Dream of Crimson – Part X

By Vikki

Disclaimer:  I don't own the Weiss boys, but Kenji and Bethany are mine.  ^^x  By the time you finish reading this chapter, you'll probably agree that it's a good thing I don't own WK!

Flame Policy:  Ken will kill you, then Kenji will bring you to life, and Ken will kill you again.  If you flame me again, we can repeat the process.  ::big grin::

*   *   *

                At Bethany's business building I was sorely tempted to take in the shotgun, but at the last minute reason overcame my anger and I decided that my .44 would kill Bethany just as thoroughly.  I stormed in the front door and across the lobby.  The secretary stood up as I passed.  "Hidaka-san?  Is that you?  Gramm-san is waiting for you—"

                "I know," I snapped, not even stopping.  "Let her know I'm here."

It was a good thing that an elevator door was open, because I might otherwise have torn something down.  I punched the button to the eighty-first floor and waited impatiently as the numbers at the top of the door lit in order – too slowly.  I growled under my breath.

After several eternities, the elevator doors finally opened.  I stamped down the hall and into the lobby of Bel'uah's office.

Again the secretary didn't look up at me, but the bodyguard in front of Bethany's door didn't move, crossing his arms when I glared at him.  "Ms. Gramm is on the phone," he said.  "I can't let you in yet."

I saw red.  She wasn't going to get away so easily! I crossed the distance to the guard in an instant, grabbed his shirt, and dragged him down to my eye level.  He stared at me (I must have looked too puny to pull a strong guy like him down) and I glared back.  "Try and stop me!" I snarled.  Supernatural strength coursed in my arms and I threw the huge man aside with ease.  He lay there, spluttering, as I tore open the doors of Bethany's office and stalked inside.  I was only vaguely aware of the secretary's cry of dismay as she made a frantic phone call.

Bethany was indeed on the phone, sitting in her big leather chair and chatting amiably.  She looked up at me with a relaxed smile.  "Excuse me, I must go," she said to the person on the phone, at which point she hung up.  "Hidaka-san how nice to—"

I pulled out my gun and pointed it at her nose.  "Die."

Immediately Bethany's eyes narrowed.  "I would not do that if I were you," she said coldly, "unless you don't care about Kudou-san and Tsukiyono-san.  Aya is under orders to kill them if anything happens to me."

I gave her a manic grin, my mouth twitching.  Something frightening was welling up inside me.  "Oh?  Oh?  How will he know?  I'll kill you and take Youji and Omi away before he even knows you're dead.  I'll do it.  Maybe I'll kill him too."

Bethany closed her eyes and smiled slightly.  "He'll know the moment I'm dead.  Besides, I wouldn't let myself be killed so easily," she added, opening her eyes and looking at the gun in her face.

I began to tremble – whether from anger or fear I didn't know.  I had the urge to cry, which didn't make much sense.  You're losing it, Hidaka! I thought.  It was almost enough to make me giggle hysterically.

She was still speaking.  "Put the gun down now, Hidaka-san."

Slowly, forcibly, I replaced the gun in my pocket, but didn't let go.  Think of Omi!  Think of Youji!  Kill her later.  Keep Youji and Omi alive.  I swallowed convulsively and pried my fingers from the sweaty grip.

"Good boy," Bethany said in a condescending tone.  I bit back an angry retort and blinked back the tears stinging my eyes.  Damned if I would show Bel'uah any weakness!  "Please, relax, sit down."

I took a deep breath and clenched my fists at my sides.  The hysteria was passing and anger's cold grip was taking me again.  I have to be reasonable!  I have to be smart!  What would Youji do? Or Omi?  "No, thank you," I grit out.  "Would you kindly tell me why the hell you wanted to see me?"

Bethany smiled coldly.  "How like you, cutting straight to the point," she said with a laugh.

Bitch!  Gods, don't say that out loud!  Think like Youji!  "Excuse me for worrying about my friends.  Besides, I wouldn't want to bleed on your nice chairs," I added at the last minute.  I promptly berated myself.  Not too much like Youji!

