding to Manx and Birman both and the joint team started for the gates.

The gates were just like how Omi remembered them. A large metallic gate that seem to create as an eerie air, it looked like the gate of a haunted house of some sort. Though he noted that the gate didn't look as shiny and as intimidating as before. Probably because it was rusted by the lack of maintenance by this time. Omi pulled the gate, thankful that it didn't creak loudly.

The gate opened to reveal a small pathway. On either side of the path were tall shrubs. Despite having no one to look after them for a whole decade, the vegetation still grew. It was almost unreal for Omi. Crawford was walking in front along with Ran. Omi was thankful that Crawford was there to lead them, because there was no way he could.

The path ended to reveal a large open space. The shrubs ended where the path ended. Stepping into the big field, they were glad for the cover of the night. The path was long and winding, so by the time they finally reached the big open space where the orphanage building was located, it was already dark and they had the cover of the shadows.

Omi stared silently at the rubble of the building. He felt a shiver running through his spine. He could still hear the cackling flame and see the fire that engulfed the whole building. He could see the dancing flames like they were in front of his eyes. A hand dropped to his shoulder and he jerked suddenly, startled. The hand remained on his shoulder and he looked at the owner. Farfarello didn't look at him, instead his one eye looked at the rubble as Omi had earlier.

Crawford motioned them to follow him. He had obtained a blue print of the lab, how on earth he got it, no one knew. He lead them to one end of the rubble. He looked at Nagi, the only telekinetic around. "Can you lift those?" He asked, pointing at remains of bricks and chunks of what used to be walls. Nagi wanted to roll his eyes, but decided against it. Crawford didn't know what he was capable of doing. Crawford knew Ken would be able to do it, but he had no experience with Nagi's telekinetic powers.

Easily, the spot was cleared with efficiency and soundlessly. Crawford walked closer to the cleared space and dusted off one part. They could make out the outline of a handle in the darkness. He yanked it open to reveal a whole and a ladder leading down.

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When they reached the bottom, they could see light at one of the ends. They all saw that it was a long corridor, with other corridors to the left and right of this main one. Without a word, they went on their separate ways. There were fifteen sub-corridors in total and they had divided themselves into special tasks. Schuldich, Youji, Farfarello and Crawford had the job of taking care of the killer. Omi, Nagi and Ran were to look for Ken. Schu and Youji went into one corridor together, Farfarello another and Brad into another. Omi and Nagi went on their separate ways, exchanging a smile between each other before they entered their own chosen corridor. Omi looked back to see Ran walking to one corridor in particular, the longest one there.

It had come as a surprise to Omi when Ran volunteered to look for Ken, instead of taking out the killer. He had heard from Nagi that the redhead usually had the job of finishing off the target. But not this time, he seemed more concerned in finding Ken. Youji had made a small joke that he hoped Ran wasn't planning on taking Ken out instead of the killer. The joke earned him two death glares (Ran and Crawford), three disapproving looks (Manx, Birman and Schuldich), one dirty look (Nagi), one disgusted look (Omi) and one death threat (Farfarello). That made the playboy quiet for a significant amount of time.

But from what Omi sensed--later he learned Schu sensed it too--Ran's intentions were genuine. He had no wish for Ken to be harmed. By prodding further, due to his shield being down at the time, Omi even found it Ran worried more about Ken than the others did. And Omi also found out the reason as to why Ran wanted to find Ken.

He was going to apologize. It seemed that Ran finally resolved his inner conflict and reached a decision. There was no holding back now. He had admitted his feelings for Ken to himself and he would tell the brunette the first chance he got. Omi hid a smile when he heard this thought. He hoped Ken would be alright, because this was everything the brunette dreamed about.

'Be alright, Ken-kun.' He thought. 'You're going to get what you've always dreamed of...someone to live for.'

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The eyes watched gleefully. They've finally arrived! Fun could finally begin! Such joyous times! The eyes followed Omi's unsuspecting form. A smile, the telepath's mind was too focused on finding his friend. He didn't seem to realize he was being followed. But the eyes always followed in the shadows, always in the shadows. Shifting and shifting until no longer seen. And with on flick of the wrist, the young telepath was taken out. Omi crumpled to the floor, never getting the chance of even a glimpse of his attacker.

One down, six to go.

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Nagi felt a prickle of fear seizing him suddenly, he whirled around to see a deserted corridor. He sighed softly. He could have sworn he felt something. The thought nagged him. It was as if something had happened to Omi. But it couldn't be, surely they would have heard some sort of struggle or Omi would have contacted any one of them telepathically if he were in trouble.

Nagi continued his search.