"How considerate," Bethany said dryly.  Suddenly her eyes focused over my shoulder and she spoke in English.  When she looked back to me, she explained, "I was telling the secretary to call off security.  Next time, don't toss my bodyguard four meters through the air."  She gave me a bemused smile.  "Are you enjoying your newfound skills as a Hunter?  I understand you did quite well cleaning up the coven – only a werewolf remains, I'm told."

It took me several moments to click through those facts, I was so angry.  Miki is dead.  Omi and Youji must have killed her.  I drew a calming breath and let it out.  "I'll ask you one more time.  Why did you want to see me?"

"You are not in the position to issue ultimatums," Bel'uah told me.  She smirked slightly.  "You're so easily ruffled.  I can see why Ryuuki-san harassed you that night."

I blinked.  "How the hell did you—"

"Know?  I know many things about you – perhaps more than you yourself know.  And despite how cliché that may sound to you, it's quite likely the truth."  A short pause followed that statement as I worried about how truthful it was (and tried very hard not to jump across the desk and rip her nice, white throat out of her neck) and Bethany fiddled with her blouse.  Finally she continued.  "Very well, I'll cut right to the point.  You know about Kaori Yamamoto – don't try and hide it, I know all about you and that boy Necromancer.  She is an inconvenience to my brethren and me.  I have decided that I want you, Hidaka-san, to kill her."

Click.  Like a key in a lock, two pieces of my imaginary puzzle fit together.  Bethany, who wanted Kaori Yamamoto dead, wanted me to do the dirty work.  Of course, there was the obvious question.  "Why me?"

Bethany smiled coldly, cocking her head.  "Why not?  You already kill for a living.  Why should one more dead body matter to you?"

I already loathe myself for accepting this life; I don't need your help!  I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath, stepping away from my personal hellhole of angst and struggling to focus on what was important.  "What happens if I say no?"

"Kudou-san and Tsukiyono-san will die," Bethany said casually, as if killing them would be swatting flies.

Naturally.  The desire to rip Bethany to shreds found its way to the forefront again and I had to wrestle with it before I could speak.  "… I … I don't see how I'd have any advantage over you in trying to kill her," I said in a last ditch effort to wiggle out from under her thumb.

"Miss Kaori won't be expecting it," Bethany fairly spat the witch's name; I was impressed that Kaori had managed to make Bethany mad, as nothing seemed to phase the creature before me.  "She expects an attack from me, but from a Hunter …? Never," she smirked.  Her cold eyes pierced me.  "Nice try, Hidaka-san."

My throat went dry.  I swallowed.  What is she, psychic?  Maybe she really is a demon.

"Would you like the details?"  Bel'uah smirked at my discomfort.

The bitch wants me to beg for a job I don't want to have anything to do with!  I growled low in my throat, but after a moment or two, I managed to say, "… yes," grudgingly.

"Very well."  She leaned forward, putting her elbows on her desk.  "I want Yamamoto dead by midnight tomorrow.  That gives you approximately 36 hours to locate and kill her."  She paused for a moment.  "If you fail to kill her in the allotted time, Kudou-san and Tsukiyono-san will die.  If you succeed … we'll see about rewards."  She smiled.

I winced slightly, slowly realizing I was being faced with a serious moral dilemma – save all of Tokyo from evil, or save my friends from death?

I really hate my life.  "Do you have any idea where to find the witch?"  I had to at least play along for the time being, even if I didn't go through with it.

"Unfortunately, no."  Bethany's eyes bored into me.  "Allow me to warn you: if you do anything uncouth, Ken Hidaka, you will sorely regret it."

I was sure I would.  Discretion wasn't my strong point, but if I was going to cross Bethany Gramm, then I would have to prove otherwise.  "Hai," I said resignedly.

"Then you may go," she said dismissively.

I bowed stiffly and left.

*   *   *

                I didn't return to the Koneko directly; instead I drove around Tokyo's business district for a while, letting my anger cool off.  My emotions were desperately tangled – fear, confusion, and an intense hatred of Bethany were only the foremost in my mind.  Besides, I needed to try to step back from the situation and think it through.

Eventually, I stopped at a gas station/convenience store to fuel my motorcycle and myself.  As I chewed on my tuna sandwich I wished I were Omi, who was good at troubleshooting, or even Youji, who could keep a cool head in any and every situation.  Hell, I would have even taken Aya, frozen ice block of emotions that he was.  It would have been far easier to think if I wasn't so angry at both Bel'uah and her turncoat lackey Aya.

I went over every detail of my conversation with Bethany, and the first thing that floated to the surface of my jumbled thoughts was Bethany's revelation that Aya would know of her death the moment it happened.  What on earth did that mean?  Would someone call him?  No; she used the word 'moment', and she never used words she didn't mean.  Some kind of high-tech device? It was possible; the gods knew I didn't know software from hardware.  However, Persia seemed to have connections in that business, and Omi was often gushing about some amazing new gadget Manx had brought to us.  I suspected that we probably always had (or heard about) the latest technology, and I had never heard of some remote machine that told you about a death the instant it occurred.

As I pored over the question, something suddenly hit me, and I smacked myself on the head for not thinking of it earlier.  Why couldn't the explanation be supernatural?  Maybe they had a psychic connection – a telepathic link!  The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.  Aya always knew what Bethany wanted.  Hell, he had 'predicted' her first phone call!  In addition, Bethany always knew anything that Aya knew.  Her startling revelations were rarely anything that Aya himself hadn't been around to see.  That has to be how it works!

Now the question became more metaphysical.  If they indeed had this link, what were the implications?  Obviously she could spy mercilessly on Weiss.  Anything I did around Aya had to be considered something seen by Bel'uah.  Could Bethany take total control of Aya with this link?  I winced at the thought, but it made a sick, twisted sense.  My rage towards my teammate began to crumble as I thought of how Aya had acted so much like Bethany.  Perhaps it wasn't Aya doing that at all!  Maybe it was only Bethany working through Aya's body!

I began to get excited as I warmed up to the idea.  Now, don't be too sure – who knows how much Aya was doing on his own, warned a little voice, but I couldn't help wanting it to all be Bel'uah's doing.  It would take a lot of guilt off my hands, that was sure.

Now that I had at least an idea of what was going on between Aya and Bethany, I could probably strike at it.  If I could break that connection somehow, I could free Aya!  Hold on, what if he doesn't want to be freed? Asked the more practical side of my mind, but I squashed the thought.  My happier thoughts snowballed.  If Aya wasn't under Bethany's control anymore, than he wouldn't be under any compulsion to kill Youji and Omi, thus ending any lasting threat to Weiss and freeing us from her influence.  I'd be free to kill Bel'uah!  Compulsively I slammed my hand down on the table, muttering, "Yes!"

All eyes in the little store turned on me.  I apologized sheepishly, paid for my sandwich, and went back to my motorcycle.

*   *   *

"I hate to say this, Hidaka-san, but until now you've come up awfully short on your end of the deal.  I've given you all the information you need, but you've hardly done a thing for me."

Yumi gazed at me calmly through exhausted eyes from where she sat on one of the rickety wooden chairs that populated the focus room of the Hot Cat Club.  I stood awkwardly just inside the door, resisting the urge to fidget or just fold up on the floor from the heavy, crackling aura of power in the focus room.  The presence of Yumi and the three remaining witches of her coven, all staring at me as if I came from Mars, weren't helping.

"I, uh … I'm sorry, Yumi-san," I said finally.  "I don't – well, look.  I just need you to do one more thing for me, and then I'll kill Bethany-san, no sweat."

Yumi cocked her head slightly.  "And that is, Hidaka-san …?"

"I need you to – okay, this is only a guess, but if I'm right, I need this – I need you to sever a psychic connection between Bel'uah and a psychic vampire."