But what if Omi never got the chance to even call out? What if he was taken out from behind? The thought chilled him and he turned around slowly. Should he go back? He faltered for a moment, not knowing what to do. He had a mission, to find Ken. Omi would have to come later. He felt his stomach sink at the thought.

Will this how it would be later? Omi comes second, after his mission? Even though he could hardly think of Ken as a mission, rather as a friend, an older brother even, he couldn't help but ask himself that question. His thoughts continued and he couldn't feel the presence of someone else in the corridor.

'Hasn't anyone told you that you should always stay focus in a mission?' A taunting voice asked. Nagi's eyes widened, but too late.

Two down, five to go.

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The eyes smiled just as the two body fell to the ground with a thud. It had been so easy to get them, despite their skills. The telepath didn't even sense the presence! As for the other, it had been expected. Not even as much as a suspicious thought. At least the telepath thought something was wrong. There goes his reputation as a telepath! The eyes were pleased, very pleased at the turn of events.

Taking a turn, heading for the two Schwarz members. Four down, three to go.

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A block for each. It was so amusing to see the American's eyes widen. The leader of Schwarz is usually such a stick-up-the-ass that he would never even consider let others see unnecessary emotions, but to be able to get a reaction from him? What an honor!

And of course, the psycho. Too bad he didn't even react. He didn't seem to care when the needle pierce his skin, even. Just emitting a low growl. What a bore. Ah. There goes that.

Six down, one Weiss leader to go.

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He paused in front of one door in particular. It didn't look any different than the other doors, but for some reason, there was something that drew him to that door. He took out the lock pick that Youji had given him earlier out of the pocket of his trench coat.

The door opened with a click and he pushed it open slowly, wary of a sudden attack. But it didn't come, so he stepped into the room. It was a small room, with what would have been white walls, except the color had began to fade. There was a lamp on the ceiling, but it appeared to be broken. There was a bed on one side of the room and his eyes widened as he saw the lump on the bed.

He took long strides to get to the side of the bed and violet eyes shone with relief as he recognized Ken's form. Ken's sleeping form, as he could see the fall and rise of the brunette's chest. But it was also then that he noticed the wounds on Ken's arms and legs. They looked fresh.

Carefully avoiding the wounds on the arm, he shook the brunette slightly in attempt to get him to wake up. Ken didn't stir, so he shook him harder. It was then that the brunette sat up suddenly, leaping away from his touch to hug closer to the wall. Jade orbs were filled with fear and the beginning of tears as he looked fearfully at the person he thought to be his captor.

"Ken?" He didn't bother using Ken's codename or his surname. To hell with formality. He had to come to terms with his feelings and he had to do that starting from that moment. What Ken needed wasn't history to repeat itself, he needed closure, security and most of all, love. And he was more than willing to give all three.

Jade eyes softened slightly and he felt a flicker of happiness as he realized Ken recognized his voice. Mouth parted slightly, face scrunched up in confusion. "Ran?" Ken whispered faintly, hesitantly.

"Yes, it's me." He replied, reaching out for Ken once more. It was all Ken needed, before he practically leapt into the redhead's hold. His body was shaking as tears of relief fell from his eyes. Thoughts were nagging his mind, taunting him that the redhead had hurt him, betrayed him. But he didn't care, all he felt was the warmth of the hold and the way the leader of Weiss held him protectively.

"Lets get you out of here first." Ran said, frowning. "Can you walk?" Ken faltered for a moment. He had lost a significant amount of blood due to his captor's fetish for blood and it had weakened him.

"I don't know." Ken replied, forcing himself to his feet. He wavered slightly and Ran caught his arm to steady him. There was no way they could get out of there in time if he allowed Ken to walk. He made up his mind, he would carry Ken and let him walk the rest of the way, if Ken felt up to it. Without as much as a warning, he gathered Ken into his arms and walked out the door. Ken's eyes widened and he saw Ken blush at the motion. He had to grin at that.

"Um, Ran...I-I can walk." The brunette stammered. But he was too weak to walk and Ran had to admit, he rather like the feeling of holding Ken in his arms. After realizing there was no way Ran was going to let him walk on his own, Ken sighed and leaned his head against the redhead's chest. Listening the the rhythmic heartbeat of this one cold leader of Weiss, Ken was slowly lulled to sleep.

But he jerked suddenly. "What is it?" Ran asked, frowning. They've nearly reached the exit. He would contact the others outside, through his communicator to tell them he had Ken and leave the termination of the killer up to them.

"The others." Ken whispered with fear. He didn't know how he knew it, but there was that cold feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever Omi, Crawford or Farf gets into trouble. And this time, it was bad. He could feel panic seizing his system.