Yumi raised her eyebrows, and then she got a frighteningly shrewd look on her face.  "Why?"

"It's personal, and-and-and – well, geez, why don't you just ask that amazing contact of yours, anyway?"

"Her information has been limited as of late," Yumi said flatly.  She glanced at the other witches in the room, but neither of them turned their gaze from me.  "Hidaka-san, what you're asking of me is very dangerous at the best of times, with a full coven, much less with only the four of us.  Especially because you're asking me to do this to Bel'uah. That creature could trace the power source directly back to us, and where would that leave us?  We're trying to avoid death – not invite it."  She paused and frowned slightly, but the look passed and her gaze resumed its neutral stare.  "Beyond that, with these limited numbers, I don't believe it could be done."

She looked as if she was about to say more, but my patience was running thin.  I was running on a timetable, after all.  "If it's impossible, just say so," I snapped.  "I don't care about all the explanations – none of this matters to me.  I'm trying to salvage a few lives here, but if it comes down to the wire, I—"

I broke off and stared at my toes as it hit me like a gong.  If it came down to the wire, what would I do?  Kill Bethany, thus putting my friends to death but arguably saving Tokyo, or kill Kaori Yamamoto, and subject Tokyo to a questionable fate?

Oh, hell.

"It's not impossible, Hidaka-san," Yumi said, breaking in on my thoughts.  I looked up at her.  She looked impassively at me.  "No; it's just impossible for us.  Kaori Yamamoto could break this connection."

I stared at her.  "Kaori Yamamoto …" Well, that's ironic.  Struggling to keep a poker face, I asked, "And where could I find this Kaori Yamamoto?"

Yumi shrugged.  "She keeps her whereabouts a secret.  She has good reason to fear for her life."

"So … you don't know?"

"Hai."

I rolled my eyes.  "Okay, well, that does me a fat lot of good, doesn't it?" I said sarcastically.  "Thanks anyway.  Kiss your butt goodbye, sister, because there's no guarantee it'll be there tomorrow."  I turned dramatically to leave, frustrated and unsure what to do next.

"We could break her influence if she were dead," said one of the other three witches.

I spun back around and gave the witch an incredulous look.  "Erm, wouldn't her influence break on its own if she were dead …?"

"Not necessarily.  Traces of aura left behind can continue to exert influence after death."  This time it was Yumi that spoke.

I looked at Yumi for a long moment.  She tilted her head and looked back at me.  "What is it, Hidaka-san?"

I thought of several things to say – I wanted to tell her to do something anatomically impossible, but it wasn't her fault that Youji and Omi were on a knife's edge.  I considered spilling the beans, but long-bred distrust stopped me.  I nearly demanded that she at least try to break the bond between Aya and Bethany, but I had promised to help her, and I didn't want her death on my conscience.

I said, "Never mind."

I left.

*   *   *

                "Kore wa Catch-22 desu," said Kenji Yamamoto.

                "Ka-chu …?" I stumbled over the foreign word.

                Kenji shook his head.  "It's an American phrase meaning 'impossible situation' – a quandary.  Never mind.  Point is, we need to get you out of it."

It was about 6 o'clock at night, and I was at Kenji's firearms store in downtown Tokyo.  After a lot of stalling I'd decided to tell Kenji what had happened; he was the one who had helped me the most since the whole mess had started, and he'd never asked for anything in return.  I wanted to – needed to – believe I could trust him.

Kenji had not disappointed.  After helping me clean up the shallow cuts Aya had given me, he produced cans of soda and we sat down to discuss facts.

He now continued, "I called this a Catch-22 because it's a loop.  You have to kill Bethany to save your friends, but if you kill Bethany, your friends will die.  There's no visible solution.  So, what are your options?"

I held out a hand and ticked off the possibilities.  "I could kill Bethany, which would result in Aya killing Youji and Omi.  I could kill Aya, which would save Youji and Omi, but … well.  And it wouldn't get to the heart of the problem, which is Bel'uah.  The third option is to kill your grandmother, but that turns all of Tokyo over to Bel'uah."  I paused.  "And I guess you really wouldn't like it too much if I kill your obaa-san anyway …"

"Actually," Kenji interrupted me, his eyes unfocused and fierce, "It wouldn't bother me at all if you killed Babaa.  But all grudges aside, that's not a safe option due to Bethany's power."  It was his turn to ponder things for a moment.  "Bel'uah said that she wants Babaa dead by midnight tomorrow?"

"Yes," I said cautiously.

Kenji thumbed his chin.  "That's odd … shimatta!  I wish I'd studied my astrology more carefully!  Hang on for a moment."  With that, Kenji hopped off the stool he had perched on and disappeared into the back room.

I stood up.  "Nan desu ka, Kenji-san?"

"Nandemonai.  Just hang on for a moment," Kenji called.  I heard papers being pushed around and file cabinets opening as I sank back into my chair.

After a minute Kenji reappeared, carrying a chart in the crook of his elbow and a humongous book in both arms.  He dropped both on the counter between himself and me and promptly began to spread the rolled chart.  "Take that roll of tape and put it on that corner – thanks – a paperweight should do there – all right."  Kenji straightened and let me look at the spread poster.

It was a picture of the night sky during the current season, with different planets indicated and constellations traced out.  I frowned slightly; Kenji, on the other hand, pored over it, tracing straight lines between planets and stars.  "I wonder …" he muttered, before mumbling incoherently in English.  After a minute or so he suddenly turned to the huge book and yanked it open, examined a page full of runes opposite a page of English, and began to flip furiously through the pages.

I've never been very patient, and this time was no exception.  "Uh, what are you doing?"

Kenji looked up at me as if surprised I was still sitting there.  "Oh, uh, looking for information about the position of the stars tomorrow night."  He turned back to the book.

Before he could become absorbed in his reading, however, I asked, "Doushite?"

Kenji looked up at me again, this time wearing the same look Omi gave me whenever I asked him what he was doing on the computer.  "Astrological positions of the stars and planets may or may not have an effect on the world, but most members of the Underground believe in their powers.  If there's an astrological reason for Bel'uah wanting Babaa dead by midnight tomorrow, I want to know what it is."  He raised his eyebrows, daring me to ask another question.

I blinked.  "Oh."

Kenji rolled his eyes slightly and went back to the book.

Several minutes later (it felt more like hours), Kenji slammed the book shut with a triumphant smile, but his eyes were grim.  "I know what Bel'uah is up to.  She's trying to pull a fast one on the witches."

I looked up from the piece of lint I was picking at.  "Oh?"

"Look."  Kenji indicated the chart.  "The positions of these stars reduce – oh, forget it, it won't mean a thing to you.  Basically, Bethany wants Babaa dead by the witching hour on the Night of the Dead, if that makes any sense.  It has to do with the stars being in positions that seriously reduce the life force of nearly everything and everyone.  Bethany and her army of vampires, zombies, Reapers, whatever, will have a huge advantage because they don't depend on the life force stars – and if Babaa is dead, and the witches are reduced in strength, they won't stand a chance."  He paused, looking up at me.  "Hidaka-san, Bel'uah is planning to attack Tokyo en masse.  She's going to stage a one-night takeover!"

I groaned.  "Great, so all of Tokyo is on the line."

Kenji grinned at me.  "It's not all on your shoulders, Hidaka-san, and no matter what it may look like to you, this is not terribly unusual.  Power struggles of this sort break out every few years."

"What usually happens?" I asked.

"Someone dies, somebody else replaces them, and everything goes back to the way it was."

"… oh."

Kenji didn't seem bothered.  "Now that we know what Bel'uah is up to, we can at least try to stop her, but first we have to save your friends.  We've laid out three options when it comes to Kudou-san and Tsukiyono-san's lives.  But what about a fourth option?"

I raised my eyebrows.  "A fourth option?"