"They're looking for the killer, Ken. They-"

"We can't go!" Hissed Ken. "The killer! They're captured!"

"What? How do you know?"

"I...Ran, please!" There was definitely no use arguing with Ken now. Especially because he had used the pleading look on Ran. The redhead never saw it before, so he was taken back slightly. In fact, he was surprised Ken gave in easily, despite what he put Ken through. There was a pang in his chest as he realized Ken trusted him, despite 'the betrayal' as Omi had called it.

"Alright." He gave in. "Where are they?" Ken lifted a shaky hand and pointed to a door at the end of one corridor. Ran frowned, from what he remembered from the print Crawford had of the lab, it was the main test room.

"Put me down." It wasn't a plea, yet not strong enough to be called an order. Ran put Ken down, but kept an arm around Ken's waist to steady him. "Ran?" A timid voice asked as they walked towards the end of the corridor.

"Yes?"

"Why?"

"Huh? What?"

"Why do you care? Why did you come?" Ken asked. For once, Ken didn't let his bangs cover his eyes, letting the redhead see his eyes clearly and Ran saw the many emotions the soccer player had. He saw endless pain, sadness, a flicker of happiness and hope, despite the lack of light. Ran stopped, mid-step.

"I-I'm sorry, for the way I acted." Ran began, causing Ken's eyes to widen. "I know a lot of emotions, but...what I felt for you...I didn't know what it was. I was...scared I guess." He admitted. "I shouldn't have told you that." He whispered, reaching out to brush away brown locks.

"Told me what?" Ken whispered back.

"I shouldn't have told you it was a mistake and that you should forget it." Jade eyes widened and then softened, before shining brightly. The brunette leaned against his chest, hugging him tightly. Ran was taken back slightly, before a smile replaced the frown he had moments before and he held the brunette tightly. "Forgive me?"

"I forgive you." Ken whispered back, looking up at him with an electric grin. "Besides, it's all I can do after one of my kids kicked a ball at you and knocked you out." Ken said with a snicker. Ran threw him a glare, but it was hardly intimidating, as he was smiling.

"Thank God Schu never found out about that." Muttered Ran. At the mention of the other Weiss member, Ken looked at the door ahead of them. They looked at each other and shared a smile. They would finish this together and started walking towards the door again.

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The door wasn't like the other doors, rusty and unused. Surprisingly, it looked and smelled of paint. Ran frowned but he opened the door. They were greeted by darkness, unlike the other rooms, this one had no light. At least the other rooms had lit corridors so the light could stream in. This corridor had no light. The room was the heart of darkness.

They both stepped in, but the instant they stepped away from the door, all alarm in Ken's head rang. His eyes widened and both he and Ran heard the door close behind them. Ken cursed silently and he felt Ran's hold on him tighten. 'Stay close', it said.

But it was futile, as Ken felt a force wrench them apart. He was thrown across the room, hitting the wall with a hard thud. He clenched his teeth, squeezing his eyes in response to the pain that shot in his body. Light blared and he felt himself pinned against the wall by some unseeing force. Eyes still trying to adjust against the glare of light, he could only make out shadows between the piercing light.

Jade eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock at the sight that greeted him. The rest of the Weiss and Schwarz members were pinned against the wall like he was. He looked to his left to see an unconscious Omi and further down he saw Crawford and Farfarello, both unconscious. At the other side of the room, the Weiss members were in similar positions and he saw Ran staring back at him with sharp eyes. He knew what Ran's gaze meant. The killer was nearby.

The sound of steps echoed in the room. Ken and nearly everyone else gaped at the person in front of them, smiling innocently back at Ken. Of all the people in the world, Ken never thought. Not once did his senses tell him, not once did he even considered...

His eyes widened in fear at what he saw next. Aoi Naoko took out a bloodied knife out of its sheath.

To be continued

Ryoko: Finally, the killer's identity is revealed! Did anyone guess it right?

Wai: That's why we needed her. Nope, we didn't want her to be some sort of girl-to-rescue heroine. The main point of Naoko being there was to be our twisted little evil person!

Aki: Twisted little evil person?

Ryoko: This story's antagonist in other words. (^_^);

Wai: Same thing. And to think that I nearly named her after you, Ryo-nee-san!

Aki: But then the readers would think that this story is a self-insert.

Ryoko: The idea! You would lower me to the level of a madwoman?

Wai and Aki: *innocent smiles*

Chapter 8 - Requiem
(No summary provided - It'll spoil the surprise!!)

This chapter was inspired by a lot of artists, though the 'theme' has to be "Nocturne of Shadows". If any of you play Ocarina of Time you would know it.

You know, a review would be nice. Considering what we have planned for next chapter...