Kenji half-smiled.  "Why don't we just take them away from Fujimiya-san?"

I stared at Kenji for a long moment.  "Why the hell didn't I think of that?"

Kenji laughed.

*   *   *

                Kenji's chosen mode of transportation was a motorcycle with a smaller engine than my own; it barely had more power than Omi's moped, actually.  His choice of weapon, on the other hand, was a handsome Magnum .45, which certainly looked like it could do more damage than my Smith & Wesson.  He loaded it with silver bullets and took two extra clips along.

                "Have you gotten any use out of the Beretta?" Kenji wanted to know.

                I shook my head.  "No, although I wanted to use it to blow Bethany's head off her shoulders."  That got a laugh out of Kenji.

                As we slowly made our way though late evening traffic in Tokyo, I reviewed our extremely flexible plan of attack on the Koneko no Sumu Ie.  I was going to call ahead from a pay phone when we were a few blocks from the store and find out where Youji and Omi were, their conditions, and what Aya was doing.  Currently the plan was that I distract Aya while Kenji snuck both Youji and Omi out of the house and into Youji's car, which they would use as the getaway vehicle.  Once they were safe, I was supposed to figure out how to get myself away from Aya and back into contact with Kenji.

                Of course, that plan assumed everything went the way things were supposed to go.  If hell broke loose, the plan went out the window and we would put to use, in Kenji's words, an 'on-the-go' strategy.

                At least I was pretty good at thinking on my feet.  Provided, of course, that I didn't let my emotions get the better of me.

                "Let's stop here," I called about three blocks from Weiss headquarters.  Kenji nodded and pulled over; I shuffled to the nearest pay phone and shoved ¥10 into the slot, nervously awaiting the reply at the other end.

                The phone rang once, twice.  Then, "Moshi-moshi.  Koneko no Sumu Ie desu.  Ore wa Fujimiya Aya desu.  Nan desu ka?"

                I took a deep breath. Showtime.  "Aya, it's Ken."

                Aya's voice tightened immediately.  "Where are you?"

                I couldn't keep the edge out of my voice.  "I've been looking for information, if it's any of your business.  I want to talk to Youji."

                Aya's voice was cold, dead, and sharp.  He sounded like a knife, if a knife could have talked.  "He's upstairs."

                "Omi?"

                "He's with Kudou."

                I clenched my teeth at his obstinance.  "Is Youji alive?"

                "Yes."

                "Prove it to me."

                There was a pause.  "I've healed him in part.  He's sleeping."

                "Then wake him up," I snapped.  "I won't do anything for Bethany until I know he's alive."

                "Then take my word for it."

                I took a quick breath. "I wouldn't trust you any further than I could throw you, Fujimiya," I snarled.

                There was another short silence.  I wished I could see Aya's face.  Then Aya said, "Hold on."  Click.

                I waited to hear a dial tone, but there was nothing.  I swallowed.  What was going on …?

                Click.  "Ken-kun!"

                I sighed with relief.  "Omi!  Are you okay?"

                Omi's voice was filled with tension.  "I'm fine, Ken-kun.  Youji-kun is doing a lot better, too – Aya kept his promise and healed him."

                I heaved another relieved sigh.  "I thought Aya was jerking my chain.  So he's alive?"

                "He's sleeping.  He's too pale, Ken-kun."

                "Blood loss," I said coldly.  "Bastard.  How are you doing?"

                "I'm not hurt—"

                "You holding up okay?" I interrupted.

                There was a breath; Omi was sighing, too.  "No, Ken-kun, I'm about to have a nervous breakdown," he said in a broken voice that I'd never heard from the 17-year-old before.  "This is – this—"

                "—is hell," I finished for him.  "Hang tight.  You guys in the upstairs storage room?"

                "Yes," Omi answered cautiously.  "What are you doing?"

                I selected my words carefully lest Aya was listening.  "I'm … I'm trying to protect you and Youji."

                "Be careful, Ken-kun!" Omi's voice cracked on my name, and I winced.  I'll kill Bel'uah.  I'll kill her seven times over if her screwing around messes up Omi!

                "I will," I said quietly.  "Ganbatte, Omi."

                "Ganbatte ne," Omi returned mechanically.  Click.

I was about to hang up when suddenly I heard Aya's voice.  "Bethany-sama wanted me to remind you that you only have 28 hours to find Kaori Yamamoto," he said.

I scowled.  "Tell Bethany-sama that I know, and she can shove it.  The right person will be dead by midnight tomorrow."

"Don't play games, Hidaka," Aya said coldly.  Click.

Dial tone.

I glared at the phone and slammed it into the hook before I looked up at Kenji, who cocked his head.  "He suspects something," I said, "but Youji and Omi are safe for the moment."

"Then let's hurry," Kenji suggested, revving his engine.

I nodded nervously.  "Let's."

*   *   *

                "I need your help again."

                Aya glared at me from where he sat perched on the stool in the back storage room of the shop.  I stood in the doorway, trying my best to look as if I were pissed off and not scared out of my wits.  "This is an odd turnaround," he observed.

                That's Bethany talking.  I took a deep breath and glared at him.  "Look; I'm not going to lie to you about this.  I hate you.  I want to kill your precious Bethany-sama.  But I care more about Youji and Omi than about you or your stupid mistress.  I'll kill Kaori Yamamoto if that's what it takes.  It's not like I give a damn about her, anyway."

                Aya's glare was no more cold than usual.  "So what do you need me for?"

                "The witches are extremely close-mouthed about Kaori's location.  I need you to find her."

                "I don't know if I can do that."

                "If you can't, Bethany won't get her kill," I returned quickly.

                Aya looked at me.

                The silence stretched and my discomfort grew.  "At least point me in the right direction – find someone who can find Kaori!  I don't know half the things you do about the Underground!  Surely you have connections!  Use them!"

                Aya looked down and muttered.

                "What? I can't hear you," I demanded.

                Aya glanced up at me and gave me a contemplating look.  "I—"

                Thump.

                I froze.  Aya froze.

                The sound had come from upstairs.

                Before I could even move Aya had leapt to his feet, violet eyes turning to stone.  "Kisama!  What is this!?"

                I gathered my wits and shattered nerves and straightened to my full height.  "Tell Bel'uah she can go to hell, Fujimiya.  I'm not killing anyone for that creature."

                Aya snarled at me – he literally bared his teeth and growled – and turned towards the stairs.

                All I could think of was Youji laying there on the table, bleeding and dying, Aya's fangs in his neck.  All I could see was Omi's huge eyes full of fear and confusion and terror as they fell on that horrible scene.

All I could imagine was Omi and Youji dead on the floor, killed by Aya's unmerciful hands.

Mechanically, I reached for my gun, pulled it out of the inside breast pocket of my jacket, and aimed at Aya's back.

                Guns don't actually go bang. That's something the American movies made up.  Even the biggest handguns tend to go pop.

My gun went pop twice, and two holes appeared between Aya's shoulder blades.  Blood spattered on the wall behind him.  He fell to his knees; he collapsed face-first on the ground.

                Blood pooled on the ground beneath him.

                His chest neither rose nor fell.

                I lowered the gun.

                Kenji appeared on the stairs, gun out and trained on Aya.  "Nande – Kore wa – Oh shit," he said with passion, transitioning from Japanese to English with ease.  I wasn't quite sure why I noticed that.

                Omi was the next to appear.  "Ken-kun!  Ken –" he stopped, eyes wide, staring at Aya's body.  "What …?"

                "He was going to kill you," I said.  My voice was broken and tired and I didn't know why.  I couldn't feel anything.

                Omi said nothing.  He looked up at me with eyes full of hatred, sadness, and fear.

                And suddenly emotion broke in on my bubble of emptiness like a tsunami, and with a ragged cry I dropped the offending weapon in my hands and collapsed, clutching my knees.  "Oh gods! … oh gods, I killed him!"

                "Shit," Kenji said the English swear word again.  "Shit …" I heard him clamber down the stairs.  "Come on, Tsukiyono-san.  We have to leave.  Hidaka-san, get up!  We have to leave."

                "I … I want to die," I said quietly.

                "Urusai yo!  Don't you dare talk like that!  Help me get Kudou-san out of here!"

                I made no reply, a painful hole of guilt swallowing my sudden upwelling of panic and turning my surge of horror into a pit of self-loathing.  I stared straight ahead.  I did it again.  I killed a friend.  I did it again.

                Koko datte Jigoku da yo.  Hell can't be any worse than this.

                CRACK!

                The blow to my jaw knocked me over and I fell onto my side, startled out of my self-hatred.  I grasped my cheek with one hand, feeling the swelling.  There was blood in my mouth. "What the –"

                Kenji stood over me, holding a shoe in his hand.  His face was twisted with anger.  "You want to kill us all!?" he demanded.

                I stared at him.  "What?"

                "Don't you think Bethany knows what just happened!?  Don't you think she knows!?  She won't let us leave here alive, Hidaka!" he snapped.  I realized he was afraid; the fear was in his eyes.  "She knows we're against her now.  There's no hope for us.  If you want to die, go ahead, but I won't let you sacrifice Tsukiyono-san, or Kudou-san, or me!  I want to live!"  Now there was pain in his eyes, too.  "We have to do horrible things sometimes, Ken.  But giving up … giving up isn't the right way to escape those things.  We still have people to protect."

                I swallowed hard, keeping my eyes averted from Aya's body as I swayed to my feet.  "All right.  All right," I heard myself saying.  "I'll go.  Let's go."

                Kenji smiled wanly.  "Kudou-san is upstairs.  Tsukiyono-san is starting the car."

                I retreated back to a corner of my mind and let my body do the work of lifting Youji's battered frame off of the bed and carrying him gingerly down the stairs.  I refused to see Aya laying on the ground; my body averted my eyes for me.  I carefully placed Youji in the back seat of his car and sat next to him so his head was in my lap. I could feel his breath gentle against my hand.  Kenji sat in the front passenger seat.  His breathing was heavy with exertion.  Omi gunned the car; I could hear his breathing, ragged and sobbing.  I could hear my own breathing pounding in my ears, fast but even.

                Chest rise; chest fall.  Youji's chest rose and fell.  That's what a normal human's chest does when that human breathes.

                Aya would never breathe again.

                I sat in the back of Youji's car and cried silently, tears falling in time with my chest.

*   *   *

Author's Notes:

                1) Find a nice, big, private room.

                2) Scream.

                3) Scream again.

                4) NOW you can send me your review.  ^^x

I know all of Aya's fans are going to come find me and kill me now.  I can fully understand the sentiment.  However, I ask that you PLEASE bear with me and finish reading Dream of Crimson.  There's more to Aya's story than meets the eye.

I know it's been a long time since I updated, and I apologize.  My life went crazy with the end of school, as I had APs, graduation, prom, a job to arrange, and swim team, besides regular life.  And then Fanfiction.net went on the fritz.  Gotta love servers.  Anyway, I'm back now, and it'll probably be only three more parts before this epic is finally finished!

Thank you everyone for your reviews.  I love them, and they helped me stick with writing this fanfiction even when I had to rewrite this section three times to get it right.  By the way, if you want translations to the Japanese, feel free to e-mail me and ask.  My e-mail is chan_minako@hotmail.com .

Just for you, Silver Angel, I have arranged for additional fun with the sinister werewolf bite Ken received.  If I don't find a way to stuff it into this story, it will appear in the possible sequel.

Thanks again!  And – as always – PLEASE review!  I'll love you forever!  ^~x

~~Vikki

PS – guess what, this story is now 63 pages long in 9-point font and single-spaced! O.ox Scary, no?  I think it officially qualifies as novel length now …